Sunday, January 6, 2013

The Serpent And The Rainbow

Before zombies were undead flesheaters that the internt ruined, they were the product of Hatian voodoo rituals, and that's what The Serpent And The Rainbow is about.
This is a tough one to review because I simultaneously did and did not understand it. I knew who the good guys were, I knew who the bad guy was. I sort of understood why the good guys were doing the things they were doing. I definitely understood the nightmare sequences and hallucinogenic freakouts.
I just couldn't really follow the plot at all. I had no idea what was going on, pretty much from the beginning. I recognized all the characters and I even followed some of the reasons behind their actions. But mostly it was lost on me.
Partially because they threw in quite a bit of political this and revolutionary that, which we all know I'm no good at comprehending. But just in general, most of the dialogue was lost on me. I'm half convinced I would have gotten just as much out of The Serpent And The Rainbow if I'd watched it with the sound off.
This is the only movie besides Spaceballs where Bill Pullman is attractive, except they spend so much time making him terrified or in pain that he's not even all that attractive in this. He just has Lone Star hair and that same sort of swaggery attitude. I like Bill Pullman, I'm bummed that he's been relegated to lousy romantic comedies and perpetually being the blandest of presidents. I want him to just be Lone Star all the time.
I've always had a big crush on Lone Star but have never understood why chicks go crazy for Han Solo. (I also didn't see Star Wars until years after I'd seen Spaceballs about eighty billion times. But even if I weren't a Spaceballs fan, I don't think I'd get the Han Solo thing.)
Also, why do people get Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton confused? It makes me mad that other people are that dumb. I think it makes far more sense to get Bill Paxton confused with Greg Kinnear.
I guess I'm not talking about The Serpent And The Rainbow anymore.
Overall opinion: It was entertaining even though a lot of it went over my head. The nightmares and hallucinations were the best parts.

End of line.
-Sally

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think they are getting the actors confused. I think they get the names confused. Like confusing Jeff Daniels with Jeff Bridges or Jeff Goldblum. That's insane. Paxton is nothing like Pullman as a person, but they are both Bill P. so people mix them up. It makes no sense but that's the way it goes.
And did you see Pullman is on some TV show now playing a bland president? (I think. It's about a president and his family or something. I saw this one inch blurb in Parade magazine or somewhere and just figured he'd be the president.)

Staples said...

The logical part of my brain understands that it's just similar names but the rest of my brain just gets mad anyway. My brain's kind of a jerk.
I didn't see the show itself but I saw a billboard for it a few days ago, which is probably why I was thinking about how Bill Pullman always has to play a bland president. And by "always" I mean "in one movie and one TV show."