#2001 films

[nowadayz]

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN Life as a House, 2001

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

November: Grey Redux

Original Sin / Angelina Jolie as Julia Russell Vargas

I didn't know about this movie until I went looking for costumes, but the designer was none other than Donna Zakowska, who went on to design The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel! The film is set in the 1870s, and this gown, which appears in a couple of brief scenes near the middle, features a beautifully draped bustle. Also note the stiff pleats at the neck and cuffs, as well as the button accents on the sleeves.

I do believe this is the first time Angelina Jolie has been featured on this blog!

[adamwatchesmovies]

Donnie Darko (2001)

Donnie Darko is a distinct blend of different tones. It’s tender and earnest but also terrifying and unsettling. It’s a cold dose of reality blended with warm memories. The odds were against this movie – director Richard Kelly’s career never took off, it didn’t make a lot of money at the box office and this story isn’t mainstream – so I’m thankful it’s found a cult following.

In early October 1988, Donald “Donnie” Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a troubled teen who evades disaster when he sleepwalks outside of his home one night. Had he stayed in bed, he would’ve been flattened by the jet engine that fell out of the sky and into his bedroom. After the incident, Donnie begins to see visions of Frank (James Duval), a mysterious man in a rabbit costume, who informs him that the world will end on Halloween morning.

That weird outline is only the beginning and at first, it seems at odds with what follows. Writer/director Richard Kelly was born in 1975. The film is set in 1988, when he would’ve been around the same age as Donnie’s younger sister, Samantha (Daveigh Chase). There’s a nostalgic comfort to many of the film’s scenes. When Gretchen (Jena Malone) walks into Mrs. Pomeroy’s English class (Drew Barrymore plays the teacher), she’s told to sit next to the boy she thinks is the cutest. She chooses Donnie and a romance between them soon develops. It’s cute but there’s also this anti-nostalgic shot of vinegar to cut the sweetness. Gretchen’s mother moved them to this new town so they could escape her abusive and violent husband. The bullies at the school range from “normal” cruel teenagers to borderline psychopathic. Donnie and his older sister, Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal) get along, but a tragedy later in the film is sure to split them forever. The most vocal teacher at the school isn’t Mrs. Pomeroy or the sensitive physics teacher, Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff (Noah Wyles). It’s the gym teacher, Kitty Farmer (Beth Grant), a woman who's eager to ban books, not particularly bright, snub her nose at anyone who doesn’t perfectly match her standards and yet somehow manages to rally others behind her. There’s something almost comical about the way she idolizes this bullshit-spewing local motivational speaker (Jim Cunningham, perfectly portrayed as both sleazy and moronic by Patrick Swayze) but something prevents you from laughing. The sinister feelings that trickle in from time to time make her more dangerous than hilarious.

The thing that makes Donnie Darko almost feel like a horror movie – on top of the fact that the entire plot is leading towards Halloween – are Donnie’s creepy hallucinations. Even if he stayed silent, you’d label Frank as a doomsday prophet. The jet engine suddenly and inexplicably falling from the sky, the nasty people around town and Donnie’s paranoid schizophrenia make you wonder which three possible endings we're headed toward. Maybe it’ll be romantic, with Donnie and Gretchen finding a way to escape their ugly realities together. Maybe horrifying - a school shooting or prank gone horribly wrong would fit right in. Maybe it’s all just a backdrop to a bigger plot related to that inexplicable jet engine; something out of the Twilight Zone. Maybe it’ll be a combination. There’s no way to know for sure.

Several aspects of Donnie Darko make it memorable. The dialogue, for instance, is occasionally profound and in other scenes, filled with the kind of inane, brain-dead conversations that make you realize teenagers are nothing but children with raging hormones – even if you're a teenager yourself. The visuals of Donnie’s hallucinations are another. More than anything, however, it’s the strange plot and the performances. Jake Gyllenhaal is exceptional here. You like him. You’re also worried about what he’s going to do. Then, we get to the end. A more conventional film would tie up all of its threads neatly. Donnie Darko leaves many questions unanswered. You won’t care. It’s just an invitation to watch the film again to see what clues you missed, or perhaps to check out the director’s cut.

The last time I "saw" Donnie Darko was early one morning in the video rental store. I had to shut it off when I remembered how crass some of the dialogue can get. That was what? At least 15 years ago? I was surprised by how well I remembered the picture and also by the details that had slipped my mind. Though it is unusual and the ending may leave you saying "wha?", teens/young adults will eat it up. Older audiences will appreciate its unique qualities.(November 21, 2024)

[asuederake]

[not-a-contrarian]

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[everythingilearned]

Monster’s Ball (2001)

[wendigovertigo]

Spirited Away/千と千尋の神隠し, Sen to Chichiro no Kamikakushi (2001)

Cinematography: Atsushi Okui

Cast: Chichiro Ogino (JPN: Rumi Hiiragi, ENG: Daveigh Chase), Haku (JPN: Miyu Irino, ENG: Jason Marsden), Yubaba and Zeniba (JPN: Mari Natsuki, ENG: Suzanne Pleshette), No-Face (JPN: Akio Nakamura, ENG: Bob Bergen), Bandai-gaeru (JPN: Yō Ōizumi, ENG: Rodger Bumpass)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki