Tag Archives: 4.5/5 stars

Book Review: A Stolen Life

Over the past three days I’ve been completely consumed by Jaycee Dugard’s memoir, “A Stolen Life.”  Jaycee was abducted by two strangers on her way to school in 1991 at age 11.  For the next eighteen years, she was held in captivity by Phillip and Nancy Garrido until her rescue in 2009.  She endured years of sexual and psychological abuse and gave birth to two daughters with her captor, the first when she was only 14 years old.

Phillip and Nancy Garrido

Jaycee’s memoir covers a vast range of topics, from her life before the Garridos, to her kidnapping, sexual abuse (including many gruesome “runs” when Phillip Garrido would get high on crank [meth] and rape her continuously for days), her 1st and 2nd pregnancies, daily life in the backyard compound, excursions out into the real world, Garrido’s printing business, using the internet to have “school” for her children, Phillip Garrido’s religious zeal and beliefs, dealing with her constant internal debate of fleeing or staying the Garridos, and her life post-recovery.  The book is a mixture of 1st person narration and real journal entries from her time in captivity.

What interested me most in Dugard’s account was that in spite of being almost entirely isolated from the “real world” for 18 years, she lived vicariously through the TV and internet and many of her entries seem as if she had a relatively normal life.  She talks about her love of Star Trek, watching the twin towers fall on TV, her favorite Kelly Clarkson songs and waking up to make coffee and watch the Today Show.  But then she reminds her audience that she lives in a tent, pees in a bucket and eats fast food every day.  What a bizarre existence!  And most amazing of all– she says that in spite of the Garridos ruining her childhood, taking her away from her family and abusing her for 18 years, she isn’t full of regret and she isn’t full of hate– she just wants to get on with her life.

The most frustrating element of this book is just realizing how terribly easy it would have been for Jaycee to escape and how terribly the police failed her.  First of all, Phillip Garrido was already a convicted rapist on probation.  His parole officer showed up all the time, but never thought to look in the backyard.  There were dozens of times when the Garridos took Jaycee in public and she could’ve easily escaped, but once her daughters were born, she felt she couldn’t leave without taking them with her.  Also, most frustrating of all, Jaycee had internet access for a huge portion of her captivity, but Phillip warned her that computers tracked everything you did online and that he would check up on her.  If only she knew how to erase her search history, she could’ve been freed in the mid-nineties!

To properly appreciate A Stolen Life, you have to be an animal lover.  If I hadn’t grown up with many pets, I’m sure I would’ve been bored by half of the book.  She spends so much time detailing all of her different pets, because aside from her children, that’s all she had for 18 years.  Of course, this was all part of Garrido’s method of manipulating Jaycee: Jaycee wants a cat, Garrido gets her a cat, she spends every day for months playing with it and Garrido takes it away; Jaycee gets a new cat, Garrido takes it away; Jaycee finds two cats, neighbor dogs kill the cats; Jaycee gets a pet bird, Nancy Garrido leaves it out in the cold and it freezes to death, and so on and so forth.  It’s actually very frustrating to read because every time Jaycee gets a pet and talks about the process of naming it and training it and loving it, you know its only a matter of time before Garrido takes it away or something kills it, and then Jaycee is heartbroken again.

The only part of the book that I found rather dull was the extremely detailed accounts of her equine therapy post-recovery.  I appreciated all that Jaycee had to say about seeing her mom and family again, getting to know her little sister (who was a baby when she was kidnapped and is now in college) and becoming independent, but all the info on horse therapy almost seemed corny and dull.  So a bucket of grain represents Jaycee’s story and the horse represents the media, so a shed represents the Garridos and a horse represents Jaycee– unfortunately all of this at the end of the book was rather boring to me after such an amazing and emotional recovery.  In my opinion, she should’ve ended the book after reuniting with her family and talking about her new life with them– the dullest part of the book shouldn’t be the ending.

Jaycee today

At any rate, I highly recommend this book to everyone.  It can be extremely frustrating and depressing at times, but it is an amazing first hand account of the best and the worst of humanity.  What Jaycee lived through is completely unbelievable and her story is definitely the most interesting memoir I’ve ever read.  4.5/5 stars.

OH– and for those of you who were wondering, Phillip and Nancy confessed to their crimes in court.  Phillip received a punishment of 431 years in jail and Nancy received 36 years – life.

Movie Review: Exit Through the Gift Shop

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (On DVD & Netflix Instant)

Originally started as a long-term documentary project on the street art movement by amateur French “filmmaker” Thierry Guetta, internationally renowned street artist Banksy took over and turned the camera on the cameraman himself when he realized Guetta had no abilities as a filmmaker.   Banksy documents Guettas almost instantaneous transformation into a phony but successful
“artist” who copies everyone else’s work and sells it under the name “Mr. Brainwash.”

2010.  Directed by Banksy

Oh, burn!

Exit Through the Gift Shop is one of the most excellently crafted documentaries I have seen in recent history.  Banksy uses a combination of Guetta’s footage and first person interviews with very successful street artists (most of whom thrive anonymously because of the illegal nature of their work, including Banksy himself, who is disguised throughout the entire film) to establish Guetta’s intentions to film the movement and be the right hand man of the major players.  It is only after Banksy agrees to help the filmmaker that he realizes Guetta is a complete fake– over the years he has recorded literally THOUSANDS of tapes under the pretenses that he is making a documentary– but he stores them, unlabeled and unorganized, in boxes in his house.  He has no intentions of making a documentary, and when Banksy tells him to wrap it up, the results are unbelievably bad.  So, Banksy takes over the project and we are left with this: “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” a bloody brilliant documentary that seamlessly turns against its own protagonist (Guetta) partway through the film, and exposes him for the fame-seeking phony that he actually is.

What I love about the film is that it is an incredible commentary on the realities of the contemporary art scene from one of its most important players.  For those of you interested in the controversies of contemporary art, I highly recommend the book The $12 Million Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art. I read this book a few years ago and became fascinated by the subject.  Although many people question whether what famous contemp’s like Banksy or Hirst do is or isn’t art, there is no question after watching this movie that what “Mr. Brainwash” produces is a self-centered project that thrives on stealing– yes, stealing– other people’s work.  Banksy notes, “Warhol repeated iconic images until they became meaningless, but there was still something iconic about them. Thierry really makes them meaningless.”  What is brilliant about this film is that without realizing it, you go from thinking Guetta is weird but okay to literally hating the man.  And that’s what makes Banksy brilliant.  I’ve been a fan of Banksy’s visual art for a long time, but if Banksy can produce this quality of work on film, I want to see more of where that came from.

Of course, I have to note that many people wonder whether or not Guetta is even a real person– or just a fictional character that Banksy created for the sake of film.  Knowing Banksy, this is very likely.

Bottom Line: A fascinating commentary on the world of contemporary art– and for those not interested in the “art world,” an exquisite character study.  4.5/5 stars.

Summer Movie Review!

Since I’ve been pretty bad about keeping up with this blog recently, I feel like I need to do justice to some of my favorite movies of the summer.  People have been complaining about the quality of the movies this summer and the drop in Box Office revenue.  Hello– maybe it’s because by May, theaters across the U.S. had already increased their ticket prices on average by 8%.  Maybe it’s not the movies that suck it’s the prices.  Regardless, there have been some awesome movies this summer, and that’s what I’m here to tell you about, so you can spend those hard-earned dollars on things like Inception (5 stars) and not The Other Guys (barely 2 stars).

Inception (2010): Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine and Cillian Murphey; Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan

If you haven’t seen Inception yet, drop everything you’re doing and get ready for the mind-trip of the century.  Having seen Inception in the theaters 4 times now (embarrassing, maybe, but worth it), I can safely say that it is probably the most intelligent movie I have ever seen, and certainly in my top five favorite movies of all time.  The concept is rather hard to explain to someone who hasn’t seen it– in fact, the first 1.5 hours of the movie are basically a training course for the audience just so you can understand the next 1.5 hours of the movie.  Come in more than 15 minutes late, and you will be super confused.  Before seeing the movie, I read that it took Christopher Nolan ten years to write the screenplay.  After seeing the movie, I totally get that.

Without saying too much, Inception is basically a heist movie that takes place in the dream world– hence the tagline, “Your Mind is the Scene of the Crime.”  Not a sci-fi fan?  Doesn’t matter.  This world is surprisingly not too far from our own.  And who could sit through a movie with such a smoking hot cast and NOT enjoy it?  Very few.  I also highly recommend seeing this one on the big screen– the special effects are astounding.  After you’ve seen the movie, message me about the soundtrack– the story behind it will ALSO blow your mind.  Seriously– need I convince you any more?  Go see this movie.  Right now.  And bring your 5 Hour Energy because you really need to stay awake for this one.

5/5 stars

Toy Story 3 (2010): Starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and a bunch of other awesome people…

Why are kids movies these days so damn sad?  If you want to cry for two hours straight, go rent Up.  It’s literally impossible not to start crying during that montage at the beginning.  Just hearing the soundtrack to that movie brings tears to my eyes.  And it takes a lot to make me cry in a movie.  And then there’s Despicable Me (below)– so touching that a story about cats drinking milk will make you tear up.  But the mother-load of emotion comes to us in the form of Toy Story 3.  Bring your tissues, people.  This coming of age story hits you in the heart like a 18-wheeler on fire.  And aside from all the emotion, this movie is a masterpiece of screenwriting, character development and especially 3D animation.  I kinda liked Toy Story 1 and 2, but this movie deserves a lot of recognition.  Seriously, Pixar, stop being so awesome.  You’re making me nauseous.

5/5 stars

Despicable Me (2010): Starring Steve Carell, Julie Andrews, Russell Brand, Will Arnett, Jason Segel and Kristen Wiig

Despicable Me is your classic “hooker with a heart of gold” story.  Gru, a criminal mastermind who is planning the ultimate crime– stealing the moon, finds his true calling in life when three orphaned girl scouts show up on his front porch selling cookies.  Cliche?  Perhaps.  Predictable?  Definitely.  Adorable, fun and totally worth your money?  Absolutely.  While Despicable Me isn’t quite as astounding of an achievement as Toy Story 3, this is another awesome animated movie that all adults will appreciate.  While Toy Story 3 was making me cry, Despicable Me was cracking me up.  All the adults in the audience were beside themselves laughing… and then crying… and then laughing again.  I really liked Despicable Me, but unlike Inception and Toy Story 3, I don’t feel like I’d be missing anything if I just watched it on DVD and not in the theaters.  So if Despicable Me has already left theaters in your area (which it probably has), throw it on that Netflix queue and wait for DVD.

4.5/5 stars

Going the Distance (2010): Starring Justin Long and Drew Barrymore

I had pretty low expectations for Going the Distance, but as a girl, it is my imperative to see basically every romantic comedy that hits theaters aside from those starting in “Pride” and ending in “Prejudice” (don’t even get me started on that one…).  However, despite misleading advertising, Going the Distance is more in the vein of popular “guy comedies” like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Role Models, or basically anything starring Seth Rogen or Paul Rudd.  If you can’t handle a lot of sexual guy humor, maybe this isn’t the movie for you.  However, I haven’t laughed so hard in such a long time.  The cast has a great dynamic and the comedic timing was spot on.  Christina Applegate’s character was, at times, over the top.  But aside from that, I have no complaints.  And for all you ladies out there– who could go wrong with Justin Long?  Seriously.  He’s the mac guy.  What can beat that?  Okay, well, Josh Holloway and Ben Affleck and Matt Damon– but!  that is another story.  My point is that if you’re looking for a great comedy that is good for both girls and guys, go see Going the Distance.  Watching Justin Long getting a spray tan is worth your money.

4/5 stars

Knight and Day (2010): Starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz

And here I thought Tom Cruise’s heyday was over years ago.  Wrong.  With his new action comedy Knight and Day, Tom Cruise proves he’s back in the game.  I only decided to go see the movie because it was filmed in Boston two summers ago and I feel like I need to support my beloved college town.  But much to my delight and surprise, it takes place in 3 cities which I have spent a lot of time in: Boston, Brooklyn and Sevilla, Spain.  Though I assume this movie has already left your theater, definitely throw it on the Netflix queue.  Plane crashes, car chases, and Tom Cruise being chased by bulls in Spain?  You can’t go wrong.  My favorite part of this movie was ridiculous (and yet amusing) device used several times– drug Cameron Diaz and she wakes up in a new city.  I love old Tom Cruise– Top Gun, Rain Man, A Few Good Men, Jerry Maguire, etc. but I was sure his career was over.  If he keeps making movies like Knight and Day, he will definitely make a come back.

4/5 stars

Other summer movies I’ve seen:

8: The Mormon Proposition

The story of how the Mormon Church single-handedly destroyed gay marriage in California.  Very well researched.  Very well documented.  4/5 stars.  Available on Netflix

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

The third installment in the infamous Twilight series.  While it is much better than the first two, it is still corny and still girly.  Luckily there is more Jacob and less Edward in this one.  3/5 stars.

Please Give

An Indie hit about the relationship between a family and their dying neighbor.  Very hilarious, even though I don’t like Catherine Keener.  3.5/5 stars.

The Other Guys

A police action/comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlburg.  Certainly not Ferrell’s best.  I slept through a good portion of it.  2/5 stars.

Mini Review: Babies

BABIES (in Theaters)

A documentary about 4 babies across the world (Japan, the U.S., Mongolia, and Namibia) and their adventures growing up.

2010, directed by Thomas Balmes

Cuteness Overdose

My parents and many friends can attest to the fact that I’m one of the few girls in this world that was born without the baby-obsession gene.  I am simply unimpressed by babies on the whole.  What’s so great about them?  It might have to do with me being an only child, but babies kinda freak me out.  So, the thought of a baby documentary is kinda like “meh.  Is there anything better on?”

However, very soon after Babies started, I realized that Babies is a totally genius work of filmmaking.  There is no narration, almost no dialogue whatsoever, and almost no attention to anyone in the film but the four babies… but somehow this movie is totally captivating and it tells a great story.  “Babies” might actually be the most brutally honest film title in history because that is pretty much the only thing in the whole movie… other than some cats and goats and cows and dogs.  So maybe they should’ve titled it “Babies… and cats, goats, cows and dogs.”  But that would just be like injecting the audience with a lethal dose of cuteness heroin.

At any rate, this film is awesome.  Instead of being shot documentary style, it has the look and feel of a film.  No shabby audio or unfocused shots here– this film is a work of art.  But most of all, it is a genius story.  We follow the four babies from birth to the age of one and while there are major differences in their cultures, the babies all reach the same milestones– first words, crawling, walking.  It’s pretty epic.  The only downfall to the story, I believe, is that the U.S. baby and the Tokyo baby are in too similar of situations, and same with the Namibia baby and the Mongolia baby.  It would be nice to see an “in-between” baby to fill the gap between the wealth/urban life of the U.S. / Tokyo and the poverty/rural life of Namibia / Mongolia.  Of course, I found myself biased towards the rural babies.  American moms can be so overprotective.  The Mongolian / Namibian babies have so much fun crawling around in the dirt and hanging out with the goats.  Come to think of it… that was pretty much my life as a child.

Bottom Line:  This movie is impossibly cute and fun (regardless of whether you like babies).  I am totally impressed by their ability to turn such a simple concept into such a beautiful documentary.  4.5/5 stars.

Bayar gets a special goat surprise during a bath.

Mini Review: Capitalism: A Love Story

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY

In Micheal Moore’s latest documentary, he examines the influence of corporate dominance on the lives of everyday Americans– exploring topics ranging from foreclosure, the stock market, a history of American capitalism, Reagan’s administration, debt, the income gap, and even how major corporations make money off the death of their employees.

2009, Produced, Directed and Written by Michael Moore

“This is capitalism, a system of giving and taking… mostly taking.”

America’s favorite / least favorite documentarian is back again, fighting the man.  As usual, I’m impressed and depressed.  Somehow Moore manages to find the most interesting stories, the most dismal cases and the most human subjects.  And unlike most documentarians, who rely solely on b-roll and interview footage, Moore has a sense of humor about it- using a combination of ironic archive footage and attention-grabbing music.  A great example– some old footage from a biblical movie, dubbed:

Rich Man: Master! What must I do to have eternal life?

Jesus: Go forth and maximize profits.

Israelite: You say the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. But when exactly will it be?

Jesus: When you deregulate the banking industry.

Man with palsy: Please help me. I’ve been this way for over 20 years.

Jesus: I’m sorry. I cannot heal your preexisting condition. He’ll have to pay out-of-pocket.
Even as someone who loves documentaries, I can’t help but yawn during the majority of them.  Moore, as always, makes me sit up and listen… for two hours.

But at the end of the day, nothing brings me down like a Michael Moore movie.  Well, life really does suck, doesn’t it?  Luckily, he leaves us with some footage of a successful labor strike in early 2009 to give us some hope and then, in true Michael Moore fashion, he tries to make a citizen’s arrest of Wall Street and covers it in crime scene tape.  Oh, Michael.

Bottom Line: Another seamless Michael Moore film.  Love him or hate him, this guy has something to say and he is the best orator in the business.  It’s worth the listen.  4.5/5 stars.

Lightning Round: The Lovely Bones

I’ve seen so many movies recently and I’ve had so little time to review them.  All of these deserve more attention, but for now a Lightning Round: The Lovely Bones, Shutter Island, The Ghost Writer, Hearts of Darkness, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and Lost in La Mancha.

THE LOVELY BONES (on DVD April 20th)

Based on the bestselling novel by Alice Sebold, the terrifying story of a young girl who is brutally murdered by her neighbor and is trapped in dream-like limbo.  Still haunted by her murderer, she watches from the “in-between” as her family tries to solve the crime and prevent another murder.  (2009, Directed by Peter Jackson.  Starring Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Saoirse Ronan and Stanley Tucci.  Cinematography by Andrew Lesnie.  Nominated for an Oscar).

If there’s one movie that got totally gypped on Oscar nominations, it’s The Lovely Bones.  Only nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Stanley Tucci was good but had no chance against Christoph Waltz), it should have been nominated for Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editing / Mixing at the very least.  The thing that shocked me about The Lovely Bones was that even though you know the main character is going to be raped and murdered from the get-go, the suspense isn’t lacking at all.  In fact, Peter Jackson should be known as the modern master of suspense– think ringwraiths stabbing empty featherbeds in Fellowship of the Ring or the slicing sound of plates being set on a table intercut with a serial killer luring your teenage daughter into her shallow grave.  I haven’t been so psyched out by a movie since Hitchcock or early Spielberg.  Jackson’s suspense is such a sensory experience– you can’t help but be freaked out.  One mind-blowing scene in The Lovely Bones is when the murdered girl’s sister is searching through the serial killer’s journal as he stalks her through his house.  The camera moves along with her finger as she flips each page and the sound of the paper against her skin is so terribly jarring that just know he is going to find her.  So you sit on the edge of your seat holding your breath until she escapes.

Bottom Line: I could go on and on about this movie.  It was genius and totally underrated.  Go see it.  4.5/5 stars.

Mini Reviews: Fantastic Mr. Fox

FANTASTIC MR. FOX (in theaters)

Based on a book by Roald Dahl, Mr. Fox decides to pull off his greatest heist yet—robbing three different farms.

2009, Directed by Wes Anderson, starring George Clooney and Meryl Streep, nominated for a Golden Globe.

Fantastic is Right!

I didn’t really have any expectations going into Fantastic Mr. Fox, but who doesn’t love George Clooney and Wes Anderson?  Honestly, I didn’t even look up to see who directed it before buying my ticket, but within 20 minutes or so, it was very, very clear that Wes did, even though his time-tested cast was in fox-form.

I feel like I’ve turned into a softy giving out so many great reviews this week (Roger Ebert, anyone?) but Fantastic Mr. Fox is definitely a deserving candidate.  I’ve always been a fan of stop motion animation—a process that involves taking hundreds of pictures of a subject and moving it just slightly each time so that when played at 24 frames per second, it will look like a movie.  Very few wide release films have been made using stop motion; it takes long enough to make a stop motion short—but a feature—forget about it!  Wallace and Gromit, Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas are the only ones I can think of.  However, Wes set out on the exhaustive task of animating fox puppets to create this movie.  Let me tell you—he cut no corners in this production.  A whole world is created in these tiny sets, and the detail is absolutely astounding.  You have to see it to believe it.

The performances were very typical of Wes Anderson films.  The best interactions occur between Ash and Kristophersson, two fox cubs.  On a random side note, one aspect of the movie that I really got a kick out of was that they constantly replaced profanity with the word “cuss”—“this has turned into a real clustercuss” or “what the cuss?”  At one point in the movie, “cuss” was written in graffiti on a wall.  Hilarious.

I could go on about this movie for hours, but its one of the few movies that you really have to see to know what I’m talking about.

Bottom Line: Generally, I don’t agree with Truffaut’s auteur theory, but 30 minutes into this movie, I was convinced that Wes Anderson truly is one of the few modern auteurs.  If you appreciate animation, Fantastic Mr. Fox will blow your mind.  4.5/5 stars.

For those of you who interested in stop motion animation:

FANASTIC MR. FOX VIDEOS:

General Making-Of Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfXOYVmAQtw

George Clooney as Mr. Fox

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15SS1lL9ogY&feature=related

The Puppets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5pQvytHIEE&feature=related

EXCELLENT STOP MOTION EXAMPLES FROM YOUTUBE:

Her Morning Elegance (my favorite)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY

Human Skateboard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtbQ4J3RfQ8

Deadline

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpWM0FNPZSs

Stop motion with Wolf and Pig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmkLlVzUBn4

Andrew Bird: Imitosis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnXCzFnkxtY

Enjoy!

Mini Reviews: Nine

NINE (in theaters)

In 1960s Italy, a great film director struggles to write a script for his next movie.  Loosely based on 8 ½ by Federico Fellini.

2009, Starring Daniel Day Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Judy Dench and Sophia Loren, nominated for 5 Golden Globes.

“Ladies and Gentleman, There is No Script”

Nine is certainly a difficult movie to review.  More than 2 hours long, I felt the point of the movie was best expressed close to the end when Daniel Day Lewis’s character Guido says, “Ladies and Gentleman, we have no script.” This is exactly the problem with Nine.  Sure, most musicals have simple plots, but Nine’s central conflict could be summed up in three words: “director without script.”  It could make for an interesting plot, but there is little to no character development and the plot could be best represented by a flat line.  Even the drama with his wife, a secondary story line, does not evolve or have any sort of resolution.  From the beginning of the movie, we know Daniel Day Lewis’s character Guido is cheating on his wife.  The wife (Marion Cotillard) is upset, but that’s just how it is.  Nothing changes in this movie.  No plot.  No script.  Apparently the screenplay is autobiographical of the screenwriter in a way.

That being said, everything else is fantastic.  I know there are very, very few people besides me that go to a movie and drool over the lighting and camerawork, but let me tell you—it was drool-worthy.  Nine is a visual and auditory delight, and despite the lack of plot, the actors acted and sang their hearts out.  Though Nine doesn’t deserve the Golden Globe or an Oscar on the whole, it definitely has a shot for more creative/technical awards.  I would nominate Nine for Oscars in cinematography, art direction, costume design, film editing, makeup and music.

As for the songs, the choreography and performances are great.  Fergie’s powerhouse Be Italian song is a great showcase of her talent, the backup dancers and the crew.  Kate Hudson did a surprisingly good job with her song Cinema Italiano.  The only disadvantage, which Roger Ebert pointed out, is there aren’t any real show-stopping songs.  The singing is great, the choreography is great—but the original music and lyrics are not that impressive.

As for the cast, what a treat!  Typical of his extreme method acting style, Daniel Day Lewis is Fellini.  I can’t imagine anyone else who would play it so well.  Penélope and Kate do a great job as likeable, beautiful femme fatales, and Marion Cotillard definitely has a shot at some awards for her performance as Guido’s wife.  Fergie’s role is minimal and mainly showcases her talent as a performer, which is appropriate considering that’s what she is—a performer, not an actress.  Nicole Kidman, however, got the short side of the stick.  Everyone knows she has an amazing voice and is an excellent actress, but the director cast her in a super lame role with one super lame song.  Better luck next time, Nicole.

Nine could be great on Broadway, but in spite of the amazing visuals, powerhouse performances and decent songs, the average movie audience will not put up with a 2.5 hour movie when it doesn’t have an interesting story.  My film teachers always remind me that you have to start with a good story before you can make a great film.  Nine had all the ingredients to be a great movie—if only they had worked on the script, I could give it a glowing review.

Bottom Line: Nine does not have a plot and does not do justice to anything Fellini-related.  However, if you’re in the mood to indulge in a 2 ½ hour visual and auditory experience, Nine has got it.  1/5 stars for story/plot and 4.5/5 stars for camera, songs and performances.

Mini Review: District 9

DISTRICT 9 (on DVD)

After landing over Johannesburg, South Africa, aliens are confined to apartheid-like government-monitored slums. Years later, officials want to move them further from human contact.  A government agent must decide where his loyalties lie after he is exposed to alien biotechnology.

2009, Produced by Peter Jackson, directed by Neill Blomkamp, nominated for a Golden Globe

‘The Least Among Us’

I saw District 9 twice in theaters in August, and seeing it again on DVD only reaffirms my belief that this is one of the top films of the year.  The movie combines documentary and narrative film styles to tell the story of Wikus Van de Merwe, a tragic hero once dedicated to his wife and the family job of relocating aliens.

An interesting trend this year—it seems that to express the most human sentiments, we must turn to the aliens.  This year, District 9 and Avatar were the two movies that most thoroughly and deeply delved into the human psyche and captivated my attention and emotions.  These two stories remind me of the famous Bible quote about how we treat the least among us, or the classic “do unto others as you expect other to do unto you” proverb.  Wikus Van de Merwe and Jake Sully are found to be most human when interacting with the least human subjects, and for this reason, they earn the audience’s utmost sympathy and respect.

I was very, very impressed with both Neill Blomkamp (director) and Sharlto Copley (actor- Wikus)—both newcomers.  I am disappointed that neither received nominations at the Golden Globes, but I’m hoping for the Oscars.  These two impressed me far more than many of the seasoned actors and directors nominated and I look forward to seeing them again.

On a historical level, this movie is very thought-provoking considering it’s very obvious metaphor for the treatment of different ethnic groups during the South African apartheid.  On a technical level, this movie works flawlessly.  The CGI is excellent; the screenplay is unbelievable; the combination of documentary and narrative styles is so seamless that the viewer will feel very well-informed as if they were watching a doc, but also have such a strong emotional attachment to the plot and characters—something typically achieved best through strong narrative.

Bottom Line: Even if you aren’t a sci-fi lover, you will appreciate this movie.  One of the best endings to a film I can recall in recent movie history.  4.5/5 stars.

Mini Reviews: Avatar in 3D

After spending 8 hours at the airport, 4.5 hours on a plane and 3 snowy days in rural Colorado, I have had plenty of time to get some quality movie watching time.  Because there are 6 movies, I’ll be brief.  Let’s start with Avatar, the clear winner.

AVATAR in 3D (in theaters)

100 years in the future, humans are battling an advanced settlement of natives living on planet Pandora.  Using a combination of native DNA and human DNA, humans have created controllable native bodies so they can study the area and the culture.  A young marine controlling one of these native bodies (“avatars”) must decide where his loyalties lie after a young native woman takes him in and teaches him their ways.

2009, Directed by James Cameron (Titanic, Aliens), nominated for 4 Golden Globes

A Preview of What’s to Come

I wrote the short synopsis above several times, but no matter how I phrased it, I’m pretty sure the average reader will have no idea what I’m talking about unless they see the movie.  But Avatar could best be described as Pocahontas meets Fern Gully… in the future… on crack.  James Cameron has supposedly been working on the film for over ten years, but until recently, film technology was not advanced enough to make it.  After seeing Gollum in Lord of the Rings, he was finally convinced that CGI was ready.  And thus we have Avatar—with 40% live action and 60% CGI, this movie is something you have never seen before.  It is also no wonder then, that Avatar has the fourth highest budget of any film in history.  The money was well spent—the CGI is flawlessly believable and the story is so well written that the futuristic setting is not distracting from what really matters—the story of a young man finding his place in a new world.

Bottom Line:  Go see this movie.  Not only is it a preview of what’s to come, it is also a genuinely enjoyable movie.  It definitely deserves the Golden Globe and I imagine it could sweep at the Oscars as well.  4.5/5 stars