Last night I did a mini-marathon. I saw (no pun intended) two movies… The first one was “Saw II”. I really enjoyed “Saw” and I almost let myself be suckered by the “Saw II” reviews — that it only got a RottenTomatoes.com 38%. Saw II was a very credible sequel, much more credible than most horror sequels. My belief that the majority of reviewers cannot review horror movies is again exhonorated. If you like horror films and you liked Saw (and man, who didn’t? Saw was a really stellar horror film) you WILL like Saw II – go out and see it tonight. Yes… Saw was more creative, there were more creative killings, etc. I liked Saw better than Saw II, BUT, I did like Saw II. In the immortal words of, umm, Bill and Ted?, “it is worthy”.
The second movie I saw was “Stay”. This movie has an incredibly forgettable title. I saw the previews for it and was somewhat interested. The RottenTomatoes.com score of 24% probably swayed me against it in the initial release. Damn it. Damn RottenTomatoes. Damn them to hell. I will say it again — Damn them and damn the reviewers. I read something by somebody comparing it to Jacob’s Ladder (an incredibly awesome film) and decided I needed to see it. On Thursday of last week Stay was at many NYC theaters. On Friday it was almost completely out of the NYC area (and completely out of the NJ area). Dang, how bad must it suck to be pulled so quickly from the northeast (released on October 21st)? How wrong must I be to want to see this movie?
I got my ticket, the movie started. By about the second scene I had decided it was in the top five trippiest movies I have seen (and I have seen some really trippy movies). By the end of the film it firmly held something like top 3. The movie was really well written and acted. The cut scenes amazing. Everything. This is a COOL movie. Why didn’t people like it? Because most people are sadly week minded and can’t handle trippy movies that go beyond the boundaries of the normal (is my guess). If you liked “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Mulholland Drive” you will like this movie. It was nothing short of an amazing cinematic experience. This story really can’t be done except for cinematically. Don’t rent the DVD – find it in the theater. If you hated the previously mentioned films, you will hate this one too (too bad for you).