Pudge and Nico Blog

Some movies we watched recently, both in theaters and at home:

Melancholia (available on Netflix Instant Watch)

We both really liked this one. I pretty much hate Kirsten Dunst, but I thought she did a great job (as did the rest of the cast). Although the movie is slow, you never feel bored, and are really curious about what’s coming next. The movie takes place in two parts, and while both parts actually feel like completely different movies, I liked them both. After seeing this, I’d definitely like to see more Lars Von Trier movies (I think I want to see Anti-Christ next).

Sound of My Voice (in theaters now)

Just saw this one yesterday and LOVED it. The movie does such a great job of making you feel as if you’re in a cult too. At first you start out super skeptical, but the more you get into the film, you find yourself constantly bouncing back and forth between belief and non-belief, which is how I’d imagine you’d feel being newly initiated in a cult. It’s pretty interesting to see how your brain will justify certain actions once you start believing.

Congo (available on Netflix Instant Watch)

After seeing this on Netflix Instant, we had to watch it since we both have childhood memories of it. Wow, it’s pretty bad. There are like 3082384 plot points before you finally get to what the movie is actually about. And pretty much none of those plot points make any sense. And Tim Curry’s accent is straight-up ridiculous. And the special effects are pretty terribly hilarious. Oh man, it was good-bad.

The Messenger (available on Netflix Instant Watch)

We actually were pretty bored by this one, which we didn’t expect. It was Oscar-nominated and was pretty well-received, but we turned it off about 2/3 of the way through because we just didn’t care what happened. The characters seemed very flat and you don’t really understand their motivations. We also felt like all of the scenes in which they were notifying families were really far-fetched; everyone had a really out-there reaction, and it just seemed to be drama for the sake of drama.

I Think We’re Alone Now (available on Netflix Instant Watch)

I think everyone should watch this, not only because it was really interesting topic, but also because it really helps you understand and empathize with mental illness (something I think is far too stigmatized in this country). The individuals in the documentary are really interesting, but you just feel so crushed/heartbroken for them and saddened that the way their minds portray this world is so far from what the rest of society considers reality. I felt really sad after watching this because it just doesn’t seem fair that these people “lucked out” with this as their life.