Asbestos, screaming women & soap

[El Chupacabra]

The other day, I braved the local cinemas to
watch "The Others" and "Session 9" (nifty
double feature, even if I did pay 15 bucks).
Liked `em both, but since talk is cheap
(and movies aren't), I'll give you my
thoughts here.

First off, Session 9... wow, a thriller
featuring asbestos.  That's right,
for all the psych-horror trappings this
is really about construction work.
Reminds me of the Beavis & Butthead
show-within-a-show, "Asbestos in
Obstetrics".  Anyway, five guys (one
dumb hick, two hotheads, one brain
(David Caruso!) and their boss) get
hired to strip an old asylum of said
toxic substance, discovering some rare
coins (no prizes for guessing what
happens to the greedy one) and a set
of old "session" tapes in the process.
These tapes chronicle the effect of
regression therapy on a schitzophrenic
(sp?) patient, and as her "evil side"
is drawn out, become more and more
disturbing.  At the same time, it
becomes apparent that one of our
blue-collar protagonists is going
to crack... but which one?

Now here's my quibble with it.  The
performances are good, and so is
much of the script, but the story is
just too thin on the ground.  Too many
loose ends, way too many red herrings,
and a VERY abrupt conclusion (I swear
they skipped some of the session tapes)
mar what could've been a great fright
flick.  In addition, I didn't buy the
metaphysical twist at the end.  On it's
own, it's cool, but in this movie, it
stands out like Bruce Willis' ghost
would in "The Blair Witch Project".
Despite this, I liked the movie; it's
beautifully shot and edited, never
resorts to jump scares, and has some of
the coolest freak-out scenes ever.
3 slimes.

Things I learned from this movie:

Coins will not melt, ever.

Asbestos is a metaphor for evil.

In a pinch, lobotomies can be performed
with plastic fast-food utensils.


Now, "The Others" is something I won't go
into detail about, for obvious reasons.
I will say that the final "big" twist isn't
all that big (geez, directors and their
twist endings), but the little ones are.
I'm a big fan of Amenabar (Open Your
Eyes, Thesis), and he doesn't disappoint
here.  Script is intelligent and witty,
the actual haunted house looks gorgeous,
and those blood-curdling screams from
Ms. Kidman don't hurt either.
5 slimes.

Things I learned:

The English hate fog.

Ghosts are scarier than Nazis.

British kids sunburn really, really easily.


Then I came home and watched "Fight Club"
on HBO with mumsy :)  "Office Space with
more violence" was how she described it.
I thought the double-edged satire was great.
Loved the soap-making scene (top that for
gross-out) plus you get to see Century City
blown up.  How many movies can promise
that?  5 slimes.

Things I learned:

Fights are just male bonding with blood.

Porn makes little children cry.

Urine blends in perfectly with the flavor
of lobster bisque.

When you think you've shot yourself in
the head, you've really just grazed your
neck.

Suicide is a turn-on.

Dishwashing gloves have some interesting
alternative uses.


So all in all it was a fun movie day, & I
thought some of you might want to hear
about it.  Next on my list: the DVDs of
"Serial Experiments Lain" and "Cecil B
Demented".  Those should be... interesting ;)

[Chadzilla]

Session 9 isn't playing in theaters around the Bay Area that I can see.  Evidently USA is giving this one a real limited art house release.  I skipped over most of your post because I don't want it spoiled for me.  It is a movie I can't wait to see.

The Others is getting raves from critics and fans as being a good old fashioned ghost story in the mold of the original The Haunting character heavy/special effects lite movies.  One reason the movie works so well is probably do to the fact that the director is a foreigner uncorrupted by the Hollywood Spectale is Better than Story mentality that is rotting away at movies these days.  I'm getting excited about it as well.