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ATTACK OF THE GREEN SLIME'S PICK SHELF #8
DIRTY, STINKING, ROTTEN LOVE.
So, what is love anyway? Is it a strange chemical reaction in your brain, or a cosmic force with which we can hardly reckon? Or is it both? Is it a bit of both, maybe? The idea of love can be so violent. Why are we compelled to be in love with someone, and then subject them to pain and jealousy? Why must we have someone belong to us, and then make the decision that we will only love THEM and THEM above all others? Why does it hurt SO much sometimes, and feel SO wonderful others? I DUNNO. If only someone would write a song about it, maybe that would clear things up. But it can get ugly. And sometimes that's the most intruguing and oddly beautiful part of love. I think these movies illustrate that point. HAPPY ROTTEN STINKING VALENTINE'S DAY!!
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Minnie and Moskowitz (D:John Cassavetes, 1971)
This is the least tragic of my picks this time. It's actually quite sweet, but it's violent and disturbing, all the same.Cassavetes has a way of making you very uncomfortable while watching his movies. He challenges you, and that's what I like about him. Gena Rowlands plays Minnie, a lovely and sultry lady in her mid-to-late 30's. She's had a terrible history with love, and is a bit worse for the wear.but oh so lovely. Seymour Moskowitz is played by Seymour Cassel. I recognize him best from Rushmore, where he played Max's father, the barber. But he's a pretty active character actor. Seymour parks cars for a living and randomly yells and over-reacts aggressively in bars and such. I think the point is that he's full of life and vigor. Can he make the jaded Minnie believe in love again? Will they passionately beat the crap out of each other? Will there be a happy ending? Do happy endings really exist outside of the movies? I DUNNO. I like this movie. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Honeymoon Killers (D:Leonard Kastle, 1969)
Man, this is a good one! When a lonely nurse in Alabama can't find love (and she's a little fucked in the head), her friend signs her up in a lonely hearts correspondence club. She starts writing this Spanish fellow from NYC, and he comes to visit. And love, sweet love ensues. Oh, but it's not right!!! Turns out he is a grifter that prays on these lonely, screwed-up ladies. But Martha, our big-boned nurse, must be something special, because they continue their affair. Well, she underhandedly convinces him to do so, but you'll have to watch to see that dirty trick. These lovebirds are two of the most despicable people. This movie feels so ahead of it's time. It probably inspired films such as Natural Born Killers and the like. But there's nothing romantic about this Bonnie and Clyde. They are slimy, twisted people, and they are IN LOVE!!! And it's loosely based on the true story of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, the "Lonely Hearts Killers". This movie inspired the names of 1) an American garage punk band from New York, and 2) a Belgian new wave/post-punk band. Oh, and originally it was to be directed by Martin Scorsese, but he was fired for working too slowly. If they'd let him finish, this would probably be a well-know classic. But it's a classic, none the less.
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Breaking the Waves (D: Lars von Trier, 1996)
Von Trier likes to put the women in his films through the worst kind of hell! And there's a lot of speculation why he uses that as recurring situation. But if you ask me, besides all the academic arguements about our society, I think it's because we have an intense emotional response to seeing a woman be treated so violently. It punches us in the gut more than seeing it happen to a man. Why? I DUNNO. And I certainly wax philosophically about that, but I will instead mention the movie. I think this is one of the saddest movies, like ever. It's a perfect example of love's violence and occasional pointlessness. Bess is a bit of a simple, very religious, woman. She has a child-like innocence and beauty. This was Emily Watson's (Bess) first film and she is amazing!But she's always very good. Anyway, this strange and neurotic girl is insanely in love with her new husband, Jan. He works on an oil rig out in the ocean, and she misses him intensely when he's working. He has a terrible accident that leaves him paralyzed. During his terrible grief, he orders his wife to sleep with other men. That's all I'm gonna tell you, but it's GUT-WRENCHING. Why would someone do that to someone they love so passionately? I DUNNO. It's a very beautiful movie. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Immortal Beloved (D:Bernard Rose,1994)
Immortal Beloved is the name given by composer Ludwig van Beethoven to an unknown person in three famous love letters. This movie takes that historical enigma, and makes a wonderfully heart-breaking dramatization of it. Gary Oldman plays Ludwig, and boy oh boy do I like Gary Oldman. He's awesome. So, when Beethoven died, they found these letters among his personal belongings, suggesting that he either never sent them, or that they were returned to him. And there unfolds a story of unrequited love in epic proportions. But the movie uses that device to tell the story of the enigmatic genius that was Beethoven. What was the passion that stirred in this man? Arguably, the greatest composer of all time, he was under appreciated in his lifetime, and ended up a bitter man. The bitter irony of one of humanity's greatest musicians going deaf! What a strange tragedy! The sequence in the movie that features the Ninth Symphony's "Ode to Joy" is BREATHTAKING! It will move you. And the events in which the letters are returned to him is HEART-BREAKING! Besides being a wonderful biopic about Beethoven, the story of how an unrequited love can haunt you for the rest of your life is the perfect argument FOR and AGAINST Valentine's Day.
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PLEASE BE MINE!!!!
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