Cinema Extreme #3 - The Human Centipede (2009)

Director: Tom Six Stars: Dieter Laser, Ashley C. Williams, Ashlynn Yennie

Review:

This is the first time I watch this movie myself, but I have heard others talk about it and watched somebody made fun with it, I am really biased with this one. This is that kinda movie that base on only one concept, and the shocking value does not last long, especially when I have known it so long before watching it.

The Human Centipede is about sewing people's mouth to other's head, so he can only be fed on other's feces. It is gross, but when you get over it, it doesnt any other thing to show for.

The plot is simple. A crazy doctor want to connect three people ass to mouth. He did. He played around with them after the surgery. Two policemen came to investigate about missing persons. The three people try to escape but failed. The leading piece killed himself. The doctor had a fight with the policemen and all of them died. The last piece died from eating shit for a few days apparently. The middle piece was left alone crying. The End.

Why does he want to make the human centipede? What was he trying to accomplish? It was never fully explained other than his pride of being a good surgeon.

To stretch the above to a hour and a half movie would need to insert pointless scenes that creates no tension at all. Like we see one girl tried to escape, dragging her unconscienous friend also. How would she even leave the house without notice, and how would there even be a movie if the Human Centipede was not realized? How would the audience expect there is the slimest chance for her to escape? So towards the end the leading piece stabbed the doctor with a scalple, which available for him all the time. What is he waiting for before, and why he did not finish the doctor off I have no idea. And naturally I also have no clue on why he committed suicide when the doctor crawling to him wounded, given he is the least suffered of the three.

The concept is shocking and gross at first, but gets boring quickly and the doctor is so laughably stupid that it really helps you get over with the whole ass-to-mouth thing. So is this extreme cinema? Many people considered it is, but I have doubts. Actually it's even kinda funny.

The Hangover (2009)

Director: Todd Philips Stars: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham

Review:

"After Hangover (2009), everybody is trying to copy the formular." Apparent even the movie plagiarizes itself with its sequel, which have been criticised of being basically the same movie. So why not see the first one instead?

Four friends, Doug, Phil, Stu and Alan went to Las Vegas for a bachelor party to celebrate Doug, who is getting married two days later. They went up on the roof of Caesar Palace, and took vow to forget everything that happen in that night. The next shot we see them lying unconsciencely in a trashed hotel suite, with the gloom missing. There is a tiger in the bathroom, an infant baby in the lock, and Stu lost a teeth. "Where happened last night and What the fuck is Doug?"

Someone said it is hilarious but that was not me. The problem with the jokes is that you could have guessed it like several seconds before. Soon Father-in-law very specifically told Doug to take good care of the car, and you know later in the movie it would get tossed. Alan, who have some mental problems I presume, asked the reception girl "This is not the real Caesar Palace is this?" You know that must be stupid, specially coming from a character that is established to be stupid, and you know the joke already. Later on some chinese gangmembers showed up and told them to give him 80 grands in exchange for Doug. A guy was lying in the back seat with his face covered. Misunderstanding gag. Got it.

Although there does exist a few scenes that had me laughed. When they took a toast on the roof, Alan gave a speech about their friendship and cut his hand with a knife. "Blood brothers". That is really out of place and really funny. 

I was hoping a story would be pieced together, since we see Phil try to connect all the pieces of information together, writing down what happened at what time. Unfortunately however, all the pieces were incoherent and independent. There was a tiger in the bathroom because they stole it from Mike Tyson. Stu lost a teeth because Phil bet he is not a good enough dentist to pull out his own tooth. There was naked chinese man in the trunk because Phil won money with him and thought he was his lucky charm. Ok that is funny I'll give to that.

The characters are also pretty shallow. Alan is sort of a comic relief, Phil does not have much interesting to say or do, and Doug disappeared most of the time. The trip to find out the explaination of the situation is a comedic routines but not something that develops the characters. Except Stu though. Before this trip he was in relationship with a really mean dominatrix. During the black out he married a stripper, and found that actually the stripper is a much better girl, and decided to broke up with his girlfriend and date the stripper. I like how understandable the stripper is to a point that is sympathising, that it is Las Vegas and their wedding was just stupid, and Stu just could not treated the wedding as if it never happened. I was going to use the word "battling", but actually there is no battle. Who would want his original girlfriend even without the stripper anyway.

The Hangover was highly successful commercially and critically, but I did not watch it when it first came out nor have a high expectation, since I usually do not find American comedies all that funny. I am not someone that always demand inner meanings, implications or artistic values, and I do enjoy movies like Scary movie (2000), but this is just not such hilarious and I did not laugh that whole many times.

Little Ashes (2009)

Director: Paul Morrison
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Javier Beltran


Review:

This is a film I think would be much enjoyable if you are more familiar with art, and know who Salvador Dali, Garcia Lorca and Luis Bunuel are. I am not into paintings or poets, so it would be natural for me to oblivious to who they are, but I really should not miss Luis Bunuel. He is a famous surrealist director, with works such as The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972). Well I'll catch up sometime.

Despite my ignorance to these figures, this is still an effective movie, especially towards the end. It tells the story of the relationship between Salvador Dali and Garcia Lorca, or should I say more directly, homosexual love. We see the young people that's into art, with classy talks and tasteful lifestyle in the University, and a newcomer that is Salvador Dali. Garcia Lorca and Salvador Dali both attacted each other, and kept pushing the boundary together, but finally Dali found he could not do homosexual intercourse.

Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me. I fuck me hard.

This is the turning point of the movie, not only does we witness Dali change, but also the point that the movie from mediocre to touching. In the first part it is lacklusting, which we see how they meet each other and how they were in love. But when Dali failed to have sex with Lorca, he started to change. He left Lorca to Paris, and when he comes back he seemed to have become a different person. He was full of arrogance, fucked all kind of women in paris and acted as if their love had never happened. But we can penetrate through his mind that he is just jealous.

Dali: "I think it's something new."
Lorca: "It's extraordinary. ... (You were drawing) Me."
Flickaholic: "? What?"

One memorable scene would be Dali insulting and at the same time confronting Lorca for his homosexuality, and Lorca's girlfriend Magalende came for a fuck. Lorca fucked her in front of Dali, and all three of them were crying. There is so much contradicting emotion filled with this scene: Dali's love with his fear of being queer, jealously towards the Magalenda who was having sex with Lorca, and how this fuck tramatize him, Lorca's anger towards Dali's change, and Magalenda's happiness and sadness on having sex with the man she loves but knowing that the man had someone else on his mind.

In additional, I do like the classy feel in the film. The characters talks and act classy, and I do wish I am surrounded by this kinda people. I like intelliect talks and the pride of being superior, not about stupid iPhones. But it does not seems to happen.

Robert Pattinson is panned for his appearance in the Twilight movies, and watching Little Ashes I believe he is a good actor. He convoyed the emotions to the audience in just the right amount of not overdoing it. I havnt seen any of the Twilight movies and judging from the plot it would have been sucked disregard who's doing it. Just give this guy a chance.

This is not as impressive as some other homosexual films, but if you not a homophobia, maybe this will be touching you.