Requiem for a Dream

[Ronin]

I finally just watched this DVD and I must say, WOW, what a powerful movie. Is there any other "drug movies" that anyone recomends? How about in that MTV special on E, the movie that the one girl goes to see but walks out. What was that called?? Lemme know.

Rob

[trance604]

of course trainspotting, but nothing is as realistic as requiem...pi is not a drug movie but its by darren arnofsky.

[kitty19]

warning: this is going to be long, so hold tight.

i agree with vj604, i think Pi is a MUCH better movie than requiem. it's not about drugs and i may be biased b/c i graduated college as a math major, but the movie is crazy!

anyway, onto drug movies. i don't know what kind of drug movie you are looking for, b/c there is a shitload. i would recommend going to imdb.com and type in "drugs" in their search and you'll get about 250 movies with drug-related themes.

so:

1) human traffic: an english film about a bunch of friends that go clubbing and all that evolves around that one night: drugs, hooking up, drugs, and friends. cute movie.

2) obviously, traffic and blow are great movies to catch. loved both of them.

3) fear and loathing in las vegas: johnny depp and benicio del toro (HOTTIE!) are 2 crackhead guys with a shitload of drugs that get fucked up on a trip to las vegas. watching them all fucked up on mescaline is hilarious, especially when they get to the hotel. when they watch the carpet patterns change, it's ridiculous how familiar that scene is to me.

4) another day in paradise: james woods and melanie griffith are heroin addicted robbers that take 2 teens under their wing. they also get into heroin and everything starts to get very fucked up. very sad, but great movie.

5) drugstore cowboy: an oldie with matt dillon and friends, all addicts that rob drugstores to get their fix on drugs. don't remember this one too well, but it was worth watching.

6) permanent midnight: i liked this movie, but others disagreed. has ben stiller, elizabeth hurley, and janeane garafolo. true story about a tv show writer out in cali that has a terrible drug problem, who at first balances his job and drug habit but then see everything spiral down. funny one.

7) basketball diaries: leo dicaprio, mark wahlberg play NYC kids with a bad habit for drugs, get into mad trouble. loved the fact that all this was taped in NYC.

8) scarface: al pacino, a classic. story about coke and the life behind it.

i have tons more, but this should be a start. enjoy.

[rudeboyyouth]

A very good movie that also deals with drugs/drug problems is "The Panic in Needle Park" starring Al Pacino in his first starring role. It was shot in Manhattan, and it deals with a young thug (Pacino) who takes up with a young street girl (Kitty Winn). At first, both of them manage to survive using street smarts, but they soon enough become involved with heroin. They both become addicted while living on the streets and their lives continue to take a turn for the worse. The ending is very powerful and also very indicative of the type of lifestyle often lived by heroin addicts who (like the couple in this film) are dependent on one another. Throughout the film, Jerry Schatzberg does a beautiful job of depicting Pacino and Witt's dire need for one another in their drug infested world. Powerful performances by a young Pacino as Bobby, the street crook who is all that Witt has to latch on to upon leaving her drug dealer boyfriend (who is played by a young Raul Julia).

The film was shot in 1971, I believe, and Al Pacino (as always) outdoes himself unlike any actor.

"American Me" is also another superb film that centers on drugs. Edward James Olmos (both star and director of this film) plays an aging drug lord (Santana) in Folsom Prison. After being imprisoned as a juvenille, Santana organizes the hispanics into one of the largest sectors in the prison; controlling a large portion of the drug trade within the penal system, Montana is able to focus on more important ventures in life, such as getting paroled from prison. Upon his release, he is faced with the up and coming gangsters of the street, and more importantly, the vastly changing conditions within his own empire. The storyline is typically that of other coming of age drug movies such as "Carlito's Way." An aging gangster trying to retreat from a life that will not permit any exits. Superb performances all around. Olmos even used real prisoners as extras in this film.

"Bad Lieutenant" is a shocking film starring Harvey Kietel as a morally corrupt New york City detective. His drug habits alienate him from his own family, and other habits even put him in debt to the mafia. Keitel continously poisions his body, mind, and soul throughout this film, and as an attempt to redeem himself, he swears to find the culprits who rape a nun at a local church. Amidst his corrupt lifestyle, Keitel is able to see that there are certain things that still remain pure. Abel Ferarra does a beautiful job with his stunning camera work, and Keitel delivers a powerhouse performance.

A more humorous drug film "Naked Launch" stars Peter Weller (Robocop) as an exterminator (Bill Lee) whose wife becomes addicted to bug powder. His wife drags him into this hallucinatory world of sniffing bug powder, and Weller begins to recieve odd messages from Giant Mutant Bugs. The drugs (or bugs) begin to control Weller's mind, and he loyally follows the bidding of the bugs and becomes a writer, who oddly enough, recieves storylines from his typewriter (that is a bug as well). Superb acting on Weller's part.

[Xpander]

Sigh...Requiem for a Dream is a beautiful movie, in my mind; one of my top favorites.

Pi is good too, in fact I liked it a lot (soundtrack - Orbital's P.E.T.R.O.L. is what turned me on to electronic music...and it's still one of my favorite tracks of all time) But I think Requiem is a lot more emotional and a lot more powerful.

I'm in line to see the next Arnofsky movie.

[thehacker]

to put it bluntly...

the genius of darren aronofsky is lost on most of you, then.

requiem is NOT a drug movie.

it's a character study on addiction as an invisible

and all-controlling element in the plot.

not drugs, just addiction in general.

addiction to television and the dream to be on a game show.

addiction to a relationship based on monetary success,

(be it drug-running or operating a designer clothing shop).

addiction to holding onto a past that can never be relived.

in essence, take everything you know about movies

that are character studies and flip it upside down,

and assign "addiction" the darkest and most anti-heroic role.

what you get is Requiem for a Dream.

and it's bloody fucking brilliant.

more than PI ever was.

(tho i dig that movie quite a bit.)

[kitty19]

Originally posted by thehacker

to put it bluntly...

the genius of darren aronofsky is lost on most of you, then.

thank you for making an idiotic assumption, but the man was asking for movies that had drugs in it.

does requiem have drugs in it? indeed, it does. he didn't ask for an analysis of WHY there are drugs involved in the movie, or HOW these drugs are infiltrated into the characters' lives.

i do appreciate your thoughts on requiem for a dream. however, i personally enjoyed Pi. the tale of addiction is truly a sad story, but i find the twisted world of numbers more appealing.

[thehacker]

Originally posted by kitty19

thank you for making an idiotic assumption, but the man was asking for movies that had drugs in it.

ahem. i was merely noting how rapidly this thread

turned from appreciation for requiem to requests for

"other drug movies"...

however, i personally enjoyed Pi. the tale of addiction is truly

a sad story, but i find the twisted world of numbers more

appealing.

fair enough. i rather enjoyed pi as well

but aronofsky's brilliance as a director

and visual storyteller truly shines in requiem.

[Ronin]

Thanx for the replies everyone. Does anyone know the name of that movie, that the girl who did a lot of E on the MTV special, went to see and walked out on??

[thehacker]

Go?

[realz]

I cant believe you guys forgot....

HALF BAKED

>

anybody remember watching this movie blasted for the first time?

H I L A R I O U S

lol

[thehacker]

Originally posted by realz

I cant believe you guys forgot....

HALF BAKED

>

anybody remember watching this movie blasted for the first time?

H I L A R I O U S

lol

i watched that movie stone cold sober and i still

laughed my fool head off!

[realz]

Originally posted by thehacker

i watched that movie stone cold sober and i still

laughed my fool head off!

aww shiet, you gotta watch it BLAAAAAAZED

its 100 times funnier

[realz]

Oh shit..... I turned to Cinemax and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE was playing..... btw EXCELLENT MOVIE

Here do this little trick when you planned to get fucked up in the crib.....

have a (TV / VCR or DVD player / STEREO) ready....

prepare for the illest bug out.... hehe

Go on Napster/Audiogalaxy and find the song... "PINK FLOYD - ECHOES" its on the Dark Side of the Rainbow album

then

Go to Blockbusters > rent - 2001: A Space Oddessey by STANLY KUBRICK (fcking genius... A.I. would have been better with SK instead of SS)

LOWER THE VOLUME ON THE TV ALL THE WAY

go to the LAST scene of the movie.... (there will be a black screen and I forgot what it said.. something w/ "Final" I believe.)

Press play on the Pink Floyd track when that black screen dissapears.

ENJOY the illest buggout

[sd]

I think she walked out of Requiem. It would have been playing in Manhattan about the time they were shooting that special.

[squeezemay]

Originally posted by sd

I think she walked out of Requiem. It would have been playing in Manhattan about the time they were shooting that special.

no it definatly wasnt requiem....i think it was "Groove"????

[sd]

squeezemay, you may be right. my memory is going to shit.

[go411]

yup it wuz GROOVE!!! aaaalright :laugh:

[dreams2]

requiem was an amazing movie although i was kinda disturbed watching it. i mean i know what addiction can do that was just so realistic... def worth watching though.

that once scene with his arm..... ughhhhhhhh

[pipdaddy]

Juice Juice Juice!!!!!!

hahaaa...that part with the refrigerator was scary as hell....and save the money if you plan on renting groove. it sucked ballz. i can't believe no one mentioned GO....now that was a funny/twisted movie