The Archive: The Matrix (1999)

I can't name a movie more 'nineteen-nineties' than The Matrix, so quintessentially ingrained in the culture, both the inspiration and the malaise, of the last years of that millennium. Few movies have been so inspirational to the action movie genre, with camera techniques, special effects, and aesthetics to push the boundaries of what the movie-consuming public expects of its Big Summer Blockbusters. Few movies have had as many philosophy majors writing books upon essays upon dissertations on the philosophical constructs within a movie about people with leather, vinyl, explosion and gun fetishes. Few movies can be summed up by the single word, "Whoa."

Though I doubt very highly by now that anyone's missed out on The Matrix, it's still a part of my Archive, and deserves every square millimeter of space on my shelf. If you didn't see it when it was new, or in the decade-plus since its release, you may either have been too young to remember its release, or you simply do not watch sci-fi action movies. This post will not be a review beyond a brief plot summary, since it is such an old and widely loved movie. This post will instead be about how well The Matrix stands up after more than a decade of over-analysis, of reference, of parody, and of inspiring newer movies to do better.

The Archive: Salt (2010)

Normally I don't buy movies before I've seen them, but on the strength of numerous recommendations, I picked up Salt some time ago on sale. I finally got around to seeing it for the first time, and felt it held up to my expectations enough to earn a spot in The Archive.

For those who have not seen this movie yet, I will not be spoiling anything not given away on the box. Though I normally have no problem giving away plot details, I do think Salt is worth seeing, and half of the impact of the movie is the double twist (not a tweest, since M. Night Shyamalan is not involved here) at the end. There's plenty to talk about without revealing the ending, and plenty to recommend this movie. For one, it's a rare example of Angelina Jolie being picked for her acting and not (purely) her looks - in fact, I daresay this is one of the few Angie Jolie movies where seeing her mostly naked will turn you off.

Movie Review: Drag Me To Hell (2009)

I haven't laughed this hard since "Evil Dead II". Which is fitting considering both are from the same director, Sam Raimi. Oh, sure, "Drag Me To Hell" has all the trappings of a suspenseful horror movie, all the gross-out, all the ancient occultism, all the scary soundtracks. What makes "Drag Me To Hell" excellent to watch, however, is the canny self-parody, the feeling that you know the characters are aware of their medium and are purposefully playing a joke on the audience with a wink and a nod in much the same fashion as a stage magician.

Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) makes the age old, though understandable, mistake of angering a witch through the everyday hubris of being a loan officer at a bank. For the crime of not extending her mortgage payments, the witch gives Christine three days before she is dragged to hell by the demon Lamia. As the curse gets progressively more difficult to contain, Christine and her boyfriend Clay (Justin Long) must consult a psychic, and later a medium who has dealt with Lamia before, to remove her curse before time runs out. The problem is, the more Christine struggles against her curse and gets more gore and dirt dumped on her and vomited into her mouth or eyes or whatever is convenient, the further she drags herself into the grip of the powers fighting for her soul.

The best part, honestly, is how tight the movie is. Nothing is shown that isn't used. The ending makes total sense, but it is presented as such an out of left field shock, the vomit or the bugs or the worse that is sprayed all over the main character is comparable to the ending. This is a movie that goes so overboard on the occultism and gore, then kicks all the wacky grossness into an incinerator at the end in one final attempt at nuking anything resembling subtlety. You are not buying a psychological horror movie when you get "Drag Me To Hell". You're buying a blowtorch with which to cauterize any weakness you might have to psychological horror movies.

WATCH IF YOU LIKE: Blondes Getting Expectorated Upon, Nonsensical Occult Horror, Bad People Losing
SKIP IF YOU DISLIKE: Gore, Horror That Doesn't Take Itself Seriously, A Total Lack of Subtlety

FINAL VERDICT: Buy if you liked the "Evil Dead" series (since this is pretty much a Bruce Campbell-less version of the same thing), Rent otherwise.

IMDB's entry on "Drag Me To Hell".