Marathon starts now.
Isola
Overview: The second film based on the works of award-winning novelist, Yasuke Kishi. When Yukari, a psychic able to read the thoughts of other, comes to help suvivors of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, she encounters a trouble girl named Chichiro who is suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder. Chichiro has 13th different personalities and her 13th personality is a revengeful ghost named Isola. Can the psychic find a way to stop Isola without harming Chichiro ?
My Thoughts: I'm a bit puzzled by this movie. Not that it isn't good but not what I would expect from a horror movie. It's difficult to judge this one because it's made by and with people from a culture I know very little about. I think what leaves me puzzled is that the chararacters don't show much emotion, even when they're scared or hurt, they're all a bit cold all the time. On the other hand it's not necessarily a bad thing as it adds to the strangeness (is this a word ?) to the movie which it can use as it needs something to compensate for a little lack of action you would normally find in horror movies. Watching a Japanese horror movie with English subtitles was an interesting experience nonetheless.
My Score:
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Misery
Overview:Paul Sheldon (James Caan) barely remembers the blinding blizzard that sent his car spinning off the road into a near fatal accident. Nor does he remember being nursed back from unconsciousness. All he does remember is waking up to the worst nightmare of his life.
Rescued from the accident by his self-confessed number one fan, Paul Sheldon learns that Annie lives vicariously through his novels based on the character Misery Chastain. Grateful to Annie for saving his life, Paul allows her to be the first to read his new manuscript.
From that point on it becomes increasingly clear that Annie has trouble distinguishing fact from fiction and Paul comes to the harrowing realization that he might never leave the home of Annie Wilkes alive.
My Thoughts: Misery has always been and still is one my favorite movies for a few reasons. First, it's in this movie that I saw Kathy Bates for the first time. She always gives wonderful performances but in Misery she's just brilliant. The way she plays the different faces of her character is so credible it makes the viewer feel like he's watching a reality show. Annie (Bates' character) is a not too bright girl, a bit naive in her views of the world but within a snap she can turn into this monster who takes pleasure in hurting this man she's sequestering while claiming she loves him while what she actually loves is the control she (finally ?) has over something.
This is one of a very movies that I find hard to watch because of the way the violence is showed......or not. The director took a very interesting approach in getting to us not by showing violence but by showing, and making us feel, the pain associated with it. Misery has got this very nasty way of showing you how and how much pain Paul Sheldon is about to endure and as if this wasn't enough, the director always gives you a few seconds or minute to realize how bad it's gonna hurt..................almost making you hurt as well.
There is the obvious and well known scene where Annie Wilks puts a block of wood between his legs and breaks both his ankles with a big hammer but that's just one big hard one to watch. There's a few other ones that are just as painful like when she throws a pack of paper on his thighs because she's pissed it didn't like the paper she bought or this other scene when Sheldon gets out of bed the first time and we've given a few seconds to think of how much it's gonna hurt and he pulls his legs out and they hit the floor.
After having seem that movie so many times I can still almost feel that pain myself and this will always remain one of my favorite suspense movie.
I give it a perfect score.
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The Silence of the Lambs
Overview: One of the most shocking, compelling and diabolical crime thrillers ever made is even more delectable on Blu-ray! Including in-depth documentaries about the film's journey from page to screen, exclusive new interviews with Jodie Foster, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Scott Glenn in the feature-length Breaking the Silence, generous servings of deleted scenes, still photos and outtakes – and much more, this powerful, five-time Academy Award® Winner* will chill you to the bone. When FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is assigned a case involving a monstrous serial killer, she seeks counsel from an imprisoned cannibalistic psychiatrist – Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), whose fascination with the young woman is as great as his hunger for murder. As their relationship develops, Starling must confront her own demons – and an evil so powerful that she may not have the courage or strength to stop it!
*1991: Best Picture, Directing, Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Actress (Jodie Foster), Adapted Screenplay
My Thoughts: What could I possibly write about this movie that hasn't already been said many times and in a much better way. Although I've seen it many times and know what's gonna happen I can still feel the tension when I watch it.
The Blu-Ray version is definitely worth buying.
A perfect score
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