8MM

8MM probably only got greenlit due to the success of Se7en. Like Se7en, 8MM explores the existence of people who are simply pure evil while the main character wants to know why they are like this. 8MM doesn't provide many answers but it also isn't thematically complex. It follows a standard whodunit plot. While Nicolas Cage gives a solid performance, there are times where he takes us out of the story with his signature freak outs. Joel Schumacher manages to create a gritty tone but he has a rather bland style. Regardless of its flaws, 8MM is still a decent movie. It prefers plot over exploitation and story over violence. For those reasons, I recommend it.

Another one of Nicholas Cage's crazy movies. Like all the rest of his movies, this one was good too.

Joel Schumacher does it again. Look into how this film was made, what went into it, the intended directors, the intended stars, the intended budget. It started as a low budget "Dark and Gritty" film that was going to be "hand held" and star Russel Crowe and be directed by David Fincher... that would probably have worked. Look at the release date, 1999, when audiences welcomed low budget movies done well. Back in the 90s audiences accepted low budgets and dark and gritty films. It could have been the sleeper success that Se7en was. Instead you got Schumacher that lightened it up, and Cage that brought in more of a budget that in turn brought in more studio interference that wanted it lightened even more... with a director that agreed. And what could have been a great movie turned to be throwaway junk... that Joel was "Still proud of" decades later, but saw the writer throw up his hands, walk away, and disown the mess. And this was written by Andrew Kevin Walker, he tells a good story, especially if you keep things on the darker side. This COULD have been a moody, dark, thriller with a tone so ominous that it stays with you decades later. A film that took off out of nowhere like Se7en did... ... instead it was junk and a film so forgettable that I had to be reminded that I had seen it, and, after 15 minutes, reminded why I blacked it out.