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Reviews
Lucy (2014)
I love Lucy (spoilers)
Lucy came out of the blue..It was upon me before i knew anything about it. i went to see it and loved it, tho wary of the MA rating. Luc Besson has made a kick ass movie about a woman who evolves beyond human limits, thanks to a drug ehs goes on the ultimate drug trip. Student Lucy in Taiwan, having fallen in with a dodgy boyfriend/drug mule, is tricked into becoming one.Lucy is all too human at the start, fearful, silly, vain, sexy...when its found whats in the suitcase, she is offered a job she cant refuse...as drug mule. While waiting to be sent home, in a grim room, she is attacked by her jailers, her belly kicked, and the drug enters her body, leading to the first extraordinary scene, as Lucy begins her journey writing up a wall and across the ceiling. Then the new kick-ass Lucy begins to appear: first bent on revenge against her tormenters, but soon her course changes, as she realises her intelligence is accelerating,and as she realises her time is running out, she resolves to go all the way by linking up with interpol to find the rest of the drug. Spaced out yet focused: thats the new Lucy. This is Limitless meets Akira: for me Lucy is more humane than Tetsuo, more desperate than Eddie. Some extraordinary scenes yet its not the hyperkinetic action scenes that appealed so much as scenes where Lucy puts the police to sleep and suspends the criminals from the ceiling (this scene being the most compelling of them all)...all the while calm and focused and beyond the need to commit violence. Action, pathos, and the quirky humor that laces the movie as she interacts with Morgan Freemans theoretician, whos exposition parallels Lucys journey. Strangely moving this movie, as Lucy explores space and time, meet the first Lucy, and in the end,arriving at 100%, dissolves into empty space and find she is everywhere. For the sceptics, don't let the dodgy science get in the way of enjoying his movie. Incidentally, the more wayout features of the film have some parallels with buddhist teachings esp on the siddhis, and dissolution of the body is a feature of Dzogchen
Edge of Darkness (1985)
How to clear a NATO conference :Darkness never had such an Edge
If you ever wondered what it takes to clear a NATO conference in under 2 minutes, this is your chance to find out. Edge of Darkness is a marvelous political ecothriller, telling of a Yorkshire policemans journey as he attempts to uncover the murder of his environmentalist daughter. Its a convoluted ride as Bob Pecks Inspector Craven learns of the intertwining of politics, capital and the nuclear industry' police informers and dodgy enviropolitics: the Grogans with their interplanetary empire powered by plutonium and an Earth(the GAIA mentioned thru the film is both an organisation and mother Earth) as Cravens daughter tells us will seek to destroy man. Im surprised this sort of film got made by the BBC in the Thatcher years, when it'd be impossible today. An interesting take is tho the daughter is killed early on, her presence is felt thru the entire film, as she appears time and again as a guiding spirit and emissary to Craven. Is he insane, as some may suggest? Is colorful CIA maverick Jedburgh mad at the end? The magnificent NATO conference scene which takes an unexpected turn says other wise. Definitely worth seeing and owning.
Oblivion (2013)
SPOILERS: Deception or Things are not what they seem in film on Drone warfare
In Oblivion, Americans in particular get to see drones up close, in a manner only seen by their middleeast victims. I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie, and still have my queries. The title is suggestive but its meaning in 'forgetting', is not clear till later on. For the first half, life for our hero is simple. Jack Harper is a drone serviceman,who likes superbowl and longs to go to the remaining human colony on Titan,has an idyllic hermitage, with some very old books. He wants to go and wants to remain: Jack is a man divided.
But still has work to do on a shattered Earth. He has a team companion, a British woman Victoria who always stays behind monitoring his mission,a sort of mission controller. The only other human we see at first is a woman Sally, a mission controller(for real as we learn) who is supposed to be in the big upside down pyramidal thingy floating above the earth, where other humans are. The drones he services are for the protection of huge vacuum cleaners sucking up earths oceans for fusion power for humans on Titan, we are told. Also to kill any lurking alien menace (what else are drones good for?) Jack likes to take his bubble ship and traverse the remains of earth. He finds a downed drone and we learn he isbeing observed by unknown but likely sinister beings.Here the film is a thriller. Monsters lurk in the dark, threateningly, out of view: its suggested they are the same aliens who destroyed the moon. (Thank god for the drones!) A trip to an underground place where lurk sinister figures who almost kill Jack, but for a drone (god bless em) which comes to his rescue. He is cleared by it and it terminates whatever lurking fiends were present. Things go swimmingly for jack and his lovely team mate (who he ties to please by bringing back a plant(flowers?), which she drops over the side of their house (no potentially toxic plants please, were British): they as we are reminded: 'an effective team', tho he does have these dreams of an unknown woman, and a intact NY. Flies off to an idyll he seems to have made, Till one day a ship careers into the atmosphere and Jack goes to investigate. Finds a human cargo in sleep pods, one woman he is able to rescue but the rest are killed by the drones: an event which alarms Jack. The woman is the woman in his dreams, From here the film slowly turns into a 'reality is not what you think it is' vehicle, as we learn the sinister shadowy figures are the real surviving humans, the drones are really alien kill machines 'terminating' what is left of humanity, and Jack and Victoria are clones. The bad guys are really good guys and vice versa, drones are not there to defend humanity,things are not what they seem, and Jack and Vicky, the now not so effective team are clone pawns serving the alien invaders stealing our earths precious bodily fluids(sorry!) and servicing the machines sent to kill any surviving humanity. Nice! Pananoia never looked so good! For Jack and us, the is advised by advised by god...sorry Morgan Freemans character to enter the radiation zone, which he does ...the truth really is out there! Jack and we the audience suddenly have our take on things turned upside down....or rightside up. If truth lies in Knowing Thyself, Jack gets a real education! This is a well made film showing further advances in film technology and i feared it was all about that and nothing else....but surprisingly it does force the viewer to review the ideas he has been fed by the Sallys of the apocalyptic military media industrial complex...are drones good? are they saving humanity or
have we all been deceived. Its interesting that American jack has a British partner servicing the drones...nudge nudge wink wink.But its not till after Jack enters the Forbidden zone, a finds its another area serviced by an identical Jack Harper and Vicky, that this theme is itself inverted. For Jack Vicky and Julia were part of a mission to destroy the pyramid. Its curious that Julia has a Russian(or Ukrainian) name! A desire to see US and Russia make amends? to become a really effective team. The 'are you an effective team' question 'Sally' asks of British Vicky, can be asked of the current UK/US imperial alliance: add France and you have FUKUS,currently waging war in Africa and middle east...just like the never seen aliens. In politics as in the film, things ain't what they seem to be. It will be interesting to see how Americans in particular see this film.
Inception (2010)
a modern day Orpheus and Eurydice
I've seen it twice so far: Inception is a fabulous high quality heist movie in which nothing is taken: instead an idea is implanted: in the mind of a mark(Murphy) but also the audience... Its also a journey into the underworld...and calls to mind the story of Orpheus and Eurydice...and his journey to rescue his wife from death. Cobb may not be able to rescue his dead wife, but his obsession with her leads him in the end to making a journey deep into an Underworld, where she has become a more vindictive character. Like Orpheus: Cobb cant return Mal to the world of the living: he can only let her go... Also another nice twist is to have an Ariadne who makes mazes. But She is also the thread that guides the audience thru the story...she asks our questions..she goes all the way to Limbo with Cobb, and her last words to him are words of advice: to rescue Saito....as if she is implanting an idea in his mind..
What a great cast of characters playing off one another: who lighten the tense story Loved the scenes in the dreams when the van is in freefall or rolling down the slope....as if in a dream! Quirks like: after Yusuf has righted the van, he turns to share the experience with the passengers...only then remembering they are asleep, and Arthus playful kiss with Ariadne.. The most novel idea? the projections acting like white blood cells against the invaders...
Sita Sings the Blues (2008)
thanks Dave, for midhusbanding a masterpiece
I wonder what Dave is thinking now....,If his goal was to seek immortality,...he chose the right method, and the right spouse to dump. For Nina Paley has made a masterpiece of animation that has it all: clear, beautiful, vibrant, witty,ironic tragic that equates Dave with Rama and herself with Sita. Its bound to be played and remembered for years after Dave is pushing up the daisies. Two parallel stories: Ninas and Sitas interwoven provide us with fabulous entertainment and a cautionary tale , Nina with her revenge, and Dave with a wish he'd been nicer.. WE know the story now..of Sitas abduction, her devotion and Ramas obsession with purity. But its told by a modern woman, so has that feminist edge. Sita is too sweet to rebuke Rama his injustice, so Nina steps in, and when Sitas children sing the praises of Ram, Nina has them tell it like it is.... Such a variety of animation, as if one kind alone couldn't tell her story. Unlike much American animation which has lots of money behind it but little inspiration, this one is refreshingly mature,worthy of its subject, and yet can appeal to children: nothing false, cloying, ..just real feeling...Interestingly, Paley uses simple line drawings making her own story the more cartoonish, as if it was too painful to treat dramatically, and seems to sublimate it into Sitas story.When she learns dave has dumped her, her cry is cartoonish,...cockroaches replace the cat as her companions, as her life crumbles,,,.her life has gone dark, and so its fitting that at Ninas lowest point a dark figure dances amidst the flames.
Throughout the beautiful voice of Annette Hanshaw, speaks for Sita, Nina and others dumped and unwanted: whose spouses have been mean to them.
Avatar (2009)
Going Native: AVATARA visual feast: fantastic film...SPOILERS
Well, after months of waiting ,i finally got to see Avatar, a film all about going native... with a vengeance. My worst fears, from the trailer: hackneyed dialogue, didn't materialise, and tho the script was excellent, it was the actors who brought it and Pandora to life. Subtle, tender, sweet, brutal, menacing:cameron doesn't do things by halves. The tenderness of the two leads is as convincing as the initial menace of the na'vi and the growing menace of the humans. Worthington and Saldana are splendid as the two leads...Worthinton making his slow and painful transition from human to navi credible by digging into his character and finding the heart. The direction, script and running time allow space for this transformation...
NO: Its not necessary to have a completely new idea...but it is important to make it come alive. In this Cameron and his crew have succeeded...much of this is due to the SFX teams and the actors. Saldana may have been as much of a chance for Cameron as Worthinton(who made me think of Russell Crowe), being little known, and having #150,000,000 riding on her slender form but she gives life and passion to elven Neytiri: as the princess, teacher friend and lover to the initially wild Jake: going from a wish to kill, contempt slowly shedding these as she recognises Jakes worth(pun!) and teaches him the ways of her people. The spine of the film is his transformation, which is one of the highlights. Lang as Qaritch, is also terrific as the brutal Qaritch, with his single vision, and dark alter-teacher to Jake...Marked like Ahab, has only made his character the more ominous..he's like a bomb waiting to go off. Sigoruney Weaver is terrific as the tough principled scientist, who stands up to the corporate mercenaries. I liked the idea where jakes 'emptiness' was used to his advantage over the scientists in bridging the gulf between human and Navi. Interesting irony, this scene echoes the tea pouring scene in that other fabulous epic: 2012. Notable feature of the film is nits use of parallels: esp the robot transports who counterparts to the Avatars: the mechanical/scientific vs the natural/mystical embody the confrontation we see in our world. Ironical. The world itself is loving rendered: almost it looks as if cameron has been to pandora and filmed live. But we can see where much of the money went! From the great trees, to the luminous seedpods, flying beasts and snarling dog things, floating mountains and calling waterfalls the world is rendered in marvelous detail. Beautiful and dangerous. Avatar is the furthest anyone has gone in rendering alien worlds in mainstream life action films...only European animation (Fantastic Planet) has gone further.
And tho the people are blue, there's not a smurf in sight...
2012 (2009)
Spoilers: Great end of the world movie: excellent script and cast
I must be alone in thinking this a much better movie than many of the mainstream critics and potluck reviewers on IMDb. Some reviews were so bad they've forced me to make afew comments on the film. 1. Its a great script, mixing humor and pathos, great and emotional dialogue, terrific CGI...
Notable scene: the train hurtling into the void...a scene that could come from a John Martin (google him) painting.
Since the film has made > $600million, we can assume few people have not seen it. Divorced Writer and general Everyman Jackson Curtiss and bibliophile and humanitarian Dr Adrian Helmsely head the two story lines, when it becomes known the world is about to end.Helmsely sets in motion a plan to save a remanent of humanity, Curtiss learns by lucky accident from conspiracy theorist Charlie Frost (a comic gem) of the disaster and the US govt plans to build 'spaceships', and blessed with the most amazing luck effects to get his estranged to the point of departure. The most implausible events happen, everything is written on a grand scale, yet the characters are NOT overwhelmed, thanks to the clever casting choices for the the varied characters, a strong well written script(see Charlie Frost giving his sermon on the mount), where wit and humor do not detract from the tragedy that unfold. The film moves deftly thru emotional registers, from humor to pathos often in one scene, without jarring. For those who find no emotions, i suggest they go see the film, or did they miss the 'President of the louve is an enemy of humanity' scene aboard airforce one. Helmsely - Anheuser constantly bicker as they present the two poles in the story of ruthless pragmatism and naieve humanitarianism. The most novel casting feature is Charlie Frost: a wild eyed conspiracy theorist, whose radio fulminations are more accurate that Cal tech, and whose apotheosis on the mountain continues the biblical strain in full Isaiah mode in the story as he launches into his prophetic attack on humanity forseeing with certain relish the end of Washington. This film has a bit of everything in its script, allowing space for sly political commentary...G8 ships end up seeking refugee in the third world(Africa), threading the idea of the end of the world into random thoughts ('Curtiss, late to meet family: 'Im a dead man') to the jazz duos: 'It ain't the end of the world'. Well known personalities are given sly post modern digs: Governor Schwarzenegger calming peoples fears that the worst is over just when California erupts, and the Queen and her corgies is seen doing what the Obama like president does not. While more somber moments are given to characters like the excellent Danny Glover's President Wilson...Obama?? But the heart of the film is well borne by the two leads: earnest thespian Ejiofor and sly-witted Cusack, both embodying a compassionate urge, which is why they have suck great luck?.
Comedy, pathos, tragedy,wit, is crammed skillfully into the fleeting 2.5 hours, engaging this viewer and not letting up till the cliff hanging climax.