Tag Archives: Movies

A very pleasant surprise Juggernaut

Last week when I stayed home from the day-job with a migraine one of the things I did in the afternoon when I was feeling better was surf the Netflix instant view queue.

For those not in the know, if you have a Netflix account and a Netflix compatible device, such as an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, you can stream select movies from Netflix directly to your television. Sometimes even in high-def.

Juggernaut was a film I discovered by surfing what was available for streaming. I did not watch the movie that day, my headache was still too intense to allow full concentration. Last night after we finished watching our recordings of The Daily Show & The Colbert Report my sweetie-wife and went to the Netflix queue for something to watch. She spotted the Juggernaut in the ‘recently viewed’ queue — I had watched a few minutes to get a feeling for the quality of the production — and after a short bit of internet research she decided she wanted to watch the film as well.

Damn, this was one well made movie. The plot is simple. An extortionist has planted several large bombs on an ocean liner, he his demanding a large sum of money or he will not reveal how to deactivate the bombs. 1200 people are aboard the ocean and a mid-Atlantic gale prevents them from being evacuated. Time is running out until the bombs explode.

Now a plot like that can be done well and you will get a taunt suspenseful film, or it can be done badly and you get mindless action and explosions. This film was done well. For a bonus look at this cast. Richard Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Omar Sharif, Ian Holm, and a slate of character actors you’re sure to recognize when you see them. The tension in the film was quite strong, watching at home, with a headache, in a well lit room, I still felt it tightening my muscles. This is a movie I would never hesitate to show to someone. See it if you can.

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Not much of a post tonight

I am suffering from a headache. Nasty enough to put me off my editing and posting tonight.

I was going to post a length essay on 2001: A Space Odyssey , but instead I will leave you with this challenge. IN that famous SF film, before thing start going wrong aboard Discovery, how many scenes can you find that have a dramatic nature and not a purely expository nature?

For a scene to have a dramatic nature it must posses a character, that character must have a goal, and there must be an obstruction to that goal. An Expository scene conveys information about the setting or character or plot that the viewer needs to understand the events of the film. (I would also posit that the expository scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey do a particularly  poor job of exposition.)

Personally I cannot think of any scenes before we are on the Discovery that were not of a purely expository nature. Drama simple did not exist in that film until HAL went nuts.

**shudder**

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Mini-review Tron: Legacy

This weekend saw the release of TRON: Legacy, a sequel the the cult film TRON from 1982.

TRON did not become the blockbuster hit that Disney had hoped for in 1982 and so the film was relegated to home video when that appeared in the market. There TRON found a following and has become something of a cult hit.

Now twenty-eight years later Disney has released a big-budget sequel to the sleeper cult hit. There are those who have called this a remake but that is simply and categorically wrong. TRON: Legacy builds on the story laid down in the TRON. Surprisingly you do not need to have seen TRON to understand the story of TRON: Legacy. The screenwriters and filmmakers have done a pretty decent job of crafting a story that can be followed by people new the TRON universe and one that can be enjoyed by the fans of the original TRON.

There are those who would consider this film a science-fiction film, but I approach it as a fantasy. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of computers can see that the terabytes and terabytes of data and processing that would be required for such a real-time environment is simply beyond anything close to existing in our world. So if you are a computer literate person I would suggest that you leave your specialized knowledge in the lobby and accept TRON as fantasy and allegory.

This story is simple. Sam Flynn, orphaned at a young age, discovers a clue that his father may not have died or abandoned him. He seeks out this clue and ends up in a  realm of fantastic imagery and dangers, both for Sam and for our world at large. Sam must learn to navigate this new and threatening world with a bewildering array of allies and enemies. During the course of the adventure Sam learns about forgiveness and the dangers of arrogance.

My friend Bear and I saw this film during the matinee show this morning and we both enjoyed ourselves. The story moved along, the characters were convincing, and once the ground rules were established the world of the story behaved in a consistent and logical fashion. The 3-D effect was well used to portray the world of the computer-grid and the director resisted the temptation top thrust items repeatedly at the audience. (Though I will say that this film will play perfectly fine in2-D.)

Bear commented on what appeared to be fairly obvious Christian symbology in the film, and his argument for it is not a weak one. However, I think it could be taken too far. I cannot discuss the weakness and the Christian allegory without giving out too many spoilers. What is central to Christian theology, the sacrifice to wash away another’s sins is missing and so I do not think this was a direct Christian allegory.

This is a movie worth watching in the theaters, particularly if you were a fan of the first film.

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Sunday Night Movie: The Kentucky Fried Movie

I was not in the mood for anything heavy, serious, or that require more brain power than say a epileptic mouse. After scanning my collection I settling on the sketch comedy movie, The Kentucky Fried Movie, for my sunday night feature.

If you are familiar with Airplane! then you know something of the kind of humor to expect from The Kentucky Fried Movie. It was written by the director/writers of Airplane! and directed by John Landis.

The film is a collection of sketches and comedy bits. Most are presented in a coming attractions format except for the odd TV spot and of course their feature presentation: A Fist Full Of Yen.

This is not a movie for the kiddies. There is rampant nudity and language, but hell there’s nothing wrong with either of those thing in my book.

I suspect that much of the humor will be dated and inaccessible to viewers not young enough to remember the seventies. The PSA, the films parodied, and the frequent refrain ‘Film at 11’ are pretty much meaningless now. That said I think that there is enough humor that it would still be entertaining just not as fulfilling as to say someone of my age bracket.

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Sunday Night Movie: Forbidden Planet

Commander J.J. Adams has got problems. Firstly, he’s in command of 18 highly-competitive physically perfect specimens of manhood who have been cooped up inside a tiny spaceship for 370 days. Next, the twenty members of the Bellerophon expedition he has been sent to relieve are all, save one, dead. Slaughtered by a mysterious and unstoppable entity. The sole survivor the enigmatic Dr. Morbius refused to divulge the secrets of the ancient and dead world orbiting Altair. If all that wasn’t enough, Commander Adams finds himself competing with his own First Officer for the affection of Morbius’ beautiful and intelligent daughter, Altaira.

Forbidden Planet is truly one of the great films of Science-Fiction. I selected it as my Sunday Night Movie to honor the passing of it’s star, Leslie Nielson . (see action pose to the left, and thanks to Forbidden Planet’s The Daily Planet for the image.) If you are 30 or under it is likely that you know Leslie Nielson only as a talent comedic actor, but that was his second career as an actor. From the 50’s through the 70’s Leslie Nielson was primarily a dramatic actor.  Forbidden Planet is one of his first leading man roles and he was selected to be a dashing, romantic lead. That said, he found moments in the script where is comic timing could come to the fore.

This is a movie about power, the corruption of power, and how that corruption can take place even with the best and noblest of intentions. It is a warning that the powers of a god does not make a god. A warning that all of us have a nasty dark and dangerous side that is best kept chained in the basement of our minds.

The script is dated and there is no mistaking that this was a story and characters populated in the 1950s. It might take place in the year 2500 or something, but the culture and the characters are pure Americana in the mid 1950s.  That said it is still one of the handful of SF films that I would urge all serious fans of the genre see. The story is still compelling, the science is still spot-on and the vision still bold .

If you watch this movie you might feel flashbacks to the original series of Star Trek and that would be understandable. Gene Roddenberry’s show was clearly following in the footsteps on this film. This is one of the pivotal movies influscing film and Tv producers until today.

Every now and then someone tries to get this remade, and in my opinion that is a bad idea. Last I heard there were considering a three picture remake, ’cause hey that makes more mulla. If they make it, it won’t be as good. It will not be as bold and as original. This movie is not flawed and it is not forgotten, it should be left alone.

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Super Saturday

So I picked up Call of Duty: Black Ops for my Xbox 306 and that has proved to be a very enjoyable game. I love a couple of the new feature, such as theaters where you can watch and clip your past games as movies and I love that you can now take a friend on-line as a guest. (Shame it doesn’t allow two friends.)

Tonight I’ll be heading out to San Diego Vintage SF for a screening of Them!, so tonight is looking good.

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