127 Hours

Impressions before seeing it
It sounded interesting - I was curious about the survival story, although I think we all know by now that he cuts his arm off. Also, this concludes my Oscars 2010 Best Picture Tour, as the only one I haven't seen is The Kids Are Alright and that one honestly doesn't interest me.

How was it?
This movie reminded me of Cast Away: one lonely and frightened man all alone in the outdoors fighting to survive, though if I had to choose I'd take Tom Hanks's situation over this one any day. And just as Cast Away gave the character a volleyball to talk to so that there would be lines spoken and not just complete silence, 127 Hours gave Aron (Franco) a video camera so that he could record some very depressing vlogs from the chasm in which he was trapped.

I actually really like this type of movie, watching someone figure out how to get out of a terrible confinement. If you don't like that much minimalism it will probably bore you, but I found it completely entertaining watching James Franco sandwiched between two deep rock walls for most of the movie - and anyway, those scenes are broken up by various flashbacks and hallucinations as Aron's health begins to slip. It's easy to see why Franco was nominated for Best Actor here, as he completely nails it, a very good thing because you definitely need a capable actor to sell this one. My favourite moment in his performance is, however, a mere facial expression: the moment when he first gets stuck, the boulder falls and wedges his arm against the wall, there is an incredibly resounding silence, and his face perfectly captures all the necessary emotions, from "Did that insanely unlikely thing just happen?" to "Oh crap, I am royally screwed." A warning to the squeamish: the arm-cutting scene is kind of graphic and disturbing, but then it should be, because amputating your own arm is obviously a traumatic experience. I loved how sound and editing were used to actually convey pain. Right away I understood when he was cutting the nerve, and that was all thanks to the directing. One more thing to praise is that I liked the use of three-way split screen, because it was an opportunity for more imagery of one thing stuck between two things.

Recommendation
As you can tell, I really enjoyed it. You might not if you're bored really easily, but for everyone else it's a fascinating story of survival, willpower, raw humanity, and arm-cutting. I would recommend catching the Blu-ray/DVD, because it contains a much extended alternate ending that shows you several scenes from after Aron came home, which I personally liked better than the actual ending.

I'm Here

Impressions before seeing it
I'm Here is a short film from Spike Jonze that I found out about while browsing IMDB and Wikipedia. I thought it looked cool, and then I discovered it was available in a book/DVD/soundtrack package, so I ordered it.

How was it?
Basically, it's about these two robots who start dating each other. I suppose the male was a slightly older model, because he is very squarish (his head looks like an old computer tower) and the female was more round and sleek, and had hair. It's cute and charming, but the little problem I had with it was that the robots were actually too human; not just because they were clearly played by human actors in robot costumes, but because they expressed the emotions and mannerisms of humans, too. This allows us to feel more invested in their relationship, sure, but from a more objective storytelling standpoint I just wondered why bother making a story about robots in love if it would be almost exactly the same story with human characters? Well, on an emotional level anyway; there exists some robotic appendage transplanting as an important element of the relationship and obviously humans can't do that so easily. Other than that and the cool stylistic elements, I didn't really see the point of making this movie, but don't get me wrong: I'm glad it was made. It's sweet and original and I actually wish it was longer, both because I enjoyed it and because I would've liked to have seen a little more development across the board. Also, please note that even though this short was sponsored by Absolut, it really has nothing at all to do with vodka.

Recommendation
While I haven't checked out everything yet, the fact that this one short film comes with a behind-the-scenes book, a soundtrack CD, and some special features on the DVD is really impressive, especially for a short. There are tons of full length movies that don't even get that kind of treatment. So if you happen to catch it (it's probably online somewhere) and enjoy it, I recommend looking for that package. It would be under "There are Many of Us", which is the book's title.

This Week in Television - Mar. 7-11, 2011

Glee
I don't know if a lack of sex education is actually a problem in the U.S. or if they were just trying to point out how younger people are having more sex, but I think sex ed is supposed to be taught before anyone gets to high school. They taught us the basics of what sex is in elementary school, and then STDs, birth control, and genital anatomy in junior high. And anyway, word gets around so how could someone not know those things by the time they get to high school? Even Brittany would've moved on from the old stork story by then (does anyone even tell that to their kids anymore?). The thing about Brittany, though, is that she is supposed to be the Ralph Wiggum of Glee, regularly showcasing her severe naivete and lack of knowledge with stupid one-liners, but then whenever she talks about her feelings, like this week and the Britney Spears episode, she becomes fairly coherent and no longer sounds as dumb as a bag of misshapen rocks. While I understand that they probably want to develop the character beyond a few dumb lines, it doesn't feel consistent to me. I laughed during the "Afternoon Delight" number (mostly because of the pictures of desserts in the background), and when Mr. Schue referred to himself as "an expert at romance", because it was so cheesy and clearly designed to make the female viewers swoon.

V
LOL at Anna blissing Tyler. Now he literally is a tool! I hope they overthrow Anna though, just because I'd like to see what would happen, and it might make Anna more interesting if she had to fight her way back to the top. It would be funny if Diana was playing them and turned out to be even more evil than Anna. It's also funny how easy it is for someone to say "thousands/millions of people could die!" and then cut to Jack looking distressed because he's the priest.

Survivor: Redemption Island
I thought Russell would last a little longer at Redemption Island before going home, until I saw the promo for this episode where they said "Russell is at Redemption Island, and what happens will SHOCK you!" and then it was obvious. Every time they promise that something will be shocking, it makes it less shocking. Thanks for spoiling it, douchebags. "Loose cannon" is the perfect way to describe Phillip, though.

Fringe
As much as I enjoy seeing Jorge Garcia show up, the opening scene didn't really feel like Fringe (maybe it's just when Walter gets stoned, as the musical episode where he partakes in spliffs and special brownies also didn't feel like Fringe), but it served its purpose in pointing out Bell's office to Walter. Overall it was still a cool episode. At first I thought it was just going to be about gravity boots, but it turned out they were coming off onto the ground, not the ceiling. Never thought about fixing paraplegia by floating someone up and then weighing down their feet. Though I think they already did a "hurting people to find a cure" story. Or maybe that was something else I saw fairly recently, I can't remember anymore... Nina seemed less than thrilled about Walter going through Bell's things. I don't really trust her, she's seemed shady from the beginning and always seems to be withholding as much information as she can. Anna Torv trying to sound like Leonard Nemoy was funny, but I suppose it worked.

Hero of the Week: Most of the time this goes to someone from NBC's awesome Thursday comedies, but without them the pickings can be slim. I guess I'll say Miss Holliday (Gwyneth Paltrow) from Glee, because she would be a pretty cool teacher.

Douchebag of the Week: Dr. Krick (Alan Ruck) from Fringe. Probably should have at least asked his son what he wanted before spending all that time on a harmful cure.

Gangs of New York

Impressions before seeing it
I'd been wanting to see this for a while, and should have a long time ago, but it was one of those things where opportunities just never lined up and I never got around to it. But you can't go wrong with a historical epic starring a very strong cast.

How was it?
I think one of the most interesting parts for me was observing all these actors doing accents different from their regular voices. DiCaprio, Diaz, and John C. Reilly all tackled varying degrees of Irish - Reilly laying it on fairly thick and DiCaprio having only a trace, with Diaz somewhere in the middle; Jim Broadbent did American and Daniel Day-Lewis had his seedy New York accent. Very cool.

Scorsese seems to like making long films that take their time, which is cool, it's the old fashioned way of doing it and only a handful of filmmakers still do. I did get a little bored at the beginning, and that big brawl sequence in the opening act should have been cooler but a lot of the blows struck looked too much like movie fighting. What I mean by that is that I could tell the actors were swinging just out of range and stopping just short, which is how they do movie punches and stuff, but usually they're supposed to make it more convincing than that. Maybe I was just imagining it. The rest of the movie didn't have that problem in fight scenes, just that opening brawl. Anyway, I did like the movie but what ultimately makes it memorable for me is Daniel Day-Lewis's performance as Bill "The Butcher" Cutting. I think perhaps he should go up there with the other great villains of the decade like Hans Landa and Heath Ledger's Joker, because he's one of those characters whose personality just steals every scene he's in. DiCaprio may play the main character, but Gangs of New York is The Butcher's movie.

Recommendation
If you like historical epics, fascinating villains with commanding stage presences, and Daniel Day-Lewis, you'll love this. Or you might even if you don't like those things, because it's an interesting look at dark and dirty times. Of course, you probably already saw it way before I did.

Easy A

Impressions before seeing it
I was hoping, but not expecting, for it to be good. Mostly I just watched it in support of Emma Stone's first leading role.

How was it?
Easy A is technically told in flashbacks by Olive (Stone) as she narrates the story in an internet video. This presents a problem right off the bat, because things like narration and talking heads can often be a crutch for screenwriters. If you're not careful, they'll only serve to explain/describe what the viewer is already seeing visually, and therefore become redundant. Also I suspect that filmmakers feel like any movie involving teens has to include internet videos somewhere, because there is very little evidence to the contrary.

While it is partly based in truth (rumours do travel really fast because people love to gossip, and high school students do place way too much value on popularity), it seems like this movie took those truths and ran with them almost all the way to the fantasy land in which the writers of Glee live. Not quite that far, but the characters can be cartoonish and the concept silly. However I am biased due to my ongoing disdain for the portrayal of high school in movies and television. To shove all of those complaints aside, Emma Stone turned in a decent performance and I chuckled two or three times, though overall it just wasn't my sense of humour.

Recommendation
This movie seems to be quite popular so I'm in the minority here, but I personally wouldn't recommend it unless you're into those other high school movies of the same caliber like American Pie, Jawbreaker, or Never Been Kissed. I think Easy A likes to equate itself with John Hughes movies, but do not make that mistake.

This Week in Television - Feb. 28-Mar. 4, 2011

The Cape
Vince's Australian gangster impression wasn't very... impressive. He doesn't do "careless tough guy" well, and I caught more than one flaw in his accent. But at least they kept his family to a bare minimum this episode.

V
The stuff with the little girl with the strong immune system and the live aboard program was weak. "Let's live on the alien spaceship now that I know my daughter might have ONE friend who she's never met and may not even get along with! That's preferable to her living on earth where she has 6 billion people to choose from!" Then we have Tyler catching Lisa with Raphael, and instead of asking a simple question like "What's going on here?", he storms in and does nothing but repeatedly shove the guy like an ape. Do the writers even want viewers to like Tyler? And the Erica/Hobbes thing seems rushed, as the "sexual tension" only showed up last week when they had their cliche moment of laying next to each other and looking into each other's eyes before getting embarrassed and sitting up. When the series began, I actually thought they were going to pair her up with Jack.

Survivor: Redemption Island
So they finally got Russell out. I'm not necessarily optimistic for his chances of dominating Redemption Island (he has won individual immunity challenges in the past, but was never known as a challenge master), but I am quite positive that he'll be around long enough for Boston Rob to be voted off just so they can have their showdown. And, you know, if he does make it back into the game, maybe the jury will actually respect him enough to let him win this time.

Hero of the Week: Hard to say, because it was a shorter week and nobody stood out as being awesome... I suppose I'll go with Lisa from V, because she's probably the most likable character on that show now.

Douchebag of the Week: Tyler from V. Sorry for the lack of surprise.

Equilibrium

Impressions before seeing it
Been wanting to see it for a while, because it sounded like an interesting sci-fi story.

How was it?
I don't know why this keeps getting compared to The Matrix (see poster). Other than some of the action sequences, I didn't feel that they had anything in common with each other.

Equilibrium is about a world where, in an attempt to prevent war, art, music, and emotion have been abolished. One of the agents responsible for overseeing this (Christian Bale) stops taking his emotion-stunting medicine and realizes the beauty everyone is missing, making his partner (Taye Diggs) suspicious.

This is indeed a thought-provoking concept. Preventing war is obviously a great thing, and blocking emotion would do it, but is it worth it? Is there even any point to living in peace if we can't be moved by the beauty of every day life? Would we rather kill each other or be robots? I vote for the former. A world without art is not a world I want to live in. Anyway, it's a fascinating film about humanity with some cool action and plot twists thrown in, as well as adequate performances, so I enjoyed it.

Recommendation
Definitely something to check out if you like movies that make you think about human nature. But don't expect it to be The Matrix. I think it's more like The Bothersome Man, if anything.