thornhill-6 Reviews

60 Seconds (2003)

Emotionally powerful but hard to find

[8/10 · 4 October 2013]

I believe I'm not the only one who knows this film only as the 'Redemption 2.0' music video by RMB. The full film, which is 15 minutes long, became pretty much unavailable after the festival viewings ended, but the video can be found on the web. It is basically '60 seconds' edited down to about 4 and a half minutes. Some of the dialog is heard but most of it is only subtitled.

We see a young man waking up in the middle of a road in the desert. He has no memory of what happened to him, why he is there and why he is nude. He tries asking for help from the passing cars but nobody stops for him, one of them even hits him. His leg gets badly hurt, but without other options he limps into the next city fighting the pain. In the city he keeps asking for help but no one bothers listening to him. He finally gives up saying he does not need help. The ignorance of the society towards him made him free. He can be himself without needing to fit to other people's expectations. He then sees an other nude person and follows her. And then comes the twist what I will not tell here.

As I have not seen the full film I cannot tell how much that compressed form gives back the experience of the original, but as I remember when I first saw it, I was very impressed how much it moved me emotionally in such a short time, although probably the music - very powerful trance - also added to my feelings. I hope the music gives back what is missing from the narrative, and if I ever get the chance to see the original, I will be moved by the narrative just as much.

Earth from Space (2012 TV Movie)

Great documentary but slightly misleading title

[8/10 · 17 November 2012]

This film is highly informative but you should know what to expect. From the title one would think this film consist mainly of photography of Earth taken from orbit while the narrator tells us geographical information. Well, it is not like that.

The concept of this documentary is explaining the connections of various meteorological, geological and ecological processes with each other in one big system. Probably most of us are familiar with the powers of hurricanes on the Atlantic, or that there are dust storms in the Sahara or the Amazon River has the largest water flow, but how these things relate to each other on a global scale are not so trivial. This film shows us the big picture of Earth's system.

"From space" in our case refers to the source of this information. Most of these big global processes were discovered using satellites. The film includes many satellite imagery showing these models.

Nexxt (2001)

Elements of American Psycho and Clockwork Orange

[7/10 · 7 September 2005]

Some parts of the plot are based on other famous works like American Psycho and Clockwork Orange. Rex Madison's character is almost equal to Patrick Bateman's. Some events are also the same as in American Psycho (the novel). These scenes are more naturalistic than in the American Psycho movie. They are closer to Bret Easton Ellis' dark world. Rex Madison's home videos are used in the demonstration how the Clockwork Orange 'equipment' works. Little Alex's character shows what has happened to him after Kubrick's story. Yes, he is that Alex from Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange. Once you feel sick by the naturalism, ten seconds later you are laughing like a child. All these presented as a reality TV show offer great entertainment for thriller fans.