10.000 BC - The Movie

So I went to the movies last night. The choices were somewhat limited because of their showing times so I ended up watching "10.000 BC". I already knew that it was going to be hokey and far-fetched but the next best option required another hour wait so I went for it anyway. I do love anything with a hint of extinct animal life and these "epic" type movies do draw me in, as any special on The History Channel, Animal Planet and Discovery on the subject. I watch all those dinosaur shows on how Earth was hit by a huge asteroid that killed most life on the planet many millions years ago. Love that stuff!

The "10.000 BC" previews looked quite good, full of huge mammoths and saber-tooth tigers, cavemen-like hunters in loin cloths running on the savanna, that type of stuff. This is one of those movies that are OK for a DVD rental but save your cash on theater tickets, because if you take away the CGI effects there is very little left to it. The scenery shots are gorgeous and the special effects are pretty amazing, specially the mammoth hunt and the giant turkeys scene in the tropical forest.

The plot is pretty basic and no big surprises on how it will end. This tribe of hunters, somewhere in North Africa (?) is attacked by Egyptian (?) slave traders and most taken captive, with the exception (of course) of our hero hunter that happens to be away having a personal moment of solitude and contemplation when they arrive. The would-be slaves, including his too-pretty love interest, are taken across snowy mountains, deep forests and sandy deserts until they reach their final destination. They are being tracked all along by our hero, who along the way gathers a small army of African tribes whose loved ones have also been kidnapped by the bad guys. The plot is full of historical holes and I won't bore you with all the details as the inaccuracies are too many to list here, but I don't think the director was aiming to make a documentary anyway.
If you have nothing better to watch this movie is OK entertainment and actually giggle-inducing on certain scenes that are meant to be deep and serious, so if you have a sarcastic side you might actually enjoy it. Otherwise, I say skip it.

Persepolis

Sunday night I went to see Persepolis at my local megaplex. I had read about the movie many weeks ago but it was not playing anywhere around where I live, until this past Friday when it seemed to have opened nationwide, probably because of it's Oscar nomination for best animated movie. A brief resume of the movie:

Persepolis - the movie - is based on a French-language autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi that describes her childhood in Iran after the revolution. The title is a reference to the historical town of Persepolis, an ancient ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire.

The film tells the story of of little Marjane Satrapi growing up in politically-unstable Iran. With the fall of the Shah's regime when she was ten years old, her world changed overnight. Girls and boys had to use different doors to enter the school. She had to cover herself with a long dark robe and head veil. Grownups around her began to disappear, including close relatives and family friends. Marjane is a rebel at heart and has several close encounters with the country's morality police and with her strict teachers at school. The Iran-Iraq war comes to her doorsteps as Iraqi bombs fall on the street where she lives. Eventually her parents hoping for a better future for Marjane send her abroad to receive a European education, but she is miserable: she loves her family and country, despite their flaws, too much to stay away for long. She feels like a misfit in Austria for being Iranian but she realizes that she isn't the same Marjane anymore as she returns to her home country.

The movie grabbed me from the beginning with it's stunning (mostly) black & white visuals. After living here in the US for many many years I grew unaccustomed to subtitles in movies, specially when trying to read English subtitles to a French-language animated film. The b&w screen does not help the type either - when trying to take it all in all at once it took me several minutes to get comfortable with it again. Though I wanted to say I loved the whole movie I must confess that I peeked at my watch a couple of times towards the end. This is no cheery Disney-fare - as war, torture, religious oppression and murder don't get much down play throughout the film. This movie won't make you leave the theater a happy camper or humming to some cute critter's sing-along. I was kind of bummed as this was not the uplifting fare that I was expecting. I knew the thematic would involve Iran/religion/politics but I was hoping for a more feel-good ending and that it's not what Persepolis is all about.

Juno - The Movie

Finally I got the chance to go watch "Juno" last night. Though the movie has been out for many weeks it was not on my top list of movies to watch just because... As I said before I feel that I never get to catch as many movies as I would like, for several reasons and excuses. I had seen the commercials and previews for "Juno" and it looked cute as in a "I'll get to watch that someday" but no hurry. Then I kept reading the rave reviews, awards galore and the "Oscar buzz" talk in the media, so my Sunday matinee was dedicated to see what the hoopla is all about.

Juno MacGuff is a 16 year-old high school junior who is mature beyond her years. She is also a savvy, sassy, too-cool-for-school independent free spirited little sprite. As we find out early on in the movie Juno gets pregnant after a one time encounter with her geeky/cute high school crush/friend/band mate Paulie Bleeker. Now she is faced with the decision of how to handle this unexpected news: terminate it? adoption? tell her parents? the boyfriend? high school?

The cast could not have been more perfectly chosen in my opinion. Ellen Page gives an amazing performance as the title character, an unbreakable small giant. Her boyfriend Bleeker, played by Michael Cera, is cute-as-a-button in his shorty yellow running shorts and matching headband. Paige and Cera are a match made in heaven and it shows in their great screen chemistry. Juno's very supporting parents, played by J.K. Simmons and the great Allison Janney, are so warm and understanding from the get-go that you wish they were your mom and dad. Jennifer Garner as the hopeful adoptive mother is so sincere in her emotions that my eyes teared up several times. You may call me a softy but "Juno" made me cry during many scenes, not out of sadness, but out of touchingly beautiful moments. But don't forget that "Juno" is a comedy and made me laugh out loud during her many one-liners. I must point out that her gorgeous cheerleading best friend Leah, played by Olivia Thirlby, is a great comedic actress too.

I became surprisingly inamorated with this film, more than I thought I would and I strongly recommend it. Thumbs up!

Let's Destroy New York: Cloverfield / I Am Legend

It was a dreary Sunday here in South Florida yesterday. The whole day was overcast, drizzly and a bit chilly - for Florida standards I mean - light jacket/long sleeve weather. What to do on such an uninspiring gray-sky-ed day-off? I went to a matinee to catch the latest disaster movie to come out here in the US - Cloverfield - produced by J.J. Abbrams, he of the gold touch behind TV's Felicity, Alias and Lost series.

I am not a disaster/action flick kind-of-guy, I might add. I deeply dislike overused special effects, explosions galore and slim plot lines, as in most blockbusters that crowd our movie screens. But there was something about Cloverfield's trailers that really instigated my curiosity and made me want to go watch it. I don't go see movies as often as I should/would like for several reasons (laziness, lack of company, etc) so when I make it to the local mega-plex I want to watch something that will blow my socks off. Cloverfield did not disappoint me, actually I liked it a lot. This is no Godzilla movie, by the way - no goofy Matthew Broderick running around in this one. I don't want to give away too much about the plot line so I will just mention the basics not to spoil it to anyone that might go watch it in the big screen.
The first 20 something minutes of the movie are spent on a going away party being thrown for the main character, who is soon to move to Japan. Big Lower Manhattan New York loft, tons of young hipsters, plenty of small talk, some relationship drama, blah blah blah. The whole party is being filmed on a hand-held cam and it's film will be a parting gift from the hostess to her fiance's brother that is going away. Suddenly a huge loud thump outside, lights go off, earth shakes. They all rush to the roof to witness a huge tanker, that just capsized on the not too distant harbor, explode into a meteor-like rain of flaming debris. As they rush to the streets buildings start to crumble, a New York tourist icon is decapitated and from afar they catch a glimpse of what's causing all this mayhem. And that's what is so cool about Cloverfield (the title refers to the Army's case-name for this occurrence), all you catch are dark glimpses of this "creature(s)" that terrorize the city. What is scary is what you can't see. This shaky-shaky flick is all filmed on the said video cam, a first-person view of the disaster. We see what the main four characters get to see and the effect is simply amazing. It is full of jump cuts, quick editing, blurry dark scenes and all that add to the sense of claustrophobia and panic that they/we experience. Sure there were a couple of "say whats??" during the movie (high heels on the rubble, that 50 plus floor hike) but nothing that really took away from it. I though the film was brilliant and loved it all the way to the (not so typical Hollywood) end.

Now, on the other hand...let's talk about "I Am Legend", that I saw 3 weeks ago but didn't get a chance to "review" here at Little-Pumpkins:

"I Am Legend" is another movie that it's great trailer made me want to rush to the theater to watch it. Just like Cloverfield's, IAL's trailer was all mystery, dark shadows, heavy breathing and despite Will Smith being the hero guy - not a plus for me - it intrigued me a lot.

What a let down this was... I should have listened to my instincts about Will Smith, great actor and all, but not a star that headlines movies that I enjoy watching. Men In Black is an exception, by the way, also a comedy. He is too "Will Smith" for me to really care for his character. Too Hollywood hero, too "I will fight till the end", too full of morals, too American I hate to say it. The problem here is that this movie abused of the special effects and was great all the way to the point where we actually get to clearly see the "creatures". Once again I will try not to spoil the "plot" here but this is a tough one.

We are back in New York City, this time it's in 2012. The city has been evacuated and quarantined after a man-made virus wipes out 90% of the world's population. Smith's character - an Army scientist - is part of the 1% that is immune to the air-borne virus and survived the plague. He must hunt for food and gather supplies during day light, with the aid of his dog Sam, as nightfall brings out what now the infected human population (and animals) have become - extremely aggressive vampire-like beings that are hyper-sensitive to light. Smith must take shelter during that time and is still in hopes of finding an antidote for the virus.

This was a very scary movie and I jumped my seat several times in the first 40 minutes or so (I actually cover my face when it gets scary in movies...). When it's all dark and mysterious, you know the enemy is lurking out there and you can't see where it is or WHAT it is. That is what makes a great scary movie! Now, the moment that you realize that the zombies (oops) are just fake-looking vengeful CGI monsters I lost all interest and respect for this movie.

Nah, didn't believe it at all. Thumbs way down.

Cate Blanchett @ Elizabeth - The Golden Age

I went to see "Elizabeth -The Golden Age" last night, with the fabulous Cate Blanchett in the title role. The movie, directed by Shekhar Kapur, finds Queen Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) facing blood lust for her throne and familial betrayal. Growing keenly aware of the changing religious and political tides of late 16Th century Europe, Elizabeth finds her rule openly challenged by the Spanish King Philip II (Jordi Molla)-with his powerful army and sea-dominating armada-determined to restore England to Catholicism. Preparing to go to war to defend her empire, Elizabeth struggles to balance ancient royal duties with an unexpected vulnerability in her love for Raleigh (Clive Owen).
The costume design by Alexandra Byrne leaves us breathless with all the exquisite detail and sophistication of the clothing. Cate Blanchett couldn't have been more fascinating in the role and she commands every scene she is in, either as the powerful queen or as the fragile woman seeking true love. The movie is a tad on the long side, almost 2 hours, and seems quite rushed towards the end as it nears it's "historical thriller" finale. Clive Owen oozes sensuality but I can't help the feeling that he was just added eye-candy for this movie. I also loved Samantha Morton as Mary Stuart and wish that I could have seen more of her, as she was superb as the back stabbing next-in-line for the crown of England.

Via Rotten Tomatoes Images via IGN