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shadowstarz89
Reviews
Saved! (2004)
Initially entertaining, eventually disappointing.
I went into this movie expecting an independent, edgy teen satire--which is what it seems to be for the first half. There were many amusing lines, sequences, and Christian jokes(especially by Cassandra). Our main character Mary finds out her boyfriend is gay, "sees" Jesus and he tells her to "save" him by having sex with him. This lead me to believe that the director was attempting to point out a sense of delusion in fundamental Christians. Her boyfriend is sent off to some Jesus prison to be "cleansed", but she finds out she's pregnant--oh, the irony right? Mary then starts to question her faith due to her uncomfortable position, and alienates herself from the popular crowd she once associated with and proceeds onto the misfits. At this point I start to get upset at the cliché direction it's heading, but still maintain a positive outlook. Mary eventually falls for another boy in a typical "teen movie" fashion, and our "bad girl" Cassandra starts to expose another side of herself in another typical "teen movie" fashion. The lines then decline from witty to cheesy, and the plot develops into something minimalistic. Hilary(Mandy Moore) progresses into this nasty rivalry with Mary and her newly found slew on Hilary's part due to her narrow-minded fundamentality. Without becoming too wordy, Saved! then turns into a shudderingly typical teen movie. Everything works out for the characters, the protagonists accept their faults and learn from them, and new friendships are made between everyone--blah, blah, blah, you get the picture. The direction contradicts it's original impression, and then all-the-sudden becomes a preachy "love everyone" message. It's truly upsetting because I thought the first half of this film was pretty funny, but it just turned rotten half-way through. If you can embrace the horrible decline, you can still enjoy a few of the things this flick has to offer.
One Missed Call (2008)
Pitiful
I went into this expecting an awful movie. I've read the atrocious reviews--which were to the point of legendary status, and I figured this must be so bad it's entertaining. That's simply not the case.
Everything about this movie is bad--everything. In fact, if I were to be teaching a class on what NOT to do in a horror film(or any film), I would show this film as an example. The director's usage of color and light leaves a confusing mood, because he doesn't seem to know what he's doing. The camera work is horrible, unoriginal, and cheesy--but not as bad as the soundtrack is. Direction in this film is unstable, chaotic, and incomplete. All this aside though, the worst aspect of this "film"(I have trouble even calling it that because it would fail a college film class) isn't the terrible acting nor the laughable "special effects." Nope, the worst part about this disaster is the "plot." Indeed, I don't think I've ever encountered a movie with more plot holes, unanswered questions, unrelated scenes, anti-climatic scenarios, or such a ridiculous ending(aside from Black Circle Boys).
The "plot" has something to do with some girl who gets cut by her sister, and her mother caught her in the act. However, the mother "should have known" apparently and it never explains why, so you're left to assume she's just a little deviant. Oh, I should mention she(evil little girl) also has asthma and apparently carries it on into her murderous afterlife, because our emotionless main character "hears" this behind her throughout the movie. And the whole reason people hear their death is because this little girl died trying to call her mother, after running out retainer fuel in her locked room. However it's the mother that's been leaving candy in the victims because she's such a nice lady. LAME.
The ending was just appalling. Mother comes to rescue the main character for some apparent reason, but "oh no," the ghost girl calls again at the end. Why? WHY? You never know why because these victims were chosen at random, but were "ironically" all friends of each other. You'd think they'd tie this in like they caught the hospital on fire or something, which wouldn't work because that whole scene was irrelevant. It's crap like this that's given horror films such a bad reputation in the modern cinema. Go spend money on pull-tabs or scratchers--you'll get much more excitement than seeing this.
Smiley Face (2007)
An air of innovation verses your typical run-of-the-mill stoner movie.
I've read a lot of angry comments about this movie, claiming it's "bashing" on "stoners" and anti-pot propaganda. This is not the case. If you're familiar with Araki's directing and themes in creating movies, it would be easy to recognize this as a satire. Obviously things of this extreme nature don't happen to people who smoke pot, but I like my comedies to have an entertaining plot. This movie would be horrible if all the protagonist did was lay around high in her home.
Unlike most "stoner movies," this one stands out as being one of the most original ones I can recall. There are elements of great artistic direction--which is often neglected in many pot related movies, and their are numerous political metaphors. I mean seriously, how often is "Marxism" and the Communist Manifesto brought into comedies?
Many people will say this is "stupid," which seems like an oxymoron regarding a movie about weed. Indeed, there's incredible silliness and ridiculous over-the-top decisions, but that's the point of this movie(and not to mention Farris' character to begin with). Araki introduces subtle, witty imagery while simultaneously producing an enjoyable slapstick comedy.