Rating: 
Summary: REQUIEM FOR A LOUSY MOVIE
Review: WITHOUT DOUBT, THIS IS THE WORST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN. This director had absolutley nothing new, original, worthwhile to offer the movie going public. This entire film was a cheap attempt to garner an emotional responce from the audience by subjecting them to a non-stop assault of uncomfortable situations that the main characters were involved in. I broke out in laughter during the last 20 minutes. The MTV style editing, the ridiculously loud and poorly written score, the predictable ending, were all turned up to an annoying level, hoping to god that it would distract you from what a horrible movie this is. Graphic films can be powerful, I am a big fan when executed properly. Performances on the part of Leto, Wayans, and Conelly were all of the "If I act bored, stoned, and confused...I will come across as cool, deep and maybe interesting" vein. Ellen Burstyn does stand out with a stellar performance that makes you care for her due to her acting ability, not this script. This film also blatantly steals scenes from other films, showing that director Aranovski??? had nothing new to offer and was forced to make fragments of a film that had already been made. The bathtub scene with Conelly screaming under water, was taken shot for shot from the animation feature "Perfect Blue". Every other drug element had already been done, and had been done better in "Trainspotting", "Drugstore Cowboy", and "Another Day In Paradise". Save your time, save your money, and do not buy into the hype.
Rating: 
Summary: Visually exciting, but ultimately, unsatisfying
Review: This film is worth one viewing - by rental only, but ultimately somewhat hollow and unsatisfying. I think it's over-rated and those in love with it just like the eye candy. I wouldn't consider it worth buying. It's not completely worthless, however.
The visually exciting part is that Requiem develops its own visual language to depict events that sophisticated film-goers are already familiar with. Who needs to see another junky shoot up? We've seen it so many times, it simply doesn't have the shock value or impact that it once did. Instead, the film-makers provide quick, clever, visual representations of the physical effects of shooting up that act as a visual shortcut to get you to the real point of the movie - how the addiction leads the lives of these individuals to spin out of control. The film also serves to point out how our quick-fix, get-rich-quick culture encourages behaviors that lead to addiction. And, it clearly illuminates the hypocritical views mainstream America and our medical community often has about legal and illegal drugs. I would give the movie a 4 for being visually innovative, but a 3 for failing to hold the story line together and for failing to provide for an adequate ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Requiem For A Dream
Review: This Movie actually deserve 6 stars I'm a 15 years old kid and this has to be one of the best movies I have ever seen. It's not just it's an incredible movie. It has the amazing soundtrack by clint mansell
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely amazing!
Review: I am not being blunt when I say that this is probably the most amazing and powerful movies I have ever seen. Having seen Pi and thinking that would be difficult to top, I had to see Requiem for a Dream which is also directed by the genius, Darren Aronofsky. From start to finish it's the most beautifully crafted downward spiral you will ever endure. Contradictory, you say? See the movie and you'll change your mind. This film is beautiful and ugly at the same time. Which brings me to my next point. It is as REAL as it gets. Many others have told they thought Aronofsky was "showing off" with the camera work and speed of the film. I disagree completely. This movie dives deep into the decisions and emotions made by the characters. I will agree with most though, it isn't easy to digest. After watching it, I subconciously tried to forget about it alltogether, even how great it was. But, a few hours later, I woke up from that disguistingly beautiful trance and started to call all of my friends and tell them to rent it. So, to leave you; if you are any kind of fan of film, or just want to become lost in a movie, you Should experience this. Everyone should ... I'm not kidding.
Rating:
Summary: feel the pain
Review: A lot of movies try to explore youth and drugs. While most make some kind of bookish statement about how parents should pay attention to their kids, peers should be more accepting of each other, etc., this outstanding film shows the real hopes and aspirations of a lot of people who live a drug life. Indeed, there is an escape element that we typically associate with drugs, but we also see youth's fantasies for love, success, pleasure, and relief from the restrictions placed by conventional recipes for life. Moreoever, and this is where 'Req.' demolishes previous drug movies, the old mother also obtains a drug addiction of her own, reliving some of her younger dreams. Invariably, this woman has failed to satisfy her young yearnings despite living up to conventional models. Every viewer should leave this movie with doubts and questions, not answers. Indeed, this is a depressing movie, extremely painful. However, it illuminates questions in life via drama (not philosophical asides). Therein lies its ultimate strength: as if this were nearly a snap shot of life shaping moments we all experience but often fail to see how our choices will affect our outcome. Hopefully, this movie can help us feel the dangers we risk today, rather than simply processing them through automatic cheese grater-like cliches.
Rating:
Summary: simply amazing
Review: Requiem For a Dream is about 4 people and thier struggles with addiction. This film is so raw, it leaves the viewer completely drained and depressed. In the beggining, everything is great. Marion (Jennifer Connely), Harry (Jared Leto) and Tyrone (Marlon Waynes) are living the high life, making money and they have "no hassles". You like the characters because they are light and happy. The only exception is Sara Goldfarb(Ellen Burstyn), who is lonely and self-hating. You can only feel sorry for her. You obly want her to be happy. Because you learn about the characters before thier addiction really kicks in, you take the fall with them. As the movie progesses, the characters are slowly consumed by thier addictions, wheather they be Herion, diet pills, television or even hope. It happens so subtley that before you know it you are saying "what happened here?" The characters begin longing for the summer days with no worries, and keep promising themselves they will get back on track to the happier days, but that is a long lost dream. Jennifer Connely has come a long way since The Labrynth. She is amazing as Marion. She played the girlfriend of Harry. She is a dreamer, who wants to open her own clothing shop. After her and her boyfriends drug habbit worsen, she stops sketching and turns to prostitution to make money to buy her own stash. Marion and Harry started out in love, but their relationship crumbles as they fall deeper into their addiction. What Jennifer Connelly does with the withdrawl scene is simply amazing. Jared Leto is very good as Harry. He gets into drug dealing with his friend Tyrone to make enough money to not have to work ever again. Come winter he has spent all of his money and used up his stash, and the supply in the city has run dry. he has nothing left to do and his situation worsens. he falls apart as his relatoinship with Marion deteriorates. Who knew Marlon Waynes could act? He plays a smaller role as Tyrone and is kind of a very small comic relief. I wish he would do less Scary Movie junk, and more of the real films he is capable of doing. Tyrone just wants to be somebody, he has been a nothing his entire life. He just wants to be happy. sadly, he didn't realize drug dealing isn't the way to do that. Ellen Burtyn should have won the Oscar over Julia Robers for her role as Sara Goldfarb. It's a crime that she lost. Her story is the saddest because she didn't even know she was taking drugs. After getting a call saying she would be on television, Sara wants to loose weight so she can fit into her favorite red dress. When she realizes eating right is just too hard, she starts taking diet pills that contain speed. These pills make her feel happy. Being on television becomes the only reason for her to get out of bed in the morning. A very powerful scene is when Sara starts hallucinating. Sara can't stop taking her pills because she is blinded by her new popularity with the other women. She hasn't felt so good since her husband was alive and her son was living with her. It is so shocking because she is an innocent, old women. You wouldn't expect her to be popping down pills. The DVD has some really great extras. [....] Darren Aronofsky is one of the best directors, period. The colors and angles he chooses make the film very beautiful. His use of split screen, cameras attached to actors, and close ups are amazing. I have seen a lot of movies in my life, but I have never seen a movie that made me feel such raw emotion. This movie, along with the music, will send chills down your spine. I've never before been left feeling physically ill after a movie.
Rating:
Summary: one messed up movie
Review: This extremely deep (and odd) movie will make you cringe and you will definately have a different view on addicts. You follow the life of the main character and those who are involved with him. It is a briliant movie although it is painful to watch. The plot and the characters are so well done that I recommend everyone see this movie at least once.
Rating: 
Summary: Requiem For A Wasted 102 Minutes
Review: Much like Darren Aronofsky's first film, Pi, Requiem deals with humanities extreme obsessions and addictions and the inevitably dire consequences on the soul suffered through self inflicted damage. Unlike that quite good first feature, Requiem is quite a dissapointment. Often choosing style over content, Aronofsky has put forth an MTV worthy pastiche of quick clips and throbbing 21st century music to depict a nightmarish world of drug abuse with time honored plot cliches firmly intact. Starring such notables as "that guy from In Living Color, and that guy from My So Called Life," Requiem is perhaps the most freakishly exaggerated account of drug abuse since the infamous public service film "Reefer Madness." At one point a senior citizen imagines her refrigerator trying to eat her and later recieves electric shock treatment to cure her obvious insanity, all because of an addiction to doctor prescribed diet pills. Last I knew, diet pills were not hallucinogenics. Aronofsky's like that weird guy who keeps telling you the story of his friend who took too much acid and is in a hospital thinking he's a glass of orange juice and can't move or else he'll spill, even though you know it's not true. Perhaps the only difference is that Aronofsky takes two hours to tell the story. Just once I would like to see a film about drug addiction where the characters are worth caring about,where there's no blaring techno music or artsy clips of floating .... Darren Aronofsky may still go on to make some outstanding features, but stay away from this one.
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: Requiem for a Dream
Review: I don't think that there has ever been a film as bleakly harrowing or as brave as Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream." The film deserved to win a dozen Oscars, including Ellen Burstyn for Best Actress. What makes this film different from other movies about drug addiction is that it never offers a moral view. It tells the story of four addicts living in Brooklyn who we see spiral with unstoppable momentum down into drug addiction hell over the seasons of one year. You feel for all of these characters, but the one you will pity most is Sara Goldfarb, a lonely widow played brilliantly by Ellen Burstyn. Sara hangs on to the pathetic dream of being on her favorite TV game show and losing weight to fit into her beloved red dress. Enter the diet pills. The scene where Sara explains to her son Harry (Jared Leto) that she "likes the way" she feels now. "Now, I smile," she says. You get the feeling that Sara is teetering on the edge of madness, and more heartbreaking, she is aware of it. Her later scenes tear you apart as she plunges straight down into insanity, with no hope of ever coming back, because she doesn't want to come back. Jared Leto delivers another outstanding performance as Harry Goldfarb, Sara's heroin addict son. Harry really wants his mother to be happy, and when he learns that she is addicted to speed, he breaks down and sobs on the way home. But a shot of heroin makes him all right again. He and best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans-who is very very good) decide to start dealing heroin themselves, but the scheme goes horribly wrong. Also very affecting is Jennifer Connelly as Harry's girlfriend Marion, who will do anything for her next fix, including prostituting herself. Harry even sends her out with a man when he knows that she will have to have sex with him to get much needed cash. This is the wedge that drives them apart, only reconciling when it is too late for both of them. This is all seen with an unflinching eye, holding nothing back. Darren Aronofsky's highly effective visual style pays off in the powerful punch of the final montage of scenes which shows the fate of the four characters we feel for so deeply. The music jars us to attention as Sara undergoes electro-shock therapy, Harry's infected arm is amputated, Tyrone tries to drift to sleep in prison, and as Marion willingly suffers sexual degradation. The final images show Tyrone dreaming of his mother, Harry sobbing that Marion will never come see him, Sara lost in insanity, and Marion emotionlessly cradling a packet of coke. These four people, now without dreams, now without souls, curl up into fetal positions and sleep. The last clip shows Sara and Harry on the game show, and we see the look of crazed fear and sadness in Sara's lost eyes. "Requiem for a Dream" is the most powerful film I have ever seen. It takes a second viewing to catch all of its subtleties, notable the two women who told Sara about diet pills visiting a now cadaverus Sara in the hospital. If you can bear it, you will be changed forever by this sorrowful and realistic vision of four victims of addiction. See it.
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