Sunday, November 10, 2013

Breaking Emotions Blogathon: Fear and Awkward


Finally, the first post the Breaking Emotions blogathon has arrived! Well, the emotions arrived on Monday, but you know, time zones and stuff. So let's dive right into this - if you want to read more about the fabulous blogathon, click here

* My choices are in no particular order.


28 Days Later • Empty London

I'm generally not scared of anything that has to do with makeup or other practical effects, although I find it very interesting to see how they do things like that. What scares me in movies is always an emotion or an idea, something that happens in my head when I see what happens on the screen. At the beginning of 28 Days Later, Cilian Murphy's character wakes up in a hospital in London to find that there's not a soul there. He walks outside and even there, the city is empty. I've often walked around town on Sundays, when there wasn't a soul outside and imagined being the only person left on earth, which is a thoroughly scary thought. I mean, just being there and seeing the remains of people and signs of what has happened must be horrible.

The Conjuring • Trying to Sleep

This is the only "genuine" horror film per se in this little list, and one of the best I've ever seen. Haters, go away, The Conjuring is scary in a super effective, subtle, old-school way. Now the scene I think I found scariest is when one of the sisters wakes up by her blanket being drawn away, which at the beginning, she ignores - assuming that it's her sister doing this. First of all, the little girl reminded me a lot of my own sister when she was younger, and second of all, the scene reminded me a lot of the horror scenarios that would sometimes mix my head up when I was a child. Again; just that idea of someone playing with your fears, only showing itself to you and no one else, scares me a lot. Plus, the little girl was so convincingly horrified that her terror emerged through the screen.

2001: A Space Odyssey • The Pod Doors

2001 is a very scary film, and without it, I don't think we'd ever have seen an Alien or a Gravity, which were very evidently inspired by this sci-fi classic. HAL, the artificially intelligent computer on the spacecraft, is one of my favorite villains of all time - few real-life performances manage to send a shiver down my spine like Douglas Rain's voice does. Although we suspect HAL of becoming the source of future problems, it is in the famous pod door scene that we realize how big of a threat he actually is. His cold, emotionless way of speaking to the main character Dave, is enough to scare the sh** out of me. Add to that the thought that someone way smarter and way more capable than you, nearly immortal as well, is in control of your life and you've got one of the most frightening scenes in cinematic history.


Spider Man 3 • Peter Parker Goes Emo

It's not like I was ever a big fan of the Spider Man series and would like to pretend that Spider Man 3 doesn't exist. Part one and two both had their problems, and they just got a little bigger and more evident in the third part of the installment. However, the makers managed to put things in there that were completely unnecessary, had nothing to do with the style of the first two movies, and were so bad that the franchise was killed off. One of these things, one might say the thing, is Peter Parker going emo. As in full-on emo. As in embarrassing and awkward in every thinkable way. 

Borat • The Dinner Scene

Nope, I didn't go the easy route and just selected the whole (glorious) movie, I actually did dig for a particular scene that I think made me feel the most awkward (apart from the obvious naked wrestling one). Borat learns about the etiquettes of dinner parties and goes on to use his new knowledge in real life. Mayhem ensues and that's all I have to say.

About a Boy • Killing Me Softly

This is probably my favorite choice in this list, as it proves the point of an 'awkward scene' (or my definition of the same) very well. It's a cute scene in a way; Marcus, the little boy, sings Killing Me Softly in front of the whole school, however, he's not much of a musical talent. He is then 'saved' by Will, who joins in and acts like a cool rockstar, which convinces the audience. So Marcus sort of learns the lesson that in life, attitude is one of the most important things, and Will learns that sometimes, you need to stand by someone, no matter how 'weird' they are. But despite the cuteness and our determination to not laugh or find Marcus awkward - we still do. He is awkward. And so is Will's joining in, until he manages to somehow turn things around through his cool attitude. 

I hope you had as much fun with this blogathon as I've had so far. 
To be continued next week!

22 comments:

  1. Awesome choices, and you already know I'm on board with the Borat one. ;)

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  2. Peter going emo was all kinds of wrong... not convincing at all, and positively pointless indeed! Why not just make him a jerk? It was ridiculous.

    That About a Boy scene was on my mind as well! Really, there are a lot of awkward moments in that film, like when Marcus is singing inappropriate songs just a little too loud in the school corridor, or when his mother does her own rendition of Killing Me Softly, or whenever Will had no clue what do to with Marcus... the whole movie is so awkward and cute, I like it a lot.

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    1. Hahah, yes, why not let him explore his actual dark side, not his awkward side.
      About a Boy is great, and yes, there are so many awkward scenes. However, I think there are even more in the book.

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  3. Great choices for awkward especially About a Boy and Borat! Haven't seen the films you selected for fear but I'm sure they're awesome too. :)

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    1. Wh-Wha-WHAT, you haven't seen 2001: A Space Odyssey? Okay, stop whatever you're doing right now and watch that movie.

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  4. The scene in About a Boy was cute, but it was very awkward. Great choices!

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  5. Oh my God, good call on Spiderman 3! I was actually embarrassed that I was in a theater full of people watching that scene. It's almost hard to describe that level of awkward!

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    1. Exactly! I mean, cute awkwardness - okay. But that scene was just plain, genuine awkwardness.

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  6. OH.MY.GOD.

    That emo scene in Spider-Man 3 was the most awkward I think I've ever felt in a theater! How did I forget about that!!!!!

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    1. I have no idea ;). I never saw it in theaters but it's still one I remember *very* well.

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  7. The POD doors. YES! That is a great, great pick right there. That scene is so quietly terrifying.

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    1. "This conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye".

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  8. Hi Mette
    Thanks so much for nominating Vern over at The Vern's Video Vortex, because he then in turn nominated Brandon, over at Movies at Dog Farm, who then in turn nominated me! So, now I am the proud recipient of the Sunshine Award! So thanks! And until next time...Keep those fires stoked!
    Eternally Yours

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    1. You're very welcome, Warden :D And thank you for following that award right back to me!

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    2. You Betcha! We're all in this together, I'd say! I dig on your podcasts. You've got a great podcast voice. Ever thought about narrating audio books? I work at a library, and I swear, the narrator makes or breaks the audio book. If the narrator has a good voice, people get pass disc #1. haha. For me, if the narrator sucks, The whole dang thing goes back.

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    3. Wow, you think so? I always thought of my voice being too nasal. Anyway, I'd have no idea how to get a job like that. But I agree, audio books need good narrators. I don't listen to them often, but if I do, I want a great narrator.

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  9. Im totally with you on the conjuring, why are people hating? That was the scariest film I've seen in years! Also loved the spiderman choice! I'm surprised the entire superhero film industry didn't crumble after that one.

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    1. Hahah, well it's not going to crumble after one movie but I see your point. Gotta love The Conjuring.

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  10. I haven't seen Spiderman 3, and it sounds like I don't need to waste my time. I do have the Conjuring on hold at the library. I should get it pretty soon. I couldn't finish reading what you wrote about it, because you start mentioning a scene, so I stopped! Just the cover of the DVD is intriguing. And since I work at a library, I think I am qualified to say, hahaha, that I think you can judge a book by it's cover, unless it's a really old book, and the cover is just blank with a title, but most of those are gone, and are replaced with new editions with picture covers. So, if the Conjuring is anything like it's cover, and I'm willing to bet it is, it's going to be greatly scary, and I'm super excited to view it. Until next time...Keep those fires stoked.
    Eternally Yours

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    1. You shouldn't, especially if you like 1 and 2. The Conjuring is one of my favourite films of the year. It has a great way of building up the atmosphere and a very cool style. I often judge books and films by their cover! And most of the time, it works very well.

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Let the discussion begin!