Thursday, June 9, 2005

Orange in the evening...

Ahh, I really need to watch Requiem for a Dream again. I'd been listening to Aeternal a bit lately, because it was on a CD that I'd put together for my mother. It just reminded me of that movie. I saw the end of it on TV recently and it reminded me that I should watch it again, especially because of Ellen Burstyn. What a great performance in that movie. Speaking of Ellen Burstyn, she is also of course the mother in The Exorcist. I watched that again recently too. It's an interesting subject at my house, because my dad relates stories about how he and his friends were horrified by it when they saw it at the drive-in. Whereas my mother was never upset or frightened by it. In fact, scary movies don't really disturb her at all. The only one that really frightened her in recent memory was Ring - specifically, the ending (the Japanese film's ending is a lot more creepy than the American one, for those who haven't seen it). I'd have to agree with her on that. It can be surprising how scary something can be with such a minimal budget. I first saw The Exorcist only a few years ago, with my parents. Mostly, I think I was surprised that a movie of its era could be that shocking. I suppose that now, none of the content in the film shocks me particularly, but I can definitely imagine it being incredibly cutting-edge at the time. But having said that, I think reactions to that movie are interesting. I mean, I never found the film scary at all. Instead, I mostly just found it surprising. When I first saw it, I was surprised by various things that Regan said and did, because they were obviously relatively extreme for a girl of that age. However, really, in today's world none of that is particularly shocking anyway. It was definitely more the context of the film - that a film of the 70's would go so far, particularly a film that did actually manage to get a general theatrical release. These days, I guess it's pretty difficult to shock people. Really, if someone made a new Exorcist-esque horror film...how on earth could they be more shocking without actually doing something illegal? I think mostly it would have to come down to the power of suggestion. I mean, I found The Cell somewhat shocking, in the same vein as The Exorcist. It wasn't actually "scary", it was just somewhat extreme in terms of what it was referencing and displaying. Watching The Cell didn't make me frightened, but it definitely had some pretty unpleasant and upsetting moments. In recent times though, I am a little disappointed by horror films. Mostly, there just hasn't been anything out there that's really scared me. As I said, shocking things - things like gore or sex - don't frighten me. Rather, I tend to be more scared by psychological things, or things that simply get under your skin in an indirect manner. On the other side of the coin, I really like movies such as 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead. I don't regard them as scary, but simply entertaining. Dawn of the Dead wasn't really frightening at all, but it did have a few gross moments (ie: the bit at the start where the little girl bites her father's neck - yuck). Mostly though, I found it humorous and interesting. What interested me most about it, I think, was actually seeing how people would live in a deserted mall for a period of time. And seeing how they escaped was also interesting. I guess it makes me wonder what I'd do if I were in that situation. 28 Days Later had humor, but I regard it as a more serious and more morbid film than Dawn of the Dead. It had its shocking moments, but I think the story and the way it unfolded was significantly more stark and morbid than other zombie films I've seen. In some ways, I was able to take it more seriously. The relationship between the father and daughter - stuck in their apartment and surviving on rain water - was something that gave the whole thing an element of realism and claustrophobia. And of course, the beautiful shots of a deserted London really helped to set the mood. The ending in particular (the whole military thing) was really strange and unexpected, which was also great to see. Does anyone recommend any truly scary horror films? Or perhaps even some other modern zombie films? I may have asked that question before, but I'm definitely interested to see what I can find. I've watched so many modern horror films lately and I've seen more and more asian horror films...and I'm finding that it's getting very hard to find something that truly creeps me out. ~_^ I did actually watch the original Dawn of the Dead (which allowed me to recognize a funky cameo in the new film), but I really didn't enjoy the original. It had the comedic aspects and so on, but the characters largely annoyed me and I generally found the whole thing to be pretty dry and uninteresting. Oh well. I'm hoping it won't be long before I find another horror film to become addicted to. ~_^ SunfallE: Thank you! It was my pleasure. ^_^ Piro-chan: Wow, it's so nice to see you comment - I haven't seen you around much lately. Thank you for the kind words, Mr. Piro. I hope that you are doing well. ^_^ Baroness: It will be tougher to do Flavors on myO 3.0 (myO 3.0 is actually different to the Redefined version we were talking about some time ago). However, I'll see what I can do. It's mostly a time thing. If we can't get that ready by launch, I'm sure it'll be possible to do soon after. Harlequin: Ahh, so you feel my pain! Thank you though, I'm doing a lot better now. ^_^ The Doc: You shall see more very shortly! And yes, GTA has been fun, although I blew a lot of money on property...and now I need money to buy that airstrip. Blar. hEvN: Oh, maybe you should consider getting back into GTA. There are so many fun things about San An; even just listening to the radio was worth it. "My Five Uncles!" poopy: What the? Wow, it sounds like you've had some nasty adventures. Ouch. >_> John: Yeah, so many games are trying to copy GTA. But most of them aren't as good. For all the complaints I have about GTA, I still think it's a pretty solid franchise. San Andreas is still remarkable, even now. Cherry Queen: Ah yes, sometimes it's a bit tricky. I recently tried the two player mode and I let my sister stand on top of a plane while I flew it. And it worked! But when I tried to land, she fell off... Charliekins: How would I get an ear infection from that? I haven't been ear fucked in...well, quite a long time. You really should play GTA! Seriously. For some of its minor issues, it's pretty darn incredible. San Andreas is by far the best in the series. Chabby: Oh yes, nothing worse than those sensations! When I had my infection I stood up and my head started spinning like crazy. I nearly fell over. So I had to stand there for a while and try to recover. Ew. No fun. >_>

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