VERSUS THE SCARECROW EPISODE EIGHT: Jason Takes Manhattan. I decided to challenge myself and really open the doors of my film knowledge and take on “The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide”. It’s 808 pages of movies and movie reviews from some of the most knowledgeable movie people you don’t know. It’s a book put together by a staff that praises, and destroys, some of our favorites and not so favorites. You can read the rest of my series here.
Just a quick refresher: each episode, I’m going to tackle three films from three different categories. Two films will be films I’ve never seen before and one will be one I’ve seen before or own. For the new films, well, new to me, I’m going to review them like a typical FTS review using the TOAST Rating system. But, for the films I’ve seen, I’m going give a quick paragraph or two about why I like or don’t like the film. We’ll try to include the poster and trailer for each film. “….and here. We. Go!”
So my name isn’t Jason, and none of the films this episode are horror (surprised?), but on this episode of Versus the Scarecrow I’m taking a look at three films that take place in New York City, primarily, Manhattan. I’ll be reviewing The Producers (1968), Midnight Cowboy ( 1969) and I’ll be reflecting upon one of my favorite films, American Psycho (2000). Enjoy!
A Relfection on American Psycho (2000)
American Psycho is a film I can watch over and over and over again and quote it over and over and over again. If you listen to the podcast, you know that not only myself, but the rest of FTS enjoys this film as well, maybe even more than me. What’s interesting to note is I didn’t always enjoy this movie like I do now. When I first watched the film, I believe I was in college, I thought it was dark and violent. But as my film knowledge began to expand and I became more and more desensitized to violence I decided to revisit the film.
When watching this in a different mindset, I still found the film dark, but it was for very different reasons; I found it darkly humorous. Subtle looks and lines are abound in a film that is so dark, so dramatic and so disturbingly violent, that it’s impossible not to laugh. You’re not laughing at the acting or the writing or the directing, you’re laughing at the content. You’re laughing at men who need to keep their social status high by living in excess. Hell, a whole scene is devoted to business cards. Business cards!
I don’t want to give away the ending for those who haven’t seen it (and if you haven’t shame on you), but despite my dark comedy outlook on the film, the ending still holds up as a serious dramatic piece and one of my favorite endings based on the performance of Christian Bale alone. If you’ve seen the film either you love it or you don’t care for it that much. If you haven’t seen it, again, shame on you. Climb out from under that rock and go out and watch a fantastic film that is darkly humorous to some (me) and universally quotable.
You can read the rest of episode 8 where I reviewed The Producers and Midnight Cowboy. If you’re interested in more, you can find the rest of the Versus The Scarecrow series here.