hypnopaedia Reviews

The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

Potentially good, instead just okay.

[25 June 2001]

Pretty interesting movie in general, but with some flaws. While watching, I was continuously being reminded of other movies (which is a bad thing). I know that The Thirteenth Floor didn't rip off these other movies, but it did stumble into its share of cliches. When Armin Mueler-Stahl is walking in and everyone greets him even though he doesn't know them; reminded me of The Graduate with Benjamin at the hotel. The scene when the cop pulls over Ashton and finds the body in the trunk reminded me of just about every movie. And the idea that their world was artificially created and their is an end point signifying a fake world, definitely reminded me of Dark City. Finally, the dumb chase scene near the end where the elevator door is closing and Bierko just barely gets his hand in to prevent it. Bullets fly and it's a shame.

There was one really cool thing that I noticed. The same song that the band is playing in a '30s scene is again played by a live band in a '90s scene when Bierko and Mol are dancing. Very nice special effects too. The acting was good, with the main characters sometimes acting in three different roles. For a great movie with Bierko in it, see Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas; Bierko is simply hilarious in the scenes that he appears.

The ideas that the movie presented were very interesting. I wish the writer and director would have followed the philosophical implications instead of what they did. It should have showed the hopelessness and despair that the characters of the artificial world would now be going through, for example; the cop (who throws in his share of dumb lines), instead of the lovely and uplifting final scene. It would have made for a much more powerful ending. So, good; but could have been better. Worth your time though.

Lenny (1974)

Lenny's a movie star????

[13 June 2001]

When I first put this movie in I thought I knew what to expect. I expected a good movie with a great actor in Dustin Hoffman. Well, as soon as it started and there is Hoffman's first dialogue through the credits, I was blown away. It was as if Lenny was starring in the film. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. Hoffman and Valerie Perrine gave excellent performances. It is almost inconceivable to imagine the preparation and training that Hoffman must have gone through to get Lenny down. I don't know who beat out Hoffman for the best actor award in 1974, but I can't imagine it being a more convincing performance than this.

And the use of black and white was great. The movie did give Lenny the appreciation that he deserved, mainly by showing his troubled personal life and his troubles with the law. The movie portrayed the trouble and basically harassment that Lenny went through when he voiced his observations of society, which were true, but weren't quite ready to be heard yet. The only fault (if at all) of the film is that it didn't quite show Lenny's genius in what he did. It definitely showed his potential but not quite his brilliance. But this might be because it was a biography of sorts of his life which included his personal and public life. I suppose if the movie just focused on his comedic talents; than his genius would have been obvious, but that wasn't the focus of the film. All in all this is an excellent movie in what it attempted to do. It accomplished what it set out to do and that's what counts.

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

Nielsen/Sellers???

[8/10 · 5 June 2001]

Classic comedy by makers of "Airplane." Nielsen is so good as Lt. Drebin. Great spoof of cheesy detective films and romance ones too (see life size condom scene). So many great parts. My favorite: when Hocken says there is a 10 % chance of there being a 50/50 chance of Nordberg recovering. This is truly great comedy, reminiscent of Peter Sellers as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. I'm split between Sellers and Nielsen and the Pink Panthers and Naked Guns, as to which are better. Who cares, their all great.

Fight Club (1999)

Radical and Original

[10/10 · 11 March 2001]

Violence? Essentially none compared to Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator and many other recent films. Critics see an opportunity to jump all over this movie for its violence when in fact it is it's various themes, which threaten the establishment, that are the problem to them. People are not used to Hollywood putting out a movie that reflects society and its various members' feelings, they are uncomfortable with that. And they usually do a good job of stopping these kinds of films from being made. They would rather a happy, repetitive and empty film than an honest one. But there is a segment of the population that looks for the original and different film.

This film is mocking society and it's pretty sad the length it has to go to do this. Getting beaten to a pulp is the last resort to life that Jack sees in this early twenty-first century age. Society says we should graduate from high school, go to college, get a well-paying job, get married, then have kids, but something seems to be missing to Jack while in the job stage of life, he is emotionally empty, numb and to top that off he has insomnia. So to get some emotional feeling and contact and to possibly get some sleep, he attends support groups where each group has a different illness, which Jack has none of, but goes for a shot at life, an opportunity to live. Now it is true that Jack isn't suffering with the various cancers within each group but nonetheless Jack is suffering. Jack is suffering from insomnia, he's confused and he's unhappy. So to treat these ailments he attends the support groups. So along with the other support group-goers Jack is attempting to heal a problem. After a few months he sees a fellow "tourist" named Marla who goes to the support groups and also has none of the illnesses. So now Jack is again unable to sleep, so he tells Marla his problem and from then on they agree to attend different support groups.

Fight Club is great in so many ways. For example: this was one of the first movies to use photogrammetry, which is the shots you see going through the building floors then into the van with the bomb in it. The cool sex scene in the movie is also done by the use of photogrammetry. Photogrammetry was also used for the footage of the apartment blowing up: zooming into the stove and into the back of the refrigerator. Fight Club definitely has the most original story of at least the past couple of years; the protagonist's real name is never given; that's different and interesting. This movie challenges everything about current-day society: whether it is corporate influence, or modern living, or being a sheep in a herd, or any of the other subjects that are addressed in the film. This movie ends with a great song too, "Where Is My Mind?" by the Pixies, appropriate title too. The intro into the film is amazing as well - the brain ride. The music compliments the movie so well and fits in great with the whole modern-day age theme.

For the people who are uncomfortable with Fight Club and people who find it offensive. These people obviously have problems of their own that need to be addressed. As Edward Norton said, "Art reflects the flaws of society" and if people are uncomfortable with this then they are the problem. These people are perfectly comfortable with a movie like Saving Private Ryan that shows limbs flying off, faces ripped off, torsos blown off, etc. but they can't handle a fist to an eye. And it's a willing fist to an eye, both fighters realize they are going to get hit and they want that. Whereas in Saving Private Ryan the people getting shot do not want to get hit, there is a difference. It just shows the contradictory views that these conservatives hold, totally partial to one thing over another. What decides what type of bloodshed is acceptable? The answer is what the bloodshed is representing (what that particular movie is about). In the case of Saving Private Ryan it was patriotic bloodshed, non-threatening bloodshed, acceptable bloodshed, but in Fight Club the bloodshed was part of a type of radicalism that was deemed a threat by the establishment whether it be Hollywood, the corporations, or the government. That is where censorship comes in, the free flowing of ideas, which is completely necessary for a healthy democracy. When censors start to flex their muscle that's when some form of communism or fascism makes its appearance. With one critic calling Fight Club fascist, I say censoring an idea is fascist (an example most obvious in the case of Brazil where Terry Gilliam almost could not get the movie released). If you don't like Fight Club or the ideas it presents then don't watch it, but don't decide for others if it is acceptable to watch or not.

A few insights that I gained: the car company that Jack worked for is Ford Motor Company. This is shown in the scene when Jack beats himself up in front of his boss and they quickly show a glimpse of the letters "FMC" on his boss's business card, which would refer to Ford Motor Company. Jack got over his TV addiction that he and so many Americans have. This shows that to live you have to lose that addiction. Upon reflecting, Tyler is so free in the ways that most (and almost all people) aren't. Tyler doesn't have a car, doesn't have bills, doesn't have pointless possessions, he doesn't work everyday to pay for his new $25,000 car, he's free. The rejection of material possessions is one important idea to take away from the film, if nothing else.