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rayburnsone
Reviews
A Little Trip to Heaven (2005)
twists & turns
I was really surprised by this screening. I had heard of the director's foreign-language movies but never seen them. So I had not much to go on except that I like the actors... I knew it was a thriller of some kind but didn't expect it to be a thinking person's film. Basically, the movie is an investigation into a mysterious death. But the characters involved have layers and secrets to them as well.
Julia Stiles was ravishing as always, Forest Whitaker very convincing, but I was most drawn in by Jeremy Renner. He's a sneaky actor in a good role. Also must mention Peter Coyote, glad to see him in anything.
Anyway, I enjoy movies with twists and turns, and this one had plenty. It was atmospheric and ultimately satisfying.
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
So overrated. Not authentic. Shallow.
A wallowing in a false underbelly. Ellen Burstyn's one-note shrieking, Jared Leto's awful accent - it's fake and annoying. This movie rode a wave of bs hype. I love it when people claim it's authentic. There's nothing authentic about it. It's all surface. And people fell for it. It's a fake, an emperor with no clothes. Stuttering muttering and yelling, nothing happens but actors chewing scenery and a once-talented director indulging masturbatory fantasies. There's no there there. If drug abuse was merely an irritant, this film would have some small merit. But it's a problem with more depth than the filmmaker acknowledged. The director went off the rails for this overrated waste of time.