One of the problems with Avatar was that I’d seen it all before. I was wondering why I felt so underwhelmed by the so-called wonderful and advanced technical effects when JK pointed out that that’s probably because we’d seen stuff like this (maybe not so realistically) in various video games.
And without the visual spectacle, Avatar was a complete bore. A 3D-headache inducing, butt-numbing tedium with a story that made me very uncomfortable throughout the whole screening.
Spoilers below.
The Informant
I hadn’t actually thought of watching this but I am so glad I did. So thank ZK for the suggestion.
While my head knew it was Matt Damon, I was never quite conscious of it throughout the movie. I loved the humour in the show and because I went in completely unspoiled, I found the plot really intriguing. And the soundtrack was brilliant too – the show would not have been as funny without it. Add to the fact that this was supposedly a true story ensured I went home and did more research into the whole thing (mainly, I read wikipedia).
Zombieland
The reviews were pretty good and I kinda like zombies so I dragged JK off to watch this with me. It surpassed any expectations I had. The cameo was hilarious, the whole show was hilarious actually. Violent and hilarious but I suppose it was the kind of violence that didn’t really bother me. Perhaps because the victims were mainly zombies? I especially enjoyed Woody Harrelson’s character. Apparently, according to all-knowing wikipedia, this is the top grossing zombie movie in history!
Both were smartly-written movies, hilarious and very silly – the three things that when executed well gives me the thrills. I love, love, love movies and TV shows like this. If only there were more on offer.
It seems that I also like people who have a smart yet silly sense of humour.
[Warning: Gore, flying body parts, lame dialogue, plotless plot. Spoilers for Ninja Assassin below.]
Ninja facts:
#1 – They can heal themselves. And others, should they feel like it. You can only kill them by slicing off key body parts (like their head a la Highlander).
#2 – They are like Nightcrawler and can teleport using shadows.
#3 – They are like Superman and can pick out the heartbeats of those they care about.
#4 – They can tell if your heart is special.
#5 – When you make them mad, they can zoom around so fast, no one can see them. But only when you make them mad. Like by killing females they care about. Because we all know that is why females are put on earth. So they can die and motivate men to accomplish greater things.
#6 – All ninjas speak English. Many speak with an American accent.
#7 – They mutter darkly under their breath as they approach their victim. In English.
#8 – They can smell you.
#9 – They throw shurikens so hard, you can hear the shurikens fly through the air. Like gunfire.
#10 – Their weapons stay sharp always. No matter how many bodies they have sliced into half.
Other facts of life:
#1 – Situs inversus is a great plot device. Use it often.
#2 – Pressing men to your chest so they can hear your heart is romantic.
#3 – If you are Patrick, you are invincible. Everyone can die from a swarm of ninjas attacking but you will remain standing. Unhurt. For no apparent reason.
#4 – The FBI and CIA have the power to walk into EUROPOL and search the offices. Despite EUROPOL being unaccountable to the European parliament or the governments of the EU countries. Clearly America is the boss of the world.
#5 – I hate it when directors think it is cool to use quick cuts or shaky cam in action / dance sequences. I have never been more pleased to see it in use today.
#6 – Having 0% body fat does not make your movie better.
I caught this movie on Thursday. The food was beautiful and the movie was somewhat entertaining. It didn’t delight me enough to make me want to catch it again though. Neither did it make me want to read the books it was based on. And like most reviewers, I much preferred the Julia Child half of the show.
Julie Powell, on the other hand, was a much more difficult person to relate to. In fact, the more I think about the movie, the less I find I like Julie Powell. I thought she was very self-absorbed, obsessive, unnecessarily unkind to her husband and horribly emotional. She wallowed in her misery and seemed to enjoy doing so. But what I thought was most disappointing was that by the end of the movie, she didn’t really seemed to have changed at all. Her story wasn’t about how cooking her way through Julia Child’s book changed her. It really just was about how cooking her way through Julia Child’s book made her a published author. The fact that they contrasted her with Julia Child, a person who seemed a lot more mature, stronger and nicer than her, simply made Julie come across as a pale shadow. I realise they were trying to draw some sort of parallels between the two women, but I don’t think it worked very well. Yeah, they both had setbacks. Julie threw a tantrum and Julia didn’t.
Perhaps was was most disappointing was that Julie was the same person she was in the beginning of the movie at the end of the movie. The only difference was that she was now a published author. What did she learn from Julia? How did she grow?