The beginning of the Journey
I will be talking about plot in this post more than in my last. So if you want the initial reaction to the film, which hasn’t changed (only become stronger), go to my previous post.
Now…
For Avatar, James Cameron has plugged his leading soldier Jake Sully, a good hero’s name without being brazen, directly into the Hero’s Journey. Like a chord into an outlet its the energy that makes this bulb glow.
Wow
In three hours James Cameron has restored what the last five years have taken away from my childhood. I’m not even sure where to begin. In fact, I’ve started and stopped this review several times.
There’s nothing clever about the story Cameron tells. He’s not hiding behind plot devices. He’s not even hiding behind the special effects. His story is simple, straight forward. It’s a story you’ve heard a million times, but guess what, so is every story. Who cares. So all I can do is be as honest as he was…even down to the stock romantic song that starts the credits at the end of the film. This story is James Cameron.
This review is me.
Of course they sell the movie with "happy".
(500) Days of Summer is not the movie to take someone to if you have just started dating them. This is not, as the voice over claims in the first few minutes of the film, a romantic comedy, i.e. a film in which the couple ends up happily ever after. It’s fun, funny, in fact it’s a pure joy to watch. It so eloquently captures the ups and downs of a relationship that isn’t meant to be that it draws out of you every doubt in your mind that you could possibly have with the person sitting next to you. And gives you hope in the potential…for the next one…alas not the one you’re with. Ouch.
Now, if you’re pretty confident in your relationship, or have just gotten out of one, you should then, without a doubt, see this film.
Thirst, the new film by Hitchcock virtuoso, Korean director Chan-wook Park, chronicles a love affair that’s tainted from the beginning and not just because it involves a Priest who becomes a Vampire.
Over the years vampires have been used for a hefty amount of serious metaphors, from the original undying love of Bram Stoker’s creation to the teen angst of Edward Cullen from the Twilight series, to Allan Ball’s “coming out” creations on his hit HBO series True Blood. Park, though, has a way, like Tarantino, of bending a genre to his whims in ways that defy even the best stories out there (such as any of the above) and burning visual moments into your retina that will stick with you until you die.
Steeped in Nazi film ideology, why wouldn't there be a cinea in "Inglorious Basterds"?
In Quentin Tarantino’s new film “Inglourious Basterds” it’s true that the Basterds are on display, all the billboards, all the movie trailers, every blurb makes it appear that they are the main characters, led by mega star Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, a good old boy with a deep respect for his Native American heritage, as he leads his merry men on a carnage ladden path through occupied France to scalp some “Naazis”. What a great hook for a film, and it’s pretty close to the truth, but only a part of the truth.
Tarantino gets to that, but he’s smart enough to know that it’s merely a hook. For some filmmakers it would be enough to show this intense group of Nazi killers as they roam the country side, but he’s up to more here. Giant robots fight on Earth. It’s a hook, a great logline to get people to come watch the movie, but that’s all Transformers is. Basterds is full of the richness of a filmmaker that has finally tamed his own desire for pulp retreads, and has found his own voice.
Dude, just give him back his daughter.
There’s something surprisingly and lovingly familiar about Liam Neeson”s new action vehicle Taken. It’s not that Liam Neeson completely rocks no matter what he does. It’s also not that this film follows in the footsteps of other lesser genre action films from the “written by Luc Besson” canon by being far better than it’s parts than it has any reason to be. Or that you manage to enjoy the scene that you enjoyed so thuroughly in the trailer. Nope. The real reason why is because it’s in many ways a replica of that wonderful 80’s actioneer Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
