Steven Soderbergh’s Schizopolis (1996)

Schizopolis is bizarre but it
is a very artistic comedy worth viewing. This 1996 experimental comedy by
writer/director Steven Soderbergh tells many plots but the main ones in the
entire flick are: the first one which is about Fletcher Munson (played by
Soderbergh) an office employee who is currently working for Theodore Azimuth
Schwitters, leader of self- help philosophy/religion; the second one is about
Dr. Jeffrey Korchek a dentist who seems to be having an affair with Munson’s
wife; and the third and last one is about Elmo Oxygen a local exterminator who
has sex with most of his clients, including Schwitters’s wife, and at the end
of the movie it can be seen that he tries to kill Schwitters.

This 1996 picture is highly
imaginative, philosophical, goofy, fresh, creative and very unexpected. But
even though the flick brings all of this to the table the audience may have a
hard time understanding what the heck is going on in the entire feature.
However it seems that the film was a deep investigation of Soderbergh’s artistic
influences and views. The things that kept me distracted a bit throughout the
movie were the cinematography and sound which were a bit off. Also the vast
variety of sub-plots can be a bit troubling if one is trying to concentrate on
the three main stories that are going within the picture. Overall the feature
is a good film but it can be a bit difficult to understand.

Rating:
3 stars out of 5.

And the Award for Creepiest Kid in a Movie Goes To…The Baby from David Lynch’s Eraserhead

Okay so I have seen all the movies in The Omen series, I did see The Exorcist and I have seen Samara from The Ring many, many times. But I had never seen the baby from Eraserhead because I had never seen the flick. Now that I have seen this 1977 surreal film I can say that this baby, or whatever you think it is, is without a doubt the creepiest and nastiest child I have seen in a horror movie. The things that David Lynch did with this character in his film debut are some of the most twisted and imaginative things I have ever seen in cinema. I mean the scene where the baby pops out Henry Spencer’s head and he comes out as the new head for Henry’s body is just amazing. And the way this creature moves its eyes and when it gets sick, oh my god it is just excellence. With this creation David Lynch truly proved, at least to me, that he can make some really scary stuff and he has the potential to be a master of horror like John Carpenter and Wes Craven. So my award, even though I don’t really have anything to give, for the creepiest kid in a movie goes to the baby from David Lynch’s Eraserhead.

Eraserhead (1977)

Okay so I’m just gonna start by saying “What the hell is up in David Lynch’s mind?” That said I would like to bring you, the reader, into my review of Lynch’s film debut Eraserhead. This 1977 surreal horror sets us in what appears to be a post-apocalyptic industrial town where the main character Henry Spencer constantly has to deal with this surreal dreamscape which is constantly going back and forth, so much in fact that his own baby seems to be a nightmare in its own way. That’s all I think I can say about the story because the plot itself is a very complicated one to follow, so readers if you’re planning to see this movie pay a lot of attention or else you’ll get lost.

Now what can I say about this magnificent feature. Okay at first I had no idea what I was getting into, I just knew it was going to be a weird flick. After watching it, I must say it is very weird indeed, it feels like David Lynch just blasted you with a compilation of dreams, nightmares and a few things he had in his imagination along the way. The picture can get a bit boring at time, but trust me it is worth it because when you least expect it you’ll get blown away with something that comes just straight out of the bloom. The special effects in this film are simply magnificent for the budget it had, which was $10,000 if I might add. The acting in the flick is also fantastic. But the one thing that truly makes this movie outstanding is the direction and imagination from David Lynch; I mean who else would have thought to create such a weird creature (yes I am referring to Henry’s baby) and such a creative world. The film is truly remarkable, even though it can be a bit difficult to understand and a bit boring at times.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.

Raising Arizona (1987)

I always wanted to see this film and when I finally got the chance to see it I got the chance to see one of the most original comedies ever. In this 1987 Coen Brothers comedy starring Nicolas Cage (doing his best performance ever, at least for me), Holly Hunter, John Goodman,
William Forsythe and Randall “Tex” Cobb as Leonard Smalls The Lone Biker of the Apocalypse (one of my new favorite characters). In this story Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter star as Herbert, an ex-con, and Edwina McDunnough, a cop, a couple that cannot have a baby of their own, so seeing as they cannot do this they decide to steal one of the five children that another couple just had bringing them into a whole world trouble, especially when two of Herbert’s old pals escape from the joint and stop by for a little visit.

This flick is just simply amazing and full of great storytelling and comic genius. Like I said the acting by Nicholas Cage is great and so is the performance by the rest of the cast who are simply hilarious. Now I know that the Coens storyboard each and every scene in their movies and after watching this one I would personally like to see the storyboards for it because some of the shots here are awkward but wonderful at the same time. The score for this feature is also something that is worth noticing, being that it is highly original. Overall the picture is just brilliant and just pure excellence.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5.