Brad's Movie Challenge

Starting 01/01/06, Brad is going to watch one movie, everyday, for 365 days. This site will serve to document all rules & exclusions of the "Challenge" as well as keeping track of Brad's progress.

3/27/2006

03/26/06 Doppelganger

Doppelganger (2003), directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

watched solo; DVD (borrowed from Jason) @ home & parents' house (Southern Pines, NC)

Not to be confused with the awfully bad quasi-horror 1993 flick of the same name with Drew Barrymore. Will just call that her dark years, before she got hot again. I digress...but do I really? It's odd that the fact that I'm mentioning a Drew Barrymore B-movie with the same name, while actually watching the low-key sci-fi Japanese version. Weird...there their own natural doppelgangers in a sense. Duality in film, duality in nature. Nice segue into my spiel. OK, so this story deals with a meek scientist who's working on a robotic chair that will react to human will in order to function. Unable to create things from his own willing, the scientist is confronted with his exact double (doppelganger) who helps him do all the things he was afraid to. At first terrified, he soon embraces the split-personality, it takes advantage of him, and he is soon driven mad by the thought of it. Throughout this downward spiral, the film travels from being clearly a sci-fi thriller to that of almost a comedic romp. It's a strange balance that the director tries to intentionally take. Think part "I, Robot" and part "Short Circuit." I leave you pondering that alternate reality with your own doppelganger. Good luck debating.

3 out of 5 stars

posted by Undead Film Critic @ 9:38 AM  

5 Comments:

  • At 10:09 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I cannot even believe that you used this review to disparage a fine Drew Barrymore film--really her second finest ever (the first finest of course being Poison Ivy). Shame on you. I am not even going to read the rest of this review in protest. sister of L.

     

  • At 11:32 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Thank you sister of L. I must whole-heartedly agree. Every time I mentioned doppleganger (Drew Barrymore's of course) to Brad during the course of this movie watching experience; not once did he say that he had seen it. This leads me to believe that he is, how do you say, "knocking it, before he's tried it".

    L

     

  • At 2:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Yes, guilty as charged of the so-called "knocking it, before I've tried it." I'm sure that Doppelganger Barrymore is just as appealing as Poison Ivy Barrymore (which I have seen), I'm just pontificating on such a subculture genre of B-movie sleaze that every sexy screen star must succumb to at least once in their career. Drew's just fell smack dab in the middle of it. I didn't mean to offend any interests out there...but c'mon, shaming me in protest. L & sister of L...methinks you be a bit harsh. I'm a big Drew Barrymore fan...plus I stuck my neck into the fray that was D.E.B.S. being bashed and stating without shame that I do indeed love that flick. Cut me some slack please.

     

  • At 2:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Consider the slack to be indeed cut.

    L

     

  • At 3:45 PM, Blogger Undead Film Critic said…

    OH SHUT UP!!!!

    Never have I read so many comments about nothing. What are we arguing about here? That Drew Barrymore has made some shitty movies.

    Duh!

    I love Leslie's quote "This leads me to believe that he is, how do you say, "knocking it, before he's tried it".

    This from the same woman who in a earlier post on this site said "I have been blessed with the special ability to tell that I won't like a movie before viewing the whole thing."

    You'r not the only one who can smell a turd from a mile away.

     

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