As Far As I Can Tell

My brother visited me this weekend for the first time since I moved to Pittsburgh. He was here just long enough for me to show him where I’m living and do tour of a few neighborhoods. I’m still learning my way around so I’m not a good guide quite yet.

Yesterday evening we went to see A History of Violence at a theater near my house. It’s the latest David Cronenberg film and the New York Times goes so far as to call it a “sensational moviegoing experience”, which may be as laughable as the acting in the movie. They must have been able to overlook the predictable dialogue and amateur performances that everyone in my theatre noticed. It’s always a bad sign when half the moviegoers groan or laugh inappropriately.

A review by NPR notes how Cronenberg tries to make people uncomfortable through his films and to some degree he accomplishes that here. It feels tacked on though, like he did a final edit and tweaked some scenes for edginess. In the end I was more uncomfortable with the fact that I didn’t wait for the DVD.