Movie Review: The Last Exorcism

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

When I first saw this trailer it looked to be quite disturbing and looked to be one of those good scary movies that'll have people jumping out of their seats in the theater.  I didn't know much about the movie going in except for the trailer and some reviews that I read saying that the ending was disappointing. 

This is a documentary type of movie and for a little while I got the sense that it might have been a mockumentary with the comedy that was involved in the earlier part of the movie.

It starts off with a preacher named Cotton who agreed to be part of this documentary to show that exorcisms aren't real and that demons aren't real.  He had grown up as a preachers son and one of the things he says is that every preacher needs a pitch, something to draw in the congregation, to draw in the money because love doesn't keep the church open.

He starts to doubt his faith and question God and everything else, but he keeps preaching to put food on the table for him and his family.  So the preaching isn't because he believes in God or his faith anymore, it's just a job and a paycheck coming in. 

The open half of this movie is important, even though it's filled with small jokes - like how he incorporated his mothers banana bread recipe into his sermon and everyone still threw praises.  It reveals a lot about the storyline.  One important thing that was said is that if you believe in God, then you have to believe in the devil and the demons.  There's a great shot of his son saying that his dad fights demons, vampires and ghosts ... and when asked if his dad believes in those things he shakes his head with his finger to his lips to keep quiet.

He decides to take the film crew on a trip to document an "exorcism" that's he's going to perform and give them behind the scenes footage of how fake it all is. 

When he arrives in the town he says that it's easy for the people around the area to make things up based on things passed down and superstition.  One lady interviewed at a gas station said that the gates of hell was in the location they were going.  They arrive at the farm and a boy they meet tell them to turn around and starts to throw rocks at their car ... he ends up being the farmers son.  They meet the father and he seems to still be distraught over losing his wife to cancer and now facing the issue that his daughter might be possessed by a demon. 

We meet the daughter, Nell, and she's a 16 year old girl who has the innocence of a 10 or 11 year old.  When Cotton talks to her for the first time she really shines through and that warm innocent smile makes you feel for her and the pain of losing her mother ... she was her best friend.  He does some preliminary "tests" to her and then makes her dip her feet in a pan of water.  The water starts to bubble from something Cotton slipped into the water.  After setting up the girls bedroom he brings her in and performs an exorcism which by all accounts is fake.  You can see daughters fear and hope that whatever is in her leaves ... you can see it in the father too.  The son on the other hand is looking for all the smoke and mirrors since he saw Cotton drop something in the water to make it bubble.

After it was done he says that she's good to go ... she's happy and was now resting.  Quick and easy and the show was done, we even get a thumbs up from the son as they were leaving for a good performance.  A lot of humor thoughout this part of the movie as we see the behind the scenes footage of how things were done.

What seemed to be a done deal and Cotton getting paid for the exorcism and showing the film crew that it was all fake, we find Nell in his hotel room seemingly possessed.  This mid part of the movie goes back and forth with her possession or lack thereof.  The audience is left to decide at this point if she really does have a demon or doesn't. 

We find out that the dad pulled her out of the local church because he felt that they weren't teaching her good things.  This point in the movie seemed like a dad who was intouch with the old church and wanted his daughter to be taught the old beliefs and traditions without having the modern day view of things.  The father was definitely over protective of Nell. 

The father takes his son to the hospital after Nell cut his face and the son writes a note to Cotton saying not to leave her alone with him ... not to leave Nell alone with the father.  This was a key point in Cotton and his team to start to make presumptions about what was going on in the family and fed the story of them insisting Nell was just mentally disturbed.  We come to find out from the doctor leaving a message that Nell is pregnant and this continued to work on the minds of the crew that the father was abusing Nell ... especially after finding her chained to the bed.

Cotton still believes that she needs some mental help and that there isn't a demon here but just the daughter acting out and being scared because she got pregnant from a boy from the cafe down the road. 

This all is leading up to a finale which is questionable and you think comes out of right field.  There's a "wtf" moment when the final 8 minutes of the movie starts.  They find out the boy in the cafe is gay and that he wasn't with Nell ... then some more inconsistencies with the local preachers story who was now in the house with Nell and the family. 

They come back to find that house with satan drawings and the family gone.  As they are about to leave they hear Nell screaming and run to find a huge fire with some of the town people there, in robes, chanting.  Nell is on an altar with then trying to get the "baby" out of her ... we see the local preacher leading the whole thing.  The baby gets thrown into the fire and we see the fire erupt into something with the likes of a demon and not just a fire burning. 

This is where the audice gets lost, this is when the audience is left scratching their head and wondering what is happening, or what just happened.  But when you take that step back and look at the movie as a whole and the actual story, then you understand what and why that all takes place. 

The audience is drawn to watch the movie with the title of it being an exorcism, with expectations of it being like the original movie.  Joint breaking, blood, vomiting and all of the things that come along with demons.  But the exorcism that's referenced in the title really isn't about Nell and the demon that's inside her (yes she was actually possessed), it's about Cotton's last exorcism on himself, to rid himself of the demons that's caused him to doubt his faith and to not believe in God - to the point of even mocking it and making fun of it. 

At the start we find a preacher/minister who is fake, who's entire show is just to bring in the money to support his family.  This movie is a journey about how his faith is constantly tested and he constantly fails, until the very end where you see him hold his cross and run towards the demon in the fire to save Nell.  His faith is restored ... his belief is back but it took a physical demon in front of him to believe in God again. 

Ironic how he starts by saying that if you believe in God, you must believe in the devil and demons.  But for him it was the other way around ... he ended up believing in the demons to find his belief in God again.

I think this movie was extremely deep, and had a lot of it's focus on faith.  It's easy to draw parallels with this movie and the youth/church group I work with.  The kids are fired up and gung ho about things at first ... they preach, they go to everything, the are on fire.  They hit a point in their live where there's doubt in their belief or faith in one form or another ... then they disappear.  Some continue on their own spiritual journey while others just lose it all and forget all of that.  It'll take something to snap, or some kind of event in their life to make them realize that what they first experienced was all real, and to have that faith restored.  I see it as something that we all go through, even those who aren't religious, we ride that rollercoaster and hopefully we can be like Cotton and through all the jokes, the money, the scams he's pulling ... he was able to find the truth and find what was real.

This is quite a smart "horror" movie, people get lost in the ending but looking back at everything that was said and done, that's what the movie was building up for.  The tagline for this movie is "Believe in Him" which could be taken in a few different ways ...

Conclusion : Good if you're not expecting a fright fest and are looking for a movie where you have to think.  Don't watch this movie if you're just looking for a jump out of your seat horror movie. 

+ mon

Man Funk That!

There was a song in the 90's where this guy just went through a list of things that annoyed him ... so here's my list ...

Why is it that everytime I go to the movies, I end up sitting behind someone with the biggest head and behind the only person in theater that doesn't slouch down in their seats!

Why is it that when you're driving 85mph in the fast lane on the highway, there's always one car that merges from the next lane over and goes 60mph in the fast lane right in front of you!

Why is it that when the weather is so nice outside and everyone is out in the sun, you're the only one who can't enjoy it because of your allergies! 

Why is it that you have a coworker who sends you an email and they minute they click on send they call you and ask you if you received their email!?

Alright those are the four things I can think of right now and I know I'm going to have more so there will be a part two to this coming up ... soon.

+ mon

Doing it Virgin [America] Style

The title could be a little misleading, well only for those that have a not so clean mind.  I'm talking about the airline!!! 

I guess I'm going to have to add a new category for this since this is new ... but I just had to share my experience about this airline.  It was about two years since I've heard of Virgin America and back then they were fighting for their chance to fly, they were having some issues with getting approval but luckily they finally got it.

Ever since I've heard about them all I wanted to do was try them out but I wasn't able to get on their flights until this past week.  The reviews and videos I would read just made me want to try them out even more ... here are some of the features that they do have and advertise:

• leather seats
• tv's with directTV channels
• food/drink orders
• first checked in bag free

Ok you're reading that and aren't amazed ... those are the regular things on most if not all planes.  So here are the things that I feel set Virgin America apart from the rest of the airlines:

• mood lighting (no white/yellow lights, they have purple and red lights!)

I wasn't even on the plane yet and just waiting at the gate and could already see the difference. Virgin America just stands out from the other airlines. My niece made it on the plane before I did and she texted me "omg it looks like soul plane" and for those of you who haevn't seen Soul Plane, go watch it, it's hilarious! She was referring to the better part of the Soul Plane, not "low class."

The mood lighting on this airline is really easy on the eyes and it makes it feel like you're walking into a club/lounge. That was the first thought I had when I was walking down the jetway and saw the lights coming out of the cabin doors.

• standard electric socket in every seat (first class or regular)

Who hasn't dreamed or wished for this on the plane?  You don't need those adapters for your electronics to get charged ... or buy those batteries that will last the entire flight.  Here you just plug it in and you're good to go.  So now you're not limited to the two or three hour battery life of your laptop. 

One thing I'm wondering is if I can plug in a surge protector so that I can have multiple plugs to power a few different things ... hmmm would that be something that I would be willing to try and mess around with at 33,000 feet in the air???  Yes I would and I WILL try next time!

• USB port on every seat

Power your Blackberry's, your IPods, and whatever else that has a USB port to charge.  I'm not sure if this works since I forgot my USB cable, but I think if you have a device that has a USB cable and plug it into your seat you might be able to load that into the RED system at your seat.  If it's not in their system now, they should read this and make it happen!

• LAN port on every seat

I didn't get to try this either since I forgot my cable.  But you can connect to the internet with this wired connection, from what I now, not all flights have internet yet, but they will soon.  I'm also wondering if you were to connect wired, would you be able to access the servers and network on the plane and other laptops connected too ... hmmm this would be interesting!  Mile High LAN party!

• food/drink orders done via RED (their system on the touch screen display) at every seat

Ok don't lie when you say that one portion of airline food fills you up.  It never fills me up and I always want more (if the food is good).  So here comes VA, using their touch screen monitors at each seat (or the remote control that's in every seats arm rest) you can do a whole bunch of things through their RED system.  Long gone are the days when the carts come through the isle asking what you'd like to eat or if you want pretzels and peanuts, they only do that one time with the drinks.  Here you can order snacks, meals, drinks, alcohol ... the water is free so you can order as much of that as you want. 

They have sandwiches and some wraps, the wrap was actually really good.  The snacks ... I would recommend the chocolate chip cookies, I couldn't stop eating those!  The drinks, they had a selection of a few teas which were really good too!

So if you're an eater like me ... order away with your credit card, no cash.

• safey video that you will want to watch

It's not your typical video that you see or the flight attendants doing their thing ... but it's a video that keeps your attention

• games via RED

You can ask Dudoy about this ... he was playing some word game where he claims he got the highest score!  But they do have a lot of games you can play and they even have the original DOOM.

• movies and tv shows via RED

The movies are pretty new and look really nice on the screen when you order them.  They were $8 each and the TV on demand were shows that are popular were $1.  The live TV on the plane allows you to join a chatroom where you can chat with others watching the same thing you're watching if that's what you want to do.  One thing is when you are watching a show and want to order food or start a chat, it will bring the TV or movie in PIP mode and bring it down to the bottom left while you can do whatever else you want without missing your show. 

• free movies on late flights

I'm not sure if this is real, but this was on our flight home.  We took the red eye flight and they had Bolt, Marley and Me and Seven Pounds for free.  They also had all of the TV on demand for free on the trip home.

• chat rooms and chat with other people on the plane

We were chatting it up in our chat rooms once we figured it out ... but one great thing about this is you can chat with strangers.  Say you are sitting in 13C and you see a hot girl sitting in 7D.  Just put her seat number in and start a chat ... but that does not guarantee that she will answer!  She can decline the invite and block you so there is no airline chat stalking here. 

• free wi-fi

This isn't on all the flights yet, but from the reviews I did see with this, some people were even streaming video from the plane live!  It will definitely be interesting to see this in action on a flight I'm on ... I know they restrict some things, but it's only for our benefit (i.e. no VOIP). 

• mp3s via RED

There are a few thousand MP3's here you can select and listen to, not that crap radio that is offered on most flights.

• custom playlists via RED

You can make a playlist of MP3's and also make a playlist of the music videos if you want.  I think that in the future you'll be able to save the playlists and use them on your next flight. 

I could go on and on about all the good things about this airline.  I remember when JetBlue was just starting and how people were saying how great they were, well the same goes for Virgin America, the only thing is that they have added almost ever possible thing you can think of to make your flights more enjoyable!

This was actually one of the first flights going to Cali that I didn't go to sleep because I was to busy playing with everything that was available.  I think I was ordering too much food and playing everything too much that I broke my TV.  Mine actually stopped working, but they were nice enough to offer me free food!  I got my roast beef sandwich and some drinks and pringles! 

I didn't put up any pictures but you can check out www.virginamerica.com/va/vaDifference.do I do however have some video that I should have up by tomorrow.

Their fares are pretty good too, the round trip from NY to LA was $255 ... they also have a nice first class section that has massagers that are built into each chair.  I'll review that when I get a chance to fly first :)

Props to Virgin America and I will definitely be flying with them again.  They have my "best airline award."

+ mon

Knowing is Half the Battle

Living in NYC we become accustomed to seeing these "DVD" stores that used to be peepshows and other adult related materials are sold there.  But since the "cleanup" I think a lof of these places cleaned up their act and actually sold real movies ... or so I thought!

Being a big movie buff I wanted to buy a new Blu-Ray movie and was just walking to the subway.  There wasn't any Best Buy's around for me to get anything, so I saw one of those "DVD" stores and took a walk to the front door.  All the stickers on the window was saying they sell all movies and then I saw one that said "Blu-Ray" and so I decided to pay a visit.  

This is very important to know ... the stores in New York City that have neon flashing lights and stickers on their windows advertising how they sell all types and all movies, while having no view into the store from the street, DO NOT SELL REGULAR MOVIES!!!!  

I found out the hard way last night.  As I opened the front door I was greeted to a huge picture of a person that was in an uncomfortable looking position from a not so flaterring angle.  Quickly I went to the counter and asked for their Blu-Ray section ... they pointed it out to me and I was still hopefully of finding "Slumdog Millionaire" since it was just released.  As I went one by one through the 30 or so Blu-Ray titles they had, all of them seemed to be pr0n!  Then I come across a movie that looked to be the "Slumdog Millionaire" ... but sadly it was not.  I'm not sure to the exact title but it was somewhere along the lines of "Doggystyle Millionaire" ... 

So if you're looking for a movie that's real and something that's in the movie theaters, or on DVD from Blockbuster, then don't go into these stores!  

I still feel dirty from being in there and seeing some of the things I have seen.  I guess yesterday was a day where I started with a locker room full of wangs, to being in a video store that had nothing but horrible images, then to having an embossed wang from the painted jeans.  

A shower is desperately needed!

+ mon

Netflix ... too Expensive!

The only reason I say that is because I make it expensive.  How does that work you ask? 

Well I'm on the 3 dvd at a time plan, I think it's something like $20 or $21 a month.  Not too bad huh?  Well it gets pricey when you don't return the dvd's for 2 or 3 months at a time!  So I'm really paying about $20 a dvd to rent, if I keep the 3 dvds for 3 months at at ime!

Geeze, I could just buy the dvd already.  To make things worse, I have been renting at the local Blockbuster instead of me returning the Netflix movies to get new ones.  This is one of the bad habits that I have to break.

I'm not sure what it is that makes it so hard to just drop the dvds in the mailbox.  I could even just bring it into the office and drop it off at the mailroom, but the thing is, the last time I did that Netflix never received any of the dvds ... so you can figure that one out for yourself!

I need to return these movies and save some money!

+ mon