Nightcrawler

NIghtcrawler made me feel the same way American Psycho and A Clockwork Orange made me feel. I felt slimy afterwards and I felt like the friends I watched it with and I should go do something good in the world-- contribute to society. This movie was a piece that made me think a lot about something I have never even thought to consider before-- crime scene videography. It also makes you think about the gross underbelly of media in general and just how slimy it might be. The key to this movie is ti makes the audience think "is this really what's happening out there?" This movie is completely bonkers. I genuinely believe Jake Gyllenhaal is a little bit crazy because after watching Donnie Darko and now this; I was shocked. He is, in addition to probably being a little bit crazy, an amazingly versatile actor who commits to everything he does. Every little crazy thing he did in this movie was 110% believable; that's why it was so jarring.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Sweeney Todd is a funny, scary Les Miserables. The dark aesthetic, the time period, the returning-criminal-looking-for-redemption character, the poverty, the weird daughter dynamic, the singing-- all reminded me of Les Miserables, however, it was dark and freaky. It also started out as a musical, like Les Miserables. The ending of this movie really reminded me of Crimson Peak, or of a dark Guillermo Del Toro ending.
I didn't know what I was expecting this movie to be. All I knew going in was that there was a barber that killed his clients and, who I thought was his wife, made meat pies out of them and their business was booming. That's all I thought I knew about this movie, and then Sacha Baron Cohen showed up and Alan Rickman is the main villain and I was confused but also simultaneously pulled in. Also like Les Miserables, I was not expecting so much singing in this movie. More so in Les Miserables, but still there are a lot of songs that get thrown in at weird times. It's weird to compare Sweeney Todd to Les Miserables but the comparisons reveal some interesting similarities.

Spotlight

Spotlight is a movie that throws you against a wall, coddles you when it realizes you're hurt, then punches you in the face when it sees it's just a few scratches--it is absolutely brutal on your emotions. I did not actually want to see this movie, I didn't think it looked that interesting. Granted, I didn't actually know the extent of what this movie was exploring. I was not aware of just how big this story was. I think Spotlight executed this touchy topic really appropriately. It's done with a lot of care; that isn't to say that they tiptoed around the reality of the situation. There were parts where some of the things discussed were hard to listen to, but they were handled with a sensitive tone. I guess what I am saying is so many words is that, despite the situation being pretty gruesome and, frankly, gross, the information presented was not done to gross out and appall the audience. It was more to inform and the events were not exploited in order to increase shock value for the audience. I think that was extremely respectful, while also trying to inform the audience of the reality.
This movie points a spotlight on the section of the Boston Globe called "Spotlight" that in 2001 investigated the sex-abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church and attempted to expose those who are committing these crimes, and in fact, the Spotlight team divulges more than they ever thought they would.

The Revenant

This movie was goddamn phenomenal (and based on a true story). The shot composition, the landscape, the dialogue (or lack thereof), the way the storyline is pieced together, the actual execution of filming--it's all amazing. Leonardo DeCaprio is amazingly expressive in this movie and his lack of dialogue does not impede on his ability to emote and tell the audience what is going on. I thought if there was going to be one weak performance it would have beenWill Poulter, who is usually cast as the villain in YA movies. He actually played his character phenomenally well. Adding to the amazingness of this movie was the fact that every performance was on point. They were all on target with the tone of the movie; not one of the performances diverted from the vibe everyone else was giving off. Every actor was on it in every scene. This movie did an incredible thing where they pulled all these actors who have had a big few years as side-characters or as co-stars (with the exception of Leo DeCap) and put them all in a parts where each of their talents are exemplified and made into an incredibly compelling performance. It was so breathtaking how brutal this movie actually was as well; the director makes you sit through a whole lot of hard things only to deliver redemption to the audience in the last hour.

The Shining

This movie was an abomination as an adaptation to the book by Stephen King. I respect the shit out of a good Stephen King movie-adaptation, or that is, I would, if there was one that I could actually like remotely, or even at all. The only Stephen King adaptation I've ever loved was The Stand, which is a three part, 90 minutes each, Netflix series so they could get every damn detail correct. That's my favorite book ever and thank jesus it was good or else I would have cried. I know now that when (if) I watch a Stephen King adaptation that I should not expect much past 'meh'.

Everest

"Never Let Go" the movie poster says, even though they all let go. I saw Everest with two other people and they loved it, however all I could think about was why in the world would anyone want to do that? Especially when they have a family; what in the world is so fun about this thing that looks horrible even when shit doesn't hit the fan? My roommate let me know that people don't do it because it's fun, they do it because they have something to prove to themselves, which just led me full circle to think what about this could be so meaningful people would risk their lives to the degree that 1 in 4 people die on Everest. Despite this very logical stream of thoughts, a bunch a people went to summit Mount Everest in 1994 and pretty much all of them die.

Let Me In

This movie is an adaptation of the Swedish film Let the Right One In. The premise to both the films is that this bullied boy living in suburbia meets this girl who lives with her father but never really leaves her house, and they become friends. The whole thing takes a pretty drastic turn when the audience finds out (before the boy) that the girl is actually a vampire that doesn't age and her "father" is actually just a dude she met that she's been shacked up with and he kills people and gives their blood to the vampire girl so that she doesn't have to kill people.