Some Worthy Movies
I’m at home currently because of Spring Break and don’t really have access to my server space, so I’ll just rely on straight words today since they don’t require a fancy program. Lately, there have been a few movies out that are not only good, but ones you just know right after walking out of the theatre that you’re going to buy it when it comes out on DVD. The recent movies to do this for me were 300 and Blood Diamond. Since it’s Spring Break, I’ve also seen a lot more movies, so here’s my run down on the good and bad of movies I’ve seen lately.
300
300 was everything I had hoped for and more. Considering it was the next movie for the Sin City crew, I knew it was going to look great visually, but I had no idea the story was going to be this good. The tale of 300 Spartans against nearly the entire Persian army is told masterfully and there were plenty of “wow” moments that left me trying to figure out where computer graphics took over and I just couldn’t tell the graphics were so well done. I think my favorite part was the skillful blending of story and visuals that made a good balance to where neither outweighed the other. Sin City was all about visuals and the story wasn’t exactly there most the time, but 300 trumps Sin City in every way and is one of the best so far this year.
Children of Men
This one caught me offguard. I heard it was good, but it’s simply excellent. Clive Owen plays a depressed, down on his luck guy that gets mixed up in having to save the one woman on Earth that has managed to become pregnant in a time when women are no longer able to have children. This results in everyone panicking after the youngest person on Earth, a 19 year old boy, dies suddenly and people realize humans are slowing becoming extinct. The aspect that made this movie so good was the cinematography. I believe the entire movie was shot handheld style, with the majority of the scenes having the camera run behind Clive Owen as he dodges bullets and explosions. It’s a thriller at heart, with some of the most intense action scenes I’ve experienced in a movie lately because of the camera style, but also a movie that’ll leave you thinking after it’s done. It came out on DVD last Tuesday, so do yourself a favor and rent it, or just take my word and buy it because I know it won’t disappoint.
Blood Diamond
Finally there’s Blood Diamond. Suzie and I saw this a couple nights ago since we were pretty much the only two people left in town during Spring Break. It was at our local dollar theatre and we rock, paper, scissor’d which movie we’d see. Well, I’m happy to say we chose the right one and considering I expecting nothing special from this movie, I ended up being blown away. Leonardo didn’t annoy me with his South African accent like I thought, Djimon Hounsou stole nearly every scene he was in as the father in search for his family, and add to that my all time love in Jennifer Connelly and you’ve got my vote. The movie was basically how a diamond smuggler, journalist, and native of the land who has lost nearly everything, cross paths and join together not only to further their own gains, but to help each other survive in the process. Most of the movie was heartbreaking, but there’s much to be loved about Blood Diamond. The action scens are intense, the acting is top notch, and the underlying message makes you think twice about whether diamonds are really worth all the bloodshed that often occurs in Africa because of them. All I know is my fiance, whoever she may be, is getting a ring pop when I pop the question. Then when she complains I’ll simply pull out Blood Diamond and not only will she understand, but she’ll also have something tasty to eat while watching it.
