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Movie Reviews Of The Past Few Days before/after
Movie Reviews Of The Past Few Days:
Meet the Parents: Ben Stiller attempts to win the approval of his fiance's father, Robert Dinero. Hilarity ensues. A decent movie if you watch with your brain unhooked. The plot was predictible, some of the jokes tired, but just about everyone can relate to the 'getting scoped by the fam' routine, and this lends plausibility to the piece. On a personal note: were I in Ben Stiller's place, I would've probably bailed after the first night in the house, after violating Deniro's daughter savagely, given the 'don't fuck my little girl in my house' speech. Don't tell me what the fuck to do, old man. And had I stayed, I would've at least punked out the old boyfriend. Fuck it, y'know. You lost...move on. Its the law of the jungle, man. I don't care about the double standard. I am an alpha male, and I'll do what I goddam please. If you were me, you'd do the same damn thing: because you can. Not really a good movie. It is funny, in parts, but gets burdened by maudlin sentiments and a rush towards a happy ending. Deniro and Stiller are good naturalistic actors, but this definitely doesn't break any new ground for these two. Glad it was a rental...that I didn't even rent. So on the basis that it was free for me=worthwhile.
The Excorcist (original extended version): This movie is disturbing. It drags a bit, and takes awhile to build. I actually found myself getting creeped out by the 'normal' family scenes. Like when Linda Blair chides her mom and cajoles her about her new boyfriend when her mom is putting her down to sleep. Fuckin' cree-py. The phrases "Shut-up." and "Go the fuck to sleep." come to mind. Also, the dinner party where the femme English guy (redundant? hello...) toddles around the room insulting people spooked me. Everybody just took it. He reminded me of this counselor on my staffing team when I dispensed therapy for a living. Great guy...kinda' weird. Veitnam vet. The 'tension musak' through out was unsettling, and certain scenes are particlaularly well crafted for the maximum disturbance factor. These are images not for the faint of heart or devoutly catholic. Gratuitous. Nearly as disturbing as the the scene I originally described at the start of the review. No philosophical arguments to be thought about later, so you can watch it without lasting damage. Even the question of preists losing the faith and getting tanked is irrelevant. It seems normal that a preist may have a crisies of faith now and again, given the dogmatic nature of the catholic church. It does appear, however, that one of the worst encounters in the world would be with a drunk priest. The only real food for thought is watching it, and realizing that Linda Blair got severly messed up with drugs and such after making the film.(that's a surprise) There is a moral question in subjecting a little girl to a production like that. Overall, worthwhile watching, although beyond Max Von Sydow, the acting is pure garbage.
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