Rating: 
Summary: Great soundtrack with exceptional acting
Review: Watched this movie several times and it scared me each time. It looked so easy to spiral downward and downward. The director took time with each scene and painted a very scary picture of what happens when you live for only one thing self gratification.
Can not wait for this directors next picture. Jennifer Connelly was brilliant as was the whole cast.
Rating:
Summary: Ellen Burstyn Got Ripped Off!
Review: Movies like Requiem For A Dream are like giant arrows that point out the flaws of voting bodies like The Academy Awards....this film should have swept the Oscars, should have won Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actress....instead we get safe pap like Erin Brockovich and Julia Roberts..... Requiem For a Dream follows four characters as they follow their dreams...and we see their dreams become nightmares. Ellen Burstyn gives maybe the best motion picture performance I've ever seen. Not HER best ever...THE BEST EVER. I have never seen an actor or actress lay themselves bare like this before. Watching the sweet, lonely Sara Goldfarb become a speed freak is bad enough, but the paths followed by her son Harry (Jared Leto), his friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans, a true revelation..), and Harry's girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly)are equally harrowing; By the end of the film I felt like I had been sent through the wringer..... The DVD has some of the most clever packaging I've seen in quite some time: It's presented like an infomercial for Sara's favorite TV personality, Tappy Tibbins, played by Christopher MacDonald. There are a lot of extras, and I was particularly happy to see Ellen Burstyn interview Author Hubert Selby, Jr.- it was VERY illuminating. As an unflinching portrait of addiction, Requiem ranks right up there with Trainspotting, and should be required viewing for all High School students thinking of experimenting with drugs.
Rating:
Summary: Tough but brilliant - the real best pic of 2000
Review: This is a movie like "Saving Private Ryan", "The War Zone" or "Psycho" that is relentlessly brilliant and very difficult to watch. It's a movie I can only watch about once a year. Much has already been written about this movie in the media and several excellent reviews below. The story of how four people fall prey to various addiction is well told. Aronofsky doesn't hit us with the horror right away. He lets us get to know the characters and their dreams before letting their addictions shatter those dreams. The acting is top notch. Leto and Burstyn and (surpisingly) Wayans are excellent. Connelley has gotten a lot of attention for a Beautiful Mind but this is her best performance to date. It's Aronofsky's film-making skill that makes this movie stand out. The relentless editing, creative camera angles and taut pace give the movie a look that's unforgettable. As for the Director's cut vs. edited version. The original movie was unrated because the MPAA wanted to give it the kiss of death with NC-17 (a rating it deserves -- this is NOT a movie for kids even though it's probably the most effective anti-drug message out there). Aronofsky bravely stuck to his guns and sent it out unrated. Blockbuster and other chains refused to stock an unrated movie, so some small edits were made. You won't miss much with the edited version, but I'd buy the Director's Cut on principle. Aronofsky deserves to have his true vision seen.
Rating:
Summary: A great "Film" but a truly horrifying movie
Review: I saw this just a few months ago on the big screen(campus screening), and if ever I had any impulses to experiment with drugs, this movie completely destroyed them. This movie is a portrait of a living hell that lots of people live in right now, and damned if it don't make you feel dirty after making it through the last 30 minutes of this movie. Downward spiral is right; this movie is the most depressing, shocking, and hopeless movie I am sure I will ever see as long as I live. But you need to see it for yourself...
Rating:
Summary: One of the most educational and eye-opening films ever made
Review: Now why aren't films like this shown in school? Imagine students' reactions to the graphic display of the torture that drugs and addiction/obsession induce. Films such as Requiem For A Dream, American History X, Kids, Bully, and American Beauty are often frowned upon by society because they are merely holding up a mirror. Society never likes to see what it truly is. When the ignorant and soft-centered hypocrites are finally woken up to a real look at our society towering films, such as this will get their just rewards.
Just for starters, Ellen Burstyn. I would love to meet the people who voted Julia Roberts Best Actress in 2000 and have them watch this film again. A powerful and deeply gripping performance is given here. Easily her best since "The Exorcist" or "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (the film that captured her first Oscar). Portraying a woman whose obsession with a diet program, a red dress, and her social image can only bring the worst for her.
Jared Leto gives an equally powerful performance as her son, Harry. A young drug-dealer who struggles at his mother's question "how is your work going?" I mean, who could look their elderly mother in the eye and say, "It's great, I deal drugs." A sickening addiction to heroine and its grisly consequences leave the viewer inspired and hopefully enlightened.
Jennifer Connelly was certainly overlooked at the Oscars as well. An Oscar-worthy performance certainly is given in this film. Marianne, whom will do just about anything for what her mind desires. The rage in her eyes and the burning in her tone bring the viewer as close to the mind of a sickened, sexual drug addict as is possible.
Finally, Marlon Wayans. Who knew he could act? He gives an absolute amazing performance in this film as Harry's friend Tyrone. He gives a small yet adequate dose of humor that prevents the film from being 2 hours of depressing cinema.
Darren Aronofsky brilliantly directs this, certainly an Oscar-worthy directing job throughout. Various new techniques are employed, split screen scenes, sudden fast motion, slow motion, and just about simultaneously showing 3 different scenes at the same time make this a trip that the view will not easily forget.
Finally, Clint Mansel's menacing score is a must-have. A simple theme is repeated but altered enough that you don't get sick of it. Haunting synthesizers and a special performance from the Kronos quartet dominates this film.
So, I find that when films like this are released, society shuts them away because we don't wanna hear what's wrong with us today. Well, we can't fix what is wrong until filmmaker's like Darren Aronofsky, Tony Kaye, and Sam Mendes truly and brutally show us. But when will we listen?
Rating:
Summary: A Brutally Gripping Masterpiece
Review: Requiem For A Dream is not a film to be messed around with. It is a very brutal film depicting four Coney Island people and the anti-climax outcome of their lives. There is one thing that they all share, and that is an addiction. Whether it be an addiction to TV, diet pills, or heroin, they are all brought under the spell of the thought that there is a better life beyond the lives they lead. Interestingly but beautifully directed by Darren Aronofsky of Pi fame; comes the real to life brutality of drugs to the screen in a way that would normally never be seen. A very talanted cast consisting of Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans bring the story to life in great depth. You begin to feel for the characters and wonder why these normal people have chosen the paths that they have taken to self destruction. Even though this film is not intended for a young audience, it should be seen by any teenager who is thinking of experimenting with drugs of any sort. I am pleased that the director did not give in to the MPAA by editing any scenes from the film to avoid the doomed American NC-17 rating, but releasing it as unrated for the world to see just where lives can lead with drugs in you're system. >Enjoy<
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic assault on your current state of mind!!!
Review: I watched this movie because I am a very large fan of artsy, ambient, and ultraviolent cinema. While this film is not to say "violent" it is definitely not one for the feint of heart. I have heard of other people vomiting during the watching of this movie, while me personally, I can't honestly say that after watching this I was shaken as most other people who have watched this claim to have been. But you MUST watch this film, a truly eye opening movie into the world of drug addiction. The film focuses on Harry (Jared Leto),a surprisingly well-acted Tyrone (Marlon Wayans), Marion (jennifer connely) harry's gorgeous junkie girlfriend, and in easily the best performance of the movie is Ellen Burstyn as Sarah Goldfarb, harry's mother who get's hooked on diet pills. The imagery, directing, and editing in this movie are some of the best that I've ever seen, as Aronofsky does not make any attempt to surgarcoat or water down the horrors of drug addiction. The scenes where they're shooting up will blow your mind because of the quick cuts. Also the music is just amazing. All originally written for the film by Clint Mansell and performed by him and the Kronos Quartet, the music pushses the film to an all new level as it works so well with the action on screen you feel compelled throughout the movie. All in all this movie is definitely worth a watch, definitely if you're wondering about how drugs will mess up your life.
Rating:
Summary: Requiem for a Dream
Review: Requiem for a Dream is a hard film to watch, there is no denying it. I first saw it at a matinee show on a bright sunny day in St. Louis. As I emerged from the Tivoli theatre into the daylight, it seemed impossible that the beauty of the day around me could possibly coexist in the same world as the bleak degradation that the characters in this movie descend into. Since I bought the DVD, I have been avoiding it for weeks, unsure if it was worth facing that descent. It was. Despite being a emotion bonecrusher, the quality of this film is undeniable. Darren Aronofsky has kept his touch for depicting the extremity of human emotion that he demonstrated in Pi. In Requiem, however he makes the characters so rich and engaging that the viewer is drawn along on their voyage of self destruction. This is a big improvement. One of the biggest flaws in Pi was that we have no reason to identify with the obsessive main character. in Requiem, each of the main characters is sympathetic and three-dimensional. It's this that makes the film so traumatizing. Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) is a lonely widow living alone in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. She spends her days watching television, particularly the infomercial snake oil of Tappy Tibbons (Christopher McDonald), a guru who sells a three step program to rebuild your life. One day she receives a phone call telling her that she has been chosen to appear on television. Filled with excitement, she tries to make herself over for her appearance on TV, which rapidly becomes her one reason for living. When she finds she can no longer fit into her best red dress, she starts dieting like crazy, with little success. When an unethical doctor prescribes her heavy stimulants, however, the weight starts coming off, although the side effects put Sara on the edge of madness. Watching this sweet and lonely old lady fall into drug addiction and obsession is very hard. As madness starts to creep in, Sara spends her days hallucinating in front of the television and huddling in mortal fear of the refrigerator. Harry Goldfarb(Jared Leto) is Sara's son, a heroin addict who repeatedly steals his mother's television to finance his habit. He and his partner Tyrone Love (Marlon Wayans) are scrambling to climb the ladder of the drug underworld from addict to affluent dealer. While at first glance they look like a couple of scum bags, as we get to know them, they become more sympathetic. Harry is a considerate guy who wants the best for his mother and regrets the pain he causes her. Tyrone's thoughts continuously drift back to his own mother in idyllic flashbacks of his youth. Marion Silver (Jennifer Connely) is a young girl from a rich family who wants to design clothing for a living. She and Harry are in love, and together they scheme to turn Harry's drug profits into a chance for her to open a store to sell her own designs. Marion is also entangled in an unwholesome relationship with her sleazy former therapist. Despite this and her cocaine habit, the depths of which she seems unaware of, she seems like a decent person. The scenes of her and Harry together are sweet and endearing. They make us wish the best for this young couple. The fact that they share these moments in a fog of drug-induced euphoria seems almost irrelevant, thanks to Aronofsky's skilled staging, and fine performances by the Connely and Leto. As the film progresses, the hopes and dreams of the four characters are slowly strangled by their dependence on drugs. As despair encroaches on their future plans, they scramble to hold it all together. By the final sequence, the characters' degradation accelerates out of control like a runaway train. Aided immensely by the feverish compositions of the Kronos Quartet, this is one of the most disturbing sequences I've ever seen on film. Technically, this film is very well executed. Sara's nightmarish hallucinations leave the viewer shaken. The time lapse sequences convey a very believable sense of how out of control a speed addict must feel. Aronofsky uses strange perspectives to great effect. In particular, he seemingly hangs a camera from the character's neck at times, to catch every nuance of expression at their moment of greatest shame. I have to recommend this movie, but I warn you, it will not make you feel good. It will probably make you feel like humans are weak and foul things. Choose well when to watch, or risk ruining a light-hearted evening...
Rating: 
Summary: It's shocking like everyone says...
Review: This movie starts out pretty tame. I guess I was expecting immediate disturbing filled scenes, but it isn't like that at all. Instead..It builds. When the last ten minutes come and the scenes are all flashing together faster and faster it started making me feel a little sick. I assume that is what the director intended which is quite an interesting technique. While this isn't my favorite movie of all time or anything, I did like it. I agree with the person who said this should be shown to all high schoolers. It would definitely open up their eyes. I'm not sure what the "edited" version doesn't contain...but it probably is missing a certain scene with Marlon Wayans and his girl and maybe not as much graphicness towards the end. If you can stomach it...You should definitely watch this. You probably won't be doing any drugs anytime soon after this.
Rating:
Summary: The most ugly, yet beatiful film ever.
Review: After watching this movie numerous times over the past three years I have owned it, I can say that this movie may contain the best sound versus visuals of any movie to date. I thougroughly enjoyed "Pi", so I decided to rent this movie and was blown away. I have also read Hubert Selby's "Last Exit to Brooklyn" and loved the rawness it possessed. The movie and the book it was adapted from really show a side of all humanity that is common among us all. We all have are vices, some are good and some are bad, but when they are taken to an extreme, the result is usually negative. Love someone or something too much, you will always be left broken-hearted or dead, respectively. Much like the X-Files, there usually is some music playing in the background. I have never seen this technique used to perfection as it is in this movie. The shots, dialogue, music, etal. are as original as it comes. I enjoy showing this movie to friends just to see there reaction. There have only been two responses, they either love it or feel that it is too disturbing. Nonetheless, this is a truly great, original American movie that offers something of value to every distinct viewer.
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