FRAILTY

[clobberintime]

Took time off from the 100 years war with Meth last night and watched Frailty with the wife. Very good flick - I had never heard of it until FF mentioned it. A little slow in the middle but the ending definitely made it all worth while - never could have predicted the final outcome. I do like my horror a little more gruesome though so some actual footage of the ax chopping would have been fun. Had a hint of one of my favorites in it though - Texas Chainsaw- since it took place in texas and involved a family killing spree! Also had a very good bottle of wine with it - Kendall Jackson Pinot Noir and was barely able to stay up to see the White Stripes on SNL. First i have seen of SNL this year and was not impressed but the stripes were very good!

[comicinvestor-migration]

never could have predicted the final outcome.

 

You should be glad, since I knew what was up about 20-30 minutes in, and it ruined the suspense of last 2/3 of the movie. I thought it was pretty obvious, all except for his occupation, which was a bit unexpected (I suspected a friend covering there).

 

Still, a neat movie, as long as you don't look at it logically and realize it was quite a long-winded, and overly dramatic method of going from Point A to B (especially compared to the others).

 

I'm leaving the above generic, so I don't ruin it for anyone else.

[comicinvestor-migration]

On another note, have you ever seen Shattered? That stands as the only "mystery" movie that I totally missed the boat on, and did a serious double-take at the end (my wife got a kick out of genius boy getting stumped).

 

It ticked me off too, since there were adequate clues as to what was really going on, yet it still caught me on the chin.

[clobberintime]

it has been a while but that is a great movie. Another kind of mystery-type movie I liked was Shock to the System with M. Caine. I have talked about Mulholland Drive before and still can not figure it out! A mystery that is un-understandable is something i don't need - too much of that in the real world! Speaking of good mystery type shows , I just saw an ad for the new year of 24 on Fox - I was completely addicted last year and that show had some great twists! What I meant that I did not expect in frailty was that he actually had some kind of "powers" or the police thing at the end. But one of my all time favorite mystery/ film noir's is Blood Simple which i have not seen in awhile. i also like the old 40s and 50s movies like that - have seen Double Indemnity and the Blue Dahlia on TCM recently - not to mention Rita Hayworth in Gilda( I have to see that for Rita evry time it comes on!)

[comicinvestor-migration]

I did not expect in frailty was that he actually had some kind of "powers" or the police thing at the end.

 

Yeah, that police thing caught me off guard as well, as I just assumed a "good old boy" at the station was covering for him. Once the "burial and ambulance" part was mentioned, I was quite confident as to who the protagonist was (pretty logical, if you think of the current residents of the Rose Garden), as well as the identity of the villain he was looking to ace.

 

I thought it was straight-forward concerning the powers, especially when you look at the experience from the differing POV's of the two boys, as well as understanding who Matthew M is, and how he may color the story for effect.

 

The only thing that bothered me was that the story propped up and artificially created a movie, as a quick "knock, knock.. hello... BANG!" would have been all that's needed (and it worked quite well the other times), though it wouldn't have made a very good flick.

 

I haven't seen Shock to the System (thanks for the tip) or Mulholland Drive yet, though the last one is on my must-watch list. I hear it's pretty whacked and I really hope it makes my brain work as hard as Memento did.

 

After that one (which got me a shot in the shoulder from my wife, for giving the plot half-way through ) I was wired for a few days. I felt that was a movie really pushed my deductive talents (it had an absolute ton of info to process), and if Mul. Drive is even close, I'll be one very happy camper.

[clobberintime]

The problem with M.D. is that it is not told in sequence - the different plot twists are kind of jumbled but not as coherently as let's say Pulp Fiction. It was an entertaining movie but hard to figure out. I believe the last time i talked about it, Supapimp understood the movie pretty well and actually had a few links to diiscussion and explanations of the movie. But pimpy is probably too busy for any such discussions right now - he is probably entering the witness protection program so Dr. Kooky can't fly out to Cali and throttle him or whatever he is threatening to do! Must be the fumes from all that comic book coloring stuff or the roids that have effected his brain!

[comicinvestor-migration]

I'll nab it this week and let you know what I think. If Lynch can pull one over on me, then my hat's off to him.

[Guest]

On another note, have you ever seen Shattered? That stands as the only "mystery" movie that I totally missed the boat on, and did a serious double-take at the end

Shattered is great! It's a movie I recommend to anyone who feels they can see every plot twist a mile away. Have you been able to find it on DVD, CI?

[comicinvestor-migration]

Have you been able to find it on DVD, CI?

 

Not yet, but I'm always scouring the "new arrivals" over at Walmart, which I have found to be the best method of aquiring hard-to-find DVDs at bargain basement prices.

 

And I agree on the movie as a great choice for a real plot twister, as I always figure a movie out very early on, but this one was a real killer. It's especially good that when you watch it the second time, you can see the "seemingly-blatant" hints they leave along the way.

[chrisco37]

Agree w/ you, CI.....Shattered is definately a great flick (and not too well known among the people I know). Great ending, and like you said, enough clues that you'll go, "Aha!", but you'd have to be pretty slick to figure that one out. Also, thanks for mentioning Momento, easily one of the best movies of the past 5-10 years. Haven't checked out Mulholland Drive yet, but anything David Lynch is on my list. Blue Velvet is one of the best 'films' ever made!

 

Chris

[comicartfan]

I had seen Fraility in the movie theatre with my girlfriend and was totatlly blown away !!! - I have been a movie buff for my whole life and have worked in several video stores during high school and college. I recommend a few hidden gems are similar :

 

Last Seduction

Red Rock West

Black & Blue

The Vanishing (the orignal French Verison)