Melaisis said:
It shocked me alot. During that period I would go to the cinema on a weekly basis religiously, and I'd seen every major Hollywood release at the time. I took a chance on Children of Men - the dystopian setting being a key selling point to me. I didn't get hyped at all, yet was so shocked by the quality of drama behind it. There are moments like where the final town is being bombarded and Theo is trying to move through it whilst avoiding the army, the camera constantly following him which are really... striking. The whole atmosphere really gave the movie something special. Indeed, it does have an estranged story ('we need you to take woman to coast' 'kk') tied together with a few scenes of them travelling on a road, yet overall it was the shock factor that sold it to me.
PR: I agree totally with the ending of Hard Candy. It would have been a lot better if she had left him scared and alone when his ex arrived, rather than actually having to kill him; far more in-keeping with the themes of illusion and deception throughout ('I'm gonna cut your balls off', 'I'm going to make yourself kill... yourself'). Again, it definitely shocked me because I had heard almost nothing about it prior to its release, and suddenly it was dunked upon me. Like CoM the story is somewhat randomised, but both characters have such awesome pieces that it is easy to overlook the faults in the plot.
I have to say that the point where they're walking down the stairs and out towards the end, and everyone is just showing quiet shock and reverence (for obvious reasons that I won't spell out here to avoid spoilers), and then it's shattered by the RPG flying out one of the windows definitely got me.
I came across Hard Candy the same way, had a few hours to waste spending the day with my mum, and saw it listed at the movies, never having heard of it before. Now it has been a while for me, (spoilers coming up but they've already been mentioned earlier with no warning) but I thought he didn't die at the end? All I remember was the hanging rope, jumping off the edge of the roof, and the rope not actually being tied up. I didn't think she killed him for real after that. To me, that's exactly the same as leaving him for the police and his girlfriend, except he's been put through the torture of thinking he has an easy way out, before being plunged back into reality. Amazing ending, really took my breath away.
The Sorrow & Kaname13 said:
Did you read the book? I made the mistake of reading it before I'd seen the movie, and I just couldn't stand the movie afterwards. To me at least, the book just carried the sense of loneliness and sorrow far better than the movie, which I felt turned into nothing more than an action drama. The change in the vampires as well really annoyed me, in the book they're basically human, far less grotesque.
OldBoy, damn, how could I forget that! Again, powerful movie, amazing ending, and then some gratuitous scenes of just fun (the hallway is one of the best fights I've seen in a while).
Thought of another - Stranger than fiction. Although I have to say:
***Spoiler ***
(I don't know how to do the proper spoiler clickbox, if someone can point me to a description how I'll edit this later)
I would've been far happier with it if they'd stopped the movie after the bus scene. I effectively took the same journey as Will's character, spending the whole movie wanting him saved, but then being very accepting and happy at the decision to have him killed, and the method in which it would occur. The change made me not quite as happy with it. Still OK, but not as impressive if it had stopped straight after the bus scene.
End of Spoiler.***
