japanesedream_72 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
japanesedream_72) wrote2004-09-13 03:25 pm
japanesedream_72) wrote2004-09-13 03:25 pm
Not a real update...
Watched "The Cell" on tv last night. Pretty good stuff. I'd like to maybe see it uncut sometime, in case they edited anything I might've liked. I'd been kind of interested in the movie since the ads promoting its theatrical release, because I thought it looked really nifty, visually. I'm not sure why, but I remember thinking at the time that the story would be needlessly complicated. But it isn't. It's actually fairly simple, & well-paced.
And since my chiropractor really likes these (& has started to tell other people about them), I figured I'd post another of my reviews.
Jennifer Lopez plays a child psychologist working with a scientific team on a project involving catatonic children & a synaptic transference system - a machine that can map the brain & send the impulses from one subject to another, effectively allowing one to 'enter' the other's mind. In this case, J-Lo enters the mind of a boy she's been working with, interacting with him in the vibrant, picturesque landscape of his psyche, hoping to eventually coerce him from his physically inactive state.
Simultaneously, another storyline is introduced, that of a serial killer (Vincent D'onofrio, who was super-creepy in "Full Metal Jacket") who takes his victims to an underground location, locks them in a huge plexiglass tank with food & water, then - via an automated system - has the tank filled with water - slowly at first, then quickly - until they drown, all the while videotaping their pleas & screams. When they die, he paints their faces so they appear doll-like, & dumps their bodies elsewhere.
After tracking down his next victim, he springs his trap & takes her to the tank. While waiting at home for the auto set-up to do its job, he has some sort of attack (foreshadowed by constant head pain, for which he is continually popping asprin) & collapses.
Meanwhile, the cops, & an erstwhile detective played by Vince Vaughn, are hot on the trail of said killer, & arrive at his home to find him near-comatose. Turns out he'd been born with a rare pseudo-schizophrenic condition known to lay dormant until triggered by intense trauma. This guy has basically disconnected, completely, from himself.
This is where the 2 stories merge, & where it gets interesting. The killer is brought to J-Lo's facility, & it's a race against time as J-Lo enters his thoughts to find out where he's hidden the girl before she is drowned. Once she's penetrated his subconscious, J-Lo gains a horrible insight into the evolution & multi-faceted nature of his murderous mind. But when she takes things a step further, believing she can save the killer as well as his victim, it's up to our erstwhile detective to save her. But for the drowning girl, time is running out.
Slightly reminiscent of virtual reality-themed movies that came both before (“Virtuosity”) & after (“The Matrix”), it is the mindscape scenes - both beautiful and grotesque - that make “The Cell” worth a look. Director Tarsem Singh (who, if I’m not mistaken, directed REM’s “Losing My Religion” video) & Art Director Michael Manson seem to have drawn on an array of artists for these segments (I’m certain I recognized the influence of H. R. Giger in a couple of places, & my favourite scene is a short but breathtaking allude to Joel-Peter Witkin that Floria Sigismondi & Marilyn Manson would well be able to appreciate). The acting may not be Oscar-worthy, but it’s decent enough to hold a viewer’s interest, although it’s the ideas within the story that keep the film from being all style & little substance. Then ending is rife with symbolism, a bit cliché but bittersweet, even somewhat hopeful.
But the most intriguing thing about “The Cell” might be the question that afterward repeated itself in my thoughts:
If someone could traverse the landscape of my mind...what would they see?
And since my chiropractor really likes these (& has started to tell other people about them), I figured I'd post another of my reviews.
Jennifer Lopez plays a child psychologist working with a scientific team on a project involving catatonic children & a synaptic transference system - a machine that can map the brain & send the impulses from one subject to another, effectively allowing one to 'enter' the other's mind. In this case, J-Lo enters the mind of a boy she's been working with, interacting with him in the vibrant, picturesque landscape of his psyche, hoping to eventually coerce him from his physically inactive state.
Simultaneously, another storyline is introduced, that of a serial killer (Vincent D'onofrio, who was super-creepy in "Full Metal Jacket") who takes his victims to an underground location, locks them in a huge plexiglass tank with food & water, then - via an automated system - has the tank filled with water - slowly at first, then quickly - until they drown, all the while videotaping their pleas & screams. When they die, he paints their faces so they appear doll-like, & dumps their bodies elsewhere.
After tracking down his next victim, he springs his trap & takes her to the tank. While waiting at home for the auto set-up to do its job, he has some sort of attack (foreshadowed by constant head pain, for which he is continually popping asprin) & collapses.
Meanwhile, the cops, & an erstwhile detective played by Vince Vaughn, are hot on the trail of said killer, & arrive at his home to find him near-comatose. Turns out he'd been born with a rare pseudo-schizophrenic condition known to lay dormant until triggered by intense trauma. This guy has basically disconnected, completely, from himself.
This is where the 2 stories merge, & where it gets interesting. The killer is brought to J-Lo's facility, & it's a race against time as J-Lo enters his thoughts to find out where he's hidden the girl before she is drowned. Once she's penetrated his subconscious, J-Lo gains a horrible insight into the evolution & multi-faceted nature of his murderous mind. But when she takes things a step further, believing she can save the killer as well as his victim, it's up to our erstwhile detective to save her. But for the drowning girl, time is running out.
Slightly reminiscent of virtual reality-themed movies that came both before (“Virtuosity”) & after (“The Matrix”), it is the mindscape scenes - both beautiful and grotesque - that make “The Cell” worth a look. Director Tarsem Singh (who, if I’m not mistaken, directed REM’s “Losing My Religion” video) & Art Director Michael Manson seem to have drawn on an array of artists for these segments (I’m certain I recognized the influence of H. R. Giger in a couple of places, & my favourite scene is a short but breathtaking allude to Joel-Peter Witkin that Floria Sigismondi & Marilyn Manson would well be able to appreciate). The acting may not be Oscar-worthy, but it’s decent enough to hold a viewer’s interest, although it’s the ideas within the story that keep the film from being all style & little substance. Then ending is rife with symbolism, a bit cliché but bittersweet, even somewhat hopeful.
But the most intriguing thing about “The Cell” might be the question that afterward repeated itself in my thoughts:
If someone could traverse the landscape of my mind...what would they see?