Looper (2012)

This film was released in 2012 and starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt.  I have to say it’s one of the best sci-fi/action stories I’ve ever seen.   I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a sci-fi flick this much since Equilibrium (2002).  The main pull for me was the plot itself, because for a sci-fi flick, this one didn’t really have too many mind-blowing visual effects.  The story and the characters drove the motion of the movie, and it swept me along on its urgent and rather emotional race toward the finish.  Excellent, excellent!

The story is set in a rather dystopian world, still quite similar to our own present.  Time travel has not yet been invented.  But thirty years into the future it will be.  Immediately it is outlawed, but criminal organizations in the future still use it to get rid of their enemies by dumping them, bound and with their head in a sack, into the past, where a waiting “looper” will shoot them dead as soon as they get there.  A looper is paid in silver, bars of which are strapped on to the person sent to him for killing.  Eventually though, having a looper running around is too risky, so the bosses from the future would find the looper’s future self, and in a stroke of bitter irony, send him back to the past for his younger version to kill.  In this case, gold bars are given as an incentive, and thus the “loop” is closed.  Our Joe (Gordon-Levitt) is one such looper.  The events of the film begin to escalate when his best friend fails to close his “loop” and ends up getting killed.  Joe believes he himself was entirely at fault for not being able to save his friend.  And then things get really bad when he himself fails to kill his future self.  So then Future Joe (Willis) must now try to set things in motion so that his present self will not have to live a life in which he would eventually watch his beloved wife get murdered.   For that particular offence, Future Joe blames the “Rainmaker,” the evil overlord of the future.  He sets out to kill the Rainmaker in the present so that the child will never grow up to be the evil overlord that he will be.  I’ll stop here to avoid giving away too much of the movie.  Really, it must be seen to be truly appreciated.

The movie touched on a varied number of themes, but I think the central one is that of taking responsibility for one’s actions, facing the consequences, and being honourable and noble enough to accept them.  By the end of the film, Joe finally finds the perfect solution to break the cycle of pain and bloodshed that binds his life with that of the Rainmaker.  He takes the future into his own hands and saves everyone even at the cost of the only thing he has left.  Other themes the flick touched on were loyalty, parenthood, a child’s innocence, revenge, and the redemptive power of love.  It’s a glorious mishmash of all that and more. Fast-paced, thought-provoking, and emotionally intense, I highly recommend this film to one and all.  

Watch the trailer.

Silver Linings Playbook

One of the most interesting movies I’ve come across recently, its story revolves around Pat, who suffers from bipolar disorder.  He was admitted into a mental facility for treatment after nearly beating to death his wife’s lover after he caught them in the act to the background of ‘Ma Cherie Amour’ which happens to be his wedding song.  Whew that was a mouthful.    So, Pat checks out of the loony bin enlightened, positive, and out to find the silver lining in everything.  He sets for himself the goal of reconciling with his wife.  In the process of trying to get his life back, his not-quite stable relationship with his parents, his brother, and his friends are revealed little by little.  He and his parents try to walk the delicate balance of being a family again and dealing with Pat’s condition.  In an effort to establish contact with his wife (who has a restraining order against him), he goes to dinner at her friend’s home and that is where he meets Tiffany.  Now Tiffany is a piece of work.  Widowed at a young age, depressed, and slightly crazy herself, she has a reputation for sleeping around and having many unsavoury relationships with men.  After that dinner, she propositions Pat, he refuses, and thus begins their quirky friendship.  More things happen (football games, tantrums, bets, promises, superstitions, etc.) and the happily ever after soon hangs upon the result of a dance competition.  Like I said before, this story is very interesting.  I loved it to bits.

I really liked Bradley Cooper as Pat.  You just felt for the guy – he just wanted to get a second chance and be happy.  But it was Jennifer Lawrence who gave the most noteworthy wonderful performance – assuredly deserving of the award she received.  Tiffany was like a bomb onscreen.  She was just big and all over the place and you couldn’t look away from her.  Lawrence gave the character ample amounts of guts and nerve and vulnerability – it was just awfully raw and very refreshing, even in spite of all the f**k words and other such colourful expletives.   What surprised me was that Robert De Niro did not win for his supporting role.  He was brilliant!  I loved all the scenes where he was there, and my heart just bled for him, the darling man.   Oh well, I’m sure the winner was just as good if not better.  But for me, De Niro was simply awesome.   Alternately heart-wrenching, laugh-out-loud-inducing, and thought-provoking, if you haven’t seen this movie yet, you should. 

Silver Linings Playbook Official Trailer

Warm Bodies

I must admit to a considerable amount of prejudice against this movie since I first heard of it.  Zombies have never been my thing.  I do remember enjoying Night of the Living Dead when I was young, and I had loads of fun playing Resident Evil on PlayStation; I stand on the ambivalence line when it comes to The Walking Dead though I did appreciate the first few episodes of Season 1… but all in all, I’ve always thought that zombies were overrated.  Probably because they’ve been saturating everything over the past few years – like vampires and werewolves and wizards and aliens and angels and ghosts… yeah the whole kit and caboodle.  I’ve grown tired of them.  I don’t know exactly what made me think of giving this one a chance, but whatever the reason, I’m glad it got through to me.

I found Warm Bodies to be a pleasant surprise.  Alternately witty, grisly, and heart-warming, it was fun to follow right from the start.  R is a zombie who’s trying his damndest to hold on to his humanity.  He even tries to maintain a zombie-friendship with M, who seems to still be a little bit on the responsive side as well.  Then on one of their “hunts” for food (human brain, in particular), they smell out a group of still living people scavenging for medical supplies.  In this group are Julie and Perry, and R is immediately struck by Julie when he sees her.  But then a violent encounter ensues and R ends up eating the brains of Perry, who happens to be Julie’s boyfriend.  This allows him to acquire some of Perry’s memories.  Seeing Julie in the dead Perry’s memories, R becomes even more affected by her.  He then does the unthinkable – he protects Julie from the other zombies and takes her back with him to his cushy little zombie pad.  And the rest of this charming little story follows.  I really enjoyed it.

But what I loved most was the music.  This movie has the awesomest soundtrack ever – or at least to my ears in particular.  I’m gonna try to find me a CD of this soundtrack every time I pass a record store from now on.  Songs from John Waite, Axl Rose, Bob Dylan, and so many others – just awesome!   I wish we still had our old turntable.  I have such fond memories of our stack of vinyls – my mom would play them on Sunday mornings at full volume and we’d just all be screaming along to the songs.  R was right when he said they just sound more “alive.”  I swear I’m gonna get me this soundtrack. 

Warm Bodies official trailer

Three movies lately

First, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.  Yep, that was pretty fun.  The two kids of fairy tale fame grow up to be arrow-shooting, gun-slinging, kung fu fighting, witch exterminating bounty hunters.  Even though the mild twist to the fairy tale that was revealed near the ending was rather predictable, that’s fine.  This isn’t something meant to be thought-provoking and deeply moving, after all.  The costumes and set design are good, the witches looked absolutely horrid, the visual effects were as expected, the fight scenes were quick and gregarious, and the cast was gorgeous.  I wish though that I didn’t see it in 3D – gave me quite the headache, and those 3D glasses are simply too uncomfortable and bothersome on top of my own eyeglasses.

Second, Les Miserables.  I’ve seen the film adaptation starring Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush, and I liked that version more than this.  But that’s not to say that the 2012 film was all that bad.  Of course the story was good, this is Victor Hugo.  And the songs were wonderful, coming from the musical as they were.  I liked Hugh Jackman most – 100% performance there from a guy who seems to have it all and can do anything.  The costumes and set design – great.  Well and good.  I won’t deny that it’s good, see for yourself.  But, I still prefer the 1998 film.  Hmm… to each his own, n'est–ce pas?  

Third, Pitch Perfect.  It aired in 2012 and follows the grand tradition of singing-group-inspired flicks that go back to times long gone.  This one was of course rather in the mold of Glee, it being the most recent popular similar-themed media bonanza.  So there you go.  Beca, a girl with personal space and friendship issues goes to college at the insistence of her professor father.  She wants to be a music producer and practically has her headphones stuck to her pretty little head most of the time.  At college she meets the “Troublemakers” (boy group) and the “Bellas” (girl group, duh) and learns of their competitive endeavors.  The Bellas, however, are beleaguered by a besmirched recent history and is having much trouble recruiting new members.  Beca strikes a bargain with daddy and ends up joining the Bellas, and she ends up revolutionizing the world of  a capella singing as everyone knows it.  Along the way, she forms warm, fuzzy friendships, reconciles with her dad, wins the coveted trophy, and falls in love with the boy.  What other possible ending could there be?  I thought it was pretty cute, if you liked this kind of cute, and it made me want to see The Breakfast Club (yes, that perennial favorite from the 1980’s) again.  And the singing wasn’t bad. 

First two movies of 2013

The first two movies I saw in 2013.  First, Jack Reacher.  It dwells on the efforts of an ex-army cop to investigate the gunning down of five seemingly random victims by an ex-army sniper with a bad record.  Together with the lovely attorney (Rosamund Pike) with an unshakeable sense of fairness, they try to uncover all the inconsistencies surrounding the shooting and prove that the accused was actually framed for the brutal murders. 

Pros: I liked the plot and the pace of the unfolding events well enough.  Of course they didn’t reveal everything at the outset.  The truth about the murders was slowly but surely revealed, enough to allow you to feel curious about how it’s all going to turn out.  There were also a lot of subtle comedic moments that had me chuckling.  Also, I liked the cars (Camaro, and the white Benz) and Robert Duvall was really cool.  Cons:  Although the mystery surrounding the killings was effectively revealed clue by clue, it wasn’t really gripping or exciting.  Reading a Sherlock Holmes story would give you more of a thrill than this story.  It felt more like events turned out that way just to make Tom Cruise’s character seem smarter, more impressive and heroic.  It was okay, but in the end it all felt too contrived.  The fight scenes were not bad, but lacked impact somehow; like you already expected it all to turn out the way they turn out and it all ended up being a tad bit too predictable.  In the end, it all felt like a half-done thing.  The story could have had merit, but wasn’t delivered too well. The action scenes weren’t bad, but weren’t all that remarkable either.  Overall, I didn’t really understand the point of the movie.   Was it trying to create a glorified image of American soldiers who end up committing crimes?  Was it trying to melodramatize the idea of random gun violence because it’s so rampant in the States nowadays?  Was it trying to just make Tom Cruise look cool (which it quite failed to do, in my opinion)?  I didn’t hate it, but unfortunately it’s not ever going to make my Top 100 favorite movies.  The film flopped in the U.S. 

Next, Life of Pi.  I didn’t read the book, so I don’t know how it compares, and I don’t plan on reading the book.  The movie was visually beautiful, no one can deny that.  It’s more difficult for me to talk about the story’s themes.  Pi tells the story of his life to a journalist (?) who’d been told he would hear a wonderful story that will make him believe in God.  So Pi tells of his childhood – growing up in a zoo, being bullied for having a weird name and how he overcame that, trying out as many as three different religions at the same time, falling in love as a teenager and getting heartbroken, having to leave everything behind for a strange new land, and last but not the least being the only survivor of a shipwreck with only a Bengal tiger for company.  Majority of the movie centers on the moments that transpired while Pi and Richard Parker (the tiger) are lost at sea and struggling to stay alive, how they formed an uneasy friendship, how having to face grief and death in the middle of the beautiful and unmerciful ocean changed his faith and understanding of life and everything.  I loved the ocean and sea life, of course, and the meerkats, and Richard Parker – he’s my favorite. And I understood that the story was trying to get across a message about faith and hope, but unfortunately, story-wise I didn’t appreciate it as much as I thought I would.  In the end I felt it tried nothing more than to proselytize – something that I always resent in anything and anyone.  The acting was good; great even.  Pi was brought to life with sincerity and honesty.  And again, the tiger was splendid.  I just couldn’t get enough of animals in the big screen, especially something as spectacular as a tiger lost at sea.  I was so happy when he got back to the jungle and had lost none of his true wild nature.  I was so happy that he, at least, had never been tamed.  I do recommend everyone to see it.  The film is up for a whole bunch of movie awards and I’m sure it will bag a few of them.  It’s being compared to Avatar a lot, but I have to say I liked Avatar much better.  But that’s me.  Between a sci-fi/aliens love-mother-nature visually awesome fiesta like Avatar and a moralistic/proselytizing love-mother-nature visually awesome fiesta like Life of Pi, I’d choose the former any day.  See it and decide for yourself.  

Rurouni Kenshin (Live Action Movie) 2012

Finally the long-awaited live action film has been released in Manila. This movie was released in Japan in August of this year, and so many Filipino fans have been waiting for it to come to our shores.  The anime adaptation (then called Samurai X) gained so much popularity here, that it was run and rerun on TV several times over.  If you ever were a follower of this series, you must not miss the live action movie!  It's absolutely worth the wait. 

It's a nearly perfect adaptation.  From the characters, the plot, the nuances and the overall atmosphere of the story-line; it strove to be as faithful to the original as possible and I really appreciate this fact.  It makes me want to see the entire anime series from start to finish all over again.  The fight scenes were really cool, not exaggerated or spoiled by too much obvious computer magic.  I'm glad they managed to show the variety of fighting styles that were such a big deal in the anime version, especially Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu (how quickly he moves, etc., it was really exciting to see it). The portrayals were also as good as I hoped; the actors played their parts well.  There were even a good number of comedic moments which the original versions had plenty of.  Takeru Sato was great as Kenshin; I think it quite suited him to play the part.  He was able to show the many sides of Kenshin's complex tormented character - torn between his nature as a killer, and his deep-seated yearning for peace and belonging.   

My favorite fight scenes: the fight between Kenshin and Gein (the guy with the guns and the dagger), the fight scene between Kenshin and Jine (the one who pretended to be Battousai), and the fight between Sanosuke and Inui (the priest-type fist-fighter).  Those are just my favorites, but generally all the fight scenes were thrilling and bloody and splendid.  The only thing I would have wanted to see more of, really, was Saito (the samurai-turned-police chief) since in the anime he really had a lot to do with Kenshin's life.  But I suppose the film would have gone a little too long if even more character development was expounded upon.  As it is, I personally think it's perfectly awesome.  Obviously, I'm a fan. 

More information on Rurouni Kenshin (Live Action Movie)

This Means War 2012

On a whim (well, not really a whim since I have a huge crush on Tom Hardy), I picked up this movie.  It aired 2012 and starred Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon, and Tom Hardy.  It was directed by McG.  I know many people might disagree with me, but I didn't really like it all that much (except of course, for the gorgeous Tom Hardy).  The premise was kinda cute, spy vs. spy, and all that; both of them trying to get the girl.  But it all came down to the inevitable predictable thing, in the grand tradition of romantic comedies.   It did have some genuinely funny moments, though.  That scene where Hardy's character hired a fake "family" which Pine's character had kidnapped and swapped with some really trashy replacements took the crown in my humble opinion.  The action scenes (what few of them there were) weren't so bad - the opening fight scenes were okay, and I liked the air-gun/paintball scene, too.  But this was definitely a chick flick.  It's good enough for something light and kinda funny on a boring night with nothing to do except pick up a random video and snuggle with a bag of potato chips. But I guess I'm not that into the chick flick genre after all.  I'd much rather watch The Dark Knight, or Inception.  Still, Tom Hardy is there, so what the hell. 

Watch the trailer for This Means War.

Chronicle

Tonight I saw a recent film called “Chronicle” directed by Joshua Trank.  It’s one of those unexpected movies that suddenly become really popular hits even though it didn’t have any overhyped superstar Hollywood celebrity cast members, publicity, and all that paraphernalia.  It was pure story – and I loved it from start to finish.

It centers on Andrew, a high school senior who is faced with such a hard life to cope with – poverty, a mother who’s very ill, an abusive drunk of a father, bullying at school, isolation and loneliness.  The one person he could call a friend is his cousin, Matt. 

One day Matt forces him to go to a party.  Things don’t go well for Andrew there and Steve, their popular classmate, approaches Andrew and urges him to explore something that had been discovered in the woods.  It turns out to be a cavern that leads deep underground, tunneling into the earth.  There Andrew, Steve and Matt encounter something inexplicable – an alien object or creature.  Their contact with this object causes the three of them to develop telekinetic powers.  As they explore and experiment with their newfound abilities, getting stronger and becoming more and more creative with it, the friendship and camaraderie among the three friends grow as well.  Things seem to be looking up for Andrew; he has friends now, and he has power.  But it didn’t make anything easier for him and as his troubles continually plague and overwhelm him, he feels all the more alone and desperate.  Andrew starts to lose control and use his power in a very destructive manner.  He succumbs to his despair and lets all Hell break loose in a seething rampage that leads to the story’s inexorable tragic culmination. 

I love how the film is entitled “Chronicle” because the events unfold from the perspective of a number of different cameras, but mostly Andrew’s own.  You see the story from a third party point of view; you are merely an observer, chronicling the events of the developing drama.  In effect, the camera perspective becomes as much a barrier between you, the audience, and Andrew’s world, as it was between Andrew and the harsh realities of his world.  It allowed him to feel detached, isolated, and safe from all the cruelty and the loneliness.

Beautifully imagined and executed, this film is definitely an amplified reflection of this, our world.  This is what happens when people are pushed too far – they break.  It is a glaring commentary on the truth around us – poverty, domestic abuse, bullying, and isolation.  Once people become sunk in despair, they look for something that they feel empowering and they let loose.  Look around at the shooting rampages in schools, bombs thrown around like so many cigarette stubs, massacres left and right.  This movie made me look hard, and let me think about my actions, the actions of the people around me, and so much more.  I highly recommend this to everyone.  See it, think about it, and maybe it will change everything, including yourself.

See the trailer of CHRONICLE

The Dark Knight Rises

Finally someone got it right.  Christopher Nolan's trilogy of Batman movies is simply awesome.  He's the only director who gave the comic book hero the treatment it deserves.  Upon seeing the last installment of this trilogy, I felt so glad that I lived long enough to see Batman's story given justice. I've always had Batman as my favorite comic book hero.  For me he is the most haunted, complex, and compassionate of all the superheroes.  And he has the most incredible adversaries to boot.  His villains are just as cool, complicated, and disturbed as he is.  Of course the movies' visuals are fantastic, the actors superb, the action sequences gripping, the cinematography, sounds, and all the rest terrific.  But pulling it all together is the graceful and emphatic storytelling - this makes all the difference. I bet Bob Kane is up on his feet applauding Nolan for what he has done.  In my humble opinion, this "Dark Knight Trilogy" has put all other comic book-based Hollywood productions to shame. I hope you go see and appreciate it as much as I have. 

(I feel very sorry for the victims of the massacre.  It's just crazy how anything can happen in our world nowadays.  Gone was the time when you can sit in a movie theater and simply enjoy watching a film in peace.  What's wrong here, people?) 

Eiga Sai 2012

映画祭 2012 The Japanese Film Festival is on once again!
Come enjoy these Japanese movies at the Shangri-La Mall in Ortigas.
I just saw the three movies featured for tonight, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
I am determined to see as many of the featured films as I possibly can.
I LOVE EIGA SAI!


Here is the link to the synopsis and schedule.  Enjoy!
Eiga Sai 2012

Snow White and the Huntsman

I have always loved fairy tales, and I always try to look for good retellings and versions in different formats – books, film, games, etc.  This movie is the nth Hollywood retelling of the classic fairy tale.   I got to see it Saturday night with my family, and each of us gave mixed reactions to it.  Spoilers ahead – be warned.

I think it did try to stay true to the mood and theme of the original – perhaps too much so.  It came off as a tad bit too juvenile and shallow story-wise.  I was expecting something darker, more sinister, and more aggressive.  The hype that surrounded it was all about how this was not another damsel in distress situation, that here was a heroine who was brave and had some spunk to her.  And while it did try to present Snow White as a girl with some fight, the way the film unfolded still would have appealed more to a much younger, less critical audience.  And there were just too many incongruities all over it. 

For instance, that scene where she prays “The Lord’s Prayer” was so out of place.  Why would they include something so markedly Christian (specifically Catholic) in a setting that was supposed to be a fairy-tale world of pagan magic?  And there were no other signs of any religious persuasion anywhere else save for that one scene, which made it all the more awkward and questionable.  If they really wanted to show the girl as this virtuous, spiritually pure character, it would have vastly been more preferable if she instead prayed for courage and strength in her own words addressed to her late parents. 

And then there was the Huntsman and the relationship between him and SW – how did that happen?  Of course I expected some sort of romantic development to happen there, but it turned out that the people who were making this film didn’t bother to show just how the development came about.  Besides, they portrayed the Huntsman as someone who was supposedly drunk all the time.  How could any young girl fall for that?  Sure, he gave her the protector/defender figure she sort of needed, but anything more than that there was nothing.  How did the Huntsman fall for SW?  Only because she was pretty and there was some magic thing going on with her?  That’s all?  Wasn’t he portrayed as someone who still grieved deeply for his lost wife?  His grief was so shallow as to be overcome by just that?  The Huntsman was a flat character.  It was cool that he remained unnamed, though.

The only saving grace for me was (of course) Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen.  She played the role to perfection.  She was vicious and pitiful, terrifying and stunningly beautiful all at once.  Awesome.  At least they gave her role the attention and detail it deserved; presenting the rationale for her madness makes you feel sorrow and pity for her even as you await her inevitable defeat. 

The soundtrack was good, the cinematography very nice indeed (several times I was reminded of LOTR), and the visual effects were brilliant especially whenever the queen was doing what she does best.  All in all, definitely NOT the best adaptation of the fairy tale that’s out there.  If you want a really good take on the tale, I recommend “Snow White: A Tale of Terror,” a TV movie that was released in 1997 starring Sigourney Weaver and Sam Neill.  Now THAT’s how you adapt a fairy tale: look at the story from a different perspective, lend it a different mood, remove what is shallow and give the audience something dark and mysterious to anticipate.  Compared to this current version, the 1997 movie is ten times more impressive and unforgettable.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOlQ75fhWKE&feature=colike

Other versions of Snow White that I really like: (1) the original Grimm Brothers tale (of course), (2) Snow by Tracy Lynn, and (3) Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire.  Read them and be awed, and fall in love with fairy tales all over again.

The Avengers and Dark Shadows

I saw two movies recently.  The first of which was The Avengers (of course!), the highly anticipated superhero soup of a Hollywood blockbuster.  I must admit that I enjoyed it thoroughly.  I found it visually exciting (due to the astounding visual effects but mostly because of the impossibly good-looking cast), humorous (the dialogues were amusing and the exchanges between the characters were inspired), and well-paced.  I’m glad I saw it as a sort of culmination to the series of Marvel comic hero movies that they’ve released one after the other lately.  I did enjoy most of the other features where they have just one hero as the focus (Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor), but I must admit that I liked this one best.  Absolute favourite character: LOKI. His lines were just fabulous and you can’t help but just listen to every word he says or look at him whenever he’s onscreen.  Tom Hiddleston gave an awesome performance, lending the character alternately a devious, evil persona as well as one that is sensitive, vulnerable, and almost diabolically hilarious.  I’d recommend The Avengers to anyone who might have even a fleeting interest in the world of comic book heroes, especially since we’ve had some rather disappointing movies of the same ilk recently (Transformers, Green Lantern, etc.).  If you grew up with these heroes and their cartoon equivalents, then you’d enjoy The Avengers.

 

The next movie was Dark Shadows.  I absolutely adore Tim Burton’s films, so I couldn’t let this one get past me (The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my most beloved movies of all time).  I love the visual effect of the whole film – it was all so hippie-goth (if I could even say that’s a word). Whatever, it clearly had the Tim Burton stamp all over it.  And it was just so funny!  The humour is sustained (I kept giggling every once in a while throughout the film) and these really big moments just jump out on you out of the blue.  All the characters were marvellously cast (they each fit their roles perfectly) and the actors gave such cool performances.  The story is quite shallow – no higher order thinking skills required here – but all the other elements make up for that, in my opinion.  You just sit back and let it take you.  Favourite character: Angelique.  Eva Green is so believable – she oozed evil with every word and piercing stare, not to mention she’s just absolutely a stunning beauty.  Johnny Depp as Barnabas was… well, Johnny Depp.  I don’t think any other actor could have pulled this character off as well as he did.  He’s just custom-made to play roles this quirky and weird and funny.  No wonder Tim Burton likes him so much (that practically all his movies have Depp in them).  This movie was just all-around fun.  I recommended it to anyone who just wants a good escape with chuckles thrown in.

Departures (おくりびと)

This is one of the most gracefully told stories I have ever witnessed.  Upon having seen it, it’s really no wonder why it won all that acclaim.  The plot revolves around Daigo, who lost his job and ended up going back to the countryside and landing a job that he assumed had something to do with being a travel agent.  This is a story about the trials that people face in life, a search for a purpose, the human concept of death and the loss, grief, and acceptance that go with it.  It is about family and the relations we have with those people around us who shape our lives.  All of these and more wrapped in an exquisite presentation of Japanese culture and tradition.  How precise and elegant every moment of this film is!  Nothing was overdone.  The music, the performance of the cast, the pacing of the story, everything just flowed smoothly and went straight to the heart.  Every laugh and tear that the movie elicits is well worth it.  “Departures” will be one of my high-ranking favourites from now on.

Tree of Life

I just saw the movie, Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, and Jessica Chastain.
I know that there have been many things said about it, but in my honest opinion it is one
of the best films I've seen for a long while. 

It's not really a "story" type of movie to me - more of an "allegory" or an "idea."
I felt awe, wonder, grief, and ultimately gratitude as I was watching.
The creators of this movie are undoubtedly very deep, poetic thinkers, who just
also happen to be very talented nature photographers/film-makers. 
To my eye, this film was like a conversation with nature and life itself.
It is trying to ask some of the ultimate questions - Where do we come from?
Why are we here? Why must there be death? Why must there be life?
There are also some very human questions about family, parenthood, growing up,
forgiveness, guilt, friendship, and oh, so much more.  I could say more on this,
but I think this is enough.  I might not be able to stop.

I'm glad the Cannes Film Festival gave this movie the distinction it received.
Whether or not it was deserving all depends on individual opinion.
Be that as it may, I definitely think it's worth the discussion.