year 5 day 146

movie: The Nice Guys
starring: Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe
genre: Crime, Noir, Comedy
year: 2016
format: Cinema

plot: A private detective finds himself hired to help solve a missing person case, by the man originally hired to stop him. They soon find themselves in the middle of a cover up involving the death of a porn star.

Set in the late 1970's, this movie had me thinking of those old made for tv movies/detective series like McMillan & Wife, and Starsky & Hutch.  There was one scene where Gosling's character is frightened by a corpse where he's unable to scream, which is straight up Abbot and Costello.

This is a buddy film no doubt around it, but, the addition of the fact the one character's daughter tags along on most of the case, rounds out the team. I think in some ways, it helps to ground the otherwise over the top-ness of it, keeping the film from going to a level of unneeded gore. The violence is there, but it manages to pull back at a decent enough hour to keep it's integrity.  Which is actually a theme in itself. As Gosling's character is constantly making comments about how his daughter is facing a society of perverts and cons.
The comedic timing and chemistry between the two leads could easily be harvested for at lest one more movie.

If you've been reading any of my stuff for the last while, you know that I love it when stories get back to basics. When they are set in a way that forces the characters to "do the work do the research". And having this set in 1977, when there was no choice but to hit the library or use a pay-phone, adds a layer to it. We follow the leads for about a week as they cris cross their way across L.A. following clues and uncovering three different plots. Supposed kidnapping-murder-cover up.

Both the characters have been hurt, the Gosling character having lost his wife in a fire and is a single dad with a drinking problem, and the Crowe character having gone through a divorce. There is actually a great line where Crowe's character just beat a man nearly to death and stops saying "you owe your life to a 13 year old" after the little girl tells him if he continues she'll never speak to him again.

what did I learn? Sometimes you're really not that paranoid they really are out to get you.

year 5 day 57

movie: Sin City 2 A Dame to Kill For
starring: Mickey Rourke, Josh Brolin
genre; Crime, Drama, Thriller, Film Noir
year: 2014
format: Netflix Canada

plot: Following the lives of a group of people who are all connected by the same bar

This is based on the graphic novels

Okay, I have to admit, if it wasn't for the blog project, I don't think I would have gone ahead and watched this. With that said, I'm glad I did.  I've never read the graphic novels, but I did see the first film when it came out,and just didn't care for it.

This one, I found to be more cohesive, easier to follow.

The stories are about revenge, self imposed exile, fear, desperation, lust, seduction, and the list goes on. I liked the whole noir part of it, the crime thriller aspects. Considering the first film, there was more story  which I liked, and less gore for the sake of shock/gore.
I have to admit, I was thrown at first with Brolin being cast, as I said, I haven't read any of the graphic novels, and was unaware he was playing a character who (in the first film was played by Clive Owens) has reconstructive surgery. I at first glance, though the character was recast because Owens was unavailable or something. 

With all that said, the bulk of the film is the Brolin story, which I'm guessing is the title. And sadly, it does come off predictable. He gets wrapped up with his ex, who manipulates him into killing her husband, then she tries to kill him, seducing the cop, and making off with the millions.

I don't actually remember the Rourke character's amnesia actually being explained in this - no pun intended- so I'm guessing it was back in the first film? But otherwise,  that chapter of the film, kind of goes nowhere.

what did I learn? I swear there was an animated series based on the Sin City books back in the late 1990s that aired back to back with The Maxx here...
 

Year 5 Day 13

movie: Angel Heart
starring: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro
genre:Crime,Thriller
year:1987
format; Netflix Canada

plot:A private investigator named Angel, is hired to track down a missing person, Johnny Favourite, who happens to have been injured in world war II. The injury kept him from honoring a deal he made that seems a little more then shady. Every lead sends Angel deeper and deeper into the world of the occult, until he finds himself at a crossroads he didn't want to know about.

This is based on the novel Falling Angel.

How did I never see this movie before now?  This has everything I look for in movies, a mystery, the supernatural, just enough of a romance, great one liners (I have a thing about chickens) and enough of a plot twist to have you glued to the screen.

There is some delicateness to the plot twist, which includes incest; but it is needed to give that sense of horror to the character's motives.
I liked the idea that so many characters had duel identities. The criss crossing  back and forth through the cities, digging up the past while facing the results in the present leading you to what is a metaphoric crossroads.


what do I think I learned from this film? Some secrets are best left buried.

Theme week part 5- Corey Feldman

Blown Away

plot: Rich and his brother Wes, find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation after Rich falls for the teenaged daughter of their boss. She seduces him into leaving his girlfriend, and plants the idea in his head that her father is not only abusive but the one who killed her mother. But he begins to suspect he's being played when more bodies start to turn up.

This is a 1992/93 crime thriller starring Corey Feldman and Corey Haim.

Feldman has the supporting role in this and not the lead. He ends up playing the character of Wes as a creepy sleezeball, delivering his lines one way but with camera zooms and angles giving a nod to what his character really is. Hence the creepy sleezeball.  While Haim ironically, spends most of the movie naked.

Given the year/decade this movie came out, it's no surprise you have way too many sex scenes that don't really advance the plot, and leave you wondering how much of it was actually acting and if you're just watching a porno?

The pace of it is a bit slow, not really getting to the heart of the matter until the last 15 minutes when we see the Feldman character freak out in the police station, which honestly, if they had opened with that scene would have made the movie a bit more interesting.

year 3 day 97

movie: Twixt
starring; Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern
genre: Film Noir, Thriller,
year: 2011/2012
format: DVD

plot: While doing autograph signings in a small town, author Hall Baltimore finds himself suddenly wrapped up in the sheriff's latest unsolved murder. The sheriff has the idea that it's a serial killer/vampire hunter who's doing it, and convinces Hall to co-author a detective novel with him. After agreeing, Hall finds himself with writer's block, and starts to dream about the main plot of the novel. His personal spirit guide being Edgar Allan Poe.

Okay, first off, this is a Francis Ford Coppola movie, but this is a far cry from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Half the movie is done in black and white, to represent the dream sequences, while the "real life" is done in colour. Not that you can really tell them apart given the story just seems to be one continuous roll.

You have to give him credit for trying to reinvent the vampire film. With such a nod to gothic literature, the surrealism works for some scenes, but not for others. It at times, edges on the ridiculous.  But with that said, this plays beautifully.  It's almost like all the major classic vampire stories are here, from Carmilla, to Polidori's The Vamypre, to the movie version of Nosferatu.  It takes heavily the ideas of outsiders being able to corrupt and steal innocence and plays on the fears of sexuality. (Much in the same way Dracula does.)

The story does get a bit confusing given Poe is telling his version of the story to Hall, claiming he knew the girl in question in the 1800's, the girl's death is suppose to have happened in 1955, and Hall is experiencing this in 2011.  The fact that time seems to run amuck and none of the clocks in the town are ever right, just adds to the disjointedness of the story.  Which is a great tool for expressing vampirism in itself. Time is a vampire- A vampire is timeless.

There is just so many layers to this particular movie, that at first glance it seems like cotton-fluff, sticky sweet like it would have been better suited for a three minute rock video (think Marylin Manson here) but as the movie progresses, you start to see the elements that it really pulls from.

What I liked is that it is different, but with such familiar moments to it that clearly identifies it as a vampire story. You're left wondering if everything about the vampires were real or imagined, left wondering how much of the characters' personal guilt is driving them, left wondering what it was that really drove the first round of killings to happen?

year 3 Day 92

movie: A Fantastic Fear of Everything
starring: Simon Pegg, Clare Higgins
genre: Comedy, Crime,
year: 2012
format: Netflix Canada

plot: A writer, who is trying to break away from children's stories and write true crime, becomes afraid of everything during the weeks he's researching. After his editor tells him he needs to do his laundry in order to meet a publisher, he admits he finally has to face his biggest fear, the laundromat. Once there, he admits his fear is rooted in a major childhood trauma of the day his mother abandoned him. He soon finds himself arrested, kidnapped and almost murdered.

Okay, I love pretty much anything that has Simon Pegg in it.  This starts off with the feel of a stage play, as the first half is almost all Pegg with little interaction from anyone else. I loved the odd, but very British touch of the clay animation near the end of the film when his character is trying to subdue the kidnapper with one of his children's stories.

The mind of a writer can be a strange and unnaturally illogical place at any given time, and this film nails that to the dart board, with every little paranoid twitch Pegg plays, including super gluing a large knife to his hand.
There seemed to be a slight nod to The Secret Window by Stephen King, with the beginning of madness expressed by the Pegg character, and  his unwillingness to go outside for the first half.

Year 3 Day 62

movie: Minority Report
starring: Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton,
genre: Sci-fi, Film Noir
year: 2002
format: TV edit

plot: A police officer who works for a team of pre-crime, is set up and has less then 48hours to prove he's innocent. He ends up resorting to kidnapping one of the oracles who had the premonition, in order to learn who's behind it all.

This is based on the 1956 short story of the same name.

I really liked this film, and it reminded me of the tv show "Person of Interest" (which I'm wondering if Person of Interest is based on this movie?)  (the other thing I was thinking was that both Tom Cruise- Interview with the Vampire-  and Collin Farrell- Fright Night remake-  played vampires in two of the coolest vampire films)

The story is one of those cyber-punk themed stories that manages to blend just the right amount of gritty impossibility with serious cop drama.  We see a theme of premonitions being pulled out of the typical 'magical' element it's normally used for, and used with science, giving it some serious weight.
The themes of dream interpretation, water as a gateway (the scenes of the two main characters' recurring nightmares happen in pools) are usually, only used in the genre of horror-fantasy (like Charmed, Constantine, Nightmare on Elm Street)
The use of eyes being the windows to the soul, are used metaphorically and literally, as everyone is identified by DNA scans on the eyes. In order to change your identity all you have to do is have an eye transplant.  In fact, the whole story centers around the human eye and how we view the moments around us. From the oracles seeing the future, to how in one scene, the critical moment is revealed to have been an illusion on many levels.

I felt the ending was a bit too happy ending-ish for the rest of the film. I liked that it did have a tie up for all the loose ends, but I would have liked to have seen something a bit grittier then how it ended.

Year 3 Day 16

movie: Drop Dead Gorgeous
starring: Jeremy London, Joshua Cox
genre: Comedy, Crime
year: 2010
format: online Netflix Canada

plot:A documentary film crew are set to follow a new up and coming model on one of her biggest jobs, only she dies in the middle of the shoot. The film crew and the modeling agency continues to work around this little inconvenience.

Necrophilia, addiction and insanity. - 'Pretty Little Death Song'  by  Headstones

I saw this, and could not get that line from that song out of my head.  You can look at this movie from a few different ways, as a satire, as a commentary on how fame is all consuming, or both.
I actually saw a lot of negative reviews on this film on Netflix Canada, most by people who didn't bother to finish the movie.  It's actually pretty brilliant. There were more then a few moments when it made me think of the old Roger Corman film Bucket of Blood.

Here, you have a mockumentary/film-noir on the price people will give to be famous. Literally giving up parts of their soul for the chance to feed off of others pain. It's sad given the state of the instant gratification generation.
This movie is funny, morbid, disturbing and more then partially right.

I'm adding the vampires label to this, simply because the entire cast are leeching off of the death of the "lead" character.

Year 3 Day 14

movie: John Dies in the End
starring: Rob Mayes, Chase Williamson
genre: Comedy, Sci-fi
year: 2012
format: Shaw Video On Demand

plot: Two druggies find themselves fighting alien zombies after taking a hit of a parasitic drug that opens not just their minds, but the doorways to other worlds.

When I saw this title, I had to see this film.

Originally a webstory turned novel, this story covers pretty much everything. Anything that has captured the attention of sci-fi fans and detective stories for generations is here.  The title is misleading as far as the movie goes - I have not read the book - as John doesn't actually die in the end as much as the beginning.

If you've been reading my stuff much at all over the years, you've seen me say a million times over that I don't care for zombie stuff, but this has such a different take on the topic that I forgot after a few minutes that it fell into that category.
I loved the touches of H.P. Lovecraft in this, with the portal jumping creature and the hallucinations. You're never truly sure what you are seeing.

Coffee Talk Feb 23rd 2013

I wanted to bring up the topic of American Psycho.  (which I covered the movie version here )
And basically, everything I said in that post about the movie, times that by 50 and you have what I think about the book.

You might remember back in early January, that I mentioned it was the selection for this month for book-movie club. One of the reasons it was chosen was because the movie has become a cult classic, even though the original book was said to be controversial.

I wanted to know what could have been in the book to make it so controversial?  Well, I've read the book, and now I know.

If you've seen the movie then you know it's packed with dark humour, the script is witty and the notes it hits are perfect to describe the metaphor of trying to keep up with the greed and shallowness that society hit back in the 1980s.  In the movie, the horror is there but it's not as in your face as it is in the book.
Not too mention, the movie can feel disjointed at times, but still flows in a way that makes sense. Although the movie is laid out in a slightly different order then the original book.

The book, is ten times more graphic in everything, from the sex scenes, to the murders, to the way the lead character describes everything his buddies and he are wearing. The grotesque and the mundane are equally important to the lead character. (like when he can not find a particular movie at the rental store then freaks out when he can not see what kind of shoes the sales person is wearing from where he is standing)
I'm actually left wondering if the character of Patrick Bateman is really a psycho killer or just a plan old junkie having drug induced nightmares?  You're witness to more then a few moments of pure madness, which seem to happen when his routine is disrupted (work out for two hours, watch his favourite show, pull money out of the bank machine, then go for dinner and drinks every day) or when he simply can not find something to keep him distracted. (Bateman and his buddies are constantly trying to score drugs) The sex and the drugs seem to keep him normal, and when they are removed he has a meltdown and goes on a killing spree.

There is a weird balance to this book as well.  Half this book is a strange nightmare induced horror story and half this book is like a memoir of a socialite.  Roughly the first 100 pages is filled with three (I think was what I counted) men who do nothing but talk about the women they are sleeping with, the food they are eating and the clothes they are wearing. It literally plays like a male version of Sex and the City for the first 100 pages, then the hard core stuff begins.

There is one chapter that I found particularly jarring.  And not because of any of the violence either, but from the simple fact the author goes from the first person to the third person for a few paragraphs. (I'm still not sure if that was a mistake no one's ever caught or if it was on purpose to really make you understand what the character is doing is "real" compared to the rest of the novel which is "all in his head" ?)
Like the movie version, you are left at the end wondering what the end really means. Did he do it all? Was it in his head?  Is he even really Patrick Bateman or one of the many guys people mistake him for through the book?

All in all, this is a good book. There were moments when I wondered how certain things got into print, but mostly it was brilliantly written.
For me, what I got out of it was the feeling of complete isolation, loneliness, insecurity, and boredom of the lead character.  A sort of backwards shot at feminism, and an unclouded fear of "they're not like us" that more then bordered on racism (which you could point out at times Dracula and Frankenstein both had)

If you are not easily offended, this is a book you should give a chance.


*Note- Yes the post date is 24th Feb, and the post title is the 23rd.  It took me nearly 45minutes to write the post*

Day 363

movie: Jawbreaker
starring: Rose McGowa, Julie Benz
genre: Comedy, Crime,
year: 1999
format: online

plot: A group of girls kidnap their friend on her birthday, only the jawbreaker they use to keep her quiet gets stuck in her throat killing her. They make a pact with another student to keep it all silent but the truth has a way of making itself heard.

Some would say this is a mild rip off of Heathers.   I can see the elements in it. 
This movie is hard to really place in a solid category.  It's dark humour has lent it to cult status, but at the same time, the core of it is a serious story about jealousy.

Most of the actresses went on to make a name for themselves in the horror genre, most notable Benz for her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel tv shows.

This movie really nails it for me, on how brutal high school can get. The competition, specially between women can get very close to the way it's portrayed here. The need to be the queen of the scene, can bring out the devil in some people. That's why there are so many movies on the topic of mean girls.

what do i think i learned from this film?
It's movies like this that remind me why I choose not to have any female friends

Day 341

movie: Bronson
starring: Tom Hardy, Matt King,
genre: Bio-pic, Comedy
year: 2008
format: online

plot: Following the 34 years that Charlie Bronson was in prison in Britain for petty theft. 

This is based on a true story.

If you've paid any attention to anything I've said over time, you know I love Tom Hardy.  I had stayed away from this originally because I'm not real big on prison stories, but everyone has told me that it's his best work ever.
I went into this film thinking it was going to be like an episode of OZ, but was surprised to see it wasn't. 

The violence is there, but not in the way you would expect. It's not gory or extreme just for shock value.  It is there to help get the message across. I found the violent outbursts of "f***-off" to be more brutal at times then the actual fighting scenes. The raw emotion that Hardy manages to tap into when you lest expect it, rattles you.

I know the trailer for this called it the Clockwork Orange for the 21st century. And I can see that clearly, but there are moments when I kept comparing this to Rocky Horror Picture Show; mostly because of the scenes with the stage and audience.  It just seemed to have that flow for me.

And to address the nudity.  Yes it's there.  Hardy's character spends a lot of time completely naked in many of his fight scenes. But it's never sexual. It's always an extension of the battle he's about to partake in. Those scenes ironically, have him with is shoes on and his hands tapped up like a boxer. It's like the alpha in a pack showing that he's ready to do what needs to be done.

what do i think i learned from this film?
The system may have failed Mr. Bronson, but he seemed to understand that he could make the best of it without loosing his morals.

Halloween Night part 4

My blog's Rocky Horror Picture Show party... sort of.

Hallowe'en's biggest tradition in the last 37 years, is the midnight showing of the sci-fi musical Rocky Horror Picture Show.   Starring Tim Curry and Meatloaf.

I've been to a few of the parties over the years, and some were great, some were drunkenly put together and not so great.


The plot of this seems like a mess when you first view it.  Aliens, Frankenstein monsters, zombies, cannibals, vampires, geeks and greasers.  The brilliant Richard O'Brian took something from every genre out there and mashed it up in a tasty cocktail.
But after viewing it a few times, you start to unravel the threads that combine to make Rocky who he is.
So to speak.

A story about innocence lost and even found, of hope and doubt and desires that many people are afraid to admit they have or even might have.

The cult following didn't come until 1977, two full years after the movie version was released, and four years after the original stage play made it's debut.

I have to admit, my favourite songs from the soundtrack are "Sweet Transvestite"  and part one of "Floor Show-Rose Tint My World"  though I would be amiss if I left off "Going Home"from my personal list.

Everyone has a character that they really connect with, usually the more aggressive characters like Frank n' Furter or Magenta.  I have to say, after one party I went to as the character Eddie, you have to appreciate the role a bit more. (we had five Magenta's that year, one Columbia and two Frank'n'Furters but no Brad, no Janet and no Riff Raff or Rocky)
I had rice down every part of me that particular night, which was not fun at to clean up. 


Columbia's rant in the pool room really shows the vampiric undertones to the Frank'n'Furter character.  She always put me in mind of the character Lucy from Dracula.

Let's make a toast, do a little dance, and have some dinner... the menu is meatloaf, roasted not baked heavy on the cheese.Then settle back for a midnight double-feature.


I hope that anyone who might be reading this feels free to share your memories of Rocky Horror... I'm sure they are groovy.  Happy Hallowe'en.

Top 5 Jude Law

If you've read my list of top 5 fav male heart throbs, then you know I have a thing for Jude Law.
I thought I would give a short run down of some of my favourite films that he's in.






1. Immortality Wisdom of Crocodiles

2. Sherlock Holmes 2 Game of Shadows

3. Closer

4. eXistenZ

5. Breaking and Entering

I have seen him playing the supporting role more then the lead, but the first movie I saw him in was the lead in Immortality Wisdom of Crocodiles. Where he played a vampire.

The Sherlock Holmes movies, are favourites -yes I only listed the second but I really like both in the series so far- because he manages to balance the comedy in moments of total seriousness. I can't picture anyone else ever playing Watson again.

Day 255

movie: Inseparable
starring: Kevin Spacey, Daniel Wu
genre: Comedy, Drama,
year: 2011
format: Shaw Video On Demand

plot: A young man is saved by his neighbour just seconds before killing himself, then goes on a revenge crime spree with him, only he's the only one who can see him

This starts off as a buddy film, but soon spirals out into something a little bit darker.

At the core is a guy who is so far down the rabbit hole of depression, you are never truly sure what is going on.
There is a strange scene at the end that makes you wonder about the whole film, as to what is real, when what appears to be an hallucination appears to break down the fourth wall.

What do I think I learned from this film?
Everyone secretly wants to be a superhero. 

Day 246

Movie: Kill Bill Vol 2
Starring: Uma Thurman, Michael Madsen
Genre: Crime, Action
Year: 2004
Format: Shaw Video On Demand

Plot: The Bride has managed to get revenge on the members of the group that destroyed her life, and is now able to get her hands on her ex, Bill.

This is the western part of the movie.

I liked this half much more then the first half. (Day 245) This part was funnier for starters, and actually had more of the story to it. You're given more of the back story of the characters and you end up connecting more with them.
And Michael Madsen is in this half of the film, I've always been a fan of his.

Because this has more of the storyline to it then the first half, it also makes a bit more sense.  You really do have to watch both back to back in order to get the full scope of the plot.

What do I think I learned from this film?
Sometimes the lessons we learn along the journey are truly a scrabbled puzzle until we get to the end of the journey where they make sense.  And there is no excuse for controlling and abusive behavouir as you will get what you deserve in the end.

Day 245

Movie: Kill Bill Vol 1
Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Lu
Genre:Action, Crime,
Year: 2003
Format: Shaw Video On Demand

Plot: After having been in a coma for four years, a woman sets out for revenge on the group who put her there.

What  Quentin Tarantino will go down in history for creating.
This half of the film is the Kung Fu half of the movie, while the second is the Spaghetti Western.

I liked much of this but have to admit, I was put off by the animation segment.  I have just never been one for Japanese Anime.
I actually found myself laughing out loud at some of the over the top blood soaked scenes.

It's been years since I first saw the Kill Bill movies, and had forgotten how good the writing of the characters actually were. At first glance, you get the impression it's just a shoot em up - in this case a slice em up- film, but after a bit, you realize how much of a web has been spun around the characters.

What do I think I learned from this film?
Revenge isn't always what you thought it was.

Day 228

movie: The Ghost Writer
starring: Ewan McGregor, Kim Cattrall,
genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama
year:2010
format: Shaw Video On Demand

plot: A writer is hired to finish writing the biography of a former Prime Minister, but soon finds himself solving the murder of the man he's replaced.

This is based on a book.   It's also a movie by Roman Polanski.

I'm a big fan of Polanski, he always makes such deep, rich and haunting films.

This film is set in dark tones, and you just want to wrap up in a sweater with something hot to drink while you watch this.  The attitude of this movie does as much to bring you in as the acting does.  You begin to become as paranoid as the lead characters are at times from the mire scenes at the ferry.

what do i think i learned from this film?
When you find yourself digging through people's personal lives, you never know what you might find.  The truth will always find it's way to the light even when you do everything possible to silence people.

Day 220

movie: Midnight Son
starring: Zak Kilberg, Maya Parish
genre: Vampire, Drama,Crime
year: 2011
format: Shaw Video On Demand

plot: a young man who suffers from Porphyria, and works as a security guard on the night shift, falls in love with a woman he met at a bar.  Soon, he learns that he has Anemia as well and starts to believe he might just be a real vampire.

This movie was brilliant!
You've got a gorgeous blend of every vampire sub-genre here and it actually works to perfection.

The film takes two real medical disorders, mixes in real folklore, and some key Hollywood plot points to create one of the most original vampire stories I've seen in years.

The vampires are both living and dead.  Let me rephrase that... the lead character is a living vampire while two of his victims become vampires after they've died from accidental deaths ( one from a gun shot and one from a bottle slicing him.  And in some folklore accidental deaths can cause vampirism) 

As for the metaphors,  a) drugs is the most obvious here.  One of the victims happens to be an addict, the other happens to be a dealer.
b) We also have the vampire as the outsider, the reject.
c) The lead character is an artist who only paints landscapes of sunrises and sunsets, lending to his obsessive behavouir. (another metaphor for disorders and addiction)
d) We have a blood disorder,
e) The character played by Parish is a goth-type which falls squarely into the social sub-genre of vampire films.

For anyone who is a student of the vampire genre, you will see echos of other films like Midnight Kiss, Pale Blood, Habit,  Immortality Wisdom of Crocodiles, Vampire's Kiss, My Best Friend is a Vampire and even Fright Night (Fright Night by the way is used as the movie the lead character is watching at one point)

For anyone who has got it in their head that a good vampire movie needs to be overly sexual or deviant should go looking somewhere else.  The story is beautifully done with little nudity.

what do I think I learned from this film?
There is a line in this film that gets repeated by almost all the characters "we all have our thing"  meaning, everyone has something that they are addicted to or obsessed by.   It's learning to accept each other as well as ourselves for the things that we do have as habits. Our addictions, right or wrong are a personal thing. They are part of who we are and how we see and accept or don't accept ourselves.

Day 219

movie: Bad Influence
starring: Rob Lowe, James Spader
genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama
year: 1990
format: TV EDIT

plot:  a yuppie who seems to have the world at his feet, looses everything when he's set up for murder.

This was a tv edit so I don't know how much of the plot was edited to fit what the station thought was the main theme.

Normally, I love anything with either actor, but this one left me wishing for a fast forward button.  The end of the movie dragged for a bit too long then just ended abruptly.  Again, I'm not sure how much of that was the original movie and how much was because it was edited for content and time.

It starts off like a fairly decent movie, but becomes a bit of a nightmare.  It's almost like Fatal Attraction for best friends, or a male version of Single White Female.   It just doesn't hold up after you get about forty-five minutes into it.  I'm not sure I even want to track down a proper unedited version to compare.

I'm adding the "vampire" tag because of it's use of manipulation. 

what do i think i learned from this film?
Not much to learn from this