Making a point about violence in the media that you don't really want to sit through.
Pros:
- Fair point behind the whole thing: popular media tends to glamorise violence; reality has less excitement & catharsis; real violence is fairly unpleasant; happy endings are unlikely.
- Messes with the audience successfully once or twice, including a nifty scene with a remote control.
- Pretty good opening sequence featuring cool juxtaposition of Classical music & Death Metal.
- Playing with convention is fun.
- Watching a movie about the unpleasantness of violence is, well, unpleasant.
- Most normal people don't need to have this point illustrated to them (except maybe the makers of Hostel).
- No score throughout the entire movie, which annoyed the crap out of me, even if it was in keeping with the 'lesson'.
- Stupid lingering shots of nothing. A la Last Days, one of the worst movies I've ever seen. And also featuring Michael Pitt. Whom I will avoid in future.
- Annoying kid actor.
- Some of the messing with the format doesn't work- at times I couldn't tell if Michael Pitt was talking to the characters of the audience.
- I very seriously considered walking out at one point.
