This weekend I let my brain rot a little and watched eXistenZ, The Machinist, Shortbus, and Moon. I didn’t get much reading done, or anything productive for that matter, but it was nice to be home. Out of these four, the one that I want to recommend the most is The Machinist. It plays heavily into Dostoevsky’s philosophies despite the Judeo-Christian motif of guilt and redemption. It is a little dark, but I think there’s something for everyone to take from it. Shortbus was pretty good, although very graphic. The movie focused around human sexuality, and one of the reasons I hadn’t seen it before was that my friends made it seem juvenile, where in reality it takes the message very seriously. I would say that eXistenZ is a good watch, but it’s not something I would put on a top ten. There’s an underlying message about the human struggle between realism and existentialism, but I really wish they were explored and developed more. I enjoyed Moon, but I don’t feel like I can recommend it. There is a twist, which you find out very early in the movie. Though, once you figure it out, the last hour of the movie is just him (technically them) coping with it. Also, some of the plot seemed very unnecessary.
Stage Fright 