Movie night kicked my ass

No chinese food, instead I got introduced to ginger hot wings and guiness. I love buffalo wings, but had never had these. They were actually really tasty, although I was wishing for a wetnaps packet. Can you buy wetnaps for your home?

Anyways, the movies were weird as hell. Really weird. Hang with you and kick your ass for several days kinda weird, to where you're looking up more info on them. We actually had 3, but only got through 2... I was kinda worn out mentally from the ones we saw, so we'll get to "City of God" sometime this weekend, which I've heard is good but again know nothing about.

The first was "Requiem for a Dream". It's just amazing, but incredibly sad. It follows four people through their drug addictions, and you watch as their lives and points of reference on their lives unravel. It just doesn't stop, and feels eerily real. I think part of that has to do with just how fast the movie moves: it has turning points, but you really get a sense of just how fast things can unravel. The cinematography & editing is amazing. Even just how the seasons and lighting are used... damn.

A lot of the characters are extremely are very one-dimensional, but it works, both because it keeps you outside of them enough to be able to see point A to point B in their lives without becoming too attached, which almost gives it the emotional impact of a documentary, where it feels real. The acting also makes the shallow characters work, as many of them sort of revel in being the best arch-type that they can, with little droppings here and there that make your mind fill in the gaps. There's "just enough" for it to work, and work hardcore. There are some bigger names in it, but they give some performances you really wouldn't expect.

I'm not sure what else to really say about it, except it kicked my ass and I felt like throwing up afterwards. I'd recommend it, but not as a general movie... know what you're getting into, and don't eat before hand... it's just relentless.

The other one we watched was Donnie Darko, which was just as good but in a different way. I was tempted to write that there aren't any names in this that you'd recognize, except for the main protagonist who is hopefully an up-and-comer (Jacob Gyllenhaal), but that's not true.

It has some names you'd know: Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wiley, and I'm pretty sure the guy in the bunny bunny suit was the guy who was in that old doom generation movie who had an unsightly end. I was surprised to see Barrymore was the producer... all the big names aren't credited or pushed, and have small but pivotal roles. You also forget they are big names: I was surprised as hell when Swayze showed up, and Barrymore, and Wiley, but they all worked. Swayze and Wiley in particular were great in their roles, you forget who they are, in the same way you forget its Bruce Willis in the "6th Sense" and "Unbreakable". It took a lot longer to do that with Barrymore.

But at any rate, I can't really say what this movie was about, as it was about a whole lotta stuff, and really still have no clue. I'm going to have to watch it again as I'm not sure about well, major plot points or whether half the stuff was intended to be real, or if the whole thing was... but damn it was good.

I knew nothing about it going in, and hadn't had anything spoiled... so there were a lot of "WTF, where is this going?" moments. It never seems to go where you think it is, and even when you're right you're only half right, and it meanders between extremely dark and creepy and sweet constantly.

Highly recommended, I've found myself chuckling about it all day. And I'm going to be able to picture that god-damned-evil-imaginary-friend-bunny for the rest of my life.