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Excision (2012) [NSFW] [18+]

  • 14-10-2012 3:18am
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,565
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    Just finished watching this.

    Where to start. This film is brilliant, but very dark and abstract. It's a very strange film. Almost American Psyco esq

    It's amazing to see the gorgeous AnnaLynne McCord playing such a ugly, unpopular kid role. Great performance

    There's a lot of famous faces in it too, even though they are only cameos

    Matthew Gray Gubler, Ray Wise, Malcolm McDowell, Roger Bart and even John Waters and his patented moustache :P

    Well worth the watch, but be prepared to be shook :eek:


    Don't watch the trailer if you plan on watching it as it has massive spoilers!

    Life sucks when you're seventeen. Alienated teen Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord) struggles with the pressures of fitting into high school, pleasing her parents and a burning desire to lose her virginity. With a grotesque curiosity for the darker side of life, Pauline is considered a social outcast by everyone around her. Enticed by flesh, she retreats into her own fantasies and hopes to become a great surgeon...that is if she doesn't go mentally insane first.


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,997 latenia
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    Watched it yesterday; thought it was a piece of sh1t. No plot, weak 2 dimensional characters, pretentious, gore for the sake of it etc. Waters and McDowell have about 2 minutes screen time between them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,565 Tallon
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    latenia wrote: »
    Waters and McDowell have about 2 minutes screen time between them.

    Yup, that's what 'Cameo' means ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 44,200 Basq
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    Saw the trailer for it last week, and thought it looked good.

    Gonna give it a watch this evening, after I finish catching up with Fringe.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,464 e_e
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    Playing at the IFI Horrothon at the end of the month.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,551 Goldstein
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    Holy $hit. Weirdo masterclass from AnnaLynne McCord. I'm not sure yet but I think I've watched something brilliant.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 157 FrogMarch
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    Pretentious rubbish.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,464 e_e
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    "Pretentious" has become an utterly meaningless term, kind of a vague way of saying "I disliked this and have no idea why."

    I'll watch the film and judge accordingly, but I don't think a bit of ambition and originality in horror (or any genre really) is something to be discouraged now.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 157 FrogMarch
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    e_e wrote: »
    "Pretentious" has become an utterly meaningless term, kind of a vague way of saying "I disliked this and have no idea why."

    What are you talking about? I know precisely why I didn't like it.
    e_e wrote: »
    I'll watch the film and judge accordingly, but I don't think a bit of ambition and originality in horror (or any genre really) is something to be discouraged now.

    LOL. Oh right. You haven't even seen it yet.

    I didn't like it because
    Spoiler
    the 'protagonist' was utterly unbelievable throughout the film as someone with genuine psychopathy or even a severe personality disorder.
    That's not to say she's a bad actor but the script and story were too far fetched to make a lot of the circumstances credible. Ambition and originality don't always make a good movie unless they're realised.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,565 Tallon
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    Please tell me which parts you found far fetched? I'm dying to know


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,464 e_e
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    FrogMarch wrote: »
    What are you talking about? I know precisely why I didn't like it.
    Was talking in general. At least you then elaborated with your reply, not willing to click on spoilers now for obvious reasons though.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 157 FrogMarch
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    Tallon wrote: »
    Please tell me which parts you found far fetched? I'm dying to know
    Spoiler
    The behaviour of the lead role. Then again, I have a degree in psychology so maybe I'm not the best person to judge the movie.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 157 FrogMarch
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    e_e wrote: »
    Was talking in general. At least you then elaborated with your reply, not willing to click on spoilers now for obvious reasons though.

    Well I hope you enjoy it more than I did!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,565 Tallon
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    FrogMarch wrote: »
    Spoiler
    The behaviour of the lead role. Then again, I have a degree in psychology so maybe I'm not the best person to judge the movie.
    This is the stupidest answer I've ever heard!

    Go troll somewhere else :rolleyes:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,997 latenia
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    Tallon wrote: »
    Please tell me which parts you found far fetched? I'm dying to know
    Spoiler
    The menstrual oral sex scene. How could he not have noticed his cock covered in blood after an extended session of intercourse seeing as his face looked like the Japanese flag after about 20 seconds going down on her? The writers just had to have their little gross-out scene but they also wanted to keep the virginity loss plot point so they just ignored this reality.

    The operations at the end. I don't think the main character was supposed to be an idiot yet she seemed to be quite sure that her procedure would go to plan until it didn't. She was also supposed to be obsessive about surgery and had read extensively on the subject but somehow still believed that she could just lop out a set of lungs and stick them in another person. You could just say "well she's crazy, nothing she does makes sense" but that's just another version of "a wizard did it."

    If you're going to attempt to portray a mentally ill person, there still has to be some logic and consistency in the character-a withdrawn obsessive-compulsive can't just change into a sadistic sociopath in the final scene because the writers wanted a grotesque finale.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 157 FrogMarch
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    Tallon wrote: »
    This is the stupidest answer I've ever heard!

    Go troll somewhere else :rolleyes:

    Eh? No, I genuinely believe that. I didn't believe the characterisation. So sue me.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 30,019 johnny_ultimate
    CMod ✭✭✭✭


    Thought this was a lot of fun. I think from the (brilliant) first shot of John Waters as a priest, I knew I was in the realm of absurdity. It's almost a satire of countless dysfunctional teen / suburban mundanity pics. Plenty of laughs throughout - from the silly to the grotesque. All the performances are well-considered, and the cameos from McDowell, Waters and Wise were wonderful
    Spoiler
    (love the shot of Wise turning to his portrait of George Bush in exasperation)
    .

    Yes, the characterisation isn't necessarily 'beliveable', but for the most part the motivations are semi-credible even when the execution is fantastical or shocking. Within the demands of the narrative, the character's arc is functional and engaging. Given the tone of the piece, I think it's quite clear the filmmakers never intended it as a hard-hitting portrayal of mental illness. That said, I was surprised at how sensitively they handled the cystic fibrosis plot. While some images are certainly there for provocation's sake, there's definitely interesting themes at play to ensure this isn't just a shallow multi-genre exercise.
    Spoiler
    The conclusion was inevitable from very early on, and the jump from self-harm and bird dissection to DIY lung transplant possibly could have used a scene or two of escalating insanity to really make the conclusion 'credible'. Yet I really thought the execution of the finale was superb - after an hour and a half of black comedy and surreal tangents, the ending was surprisingly sombre and emotional in its delivery. The sister-sister bond is what lends this film an emotional core. Pauline's face, as well as her mother's expression, as she realises the enormity of her actions was IMO an affecting, powerful conclusion to a film that didn't spend a hell of a lot of time on emotional payoffs.
    The fluctuating tone and genre of the film are certainly unusual, and not for everyone. Beneath the distinctive delivery, there is a recognisable formula at work. Yet this is a dark, funny and provocative satire. What it lacks in realism it makes up for with bizarre comic setpieces and a terrific lead performance from McCord. A weird and often quite wonderful dark comedy.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,464 e_e
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    This felt like the American teen movie version of what Sion Sono does. Provocative, twisted and often laugh out loud funny. Great seeing it with as appreciative an audience too.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 274 duckworth
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    e_e wrote: »
    "Pretentious" has become an utterly meaningless term, kind of a vague way of saying "I disliked this and have no idea why."

    Pretentious is a word with an actual concrete meaning - it's not meaningless.

    It's perfectly valid to say a film is pretentious - it means a you think a film is attempting to impress its audience with an importance that it isn't there. Alot of films do that.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,464 e_e
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    My point was how much it's misused though (to put down ambition and innovation in art) and is never backed up with anything substantial. I don't think Excision was trying to important or profound at all, for example. Just an enjoyably twisted horror comedy.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 30,019 johnny_ultimate
    CMod ✭✭✭✭


    I don't think Excision has delusions of grandeur either. The film's tongue-in-cheek tone constantly suggests it's completely aware of its own absurdity, and barring the CF subplot was very rarely serious. A dark comedy with some playful satirical notes, and I never felt the filmmakers were trying to persuade me the film was something it wasn't.

    The only film I've seen recently that I'd consider genuinely pretentious was Liberal Arts - because it thought it was smart and sophisticated, but was really a bit dumb and overfamiliar. If some people thought Excision was pretentious fair enough, but like 'boring' I do appreciate hearing such an accusation explained.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,381 Potential-Monke
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    I'm going to class this up there with Donnie Darko and Drive: not-for-me crap.

    As someone else said, the thought that
    Spoiler
    Pauline could go from being obsessed with surgery and her sisters CF to performing the operation in a garage without medical equipment
    was laughable. And i also agree that the
    Spoiler
    she's crazy, what ju expect?
    reason isn't enough.

    I also copped early on how it was going to end, and it was a pain after about 40 minutes to wait for the inevitable finale. It could have been done better, but maybe these kind of films are aiming above my head in trying to get some hidden message across that my mind just couldn't care about. I want to be entertained in a film, and this had me entertained for a while, but lost me in the second half. Also, the
    Spoiler
    day/dreams in which she fantasizes about surgery, sex and abortion
    were useless for the most part, and put in, as someone else said, for shock value.

    I give this a 3/10 for attempt with occasional dark humor, but it loses the rest of the points for being just a bad film. In my opinion.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,551 Goldstein
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    Think some are reading a bit too much into this one. Just enjoy the show, the laughs and the pretty immense leading portrayal. It's not preporting to be the Rosetta stone of clinical psychology.

    The ending
    Spoiler
    is a stretch but look at what came before and take it with a large pinch of gallows tinged salt. The counterpoint to the ridiculousness of the climax is the very real and unexpected embrace from the Mother and the moment of clarity/scream of anguish and realisation from Pauline.
    Excision was always destined to be a devisive one but it's definitely one of my favourite/most memorable films from this year.


  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 11,106 Fysh
    Mod ✭✭✭✭


    I really enjoyed this film, full-on ballbag mental experience that it was. As far as i'm concerned it sits alongside the likes of Dogtooth, Save The Green Planet or Ichi The Killer.

    I was quite impressed with the way that the film ended at the conclusion of pauline's character arc - i'm sure some viewers would find it frustrating not knowing what comes next, but for the character it's essentially irrelevant.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,318 Fishooks12
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    Ok, so just watched this.

    Real fun.

    Certainly far from perfect though. I felt they really overdid it with the dream sequences for provocation when the film itself was working really well as a character study alone. The pretty subtle digs at middle america really added to the opening and middle of the film.

    I was really enjoying it until I figured out how it would end. But to my surprise it was executed really well considering it kind of went against how the protagonist acted for most of the film. After hating the mother for the entirety of the film, I felt real sympathy for her at the conclusion.

    Don't think it was in the slightest way pretentious. If anything the film could have done with taking itself a little more seriously!


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