Sunsets, Stars, West, Wind
Johnny English Reborn (2011)
3.5 out of 5 stars
Terry and I watched this movie on a lazy summer Sunday afternoon. We got quite a few laughs from the antics of Rowan Atkinson as Johnny English, a reinstated (disgraced) secret agent for MI7. The surprising appearance of Gillian Anderson as Pegasus, the head of MI7, supplied an interesting dramatic validity to an otherwise ‘normal’ British comedy.
Red Riding Hood (2011)
2 out of 5 stars
One of a crop of edgier dark fairy tales retold in recent years, Red Riding Hood bears a passing resemblance to the French ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ by Perrault; more so than Grimm’s ‘Little Red Cap.’ But plain old wolves weren’t good enough or scarier enough for director Catherine Hardwicke (perhaps she should have consulted Joe Carnahan or watched the Grey?). The villagers of Daggerhorn suffered a werewolf among them for years, or generations even.
The only acting performance of note not surprisingly came from veteran actress Julie Christie, whom I fondly remember as Lara. Even Gary Oldman couldn’t inspire the uninspired plot.
Contagion (2011)
3 out of 5 stars
I’ve actually seen better pandemic disaster movies, but I can’t recall the name(s) of them off the top of my head. I agree with most critics that the science and especially the government bureaucracy and corruption depicted in Contagion reflected reality (or predicable reality).
I found fault with the sporadic evidence of the aftermath and consequences shown. For example, we are shown empty sports clubs and malls, grocery stores being looted, trash left to pile up on the streets, nurses striking, police and fire departments woefully undermanned, yet the electricity, water and cell phones continue uninterrupted at the home of our ‘every man’ who is immune to the virus, but lost both his wife (the originating case) and his step son. As far as I can tell, he never leaves the house, except to scrounge for food for himself and his remaining teenage daughter, although they hardly look like they are suffering from starvation or other modern amenities.
So I’ll give the film an above average rating for medical science and government portrayals, but a below average for disaster depiction. Hence, my three out of five star rating.
And, no, I didn’t immediately rush out to my local pharmacy to purchase their entire stock of hand sanitizers. Hot water and soap used frequently throughout the day to wash your hands works wonders as well, and is usually less expensive.
I watched The Grey last night, and it left me thinking and dreaming all night long in the realm of nihilism. I cringed at writing an adequate review, as my understanding of the nihilistic worldview is hampered by my own Christian worldview. But I found this excellent review and decided to share it as a reblog. As far as a rating for the movie, I’ll give it three out of five stars.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
3.5 out of 5 stars
Perhaps I should have read the book first. Or at least read a plot synopsis. As much as I love hacker themes, I have a hard time swallowing and digesting violence, especially that perpetrated against women. That being said, I still feel a bit disappointed in Lisbeth’s response to her assailant. I thought she went too easy on him.
The ‘locked room mystery’ portion of the film held most of my interest, causing me to pause and rewind the BluRay several times, and play sections of it in slow motion. I love a great mystery and I adore female characters who don’t slow down for inferior intellects. Keep up, or shut up and get out of the way.
The ending convinced me to stick to non-contemporary literature for my fiction reading. What has that got to do with this movie? Well, as we all know, real life sucks. As far as I can tell, contemporary literature, especially crime novels, which this movie was based upon, exists to expose us to the absolute worst aspects of humanity and society, leaving us with little resolution and a scarcity of hope.
Give me a good fantasy film like The Prince Bride (the debut film for Robin Wright who also appeared in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) any day. At least then I won’t yell at my husband how much I hate men while watching it. (Yeah, I paid for that comment for hours after the movie ended).
Man on a Ledge (2012)
3.5 out of 5 stars
A better than average thriller starring a couple of my favorite actors: Sam Worthington and Ed Harris (although the latter looked like he had recently been ill and lost some weight). I enjoyed seeing Anthony Mackie again, whom I loved in The Adjustment Bureau, but can’t say I liked his character in this movie.
I can’t disclose too much about the plot without spoiling most of it (which is true for most thrillers). Worthington is a police officer, who lost his appeal and faces twenty-five years in prison. He knows he’s innocent (but haven’t we heard that from just about any convict?) and he’s got nothing to lose. He escapes while attending his father’s funeral and then places himself on a ledge high above New York City streets, but not for the obvious reason.
You’ll be on the edge of your seat trying to keep up with the twists, turns and surprises.
Prometheus (2012)
2.5-3 out of 5 stars
Visually stunning, yet pathetically deficient in plot and character development. I’ve experienced better thrills from old school Hitchcock films. I found myself completely unconcerned if any of the characters survived, except perhaps Shaw. For the crew of a scientific expedition, I cringed at their crudeness and lack of anything resembling common sense or the scientific method. I also found it hard to swallow that we could achieve near FTL speeds in just eighty years (the time of launch the Prometheus being in the early 2090s).
The question I most want answered, dealt with the first scene in the movie. Here’s a brief description of that scene from the Wikipedia article referenced by the link above and the photo at right:
A humanoid alien stands above a waterfall as a hovering spacecraft departs. The alien drinks a dark liquid, then starts to disintegrate. As its bodily remains cascade into the waterfall, the alien’s DNA triggers a biogenetic reaction.
If we take the Prometheus analogy literally, then this alien created man on Earth in our distant past. This jives with the myth of the Titan Prometheus, who “is credited with the creation of man from clay and the theft of fire for human use, an act that enabled progress and civilization. He is known for his intelligence, and as a champion of mankind.”
But did he destroy himself voluntarily? Was he our champion, bringing not only fire, but life to our planet?
Or, as most of the movie implied, did he create us only because he could?
If this lone alien was a rebel among his kind, this would explain the behavior of the alien we meet towards the end of the film. His quest appeared to be the extermination of mankind, but his motivations remain unclear. Were we a failed experiment? an embarrassment? Or a possible threat in the eons to come?
Such rich clay to work with, yet the director muddied the plot with cliched ineffective unoriginal thrills, leaving the larger questions ineptly explored.
Mesmerizing cinematography fades quickly through the mind-sucking black holes in the plot. I should have waited for the DVD. Don’t repeat my mistake.
Battleship (2012)
3.5 out of 4 stars
Terry and I caught this movie at the theater over Memorial Day weekend. Fitting, since it resurrected the USS Missouri from a mothballed battleship museum to our last stand against an imminent alien invasion. You’ve got to see it to believe it, and hang on for the ride.
The tie-in to the classic Hasbro board game came late in the movie, and was refreshingly subtle and well thought out.
Great early summer fun on a Sunday afternoon. Next week, Prometheus (and I saw an even more enticing trailer for that Ridley Scot film yesterday as well).
Destination Moon (1950)
3 out of 5 stars
Hmmm … quite the blast from the past. I watched Destination Moon via Netflix DVD while visiting my daughter last weekend. I placed this movie in my queue based on a recent post (one of his last) by John Scalzi over at his FilmCritic.com blog, wherein he mentioned nine science fiction films often overlooked or underappreciated.
Even with the help of legendary science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein (both on the script and as a technical adviser), Destination Moon just doesn’t hold up well when viewed through the lens of the space age. Yes, they got some things right and tried to demonstrate weightlessness, pricinciples of inertia and some of the obstacles needed to overcome and survive space travel. For a hard scifi flick from the mid-20th century, I give the film an A for effort.
I did not care for the ending though. If you’re going to go to all the trouble to get to the moon, and almost not make it back due to poor planning (i.e. too much weight to return with the fuel alotted, no slack planned for when they had trouble landing and used extra fuel). The only real drama from the entire movie boiled down to who might have to stay behind and die on the moon. The characters finally achieve their weight goal with just seconds to spare and successfully take off from the moon.
And that’s it. The movie ends there. We have no idea if they made it back to Earth or if they splashed down safely in the ocean (another idea they got ‘right’ as proven later by NASA and the Gemini, Mercury and Apollo programs).
I found it interesting to compare and contrast with science facts from 1950 and what I now know in 2012, I don’t know that I’d consider this a ‘must see’ science fiction film. Maybe at the time (in the early 50s), but not now.
The Avengers (2012)4 out of 5 stars
Fun. Early summer blockbuster. Popcorn for the brain. Terry and I loved every minute of it.
Gives a new meaning to ‘can’t we all just get along?’
I was disappointed for Thor. He makes a trip back to save the Earth (again) and still didn’t get to spend anytime with his girlfriend.