The Machinist

The Machinist:

When I describe this film to people I use the word clever. It is not a word that I use often to describe what I observe in life, especially not movies. Clever is the perfect word slicing through the mind like a laser.

The film moves at a slow and deliberate tempo which leaves one at ease while witnessing the frantic movements of the protagonist. This balance allows one to sink into mental malaise of the main character without needing to ask to many questions about is actions until well into the second act. By this point the audience has become attached to his well being and it is at this point where the payoff lies.

As I plodded through the daily minutia of the machinist's day I realized that the cinematography was unusually adept. It crept up on me and took me off guard. I attribute this to the fact that I was wholly immersed in the story slowly unfolding before me. The camera work was solid but it was the lighting that grabbed my attention. My usual response to low and directional lighting set ups is that they are too heavy handed but most of the scenes here had a top tier noir feeling to them in there subtle nature. The light was harsh and uninviting creating the desired effect in a the viewer but it was also painterly in it's sophistication and depth.

I woke up to how well it was shot about a half hour into the film and to the amazing craft of the writing, directing, and acting just after the halfway mark. It snuck up on me and for that I am pleased for rarely does a film do so.

I have been a big fan of Brad Anderson since I saw Next Stop Wonderland, another mild tempo and deliberate story. I was unaware until I started watching that he was the director. His ability to lay down a tale that digs into the heart of who we are as beings is amazing. I watched some of the behind the scenes footage and he seems to still be every bit the independent director that he was back in his fledgling days. He appeared to be very hands on, which comes through in the look and feel of the film. Christian bale was his usual insane self transforming into a mere shadow of his former self. When you see him you will not believe that the now box office sensation, Bruce Wayne, would go through the lengths that he goes through to convey his character's plight. It is rumored that he wanted to go even further but Anderson intelligently shut the idea down.

I watched this film not having any idea what I was getting into and I suggest that if you can do the same you will not regret it. One of the truly great films of our time comes in a small, quiet, and unassuming package that you will not soon forget.

-Bitter MacGregor

I want to start off by thanking Bitter for choosing such a heartwarming feel good hit for us to review. My soul was starting to feel all warm and cuddly and this film really brought home the dark hen to roost, it has helped to balance out my otherwise sunny funny cotton candy carnival of an existence with a little bit of “hey I just killed your kids”. So thanks a lot Bitter, I owe you one.
The one thing in this movie that sticks out like a cock at a dogfight is Christian Bales portrayal of a concentration camp victim. Mr. Bale (who stars as Trent Reznor, I mean Trevor Reznik) stopped eating for who knows how many months and ends up looking like a dried out lifeless carcass of a man. The other day I was walking around and saw a dried out roadkill, I couldn’t even tell what kind of animal it used to be, it was just mummified skin over bones. Well that hunk o’ death looked like Trevor Reznik.




So there’s this scene were Jennifer Jason Leigh (the whore) is going down on Bale (the Skeletor) and it’s so fucking gross, I mean I love sex scenes they’re usually my favorite part of any movie but when Bale’s meatless body is writhing in sexual anguish it makes me want to puke, as far as anyone knows it’s the closest thing I’ve ever seen to an anorexic Porno and I don’t want to get any closer.

Here’s a movie fun fact.
Did you know the Machinist was filmed entirely outside Barcelona (that’s in Spain for all you morons out there and Spain is in Europe for all you complete idiots). Hey I got an idea, lets make a movie about the gangs of New York and film it in China.


In short, I feel the most outstanding aspect of this film is that ol Christian went the distance and lost 63 pounds for his role. Everyone’s always talking about how DeNiro gained all that weight for raging bull, well there’s a new heavy weight champ in town, well actually he’s a light weight champ, the important thing is his a fucking champ. Christian lost 63 pounds while DeNiro only gained a measly 60. Think about gaining weight for a roll, big fucking deal, you sit on your ass and eat donuts all day, millions of Americans do it everyday for absolutely no other reason than just to be a pathetic lard ass. But to loose 63 pounds, that’s some serious masochistic bulimia bullshit. I'm sure Christian could have just gone down on a couple studio execs to get the Batman role but he didn't, he risked his life for his art and for that sir I salute you.

The film inspired me to write a little song.



When my girlfriend and I finished watching the movie (actually she was running around the house most of the time making these weird felt cactuses) we both responded by saying “that movie was really fucking weird”. Well maybe she didn’t say fucking but I definitely said fucking. That is to say it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t amazing but it was definitely really fucking weird.

-The Plow