Jonathan’s Universe

Archive for the ‘Movie Watch’ Category

So, I put money down on that apartment. I put the rest of the down payment tomorrow when I sign the lease. I’m excited to move in, but my parents are, expectedly, a wreck. I did some research and when I called the energy provider, they told me the average bill for my unit is $74.25 a month and a $150 deposit. I have no idea if that includes gas (heating) — or just electricity. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow..

Also, one of my coworkers happened to have a microwave that he doesn’t need. Guess who’s getting a free microwave?

Besides that, I saw Day the Earth Stood Still on sunday. I’m not sure how I feel. I wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t amazed either. It was a modernized version of the one made in 1951. The premise was the same (humans are violent and killing earth, aliens come to save the earth) however the story was different. Instead of Klaatu staying with a bunch of people, he’s constantly on the run a scientist. Also, Klaatu is always known as Klaatu, never as “Mr. Carpenter.” Also Gort is named by the government/military (as an acronym) while the the 1951 one had Gort as the creature’s actual name. Meh.. I’d say it’s a rental, not a movie theater watch.

So last night, I decided to go see Blindness. This guy at work said it was going to be good. … I didn’t like it. And I’ll tell you right now not go to the theaters to see it. If anything at all, wait for it to come to Netflix so you don’t spend money specifically on it.

I will say though, the movie has a very interesting premise. What if blindness was an infectious disease? Well of course, the government would resort to containment and quarantine those who are infected. Lock them up in wards. Heavily ration their food, put armed guards all around the building, et cetera. Though, the clear up any misconceptions, this is not any type of zombie or undead film. It’s an “everyone is turning blind, our government is breaking down” film.

The infected storage area is comprised of wards that fit maybe 30 some people per ward. For the most part, we follow ward number #1, which contains the characters that were identified early in the film. The other wards fill up with blind people (obviously) but we don’t learn too much about the others, except ward #3. There’s one trick though. In ward #1, there’s a woman who can see, but no one knows (save for her husband). This woman sets up a guideline system so that the blind can navigate from ward to ward. Pretty soon, the compound goes from looking like your typical medical facility (bare, cold, white), to a disgusting dumb where people defecate and relieve themselves on the floor. It truly is gross, but I guess that is probably what would happen.

Pretty soon, Ward #3 takes over the compound. Some how they acquire a gun (seriously wtf?) and the “king of ward #3″ becomes the “king” of everyone. So Ward #3 takes all the food and says that everyone must pay to be fed. Don’t have any money? Oh that’s okay, in their infinite benevolance, they will allow you to pay with your jewelry and the little valuables you might have on you. Oh what about the next day? No more valuables? That’s okay, they’ll take your women.

Yes, that’s right. One of the most disturbing scenes in the entire movie is a brutal mass-rape scene. Actually there’s two of the scenes. It’s really unsettling to watch. You don’t see anything really, you just see bright white silohuettes and such, but it’s still awful.

Anyway, moving away from the story teller mode to the actual review mode, the movie is quite boring. It takes awhile to get in any kind of momentum. And it’s ending is just as worse. It leaves the viewer without the typical movie-ending satisfaction. The viewer leaves the theater no different than when they entered the theater. The story doesn’t keep you attached the story, it’s not a gripping or enticing story; well I suppose that mass rape scene might induce your stomach to tighten and turn.. but that’s an entirely different kind of grip.

In the end, I felt this movie to be a bit of a waste of time. Too bad, though. The idea and premise has a very interesting concept. Also, with a cast like Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Danny Glover, you can’t go wrong… well I guess maybe they just did. Oh well.

Oh and they never named any of their characters: Doctor, Doctor’s Wife, man with eye patch, etc.

Recommendation: Netflix it.

Lakeview Terrace staring Samuel L Jackson and Kerry Washington was a fairly well done film.

Chris and Lisa are a young couple and they just bought their first house. It’s beautiful; wonderful house, bright neighborhood. Or so they think. Their next door neighbor, Abel Turner, is not too fond of interracial couples. He wreaks havoc to the couple by shining lights into their bedroom at 3 AM, allegedly slashing their car’s tires and making rude statements at their housewarming party.

Turner REALLY hates Chris and Lisa. Probably Chris more than Lisa. The worst part is Turner is a cop, so it’s not like they can call the police when he is doing stuff to them.

This was a movie that I liked. It had a little bit of humor but contained the action you’d expect from a SLJ film. Some of the dialog was a little drawn out and silly but still contained integrity. Many people believe this is a rip off of a Ray Liotta film, Unlawful Entry, but it is actually loosely-based on a true story. All in all, I liked this and was an enjoyable 1 hour 50 minutes.

Vantage Point

It was a pretty good movie. It sets up with the US president at a summit attempting to boost world morale. But something happens. He’s shot.. twice. And then there’s an explosion. And then another.

The first three quarters of the movie is the same part of the film played 5 times but viewed from a different person’s point of view (hence the title of the movie) . I do have to say, seeing mostly the same thing 5 times did get kind of annoying.. and every time they restarted the scene, someone in the crowd yelled “come on are you kidding me?” That was probably more annoying. But the vantage point method was actually pretty interesting albeit tad annoying. Each change in vantage point, you learned something new about the plot to kill the president. Each time, you learned of someone new involved. The latter part of the film played out like a normal movie and reveals a quite interesting twist, that I didn’t expect. The film gives you pieces and just when you are almost there, you restart the scene. But by the end, you solved the puzzle. I was really impressed.

As far as the actors go.. Dennis Quaid was a great choice for the main protagonist. The entire movie is based on his previous rescue of the president and how others use that to their advantage. Signourney Weaver.. I love her. Why was she only in about 7 minutes of footage? Disappointing.  The rest of the cast was great.

Great movie, go see it in theaters!

Jumper

I saw this movie last week. For some reason, despite the bad (p)reviews, I was excited to see this film. I think i was mostly teased by the trailer. Movie bad-ass Samuel L. Jackson chasing after Star Wars partner Hayden Christensen citing that there are always consequences. They never explained what the consequences were in the trailer, and I wanted to know. Well, I left not knowing WHY were the paladins rivals with the jumpers. I can understand and appreciate the conflict between the two groups, but why?

Special effects were great. And Rachel Blison who played Millie fit the part well, though sadly didn’t play too much role in the film besides a romantic motivation (who blames him, though?  )

Of course, you put SLJ in any role and he will never disappoint. Except again, why is jumping ultimately a problem, besides those abusing it? Nice twist at the end though

I’m going to say you should probably rent this one. Spend the $3.49/$0.00 on the rental rather than the $9.50 at the movies.

Le Fin.