Rating: 
Summary: Best Movie of 2000. Without a doubt.
Review: I've seen a good amount of movies at the theater in my time. But, this is the first movie I have ever seen that I couldn't leave my seat. I couldn't speak. I tried to utter words to my friend with me, it came out as nonsense. This movie hit me so hard that I was deemed useless in society. This movie is so fast, so insane at the end that you will be unable to utter words. Amazing acting jobs by Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, & suprisingly, Marlon Wayans. The fast paced cuts blew my mind. You must see this movie. Be careful though, you might want to bring a barf bag, you'll be feeling something by the end of the movie.
Rating:
Summary: You may try to forget this film. "Try" is the key word here.
Review: I was tempted to title my summary "Drugs are bad, mm'kay?" because this movie was so sad I was desperate to inject a little humor. Man, what a sad, scary, excellent, grim, disturbing, well-made movie. The more I read about this movie and learned about it, the more fascinating it seemed. I also am one of those people who, when they hear a movie is extremely shocking and disturbing, get a burning urge to see it as fast as I can to see if it shocks me (especially if it's unrated or NC-17), since I am pretty jaded. So, I eagerly anticipated seeing it.The plot concerns four addicts. Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly play a young loving couple, Harry and Marion, who dabble in heroin and plan to make a big sale along with their friend Tyrone (Shawn Wayans) so they can be set for life and Marion can open up her own (legal) business. Unfortunately, their recreational drug use turns into day-to-day addiction, and things start to get ugly. REAL ugly. A couple shots even kind of give a whole new definition of the word 'ugly'. Ellen Burstyn plays Harry's mother Sarah, a lonely widow who wants to lose weight to fit into a red dress so she can appear on her favorite TV show. She starts out by being addicted to TV and candy, but has the bad luck to go to a doctor who gives her an RX for 'diet pills', that turn out to actually be the old-fashioned kind they gave to women in the 50s- speed. I found her story thread the most memorable and heartbreaking. Sarah takes pills and starts losing weight, as well as suddenly becoming very energetic and chatty. Like any addictive drug, her happy blue pills stop working after prolonged use so she ups her dose more...and more...and things slowly start getting very weird and scary. In one of the best scenes midway through the film (one of the few that had a tiny bit of comic relief) Harry visits her --the only visit he makes during the movie where he doesn't openly steal her TV to pawn for dope money. He is briefly riding high (in more ways than one) and tells her he bought her a big screen TV-he wanted to do something nice for her and figured out that "TV is her fix". He looks like he's getting a bad feeling when she's babbling happily about how she has a reason to get up in the morning, and then he hears her grinding her teeth, and figures it out. This is the first time in the movie you see real fear in his eyes. Sarah soon starts having very scary strung-out hallucinations-starting out with subtle things like time woozily slowing down and speeding back up, and when her refrigerator suddenly starts moving on its own, the real nightmare begins. An aggressive fridge with a mind of its own sounds Monty Python-esque when you first hear about it, but trust me, you won't be laughing by the end of the movie. One review I read said that the movie not only pulls the rug out from under you, it drags you and the rug down a long flight of stairs into a very dark basement. Another reviewer compared the experience of watching the film to a drug, and that's not too far off the mark either. Whenever a character gets high, there's a slam-bang fast cut montage of the same images over and over; a sigh, a pupil dilating, cells changing color. The scenes where Sarah hallucinates are pretty close to the real thing. The description I probably agree with most came from Darren Aronofsky himself-he compared the film to a jump from a plane without a parachute, and the movie ends three minutes after you hit the ground. The last few minutes that show the gruesome, depressing, worst-case-scenario fates of all 4 characters are just as intense, hard to watch, and nightmarish as I heard they were. My only complaints would be that I wish it were longer, with more time for character development. I would have liked more scenes of what these people and their lives were like before they were addicts, as well as their relationships with each other. The cast is great- Wayans shows that he has the most range and talent of the Wayans bros- I laughed so hard at him in Don't Be A Menace that I ended up buying it, but here...wow. I would have liked to see more of his character. I never liked Leto much before, but he is excellent and also almost unrecognizable (he said he dropped 1/5 of his weight for the role and boy does it show). Connelly I disliked so much before that I would actively avoid seeing movies she was in, but I was very impressed and convinced that she can act. Burstyn gives the performance of a lifetime- not only convincing, but she was dedicated enough to let the filmmakers make her look like absolute and total hell, which many actresses over 50 would probably not be brave enough to do. Not recommended if you're easily shocked, squeamish, or upset. If you only like movies that take you to a happy place, stay far away. Everyone who left the movie theater looked like they had just been hit over the head with a very large board. And we were all people who knew what we were getting into. Recommended for those who want to see a movie that will completely overtake you and involve you emotionally. In addition, this film should be required viewing for everyone in the fashion industry that supported and glorified that whole hideous 'heroin chic' trend. Also a good movie if you are having some problems in your life and want to put them in perspective VERY fast. And even though I keep my weight down the old-fashioned way, I'll probably never look at my fridge quite the same way again...
Rating: 
Summary: I just became sober.
Review: I don't usually review movies, but this one got under my skin. Basically it's the story of what drugs can do to people, the dark side of it. The acting is excellent, and Ellen Burstyn was amazing to the point of being scary. The other actors did a fine job too, and the photography really complemented everything. As I watched, I became more emotionally involved with the characters than I usually do in movies, and I really started to feel depressed, and even sick by the end of it all. Probably the worst thing is knowing that there really are people out there in these situations, going through hell for just those few moments of pleasure. It's quite a moving film, and might be powerful enough to make some people clean.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing and disturbing
Review: "Requiem for a dream" is the most disturbing film I've seen recently. It tells two parallel stories very well connected. The first is about sarah goldfarb, a widowed mother who lives by herself and is very lonely. One day she gets a call from a tv show and decides to start a straight diet to get a better looking on TV. A doctor prescribes her some pills, which were supposed to feed her, but everything starts to change when diet becomes an obsession. The second story happens with sarah's son, Harry, who is a drug addicted, and spends all day long taking all kinds of stuff, with his girlfriend and his best friend. This movie is very good and shows how much damage drugs can do. It's almost a lesson to be learned, a story with a moral at the end. The casting is wonderful. Ellen Burstyn is amazingly real playing sarah in one of her best performances ever. Jared Leto is also great playing the good young guy who has good intentions but is sick, addicted. Jennifer Connely is bright as always. She is very beautiful and I think this part had to be played by her. After you watch this movie, you'll really feel lonely and depressed. It's like a punch in your stomach! It is very sad to see how far someone can go to keep its addiction. The main characters are young, intelligent and surely had a great future ahead of them, if they didn't get addicted. I liked the edition, with fast images, and zoom in the character's eyes.Darren Aronofsky made a great film, which I will never forget. I think no one has shown drug addiction in such a realistic and painfull point of view, and he surely deserves all the credit for doing that.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, Graphic and Great
Review: I went to this movie hearing plenty of buzz about how graphic the content was. Over the course of the movie you see just how Aronofsky wants to send his message to the audience. The characters start off with somewhat mild addictions and then next thing you know the four main characters are living in hell. I couldn't believe how low they all fell. This movie may be the greatest anti-drug message of all time. I dare anybody to watch this and to not be touched and frightened by these characters. Before the movie started I noticed the audience was quite loud and garrulous, but as it ended and the credits rolled the whole place was stone cold silent. It was amazing. As a whole I felt the movie was excellent. The visuals were well done and the editing was outstanding. The actors really put themselves into their roles. Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly had very good chemistry, while Marlon Wayans showed he is a talented actor and not just a talented comic. Ellen Burstyn. Wow! She was amazing. I can't believe an older woman would allow herself to be filmed like that. She has some serious guts. Hands down the best female performance I've watched this year, not even close. I was totally amazed by her. All in all, I would say Requiem For a Dream is a great movie. It had a profound impact on me and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I watched it on opening night. I definitely recommend this movie to anyone. This is a movie everyone should see, but unfortunately not enough will.
Rating: 
Summary: Aronofsky's a genius...just ask him.
Review: Another overrated entry in the Quickly Becoming Tiresome "junkie chic" genre. A lonely widow (Ellen Burstyn) gets strung out on a "Mother's Little Helper" regimen of diet and sleeping pills prescibed by her quack physician. Meanwhile, her son (Jared Leto),his girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) and his buddy (Marlon Wayans) are busy destroying thier lives with heroin. And that's our "plot"...Drugs Are Bad (ho-hum). With neither a compelling central narrative nor sympathetic character in sight, be prepared for a VERY long 2 hours. I was roped in by the hype surrounding Burstyn's performance, and while she is excellent as always, this is nowhere near her best work (check out "King Of Marvin Gardens" just for starters). Director Darren Aronofsky appears to be more determined to showcase his own visual technique over performances, so any subtle acting nuances are bludgeoned by annoying camera/editing tricks. There are far too many gross-out scenes (unless your idea of a good time at the movies includes watching beautiful Jennifer Connelly vomit into the camera, or a lingering close-up of a needle spiking into a pus-swollen abcess). The "What...that's IT?!" ending really puts the capper on an alltogether unpleasant movie experience.
Rating:
Summary: Changed
Review: When I rented this movie I hadn't heard anything about it at all. I was bored and took off to the tiny video store closest to my apt. I's seen almost everything they had and I thought, "oh, what the hell, I'll check this out," half expecting it to be one of those teeny bopper, MTV-type movies because of the cast. Wow. I'd like to apologize to Jared Leto and Marlon Waynes - I just didn't know. The performances in this movie were brilliant. Ellen Burstyn was amazing. The characters' miserable pursuit of their misguided dreams grabs hold of you, crushes your spirit. You know what's going to happen but can't stop watching, as though you just want to be their for them, for Sara, for Harry, for Tyrone, for Marion. It's not some corny anti-drug movie. It's a raw, gut-wrenching, unforgiving look at the by-product of a society that has chosen to dull its senses with an assortment of addictions and which feeds on empty images of glamour, high life and leisure. As the credits rolled, I just stood there ( I had stood up right in front of the television screen for the last 30 minutes or so of the movie), chest heavy, brain throbbing, balance thrown, as though the wind had been knocked out of me. It is difficult to watch, as alot of our reality tends to be, but it is so necessary. No stupid happy-ending wrap-up here. This is real. And unforgettable. It leaves you changed.
Rating:
Summary: Needle Drugs? NO thanks!
Review: This is the single most vehement argument for not using drugs that I've ever experienced. This should be a requirement for every high school student. More shocking than *warning Spoiler* the amputated arm, or the self-deprecating sex, or the whole prison thing, was the loss of sanity by the well meaning mother whose addiction shifts from watching TV, to food, to her weight loss pills/speed, to her final obsession of a perfect life. The feeling of hollowness that is evident after watching this movie is translated to the viewer most effectively by the continuation of all the characters misery. This is left undefined and entirely to the viewer's now brutal imagination.
This all being said this is a brilliantly filmed movie that is most certainly worth watching even if you have already decided on your opinion of drugs. It may be hard however, to see it twice. This is just a testament to how well the message comes across the first time.
I highly recomend this movie (not literally, in fact I know people that have freaked out hardcore doing just that.)
Rating:
Summary: life changing
Review: im not going to try and sound super sophisticated because ill be frank, im not. after watching this movie i was motivated to create an amazon account for the one intention of reviewing it. this movie came to me highly reccomended by a friend. this friend had mentioned that this was the only movie that had made her cry. i thought it cant be that bad...then i watched it for the first time. i started watching and nothing seemed too special the main character harry taking his mothers tv with his friend tyrone, getting high, having a good time then the characters started to develop i started to see how lonely, desperate, kind, and caring sara was. i started to see the heirarchy of her friends and everything develop...now my reviews going to take a change...i dont want to summarize the plot of the movie and what happened but rather the emotional bombardment that i underwent. after the first view i was more angry at marion ( sorry i didnt mention her before, harry's g/f), harry, and tyrone because they knew the effects addiction could have and still pursued it, however i was touched by what had happened to sara. i was also shocked and a little suprised by some of the sexual content. however on the second viewing everything changed. sexual content became an unreplacable element to the storytelling showing how truly desperate a human can be. also everytime a character would shoot heroine a peice of me would die. while watching this movie i was able to pinpoint the last truly happy moment in the movie which was about 30-40 minutes into it, one could also chart the downfall of each character, you could plot it on a graph and watch the slope plummit into hell, it is impossible to put the immotional impact of this film into words...i just have to add the climax about the last 20 minutes of the movie will make your life outlook so dismal you will have to look at everything in a new light, if you want to be truly moved by an overwhelmingly brutal exhibition of humanity at its worst this movie is it, the movie itself is intoxicating after one view i put it down and said i would never watch it again, 3 days later i watched it again it is so well directed, im rambling now and i cant put whats left to say about this film into words so this will have to do, IT IS LIFE CHANGING
Rating:
Summary: Hypnotic, Brilliant, Nightmare... A Cinematic Work Of Art...
Review: Many have attempted to tackle the cliche topic of addiction on film. Many valiant attempts have been made. Yet somehow no other film has ever hit me so hard. I witnessed this incredible movie at the theater, and when it ended an uncomfortable, unforgettable aura and silence lurked in the theater. All those in attendence were blown away and unable to even move immediately after. I was paralyzed, trying to grasp what I just witnessed. This is a heart breaking, wonderful, and TRUE movie. To lump this in with other drugs films is to belittle it. Sheerly from a cinematic stand point this movie is amazing. The cinematography is truly gripping. I love how this movie spirals down with increasing intensity like a runaway locomotive. Aronofsky is a true visionary. This movie was not suppossed to make you feel good. I am glad there are not more movies of this nature. This film should be seriously shown to all high school kids so they can obtain a realistic perspective on the spector of drugs. This amazing film was not just about drugs. It was about dreams and the fragile nature of humans. Do yourself a favor and buy this movie. Support those who make bold and daring art.
|
