Kids (1995)

Shock value is definitely one thing that "Kids" has. From extreme language and subject matter, to incredibly amoral teenagers. It really wakes up the nervous system as well as the moral obligations of the audience through pure shock value and startling of the soul.
"Kids" portrays a day in the lives of several New York Teenagers and the mid-nineties that have no moral bounds, nothing is off limits. The shock value aspect starts off the film with the main character Telly having sex with a thirteen-year-old girl, taking her virginity. This ends up being a reoccurring tragedy of the film with Telly. Along with the plot line following Telly, there is a separate plot line following a girlfriend that he previously had sex with, a girl named Jennie. These plot lines follow their own paths until a secret is revealed that will change the lives of Telly, Jennie, and everybody associated with them.
This movie amazed me with how in-depth both plot lines were and how they fused them together at the end of the film. It was very easy as a viewer to become immersed in the lives of both characters, which was achieved by superb acting by both Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) and Jennie (Chloe Sevigny). By the end of the movie the emotions running through both of their minds are smacking the viewer square in the face. My roommates definitely had some trouble getting through the first scene and I had to finish it on my own. Overall a very blood curdling movie about what goes wrong when morals are out of the question. Despite the gruesome shock value of "Kids", it receives a 4 out 5.

Magnolia (1999)

"Magnolia" is part of the Paul Thomas Anderson film library which includes "Punch Drunk Love" which I also recently saw, but that's to be discussed later. "Magnolia" follows several plot lines of different characters that are entwined in some subtle way, such as family ties and random occurrences. It also uses an all-star cast showcasing Tom Cruise, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, and John C. Reilly to name a few. At its root, "Magnolia" is about life and how different and apparently random things are connected. Lying is also a major factor and most of the plot lines are derived from either a lie that was told in the past or a mistake that was made. In the end of the movie, all of the lies and mistakes are confessed to but its so incredibly heart-breaking because you become so involved with the characters and their separate but similar emotions.
There isn't very much that can be said about this film without getting into a whole slew of explanations so I won't really say anything about the plot (except that frogs fall from the sky!). This is a must-see movie which will blow your mind with the excellent acting as well as the incredibly in-depth plot and analysis of people living together and how their lives relate to create a much bigger basis of analytical potential. "Magnolia" receives the coveted 5/5 review. See it!

Zombie Honeymoon (2004)

"Zombie Honeymoon" is an independent film that definitely does not fit the norm for zombie movies, rather it fits a genre that I like to call "romantic zomedy." The film starts off with a cute, newlywed couple on their honeymoon in a house on the beach. Things go wrong when the couple (Danny and Denise) are playing in the surf on the beach and a zombie appears out of the ocean and infects Danny with his seed. He appears to die for ten minutes but returns to life as a normal human being, or so it appears. The gore-fest begins when Denise finds Danny chowing down on their obese neighbor in the bathroom. The film continues with, until the end, with Denise attempting to cope with the love of her life and his new found appetite for human flesh.
I have seen a lot of zombie movies, and "Zombie Honeymoon" definitely presents some new ideas and concepts about what a zombie is. Different zombie movies present the transformation from living to undead differently and "Zombie Honeymoon" uses a very interesting concept in the transformation of Danny into a zombie. Danny starts out by getting sprayed in the face with blood by a zombie hailing from the ocean, which is a pretty standard practice as presented in "28 Days Later." Danny then passes into the next realm and a few short minutes later, reanimates. Now what makes this different from other zombie movies is that when Danny reanimates, he is a completely coherent human being. Then throughout the movie, it shows how his body slowly decays and his hunger for flesh grows into an insatiable desire for blood. In beginning of his transformation he attacks and eats people but he can control himself around Denise and more or less act normal, for the situation he is in.
This film ended up being a pretty interesting movie with a very interesting zombie concept and plot, and special effects and gore comparable to any major zombie movie. It wasn't really what I was expecting and has a very strong emotional aspect to it as you become attached to the couple and their undying love for each other, even given the circumstances. This attachment leads a pretty sad ending, but a necessary sadness. "Zombie Honeymoon" gets a 4/5.