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Communion (1989)
Changed my rating of Communion - and why...
I've been on an "alien movie" kick of late, having recently seen (in no particular order), Fire In The Sky, Night Skies, Altered, The Forgotten, and Fourth Kind.
All as an adult. As a child, alien movies were the few types of movies that would give me nightmares. I wasn't sure if I'd ever seen Communion before.
Turns out I would've NEVER forgotten this movie. As I was watching it, with most movies I start with a 7 (by default) and adjust upward or downward based upon if there's something I actively like or dislike about it.
As I was watching this, I started with a '10' due to impact, atmosphere (I loved the NY ooze of Christopher Walken and Lindsay Crouse and the 1989 vibe as 1989 was a magical year for me - I just never realized it back then), message, blending of genres, and potential for being memorable to me (kinda like impact, lol).
And I immediately deducted 1 point each for a) a slightly meandering plot/very occasional dragging and b) I personally thought the short "grays" looked stupid/comic and the floating aliens too "undetailed" compared to some of the other movies.
And thus "thought" I rated the movie an '8'. Quite respectable. After "sleeping on it", I decided to read what others said about "Communion" on IMDb (reviews and message board threads), and was surprised to realize I actually rated it a '9'.
I decided "b)" above was a bogus deduction as who the hell am I to think the aliens looked silly if this was a movie really based upon a reputable guy who did NOT just cook these things up for intriguing movie effect?
When I came back, as I'm reading IMDb because I'm more eager to read other's thoughts, have searched Google for Whitley Strieber, and now will probably read all Whitley Strieber novels based upon true (to him) encounters.
Then I looked at my own voting history and looked at the few other movies I rated a '10'. All were due to impact and overall "plot" issues to me.
And I finally gave this movie a '10' as although it still is NOT perfect, uh, it's impact on me actually was as memorably great as the others.
For comparison, here's the other movies I rated a '10' (no flames please), will probably discuss more about Communion as I truly grooved to it:
Falling Down (1993), Hard Candy (2005), Mr. Brooks (2007), Taking Lives (2004), Tape (2001), The Butterfly Effect (2004), Vanilla Sky (2001), Babel (2006)
(The only movie above that I was truly shocked when I realized I'd rated it in that lofty '10' category was "Taking Lives". As it didn't pass the impact test as I barely remember what that movie was about - how's that for amnesia impact? But changing that to an '8' or '9' for that? Nah, lol)
18-Year-Old Virgin (2009)
A How-To on enjoying '18 Year Old Virgin'
***some possible slight spoilers below***
(and no it has nothing to due with being high or drunk or regressing back to your pubescent or prepubescent inner child to enjoy this movie)
1) Do NOT view this movie as a spoof. It's not a spoof of "40 Year Old Virgin", "American Pie", or any of a dozen teen sex comedies where the guy is running around trying madly and inanely to lose his virginity for **insert plot reason, however lame, here**. If you think it's a spoof, you'll be horribly disappointed, although it does contain some elements of the afore-mentioned movies I mentioned.
2) Do NOT view this movie as a substitute for porno (if you're into such a thing). If you think it's a porno, you'll be horribly disappointed, although it does contain some elements of porno, including LOTS of T & A, both male and female frontal nudity, simulated male and female masturbation situations, as well as sexual positions and situations, hetero and homosexual alike, as well as simulation of fellatio (don't remember simulated cunnilingus though).
3) Do NOT view this movie as a full-throttle laugh a minute comedy, although I believe it tried to be. If you think it's a full-throttle laugh a minute comedy, you'll be horribly disappointed, as there were too many jokes that misfired and/or were lamer than lame. In fact, during the first 30-35 minutes of this movie, I felt the attempted humor was SO lame that the Director and/or Writer would've been better served to simply ask the vast cast of young (and young looking) actors and actresses to merely tell them a funny sexy raunchy joke, and just mash the best of 'em together.
***Then a strange and wonderful thing happened. At about the 35-38 minute mark, I actually audibly laughed at a joke. It was a wonderful turning point. And then I found myself laughing at a couple more. Then I found a couple of the humor situations VERY similar to American Pie (the first one - the good one). Then I found myself audibly laughing a couple more times.
***Then I even found one sick joke that even sickened me (something I thought was near impossible to do). Later that joke's sickness was a bit mitigated, but...
***Then I remembered that even in GOOD comedies like American Pie (the first one - the good one), 40 Year Old Virgin, and Superbad, they had some jokes that fell flat and/or short of the mark, too (admittedly not as many though). Heck, some of the American Pie sequels (won't mention which ones) were actually lamer than this movie in toto.
4) Do view this as a comedic drama, much like the ABC Afterschool Specials of yore that I used to watch as a pubescent or prepubescent youth. Just the dirtiest most raunchy Afterschool Special that you can imagine.
5) Do view this as a movie with a message (yes it's there), much like the ABC Afterschool Specials of yore. The message isn't necessarily rocket science or horribly deep, but neither were many of the Afterschool Specials' messages, either.
6) Do view this movie as educational. Believe it or not (and I'm a 44 Year Old Non-Virgin ;-) ) I learned a new sexual position! Thus saving me from having to read the Kama Sinatra, or whatever it's called - lol. I'm eager to try it out, I just need to find a female partner my age that's limber enough to assume said position. ;-)
And finally...
7) Try to find in this movie an actor or actress of the opposite sex (or same sex if you're homosexual) that reminds you of someone you know, or used to know. It makes it quite a bit more interesting. The Rose character (Lauren Walsh) reminded me of a younger version of a someone I know. In some actions, but mostly her looks and especially expressions at times. This certainly helped the hour and a half go by pleasantly for me. ;-)
Thanks for reading and now go ahead and enjoy the movie!
(for what it's worth, I rated it a 5 ;-) )