Category Archives: Could Be Hard To Watch

2002, Could Be Hard To Watch, Horror, Suspense, Violent

28 Days Later (2002)

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From NetFlix:

A killer virus (it turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs) is accidentally released from a British research facility. Carried by animals and humans, the virus is impossible to contain and spreads across the entire planet. Twenty-eight days later, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected.

Thanks to Brian St. Pierre (my personal trainer at Cressey Performance) for suggesting this film directed by Danny Boyle. Since this film got an R rating for violence, nudity, language, and gore , it sounds like a winner.

You’ve seen this theme before in several guises: Charlton Heston in “The Omega Man” and Will Smith in “I Am Legend”. The prototypical plot is that most of the world population has disappeared or is fatally inflicted with some dread malady except for one or several protagonists who must reach some safe refuge where there is still hope. And so far this describes “28 Days Later”. But wait … there’s more! Usually reaching that safe refuge is the end of movie. But in this case that safe refuge is only the half-way point. Plot is important and I will say no more.

On the down side there is an awful lot of running and fighting in dark passages with enraged mutants. These scuffles are part of the plot but could be tiresome.

So tell me, if your loved one suddenly becomes infected with this rage and will therefore bite you so that you too beome infected, would you immediately kill that loved one ? Now are you interested ?

1000NYTimes, 1001BeforeDie, 100Unknown, Classic, Could Be Hard To Watch, German, Unusual, Violent

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

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From NetFlix:

In the mid-16th century, after annihilating the Incan empire, Gonzalo Pizarro
leads his army of conquistadors over the Andes in search of the fabled City of
Gold, El Dorado. As Pizarro’s soldiers battle starvation, Indians, the forces of
nature and each other, Don Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski), ‘The Wrath of God,’
is consumed with visions of conquering all South America and leads his own army
on a doomed quest into oblivion.

All three film catalogs rave about this film. In fact it is one of a kind, slow, and mesmerizing.

First some history: Pizarro sends a “small” task force to continue down th Amazon to find the City of Gold. The commander Pedro de Ursua and his aide, Lope de Aguirre, take soldiers (always in metal battle gear), one priest, Inca slaves, cannon, horses, and two noble women carried in a covered transport box down the mountain and eventually on rafts in the Amazon. Aguirre murders Ursua in an act of mutiny and forces the others, by force of his homocidal mania, to continue on to find the City of Gold. Much of this we know from the priest’s diary. The end is conjecture.

The marvel is that these poor actors had to live and suffer just as the historical figures did. Werner Herzog, the megalomaniacal director, was a fanatic that insisted on realism. Aquirre, played by Klaus Kinski, is obviously “nuts” from the get-go. At one point Kinski tried to flee the jungle and Herzog brandished a pistol and promised to kill Kinski if he escaped.

Just sit and watch this “happening”. It is slow, beautiful, and unforgettable. Hearing Spaniards speaking in German is admittedly a bit unusual, but there are English subtitles.

Violent, not for children. But a genuine screen classic.

2008, Could Be Hard To Watch, Suspense, Underdogs win, Violent

Changeling (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie, in an Oscar-nominated role) is overjoyed when her young kidnapped son Walter is brought back home. But when Christine suspects that the Walter who was returned to her isn’t her actual child, the police captain (Jeffrey Donovan) has her committed to an asylum. John Malkovich co-stars as the crusading reverend who comes to Christine’s rescue in this gripping, 1920s-set drama helmed by ace director Clint Eastwood.

As soon as the movie began I stayed on the edge of my seat. It’s one of those films where the injustices are almost too much to believe. In fact only the script kept me glued because I was quickly disappointed in Angelina Jolie’s acting. Could it be that her forte is slithering almost naked out of the water with a long tail as she did in Beowulf ? Even John Malkovitch seemed to be reading his lines.

Read in Wikipedia about the true Wineville Chicken Coop Murders which the film follows carefully. At the end of the film there are follow-up lines saying what happened to the various characters in real life. Unfortunately, I was unable to read them. If any of you can read those lines, I would appreciate knowing what they said.

Not for children because of scenes of serial murdering and forced electric shocks used as torture by the psychiatrist in the pay of the LAPD. Tell me, has the LAPD ever cleaned up its act ?

2003, Could Be Hard To Watch, Detective, Revenge, Violent

Mystic River (2003)

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From NetFlix:

Three childhood friends, Sean (Kevin Bacon), Dave (Tim Robbins)
and Jimmy (Sean Penn) are reunited in Boston 25 years later when
they are linked together in the murder investigation of Jimmy’s
daughter. This taut thriller from director Clint Eastwood won
two acting Oscars (for Robbins and Penn) and was nominated for
several more in its exploration of human behavior when faced
with pain just beneath the surface, justified rage and scars
that never heal.

Set and filmed in Boston, this recreation of Dennis Lehane’s novel (which is a really good read) met with great success. It is a dark plot complete with child abuse, murder, and revenge. Sean Penn becomes the character completely. I think it was this film that first made me appreciate Marcia Gay Harden. Do not expect this “don’t miss it” film to end happily.

2003, Could Be Hard To Watch, FilmReview, Violent

Veronica Guerin (2003)

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From NetFlix:

    Veronica Guerin (Cate Blanchett), a real-life reporter for
    Dublin’s Sunday Independent, delved into the netherworld
    of drug lords in pursuit of a great story — but her zeal
    put her life in grave danger. Gerard McSorley and Brenda
    Fricker co-star in this Joel Schumacher-directed drama based
    on events in the acclaimed Irish journalist’s life.

Lately I have lucked out and inadvertently chosen really good
films. Most films don’t deserve a rave. So if I seem to be
raving (mad) lately, it is for a reason.

“Veronica Guerin” is a powerful, tense, inspiring film. Cate
Blanchett is a warm, justifiably frightened, brave reporter.
This is a true story complete with vicious, unscrupulous drug
lords. It’s not a western but the bad guys are easy to spot.

The violence excludes children from watching. The tension
might not be easy for some viewers. I will refrain from
giving away the true ending which as usual in the real
world is a mixture of horror and triumph.

Keep a watchful eye. Colin Farrell gets a 15 second walk-on
discussion with Cate about soccer. By 2003 his career was
well established. I wonder why he would do the walk-on or if
they even paid him for it. The walk-in added nothing  to the film.

I won’t keep saying this but in this case:
DO NOT MISS THIS FILM!

1990, Could Be Hard To Watch, Horror, Not Feel Good, Revenge, Stephen King, Suspense, Violent

Misery (1990)

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From NetFlix:

In this creepy thriller based on Stephen King’s book, Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) rescues her idol, romance novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan), after a horrible car accident. But she morphs from nurturing caregiver to sadistic jailer upon discovering that Sheldon plans to kill off his literary heroine, Misery, in his next volume. Bates’s disturbing performance as the psychotic Annie netted her a Best Actress Oscar.

The book is quite good especially compared to the movie. The movie vaguely resembles the book but still offers the same roller coaster ride. It’s just fun at a B level. Kathy Bates as the crazy captor and James Caan as the captive are a hoot. Bring along your strong stomach for some of the violence.

1001BeforeDie, 2007, Could Be Hard To Watch, Could Be Sad, Feel Good Not For Children, German, Redemption, Revenge

The Lives of Others (2007)

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From NetFlix:

Set in 1980s East Berlin, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s debut feature (which earned an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film) provides an exquisitely nuanced portrait of life under the watchful eye of the state police as a high-profile couple is bugged. When a successful playwright and his actress companion become subjects of the Stasi’s secret surveillance program, their friends, family and even those doing the watching find their lives changed too.

For me this compelling film (recommended in “1001 Films To See Before You Die”) was a “feel good” because it has the most memorable and wonderful ending. In between there is a lot of sadness. Also the film is somewhat illustrative of the phrase “the banality of evil”. Not that those times were easy: the Stasi blackmailed ordinary people into spying on their neighbors.

The banality of evil is a phrase coined by Hannah Arendt and incorporated in the title of her 1963 work Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. It describes the thesis that the great evils in history generally, and the Holocaust in particular, were not executed by fanatics or sociopaths but rather by ordinary people who accepted the premises of their state and therefore participated with the view that their actions were normal. This concept has it critics. See The Banality Of Evil

1001BeforeDie, 2007, Biographical, Could Be Hard To Watch, DO NOT MISS, French, Not Feel Good

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

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From NetFlix:

In 1995, author and Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby suffered a stroke that put him in a coma; he awakened mute and completely paralyzed. Mathieu Amalric stars in this adaptation of Bauby’s autobiography, which he dictated by blinking. Julian Schnabel was nominated for the 2008 Best Director Oscar and won the Golden Globe in the same category for his poignant film about the strength of the human spirit.

This film (one of the “1001 Films To See Before You Die”) is the true story of an editor of “Elle” who suffered a stroke and descended into locked-in syndrome. All he could do was move his left eyelid. His ultra-patient caretakers devised a method of communication with him. Using that he wrote a small book “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” which Julian Schnabel made into this film.. You might want to read that short book. It might be difficult or unpleasant to imagine how it would be to be trapped in such a manner. Unfortunately I came away disliking Bauby. In the film he is cruel, even in his reduced state, to the woman who loves him even while she is helping him. Any comments on this ?

1001BeforeDie, 2006, Could Be Hard To Watch, Spanish, Violent

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

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From NetFlix:

In this fairy tale for adults, 10-year-old Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) stumbles on a decaying labyrinth guarded by Pan (Doug Jones), an ancient satyr who claims to know her destiny. With a new home, a new stepfather (Sergi Lopez) — a Fascist officer in the pro-Franco army — and a new sibling on the way, nothing is familiar to Ofelia in this multiple Oscar-winning tale set in 1944 Spain from director Guillermo del Toro.

In “1001 Films to See Before You Die”, this film is recommended as probably the best film by Mexican directory Guillermo del Toro. The film has a split personality: half is the suffering and torture due to Ofilia’s stepfather who is a bitter and twisted member of General Franco’s fascist army; the other half is the fantasy world to which Ofilia escapes in order to get away from the ugly realities. So, yes, there is violence and some torture. And also there are some memorable fantastic special effects scenes. Not for children.

1001BeforeDie, 2006, Acceptable Trash, Comedy, Could Be Hard To Watch, Gay theme, Unusual, Vulgar

Borat (2006)

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From NetFlix:

Fans of the HBO comedy series “Da Ali G Show” will be delighted to join one of their favorite characters — the Kazakhstani reporter Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen, in a Golden Globe-winning role) — as he travels to America to report on the “greatest country in the world.” Camera in tow, the boorish journalist sets off on his cross-country road trip, but his original purpose is soon subsumed by a much greater quest — finding and marrying actress Pamela Anderson.

If you think Mel Brooks (think “Blazing Saddles”) was politically incorrect, wait until you watch “Borat” which has the dubious distinction of offending the entire planet. Let’s call this film “acceptable trash” although I admit it is really funny in some parts. At other times I could hardly believe what I was seeing in a film. Today fims show extreme violence as comedy (“Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels”) as well as explicit sex as comedy (“Choke”). So bad taste as comedy has become part of our culture. For another discussion see the Wikipedia Borat article.

Recall that in each scene there is a camera somewhere. Consider, therefore, the “healing” fundamentalist revival service. What was in the minds of the congregation during the filming ? Was this whole thing just a put-on ?

In any case, you are warned that you too might be offended by this film which, believe it or not, is one of the “1001 Films To See Before You Die”.