tenchi muyo 
23
I saw the new Jim Carrey flick and it's not that bad, although it pretty much becomes just another psychological thriller towards the end. The parts are definitely better than the whole, with a very interesting turn for Jim Carrey trying to look intense, lost and crazy all at the same time. He does the "I'm totally lost here" shtick really well (as he always does) and we've always known him to be somewhat unhinged, so the crazy part was convincing enough. It's the intensity that is... well, not really quite there. I think he mistook 'intense' for 'lost and crazy'.
The storyline is rather humdrum, with the reveals not really shocking you so much as giving you a hardly-emphatic "oh, so that's what it is" reaction. The fun is in watching Carrey's mind (and, as a consequence, his life) unravelling as we delve further into his shattered psyche. And also in his determination to convince the audience that he can actually act (not really there yet).
Virginia Madsen, as the wife to Carrey's Walter Sparrow, is also fascinating to watch as she straddles (no pun intended) the dual role of wholesome housewife and vamped-up man-eater. Just watch the movie and you'll understand. She pulls it off really well, although personally I do think there was not enough scenes of her in black lingerie.
I thought the idea of a book taking over your life with numbers was pretty funny; just one of those silly, 'suspension of belief' moments that we all have to bear with when watching a movie or reading a book because without it, there wouldn't be a story. But then halfway through the film, while laughing at the idea, I started making my own calculations...
I was born on the 26th of March, right? That's like 26/3.
And 26 - 3 = 23.
OK, at this point I was still laughing at the silliness of it. But wait, I'm also 23 this year...
And I was born in 1984. That's... hmm... 1 + 9 + 8 + 4 = 22.
Just add one, and you get... 22 + 1 = 23.
And then, starting to freak out now, I looked at the time on my watch and it read 00:23.
Ha ha, funny, right? I wasn't sweating yet, but I felt like I needed a cigarette. I had two packs with me, one opened and one unopened. I was carelessly counting the leftover in the opened pack, and there were three left. Cursing at my chain-smoking ways, I suddenly realised how many cigarettes I had with me.
No. of cigarettes = 20 + 3 = 23.
At this point, I stopped having anything to do with numbers and just concentrated on watching the movie until it ended. I don't believe there's any significance in such minor coincidences, but hey, when you're all alone in a building and it's past midnight and there's a cemetery just across the road, you don't mess with these things. Whatever it is.
I was laughing at myself the next morning for being so easily freaked out, though. It was funny, wasn't it? Should I have tempted fate and just kept on going? I would've missed the film. This side story is just a 'just so you know'.
Anyway, back to The Number 23. Without a doubt the most violent Jim Carrey movie you'll ever see, unless he tries to outdo himself in his next flick. A collaboration with Quentin Tarantino will do the trick. Although I hope he doesn't, because honestly there's just something very unsettling when you see the nonchalant look on Jim Carrey's face as he slits a girl's throat.
The storyline is rather humdrum, with the reveals not really shocking you so much as giving you a hardly-emphatic "oh, so that's what it is" reaction. The fun is in watching Carrey's mind (and, as a consequence, his life) unravelling as we delve further into his shattered psyche. And also in his determination to convince the audience that he can actually act (not really there yet).
Virginia Madsen, as the wife to Carrey's Walter Sparrow, is also fascinating to watch as she straddles (no pun intended) the dual role of wholesome housewife and vamped-up man-eater. Just watch the movie and you'll understand. She pulls it off really well, although personally I do think there was not enough scenes of her in black lingerie.
I thought the idea of a book taking over your life with numbers was pretty funny; just one of those silly, 'suspension of belief' moments that we all have to bear with when watching a movie or reading a book because without it, there wouldn't be a story. But then halfway through the film, while laughing at the idea, I started making my own calculations...
I was born on the 26th of March, right? That's like 26/3.
And 26 - 3 = 23.
OK, at this point I was still laughing at the silliness of it. But wait, I'm also 23 this year...
And I was born in 1984. That's... hmm... 1 + 9 + 8 + 4 = 22.
Just add one, and you get... 22 + 1 = 23.
And then, starting to freak out now, I looked at the time on my watch and it read 00:23.
Ha ha, funny, right? I wasn't sweating yet, but I felt like I needed a cigarette. I had two packs with me, one opened and one unopened. I was carelessly counting the leftover in the opened pack, and there were three left. Cursing at my chain-smoking ways, I suddenly realised how many cigarettes I had with me.
No. of cigarettes = 20 + 3 = 23.
At this point, I stopped having anything to do with numbers and just concentrated on watching the movie until it ended. I don't believe there's any significance in such minor coincidences, but hey, when you're all alone in a building and it's past midnight and there's a cemetery just across the road, you don't mess with these things. Whatever it is.
I was laughing at myself the next morning for being so easily freaked out, though. It was funny, wasn't it? Should I have tempted fate and just kept on going? I would've missed the film. This side story is just a 'just so you know'.
Anyway, back to The Number 23. Without a doubt the most violent Jim Carrey movie you'll ever see, unless he tries to outdo himself in his next flick. A collaboration with Quentin Tarantino will do the trick. Although I hope he doesn't, because honestly there's just something very unsettling when you see the nonchalant look on Jim Carrey's face as he slits a girl's throat.
PLAYLIST
Man In Black -- Johnny Cash
At The Hop -- Devendra Banhart
The Hardest Button To Button -- The White Stripes
Only This Moment -- Röyksopp
We March As Millions -- Nas
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posted by the narcissist at 11:42:00 pm
3 Comments:
hmm Jim Carrey in yet another 'psycho-thriller'... the last I saw of him in that thriller with whatshisname (the husband of that girl from Sex and the City) Jim Carrey kind of freaked me out. Not in a thriller-ed kind of way, more in a "what is he doing in this movie?!" kind of way. He brings his unique acting into every movie he is in, so it's as if he was just being 'himself', whether he's in Eternal Sunshine or 23 or The Mask.
It was http://www.blogger.com not a big boy bullying a little one, but a young wolf with glistening teeth and a lamb cowering before him; or, it was a dog faithful and famishing--or a star going slowly into eclipse--or a rainbow fading--or a flower blooming--or a sun rising--or a waning moon...
if by 'unique acting' you mean being 'special' in a 'special school' sense, then yeah, i agree.
i think he was most himself in The Mask. Eternal Sunshine is him without personality or if he were depressed all the time.
i can't place him in The Number 23. i think it's in the 'trying too hard but not getting anywhere' department.
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