Happiness
I’ve been on a bed rest and movie diet.
Yesterday, I watched 3 films. When I woke up in the afternoon I finished watching The Shining. At 5 o’clock in the middle of the night I stopped and decided to see it when I had had more sleep. And as I mentioned that only happened in the afternoon.
Is it just me or did anyone else also feel like laughing whenever the wife screamed or was scared?
I have to compliment the fucked-upness of the movie, though. It was great. I have new respect for Jack Nicholson. I’ve always thought that he was a bit of an asshole. But now I also see that he is an amazing actor.
However, the film I wanted to talk about most is Happiness. It’s black comedy like 72% of the films on my list.
By the way, the list is something I’ve made since my boyfriend once mentioned he too liked black humor. I googled a few so I could suggest something good for the times we didn’t feel like doing anything but watching films in bed. But then I also started adding films I always felt like seeing but never got around to. Now there are also several horror films, a lot of classics, a fuck ton of black comedy and some suggestions from friends.
Back to it: Happiness was great. I knew it was going to be creepy and weird but I was blown away. There were several surprises that I didn’t see coming.
The biggest one was Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character I’ve only seen in some sort of parodies. At the time I didn’t actually figure out who the fuck this guy was and the overall reference. The character is a foul-mouthed pervert that calls random people from the phone book. I’ve come to love him in College Humor’s videos. This one is my favorite. But there is also this.
Another thing caught me off guard – the film was really moving. I love in this type of films when the creepiest characters show remorse and sense that they are sick and tormented by their abnormal ways.
SPOILER AHEAD!
The scene where the kid asks his dad about raping his friends. He tells his son he did it and that it felt great. The man is clearly suffering while answering his son’s questions. His son asks if he’d ever rape him and the brutally honest answer was “No. I just jerk off”. In a fucked up way from a sick pedophile fuck like his dad that answer was so beautiful.
I finished the evening with a tragic attempt of a film: The Room. I can only suggest watching it when you’re in need of a drinking game. For example, drink when anyone says hi, when they toss the ball around, when Johnny laughs or anyone fucks Lisa.
Today, I watched Trash Humpers. It is a godforsaken film I’d never watch again. When the characters (elderly burn victims) killed a man at his own birthday celebration and a little boy bashed a baby doll’s head in with a hammer while laughing I couldn’t enjoy the film in any way. The trash humping was weird enough to entertain for a while but the overall senseless violence turned me more than off. About half way through I wanted it to be over.
See The Shining and Happiness, but leave The Room for a rainy must-get-drunk-fast-day. And don’t watch Trash Humpers. There is never a need for that for anyone.
The Adventurous Pursuit of Happiness 