Weekend Movie Viewing

Well, yesterday wasn't bad. Amazingly.

First movie I really got into was "They Wait." I immediately liked this because the main characters were an interracial couple: white girl, Asian guy. They have a son, Sam, who ends up in the hospital in a coma that can be reversible if some horrible past crime is discovered. Talk about generational curses, hidden family crime, Asian superstition! The ghost story has a real Asian influence, so don't expect the ghost to behave in a western manner. So the story totally worked. And these ghosts are playing fair.

Then there was "Stay Alive" -- a movie where the supernatural doesn't play fair at all. This is a movie about a beta video horror survival game and they aren't supposed to play it. They die when they start playing it. Kinda like the movie with the evil video tape, this one brings mucho trouble to anyone who starts playing it. The game warns them -- after they --like fools-- speak the chant to let the game begin. Pretty sneaky if you ask me. I mean, they didn't know what they were getting into and bingo they're committed. According to the threatening intro of the game, the players have to find out the reasons for a horrific happening years before...and in order to do that they must "stay alive." The game is a bit like Doom except it's based on the life of the Countess Bathory and folks can play it online together or by themselves. And the movie shows us scenes of their real lives when they aren't playing the games or when they die...as their game persona dies. If you play games like this, you'll like it. All that talk about perceptive reality. One of the best lines: "I haven't tripped out like this since I hate that hot dog matzoh ball at Bible camp, Brother"

I actually liked this flick. The girls in it were actually likable...not screaming bimbettes with bouncing breasts. Ah, the young! Always more prone to believe in the supernatural than the older wizened cops. But why do they even attempt to tell these cops the supernatural truth? Do they really thin they'll be believed?

Then there was The Florentine. I swear! Stories about male bonding are great but when it's about neighborhood lost souls on the edgier Catholic side done in an indie flick it really really really has to work. Talk about burdensome and heartfelt indie emotions. The story is mostly about the guys so the women kinda just revolve around them until it's their time to have a scene which affects the men.

After that I watched a little of 1000 ways to die. It's a show dedicated to showcasing people who do stupid things and end up dead because of it. There's even a sociologist who talks about darwinism and the stupid gene. Wouldn't have watched it but I had gone to sleep and dreamed of someone dying in a ridiculous manner. I laughed in the dream and then felt sad about the death. When I woke up I figured I would honor the dream by watching 1000 ways. I pretty much lack a sense of humor when it comes to making fun of other folks getting hurt. I don't laugh at someone falling on a banana peel, for instance. I hate mockery and cruel humor. And when I think of Sheol and folks doing stupid things and possibly ending up there....sorry no way I can laugh. I just can't. I still don't know why I watched it. Maybe because I saw the show listed in the schedule and my midnight nap grabbed at it. Aaargh. -C