– Hunger (2008)
This debut from director Steve McQueen chronicles the last six weeks in the life of Irish republican hunger striker Bobby Sands (Oops! I’ve given it away…). I didn’t hate it, didn’t enjoy it. The film is indeed painterly, told in images for the most part, with very little dialogue – the art background of McQueen is all over the screen. But the barrage of ultra-violent beatings, feces-caked walls, maggots and pools of urine, made me feel as if I was watching an update of Pasolini’s Salo (which is probably one of the most unpleasant works of cinema I have ever forced myself to sit through). Important historical context, obviously talented visually-oriented director, miserable viewing experience.
The trailer for Hunger:
– Shutter Island (2010)
It’s hard to say too much about this film without giving “it” away. Just go into it alert and soak up all the fine details, and it will all make sense in the end. Much more a thriller than a horror flick, and surprisingly restrained compared to some of Scorsese’s other, more notorious works (I’m thinking of Cape Fear, specifically).
The second trailer for Shutter Island:
ADDENDUM (per comments section):
5 responses so far ↓
1 bureaucratist // Jul 30, 2010 at 9:40 AM
Shutter Island did make sense in the end, but wasn’t it still a fairly stinking piece of ess? Well, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but, good lord, it wasn’t good … was it?
2 spitballarmy // Jul 31, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Well, perhaps that’s the link between the two films: one is a piece of ess, and the other portrays prison inmates painting the walls with ess.
Seriously, though, I didn’t feel as you seem to about Shutter Island. I could say I was disappointed because I’ve come to expect greatness from Scorsese, but I can forgive such a talented person his diversions. Which isn’t to say this is worse or even equal to most of what passes for “good” these days; it’s superior to most of what comes to the theaters. And I’d stand in line to see just about anything this guy (as well as David Fincher, PT Anderson or Terrence Malick) makes.
3 bureaucratist // Jul 31, 2010 at 10:47 PM
Scorsese to me is the height of hit or miss, but his misses have this weird kind of seventh-grade-science-project-scraped-together-thirty-six-hours-before-it-was-due-and-still-wins-third-place quality. That’s how Shutter Island was to me. You have an incredibly commendable instinct against spoiling, which I share and will follow here, except to say that I was left with a big fat so what.
And, let me second you on PT Anderson in the biggest way I know how (which is basically just by saying what I just did). “It’s the goddam regret!” Such great stuff. Is there a better movie music moment than the “Wise Up” scene in Magnolia? Also probably the best soundtrack ever. That movie was actually written around Mann’s line, “Now that I’ve met you / would you object to / never seeing each other again?”
4 spitballarmy // Aug 1, 2010 at 8:30 AM
Every one of the directors I’ve mentioned has had films that left me scratching my head in puzzlement: Fincher’s Benjamin Button, Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love, Malick’s New World. My biggest Scorsese disappointments have been Age of Innocence and Bringing Out the Dead, and maybe some others that were so forgettable that I’ve, well, forgotten them. But the flip side is that we now have great films such as Last Temptation of Christ, The Thin Red Line and There Will Be Blood. (Have you seen Scorsese’s “Life Lessons” segment from New York Stories? It’s worth tracking down for his 30 minutes alone.)
I try not to gloat, ever (what would I gloat about, anyway?), but check out the Magnolia love note pictured above, Bureaucratist.
5 bureaucratist // Aug 6, 2010 at 10:19 AM
Holy effing ess. I will hunt you down, and if necessary my children (once this http://deadspin.com/5604536/serial-semen-squirter-finally-behind-bars impregnation strategy finally starts working for me) will hunt down your children’s children, until that is mine. OMG, Fred, Fred …
“Bringing Out the Dead” is absolutely a candidate for worst movie. It’s stunning how many movie Nicolas Cage has in the running for that honor.
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