My Bloody Valentine 3D
Jan. 17th, 2009 04:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feliciakwDudes. Duuuuuuuudes. I . . . um . . . where do I start?
Well, I guess I'll start with a warning: I WILL be discussing the Big Reveal, so if you don't want to be spoiled, do not pass the clicky-click.
Okay, let's start at the beginning. Geo and I went to the first matinee, at noon. We were, in fact, the first ones in the theater and got our choice of seating. Yes, I did throw up my arms in the universal gesture of triumph \o/ at this.
After a while, a couple date couples filtered in, and a mom bringing her daughter and a friend (how much you want to bet one or all three of them are Jensen fans?), a couple of guys, and a dad with some smaller boys. I question the judgment there, but I'll get into that in a bit.
Pre-movie promo shorts and trailers included stuff for F13, of course. Yay Jared!
The 3D was, in a word, very cool. Okay, two words. It was well utilized, offering both 3D things that were just really cool as well as the gimmicky shots that made me laugh and think, "Now they're just showing off."
It was awesome seeing Jensen getting top billing on the opening credits. Awesome I tell you! Honestly, I'm more excited for this guy than I have a right to be.
Also? For the record, Jensen is a beautiful, beautiful man. And on the big screen in 3D? I just wanted to take his face in my hands and tell him, "It's okay, sweetie. Everything will be fine." And? The arm porn in one scene is . . . well . . . see it for yourself. The arms render me speechless.
The opening montage of news articles was very nicely done, and very creative. It set up the backstory very efficiently, and the film jumps right in with the first killings.
The scene of the massacre in the hospital had one of my fave 3D effects--the hand hanging off the gurney/bed, seeming to float in mid-air in the middle of the theater. The scene also reminded me of a disaster drill my middle school took part in back in the day.
Also in regards to the 3D: seeing a rack focus and a . . . I'll call it "stretch focus" for lack of a better term . . . seeing those camera effects, which are designed to give 2D a 3-dimensional feel . . . to see them in 3D? Very cool.
Another fave effect was when Ben took his shotgun out onto the front porch and was aiming it around, then told the audience that he was jumping at shadows. It was cool in that it kind of included the audience in the scene (though my theatrical training cringed, because it is poor theater staging etiquette to point a firearm at the audience. Nothing's going to happen in a movie, but I can understand why those first moviegoers panicked when the outlaw fired a gun at them in "The Great Train Robbery").
Much has been made of the gore factor. And with good reason. I did a lot of cringe-flailing and scrunching in my seat. But you know? There are far gorier films out there. For realz. And most of the stuff you could see coming, so there was that.
Then there was the nudity. One poor gal's costume consists of her shoes. It's full frontal, and it's right there. (Which is why I would have been hiding my child's eyes. Or more precisely, not taken him at all. Seriously. 'Cause the language, while not quite so prolific as it is in some fic, still was not kid-appropriate. And then there's the violence.) But one of the first thoughts that went through my head for that scene was, "Oh, I'll bet it was a closed set that day."
Otoh, I was rather pleased that Nekkid!Girl, while not really getting to fight back, actually lasted a little longer than some of the other victims. So that was good.
Okay, so. Back to Jensen. This is definitely not Dean Winchester he's playing here. I caught a few glimpses at the beginning of Max Morgan (Still Life), but those were very brief. This was very low-key and earnest. A guy who screwed up and got a lot of people trapped in a mine, miners who, through no fault of his, ended up dead, and the townspeople hate him. The sheriff is jealous of him, and the townspeople resent him for selling his father's mine. The poor guy is on some sort of meds, and he can't win for trying, it seems.
Oddly, there were long stretches in the film wherein Jensen did not play a part. I actually got the feeling that the A-line was the story between the sheriff and his wife, and Tom's (Jensen) difficulty with returning home and being a murder suspect were secondary.
There were definite jump-in-your-seat moments, and at least one murder that had me going, "Oh! That was not necessary!"
And I find gas masks to be creepy on multiple levels. (Dr. Who fans will remember "Are you my mummy?" from "Empty Child.") They are featureless, you cannot see who is behind the mask, the eyes are wide, gaping, and expressionless, and the presence of gas masks indicates some external environmental danger, like poisonous gas in the air. So, yeah. Creepy.
The mystery of movie actually kept both Geo and me guessing up until the very last. And duuuuudes . . .
This is where the spoilers come in.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Turn
back
now
to
avoid
spoilers
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
(Ah, spoiler space. My old friend.)
The end reminded me of Psycho, in that Tom, as a multiple personality, is the murderer. (Is it multiple personality, or is it possession by blood-borne evil spirit? You decide. As an aside: when Tom first gets blood splattered all over him, I thought, "You know? Jensen must be so used to that by now. It probably doesn't feel like a day at work if a little karo syrup doesn't flow.")
And when we finally see the Big Reveal . . . it's . . . wow. Jensen as evil psycho killer. As beautiful as that man is, if he gives you a death stare . . . *shudder.*
When he's chasing the remaining people through the mine, and he's busting the lights strung along the passageway, I'm both simultaneously creeped out and giddy thinking "You must have loved playing this role, dude."
His final kill of the movie was very coolly framed, with Tom grimacing evilly on one side of the screen and the pick-ax protruding from the other.
The recap of the Reveal leaves some glaring questions, and Tom escapes to return another day. Oh, yeah. I see a sequel in the offing.
But that last death stare Tom aims toward the camera? Seriously, I love Jensen's eyes, but he can be downright creepy when he wants to be.
*shudder*
As soon as I was out of the theater, I called![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
izhilzha and told her that she and kalquessa had to go see the movie today. Because I want to talk about it, and I canNOT do that without spoiling.
You know, I hadn't gone into this thinking that I'd need to see it more than once. And we'll no doubt get it on DVD. But I'm thinking that I'll need to see it at least one more time in 3D before it leaves the theaters.
And now Geo wants to check out the original to see how it compares.
In short, a great fun time this afternoon. And Jensen on the big screen--and in 3D--FTW!
Well, I guess I'll start with a warning: I WILL be discussing the Big Reveal, so if you don't want to be spoiled, do not pass the clicky-click.
Okay, let's start at the beginning. Geo and I went to the first matinee, at noon. We were, in fact, the first ones in the theater and got our choice of seating. Yes, I did throw up my arms in the universal gesture of triumph \o/ at this.
After a while, a couple date couples filtered in, and a mom bringing her daughter and a friend (how much you want to bet one or all three of them are Jensen fans?), a couple of guys, and a dad with some smaller boys. I question the judgment there, but I'll get into that in a bit.
Pre-movie promo shorts and trailers included stuff for F13, of course. Yay Jared!
The 3D was, in a word, very cool. Okay, two words. It was well utilized, offering both 3D things that were just really cool as well as the gimmicky shots that made me laugh and think, "Now they're just showing off."
It was awesome seeing Jensen getting top billing on the opening credits. Awesome I tell you! Honestly, I'm more excited for this guy than I have a right to be.
Also? For the record, Jensen is a beautiful, beautiful man. And on the big screen in 3D? I just wanted to take his face in my hands and tell him, "It's okay, sweetie. Everything will be fine." And? The arm porn in one scene is . . . well . . . see it for yourself. The arms render me speechless.
The opening montage of news articles was very nicely done, and very creative. It set up the backstory very efficiently, and the film jumps right in with the first killings.
The scene of the massacre in the hospital had one of my fave 3D effects--the hand hanging off the gurney/bed, seeming to float in mid-air in the middle of the theater. The scene also reminded me of a disaster drill my middle school took part in back in the day.
Also in regards to the 3D: seeing a rack focus and a . . . I'll call it "stretch focus" for lack of a better term . . . seeing those camera effects, which are designed to give 2D a 3-dimensional feel . . . to see them in 3D? Very cool.
Another fave effect was when Ben took his shotgun out onto the front porch and was aiming it around, then told the audience that he was jumping at shadows. It was cool in that it kind of included the audience in the scene (though my theatrical training cringed, because it is poor theater staging etiquette to point a firearm at the audience. Nothing's going to happen in a movie, but I can understand why those first moviegoers panicked when the outlaw fired a gun at them in "The Great Train Robbery").
Much has been made of the gore factor. And with good reason. I did a lot of cringe-flailing and scrunching in my seat. But you know? There are far gorier films out there. For realz. And most of the stuff you could see coming, so there was that.
Then there was the nudity. One poor gal's costume consists of her shoes. It's full frontal, and it's right there. (Which is why I would have been hiding my child's eyes. Or more precisely, not taken him at all. Seriously. 'Cause the language, while not quite so prolific as it is in some fic, still was not kid-appropriate. And then there's the violence.) But one of the first thoughts that went through my head for that scene was, "Oh, I'll bet it was a closed set that day."
Otoh, I was rather pleased that Nekkid!Girl, while not really getting to fight back, actually lasted a little longer than some of the other victims. So that was good.
Okay, so. Back to Jensen. This is definitely not Dean Winchester he's playing here. I caught a few glimpses at the beginning of Max Morgan (Still Life), but those were very brief. This was very low-key and earnest. A guy who screwed up and got a lot of people trapped in a mine, miners who, through no fault of his, ended up dead, and the townspeople hate him. The sheriff is jealous of him, and the townspeople resent him for selling his father's mine. The poor guy is on some sort of meds, and he can't win for trying, it seems.
Oddly, there were long stretches in the film wherein Jensen did not play a part. I actually got the feeling that the A-line was the story between the sheriff and his wife, and Tom's (Jensen) difficulty with returning home and being a murder suspect were secondary.
There were definite jump-in-your-seat moments, and at least one murder that had me going, "Oh! That was not necessary!"
And I find gas masks to be creepy on multiple levels. (Dr. Who fans will remember "Are you my mummy?" from "Empty Child.") They are featureless, you cannot see who is behind the mask, the eyes are wide, gaping, and expressionless, and the presence of gas masks indicates some external environmental danger, like poisonous gas in the air. So, yeah. Creepy.
The mystery of movie actually kept both Geo and me guessing up until the very last. And duuuuudes . . .
This is where the spoilers come in.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Turn
back
now
to
avoid
spoilers
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
(Ah, spoiler space. My old friend.)
The end reminded me of Psycho, in that Tom, as a multiple personality, is the murderer. (Is it multiple personality, or is it possession by blood-borne evil spirit? You decide. As an aside: when Tom first gets blood splattered all over him, I thought, "You know? Jensen must be so used to that by now. It probably doesn't feel like a day at work if a little karo syrup doesn't flow.")
And when we finally see the Big Reveal . . . it's . . . wow. Jensen as evil psycho killer. As beautiful as that man is, if he gives you a death stare . . . *shudder.*
When he's chasing the remaining people through the mine, and he's busting the lights strung along the passageway, I'm both simultaneously creeped out and giddy thinking "You must have loved playing this role, dude."
His final kill of the movie was very coolly framed, with Tom grimacing evilly on one side of the screen and the pick-ax protruding from the other.
The recap of the Reveal leaves some glaring questions, and Tom escapes to return another day. Oh, yeah. I see a sequel in the offing.
But that last death stare Tom aims toward the camera? Seriously, I love Jensen's eyes, but he can be downright creepy when he wants to be.
*shudder*
As soon as I was out of the theater, I called
izhilzha and told her that she and kalquessa had to go see the movie today. Because I want to talk about it, and I canNOT do that without spoiling. You know, I hadn't gone into this thinking that I'd need to see it more than once. And we'll no doubt get it on DVD. But I'm thinking that I'll need to see it at least one more time in 3D before it leaves the theaters.
And now Geo wants to check out the original to see how it compares.
In short, a great fun time this afternoon. And Jensen on the big screen--and in 3D--FTW!
