independent cinema | the m0vie blog

302. Requiem for a Dream (#84)

Posted on August 28, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, with special guest Richard Drumm, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

This week, Darren Aronofsky Requiem for a Dream.

Four Brooklyn residents navigate addiction and isolation in its various forms, through Summer, Fall and Winter. There is no Spring.

At time of recording, it was ranked 84th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: american dream, ass to ass, awards, controversy, Darren Aronofsky, delusion, drug addiction, drugs, ect, ellen burstyn, films, independent cinema, jared leto, jennifer connelly, just say no, marlon wayans, Movies, nightmare, obsession, Oscars, ratings, requiem for a dream, richard drumm | Leave a comment »

257. Manos: The Hands of Fate – Halloween 2021 (-#3)

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Doctor Bernice Murphy and Joey Keogh, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

So this week, a Halloween treat: Hal Warren’s Manos: The Hands of Fate.

A young family gets lost while taking a roadtrip through Texas. They end up driving down a dead-end road when they discover a strange lodge, maintained by an even stranger figure. Ignoring this mysterious guardian’s advice, the family decides to spend the night at this remote house. They have no idea what awaits them.

At time of recording, it was ranked 3rd on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: america, bad movies, bernice murphy, bottom 100, cults, doctor bernice murphy, harold p. warren, horror, independent cinema, joey keogh, manos, manos: the hands of fate, The 250, the texas chain saw massacre | Leave a comment »

220. Pulp Fiction (#8)

Posted on February 6, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney and with special guest Scott Mendelson, The 250 is a weekly journey through the list of the 250 best movies of all-time, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This time, Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.

Three stories unfold across Los Angeles over the course of three days, featuring an interlocking set of criminal characters who find their lives on an unexpected collision course. Is there any rhyme or reason to the course that these characters chart, or is it all arbitrary chaos? That’s ultimately up to the viewer to determine for themselves.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 8th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: belief, blockbuster, bruce willis, fate, independent cinema, indie, john travolta, morality, nihilism, pulp fiction, religion, scott mendelson, The 250, uma thurman | 1 Comment »

Try Harder, Von Trier

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Darren

Okay, I get it. We’re sick. We need help. We’re a culture obsessed with violence and pain and suffering. I miss the days when the gory slasher (or torture porn or gorn, depending on your preference) was solely the affairs of one-week-wonders produced on shoestrings and making a bit of money for studios to pump into other projects. However, with the autuer circuit’s growing fascination with paracinema (making the low brow high brow), it seems that these disturbing little films have become an arthouse favourite. Lars Von Trier’s effort at Cannes with Antichrist seems to have shown that critics are growing tired of it, but what on earth convinced artsy directors that this was a good genre to tackle?