Rhinoceros Eyes (2004)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I know that Canadian cinema is noted for its contributions to the Horror genre but this is horrible horror. Don't waste your time.I had to write 10 lines of commentary to get this comment published. So I am going to fill up 10 lines of commentary to comment on this film. I do this so that I can get my 10 lines published because they won't publish it unless I submit 10 lines of commentary for publication. So here I am writing the 10 lines they demand before I can get it published. Once it is published you will read it. Once you have read it, you will understand. You will understand how boring and pointless this exercise was. And you will have some idea akin to just how horrible and boring this horror flick was. Get it! sorry to have had to waste your time.

I see TONS of films, and I can honestly say that Rhinoceros Eyes is one of the most visually stirring movies I've seen in a long, long time. Seriously, all the Hollywood crap with big explosions and massive effects has gotten so predictable and easy. There's no real creative direction behind any of it. Rhinoceros Eyes isn't like that at all. It's so carefully done. The Prophouse in this movie is like a "land of make-believe." This loner kid Chep lives in a Prophouse. He falls obsessively in love with a woman. Soon thereafter, he starts with the conflicts of what do I have to do to win her?. The stop-motion animation in this hallucination scenes is AMAZING. And from that point on ... you're trapped between realities, and glued to the screenAll the characters are vivid and well-developed. Even the girl in the box-office, who has a crush on Chep is so carefully created and real ... right down to her lollypop. I can honestly say I've never seen anything like this movie since Mulholland drive. Unless you're actually like boy-meets-girl-boy-gets-girl movies and features that follows a formula, go see run away bride, if you want to see hip cool and mindful film where "boy-meets-girl" "boy-thinks-he-gets- girl"; "boy- gets-himself" you should see Rhino Eyes.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I finally sat down in the theatre for a screening of Aaron Woodley's directorial debut, Rhinoceros Eyes. Of course, the motivating factor behind me trying so damn hard to see this film was of course the fact that two of my favourite actors (Gale Harold as Detective Phil Barbara, and Michael Pitt as Chep) had big roles. Oh, and I was pretty impressed by the fact that Woodley is the nephew of the always fabulous Canadian director David Cronenberg (Crash, eXistenZ, Spider). I was almost certain I'd be in for something.not quite normal.I found myself totally engaged in the story throughout. The irony of that fact that it was a film about a kid living in a movie prop house pretty much intrigued me right away. Of course without great character development and interaction the film would start to lose me; however, that never happened.The film was essentially a well thought out mixture of comedy and horror. Woodley's satirical version of a common thriller worked well, since the audience seemed to be laughing at all the appropriate cues - a random naked man running across the screen and knocking over Pitt's character, the irony of Detective Barbara fawning over an old movie prop when the evidence of the crime he is investigating is right in front of him, the awkwardness of Chep and his ongoing murmuring to himself.the list goes on.Michael Pitt delivered an astounding performance as the self-loathing orphan Chep- the boy who lived in a movie prop house- a reclusive character with little to no social skills, who embarks on a journey to find love by committing a streak of ridiculous crimes to please his love interest (Paige Turco as Fran).As an art director, Fran is obsessed with the authenticity of her props. Enamored by her, Chep is willing to do whatever it takes to get these authentic props for her. On a side-note, I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Fran's obsession with authenticity in her props completely conflicts with her working in an industry where everything is fabricated or fake.Chep continues to succeed in finding Fran her props, even though Detective Barbara appears to be hot on his trails. Gale Harold manages to pull off the imprudent character of Detective Phil Barbara seamlessly. His performance was both engaging and funny, as he used facial expression, body language and tone of voice to make the audience believe in the hilarity of his character. Oh and his little dance number near the end kept a wide smile glued on my face.Small things I should mention - the fact that the film was shot entirely on High-Definition Digital Video, a format that hasn't evolved into the rich qualities of 35mm film yet. Woodley manages to pull off rich colours and tons of shadowy scenes loaded with contrast, even with the limitations of the format. Also, instead of adding in CGI characters to represent Chep's delusions, stop-motion animation was used, which gave them a more authentic feel. The weird characters created by Chep's mind that came to life actually looked like they were made from real objects. not a computerized creation.I found that near the end of the film, it started to become difficult to decipher whether or not we were trapped inside the fantastical mind of Chep, or if we were witnessing what was actually happening. Also, there were some unanswered holes in the plot.which left it all open for me interpret. Which, I did.But I'm not letting on what I personally gathered from the film, I strongly suggest you try and see it yourself.

Having just seen Rhinoceros Eyes, I want to tell fans of indie drama and horror to run, not walk to see this film if it comes anywhere near your town!The film is a coming of age story about Chep (Michael Pitt), a reclusive young man with an unfortunate past, living in a prop shop...and in a fantasy world fueled by cinema and the props he surrounds himself with. Supporting characters include his boss (Matt Servitto of Sopranos fame), his love interest, and "the cop". Interesting characters float in and out of the story in a way that never fails to entertain and disturb.I was reminded of films like Donnie Darko, and Repulsion; but Rhinoceros Eyes is its own entity. It is a creepy and frightening as it is funny and quirky. This film has some excellent camera work, and plenty of the symbolism indie film fans love to talk about afterwards. While the FX are reminicent of 70's childrens shows, this film is chilling, disturbing and fascinating all at once.Maybe I should say it again, See This Film!