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The end of the world. Also, music!
Feb. 8th, 2010 02:26 amI saw The Road the other night at my local independent movie theater. I can't say that I enjoyed it, because it's not really the sort of movie one enjoys, but it was extremely good, and I'm glad that I saw it. This is an apocalypse movie that doesn't even bother explaining the mechanism of the destruction, focusing instead on the bleak aftermath of increasingly hopeless survivors in a ravaged landscape. A lot of apocalypse movies (and books and TV shows) feel like adventures; this felt like the end of the world. The scope and thoroughness of the vision of death for the earth and human civilization alike was stunning. Shooting that movie must have involved making odd statements like, "Damn, it's sunny. Gotta shoot inside today." Viggo Mortenson gave an excellent performance. He looked like he had lost a really scary amount of weight for the part. Maybe some of that was effects, because otherwise someone needs to give that man a sandwich, stat. The kid playing his son was also quite good.
The post-apocalyptic landscape where plants no longer grew was populated by people so desperate for food that they'd turned to cannibalism. There are a few really scary and horrifying scenes that gave me some trouble when trying to fall asleep afterwards. It reminded me of the butchers in the Epitaph episodes of Dollhouse or Reavers in Firefly, but these had the extra horror value of having reached that state without any drug or technological brain alteration, changed into monsters just by desperation and the breakdown of social controls. The film was as sad as it was scary. I cried at a scene where Viggo is trying to bring himself to get rid of mementos of his dead wife, then again at the end. Buckets at the end, although oddly enough it was the grace note of a little faint hope (well, not so much hope as less than total devastation) that made me cry the hardest. Overall, this movie is not for the faint-hearted, but for those who can deal with both creepy basements and existential angst it is very much worthwhile.
Meanwhile, I just came across the band Florence + the Machine, and I've rapidly become obsessed. (Note: I live under a rock, and thus sometimes hear about bands and such much later than normal people.) "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" and "The Drumming Song" alternate in continuous rotation in my head, but I can't bring myself to mind. (For one thing, they've finally dislodged "Bad Romance," which has refused to entirely unstick itself from my brain for ages and ages.). Pop music with a harp and unique, sometimes fairytale-like lyrics? Yes, please! Here, have the trippy, beautiful video for "Rabbit Heart."
Other exciting find of the week: the gray tights I bought for an Amy Pond costume for Gallifrey One turn out to be the most comfortable tights I've ever worn. The brand name is Hue, and they are so comfy I didn't want to take them off. Score!
The post-apocalyptic landscape where plants no longer grew was populated by people so desperate for food that they'd turned to cannibalism. There are a few really scary and horrifying scenes that gave me some trouble when trying to fall asleep afterwards. It reminded me of the butchers in the Epitaph episodes of Dollhouse or Reavers in Firefly, but these had the extra horror value of having reached that state without any drug or technological brain alteration, changed into monsters just by desperation and the breakdown of social controls. The film was as sad as it was scary. I cried at a scene where Viggo is trying to bring himself to get rid of mementos of his dead wife, then again at the end. Buckets at the end, although oddly enough it was the grace note of a little faint hope (well, not so much hope as less than total devastation) that made me cry the hardest. Overall, this movie is not for the faint-hearted, but for those who can deal with both creepy basements and existential angst it is very much worthwhile.
Meanwhile, I just came across the band Florence + the Machine, and I've rapidly become obsessed. (Note: I live under a rock, and thus sometimes hear about bands and such much later than normal people.) "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" and "The Drumming Song" alternate in continuous rotation in my head, but I can't bring myself to mind. (For one thing, they've finally dislodged "Bad Romance," which has refused to entirely unstick itself from my brain for ages and ages.). Pop music with a harp and unique, sometimes fairytale-like lyrics? Yes, please! Here, have the trippy, beautiful video for "Rabbit Heart."
Other exciting find of the week: the gray tights I bought for an Amy Pond costume for Gallifrey One turn out to be the most comfortable tights I've ever worn. The brand name is Hue, and they are so comfy I didn't want to take them off. Score!
