Momentous, I know.
Okay, actually it's not that momentous. We've watched a great many movies since the last DMS review, and that snob David has commented on all of them. Unfortunately, Madameduck (I speak of myself in the third person here because I dislike accepting blame) has not written about any of them.
But, now I'm in this Starbucks attached to the Chapters, wondering what to do to take my mind off the disgustingly weak coffee and the grating experimental jazz. I came up with an answer. Blog, of course.
So, behold, a DMS review of SPLICE! (warning, there's a few mini-spoilers in here. I just couldn't help myself)
I had been looking forward to this movie way back when it came out, but for some reason, I hadn't watched it till now. (I feel like I say that about a lot of movies...) Anyway, the premise is thus: irreverent hipster scientists Clive and Elsa decide (selfishly) that they want to stretch the moral and legal boundaries of their practices and splice human DNA with a variety of animal DNA. Apparently, according to headstrong and completely fucked-up Elsa, it's for the good of humanity. See, if they can do this splicing, they'll be able to save all of the poor saps dying of cancer. Somehow. Her pansy-ass boy-toy, Clive, sees
Well, actually, he was right. After tucking in their now adolescent (apparently splicing=accelerated growth) creation one night, things get steamy. Because, really, if I'd just broken a shitload of laws and created some kind of violent human/animal thing, that'd get my hormones raging too.
The hormones apparently don't stop raging, mutant hormones included, as things spiral quickly, if not predictably, out of control.
What did I think of the film?
Surprise! I loved this movie. This kind of disturbo-freak-fest is right up my alley. I cringed through a lot of the scenes and hated all of the characters (even Adrien Brody's character, despite the fact that he's my celebrity crush!), but for me, that's a sign of a good flick. I knew right from the moment the flowery Gaumont logo flashed on the screen that this would not be the typical sci-fi that I thought it would be. French people know how to get twisted.
As soon as the movie ended, I exclaimed, "Eeeee! I hated it! Turn it off!" and then I made a bunch of unintelligible sounds as I writhed on the floor. But then, 2 hours later when I still hadn't fallen asleep, I realized that Splice was one of the best films I'd seen in awhile. It was haunting, thought provoking, and ....line-crossing. :) The tension and disturbiness in this film were along the lines of Lars von Trier and Michael Haneke: not in your face gruesome, but more like something itching underneath your skin. Like "igh."
What did David the Movie Snob think?
He liked it too. Sorry, no snarky comments this time. :)
my rating: 7/10
DMS rating: 6/10. Ever the snob.
Hmm, I haven't seen it, didn't seem like my thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm anxiously awaiting the day that David the movie snob gives a movie a 10!! I will have to drop everything to watch it :-)
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling the movies David would award a 10 to are not ones we would like. :)
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