Sunday, August 16, 2009
Movies with my Boo
Wisdom of the Sages
Movie Reviews
:[ Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince: Sixth and penultimate chapter of the Harry Potter film series finds Potter battling Death Eaters and raging hormones, and- wait, wasn’t that the last film, and the film before that? Wow. I guess what makes this different for the other is the death of a character, oh, wait….
Hmm, funny, I rather enjoyed the movie. It is the darkest and filled with some of the best acting from the three leads. Emma Watson is growing into quite a good actress; her scene with Radcliffe after Hermione sees Ron and Lavender kiss is one of the best in the series. Alan Rickman’s Snape character finally gets some payoff and the journey of Dumbledore and Harry is a true adventure.
I am not ashamed to say I am a grown-up watching Harry Potter movies.
High recommendation.
:[ G.I. Joe: I dislike how they changed back stories to fit in with today’s audiences. Snake-eyes and Storm Shadow had a great back story in the comics. Watch the better version of this here. I hate how they have to make everything soap-opera-y as if that takes the place of mythology. Sure, this movie makes about as much noise as the Transformers movies, and the acting is all one note. Dennis Quaid, a fine actor, is reduced here to doing a John Wayne impersonation.
What struck me while watching it: none of the actors cast act. The producers have to churn this out quickly. Yet, the craft of acting takes time. But the producers are savvy enough to hire archetypes, meaning, they do not have to act but react to the situations. That way, they get the movie out faster than having to wait on the actor to discover a moment to portray.
But then again, it struck me while watching this, the cartoon was just as cheesy and I should really just relax.
Not Recommended, but if you can't help yourself, I understand.
:[ District 9: Charlotte had a keen interest in seeing this. Man, she astounds and amazes me with her sophisticated taste in movies. Sure, she digs the kiddie stuff like “Aliens in the Attic” and “G-Force”, (Which I have also seen, but will not review.) but she goes for the mythological stories as well. She digs the series “Heroes” because it has that, as well as both the “Twilight” and “Harry Potter” series. But for some reason she really wanted to see this.
“District 9” is probably one of the smartest, sci-fi actioners to come around in a long time. The premise is quite simple. The citizens of South Africa have been living with a stalled spacecraft and its denizens for over 10 years, so much so the South African government has had to segregate them from society. Sound like a familiar plans also associated with South Africa?
It begins with documentary coverage of the aliens and then turns into one of the best sci-fi action, buddy chase flicks ever put to film. What really amazed me beyond the story and subtext was how alive and real the aliens were portrayed. They almost seemed real and the special effects did an amazing job in integrating them into real environments. Charlotte has led me to another great film of 2009. She felt so much for the aliens, which is a testament to the craft that brought them to life.
Be a pity if this did not at least get a nomination for Best Picture.
Highest recommendation.
2009 Ernest M. Whiteman III