(no subject)

[oselle]

I just watched the movie Constantine, recommended to me by baylorsr and just loved it. I remember it getting pretty poor reviews but while the plot was at times mystifying, the imagery was absolutely spectacular. And scary? Forget about it. If I had a wish for Supernatural it would be that the show could actually be scary. I'm afraid it doesn't make me afraid. Demons disguised as pretty girls do not freak me out. Demons entirely made out of cockroaches? Yes. That freaks me out. I realize that Supernatural doesn't have anywhere near the budget it would take to go with really terrifying CGI and I also wouldn't want it to turn into an SFX-heavy show. But I'd like to see some really...demonic demons, for a change.

That said, Constantine was released in 2005, but it seems like some of the imagery from the movie made it into the show, like the black demon eyes, the liberal use of holy water, the sulfur residue...that sort of thing. At one point in the movie, a roomful of demons is dispatched via a sprinkler system whose water has been blessed...John Winchester did almost exactly the same thing in "Salvation" at the end of Season One.

These kinds of movies also give me a bad case of the willies. I'm Catholic and I can't help being superstitiously swayed by these themes. I should say I'm a lapsed Catholic because I haven't been to church in months and have in fact, completely apostatized. The other day, I found my cross and Miraculous Medal, which I used to wear every day, on the shelf where I left them months ago. They had turned almost completely black. Now okay, they're silver and that's what happens when you don't wear your silver every day. But still, it was a creepy sight. Then I'm watching Supernatural and I'm watching this movie and Hell's been on my mind a lot. What if salvation is trying to get at me, not through the "still, small voice" of God but through the BIG LOUD BANG of idiotic pop culture?

Comments

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

I'm glad someone besides me liked Constantine. I really dug that movie. Tilda Swinton was so fantastic, she turned me into an instant fan with that role. Peter Stormare was fabulous as Satan. Great special effects.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Tilda Swinton is so amazing-looking she's one of the few people who can really pull off playing an angel.

[fictualities.livejournal.com]

Constantine is one of those perfect three AM movies -- I mean, if you're up at that hour anyway the cockroaches won't keep you up, and it has the Tormented Hero, the Tormented Villain, descents into hell, plenty of explosions, an aura of lurking menace, and Keanu Reeves' mouth, which, I'm sorry *thud* is a freaking thing of beauty.

So, yes.

Tilda Swinton is also fantastic in a movie that's out now called Michael Clayton. Totally and completely different kind of thing; fabulous, but definitely not a popcorn-and-Hagen Daz movie. It's about being a grownup, and it has George Clooney looking perpetually rumpled.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Those were the scariest descents into hell ever. Can you imagine if this movie could be transported back to the Middle Ages? Hell of a lot scarier than some stone gargoyles. I mean, shit, this was almost enough to send me packing back to church.

I've been meaning to see Michael Clayton. Is it one of those movies where I won't know what's going on? I'm a little slow on the uptake when it comes to intrigue.

[westmoon.livejournal.com]

I adored every second of Constantine. There's very little I really like Keanu in, but he was perfect in this.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Keanu is such a one-note actor that he only really works in these kinds of surreal movies. You don't notice it as much because his character's supposed to be half-crazy anyway.

[ghyste.livejournal.com]

Constantine isn't a bad film, it's just a shame that it's pretending to be Hellblazer.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Wow, you totally geeked out right there!

[ghyste.livejournal.com]

I totally did, didn't I?

[golden-berry.livejournal.com]

I liked Constantine too. Tilda Swinton was awesome, and it was a great role for Keanu. I'm a Unitarian wannabe, so can't help you much with the Catholic angst, except to ask what you could have possibly done in your life that you have to worry about?

[oselle.livejournal.com]

what you could have possibly done in your life that you have to worry about?

Are you kidding? According to the standards of Catholicism, I've pretty much done it all. But I think the it's the lack of faith and blasphemy that are really going to do me in.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I absolutely loved Constantine--didn't mind it not being the comic book at all because it was so much its own thing. I thought some of the imagery was fantastic and find myself still thinking about it. Actually at work it came up in an art meeting recently---we were having a picture of Gabriel and I really wanted him to be more androgynous (he's the one angel sometimes said to be female). S/he'll always be Tilda Swinton to me now.

Catholicism really has a leg up on some other sects when it comes to horror movies.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Catholicism KICKS ASS on the occult stuff.

Tilda Swinton, man -- what amazed me was her body language. The difference in the way she moved from when she was an angel to when she became human at the end was thoroughly spooky. And great fun to watch. It was like she suddenly had weight, a real body. Though the wing-stumps were quite grotesque.

[shilohmm.livejournal.com]

Demons entirely made out of cockroaches?

I am totally not watching this movie...

I now realize I like horror stories and novels but very few horror movies - an image like that will completely overwhelm any enjoyment of the picture and I'll be seeing it off an on for the rest of the flick. I saw a bit of an Outer Limits or Twilight Zone or something along those lines when I was six (mom and dad were watching it and I wandered into the living room long past my bedtime) and I can still summon that image with no effort at all. *shudder*

I tend to get more involved in literature, though; I think since visuals catch me so bad I'm always a little on edge with a movie and never lose myself to it as I'd like to.

What if salvation is trying to get at me, not through the "still, small voice" of God but through the BIG LOUD BANG of idiotic pop culture?

This reminds me of Flannery O'Connor's argument that Christians must use "large and startling figures" to communicate with a post-Christian culture. Have you read her? tgshaw once said that I was getting a fairly good balance in Catholicism by reading her and G.K. Chesterton; dunno if that means O'Connor was a conservative Catholic or what. Not much for her literature but I adore the collection of her letters (Habit of Being) - I used to be constantly reading it because I'd finish it with her death and then I had to go back and start again because I couldn't stand to have her gone.

I think fear of hell is supposed to bring us close enough to listen long enough to hear of God's love for us, and salvation hits when you realize the work has been done for you and relax into it. But OTOH I suspect it's more complicated than that - for a lot of people it's a process, so who can say when exactly that person was "saved"?

I dunno if that's what's happening, but I do think God can use "idiotic pop culture" to get things done if so inclined. ;)

Sheryl