Friday, December 30, 2011

Jim Caviezel, double feature

I'll recommend them both---one for a general sort of audience, the other for the exceedingly strong-stomached.

nice poster! 
The Count of Monte Cristo, 2002. Directed by Kevin Reynolds
starring: Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce.

"A young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friends," escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge." (IMDB).

Per Donald's recommendation I put this on my netflix list; the disk unfortunately came to me in horrible shape and hardly played at all on our stupid playstation without the screen dividing and turning black every six minutes. But I liked it, a lot. Maybe I am a closet sociopath because revenge themes seriously thrill me, and this one was a gem. It's fun seeing The Count play his little trickery business on his buddy, but beware---if you are a fan of Guy Pearce, even a little, you'll want to stay far, far away from this film; I have never seen a grosser, more nauseating character in my life. Buck from Kill Bill (my name is Buck, I came here to *&%$) may have been a little worse, or the fat ass rapist in Dragon Tattoo, but this guy was just awful. Yuck. Dumbledore (the first, played by Richard Harris) makes an appearance, as one GetGlue friend so gleefully put it, "Dumbledore taught Jesus everything he knows!" It's a good one.

The Passion of the Christ, 2004. Directed by Mel Gibson.
starring: Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci.

Is it a sin that I prefer my Jim C. in the form of
Mr. Reese?
"A film detailing the final hours and crucifixion of Jesus Christ." (IMDB).

Without getting too outspoken about the religion here, I'll just let you all know that I didn't know about this stuff----stations of the cross, whippings, thrashings, beatings, flayings----NONE. Maybe Methodists just don't talk about it or I was just incredibly checked out in confirmation or church sermons when the crucifixion was brought up, but I honestly had no idea. I saw this film in the theater when it was released, pregnant. It was difficult. I'm pretty sure I quit watching, like honestly just started looking away after that scene where Mary watches him fall and has a flashback to him falling as a little boy---I just couldn't handle anymore. So I watched it all the way through this time, cried again, but could at least appreciate some of the artistic elements of the film, too. For one thing, there were some nice, stylized scenes early in the garden; the driven-mad Judas Iscariot was well done, and sort of disturbing, not to mention that ghoulish Voldemort-y Satan thing that was creeping around the joint all the time. The violence obviously is what will stick with the viewer, and I honestly think Gibson could have toned it down a few clicks. The blood, oh man, the blood---it got to be too much, and I honestly can't believe I was the only one who had to look away. Probably wasn't the easiest thing to act, either, getting the holy (haha) hell whipped out of you, day after day on the set. It's worth seeing, to be sure. Just . . . be careful.

Sick! 


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