This is a entry I made for a writing contest on another site. It required everyone to use the same opening (the first paragraph and the first line of dialogue) and it had to be 500 words or less. Many others had already done horror stories, so I had to do something else...here you go.
Dim lights played across their bodies, shadows dancing with every small movement they made. Kissing her soft red lips and looking into her eyes, he broke the quiet that had settled over them both.
"Don't marry him."
A thin blade of light shone through by the edge of the dirty curtain, lighting her face up as she looked towards it. Like she half expected it was her fiance pulling up. Her lover stared at her face, a beauty only he truly saw. To others she was plain but to him, breathtaking. But his heart ran cold as he looked; she had the look of a criminal facing trial. A strange mix of fear and guilt he had never seen before in her. Certainly not love… He silenced the thought before it could sink in.
“Don’t marry him, just leave. Be with me.”
He smiled at her as he realized this was the moment he had longed for. She wasn’t happy, not with her fiance, he was the one for her. He loved her, and he knew he always had. If things had only been different. So much wasted time, so many things left unsaid.
In the back of the small motel room a radio was just barley audible. Some generic light-rock band singing about love. Cliche, but it made the man feel stronger. The music gave him some courage.
After a long wait she finally spoke…“I can’t…I mean, I don’t know what to think right now. What will everyone think?”
“Who cares what they think!” There was a hint of panic in his voice. “ Don’t you love me?”
“Yes of course I do. I just…why can’t things just stay like this? I’m happy, aren’t you?”
He considered this for a moment. Was he happy? Not like this.
“Things can’t stay like this. If you love me we can just go, start somewhere new. Just us.”
“I love you but…I love him more.”
He sat silent, not wanting to even move. But he knew it was over.
“I’m sorry, for everything…”
He got up and left the room. He never looked back.Driving away he turns on his radio. Hoping the music will wash over him, anything to forget. First song to come on is “What if we could” by Blue October. The irony isn’t lost on him; in fact it’s the only thing keeping him listening. It’s as if it were his song.
“I’m glad to say that we met, but I’m sad to say that the circumstances weren’t on our side”
But is that it. Was it really the circumstances, or was it him? Deep thoughts, only broken by the feeling of a single tear rolling down his face. He wipes it away and scolds himself. He won’t giver her anymore. He had given her everything, his body, his mind, his heart. But she had never been his, not really…
The music filled him, but sometimes it’s better just to let go.
He turned off the radio.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Best of 2007 Review No Country For Old Men and There will Be Blood
Ok this may seem a bit late but I just want to give my own personal best of 2007 review. I’m going to breaking down No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood now that I have finally seen both, and have had time to really think about them. Also note this is not a comparison style review and don’t expect a top three towards the end. If you like the top three just wait for my next review, if you don’t know what I’m talking about feel free to check out my other reviews ;)
Lets start with No Country for Old Men as it was the first one I watched. The plot is, in essence, a simple one. Llewelyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin) stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong where he finds two million dollars. He takes the money and is now on the run from ultra badass Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who is willing to kill anyone to get the money back. There is of course more to it but I don’t want to spoil anything. There is also an almost side-plot where we follow Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) as he discovers all the carnage Chigurh leaves in his wake. He always arrives just a little too late but is very important to the story because he provides an everyman character to fill our place in the story. He discovers all the pieces as we do, and gives us insight into the town around him. He begins and ends the story for us and sets a tone that follows through the movie with some truly amazing pieces of dialogue. There is also a character named Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson) who gives us a bit of background on Chigurh. Now that I have that out of the way let’s get into some criticism.
Bardem won his Oscar for a good reason, he was brilliant in this film. He played the most believable psychopath I have ever seen, which in this film is a really good thing. He was so cool and composed while killing and destroying (the action in this movie is brutal but also very stylish)and his dialogue was perfect, both sinister and brilliant. This is one of those movies where you’ll be thinking, “man I hope the bad guy survives". The rest of the cast is superb as well, with not one weak performance in sight. It’s also important to note the direction is great and the scenes are played out well to create all kinds of tension. Some beautiful cinematography aswell.
I never read the book but from what I hear the movie is very faithful to it. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because I’m assuming the lines the characters spoke come directly from the novel, but bad because they also brought in a flaw from the book. Anyone who has seen or followed this movie knows what I’m talking about. I’m going to clear this debate up now before I get ahead of myself, the movie has an ending and it’s perfect. What it lacks is a climax. And I don’t care what the fans of the book say you don’t cut out the climax of any story, no matter what medium it appears in. No matter how it’s portrait it’s a flaw. And yes it did make me mad until I realized the movie wasn’t done. The falling action (or the denouement, if you’re a lit geek like me) is awesome and resolution at the end sums up the entire film, both thematically and stylistically, perfect. Really the only problem lies with the lack of climax but at the same time this lone problem will make a lot of people mad, it’s the kind of flaw that could actually ruin the movie for you. But if you’re like me it will be over shadowed by the amazing acting and dialogue.
I loved this movie but I can’t give it a perfect score because of its one Achilles heel, the lack of a climax. So It’s an A and should be on your list of movies to see, unless you’re the kind of person who really needs that money shot to get off. But you know who you are and if that’s how you role I suggest the next movie I’ll review, There Will be Blood.
I heard nothing but praise about this movie going in, so my expectations were extremely high. Luckily, unlike most movies, this one did not disappoint. It was a really tight film with beautiful cinematograph great directing and…the acting. The acting is spectacular each character has so much depth and realism, but you won’t even notice them. Aside from the preacher kid the only thing you will watch is Daniel Day-Lewis, in one of the greatest performances I have ever seen. He was amazing, and though some might say the plot is only an excuse to see him act it doesn’t matter. There could have been no plot and I still would have been in awe for the entire film. If he had not won the Oscar it would have been a huge surprise.
The plot is good, not inspired but that’s not what the movie is about. It is a character film where we follow Daniel Day-Lewis’ character Daniel Plainview. We see him grow as a character; we see his highs and his lows. And no matter what path he takes we follow him, until the end. Now I know I haven’t mentioned any plot points so I’ll sum it up quick. Daniel is a self-made oilman in the process of build an oil empire and the bulk of the movie involves him trying to start a big oil site in Little Boston, California. He has to secure rights to drilling as well as deal with a young preacher named Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) who, like Daniel, wants power. Once again there is more to the plot but there is no sense ruining it for you. As mentioned it is good, just not brilliant. But what it does well is create situations that expose the depths of the main characters, especial Daniel.
It is a great film and has no real flaws. However some people will be turned off by it’s slow pace and emphasis on character development. It is certainly not an action flick. The first portion of the movie may bother some people as well, there is no dialogue for about the first ten or fifteen minutes. However if you’re the kind of person who loves to follow deep characters, loves beautiful directing and amazing acting, and isn’t bothered by the pacing this is an A+ movie.
Just to make this clear I actually enjoyed No Country for Old Men more. I loved both but for some reason No Country just struck a cord for me despite it’s flaw. However, on the whole There Will Be Blood is the better, stronger movie. If you have a problem with it’s pacing though you may prefer No Country because it is faster and more action packed. Both are extremely well written and if you are a movie lover you owe it to your self to see them both.
Lets start with No Country for Old Men as it was the first one I watched. The plot is, in essence, a simple one. Llewelyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin) stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong where he finds two million dollars. He takes the money and is now on the run from ultra badass Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who is willing to kill anyone to get the money back. There is of course more to it but I don’t want to spoil anything. There is also an almost side-plot where we follow Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) as he discovers all the carnage Chigurh leaves in his wake. He always arrives just a little too late but is very important to the story because he provides an everyman character to fill our place in the story. He discovers all the pieces as we do, and gives us insight into the town around him. He begins and ends the story for us and sets a tone that follows through the movie with some truly amazing pieces of dialogue. There is also a character named Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson) who gives us a bit of background on Chigurh. Now that I have that out of the way let’s get into some criticism.
Bardem won his Oscar for a good reason, he was brilliant in this film. He played the most believable psychopath I have ever seen, which in this film is a really good thing. He was so cool and composed while killing and destroying (the action in this movie is brutal but also very stylish)and his dialogue was perfect, both sinister and brilliant. This is one of those movies where you’ll be thinking, “man I hope the bad guy survives". The rest of the cast is superb as well, with not one weak performance in sight. It’s also important to note the direction is great and the scenes are played out well to create all kinds of tension. Some beautiful cinematography aswell.
I never read the book but from what I hear the movie is very faithful to it. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because I’m assuming the lines the characters spoke come directly from the novel, but bad because they also brought in a flaw from the book. Anyone who has seen or followed this movie knows what I’m talking about. I’m going to clear this debate up now before I get ahead of myself, the movie has an ending and it’s perfect. What it lacks is a climax. And I don’t care what the fans of the book say you don’t cut out the climax of any story, no matter what medium it appears in. No matter how it’s portrait it’s a flaw. And yes it did make me mad until I realized the movie wasn’t done. The falling action (or the denouement, if you’re a lit geek like me) is awesome and resolution at the end sums up the entire film, both thematically and stylistically, perfect. Really the only problem lies with the lack of climax but at the same time this lone problem will make a lot of people mad, it’s the kind of flaw that could actually ruin the movie for you. But if you’re like me it will be over shadowed by the amazing acting and dialogue.
I loved this movie but I can’t give it a perfect score because of its one Achilles heel, the lack of a climax. So It’s an A and should be on your list of movies to see, unless you’re the kind of person who really needs that money shot to get off. But you know who you are and if that’s how you role I suggest the next movie I’ll review, There Will be Blood.
I heard nothing but praise about this movie going in, so my expectations were extremely high. Luckily, unlike most movies, this one did not disappoint. It was a really tight film with beautiful cinematograph great directing and…the acting. The acting is spectacular each character has so much depth and realism, but you won’t even notice them. Aside from the preacher kid the only thing you will watch is Daniel Day-Lewis, in one of the greatest performances I have ever seen. He was amazing, and though some might say the plot is only an excuse to see him act it doesn’t matter. There could have been no plot and I still would have been in awe for the entire film. If he had not won the Oscar it would have been a huge surprise.
The plot is good, not inspired but that’s not what the movie is about. It is a character film where we follow Daniel Day-Lewis’ character Daniel Plainview. We see him grow as a character; we see his highs and his lows. And no matter what path he takes we follow him, until the end. Now I know I haven’t mentioned any plot points so I’ll sum it up quick. Daniel is a self-made oilman in the process of build an oil empire and the bulk of the movie involves him trying to start a big oil site in Little Boston, California. He has to secure rights to drilling as well as deal with a young preacher named Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) who, like Daniel, wants power. Once again there is more to the plot but there is no sense ruining it for you. As mentioned it is good, just not brilliant. But what it does well is create situations that expose the depths of the main characters, especial Daniel.
It is a great film and has no real flaws. However some people will be turned off by it’s slow pace and emphasis on character development. It is certainly not an action flick. The first portion of the movie may bother some people as well, there is no dialogue for about the first ten or fifteen minutes. However if you’re the kind of person who loves to follow deep characters, loves beautiful directing and amazing acting, and isn’t bothered by the pacing this is an A+ movie.
Just to make this clear I actually enjoyed No Country for Old Men more. I loved both but for some reason No Country just struck a cord for me despite it’s flaw. However, on the whole There Will Be Blood is the better, stronger movie. If you have a problem with it’s pacing though you may prefer No Country because it is faster and more action packed. Both are extremely well written and if you are a movie lover you owe it to your self to see them both.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Village
God Damn…I can’t believe I just sat through that again…I really hope your all happy because I sure as hell am, after all I just had the privilege of discovering why I have no faith in M. Night Shyamalan, yet again. I feel violated! I need a drink.
To make my intentions perfectly clear this is not a review this is a rant. There will be spoilers all over the place and because of the nature of the movie the problem lies with the twists so I’m going to have to give away the ending. If you have any intention of seeing The Village I suggest you not read any farther then this paragraph. Technically it’s a D movie and has its good points it’s not an F as you may have assumed. But the nature of it’s problems causes it to be a complete disappointment and I don’t think many people will actually enjoy it.
The good parts of this movie all revolve around the creation of suspense. There are actually some really good scenes in this movie that always leave you wanting more. Sadly they leave you wanting more of the monsters and, well…I’ll get to that later. It’s hard for me to think of much else that is good about this film. The setting is pretty good and it works to help create suspense, and I must say the person who plays the retard gives a very believable performance. Nothing else really can be said about good points. So now to my favourite part the problems.
So to start off most of the acting and dialogue is bad. It’s written like some kind of melodramatic high school play, full of emotion and poor old English but no real depth. Some of the acting is decent but it is over all there were only a few lines worth listening to, a few that had some artistic value, but they’re wasted on this piece of shit script. Though I did enjoy Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, but once again wasted.
Now to get to the real problem here, the twists. Or the paradigm shifts as Night calls them, pretentious bastard as he is. He doesn’t seem to understand you don’t need a twist and second twist doesn’t make up for the first and so on…Yes there is more than one shitty twist in this movie, and the only reason you don’t see them coming is you think they're to stupid to ever happen. I’ll explain this in a segment called…
Nightmares Top Three Stupid Twists!
#3 The Monsters aren’t real! They are just people in suits, who thought that would be a good idea!? It kind of ruins the suspense when you know the monster isn’t real and not at all threatening.
#2 Though I’m going out of order the last twist is my second worst. They’re not in the past they are actually living in present day but don’t know it. This twist has no artistic value it’s just random. They do leave hints and when I first watched the movie I saw it coming but figured it was to stupid to be the actual twist, I was wrong…
#1 The retard is the monster! WTF, you mean to tell me this terroristic plot was all orchestrated by the retard? He’s been scaring the town the whole time, and he’s the one chasing the blind chick through the woods as well? Wait one second they left one of the suits under the floorboards, why? They have a special building for this stuff. Why put a suit under the floor?
So now I should explain why I hate this movie so much. I went to see this in the theatres after seeing the far superior Signs. At the time this was my favourite movie and I was mad I hadn’t seen it in theatres. I decided I had to see the Village in theatres because I was sure it would be amazing. I was so sure it would change my life I even went by myself as none else wanted to see it. So there I was alone staring into the abyss, and when it started to stare back I knew I had gone mad. The room seemed to spin even though my body was a stationary mass of flesh cowering in the theatres corner. I rocked silently with one thought repeating in my head, “it has to get better”. But it never did…
Oh and the theatre I was in got an uncut reel as well. And I don’t mean it had deleted scenes, I mean it was unfinished. Towards the end there were scenes that still had the boom mick in them. Half the theatre left at that point and they were the lucky ones as they weren’t present to witness the final few twists that left me a the hollow soulless individual I am today. God damn this movie is shit!
So now that I have finished opening up this large cinematic scar I only have one thing left to ask. Are you happy?
I know I am… :)
To make my intentions perfectly clear this is not a review this is a rant. There will be spoilers all over the place and because of the nature of the movie the problem lies with the twists so I’m going to have to give away the ending. If you have any intention of seeing The Village I suggest you not read any farther then this paragraph. Technically it’s a D movie and has its good points it’s not an F as you may have assumed. But the nature of it’s problems causes it to be a complete disappointment and I don’t think many people will actually enjoy it.
The good parts of this movie all revolve around the creation of suspense. There are actually some really good scenes in this movie that always leave you wanting more. Sadly they leave you wanting more of the monsters and, well…I’ll get to that later. It’s hard for me to think of much else that is good about this film. The setting is pretty good and it works to help create suspense, and I must say the person who plays the retard gives a very believable performance. Nothing else really can be said about good points. So now to my favourite part the problems.
So to start off most of the acting and dialogue is bad. It’s written like some kind of melodramatic high school play, full of emotion and poor old English but no real depth. Some of the acting is decent but it is over all there were only a few lines worth listening to, a few that had some artistic value, but they’re wasted on this piece of shit script. Though I did enjoy Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, but once again wasted.
Now to get to the real problem here, the twists. Or the paradigm shifts as Night calls them, pretentious bastard as he is. He doesn’t seem to understand you don’t need a twist and second twist doesn’t make up for the first and so on…Yes there is more than one shitty twist in this movie, and the only reason you don’t see them coming is you think they're to stupid to ever happen. I’ll explain this in a segment called…
Nightmares Top Three Stupid Twists!
#3 The Monsters aren’t real! They are just people in suits, who thought that would be a good idea!? It kind of ruins the suspense when you know the monster isn’t real and not at all threatening.
#2 Though I’m going out of order the last twist is my second worst. They’re not in the past they are actually living in present day but don’t know it. This twist has no artistic value it’s just random. They do leave hints and when I first watched the movie I saw it coming but figured it was to stupid to be the actual twist, I was wrong…
#1 The retard is the monster! WTF, you mean to tell me this terroristic plot was all orchestrated by the retard? He’s been scaring the town the whole time, and he’s the one chasing the blind chick through the woods as well? Wait one second they left one of the suits under the floorboards, why? They have a special building for this stuff. Why put a suit under the floor?
So now I should explain why I hate this movie so much. I went to see this in the theatres after seeing the far superior Signs. At the time this was my favourite movie and I was mad I hadn’t seen it in theatres. I decided I had to see the Village in theatres because I was sure it would be amazing. I was so sure it would change my life I even went by myself as none else wanted to see it. So there I was alone staring into the abyss, and when it started to stare back I knew I had gone mad. The room seemed to spin even though my body was a stationary mass of flesh cowering in the theatres corner. I rocked silently with one thought repeating in my head, “it has to get better”. But it never did…
Oh and the theatre I was in got an uncut reel as well. And I don’t mean it had deleted scenes, I mean it was unfinished. Towards the end there were scenes that still had the boom mick in them. Half the theatre left at that point and they were the lucky ones as they weren’t present to witness the final few twists that left me a the hollow soulless individual I am today. God damn this movie is shit!
So now that I have finished opening up this large cinematic scar I only have one thing left to ask. Are you happy?
I know I am… :)
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