28 Weeks Later (Quickie)

I don't really have enough data to flesh this review out enough, and I'll get to why in a second.

To be honest, I really enjoyed this movie sober. It has a strong story, great cinematography, and pretty good music. As I expected though, it couldn't live up to its progenitor since the techniques and revolutions 28 Days Later brought to the zombie film genre were overplayed even before this film came out (And I don't want to see a bazillion comments about how this isn't a zombie film. I don't fucking care).

But watching this while high was a complete blase experience. I didn't give a shit about what was going on, who the characters were, or what was on screen. The most enjoyment I got out of it was seeing zombies pop out of nowhere. Because of this, I have no HighPoints for you. Let's just say skip this one.

9

I had mixed feelings about this movie when I watched it sober. The trailer had made it look awesome and I was definitely psyched to see it, but it didn't end up living up to its expectations. When I went over to my friend's house for a party, we ended up smoking three bowls of some adequate mids and popped this puppy in. I figured it'd be fun to watch slightly baked.

I was right and for all the reasons you would think.

For those of you who don't know, 9 follows a scientist's last creations (9 humanoid rag dolls) living in a world destroyed by machines. They must survive the daily perils of this wasteland as well as learn to trust each other.

Not that you'll really care about the plot because this movie is FUCKING BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, the opening cinematic is enough to amaze you. The colors and structural design of this movie are excellently crafted, and my stoned mind couldn't get enough of them. The red eyes of the machines, the green souls of the rag dolls, all of it is a feast for the eyes.

Now, this isn't to say I wasn't emotionally involved with the film. Every time one of the characters died I felt sad, but in an exaggerated way. It's like I was watching a toy break down. My attention span wasn't strong enough to really care about the characters in depth.

The music and sound design were also a treat. I was able to mellow out despite the action of the movie, and that allowed me to pay more attention to the awesome visuals.

All in all, I would say this is an excellent film to put in while you're high. It's short and beautiful, and if all you're looking for is some quick stoned entertainment, you can't really go wrong with just that.


HIGHPOINTS

(When 9 first awakes) My friend abruptly says, apropos of nothing, "That's a vagina dentata right there."
(When we're first introduced to the rest of the dolls) We all admitted we hated One
(When we see Six's drawings) "Hey, there's [our friend's] drawings!" Then we had to pause the movie to look at bad drawings.
(When 9 awakens the machine) "AHHHH SHIT, THAT CAN'T BE GOOD!"
(When We see 8 playing with the magnet) We chuckle at the fact that he's high too.
(When The Seamstress appears) "OH FUCK, THAT'S AWESOME!"
(When "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" starts to play) We really chilled out at this point. This led to a more massive freakout when the machine came back and interrupted the song

Update

I've done a lot of GreenScreens over the past couple of weeks. I've been writing them, but after a recent viewing of Spirited Away, I've decided to rewrite them in a different format. I'll hopefully have those posted very soon

The Dark Knight

It should be known that I'm a huge comic book fan. I can't help it, I'm a sucker for super heroes. And while Batman isn't my favorite comic book character (that's reserved for Spider-man, but I'll save him for a different blog post), I figured The Dark Knight needed to be looked at from a different angle. The potential is there: you have a psychotic character that's sure to make someone high as hell laugh til they cry; you have some unintentionally funny moments with Batman and his whiskey voice; and you have cinematography that can keep some people interested without overloading their senses. So, is this is a "buzzworthy" film?



Eh, the results are mixed, to say the least.

To prepare for this film, my friend and I smoked two bowls of what she THOUGHT were mids but actually turned out to be some pretty dank stuff. They were a sativa strain, so we were both giddy throughout the movie.

I had seen the movie six times sober, so I was well aware of what Joker's plan was and how he was going to accomplish it. Despite this (or maybe because of), I was frantically excited about the plan going down. The opening scene had me guessing as to what could possibly happen, even though I already knew what was. My friend who I watched it with, whom I shall call "A Doctor," had not seen the beginning and did not feel the same way I did. She was less interested in the plot so much as the imagery.

I'm sure this is what most people will focus on, so I'm going to take a second to talk about that. The cinematography in this film is epic. While not as grimly lit as Batman Begins, the setting is still dark, and any bright or pastel color that flashes across the screen instantly catches my attention. The fact that these bright colors belong to a creepy clown character (I loooove alliteration), however, brings a new perspective on said colors. For instance, the Joker's henchman in the opening bank robbery scene are much more sinister-seeming characters, and the Joker in comparison is severely more frightening. This culminates in the first scar scene. My friend and I were truly terrified during this scene mostly because of how the weed affected how we saw the Joker.

Because of this, however, Batman is pushed farther back from the spotlight. The fact that Batman must always be shot in the shadows makes this even more of a problem. Eventually, I just stopped caring about him altogether since he wasn't drawing my attention.

To take a leap to character development, the juxtaposition between the Joker and Batman leads to quite interesting results. As I focus more on the Joker and his machinations, I lose interest in Batman and his entire goal. Instead (and I could say that the weed is doing this), I see him as a selfish dick who's only out for his own interests. Thus, I become more attached to Joker, and justify my affections by believing his own personal philosophy is nearly 100% true and therefore "very deep."

The most dissatisfying feature of this movie is its length. I had to pause the DVD near the first climax and smoke again just to get through all of it. And I know some of you are going to say "smoking moar is always a good idea," but would you honestly smoke more weed just to watch the last half of a movie?

To save time and weed, you could get the full experience just getting blitzed and watching both scar scenes on the internet.

HIGHPOINTS

(At the opening of the movie) "Woah, shit! This is epic"
(The scene where Scarecrow gets recaptured) Scarecrow's voice made me think of Hershey's Kisses. Had to pause the movie to get them.
(When Joker enters the mobsters' lair) I obsessed over how the Joker could possibly have walked there in his makeup, or if he just did it right outside.
(When Batman goes to Hong Kong) I thought that all the men in this scene were played by the same actor.
(When Batman fires the time bombs onto the office) I timed him to see if he really did all of that in 2:37. (He does)
(During the soiree at Wayne Manor) "Wait, Bruce Wayne is Batman?"
(Once Bruce Wayne's helicopter lands) I couldn't stop humming Rob Thomas' "Lonely No More." Trust me, the opening of the song fits this scene perfectly.
(When the Joker forgets Harvey's lover's name) My friend and I couldn't stop making fun of the way he yells "Rachel!"
(When Lucius is telling Batman where the Joker is using his sonar) The visuals confused us and we couldn't stop swaying around.