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Showing posts from June, 2012

Seven Sins Marathon Movie 7: Death Wish (1974)

The final sin of the Seven Sins Marathon is the sin of wrath.   Basically it is the sin of severe anger.   Interestingly enough, this is being written on the same day that I am angry at the Italian soccer fans (football for you Europeans) that drove up and down the street honking their horns for two hours following their team winning one game.   Maybe that’s not interesting.   Either way, it made me angry which is kind of fitting for writing about wrath.   Maybe. The movie that I picked to cover the topic of wrath was Death Wish.   Death Wish is about a man played by Charles Bronson who goes vigilante on the criminals of New York City after an attack on his family.   It’s based on a book, started a five movie series, and was made in 1974.   It looks like a seventies movie. The biggest flaw in Death Wish is the simplicity of it.   The direction, acting, writing, cinematography...everything seems so basic and simple.   Simplicity can be a good thing in a movie sometimes.   In

Seven Sins Marathon Movie 6: Envy (2004)

There’s a little green monster that likes to creep up on people every once in a while.   He’s not the absinthe fairy.   That’s a different thing entirely.   I’m talking about envy.   Envy is that thing that makes you want what you don’t have so much that you despise those who do have it.   Unless you are zoned out like Peter in parts of Office Space, then you’re likely envious of at least one thing in life. The movie Envy was released in 2004.   It features Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Rachel Weisz, Amy Poehler, and Christopher Walken.   It was directed by the guy who directed Rain Man.   Jack Black creates popular poo removing spray, Ben Stiller becomes jealous of the money that Jack Black makes. There’s something about Envy that keeps me coming back to it.   It’s not a great movie.   It’s okay.   It has flaws in it.   It has some major flaws.   I’ve still seen the movie at least five times now.   Something about kit just grabs a hold of me and gets me to watch it again and ag

Seven Sins Marathon Movie 5: A Night To Remember (1958)

Pride is something that we all have.   It’s in every person to be proud of their accomplishments, or of others’ accomplishments.   It’s human nature to be like that.   It’s also a sin, and that’s where we are in the Seven Sins Marathon.   What better way to show pride than with one of the proudest achievements in modern history, as well as one of the most documented disasters?   I’m talking about the sinking of the Titanic. The fifth movie in the Seven Sins Marathon is a 1958 film by the name of A Night To Remember.   The movie is about the maiden voyage of the Titanic and the disaster that happened during that voyage.   It’s basically the same story as James Cameron’s Titanic, except without all of the Leo and Kate relationship stuff.   Some might say that getting rid of that stuff made for a better, more compelling movie.   I both agree and disagree with that. I went into A Night To Remember thinking I had seen parts of it before.   The thing is, nothing in the movie spar

Seven Sins Marathon Movie 4: Shame (2011)

Lust is something that is shown in many movies to many varying degrees.   Most people might think of lust as a sexual desire, which it can be to an extent.   To truly show lust as a sin and make it captivating, though, one must take the sexual desire, or lack thereof when performing sexual acts, to an extreme level.   This level could be prostitution.   It could be rape.   Or, in the case of the fourth movie in the Seven Sins Marathon, it could be an addiction to sexual acts. Shame was a movie released in 2011.   It was directed by Steve McQueen.   This is not the same Steve McQueen that was in movies such as The Blob, Bullitt, The Great Escape, or The Towering Inferno.   No.   This is a different McQueen.   This McQueen directed Hunger.  This McQueen is still alive.   Shame stars Michael Fassbender as a man who must deal with a life that is fueled by a sexual desire.   He hits lows that just keep getting lower and we watch as he does. Fassbender is a force to be reckoned w

Seven Sins Marathon Movie 3: Office Space (1999)

The third movie in the Seven Sins movie marathon is rather fitting for me as I think about it.   This movie covers the sin of sloth, something that has consumed me when it comes to this blog as of late.   I’ve been watching more movies instead of writing.   It’s a life of leisure that reeks of sloth.   That’s going to change. Sloth was covered by the movie Office Space, a 1999 comedy written and directed by Mike Judge.   Office Space is about a man who hates his job, and gets hypnotism that turns him into a relaxed, care free, lazy worker.   It also involves the other people that work at the office and what happens during a downsizing of the company. The performances within the movie are flawless throughout.   No character was miscast and everyone played off of each other well.   Mike Judge has a knack for casting the right people for roles in his movies.   Most notably in this movie, Gary Cole plays Bill Lumbergh in a way that nobody else could.   I can’t say a negative th