glowbugg ramblings

I take a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge about once every couple of months. I enjoy the beautiful view of the city from the bridge and the sheer magnitude of the structure itself. Now that I have witnessed the death that falls from that bridge on a monthly basis, I no longer enjoy the views it has to offer without thinking, sickly, of the many folks who chose to end their lives from this bridge. I first read about this film in the local paper and made a mental note to check it out if I got the chance. I remember the static this film generated due to the subject matter and the rawness of the footage. I never dreamed that his film would affect me in such a somber and sad way. To actually watch people take their own lives right in the broad daylight with people walking right past them was almost too much to watch. Yet I was unable to look away. I recorded this film for a friend and had her watch it. Now I have ruined the fond memories she had of the bay as well. Very disturbing film, but done in a tactful and respectable manner. Worth a watch. Just once though.   

I am a fan of DelToro from The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, to The Hellboy films, and I was not disappointed at all. This film was very similar in that there is always a tragedy that befalls a child or children. Maybe this has something to do with Mexican/Spanish folklore. It seems a common thread in many stories I have read. This is by no means a horror film but more of a ghost story. The Devil's Backbone was very much the same in that regard. This film spoke to me as a mother. I could fee the pain and anguish of the parents in the film. It was brutal and beautiful all at the same moment. Maybe it was the PMS talking (or crying as it were), but the end of the film actually brought me to tears. Really, I'm not usually so easily moved.

 

 

Man, I was so hoping that the anticipation I had built up waiting for this film to be released on dvd would somehow make me like the film more than I knew I would. "I Am Legend" is one of my all time favorite books, and knowing the general rule that the book is almost always better than the film, I was still hoping this remake would really do the book justice. So much for hoping. I really enjoyed the Vincent Price version of the "Last Man on Earth", and thought that it was fairly close to the book in all regards. Too bad someone thought it would be a great idea to stray so far from the already magnificent book and previous remakes. Some things are just better left alone. The cgi zombies were a huge disappointment as was the ending (I haven't seen the alternate ending). I knew the ending already and it was such a shocker that it made the book so memorable and an instant favorite. So tragic and desperate. Too bad Hollywood got ahold of this story and made it nothing more than a PG-13 money sucking machine.