See(n) Saw

We went to see Saw at the weekend, and it was entertaining in a Seven way with a bit of added gore. It was fun seeing Cary Elwes not in tights - but I'm not sure I really understand why the killer was so obsessed with knocking off (or in one [maybe two] case(s) not knocking off) his particular victims, nor do I understand why the "jigsaw" aspect was so abruptly dropped. Anyway, it was fun and pretty well done, and kept you going mostly to the end (even if you had spotted the likely twist at the very beginning of the film).

Gus van Sant's Elephant was more interesting (we watched it on video), in a very straightforward, let's represent a Columbine situation, way. The end sequences managed to be both beautifully shot in an almost prosaic style (althought the careful attention to light showed this to be anything but cinema verite) as well as punching home in a generally scary manner.