Surrogates

November 30th, 2009
Rosamund pike

Rosamund pike

Bruce Willis latest movies is an interesting sci-fi thriller, “Surrogates”.

In this not too distant future, a new technology has revolutionized the way human beings live their lives.

It enables them to control human looking robots from their home through the waves of their brains. They use these “surrogates” to act on their behalf while they stay comfortably laying on their couch.

This technology has many advantages. Accidents, murders and wars occur with minimal human casualties as it is the surrogates that are destroyed in case of an accident, not the human “operator” who is perfectly safe. Diseases do not spread easily. And people love to use these gorgeous young looking models instead of their own old skin.

Bruce Willis plays Tom Greer, who is not too surprisingly a cop investigating what appears to be a murder. It seems that by destroying a surrogate, the murderer achieved what was previously  thought impossible: killing its operator. This had never happened before and it put the entire surrogacy system at risk by nullifying its main advantage, protecting human lives.

The main players coming of this original sci-fi thriller are Canter (James Cromwell) the inventor of the surrogate technology and The Prophet (Ving Rhames) who is the leader of the anti-surrogacy movement. Tom Greer lost his son in a car accident and his wife Maggie (Rosamund Pike) has become addicted to her surrogate, never leaving her room herself in person.

Surrogates is a nice addition to the science fiction genre with its good storyline. The concept in itself is rather new, and is an extension of our current society’s trends such as automation, robotization and social networking. The movie is inspired by a five-issue comic book written by Robert Venditti and drawn by Brett Weldele.

For sci-fi aficionados and people who love Bruce Willis like me, you should check it, but it is not the most unforgettable sci-fi movie. The director is Jonathan Mostow who is a good but not great director.

Some of the interesting aspects of the movie are the depiction of a society where people use machines to act on their behalf, and when this social trend leads to unforeseen consequences such as addiction and dependency.

Not expected to be happening soon, this is nevertheless a possibility in human evolution. The surrogates are copies of their operators, but better looking, displaying less emotions and with extraordinary physical capabilities as can be seen in some of the races in the movie.

The message of the movie: Technology will revolutionize our society more then what we expect.

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District 9

October 29th, 2009
Nathalie Boltt

Nathalie Boltt

A sci-fi original.

The quality of this movie is guaranteed given that it is produced by Peter Jackson, the mastermind behind the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Even though this is the directorial debut of Neill Blomkamp and there is no famous actor, this is going to be a memorable sci-fi blockbuster.

District 9 is the story of a starship that stops just above Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa and then stays forever above ground, immobile and obscuring part of the sky. After a few months, the humans penetrate into it, to discover a wavering population of aliens appearing sick, malnourished, without organization and who seem to have lost the knowledge of how to maneuver the spaceship .

The movie takes places twenty years after the spaceship initial arrival. As patience regarding this “alien situation” has ran out, the management of the alien population has been contracted out to the private company Multi-National United (MNU) which relocates them in a ghetto-like area called “District 9″.

District 9 is a scary slum where various types of traffic take place (weapons, food, etc) under the control of the Nigerian mafia. Aliens speak their own language and have their own culture and habits, making co-habitation very difficult.

This sci-fi masterpiece is original for a few reasons. First the format of the movie, which is shot like if it were a documentary. Many short interviews of witnesses commenting on their impressions are intertwined with action footage. And they talk and appear as if it was the evening news, including expert commentaries by sociologists such as Sarah Livingstone (Nathalie Boltt). And there is impromptu footage filmed as the real events occurred.

The lead character presented himself as a witness is Wikuss Wan De Merwe, the manager from MNU responsible for relocating the 1.8 millions aliens to a remote and quieter location. This is a difficult operation as the aliens may not understand the concept of relocation (as they have no sense of propriety) and they are unpredictable and possibly violent, causing occasional deaths on both sides.

It turns out that one of the aliens had managed to preserve the knowledge of his race’s technology and had been working on building a small spacecraft during the last twenty years since their unfortunate arrival. But while raiding the place, Wikuss Wan De Merwe gets contaminated by a substance used to fuel the ship, and starts transforming himself into an alien.

This is not a Star Wars movie as the action is shot in real South Africa as we know it, and the budget is only 30 millions. But the special effects are first class for this relatively small budget. The aliens have a realistic appearance, the mother spaceship, small spaceship and robots are perfectly rendered as if we were watching the news channel.

Also District 6 has a great human touch. We see the hero losing his humanity as he progressively becomes an alien and his body suffers a slow metamorphosis. In the face of that, he becomes a valuable object of science for human society and is treated as such, without compassion as an object of immense value. His wife is the only one left who cares for him.

As this movie is presented in a narrative format, each person expresses his feelings about this extraordinary situation, offering a wide range of views and human emotions. Finally, the choice of the country famous for Apartheid and its huge ghettos is probably not coincidental to carry a message about races and tolerance.

The message of the movie: be tolerant to others and keep an open mind.

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Brüno

July 17th, 2009
Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul

I found Sacha Baron Cohen’s first movie “Borat” to be hilarious and original. Likewise for Brüno.

Nowadays many movies are remakes or uses a standard plot without surprises. This is not so of Sacha Baron Cohen’s movies.

The general format is similar to Borat. This is the story of a foreigner, an Austrian man, who goes to America in search of,…, fame. The footage is reality TV like, and this movie could have been filmed with a budget of one million or less. This just shows that great movies do not need great budgets.

It seems that a lot of the scenes are not rehearsed and that some of the people in the footage are not aware that they are part of the movie. Like when Paula Abdul is invited to an interview and asked to sit on Mexican gardeners acting like chairs during the interview. She reluctantly obliges.

But when Sacha Cohen offers her some food which comes served on a naked Mexican man wearing a condom and acting like the food tray, she runs away in a heartbeat.

Or does Harrison Ford know that he is in the movie for about five seconds when he politely refuses an interview request from Brüno with the short answer “f..k you”.

So this time Sacha Baron Cohen portrays Brüno, a male homosexual who is into fashion shows. He used to have his own TV show in Austria about fashion,but as was fired from it for making a mess in a Milan fashion show, so he decides to go to the USA to become a celebrity.

The movie is about Brüno’s impromptu adventures in the United States and in the Middle East where he attempts to establish a peace treaty. We see Brüno attending a swingers party, acting as an extra on NBC’s show medium, enrolling in the National Guards or being taken to the police station in bondage gear with his friend Lutz.

This is a highly provocative movie that portrays gay men in the least flattering light. As Brüno is “ultra-gay”, with all his pores screaming that he is gay every second of the movie. Sexual allusions and images abound. I am not sure if I would like the movie as much if I were gay, but I am not. So excuse me, but I enjoyed every moment of this movie, not because it is about gay people, but because it is so hilarious.

The message of the movie: Originality still exists in show business.

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Year One

July 10th, 2009
Juno Temple

Juno Temple

To be honest, this is not the type of movie that I normally go out watching, and the low IMDB rating of 5.1/10 confirms the general opinion about the quality level of  “Year One”.

Nevertheless I love Jack Black’s humor. And I was depressed.

But let me relate to you what I saw, as this movie is not that bad after all, and it has some good moments overall, keeping a good tempo all along. This is what I call “light entertainment”, so if you have two hours to kill and if you do not want to sit at a bar drinking beer, then you might as well see this movie.

It will cost you less, you will intake less calories, and you may even have some fun.

The storyline is about the adventures of Zed, a man of the year one, which here means the beginning of history as it was recorded in the Bible. This is the time of Abraham, comically portrayed by Hank Azaria, who also recently played another hilarious role from Antiquity in Night at the Museum.

This is the time when Cain (David Cross) kills Abel, when Abraham attempts to sacrifice his son Isaac to God (saved in extremis by Zed) and when Sodom and Gomorrah are still standing Cities, where lust and depravation are the norm.

Zed and is friend Oh (Michael Cera) are exiled from their village after Zed ate an apple from the “Tree of Knowledge”. Then starts an escapade that will lead them to Sodom in their attempt to rescue two enslaved girls from their village, Eema (Juno Temple ) and Maia (June Diane Raphael).

“Year One” is a big farce with a lot of comical scenes. For instance when Zed and Oh are captured, Oh is tied head down and he cannot avoid peeing on himself and on his face. Or when Jack Black tastes an excrement found on their way in order to determine who their enemies are.

A large part of the movie takes place in the City of Sodom. One colorful character is the effeminate High Priest played by Oliver Platt, who likes oily massages on his hairy torso. And the beautiful Olivia Wilde plays Princess Inanna who captivates Zed at first sight.

We also learn how Abraham invented circumcision and started by trying it on his son and friends. Bigots of the judeo-christian faith will not laugh much and may leave before the end, cursing and cussing. Why so serious? Let us just put things in place for once.

The message of the movie: Do not take stories from the Bible too seriously.

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The taking of Pelham 1 2 3

June 21st, 2009
Aunjanue Ellis

Aunjanue Ellis

Do you love John Travolta like me?

If you do, you will have a lot of fun watching his latest movie, “The taking of Pelham 1 2 3″. With co-star Denzel Washington, the pair of movie superstars  offer two hours of suspense in this thriller taking place in the New York subway.

This movie is a remake of a 1974 movie, both based on the novel of the same name by Morton FreedGood. In this remake directed by Tony Scott (Enemy of the State, Man on Fire), the story remains the same: hijackers take over a New York subway train and its passengers and request a ten million dollar ransom.

If the deadline of one hour is not met, one passenger will be killed every minute.

John Travolta plays “Ryder”, a Wall Street convict seeking revenge for his time in jail, while Denzel Washington is Garber, a demoted MTA official who happened to be there when the train was taken.

From start to end, the storyline centers around their dialogue and the unusual relation that they develop. An angered & desperate maniac who will go all the way to make his point, and a simple likable low-key family man who would not hurt a fly.

James Gandolfini plays the New York Mayor beautifully. He is the one with the responsibility to handle this difficult situation, while trying to preserve his own good image. John Turturro is the hostage negotiator, experienced and methodic.

Aunjanue Ellis plays Garber’s wife and she wants to make sure that he does not forget to bring a gallon of milk when he comes back (if still alive).

This is an action movie and there is a lot of it too, with nice special effects and an excellent camera work.

The message of the movie: if you know something no one else does, you can make a lot of money in the stock market.

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Star Trek (2009)

June 12th, 2009
Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana

As the most recognizable filmed sci-fi icon, no one remotely interested in the sci-fi genre can miss this new release of a Star Trek movie.

Interestingly (but fashionably correct), this is a prequel to the entire Star Trek series. As we learn about the youths of Captain Jim Kirk and Spock before they became Captain and First Officer of the Enterprise. Also how was Vulcan, Spock’s planet, destroyed.

All the other characters of the original series have their younger versions, and they look so familiar even 40 years since the first Star Trek.

Uhura, the young charming black American lady is played by Zoe Saldana. McCoy (Karl Urban), Sulu (John Cho), Chekov (Anton Yelchin) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) all are perfect reminiscences of the Entreprise crew as we used to know them.

There is always a bad guy and he is played marvelously by Eric Bana as Nero. Rarely will you see such a good looking bad guy.

The story takes place in the year 2387. Ambassador Spock has the delicate mission to consume a dangerous supernova. He pilots a ship carrying some so-called “red matter” that can be used to create black holes. But before he completes his mission, the supernova has destroyed the planet Romulus. Romulus is one of the inhabited planets in the original Star Trek galaxy, and its inhabitants the Romulans are related to the Vulcans.

Captain Nero, one of the survivors of the Romulan race attempts to exact revenge on Spock, whom he blames for the destruction of his homeworld and its inhabitants. Both ships, however, are caught in the black hole’s event horizon (a boundary in spacetime, most often an area surrounding a black hole, beyond which time as we know it to be does not exist).

As you can imagine, the special effects are top-notch (but to be honest not at the level of Star Wars). The space adventure runs its course in a marvelous way. It really feels like space travel really exists.

One element of success in Star Trek has always been its acting and its dialogues, with conflicting characters and a good sense of humor. This aspect is very well kept, in particular the struggles between Captain Kirk and Spock. Spock (Zahary Quinto) is a very likable character as we are the witness of his constant battles for controlling his own emotions, despite very difficult personal circumstances. The younger version of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) is also a perfect fit for the role, with all its bravado and courage.

A nice touch is the appearance of the true original Spock (now 78 years old) Leonard Nimoy, as an older Spock coming from the future.

Overall an excellent story and excellent actors and direction.

The message of the movie: let us try to control our emotions, or they will control us.

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Departures

June 9th, 2009
Kimiko Yo

Kimiko Yo

A very interesting Japanese movie.

This movie won an Oscar for the best foreign language film of 2008, as well as prizes in Japan.

I found “Departures” to be quite a refreshing movie. Refreshing from the usual Hollywood fast paced type production that has overwhelmed the Western market for a long time.

There is a mix of comical misunderstandings within a very serious subject, i.e. death. This is a slow paced movie with a lot of drama. No special effects or big budget, but an emphasis on the characters.

Daigo is a chronic screw-up who changes his career from an orchestra cellist to working for departures, as the orchestra is disbanded. He thought that “departure” was some sort of travel agency for which he applied through an ad, and little did he know that the company deals with encoffination, i.e. the ceremonial preparation of corpses for cremation.

Initially taken aback by the revelation that the job involves dealing with dead people, he slowly gets immersed in his new duties and progressively learns to master them to the level of an art reminiscent of flower arrangement. As it consists in cleaning and preparing the dead bodies in slow rituals.

He works with his taciturn boss Ikuei Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamazaki) and his beautiful secretary Yuriko Kamimura (Kimiko Yo). The trio forms an unlikely morbid set.

The movie takes place for the most part in the countryside of Japan at and around the small town of Sakata, Yamagata. Beautiful pictures of this simple and ancestral lifestyle, entirely Japanese as foreigners do not wander in this area. Bathhouse, local houses or a river full of dying salmon in a mountain scenery.

Death is the central theme so if you are looking for a comedy this is not what I recommend, even though there is a constant sense of irony in most situations. But this is one of the saddest movie that I have seen recently, and the beautiful cello music accompanying the events is a good choice to make this sense of sadness even more powerful.

Another theme is the (estranged) father. Or his absence, as Daigo has not seen his in thirty years, since he left them with a waitress. This is sad as well because his father has left a strong mark in Daigo’s psyche, or rather what has become a scar now. He cannot even remember his father’s face.

But it is his father who made him study the cello while still a toddler, and hence he has had a profound influence on Daigo’s destiny despite his disappearance. Daigo still keeps a stone that his father gave him.

The message of the movie: parents have an immense influence on their children.

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The Spirit

May 31st, 2009
Eva Mendes

Eva Mendes

The Spirit is a Frank Miller adaptation of a DC Comics series started in the 40s.

It stars the beautiful Eva Mendes, and the not less beautiful Scarlett Johansson, alongside Samuel L. Jackson.

Frank Miller is a very unusual director and his movies are highly unique. Miller is a writer artist and film director, who originally wrote comic books, and that shows in his movies.

He directed the truly brilliant Sin City, where real footages were merged with a comic books overlay in a way never seen before.

He also produced 300, a movie  of splendid computer generated images mixed with real shots. “The Spirit” follows in the same vein, with the comic books fantasy look overwhelming each scene.

Unfortunately, The Spirit is a much weaker creation than the two other movies. My feeling is that one significant difference stems from the leading actor. In Sin City, Mickey Rourke was amazing as the villain turned hero, genuine, powerful and unstoppable. Mickey truly melted into the comic books images.

In 300, Gerard Butler similarly was the perfect actor for the role of an antique Spartan King who personified glory in War. A true hero and brilliant general defending his country at all cost.

But in The Spirit, Gabriel Macht was too weak an actor for the role. Certainly a fine actor, he nevertheless does not have the personality to represent a convincing masked vigilante fighting crime when the City sleeps, as the Spirit likes to do.

The story follows the general line of DC comics books, with one superhero fighting an equally powerful villain criminal. Here the villain is the person of the “Octopus” (Samuel L. Jackson), whose quest for immortality imperils the entire city. The Spirit is the hero with similarities to Batman, helping the police but staying in the shadows and always keeping his mask.

The Octopus is assisted by his accomplice Silken Floss (Scarlet Johansson) and a herd of easily disposable genetically engineered clones. The Spirit is helped by femme fatale Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) who was his sweet heart from his previous life.

The Spirit does not remember who he is and the truth will be revealed by his arch-nemesis the Octopus, but let us keep the suspense intact.

The message of the movie: Frank Miller makes really beautiful movies.

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Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

May 26th, 2009
Amy Adams

Amy Adams

Ben Stiller is back with a sequel to his 2006 Box Office, “Night at the Museum“, which takes place in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. this time.

For those of you who loved the first one, this movie is as good, if not better. This is a perfect movie to take your young children if you have any, as the ones around me kept on getting all excited. Or if not, you can bring your parents. This is a great family movie with lots of fun.

Ben Stiller plays Larry Daley, a Museum night guard who lives unbelievable adventures at night at the Museum, as the statues, human pieces and animals suddenly come to life.

In this sequel, Larry finds out that some of his nocturnal friends from the American Museum of Natural History are to be moved and stored in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.  Once there, they are attacked by Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), who is an ancient Great Pharaoh from Egypt.

They all battle for the “Tablet of Arkmenrah”, which can be used to open the gates of the underworld and unleash an army that could help Kahmunrah conquer the world.

Interesting characters abound. Kahmunrah hires Napoleon (Alain Chabat), Ivan the Terrible and Al Capone to help him open the Gate. On the other side, there is Abraham Lincoln,  Albert Einstein bobbleheads, Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Attila the Hun and many more.

Last but not least, there is also Amelia Earhart, the first woman pilot to cross the Atlantic, played by the beautiful Amy Adams. She rapidly falls in love with Larry.

This is a very fun comedy to watch. The dialogues are excellent, especially when the bad Pharaoh speaks. And the special effects make it look all too real. Sometimes the characters jump into a painting and the scene inside the painting becomes alive. Or in the scene in the National Air and Space Museum, Amelia flies an old double wing plane through the entire Museum. Fortunately, the capuchin monkey opens the door at the last second.

The message of the movie: it is fun to be a kid.

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Terminator Salvation

May 24th, 2009
Moon Bloodgood

Moon Bloodgood

Terminator Salvation stars Christian Bale as John Connor, Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, Moon Bloodgood as Lt. Blair Williams and Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor.

If will not hide that sci-fi is my favorite genre, I think the top logo makes it rather clear. And if I had to make a top ten sci-fi movie list, then “The Terminator” (1984) would probably make it. It find both the special effects and story line to be top of their class, and this is what makes most of a sci-fi movie.

This iconic movie more than deserves sequels. Terminator 2: Judgment day was almost as good as the first one. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, still good but a bit weaker. Now this fourth release Terminator Salvation is an improvement from the third one.

The sad thing is that we lost Arnold Schwarzenegger as he quit acting (action actors do not age well), but he appears in a small cameo in the movie, and that is excellent.

The best side of Terminator Salvation that all sci-fi fans and non fans will love is the special effects. There are robots in all sizes and shapes. The fast motorbikes, the giant human-shaped robots, the spaceships all are amazing.

The storyline focuses on the origin of the T-800 model of Terminators, which are cyborg-types of robots with human appearance made famous in the original Terminator. Skynet, the robotic ennemy of the human race, needs real human tissues in order to create these cyborgs. This is why they must capture human beings and this is what John Connor is trying to uncover.

Marcus Wright is the first ever cyborg. He seems to have appeared from nowhere, thinking that he is human. He was a prisoner on death row in 2003, and this is now 2018.  He meets the beautiful Ltd. Blair Williams after a heated battle against the robots, and she falls for him. But as he walks on a magnetic mine revealing his true robotic nature, he is captured by John Connor’s group.

He manages to escape and the question is which side of his human and  cybernetic nature will prevail to decide the fate of the human race in its war against the robots.

Overall an excellent science fiction movie. It was directed by McG who is not a very prominent director, but did a great job.

The message of the movie: “I will be back.”

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