Lately I have a really difficult time watching any films over 90-100 minutes. I get anxious as what feels like the ending approaches, I began to shake my leg, flip open and flip shut my cell phone – things like that. But that didn’t happen for Richard Kelly’s third film, The Box.

Although it is filled with plot twist after plot twist, layer upon layer of fantastic and bizarre characterization, scenes filled with just creepy stares and spontaneous nosebleeds…I was never frustrated. I simply absorbed.

Hell yes it was absurd, but why can’t that be a good thing? If I can barely watch a well-made and wonderful 90-minute film, but spend around 2 hours absorbing something completely insane, that must mean something.

Watch it even if it’s only to escape everyday for a little while.

Movies that play on your biggest fears obviously impact you the most. And this is one of those. While waiting in line, a woman exclaimed: “Why am I even seeing this? I don’t believe in ghosts. When you’re dead, you’re fuckin’ dead.” I encountered her again on the way out. This time she was quiet. Her friends who had laughed heartily at her pre-movie comments were also silent.

It was a zombie-walk out of the theatre for almost everyone, I’d say. We all seemed to be using that time to tell ourselves we are fine and that we are okay. People walked arm-in-arm, people hugged themselves. The need for stability and safety was suddenly very important.

See this movie. I mean, it’s worth it. It’s almost extraordinary and it is about people just like you and I.

Not a great film by any means. I guess I recommend it because it a great effort from a newer face in queer cinema and because of a few solid moments that made me hopeful for the film’s bizarre characters.

Although most of what they represent in society in shown here only in an extreme sense, it still allows a little bit of studying to be done. Who are all of these weird fucking people? Why are they like this? Half of the time I wasn’t sure if I should be smiling or frowning, feel empty or relieved, and whether or not I was enjoying myself…

Not a lot of movies can do that. Has to mean something…

I have never smoked inside my apartment. Some people do, at least occasionally, but not me. Until now, until Frontier(s). I’d heard a lot about this movie, but wasn’t able to see it for a while. Finally I just bought it. It was definitely worth it because I’ve never been this horrified.

An hour into the film, my roommate and I paused it, got giant glasses of water, and lit up cigarettes to calm our nerves.

I’m a horror buff. I’ve so many horror films, they’ve got their own place in my entertainment center. This film is unreal. Frontier(s) is unbelievably gory, frightening, unrelenting. I had no idea what was coming next and I loved every second of it. I’d suggest not eating while watching this, having someone else near you, and taking a lot of really deep breaths.

I rented Happy-Go-Lucky from redbox on a whim. It felt like one of those films that, after missing its time in theatres, I would never watch. But I did. At first it seemed almost pointless to me and I only continued because I always finish movies. By the end, however, I was in awe. The beauty and meaning of this film snuck up on me completely. To watch the transformation of an actor and the character they personify, but only realize it at the film’s closing as you examine yourself…is incredible. Mike Leigh definitely delivers a surprising and gorgeous film that everyone should give a chance. Don’t give up. It’s so worth it: a two-hour film that allows you to see who you are and makes you wonder if there’s some piece of joy right in front of you that you might be missing.

I’m voting that this is worth consuming, but only for a few tracks. Songs like “Four Rusted Horses,” “15,” and “Running to the Edge of the World” make this a worthy purchase (download?), but others like “We’re From America” and “Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon” kind of make me nauseated.

So what to do?

The tracks I really love are slower and seem more thought out. I’ve been a fan since I was young and obsessed with the trendy side of goth culture, but this is the first time I’ve really felt him slow down and think about what he’s saying. Perhaps a trip to iTunes to listen to a few clips and perhaps purchase a choice few mp3s is a better idea than getting this entire album, but… at least you have options, right? At least he’s still trying and managing, as an artist, to capture something gritty and pretty and important.

I’m saying this is worth consuming because I want people to see it. I found myself constantly going back and forth on whether or not I like the film. It has a lot of things in it I never expected. It kept going and going, unraveling and unraveling.

I found myself learning a lot about what I need to know about a person to decide who they are to me, to decide how I feel about them, to decide what steps to take next.

Quite interesting.