Two Movie Experiences

What do you want from your movie experience? You're probably not the kind of person who sees a movie and afterward says "that was OK" and consider that you got your money's worth.

I saw a couple of movies recently that fit the bill of experience flicks. They are two of the most divergent movies in history. One is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and the other is Hobo with a Shotgun.

One is a metaphorical title and the other tell you the entire plot and purpose of the movie. Diving Bell is the true story of a 40something editor of French Elle who has a massive stroke. After the stroke he is paralyzed except for one eye. His brain is unaffected. The only way this movie works is if it lets you gain insight into the experience of being completely immobile with a functional brain. It feels like nonstop torture. Through an ingenious system the man is able to communicate with the world, and he dictates a book. I can't say the movie has a happy ending but it is an uplifting story. It makes you feel like a weasel for wanting to take a nap, though.

Hobo with a Shotgun. I saw the title in Atlanta's own Creative Loafing while waiting for a pizza. I knew immediately that this movie was in my wheelhouse. It is based on a trailer that won a contest that earned it a spot before the Grindhouse double feature a few years ago. The makers of the trailer decided to go all the way to make a feature film.

You need a few elements to make a modern exploitation movie. It needs that cheap 70s look and feel. You get that in the opening scene as you see Rutger Hauer riding the rails and landing in Hope Town, otherwise known as Scum Town, with some cut-rate orchestral music in the background. Hauer gives the role enough gravitas while spitting out requisite one-liners like "I'm going to hell, and you're riding shotgun."

This movie makes you feel, although you might feel like vomiting. It's one of the most over-the-top violent movies I've ever seen. If you didn't like the wedding dress scene in Bridesmaids because it was too graphic, imagine approximately 86 minutes of too graphic. The most shocking part is it's made by Canadians. You have to admire the movie's willingness to go all the way to make a point, including ruining the song Disco Inferno for life. Let's face it, the song deserved it.

I rate Hobo above last year's based-on-a-trailer schlockfest Machete. It's still below my favorite exploitation homage, Black Dynamite. Ya dig?

Give me a new cinematic experience over something tired and played out every day.