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Thursday, January 29, 2009
What was the first movie that traumatized you?
Entertainment Weekly has a very fun photo gallery entitled “29 Films You Saw Too Young.” I’d like to take that question and ask it a little differently.
What was the first movie that seriously traumatized you or your children?
Bear in mind, I mean “traumatized” in a very broad sense. I don’t mean just scared. I mean movies of any genre, of any rating that left some kind of psychological scar on you. It can be a movie that still gives you nightmares to this day. It could be the first movie that made you wonder what the hell it was about. It could even be the movie that first made you question the facts of life (though that may have been more of a trauma for your parents than you).
I like to think I’m made of fairly tough stuff when it comes to watching movies. It takes a lot to faze me these days, at any rate. But in the past, any number of films got under my skin. The first live-action scary scene that seriously reduced my waking hours was the chest-bursting scene in Alien. The first movie with a really bizarre plot I couldn’t figure out at first might have been Blue Velvet.
Ah, but for the REAL trauma, not even the Master of Suspense could hold a candle to good old Walt Disney. The first theatrical movie that seriously made me cry was probably Pinocchio. The donkey transformation, Monstro … (shudder). But more than any other character, Chernabog, the devil figure in the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence from Fantasia STILL creeps me out to this very day. Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter have NOTHING on that guy!
So how about you folks? What was the first movie to indelibly frighten, confuse or otherwise bewilder you? Or your kids, for that matter? My favorite response from the EW list: “Basic Instinct 2. I was 25. No age is appropriate for that movie.”
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What’s opening Friday, January 30?
This weekend brings us a group of fairly middling picks and one that is an absolute must-see for lovers of good drama (and a certain sport). Guess which one is actually a holdover from last year?
Note: I have changed the format a little here. Instead of linking the movie titles to IMDB, I’ve linked them to their Rotten Tomatoes pages so you can see what other critical types are saying about them.
New in Town: I really like Renee Zellweger quite a lot. And I really, really hope she finds better projects than this one, which has been getting some terrible reviews, including a rare zero-star rating from the AP. Oof.
Taken: I was dismissive of this Liam Neeson vehicle when I did my January preview, but having seen the grabber of a trailer, I have to say I’m curious now. I rather regret this one wasn’t previewed locally.
The Uninvited: This one wasn’t previewed locally either, but I have a sneaking suspicion I won’t regret that. I’m still trying to figure out what Elizabeth Banks is doing playing the heavy in what I call the “blank from hell” movie. Is this the week for actresses I like to lose their way? Then again, what few reviews there are aren’t so bad.
The Wrestler: And now we get to the real goods, with this acclaimed film opening at the Neon movies. Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei are nominated for Oscars - deservedly - and the film should have gotten more. My review posts Friday.
The Neon let go of Milk to make room for The Wrestler, but the Little Art has picked up the former.
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