I, Origins (2014)

Tags

2014, Brit Marling, Drama, I Origins, Michael Pitt, Movie, Science Fiction

lemme just go ahead and grab your eye there…

Well, I’m back!  Reincarnated, you might say.  The robot is still hunting pretty things, and it has found one – a movie called I, Origins.

First, let me say, DO NOT go watch the trailer for this movie.  It will show you every plot twist, every revelation, every everything that’s in the movie.  I’m glad I did not see it before watching the movie, and I suggest you follow my lead.

I will give you a quick plot set-up.  Ian (Michael Pitt) is a scientist who is obsessed with eyes.  Along with his lab partner (Brit Marling), he is trying to disprove the idea that the human eye is too perfect to have developed via evolution.  After meeting, and totally falling for, a mysterious woman (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) at a party, he only has a picture of her eyes to remember her by.  But, through a series of strange events, he meets her again.  This sets him on a path of spiritual, and scientific, discovery that could change the world.  Boom, no trailer needed!

It’s a very interesting story that seems to be seeking a balance between science and the supernatural.  It has funny moments, sad moments, great characters, great acting, and a great soundtrack, not to mention it just has an overall lovely look and feel to it.

I will leave you with a little scene that I enjoy.  It will give you an idea of the feel of the film:

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The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Tags

Action, Anne Hathaway, Christian Bale, Drama, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Movie, The Dark Knight Rises, Tom Hardy

and here’s why…

I probably don’t need to say much about this one.  Just go see it.  If you’re at all a fan of the first two in the trilogy…just go see it.

I will say, I thought a couple of elements of it were quite predictable and maybe shouldn’t have been played up as much throughout the movie.  It didn’t really ruin my enjoyment, but I was a little disappointed about how soon certain things became obvious.

My main complaint about the Dark Knight, as compared to Batman Begins, was that it was lacking in any real emotional depth.  Even Rachel’s death was hurried past without much time to mourn her.  I don’t think we even saw a tear from Bruce Wayne.  This movie felt more like Batman Begins in that regard.  It took a little (but still not enough) time to slow down and show some emotion.

But…maybe that’s why other plot elements felt rushed.  Time passes in this movie so fast that it’ll make your head spin.  There are times when we only realize that several months have passed between scenes because one character clumsily mentions it to another character.  I’m hoping an extended cut appears on blu-ray some day.  Maybe a few of the “but-how-did-he…?” moments can be clarified.  Even if it takes 3 and a half hours to do it.

All in all, it’s a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy, despite the fact that I thought the end could have been even more conclusive than it was…

8.6/10

La Jetée (1962)

Tags

Davos Hanich, Drama, Hélène Chatelain, Jacques Ledoux, Jean Négroni, La Jetée, Movie, Science Fiction

I just love my creepy time-travelin' man...

Unrated

Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux

Narrator: Nothing tells memories from ordinary moments. Only afterward do they claim remembrance, on account of their scars.

After Paris is destroyed in World War III, a man being held prisoner by survivors underground is forced to travel back in time. In the past, he meets a woman whose face he remembers seeing as a child.

So what is a movie, really, but a collection of still photos run in rapid succession in order to create the illusion of motion.

In La Jetée, it just so happens that, during its 28 minute running time, the photos aren’t run in rapid succession. In fact, there may be only one photo every few seconds (or more) rather than many frames per second. They say a picture can say 1000 words, and that’s what director Chris Marker must have been banking on.

And I gotta say, it works.

It really goes to show how much superfluous material there is in many movies when just a few photos can say as much or more than an entire scene in another movie.

If you’ve seen 12 Monkeys, then you know the story here. Terry Gilliam basically made a longer version of this movie, but did change a few things here and there. It was a disease, rather than a war, that wiped out a large portion of the population, and…well, I won’t mention the other change, as that would be too spoileriffic.

I really enjoyed the time travel method employed here. It’s based on emotional connections with ones past, so automatically we have an emotional core built into the movie right there. Though, that did make his brief jump to the future a little confusing. But eh, whatever, it still worked.

If you’re worried about the foreign title, don’t fret, the narration is in English – at least it was in the version I watched on Netflix. So, you won’t need to read any subtitles.

Besides, the photos do plenty of talking anyways…

Preserve your memories…they’re all that’s left you…

10 – 1.5 because…um…I dunno…because it seems like an 8.5 is a good rating for it = 8.5

Cold Weather (2010)

Tags

Cold Weather, Comedy, Cris Lankenau, Drama, Movie, Raul Castillo, Robyn Rikoon, Suspense, Trieste Kelly Dunn

I should've gotten the one that blows bubbles...

Unrated, but I’d say R

Cris Lankenau, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Raul Castillo, Robyn Rikoon

Doug: You look contemplative…what are you thinking about?
Carlos: Well, uh, nothing man…I just want to ask you if it’s really cool if I take Rachel to the Star Trek convention tomorrow.
Doug: Yeah, of course.
Carlos: I mean, I know she’s your ex-girlfriend and everything.
Doug: I’m not bothered by it.
Carlos: I don’t know, I just didn’t want you to think we were going on a date or something…I don’t know, the whole thing just makes me uncomfortable.
Doug: I’m totally fine with it.  And you guys are dorks.

After dropping out of college, where he was studying forensic science, Doug (Lankenau) moves in with his sister and gets a job in an ice factory.  It’s basically a dull, uneventful life he leads until one day his ex-girlfriend goes missing, and Doug must employ some of the skills he’s learned in order to find her.

Have you ever wanted to be really good at something but not willing to put enough work into it to succeed at it?

I think that’s a feeling that a lot of people can relate to, so already we have a connecting point to this movie.  Specifically to Doug.  He wants to be Sherlock Holmes.  He loves Sherlock Holmes.  But when it comes to actually taking the steps to be Sherlock Holmes, Doug isn’t so able to follow through.  He dropped out of college where he was learning how to be a detective, and then when he’s faced with an opportunity to actually solve a mystery, he’s reluctant to even get involved.

He has also moved in with his sister, Gail (Dunn), which could point to a state of arrested development for both of them.  They both seem to want to escape from a certain sense of apathy, and they might be each others best hope and worst enemy as far as that is concerned.  Their relationship was a little odd to me…borderline uncomfortable at times, but thankfully never venturing into creepy territory.

They definitely work well together, as characters and actors.  Lankenau and Trieste Kelly Dunn both give very good, believable performances, as do the other two main actors – Raul Castillo as Carlos and Robyn Rikoon as Rachel.  The friendship between Carlos and Doug is very natural and is given time to develop in the first half hour or so of the movie.  In fact, that first section of the movie is devoted almost entirely to character development (I love that Carlos is really into Star Trek).  Though, there are a couple of little clues to the upcoming mystery strewn about.

What is probably most surprising about this movie is how funny it was.  The dialogue is witty and well written, once again in a believable way.  It’s not about writing set-ups for jokes and then delivering punchlines, it’s about writing witty and odd things that sound like what people would actually say within real conversations.

That’s what makes this movie work for me.  It’s all grounded in reality.  The people, the places, and the situations all seem very real.  Even the mystery of what happened to Rachel is plausible while still managing to be engrossing.  Writer and Director Aaron Katz does a great job of building tension in situations that, if we stop and think about it, probably shouldn’t be eliciting such feelings.  Yet, there I was thinking, “wait, Doug, be careful!”

The comedy and mystery elements are balanced very well throughout, not unlike the way Hitchcock used to balance them.  In fact, we get another Hitchcock element here as well – a MacGuffin in the form of a briefcase that drives the last half of the movie.  Any movie that gets me in the mind of Hitchcock movies probably has some good things going for it.

My only real disappointment (aside from Carlos seeming to disappear from the movie two thirds of the way in) was at the very end.  Without giving any spoilers, I’ll just say that you should go into this one knowing that, when the credits roll, you might find yourself saying, “wait a second, it’s over?”  That cut to black was a little too sudden for me, but that slightly bitter aftertaste wasn’t enough to erase the memory of the good film that preceded it.

I like seeing characters find a purpose and focus in their lives.  And even though this specific situation won’t last forever, there’s hope that this renewed sense of adventure will propel Doug and Gail into a future more closely resembling what they probably dreamed of as kids.  A future where they aren’t afraid, and too apathetic, to be the people they want to be.

Be careful what you throw away in hotel trash cans.

10 – 1 because it probably could have been a little more tightly edited – .9 because I have to admit the ending was a little less than satisfying for my brain that obviously needs more of a sense of closure = 8.1

Catfish (2010)

Tags

Angela Wesselman-Pierce, Ariel Schulman, Catfish, Documentary, Movie, Yaniv Schulman

myth busters?

PG-13

Yaniv Schulman, Ariel Schulman, Angela Wesselman-Pierce

Nev: I don’t really, necessarily want to be doing this.  You’re choosing to do it.
Rel: So stop me.
Nev: That’s what I tried the other day, and you almost fought with me about it.
Rel: So stop right now.  Just stop.
Nev: What are you trying to do, like, basic reverse psychology on me like a six year-old?
Rel: Yeah, so what are you giving me, basic laziness?

Documentary following the relationship between a photographer, Nev, in New York and the family of a little girl, Abby, in Michigan who paints amazing versions of Nev’s photos.  After months of getting to know the family via the internet and the phone, Nev, and the two filmmakers who share his office, start to uncover the fact that not everything is as it seems as far as the family is concerned.

I’ll start by saying that this is one of those movies that it’s best to go into knowing as little as possible about.  I personally think most movies fall into that category, but ones like this especially do.  So, if you’d rather not read my spoiler-ish discussion of it, just stop at the end of this paragraph, go watch the movie, then come back and finish reading.  While not a masterpiece or anything, I definitely recommend it.  It’s pretty powerful stuff, whether it’s the cringe worthy moments or the moments that bring a tear to your eye.

Now, moving on…

Kaycee Nicole Swenson.  If that name rings a bell, then the events in this movie may not be too surprising to you.  Basically, Kaycee was a teenage girl who, years ago, was battling cancer.  She had a blog and many followers.  Her posts were humorous, touching, insightful, and inspiring.  People around the country, and even in other parts of the world, followed all her ups and downs, all the way up until her tragic death.  I was one of those people, and even though I wasn’t as invested in her story nearly as much as some others, it was still an interesting story to follow.

What makes it more interesting is the fact that Kaycee didn’t actually die.  In fact, she never actually existed in the first place.  She was originally the fabrication of a young girl who wanted to chat with older guys on the internet.  When her mother discovered this, she didn’t do the expected (aka sane) thing and discontinue the ruse.  Instead, she took it to another level.  A way out of control level.  She claims it was all done to tell the stories of various cancer sufferers she had known, but I think she was just crazy.

Needless to say, this was a shock to a lot of people.  Especially the ones that had had one on one correspondence with Kaycee and had even talked to her on the phone.  They were left wondering who the heck they had actually been talking to.

And so, that brings us back to Catfish.  While not the story of Kaycee Nicole, I was certainly reminded of that story very early on in this movie, as Nev and his filmmaker friends start to unravel the lies they have been told by this family.  Nev has started a long distance relationship with Megan, the older sister of the 8 year old Abby.  Megan is a beautiful musician, and she has sent several songs for Nev to listen to.  But once they discover one of them isn’t her own song at all, it doesn’t take long to figure out that all of the other songs are just stolen from other artists as well.  Not just covers, but completely stolen recordings.

And that’s just the tip of the ice burg.

Nev and his friends decide to pay the family a visit in Michigan, and that’s when things really get weird.  And oddly enough, things get pretty touching as well.  My skin was crawling at first with how awkward some of the confrontations were, but after a while the situation is revealed to be just so sad that you can’t help but feel at least some sympathy for everyone involved.

The other thing this movie does is make you question everything you’re presented with in the virtual world.  In fact, at times I found myself even questioning the verity of the movie itself.  I’m almost afraid to do some internet research on it for fear that I’ll find out that it was all faked.  Would that fall into some sort of sub category of meta filmmaking?  Either way, it would still teach the same lesson that the actual story is teaching:  trust no one.  I think I’ve heard that somewhere before.

Assuming the events presented are as they actually occurred…well…then there’s some strange people in this world.  But as one character points out, those are the people that make life all the more interesting.

Don’t trust anything you read or see on the internet…or hear on the phone.  In fact, it’s probably best to just not trust anything at all!

10 – .5 because it’s just so painfully awkward at times (I am rating my enjoyment level of it after all) – 1 because it dragged a little bit here and there and felt a tad repetitive = 8.5

Let Me In (2010)

Tags

Chloe Moretz, Drama, Elias Koteas, Horror, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Let Me In, Movie, Richard Jenkins

c'mon, let me in! no, that's not blood on my face...it's...just ketchup...

R

Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas

Owen: How old are you, really?
Abby: Twelve…but I’ve been twelve for a really long time.

A lonely 12 year old boy, Owen (Smit-McPhee), meets a 12 year old girl, Abby (Moretz), who just moved into his apartment complex.  Abby seems equally lonely – but way more mysterious – and the two slowly build up a friendship.  It’s a tough friendship to maintain though, seeing as how Abby can only come out at night…since, ya know, she’s a vampire.

Remakes…most people hate them, and with good reason.  Whenever one comes out, especially so soon after the high quality original, people wonder why bother going through the trouble.  Well, this is why.  It’s a good story I’m sure quite a few people would miss out on because they wouldn’t be willing to watch the original, Swedish, version.  Plus, as the filmmakers are quick to point out, it’s more like a different take on the book rather than a remake of another movie.

Yes, the original is probably superior, but not by a very wide margin.  In fact, I think the Matt Reeves directed version might best the original in a few areas.  I won’t go into a scene for scene comparison, but Reeves seems to know how to stage a tense, suspenseful sequence well.  And that’s one of the main differences between the two versions, the overall tone.  The original was a bit more calm, quiet, morose (but in a good way), while this version ramps up the tension and the scares a bit more.  Thankfully it doesn’t go overboard with it, and there’s still room for the quietly building, sweet friendship between Owen and Abby.

Speaking of them, Smit-McPhee and Moretz are both very good in their roles.  Moretz is becoming quite the scary little 12 year old when you consider her previous role as Hit Girl in Kick-Ass along with this movie.  Be careful around that one.  Besides having an odd name, Kodi Smit-McPhee also looks like he could have just walked straight out of the Swedish version of this story.  That’s pretty much perfect casting right there.

Their relationship is the heart of the movie, and it’s a strong heart.  If that relationship didn’t work, the film would be a waste of time.  The leads act it well, Reeves directs it well, and Michael Giacchino (of Lost fame) adds his usual emotive music into the mix.

Overall, both versions of this film are worth a watch.  They offer up different enough viewing experiences to make it not seem too repetitive to watch them both.  If I had seen this version first, I might think it was the superior version.  It’s always hard to judge remakes, or re-tellings, since you’ve essentially already seen it.  But I can say that I enjoyed watching this particular re-telling, even though I knew exactly where the story was going.  That’s a good sign.

Oh, and in case there are any vampires out there, consider this my invitation for you to come in and read my movie blog.

When you bully somebody, you bully their friends too.  Make sure you know who those friends are.

10 – 1 because it does go overlong a bit and probably could have done without the opening scene that’s repeated later – .4 for ramping up the scares/tension a bit too much = 8.6

Inception (2010)

Tags

Action, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Drama, Ellen Page, Inception, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Movie, Suspense, Tom Berenger, Tom Hardy

hey! we were just...um...does this look weird?

PG-13

Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, Tom Berenger

Cobb: Dreams feel real while we’re in them…it’s only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange.

Cobb (DiCaprio) is the best dream extractor in the business.  He goes into people’s dreams, convinces them it’s reality, and steals secrets from them.  Cobb and his team are hired by Saito (Watanabe) to complete a much more complicated job, though.  They must plant an idea in a man’s mind rather than extract one.

Is there a more consistent director working right now than Christopher Nolan?  He may not make perfect movies (who does?), but you know going in that you’re going to get something interesting and of high quality every time.

He brings the goods again with Inception, a movie that seems to revel in its own complexity.  Almost as if it’s taunting other dumbed down big budget action thrillers.  Visually stunning, in its own more subtle way, I’d say this movie uses special effects in a much more interesting way than something like Transformers.  It’s special effects used to tell a story…not to give you a headache.

I will, however, go ahead and get my criticisms out of the way.

First of all, in his last few films, I feel like Nolan has let the emotional core of his movies fade into the background a little for the sake of highlighting the intricate plots.  It’s not totally absent, but it seems glossed over or less accessible.  I felt the same way watching The Dark Knight as I did watching this movie at times.  It looks great, the story is interesting, it has me on the edge of my seat…but the characters seem a little flimsy.  At least some of them do.  Cobb is fleshed out pretty well, but the others, not so much.  I can’t really tell you much about Ellen Page’s Ariadne other than the fact that she’s an architect student and…well…that she has a weird name.

Now, the next few sentences might be a bit SPOILERY, so read at your own risk if you haven’t seen the movie.  There may be a reason the characters seem one dimensional, but I’m not going to discuss it here.  But if it was all done intentionally because that’s the story being told, then my criticism about the characters is moot.

Okay, end of spoilerish stuff.

On to my second criticism.  I wish the dreams had been a little more dreamlike.  I get that they are being constructed to mimic reality, but when they start to break down, I think it would have been much more interesting (and realistic) to have things just get really weird rather than having everything explode.  People’s faces could get all creepy…there could be talking animals…the sky could turn green…a dinosaur could show up…anything could happen, really.  I would have had fun as a writer or director coming up with crazy stuff that happens when the dreams start crumbling.

But enough negativity!  It’s too good of a movie to dwell on the negative.  The best things about Inception are as follows.  One, it has a serious tone that is severely lacking in a lot of big movies.  There’s barely a wink at the audience to be seen, and it doesn’t go for a bunch of lame one-liners.  There’s one character, Eames (Hardy), that is basically the outlet for any of that, which works well because it gives his character some individuality.  Second, there’s the story.  As I’ve said, it will make you think.  You can’t go to sleep on this movie, or you will get lost pretty quickly.  Yet, despite all it’s complexities, it all comes together and seems to work in the end.  There are some things open to interpretation, but I don’t think there are any gaping plot holes to be dealt with.  Nolan spent a long time on this script, and it shows.  Sure, he may have borrowed a bit from Dreamscape, but he’s taken it many steps forward and into much more interesting psychological realms.

So wear your thinking caps when you go to this one, people.  You don’t want to get lost midway through, otherwise the big climax won’t have nearly the impact that it should have.

If you’re looking for a movie you don’t have to think about…well, I’m sure they’ll roll out another Transformers soon enough.

Getting lost in your subconscious dream world sounds kind of fun, actually…

10 – 1 for the plot intricacies overshadowing the character development a bit too much – .6 for the dreams not being dreamy enough = 8.4

Personal Favorite: Jaws (1975)

Tags

Drama, Horror, Jaws, Lorraine Gary, Movie, Murray Hamilton, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider

hai guyz! how 'bout you throw me a fish or somethin'?

PG

Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

Brody: It doesn’t make any sense…they pay a guy like you to watch sharks?
Hooper: Well, uh, it doesn’t make much sense for a guy who hates the water to live on an island either.
Brody: It’s only an island if you look at it from the water.
Hooper: That makes a lotta sense…

A large, killer shark terrorizes an island community that depends on summer beach-going tourists to fuel its economy.

Let’s face it, killer creature movies have been around for a long time.  There were many before Jaws and even more since then, but I dare say that Jaws did it better than all the rest.  I know, what a bold thing to say, right?  This is a classic that appears on many all time great lists.

So what makes this killer monster movie so much better than the rest?  Well, not only does Senor Spielbergo’s clever direction result in scaring the bejeezums out of the audience, but we’re also treated to 3 great characters in Brody, Hooper, and Quint.  Sheriff Martin Brody, the family man who, despite being afraid of water, relocated from New York to Amity Island because he wanted to live in a place where he could actually make a difference.  Matt Hooper, the young, rich marine biologist called in to determine if there was, in fact, a shark feeding in the area, and if so, what kind.  Then Captain Quint, the WWII veteran who has been seeking revenge on sharks ever since he witnessed scores of his shipmates get eaten alive by sharks after the sinking of the USS Indianapolis.  These guys are great together and really drive the second half of the movie.

What drives the first half of the movie, though, is the ominous tension that builds as we wonder who’s going to get gobbled up next.  I mean, after a young boy, Alex, becomes the shark’s second victim, pretty much anybody is fair game.

Of course, I couldn’t talk about Jaws without mentioning the scene that gave me nightmares as a youngster.

 

not cool, man...

Yeah, that one.  Spielberg used to be so good, what happened?  He’s still alright, but not Jaws good.

Speaking of Spielberg, we do get a few of those classic Spielberg continuity errors.  I sometimes picture him delivering the same line that Johnny Depp does as Ed Wood, “Nobody will ever notice that.  Filmmaking is not about the tiny details.  It’s about the big picture.”  I can overlook barrels appearing and disappearing, a shoe on the foot of a leg floating to the seabed right after we saw the former owner with bare feet, and sudden changes in daylight, but I still puzzle over one scene in particular.  When they find the remains of the first victim on the beach, it cuts to a shot of her arm covered in crabs, but then one crab suddenly drops in from the top of the frame and lands on her arm.  Clearly the crab wrangler was still tossing them into the scene at that point.  How is that never noticed and edited out?  Not a big deal, but it has always bugged me.

Despite all of that, the good stuff wins out…big time.  Scene after scene works to either hit the audience with a scare, make them laugh, or build the characters so we care that much more about them at the end.  In fact, there’s only one scene I can think of that doesn’t really work, and that’s the one with the two guys on the dock with the turkey.  Not only does it seem superfluous, but it also isn’t staged all that well.  It would’ve been better if at least one of them became shark food.

I’m guessing most people have seen this movie, but I’ll close by saying that if you haven’t, and even if you don’t normally enjoy killer (fill in the blank) movies, give this one a shot, even if it’s just to enjoy the characters.  It perfected a formula that has been copied, usually with much less success, over and over since its release.  It is well worth a watch.

Oh, but don’t bother with any of the sequels.  Jaws 2 is decent, but the other two are just garbage.  You might get a good laugh out of Jaws 4 though.

Always get a bigger boat…

10 – .2 for those various continuity errors – .2 for that one scene that I’ve just never liked = 9.6

Personal Favorite: Insomnia (2002)

Tags

Al Pacino, Drama, Highly Recommended, Hilary Swank, Insomnia, Martin Donovan, Movie, Robin Williams, Suspense

whoa! dude, your breath smells like halibut!

R

Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan

Ellie: A good cop can’t sleep because a piece of the puzzle is missing, and a bad cop can’t sleep because his conscience won’t let him.  You said that once…
Will: I did?  Well…sounds like somethin’ I’d say, doesn’t it?

In the midst of an internal affairs investigation, two Los Angeles detectives are sent to a small town in northern Alaska to assist in a murder case.  While chasing the killer along a foggy coastline, Will Dormer (Pacino) accidentally shoots and kills his partner, Hap (Donovan), but blames it on the killer, who managed to escape.  As the 24 hour daylight, and his own conscience, make it more and more difficult for Dormer to sleep, he also must deal with calls from the killer who knows exactly what happened in the fog that day.

This one is on my favorite movies list for a reason.  I can watch it many a time without getting sick of it.  I just love the way Christopher Nolan (yeah, the same guy that did the new Batman movies) directs a film.  He can really inject a lot of emotion into simple scenes, using certain camera angles and music (by David Julyan) to expand upon some quality performances.

I’ve seen people say negative things about Pacino in this movie, but I’ve always felt he gets it just right.  He’s a big time LA detective who enters the Alaska scene a bit overconfident.  As things start to spiral out of control, and the sleepless days pile up, Dormer (and Pacino) gets more and more zombie-like.  He plays it exactly as it should be.

Williams is pretty creepy as the calm, cool author, Walter Finch, who doesn’t really seem to think he’s done all that much wrong.  In his mind, the murder was just an accident, and he plans to write his way out of being caught.

Hilary Swank, as local detective Ellie Burr, is sort of the glue that holds the movie together.  In a way, she can be viewed as Dormer’s conscience personified.  She’s in charge of investigating Hap’s death, and as she gets closer and closer to realizing Dormer’s account of the incident isn’t true, the pressure is raised on Dormer to try to pin Hap’s murder on Finch.

It’s a well acted, well scripted, and beautifully shot movie with only a few flaws here and there.  I thought it maybe had a few scenes that weren’t edited terribly well, and the chase sequence was a little weak and unnecessary.  I mean, the use of stunt doubles was painfully obvious whenever Dormer had to do anything remotely athletic.

But hey, overall, great movie.  Now go get some sleep, Al!

Nightmute, Alaska is the halibut fishing capital of the world.  (Though, the googles say Homer, Alaska is actually the halibut fishing capital of the world.  Where does the truth lie?)

10 – .4 for a couple oddly edited scenes and continuity errors – .7 for the lame chase sequence = 8.9

Dear Zachary (2008)

Tags

Andrew Bagby, David Bagby, Dear Zachary, Documentary, Kathleen Bagby, Kurt Kuenne, Movie

awesome peeps

R

Kurt Kuenne, Andrew Bagby, David Bagby, Kathleen Bagby

Dr. Scott McClellan: The weather here is terrible…the weather is awful.  We have 8 months of winter and 4 months of bad weather.

A documentary that started off being a collection of memories and messages for a young boy, Zachary, the son of a murdered doctor, but ended up being a whole lot more.

This is a tough one to watch, but it’s very well done.  You can tell that the director, Kurt Kuenne, put every bit of his heart and soul into this one.  He’s not an unbiased observer in this story.  He was best friends with Andrew Bagby, the doctor who was murdered by a crazy ex-girlfriend, Shirley.

It’s a complicated story, and Kuenne has no problem showing who the good guys are, Kate and David Bagby, and who the villain is, Shirley.  Though, almost as big a villain is the supposed justice system.  Shirley is let out of prison and given custody of little Zach over and over again, despite showing clear mental issues and, oh yeah, having murdered somebody!  Yeah, it’s frustrating to watch.

I’m not even going to try to go through all the ins and outs of the story, but know this:  you will most likely cry quite a bit.  You will, however, have some of your faith in humanity restored by the amazing Kate and David.  How they can even carry on their lives after all of this is beyond me.  But they haven’t just carried on, they’ve become activists to make sure this level of incompetence in the justice systems doesn’t just continue on without attention being brought to it.

I think I’ll leave it at that, as there’s really no way to describe the raw emotion involved in this movie.  The frustration, sadness, and hopefulness all rolled into one is borderline exhausting.  That aside, it’s a well edited movie that presents the facts in an understandable way while simultaneously giving just about everyone who knew Andrew Bagby a chance to talk about how much he affected their lives.

I loved this movie, but I don’t think I’m going to be watching it again any time soon…if ever.

Apparently, to some people, murdering someone for a specific reason does not convincingly show that you’re a threat to society…’cause, ya know, the person you were mad at is dead now…so nobody else needs to worry about you.

10 – .8 because…I dunno…it’s just so exhaustingly emotional that I don’t really want to see it again = 9.2