Posts Tagged ‘Jaws’

Movies that genuinely horrify are few and far between, and many feel it's been too long since the last one. It would appear American horror faces yet another threshold.

In order for a horror film to be affecting it must accomplish an array of feats that manipulate its audience in a way that steers it toward a desired end, which is usually one of disenfranchisement, disgust, dismay, or paranoia. But one key element to effective horror that goes largely unmentioned is the importance of pity. When a horror film does not take seriously this pivotal aspect, or neglects it altogether, what usually results is a campy flick that allows, if not promotes an audience to react with disinterest or laughter instead of shock, terror, or other sorts of psychological distress. In order to properly convey the importance of a scary movie’s ability to make an audience pity we must first examine precisely what pity is and how it works to assist a movie’s efforts to jar its viewers. From doing this we can hopefully discover the major faults of modern American horror, and see what needs to be done to revive it.

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Short Take: Beyond its obvious faults it delivers exactly what it advtertises, and then some

Director: Alexandre Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes (2006))

Screenwriters: Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg (Sorority Row)

Cast: Elizabeth Shue (Hamlet 2), Christopher Lloyd (Camp Nowhere), Ving Rhames (Surrogates), Jerry O’Connell (Obsessed), Adam Scott (TV’s Party Down)

Length: 1h 30m

Synopsis: After a subterranean tremor causes a rift that conjoins a mysterious underwater lake with the aboveground Lake Victoria community, a prehistoric predator proceeds to roam free and eat at will. That predator is the very first breed of Piranha, which are thousands strong and eager to feed on fresh meat. It just so happens that these ferocious fish escape during Spring Break, when every virile teenager and college student within fifty miles is congregating to drink, fornicate, and unknowingly serve themselves up as dinner. Gratuitous nudity and violence ensues on a level not seen in American theaters in some time. Read the rest of this entry »

To commemorate the holiday which celebrates the United States’ independence we thought we’d list some quotes from some relevant movies. There have been quite a few films that have been made over the years that either directly or indirectly acknowledge this day of the year, and so hopefully you’ll fondly remember at least a couple that we mention. However you celebrate this national holiday, we at Movie-Thoughts hope you enjoy your festivities safely, and as always keep enjoying the movies!

Born on the Fourth of July -

Ron Kovic: This place is a fuckin’ slum!
Marvin: You want out of here, man? Fine. We take that leg of yours, and we can get you out of here in two weeks!
Ron Kovic: I want my leg.
Marvin: Why?
Ron Kovic: I want my leg!
Marvin: Why? You can’t feel it no how!
Ron Kovic: (incredulous and angry) It’s my leg! I want my leg, you understand? Can’t you understand that? All’s I’m sayin’ is that I want to be treated like a human being! I fought for my country! I am a Vietnam veteran! I fought for my country!
Patient: [off-camera] Shut the fuck up!
Ron Kovic: And I think that I deserve to be treated… decent!

Independence Day -

President Thomas Whitmore: I saw… its thoughts. I saw what they’re planning to do. They’re like locusts. They’re moving from planet to planet… their whole civilization. After they’ve consumed every natural resource they move on… and we’re next. Nuke ‘em. Let’s nuke the bastards.

President Thomas Whitmore: Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. “Mankind.” That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: “We will not go quietly into the night!” We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!

Jaws -

Quint: Y’all know me. Know how I earn a livin’. I’ll catch this bird for you, but it ain’t gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin’ bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin’, little tenderizin’, an’ down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that’ll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin’ basis. But it’s not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I’ll find him for three, but I’ll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you’ve gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don’t want no volunteers, I don’t want no mates, there’s just too many captains on this island. Ten thousand dollars for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.

Quint: [singing] Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies. Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain. For we’ve received orders for to sail back to Boston. And so never more shall we see you again.

Chief Brody: We’re gunna need a bigger boat.

Gettysburg -

General Robert E. Lee: We are never quite prepared for so many to die. Oh, we do expect the occasional empty chair. A salute to fallen comrades. But this war goes on and on and the men die and the price gets ever higher. We are prepared to loose some of us, but we are never prepared to loose all of us. And there is the great trap General. When you attack, you must hold nothing back. You must commit yourself totally. We are adrift here in a sea of blood and I want it to end. I want this to be the final battle.

Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: Many of us volunteered to fight for the Union. Some came mainly because we were bored at home and this looked like it might be fun. Some came because we were ashamed not to. Many came because it was the right thing to do. … This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you’ll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, power, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we’re here for something new. This has not happened much, in the history of the world: We are an army out to set other men free. America should be free ground, all of it, from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow, no man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here is the place to build a home. But it’s not the land. There’s always more land. It’s the idea that we all have value, you and me. What we’re fighting for, in the end… we’re fighting for each other.

Sergeant ‘Buster’ Kilrain: Colonel, you’re a lovely man. I see a great difference between us, yet I admire you. You’re an idealist, praise be. There’s many a man alive of no more value than a dead dog. What I’m fighting for is to prove I’m a better man than the others. There’s many a man worse than me, and some better. But I don’t think race or country matters a damn. What matters is justice. And that’s why I’m here. I’ll be treated as I deserve, not as my father deserved.

(All quotes courtesy of IMDb.com)

This May's "Iron Man 2" will be the latest summer vehicle designed to appeal to the biggest audience possible. How is it this came to be? Is it a good thing?

With the summer movie season nearly upon us (officially beginning with the release of Iron Man 2 on May 7^th), I naturally got pulled into another conversation with a fellow moviegoer who felt the need to express his contempt for this time of year. According to him, and I’m sure many of you out there as well, the summer months are reserved for when Hollywood likes to flex its corporate muscles and make boat loads of cash by feeding the masses the intellectual equivalent of junk food. Basically, if it’s loud and shiny, it sells. But the movie studios are not entirely to blame, as it’s also the fault of the audiences who readily pay their hard earned money to sit stupefied at a screen while their senses get pushed to the limits (Michael Bay’s Transformers movies were listed as examples several times during the conversation).

This is one way to look at it.

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