Did anyone see this? OMG Charlize SO deserved that Oscar...I'm surprised there was even a contest.

It just riveted me in such a way. I really felt compassion to the main character. It did such a good job with all of the performances. I know people who talk like that.

It was much less brutal that I was expecting, which is good. Scenes that will remain...when Lea is getting herself pretty for Selby in the public bathroom. She wasn't pretty,but she was...you know?

And the dialog was so real it was almost unreal. it's like you know people who talk like that but don't. Does that make sense? Like when she's talking about how she's gonna make it and it's all there...so there its like real to her. And you can almost believe in her. That it's gonna be ok, though it's not.

SUCH A GOOD MOVIE ON SO MANY LEVELS.
[Edited 7/7/05 20:08pm]

superspaceboy said:

wtf?

That's all I have to say.

IMHO,

Theron was the only reason to see this film...It was....well, very Lifetime Television....

i felt Christina Ritchie's character was grossly underwritten.....the editing kinda off.....and the plot structure poorly constructed.....

but that all being said, Theron gave one of the most brilliant performances. EVER. and that alone is worth seeing this film.

sosgemini said:

I found it interesting how played back Riccis character was. Usually she's the star. I also thought she looked odd but it was the haircut. I wish she had been more strongly written as adding the lesbian relationship aspect cut from the killing aspect...but the movie was suggesting that they were sort of connected and intertwined. That Lea was so fucked up that ANY affection that was positive was met with a strong desire to be around that individual as a safety net.

I am gonna watch the special features as I wanna know was this from HER perspective ore selby or just pieced together from clippings.

Lifetime??? I dunno. I was a bit brutal for lifetime. I do think they could have delved into more of her past. But I really understood where she was coming form and why she did what she did.

and the fact that they completely ignored that she was a HUGE..i mean HUGE meth head totally pisses me off...


we need to teach people of the dangers of this shit....heck, Sun Of Sam was a big tweaker too...

theres a reason why people start hearing dogs talkin folks..... why does hollywood ignore this important lesson?
[Edited 7/7/05 20:21pm]

superspaceboy said:

That's like a goddam big cowbell right there!

sosgemini said:

Y'know...I was gonna say...they description of Netflix said something about abusing drugs...but you never saw it in the movie...yet she acted like a crack head...I was wonderin what was up with that. And I was wondering when they'd get to the drug abuse (they didn't mention on the "cover" what drug it was. It make a LOT more sense now!!! No money...acting the way she did etc. Damn that does suck they didn't EVEN mention it.

THANK YOU FOR PUTTING THIS IN PERSPECTIVE.....REALLY!

2the9s said:

in your ass!

sosgemini said:

I agree on the Lifetime bit!

I thought some parts - the beginning and the ending - were overly cheesey. I also felt Ricci's character was underdeveloped, but there's no way she could have held a candle to Theron's performance.

I saw that documentary on Aileen Wuornos on the plane and was shocked afterwards. In the documentary (and there's no way to know if any of this was true because it's all changed by editing) Aileen seemed absolutely batshit crazy. Was that prominent in the film? No. Should it have been? Well, maybe. But if Aileen was really that nuts then she should have been portrayed differently than she was in Monster - not solely a woman hellbent on killing men.

oh and the rollerskating rink scene with the Journey song! TOTAL

even though I love Steve Perry and all...


~edit~
[Edited 7/7/05 20:33pm]

Natsume said:

okay!!! and the director was all, "that song was pivital to the movie"...

no, bullshit, Aileen snortin drainer fluid up her nose was pivital..

and did i spell Ricci as Ritchie?

this all makes me go

I HAVE to watch the behind the scenes. It was still a good movie though.

Even the roller rink scene....

i saw the version they were renting at blockbuster, i think they edited it to pieces...

sosgemini said:

WHAHAHA! I was watching something on TV and some director was talking about his movie about threesomes (I know, uber specific right? ) and he was like "Americans are so uptight about sex. In France they have a word for threesomes... it's menage a trois." We do too - they're called threesomes!

Anxiety said:

um isn't that the OLD Cookie? Isn't he now..."cookies are SOMTIMES good" monster.

superspaceboy said:

therein lies the horror. though when i was watching this, i really was amazed at charlize's transformation. you really believed she liked cookie.

Natsume said:

directing is no longer an art form..its sad...soo freakin sad..

Anxiety said:

No, Monster was actually produced by a company (DEJ Productions) that is OWNED by blockbuster itself, so the blockbuster version wasn't edited. the same company released an entire series of crappy serial killer movies starting with "Ed Gein" and "Bundy" the fact that monster turned out good was a big suprise to them because it had the same budget as the rest in the series. There is a Directors Cut of Monster, but the version available in your local blockbuster is the same one that was available in theatres. Blockbuster rarely has cut versions of their movies it's either the theatrical cut, or an unrated cut. Hollywood Video on the other hand refuses to carry unrated OR directors cuts.

I was a Blockbuster Manager for 5 years, so I know these things.
[Edited 7/7/05 21:45pm]

byronic said:

actually, i saw it the opening weekend at my local arthouse theater. the blockbuster thing was just a joke. i'd never rent anything from them.

Anxiety said:

nevermind then

byronic said:

wow..this i didnt know...thanks for the info.

and Ed Gein and Bundy were pretty much of the same quality as Monster...the difference was in Theron's performance....and i actually appreciated the other films for what they were...But they didnt do the Gein film (unless they did one that i didnt know about)...wasnt it one about the clown/teen boys killer? whats his name?

sosgemini said:

Gacy, they also did Dahmer, and almost every made for showtime movie they were involved in, as Viacom once owned them both. you are right, Theron salvaged that movie, without her, it would have been cheap exploitative garbage.

byronic said:

Ed Gein was made by the USA Network in 2000....wow...a lot of these movies are made by cable channels...who knew?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0230169/

and the films tagline?

Tagline: Before DAHMER, Before GACY, There was ED.

sosgemini said:

there's only a few companies out there, everything is a division of something bigger, if you trace it back pretty much everything was made or distributed by 5 or so companies.