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Star Wars Episode IV through the eyes of a 3 year-old. Amazing-superb-awesomeness!
For months now I have been excited to see 10,000 b.c. History. Action. Adventure. My type of film, really. Like any good movie fan I dutifully donned my coat, gathered two friends, threw the Jeep in to 4 wheel-drive, and braved the snowy weather to watch it on Friday night.
The verdict? It was decent. I liked it. I mean, it’s not 300 or Apocalypto, but not every movie can be that good. 10,000 b.c. borrowed the abs of 300 and the general story line from Apocalypto (members of the tribe are taken, lone warrior sets out to free his people) yet it threw in enough wooly mammoths and other extinct animals to set itself apart. I also felt that the narrator could have been better. Not really a sticking point but if your only job is to narrate a movie (and you are not acting in it) you better have a fantastic voice. This fella did not.
My favorite part of 10,000 b.c. had nothing to do with the substance of the movie at all. If you enjoy ancient history, as I do, then watching 10,000 b.c. can be a “Where’s Waldo?” of ancient civilizations. Let me demonstrate.
The movie begins with a Native American like tribe living in the “white mountains” (Himalayas). Bad people (modeled after the Mongol’s) come and take tribe members to use as slaves. Our hero (a white man) along with a few others (an Indian man and an Asian boy…all from the same tribe mind you) set out over the white mountains to rescue their people. After the mountains they end up in the rainforest (don’t even try stretching your mind on this geography…I’ll get to that in a moment) under constant attack from crazy giant-ostrich-dinosaurs(?).
Safely through the rainforest they find themselves in the African savannah. A close brush with a saber-tooth tiger leads our heroes to a Maasai village. They make friends and join forces with other tribes of the area, including the pygmies. To continue pursuing the bad guys (who have escaped down a Nile like river) our hero and his army must now cross the Sahara desert.
After arriving in Giza(?) we see the construction of the Egyptian Pyramids (which were not constructed until 3,000 b.c.) morphed with Aztec and Incan temples by millions of slaves and trained wooly mammoths (?) for the hard stuff. All of this construction is done to please the “almighty.” A god who’s people were “swallowed by the sea.” Finally, a reference to Atlantis!
The cultural potpourri is really quite ridiculous. I couldn’t help but giggle many points throughout the film. I mean, come on! It’s just silly the way they threw concepts, races, architecture, etc. together.
As for the geographic discrepancies I mentioned I would tackle earlier… I spent a good part of the film trying to orient myself on our fair planet. We started in the “white mountains” with attacking Mongol’s so I reckoned we were in Asia. Next, came the rainforest, which could have put us in India…except for the fact that next we entered the savannah of sub-Saharan Africa. Then we moseyed on up to Egypt.
I’m fine with the white-mountains and the rainforest. I’m even fine with the African savannah and Egypt. I am not fine with them mushed together as a geographic plausibility. I think I would have been less indignant and amused with the historical liberties taken if I would have been watching 10,000 b.c. on a Planet Similar to but Not Earth.
Now I feel bad for ragging on the film so much. It wasn’t really that bad. Go. Take your friends and family to a matinee. Be amused by the historical silliness and the groovy CGI beasts of years past. Feed the box-office monster. I did.
As an fan of history, I always enjoy a TV series or movie that attempts a portrayal of the past. Particularly, if it is a time period I like, a historical figure I find interesting, or just a great story (Rome, Braveheart, Troy, Alexander, Dr. Zhivago, etc.) In my mind, few things beat a good epic.
This fall brought a second film to complete the Elizabeth saga. It was wonderful. Cate Blanchette is Elizabeth I, at least to me. Elizabeth is not only a great character, she has a great story. Arguably the most powerful ruler of England, creator of the Church of England, and the last royal from the house of Tudor. Stepping back to her parentage reveals King Henry VIII and his many wives. Yet another great story.
Over winter break I spent some time ignoring the weather and watching Showtime’s new series, The Tudors. It was no Rome, but it was good. Quite good actually. Jonathan Rhys Myers, who I extolled the virtues of in a previous post, is a tormented, powerful, manipulated, and believable Henry VIII. The Tudor’s creator, Michael Hirst, is the same man who brought Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age to the silver screen. His foray into the small screen is seamless.
This past Sunday I went to see, yet another, film that dealt with the Tudor family. The Other Boleyn Girl is a different portrayal on the life of Henry VIII and his love affair with Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth I’s mother). This time our Henry was Eric Banna. As Henry he was adequate…I much preferred him as Hector in Troy. Natalie Portman was Anne and her sister Mary (the “other” girl of the title) was played by Scarlett Johansson. The entire cast was sort of fine in a rather unremarkable way. Somewhat redeemingly, The Other Boleyn Girl is historically fascinating because it deals with lesser known (or recorded) details about the Boleyn’s life. Essentially it makes a story out of hearsay and theory.
But what if you had to choose? How do you view the Tudor’s?In my opinion the answer is quite simple. Watch Showtime’s series. The acting is better. It’s sexier. It is also ridiculously more in depth than The Other Boleyn Girl. The film glosses over Cardinal Woolsely and the Duke of Norfolk, two key players in Henry’s reign. So much of the story was lost in the film, it would be good if the movie was lost to your Netflix queue as well.The only area where the film outshines the series is in the portrayal of Queen Catherine (Henry’s first wife) and in the death of Anne Boleyn. Showtime teases us that “heads will roll” in the soon coming second season of The Tudors, in the film Natalie Portman is beheaded without all of the pomp and circumstance.
Today is Monday and I felt like making a list. I’ve managed to stumble across some various “Top Sci-Fi Movie” lists recently and it got me thinking. What are my favorites? I mean this is my favorite genre and all…how could I not have a list? To end this internal debate with myself I am making one such list. All of these films (which are in order of preference) are my favorites. I have not seen every sci-fi movie… Bearing this in mind, see what I came up with… Concurrence? Dissent? I love feedback!
10. Men in Black - The movies are hysterical! ”Edgar, your skin is hanging off your bones.” nuf said.
9. The Matrix - W-O-W. I love the trilogy, start to finish.
8. Minority Report – Retinal scanning. Cars on auto-pilot. Pre-cogs. Cool.
7. Aliens – All of them. My favorite is the second film, but they all are just generally superb.
6. Independence Day – Great sci-fi all around. Oh, the speech Bill Pullman gives at the end to rally the troops is probably my favorite patriotic-movie speech of all time.
5. Stargate – The film from which one of my favorite TV series is based. *sigh. And, there are folks who really believe the Pyramids are landing pads for spaceships. Go to Egypt and ask a tour guide. They will laugh at you…a lot.
4. Serenity - Because I wish Mal was my captain, Jane was my bodyguard, and Reevers are crazy freaky.
3. The Fifth Element – Mull-Tee-Pass and orange hair. Yeah.
2. Starship Troopers - Almost #1 in my book. Loved this film from the first viewing. Made me want to join the gender equal military and kill some bugs. Which is no easy feat.
…and the winner is….
1. Galaxy Quest – Because it makes fun of me and all that I love in the most witty and hilarious way. ”Never give up. Never surrender.” :)
Honorable Mentions: Star Wars, Contact, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Waterworld, Tank Girl, The HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy, Gattaca, Blade, A.I., Red Planet, Sphere, Event Horizon, Resident Evil
“There is a way to be good again, Amir jan.“
This quote stands as beacon at the beginning of the film. A clever hallmark to let you know that this film is going to take you somewhere. Pick you up and move you. Make you understand. You have to follow Amir’s story: where his innocence was lost and the road he walked to find redemption.
When I sat down in the sold-out theatre I knew Amir’s story. I read Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner” this summer on a plane from Athens to New York. I read the book in one day. I felt painfully close to the story having just spent two months in the Middle East. Life is different there. Sometimes it feels so much more real than life here: more raw, less certain, but better in some ways. Standing in a world so far from home almost forces you to really know who you are. Amir felt this too. When he revisited the land of his childhood, Afghanistan, you could actually see the change in him. He was afraid and resolved. He was better because he knew who he was, what he wanted, and what he had missed since he had been gone.
The film followed the letter of the book with lovely precision. Nothing seemed omitted. I was particularly impressed with the films capture of Kabul in the 1970’s, during Soviet occupation, and under the Taliban. I also loved how they managed to capture the delicate art of kite flying and running.
This review is my shortest. I think everyone should watch this film or read the book. Maybe both. You won’t be disappointed. You will cry. The story hurts in profound ways. Unlike most sad films, you don’t leave sorry you watched. The Kite Runner is a journey. Amir takes you with him. You see his past and his future. You see his life. And you come to understand that, “there is a way to be good again.” No matter where you went wrong.
If you need a delightful, warm holiday film (and I know you do) then you need to don your mittens, coat, and scarf then skip on over to the movie theater to watch August Rush. I love this time of year because the cold weather and shorter days meet their match in the best films Hollywood has to offer. Now, now, I understand that the reason all of the “good” films are saved for this part of the year is primarily for the Oscars, but I don’t care. I love cinema. I dislike winter. Mix the best with the worst and you make many a winter day for me. I digress, back to August…
Freddie Highmore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Terrance Howard provide the best performances in the film. Remember when we all were wowed by Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense? Or, to a lesser degree (because I was never really on board with this one) by Dakota Fanning in I am Sam? Well I think Freddie Highmore has them all beat. What an fantastic child actor. As far as Mr. Meyers…I just like him. He’s got that adorable accent, black hair, blue eyes, and an on screen presence that makes you wish he was your big brother. Terrance Howard has also been a favorite of mine since he made me believe that it may indeed be “Hard out Here for a Pimp” in Hustle and Flow. The three of them together are a happy little dream team of make-you-feel-good. Robin Williams also gave a great performance, but he didn’t add any feel-good-ness so I omitted him from the list.
My only critique of the film (and my sister did not agree with me on this) was that I felt the ending was a bit abrupt. I was all right there with them, edge of my seat, fixing to cry, when the credits started to roll. Is it so wrong to have wanted a couple of more minutes? Ah, but maybe that is an indication of how great the film really was…I wanted more.
To not give anything (else) about the film away (and no you do not know the “whole story” simply from watching the preview), I will end my review with a simple charge: go see August Rush. The music is really incredible (soundtrack has been added to that dreaded Christmas List my mother insists on me compiling), the acting is superb, and who doesn’t want to feel all warm inside for a couple of hours in order to escape the freezing temperatures and gray skies? I thought so. Remember, coat, mittens, scarf, August Rush.
Do you remember watching “Alexander” when it first came out in the theater’s in 2004? Eh, me either. I knew I went to see it somewhere around the time I saw “Troy”, but I don’t really recall much at all from my first viewing. “Alexander Revisited – The Final Cut”, released in August 2007, changed my opinion of this great film. The rather unremarkable theatrical version is completely out shown by “The Final Cut.”
As director Oliver Stone wrote in the DVD booklet, he felt unsettled by the theatrical release and chose to revisit the film not once, but twice (a director’s cut was released in 2005) to perfect his telling of Macedon’s greatest leader.
“The Final Cut” requires a bit of a time commitment, with over a 3 1/2 hr. running time, but is well worth it in the end. There is even an intermission after the second hour where you can digest what you have seen, change positions on the sofa, put in disk 2, and prepare yourself for the last hour and a half of Alexander’s life (at least in the film). Intermission comes at a natural point in the story telling, right before Alexander marches his army into India, so there is no awkward break. I also find it sort of nice to watch a modern film emulate the epic films of the 1950’s and 60’s by taking a well deserved pause in the middle.
Normally I do not like films that communicate their story in a disjointed, non-sequential fashion, but Oliver Stone weaves the story in such a way that I did not mind seeing young Alexander in the middle of film, nor Alex’s death in the opening scene. Narrated by Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins), the first time we see Alexander he is leading his army into the Battle of Gaugemela. His cunning and masterful battle strategy award him control over the coveted Persian empire, but also shows his near insane lust for conquering all in the East. These scenes of Alexander at the height of his glory are interwoven with supplemental stories from his youth and young adult life, to spin a complete, complex, and rich tale.
The performances by Colin Farrel, Jared Leto, Angelina Jolie, and Val Kilmer are superb. Cinematography and costumes were beautiful. As fantastic as these were “Alexander” truly shines in the brilliant score composed by native Greek, Vangelis (best known for composing “Chariots of Fire”). I can say with absolute honesty that “Alexander” is my favorite movie score of all time. The only thing I would have done differently than Mr. Stone to perfect this epic would be to have made more use of the score, especially the piece “Titans.” It is just incredible music!
In summation, if you have not seen “Alexander” yet, watch this version. If you saw it in the theater’s and found it average, watch this version. “Alexander Revisited – The Final Cut” is a film worthy of it’s great namesake.
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