Another Earth

That looks familiar...

A thought-provoking and introspective movie which explores self-loathing, healing and forgiveness. This sci-fi drama stirred a fair bit of interest at Sundance for its powerful storytelling and apparent tiny budget.

There are two events in the film and it takes a bit to grasp the relationship between the two. Firstly, astronomers discover an identical planet to earth in orbit around the sun, on which copies of ourselves may inhabit. Secondly, Rhoda Williams is a young woman whose world is shattered by a drink driving accident which claims the life of a mother and son while leaving the father in a coma. Rhoda later searches for forgiveness by befriending the recovering father who remains unaware of her past.

Check it out, two moons...

Another Earth is not a light-hearted movie, and requires good attention throughout to follow the subtle interactions. Fortunately, despite the budget and early careers of Brit Marling (co-writer and lead actress) and Mike Cahill (co-writer and director), the film is engaging and a remarkable success. It also stars William Mapother of LOST fame as John Burroughs, who is magnificently cast to portray the brooding and damaged father.

So how does all that relate to 'Earth 2'? Well, the basic concept there relates to the Multiverse idea, and the thought of two universes colliding to result in two copies of the same planet co-existing is the same reality. The second earth metaphorically represents Rhoda's internal state as she struggles with forgiveness. As the plot leads Rhoda to confront herself internally, it's also represents the concept of confronting yourself externally.

There are some beautiful, high-contrast images which have a definite artistic taste and ensure Another Earth is visually appealing to compliment the storytelling. I highly recommend seeing this film.

When I wish upon a tiny blue dot...

The Good: Acting, story, direction.
The Meh: While the scientific concepts and problems were 'worked out' during filming (such as tidal effects, etc), not many made it to the final cut leaving some bothering questions.
The Ugly: None.
Hey There Good Looking: Brit Marling.
Overall: 7.5/1

Platoon

It's been a while since my last review, mostly due to losing battles against an inherent laziness, but also a lack of inspiration by the majority of junk I've seen over the last few months. This week though I viewed two movies of such contrasting quality I can no longer bear but dip my quill into ink.

First up: Oliver Stone's 1986 epic Platoon, winner of 4 Oscars.

Herp a derp...

The movie follows main character Chris Taylor, played by Charlie Sheen, a new recruit in the Vietnam War who is forced to question his own moral conscience when facing the horrors of the war. In other words kid goes to war for the hell of it, finds out it's terrible and bad things happen, kid gets mentally ruined for the rest of his life. Staggeringly original.

Anyway, there are some ok performances in the film by the likes of Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger and Forest Whitaker, but in general the entire movie is ruined by the fact that Charlie Sheen is the protagonist. Watching as Sheen mumbles through his lines reminds one somewhat of an elephant tapdancing: it's a bit of a laugh for a few minutes, then you realise it's just cruelty to animals. Charlie was either stoned throughout the entire film, or worse yet he wasn't.

Dafoe is distraught about being cast in this movie...

Platoon still won 4 Oscars, and was nominated for 4 more (please note: I generally spit in the face of anything the Academy awards after a certain 'Halle Berry incident', but if that's the industry's highest honour, who am I to stand in it's way). Interestingly these were Best Director, Film Editing, Picture, Sound, Supporting Actors (Dafoe and Berenger), Cinematography and Screenplay. I generally agree that these parts of the movie were better than the others. Filmed in the Philippines, the setting looks great and that's something right?

To summarise, Charlie Sheen was awful, the story was boring, but if you dig army guys in the jungle you may get a kick out of this movie.

It's a trap!..

The Good: We learn that drugs are bad.
The Meh: We learn that war is bad.
The Ugly: Charlie Sheen in a war, on drugs.
Hey There Good Looking: Nope.
Overall: 4/10

Goodfellas

One Paulie, no Pete, no Vinnie, no Tony... what kind of gangsters are these?

I'm sorry, but how is this movie one of the best ever made? It seems like the plot is simply content to implode throughout the entire film. The basic summary is thus: Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his friends work their way up through the mob hierarchy. So perhaps I watched it too late at night, but it seemed to play out as thus (spoilers, but I don't recommend you see this one anyway): one's crazy and ends up face down in a pool of blood, one double-crosses and kills off his co-mobsters, and one tries to run his own crooked business, ends up getting busted, and turns pussy by ratting on everyone and running off to witness protection.

Now normally I don't have a problem with limited storyline, except where that's pretty much all the movie's got going for it. There is little else to keen a viewer interested, with no outstanding acting, sets, costumes, dialogue, no gory themes. No this movies hangs on its storyline, which unfortunately fails.

Where I think this movie falls down the most is the protagonist, Ray Liotta, isn't identifiable enough at the end. If mob movie history has taught audiences around the world one thing, it's that snitches are bad and get what's coming to them. So I'm not sure why the writer decided that was best plot to follow, but I feel it didn't serve to unite an audience behind his actions as the credits start to role.

So, average movie, ok acting, lame storyline.


The Good: Paul Sorvino as Paulie Cicero and much of the supporting cast.
The Meh: Storyline, the rest of the acting.
The Ugly: The ending.
Hey There Good Looking: Gina Mastrogiacomo
Overall: 6.5/10

 Somewhat less attractive in film...

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

 Meet Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes...

And the theme music is present virtually throughout the entire score.

I personally don't really enjoy westerns, but this film has some good moments, and is probably the best western I've seen. The first thing that threw me in the film was the order in which the characters are 'announced' on screen; (from memory) the Ugly, the Bad then the Good.

The storyline follows the three characters as they pursue a hidden stash of gold, the location of which is only partially known by each. A good script which is likable and easy to follow, although once again suffers a bit for its length. I feel there were quite a few scenes that could have been left out without detracting from the overall movie. Don't feel bad to fast forward through the opening credits, and yawn through the final stand off... I did. Have fun looking over a 40 odd year younger Clint Eastwood though, he's degenerated somewhat.

The acting of each main character is suitable for the era and genre of the film which is entertaining to watch. Nothing really wrong with the film, however I think its high ranking may be enforced by those with nostalgia more than anything else.

A cigar, a poncho and a gun, what else does a man need in the desert?

The Good: Good sets/locations, classic 60's acting, a young and handsome Clint Eastwood.
The Meh: Length
The Ugly: Opening credits, 'dramatic' final showdown.
Hey There Good Looking: Clint Eastwood.
Overall: 7/10

Pulp Fiction

Ezekiel 25:17

Pulp Fiction is probably in my top three movies of all time, a Quentin Tarantino masterpiece featuring a whole cache of stars including Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman and more. Aside from brilliant writing and direction from Tarantino, what makes this movie stand head and shoulders over others like it is the dialogue. Google 'Pulp Fiction quotes' and you're likely to come up with virtually the entire script.

With nothing but praise for this movie, I'll outline some of my personal highlights:

Shake it baby!

The scene at Jack Rabbit Slim's where Mia and Vincent get down and twist after Mia indulges in a five dollar milk shake.
Vincent and Jules (Travolta and Jackson) share some of the best discussions including McDonald's burger names in Paris, the sensuality of a foot massage and the pros and cons of eating pork.
One of the best goes to Bruce Willis as the boxer Butch and his girlfriend Fabienne:

F: Whose motorcycle is this?
B: It's a chopper, baby.
F: Whose chopper is this?
B: It's Zed's.
F: Who's Zed?
B: Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.

 Not a motorcycle...

All in all, those sitting down to watch this movie should be acutely aware it's a Tarantino flick, and nothing less. That means that if you look to movies to provide some form of moral standpoint, look elsewhere. If you're looking for entertainment in the form of one of the best movies ever made, here it is.

The Good: Entire film.
The Meh: What's that?
The Ugly: Does. Not. Compute.
Hey There Good Looking: The Gimp.
Overall: 10/10

The Godfather

One mobster to rule them all...

I'll make him an offer he can't refuse! One of the greatest lines in Hollywood history, spoken deservedly in the best gangster flick in Hollywood history. If you've never heard about The Godfather movies before, you truly aren't a movie fan. Here Marlon Brando, regarded by some as the greatest actor of all time, presents one of the best acting performances I've ever seen as the Don, Vito Corleone.

As a new era of organised crime descends on the Corleone family, the Don looks to cultivate his young and unwilling son Michael, played by a very young and dashing Al Pacino, to be his successor. Al Pacino's performance in this movie is quite astounding, partly for his acting and partly for seeing how impressively the years have taken it's toll on him.

Handsome wasn't he?

Having not yet seen Part 2, I can say this was easily Pacino's best work, and to be utterly overshadowed by Marlon Brando is more impressive still. For any that haven't seen this movie, I must recommend it as absolutely one of the best movies of all time. I have nothing bad to say, the acting is top notch, the sets, costumes, plot, were all very good.

The only thing to be cautioned of is it's not a movie one can simply put on after a long day at work and blob out to. This movie demands your attention, but if you are willing to invest a little time, it will greatly reward.

The Good: Everything.
The Meh: Nothing.
The Ugly: Don't even go there...
Hey There Good Looking: Simonetta Stefanelli as Apollonia
Overall: 9/10

 

 Because bewbs?

The Shawshank Redemption

But seriously, how do I get myself some suspenders like those...

The Shawshank Redemption's plot follows the incarceration and subsequent adventures of Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne (said doo-frain), as witnessed by fellow inmate and professional narrator Morgan Freeman.

I'm not really going to bleat on about its ranking as numero uno on IMDB; it's a decent movie, nothing really long wrong with it. Much of the acting in the movie if of high caliber, and Tim Robbins even manages to keep me from my usual reaction of reaching my guts out at the sight of him. He even goes to prove he's not Kristen Stewart's father by squeezing out a smile!

See! You can tell because his eyebrows go up and his eyes squint more...

With nothing really going for it in terms of soundtrack, cinematography, costumes, etc it's left up to the acting and plot to keep this movie entertaining, which it is actually quite successful at doing. The storyline is fine, and finishes nicely. One of the more successful parts of the script is the development of the character Andy, and how the interweaving of seemingly unrelated events (such as the rock collection and being locked in the hole) affect Andy's ultimate decisions along with his general outlook on life.

The support cast does a great job upholding Mr Robbins and keeping the audience interested enough, although while watching it viewers will likely remain quite aware of the movie's length. Overall, the chances are this movie won't chance your life, and it's really just an average enjoyable movie, nothing that special.

The Good: Morgan Freeman narrating like a boss, Clancy Brown as the mean old captain of the guards.
The Meh: Tim Robbins, he's not that awesome.
The Ugly: movie length, that's about it.
Hey There Good Looking: if you're looking for eye candy, you came to the wrong place.
Overall: 7/10

OMGosh, spoiler!