disagree. a friend suggested watching it as she found it on mindfuck movie list. quite a dissapointment in that respect.
while I don't think it was terrible - it's not list quality. it had no plot. relying on hangman puzzle which everyone solved in an instant to move the story? please.
airport dialogs were no good either - it was some mashup of cohen brother's for the bale character and just generic movie cliches for female counterpart. same goes for dialog in the mens' locker room, and in fact any scene were they decided to make it look cool.
also on the whole mindfuck angle, as my friend commented, she liked how it took only seconds to explain the whole story. well I didn't. mindfuck movies are all about 2hr discussion afterward about what just happened, keeping them rich with twists and turns, and designing them so that the answer is actually in there.
the idea to base it on hit and run driver seemed shaky as well, I understand that in a real world it is an issue that has to be addressed with a proper amount of thought but a movie is an entertainment and since someone already mentioned shutter island - remember that story of going insane. it works so much better dramatically. and the fact that it's much more cliche than this one doesn't really come in effect because you are moved by those children. on the other hand I was not moved by this kid being hit, maybe because no emotional connection was established, watching it felt like a roadkill, while you might be really sorry for the little critter - it's not that moving.
the whole coworkers seeking revenge thing seemed kind of unresolved.
having said all that I still think it could be great. you can't be indefferent to bale's commitment, wonderful presence of John Sharian as his alter-ego, image quality that should leave everyone working on it proud, good character by Jennifer Jason Leigh.
I just cannot stop wishing that they had dropped all of the pretentious cool movie stuff, cut down on the plot and really gotten into that insomnia for a year state of mind. it was all there, hunger affected body, pedantic habits, everything. but somehow, although image was there, it didn't really get through, it was too diluted with not so important stuff.
anyway sorry for the rambling, just wanted to get it off my mind, would be terrific to hear from someone about any of these thoughts.
The Machinist, starring a 110-pound Christian Bale as an insomniac who hallucinates a great deal of the movie. I admit to being distracted by the similarities to Fight Club in the premise, but the stronger influences here are German expressionism, Hitchcock and Kafka. What we have here is an atmospheric puzzle movie that doesn't rely on a twist ending, but asks you to figure out what's real at any given time. Very dark, but worth it for Bale's courageous performance and the literary script.
There are some films like this, in which the plot twists mount and mount and mount, where I sit there and think it is getting ridiculous. Not so with this film. Brilliant, really brilliant.
However, being someone absolutely repulsed by protrusive bones, collar bones especially, I nearly turned the damn thing off after thirty seconds in he sticks his out and rubs it.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 19
Pickman
Isn't it on any list? Something's terribly wrong in this world... A film of its own kind, even Shutter Island fails to reach it.sammysin
Extremely creepy, engrossing and beautiful.Bale is phenominal in this one, extremely impressive effort.
Sublime.
Jaqo
Holy crap, Christian Bale is thin in this one!!!Besides that, this is one mindf*ck of a movie! A brilliant mindf*ck, that is.
Gytis
disagree. a friend suggested watching it as she found it on mindfuck movie list. quite a dissapointment in that respect.while I don't think it was terrible - it's not list quality. it had no plot. relying on hangman puzzle which everyone solved in an instant to move the story? please.
airport dialogs were no good either - it was some mashup of cohen brother's for the bale character and just generic movie cliches for female counterpart. same goes for dialog in the mens' locker room, and in fact any scene were they decided to make it look cool.
also on the whole mindfuck angle, as my friend commented, she liked how it took only seconds to explain the whole story. well I didn't. mindfuck movies are all about 2hr discussion afterward about what just happened, keeping them rich with twists and turns, and designing them so that the answer is actually in there.
the idea to base it on hit and run driver seemed shaky as well, I understand that in a real world it is an issue that has to be addressed with a proper amount of thought but a movie is an entertainment and since someone already mentioned shutter island - remember that story of going insane. it works so much better dramatically. and the fact that it's much more cliche than this one doesn't really come in effect because you are moved by those children. on the other hand I was not moved by this kid being hit, maybe because no emotional connection was established, watching it felt like a roadkill, while you might be really sorry for the little critter - it's not that moving.
the whole coworkers seeking revenge thing seemed kind of unresolved.
having said all that I still think it could be great. you can't be indefferent to bale's commitment, wonderful presence of John Sharian as his alter-ego, image quality that should leave everyone working on it proud, good character by Jennifer Jason Leigh.
I just cannot stop wishing that they had dropped all of the pretentious cool movie stuff, cut down on the plot and really gotten into that insomnia for a year state of mind. it was all there, hunger affected body, pedantic habits, everything. but somehow, although image was there, it didn't really get through, it was too diluted with not so important stuff.
anyway sorry for the rambling, just wanted to get it off my mind, would be terrific to hear from someone about any of these thoughts.
Siskoid
The Machinist, starring a 110-pound Christian Bale as an insomniac who hallucinates a great deal of the movie. I admit to being distracted by the similarities to Fight Club in the premise, but the stronger influences here are German expressionism, Hitchcock and Kafka. What we have here is an atmospheric puzzle movie that doesn't rely on a twist ending, but asks you to figure out what's real at any given time. Very dark, but worth it for Bale's courageous performance and the literary script.fetzu
Clever movie. Also, Christian Bale weights about 150 grams in this.samfenn
There are some films like this, in which the plot twists mount and mount and mount, where I sit there and think it is getting ridiculous. Not so with this film. Brilliant, really brilliant.However, being someone absolutely repulsed by protrusive bones, collar bones especially, I nearly turned the damn thing off after thirty seconds in he sticks his out and rubs it.
elizabet
Christian Bale is actually one of my favorite actors! Great acting!The movie doesn't have a great argument. But it's not bad!
silvifeuer
Loved the movie, hated the audio.SnugEmsCats
Was good, but anticlimactic...Ninjagodzilla
stupid movie. Totally not worth christian bales gimmicky diet.jonbli
Christian Bale, your are a king!!!Dieguito
Good movie totally wacko dude!!!Timso23
Great performance by Bale, it's an underrated movie but not list material.Litso
I agree with ReVision and the others, should be on many more lists.Showing items 1 – 15 of 19