RequiemForADream Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I wasn't much of a collector when I was a kid. I could never keep a toy in it's package perched high on a shelf. In fact, usually the packaging would last about as long as it could take me to wrench my new She-Ra, Jem, or Barbie from their cardboard cage. But the one thing I did collect were trading cards, E.T. trading cards to be exact. But that was a long time ago, and those cards have long been misplaced (and I won't even dwell on the fact I had the complete set), so you can imagine the overload of nostalgia I experienced when I saw The Improbably Movie Cards over at Automatic Lifestyle Dispenser. Because, what these fine folks have done is made movie collector cards in that classic 80's style, but the catch is that these cards are for films that no person in their right mind would want to collect, and the results are pretty funny -- if not a little bizarre.

So how bad it could it be? Well, if you thought a Silkwood card might be in 'dubious' taste, wait till you get a look at the Schindler's List "Nazi's on The Move" card. Dispenser also made collector cards for good old Alvy and Annie, Sara Goldfarb, and even Charlie Meadows. But no trading card pack would be complete without the stickers, and luckily they have thought of that too, and we get collectible stickers of Colonel "The Horror" Kurtz, and Anton "Friendo" Chigurh. Unfortunately, these cards only exist online, but I don't think I would be the only one out there who would kill for their very own set of Annie Hall trading cards.

Crank: High Voltage (Two-Disc Special Edition)
With Gamer out in theaters, the mini-debate about Neveldine and Taylor -- mad geniuses of action cinema or destroyers of all that is visually coherent? -- can continue. Never-say-die Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) comes roaring back to life for another adrenaline-fueled adventure, accompanied once again by the very game Amy Smart. It's the only new mainstream film out on DVD today, so be prepared to fight like a dead man if you want to rent a copy at your local shop. Also on Blu-ray. Rent it.

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Valentino: The Last Emperor
Why not try something a little more refined, a little more elegant, a little more ... Valentino? The legendary fashion designer himself is showcased in Matt Tymauer's doc, and by all accounts he's a charismatic, charming personality. In other words, no need to fear if you feign little interest in fashion; the film is more interested in listening to Valentino talk than in delineating the vagaries of changing styles, which may help explain why it became a box office success. Also on Blu-ray. Rent it.

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The Quick and the Dead
Sharon Stone got the lion's share of the attention during the film's original 1995 release, but her star billing could not eclipse the burning talents of young Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, not to mention the villainous Gene Hackman and the incredible supporting cast, including Gary Sinise, Pat Hingle, Lance Henriksen, Keith David, and Tobin Bell (the future Jigsaw). It all hangs on the ferocious, audacious direction by Sam Raimi. New on Blu-ray. Buy it.

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Indies on DVD, more Blu-ray picks, and Collector's Corner -- all after the jump!

While zoning out during the baseball game last night, a random thought popped into my head: "Ya know, I don't think I'd ever watch Atonement again." Don't ask me where these stupid random thoughts come from, or why I was thinking about Atonement when it wasn't on TV or anything, but the thought came from somewhere and so I began to pursue it a little. The end result came in the form of a question I posed on Twitter: Name some great movies that for some reason or another you wouldn't watch more than once.

I thought Atonement was a good film; I really enjoyed it. But I have no need to watch it again ... just because. A whole bunch of people responded to my Twitter question (thanks everyone!), and a pretty big majority of them went with Requiem for a Dream, which I completely understand. (I love you Jennifer Connelly, but you're a freaky mess in this flick.) Some other films mentioned include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Irreversible, Dear Zachary, United 93, Citizen Kane, Leaving Las Vegas, Beauty and the Beast, Battleship Potemkin, Monster, Se7en, High Fidelity and The Machinist.

Now it's your turn: Give us a great film you won't watch more than once, and why.

(from left to right) Sean Gullette in Pi, Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream, Hugh Jackman in The Fountain, and Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

I had been writing a rambling introduction to this piece, but to make a long anecdote short, I decided to re-watch the works of writer-director Darren Aronofsky prior to seeing his new film, The Wrestler. Out of more happenstance than planning, I began his first film exactly a day to the minute before this one would end, and now I offer up my thoughts on his career to date. (Who knows what more could come following this: 24 Hours of Fincher? 36 Hours of Boyle? My Dinner with Andre Benjamin's Idlewild?)

On a bright Toronto Morning, The Wrestler's director Darren Aronofsky still can't quite wrap his head around his past week: "It's been wild. Look, we started shooting in January; we finished the film five days ago. I was in Venice four days ago, with no buzz; three days ago, we won the Golden Lion out of nowhere, and two days ago, we showed it at Toronto and sold it to Fox Searchlight, so everything changed in five days. ..." Cinematical spoke with Aronofsky about the world of '80s wrestling, the unique possibilities and challenges inherent in working with Mickey Rourke, custom-crafting an old-school Nintendo game on an indie budget, punching up political commentary in post-production and more. ...

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Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler is surely one of the fall's most enigmatic releases -- and one of the most eagerly awaited. Bad Taste got hold of the first production stills from the film, and it looks every bit as creepy and moody as you'd expect from the man behind Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain (which was awesome despite its generally negative reception).

The movie is about a retired professional wrestler, played by Mickey Rourke, who is trying to survive on the small-time independent wrestling circuit. It sounds campy, but I think it's more likely to be grim -- I've read some stories about that scene (anyone else read Swan Song by Robert McCammon?) and it sounds, if anything, awfully depressing. These photos confirm that, I think, as does the fact that Clint Mansell is once again writing the musical score.

The movie premieres in Venice next month, then Toronto shortly thereafter. It doesn't have a US distributor yet, but I'm guessing that won't last long. Check out a couple more photos (including one featuring Marisa Tomei as a stripper) in the gallery below, then see the rest over at Bad Taste.

Right off the bat, I have issues with this list. Not so much for the fact that almost all of the films are sci-fi horror/thrillers, but because they left off a film with such a depressing ending that it still haunts me to this day. But first off, Den of Geek has compiled a list of what they feel are the 10 most depressing movie endings ever. Before you click over and check them out, be warned that massive amounts of spoilers await you. Here's their top ten: Soylent Green, The Elephant Man, The Descent, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Spider, Nineteen-Eighty Four, A.I. and -- drum roll please for number one -- The Mist.

Yes, valid points are made on all of them. Yes, they are depressing. But what about The Last American Virgin? Now there's a film with the most depressing ending I've ever seen (and if you've watched that film, you know exactly what I'm talking about). Off the top of my head, No Country for Old Men had a pretty depressing ending -- as did Goodfellas. There's Untamed Heart, Venus, Requiem for a Dream -- pretty much any film where someone is dying of an illness, but gets one last chance at love. Though it served as a bridge film, I thought Empire Strikes Back had a pretty depressing ending. Check out their list, then tell us which films were left off.

In your opinion, which film has the most depressing ending of all time? (Dammit, now I have The Last American Virgin ending stuck in my head. Sigh.)

UPDATE: Here's another list from our friend Alex on the 15 Bleakest Film Endings of All Time. A lot of the films you folks talked about in the comments are on his list, so hop on over and check it out.

The strike is over, the Oscars are going on as planned, and there will be inevitable cries of fury and outrage towards at least some of the winners. The Academy always shocks and disappoints us with at least a few of the picks, and no matter how much I prepare myself to be bummed, I still wind up surprised. Honestly, I usually just watch it masochistically to get my fill of obituary sadness.

There have been 79 Oscar ceremonies, and that's a lot of disappointment and upset. So really, you can just zoom into any year and pick a few really worthy losers that should have scored themselves those coveted trophies. Me, I'm picking a few recent ones. One win was sad, and the other was completely infuriating, but both stick with me because of performances given, the actors who gave them, and the wonder of the films themselves. Instead of adding more glory to the winners, we should give the losers the appreciation they deserve. This week -- Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story and Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream.

Check both out after the jump ...

The Onion AV Club is unquestionably my favorite entertainment-focused website (other than Cinematical, of course!). Their outstanding coverage of all things pop culture suggests an indie-leaning Entertainment Weekly, and I consider that a very good thing. They always do a great weekly list, and one of their recent offerings is no exception. Check out "Not Again: 24 Great Films Too Painful to Watch Twice." The first movie I thought of when I saw that title was Requiem for a Dream, so it's fitting that they put it in the #1 spot (not sure if these are in order of "most painful" or not). I saw Requiem for a Dream in college -- on a double date! So imagine not only suffering through one of the toughest movies of all time in a theater, but suffering through it with a hyperventilating girl you're trying to get to first base with! Needless to say, it didn't work out.

Though I don't think it's a "great film" by any stretch of the imagination, I can certainly see why Irreversible (#13 on the list) was included. I don't know if I physically could stomach that one a second time. I remember convincing my friends to come see it with me by telling them "It's supposed to be just like Memento!" It was not just like Memento. I still shudder when I walk past a fire extinguisher. I must be a masochist, because I either would watch or have watched several of the movies on their list more than once -- United 93, Million Dollar Baby, Audition, Leaving Las Vegas, etc. There's a lot of good rental ideas for those with a taste for challenging fare, so fire up your Netflix queue and head on over to the link. Just don't plan any parties around these flicks! How about you guys, what is a great film you could never sit through a second time?

I'll admit that I haven't seen director Darren Aronofsky's film The Fountain ... yet. I am, however, very excited about seeing it because of his previous work on films like Pi and Requiem for a Dream, and because all the buzz seems to indicate this film is definitely worth seeing. That said, some of you may have already seen it and might have questions or are otherwise confused about the film in some way. Or, you may want a little primer to aid in your understanding when you do eventually see it.

No matter if you already saw The Fountain or plan to do so in the future, a recent article form the New York Times will hopefully help you interpret, comprehend or answer some of your questions about the film. The biggest problem with The Fountain, according to the article, is how to understand a film, which is sort of a love story about time travel and a man's eternal quest to save his wife's life, that even its writer/director describes as a puzzle? "You have to pay attention; everything is a clue for later," said Aronofsky in the article, "You always hear that people want to see something different. Then you give them something different, and they don't know how to deal with it.

The article then goes on to explain that in an unusual move, Aronofsky sent his screenplay to a group of artists, many known for their work in comic books and graphic novels, for their help in interpreting his film and explaining it to audiences. He did this because, according to the director, The Fountain is similar in many ways to the structure of a graphic novel. "The first 60 pages, you don't really know what's going on, but then it starts to focus. I think a lot of the artists responded to that," said Aronofsky in the article.

So, what was the result when these artists attempted to interpret and explain his film? Eleven different visions of what the movie is all about. The studio will use the illustrations created by these artists to promote The Fountain on the film's official website until its release on November 22. But thanks to me (and the New York Times) you can see them now. To be honest, I looked at them and I don't know if they helped me or not. They were definitely unusual and well done but as an aid in understanding the film -- I just don't know. Maybe they'll do better for some of you. Either way, do you think this kind of thing helps when promoting a film or is it pretty much a waste of time?