p e n g u i n d e v i l

First off, I must state that I thoroughly failed to watch The Damned. I’ve tried for 5 “German” movies this week (one won’t be on here until next time) and I must say that the three actual german movies were all quite good. The two non-german ones were, well, not that great. I’m including The Damned there, though it does have some actual German connections. For The Damned, I gave it a good half hour or more but I was a little distracted and it just didn’t grab me at all. The description sounded good and I guess there were political goings-on and but none of it was presented in a way that was very interesting and visually it didn’t stand out. Anyway. It might have potential and it may be one of those that grows on you if you watch it long enough, but I got bored of it easily. So there.

Today we started off with Das Experiment. I thought it was pretty good. It was a bit different than I expected but it was interesting and surely had it’s gripping moments. Some of the peoples reactions seemed a bit far fetched, and I felt like the lead character behaved in an unusual fashion, for one with his agenda. I seemed to recall hearing it was maybe based on some real like incident, which makes me a bit curious… But I’m not sure if that’s true or not. There were some good violence and brutality scenes, some of which really made you feel for those poor fools. The “guards” really got into their roles! Regardless, it certainly wasn’t an experiment I would have ever signed up for.

I also took in, finally, The Bunker. After spending soo much time with Germanesque films, seeing German soldiers with british accents saying “bloody” and such things was a bit disconcerting. Aside from that, it was alright. not too scary but it got kind of wild at the end, with shooting and skulls and funny moaning sounds and an old guy rolling up in barbed wire and such things. The accents though… I just don’t know. It really just made me want to watch The Keep (where’s that dvd?).

Though, of course, comparisons to Total Recall are hard to avoid, making such a statement about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is too easy. I found the movie quite enjoyable and pretty original… Though at first it was a bit hard to get used to mister Carrey. I have spent many years avoiding his films (I had yet to have seen one) and also, to some extent, In Living Color due to a strong distaste for his “comic” antics. Also around the beginning, his voiceover bugged me, something about the tone of his voice seemed a bit unsuitable for the moment. But, he really wasn’t too bad, thankfully it wasn’t one of those smoosh your face and dance around comedies. It is a movie I had been wanting to see but not seeing due to ol’ Carrey and I’m glad I saw it. Not really thought provoking but a little interesting and fun to watch with some nice visual effects.

We had some friends over to watch Grey Gardens. This is a movie that I am rather fond of, I find something new in it each time. Though I feel that I can only watch it about once a year. It is very good and thought provoking and I doubt that anyone could watch it without being uncomfortably reminded of some relative of theirs. Though it has some unsettling moments, it is no where near as discomforting to watch as Salesman.

grey gardens 55:17

Yesterday we watched Dogtown and Z-Boys. I’m not sure how I hadn’t gotten aorund to seeing this one yet. So many good chances… But now I have. It was pretty interesting. A well done documentary with good interview and a lot of old and good stills. The soundtrack was really great, a bit in the background, but not many weak songs within. Some of the action scenes started to seem a bit repetitive, as I never was a skateboarder or surfer or anything, but I would still recommend it.

In music news, Brian and I went to Anthem records and I picked up Sons of Northern Darkess (spurred on by the promise of a included bonus dvd.) I haven’t really heard much since Demonaz stopped playing, but I liked it still. The dvd? Well, the live stuff is pretty unneeded, far away and not super interesting, but fine enough to have. The photo gallery, on the other hand… I don’t know… I dig the BM outfits and all, especially when it’s a dark and gloomy land they dwell in: hiding in the woods or some sinister environment, but well-lit against a white background? Bad move. Man. This must have been a tough shoot to sit through with a straight face.