Beneath The Outer Shell

Shame, starring Michael Fassbender, is about a sex addict.  this is a no holes barred look at sex addiction and the effects it has on the mind and body.  this is a powerful movie.  Ebert listed it as the 2nd best movie in 2011.  i had already grown to love Michael Fassbender after his role a few years ago in Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds.  he has a way with words, he's a smooth talker and a believable character.  Shame examines his life and struggles, and his inability to relate to "normal" people.  it reminded me American Psycho with Christian Bale.  both characters don't fit in and both characters try as much as they can.  one's about a psychopath and the other about a sociopath.  in Shame, the main character wants nothing more than the instant gratification of achieving an orgasm.  he goes on a "date" with a co-worker and admits to her over dinner that his longest relationship lasted only 4 months.  not exactly something one should be proud of.  he believes in the usual montra, "monogamy isn't natural". needless to say, the two of them really don't go very far, especially after he's unable to perform sexually.  he would rather masturbate or or pay a prostitute to please him.  he'e beyond help.

there is somewhat of a happy ending however as we do see a small change in him, but is it enough to turn his life around?

The Tree of Life is the next film i watched...or should i say "experience".  this "movie" is remarkable in many ways.  there is very little dialogue in the first 20 minutes or so.  the film tries (and succeeds) at tracing life on earth from the beginning of time through the present.  there are scenes of living organisms evolving.  they used colors and light bleeding on the screen in the exact same way Kubrick did in 2001: A Space Odyssey.  it's hard to explain what your exactly watching.  we see life evolving including dinosaurs and a huge asteroid hitting earth.  make no mistake about it, the makers of the film noted a direct influence from Kubrick.  halfway through the film, Brad Pitt stars as a strict father.  what amazed me the most, is that i realized that the scenes involving typical family life were not that different from the early evolution scenes.  it's very hard to explain, but the existence of life can be seen in the same way no matter how long ago one starts.  an amazing film...not to be missed.