(no subject)
Jun. 7th, 2010 12:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fredericksGrandma is still in the hospital, but she's feeling tons better and managed solid food all day. The docs are just waiting to see if input=output without distress before discharging her, and I'm all for that. Mom threw a hissy fit over the fact that I didn't purchase travel insurance, which wtf!, it isn't her money anyway. She started up on her usual crazylooneytunes after implying that I didn't bother to ask the travel folks about the feasibility of getting my money back (again, 1)she's nutty, 2)none of her bloody business, and 3) she seriously thinks I have the mental capacity of something that lacks mental capacity), so I ended up leaving the house for the city earlier than I'd initially planned. Made my way to Macy's and found a nice dinner dress. Not the one I'd drooled over yesterday but one I think cute and worthy enough to be worn on the day I hit three decades. I then met up with Littlest Bro and went to see the new movie Splice.
Splice. I just, yeah. There are no words.
No, you know? Fuck that. I'm going to dig deep and try to find words, working my way past the WTF face I wore as I left the theatre. I was excited about this movie because of the B+ rating it'd gotten from The Onion's AV Club. Which makes what I sat through for 90-plus minutes that much more disappointing (and way to cause a loss of faith, AV Folk). . The two protagonists of the story were biochemists, a young het. couple working for a pharmaceutical company.
Here's the background that was established about the female character, Elisa:
1. she wasn't interested in raising children,
2. she came from an unstable single parent (mother) home where she most likely was abused in some fashion,
3. her mother suffered from a mental illness, but
4. was dead or missing and Elisa now owned the farm on which they'd lived,
5. she reflected on a lost childhood or ruminated on adolescence by pulling out a box of toys and playthings on the occasion.
Here's the background on the male character, Clive :
1. He had a brother who worked with/for him on splicing projects for the pharmaceutical company
2. He wanted kids eventually
3. His brother thought Elisa had him wrapped around her fingers
Honestly, the male protagonist is so poorly fleshed out (played by Adrien Brody) that I'd actually forgotten his name and had to look it up on IMDB. On the other hand, Elisa is quite obviously a somewhat unstable element herself, who doesn't want to raise kids but has no problem playing with the dubious ethics involved with her and her boyfriend's line of work in order to produce a kid to play with for the short term.
But the plot: the biochemists splice animal DNA to make lifeforms that will allow for the production of marketable drug derivates. They're told that the focus of their research has shifted from the area they wanted, and so they talk about what they *want* to do - splice animal DNA with human DNA. Elisa decides to actually attempt it and the cypher of a character Clive does nothing to stop her. Because he's weak, you see. Emasculated by the temptress E(ve))lisa and led down a deadly path. What's produced is a creature that's part human, part question mark. It's birthed during a dramatic sequence (and director Vincenzo Natali is nothing if not anvilicious with the foreshadowing - the creature literally ends up biting the hand of the person who metaphorically and literally feeds it when it chomps down on Elisa's hand before emerging from its artificial womb). The two of them end up raising the semi-intelligent rapidly aging creature until things go wrong.
Things that go wrong:
1. Clive finds out Elisa used her DNA to create the creature (Dren).
2. Elisa starts taking out her mother issues on Dren. Emotional and physical abuse? Very much evident. Again, Clive is more or less useless to stop it. Or add anything, really.
3. Dren develops feelings for Clive. Clive is useless. In a couple of sequences that, for me, brought to mind Woody Allen and Soon Yi Previn, it's revealed that Clive is physically attracted to Dren (he says she looks like Elisa, I say call CPS immediately) and then Dren and Clive have sex. Which Elisa interrupts.
4. Elisa and Clive get busted, Dren goes apeshit, people get killed, Dren changes gender (not a surprise as it's set up about halfway through the film) and then rapes Elisa.
Yes. Elisa gets raped. Just. Yeah. Some rage from me at this point, because I couldn't help but think it was played as a bit of comeuppance for her actions during the earlier portion of the movie. Dren is killed, cue last five minutes of movie. Where Elisa is alone and obviously pregnant, selling something to the pharmaceutical company. It's possible the child she's carrying is from the spliced creature and she's planning on selling the child or fetus to the company. It's also possible it's from the dead Clive, as Elisa and Clive were shown on-screen having (implied) unprotected sex as Dren looked on (editing made it appear that only Clive was aware Dren was witness to the sexual episode which, yeah), and Elisa is selling her knowledge of the events that transpired.
When the credits roll you end up hating EVERYONE who you've encountered during the film. No one had redeeming qualities, no one had any moral sense. And, after sitting through the rape scene, if you don't hate the director/writer I think you're doing something wrong.
Were there bits of humor thrown in there? Yes, particularly at the beginning, before you realized how despicable all the characters were. Everything else was WTF WTF WTF!! I'd watch this movie again to foster discussion, but I can't even think about MST3King it. Seriously, WTF.
Splice. I just, yeah. There are no words.
No, you know? Fuck that. I'm going to dig deep and try to find words, working my way past the WTF face I wore as I left the theatre. I was excited about this movie because of the B+ rating it'd gotten from The Onion's AV Club. Which makes what I sat through for 90-plus minutes that much more disappointing (and way to cause a loss of faith, AV Folk). . The two protagonists of the story were biochemists, a young het. couple working for a pharmaceutical company.
Here's the background that was established about the female character, Elisa:
1. she wasn't interested in raising children,
2. she came from an unstable single parent (mother) home where she most likely was abused in some fashion,
3. her mother suffered from a mental illness, but
4. was dead or missing and Elisa now owned the farm on which they'd lived,
5. she reflected on a lost childhood or ruminated on adolescence by pulling out a box of toys and playthings on the occasion.
Here's the background on the male character, Clive :
1. He had a brother who worked with/for him on splicing projects for the pharmaceutical company
2. He wanted kids eventually
3. His brother thought Elisa had him wrapped around her fingers
Honestly, the male protagonist is so poorly fleshed out (played by Adrien Brody) that I'd actually forgotten his name and had to look it up on IMDB. On the other hand, Elisa is quite obviously a somewhat unstable element herself, who doesn't want to raise kids but has no problem playing with the dubious ethics involved with her and her boyfriend's line of work in order to produce a kid to play with for the short term.
But the plot: the biochemists splice animal DNA to make lifeforms that will allow for the production of marketable drug derivates. They're told that the focus of their research has shifted from the area they wanted, and so they talk about what they *want* to do - splice animal DNA with human DNA. Elisa decides to actually attempt it and the cypher of a character Clive does nothing to stop her. Because he's weak, you see. Emasculated by the temptress E
Things that go wrong:
1. Clive finds out Elisa used her DNA to create the creature (Dren).
2. Elisa starts taking out her mother issues on Dren. Emotional and physical abuse? Very much evident. Again, Clive is more or less useless to stop it. Or add anything, really.
3. Dren develops feelings for Clive. Clive is useless. In a couple of sequences that, for me, brought to mind Woody Allen and Soon Yi Previn, it's revealed that Clive is physically attracted to Dren (he says she looks like Elisa, I say call CPS immediately) and then Dren and Clive have sex. Which Elisa interrupts.
4. Elisa and Clive get busted, Dren goes apeshit, people get killed, Dren changes gender (not a surprise as it's set up about halfway through the film) and then rapes Elisa.
Yes. Elisa gets raped. Just. Yeah. Some rage from me at this point, because I couldn't help but think it was played as a bit of comeuppance for her actions during the earlier portion of the movie. Dren is killed, cue last five minutes of movie. Where Elisa is alone and obviously pregnant, selling something to the pharmaceutical company. It's possible the child she's carrying is from the spliced creature and she's planning on selling the child or fetus to the company. It's also possible it's from the dead Clive, as Elisa and Clive were shown on-screen having (implied) unprotected sex as Dren looked on (editing made it appear that only Clive was aware Dren was witness to the sexual episode which, yeah), and Elisa is selling her knowledge of the events that transpired.
When the credits roll you end up hating EVERYONE who you've encountered during the film. No one had redeeming qualities, no one had any moral sense. And, after sitting through the rape scene, if you don't hate the director/writer I think you're doing something wrong.
Were there bits of humor thrown in there? Yes, particularly at the beginning, before you realized how despicable all the characters were. Everything else was WTF WTF WTF!! I'd watch this movie again to foster discussion, but I can't even think about MST3King it. Seriously, WTF.
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-07 04:49 am (UTC)I think it will be one that I'll skip. Sorry you had to experience it.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-07 04:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-07 05:36 am (UTC)Because dude. That's not even MST3K material.
Might be in like 40 years though, when they're mocking us back in the day types for our ridiculousness.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-07 05:51 am (UTC)"The film keeps a sometimes too-clinical distance but pushes buttons from afar, including a final act that turns into a series of outrages bound to upset audiences who might have stumbled in expecting the usual monster-of-the-week horror movie instead of this thriving, disturbing, thoughtful mutant of a movie."
Not so much the final act as the final half of the film deviates from a cutesy unconventional family film to WTFville. The start of the train to WTFville? The scene where Clive tries and fails to kill Dren as Elisa (Elsa?) watches unsuspectingly. That sequence alone was pretty interesting in that it revealed tons about the characters and the unraveling of the faith between the protagonists, but then cue lots of rapes and me whimpering in my seat. GAH.
Just because one can doesn't necessarily mean one should. But indie reviewers love "disturbing" because it can be thought-provoking. *shrug*
no subject
Date: 2010-06-07 03:22 pm (UTC)Augh. AUGH.
Way to tank a cool idea, movie!
whoaaaa.
Date: 2010-06-07 12:39 pm (UTC)I am glad you reviewed it because there is no way I'll sit through that now; I'd probably wind up throwing things at the screen and becoming That One Crazy Angry Lady in the Audience, and that would just not be cool. I always feel like movies have pulled a fast one on me when I wind up hating every character.
Re: whoaaaa.
Date: 2010-06-08 11:37 am (UTC)I would say this is a downloader or borrower to see what the fuss is about, if nothing else. I can't see myself plunking money down to rent it.
I always feel like movies have pulled a fast one on me when I wind up hating every character.
I do too. They were all reprehensible, and they didn't start that way at all. The tone shift of the film didn't sit well with me.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-07 03:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-08 11:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-08 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-08 11:46 am (UTC)You know what's bad? I took my baby brother with me to see this. Granted he is 19 and more man than boy at this point, but you don't want to sit through two prolonged sex scenes and a very implied rape next to the person who's diapers you routinely changed. We both left the theatre unable to really discuss or comprehend what we'd seen.
This film gradually became more and more eff'ed up towards the end. And it was marketed incorrectly, like the Ang Lee Hulk: audiences come expecting a traditional gory horror movie and end up with a psychological black comedy/science fiction horror/WTF making piece of cinema. If I was expected what I got in some way shape or form I think I would have left less gobsmacked.