46

I'm usually not too big on O'Reilly's columns, but he hit the nail on the head with this one.

45

For fun, here is a cap of Brady Corbet and Mary Lynn Rajskub in Mysterious Skin...



And a couple from their appearance in 24, episode 8 am - 9 am






The difference makes me marvel at the profession of acting. In some ways, the biggest joke degree a university can offer, and in others, the most difficult one to master.

44 - Mysterious Skin

Mysterious Skin’s two main characters have little in common. Brian (Brady Corbet), a shy nerd who thinks he was abducted by aliens, lives with his mom and struggles to remember a few hours of his childhood where he blacked out. Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a gay prostitute who eagerly turns tricks at the local playground. They do have two key features that intersect; they grew up in the same small Kansas town, and they were both the victim of a loathsome child molester. Still so far apart are they that Brian has no recollection of the experience.

Memories or no, each one’s life has been permanently maligned by the trauma. Neil compulsively tries to sexually satisfy older men, and even with hindsight, he looks fondly upon Coach (Bill Sage), the man who stole his innocence. Despite this, Neil never seems to enjoy sex, but the attention of an elder; he has many chances to sleep with his gay friend Eric (Jeffery Licon), but would rather get stoned and pass out.

On the other hand, Brian did not lose his innocence, but was locked into it. He spends most of his time with Avalyn (Mary Lynn Rajskub), an offbeat woman who claims to have been abducted by UFO’s. When Avalyn tries to blow Brian, he shoots her an incredulous look, sexual interaction with another person being the last thing on his mind. Eric goes so far as to note that Brian "puts off a strange asexual vibe."

Mysterious Skin goes to such morbid lengths to show us exactly why Brian and Neil’s lives are so damaged that it haphazardly shoots itself in the foot. From start to finish, never much time passes before a graphic scene concerning pedophilia or gay prostitution assaults the audience’s collective senses. At first, the horrific nature of the material is properly illuminated, but then we get more, and more, and more. Watching the film with another human being and not feeling dirty could be an Olympic sport.

The film’s glum emphasis on these scenes is deeply unfortunate. We know what happened to Brian, but he doesn’t, and his slow journey to the shattering truth works very well. Neil may be unlikable, but seeing the pain he has gone through makes that forgivable, and we know he will play a key role in Brian’s quest. Nonetheless, our trek through the film becomes steadily more unpleasant with one unnecessary abuse of the ‘Not Rated’ label after the other. By the end, it has spread the characters violation into the audience, and I doubt many people watch movies to feel that way.

2 out of 5

43

I thought this picture would be of interest to several of my regular readers...





Rush sure has lost a lot of weight!