#44 Requiem For A Dream - Which was what exactly?

2000. dir. Darren Aronofsky, starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans.

Seen it before? No.

Req⋅ui⋅em  [rek-wee-uhm, ree-kwee-, rey-] Show IPA
–noun
1. Roman Catholic Church.
a. Also called Requiem Mass. the Mass celebrated for the repose of the souls of the dead.
b. a celebration of this Mass.
c. a plainsong setting for this Mass.
2. any musical service, hymn, or dirge for the repose of the dead.

I believe the only word to describe my state at the end of this film is disturbed. The four main characters in the movie are all trying to achieve some sort of dream and coincidentally all have to deal with the effects of addiction to drugs. Frankly I thought the movie was well done. There were a few things I hated:
- the perpetual "3-second" drug montage...there were so many it was SO overkill
- Marion at the end of the movie...degrading doesn't even cover it though my research on the film says nothing about whether Connelly did this herself or if there was a body double...I'm thinking the former, hence no information...you'd be able to read about a body double...In 2009 Matt Mueller of guardian.co.uk claimed "Her climactic humiliation is one of the grimmest movie sequences of the last 30 years."
- Not ever hearing the third thing that Tappy said was essential for JUICE...which apparently was "no orgasms"
- the doctors in this movie were absolutely horrid...the one treating Ellen Burstyn for her desired weight loss told her he could fix it but didn't tell her any effects; Jared Leto's doctor sent him to prison instead of trying to fix his arm; ECT therapy on EB's character when she wouldn't eat with seemingly no anesthesia...ARGH!

I think CNN had the best review of the movie. Sam thought that this would be a great scare tactic for DARE students...I find it funny that he and I shared sentiments pretty much exactly like a comment I saw on AVClub about this movie by kiddo80
21 JAN. 2010:

"I remember saying right after I saw this that they should replace the DARE program with this film, show it to 12yr olds, scare the ever living shit out of them. "It's all fun and games at first, kids!" Of course I'm sure many schools would be sued for emotional distress afterwards...since I was 20yrs old and felt like suing Darren Aronofsky (sp?) for emotional distress."

Parents would absolutely sue schools for emotional distress...it would never be allowed to be played. I think even private schools would have issue with this movie.

Would I see it again? Going to go with the majority on this one and say, NO
Would I own it? The thought of having it in the house and showing it to Daniel and future Bell children is something I will NEVER do...in fact, Daniel isn't allowed to watch this movie until he's out of the house!

#44 Requiem For A Dream: Be excited, be, be excited

2000. dir. Darren Aronofsky, starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans.

Seen it before? No.

It's the feel-bad movie of the year. Ellen Burstyn plays Sara Goldfarb, a retired widow who lives in Brighton Beach and watches infomercials all day. She has a son Harry (Jared Leto) who steals her stuff to pay for heroin. He has a coke-head girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) and a friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) who also uses heroin.

So it's basically D.A.R.E.: The Movie as all four of them suffer horrific consequences from their addictions. Sara gets an invitation to be on a TV show, so she gets hooked on diet pills. Harry and Tyrone start dealing, but then Tyrone almost gets killed in a gang shooting and gets arrested. This costs them all of their money and their dope connection, so they resort to, uhh, unpleasant things.

This movie is pretty grating and obnoxious to watch. First of all, any time somebody uses drugs, it does this quick-cut thing where they show the drugs entering the bloodstream and then the pupil dilating. It gets tiresome the fortieth time you see it. Second,the music is annoying. Third, they keep replaying that Tappy Tibbons infomercial. Stop it! Or at least tell me the third thing.

(The first thing: No Red Meat. The second thing: No Refined Sugar. The third thing: Never revealed, because Sara goes psychotic every time they get to it.)

(EDIT: IMDB Trivia saves the day! It's "no orgasms." OK then.)

The consequences of drug addiction seem pretty exaggerated here. OK, really, the diet pills will turn you into a raving psycho and they have to electro-shock you? Seriously? Harry goes to the hospital because his arm is infected, and they don't treat him because he's a drug addict? What about the Hippocratic oath? The guy who made this movie is a sadist.

Position on the list: 61
Hey! It's that Guy!: Samir from Office Space plays the mailman.