Ramblings of a Constipated Mind

Having no school is awesome.

I've been sleeping late, watching tons of movies, getting podcast stuff together, and actually reading for pleasure again. Here's the lowdown:

Mysterious Skin - Disturbing movie. It's Unrated, which basically means the filmmakers were afraid to have it rated since they knew it'd get an NC-17, which is a death mark for business. Like Requiem for a Dream. The movie follows two teens, Brian and Neil. Brian has suffered from blackouts and nose bleeds since he was a child. Convinced he was abducted by aliens, he goes on a quest to find out the truth of what happened to him. Neil's situation is far more disturbing. He's a gay teenage hustler, giving sexual favors to men in exchange for money. Brian is described as one characters as giving out a vibe that is strangely asexual. Neil is promiscuous, often coming close to contracting STDs. Brian can at times be emotional. Neil is so psychologically disturbed he has only a bottomless black abyss for a heart. They couldn't be more different. Yet, as they will soon discover, their lives are linked together by a single event, one that impacted their lives and directly influenced who they became.

This movie is hard to watch at times, and too disturbing for me to say it's an excellent movie (though I'd certainly say it's well-made, and perhaps even good), or that I enjoyed it. Director Gregg Araki approaches themes and subject matter most directors wouldn't go near, and he does so in the best way possible: he lets the characters speak for themselves. The camera never sees anything graphic, but always seems to let the nudity and gore be right out of frame. The specifics of the events portrayed are not what's important. Rather, it's the characters and the situations in general that matter. In many ways, this makes it even more shocking. The camera often focuses on reaction shots, leaving the rest to the reader's imagination. This is a dark film about what an evil and twisted place the world can be, and how it can affect us in life-changing ways. Araki is giving a sermon, yet it never feels like he's preaching. The film ends on a note of despair, and yet there is also a hint of redemption. The truth can be a terrible thing, yet it can also be liberating.

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Holy crap. I had written a whole ton more about various things, but I accidentally went away from the page and that's as far as Blogger saved. This sucks. Blegh, I'll write it out again later. For now, I shall leave you with some links:

This is messed up. Some people are crazy.

Best Christmas Lights Ever - This is insanely awesome.

X3 teaser - I've been pessimistic about this movie. Bryan Singer left the franchise to go direct Superman Returns. Alan Cumming isn't back as Nightcrawler. It seems like there have been a whole lot of problems in regards to making this film. However, this teaser is amazing. You can tell they got a new director, but it looks awesome. I still won't be surprised if the movie sucks, but this is the first positive thing I've seen related to it. I think I'm actually starting to get somewhat excited about it.

The Fountain teaser - This film has had problems, too. Originally, it was going to star Brad Pitt and Claire Danes, but that didn't work out. Also, it's been delayed several times, and now recently pushed back to 2006. Frankly, I don't care. This is by far the movie I'm most excited to see so far next year. Darren Aronofsky is the man, and even the teaser looks visually stunning.

Hm. Well that's all for now. Nighty night.