Posts Tagged ‘film review’
ARRIVAL, Film Review Without Spoilers
I recently watched ARRIVAL for a second time through Amazon Prime. In my first viewing, I was in a theater and I loved it. This second go-around, I was not disappointed. I watched with a group of my cousins who are all film/scifi nuts. The viewing was free for Prime members.
ARRIVAL is rated PG 13…it’s somewhat creepy and suspenseful, but a middle school child or a sensitive viewer could probably handle the production. I’m not sure why it did not receive the PG rating. It unfolds without graphic violence and there is no explicit sexual content. One might call ARRIVAL a quiet film, but the subject matter takes it from the quiet realm into the epic and deeply thoughtful.
ARRIVAL was released in theaters to much acclaim in 2016. The film is based on a short story by Ted Chiang. Eric Heisserer wrote the screenplay. I hope to read and review Chiang’s short story in a future post.
The film unfolds with slow intensity primarily around one character, Louise Banks, played wonderfully by Amy Adams. Banks is a linguist recruited by the US government to learn the language spoken by aliens who have alighted in giant oblong space ships in twelve locations around the globe.
The story is a linguist’s dream and as a science fiction fan, I recall a number of novels that view first contact in light of language and communication. China Miéville’s Embassy Town is a good example. In a story such as this, violence is often threatened, but not center stage. Mysteries and the push to understand the other dominate the narrative.
Five quotes from the screenplay to pique your interest:
- “If this is some sort of peaceful first contact, why send twelve? Why not just send one?”
- “Language is the first weapon drawn in a conflict…”
- “Are they scientists or tourists? If they’re scientist, they don’t seem to ask a lot of questions…”
- “If you could see your life from start to finish, would you change things?”
- “Meeting you…was more important that seeing the stars…”
Five reasons to watch this film.
- It’s free if you’re an Amazon Prime member.
- If your family is into science fiction, ARRIVAL is a crowd pleaser which you can show to your kids with a clear conscience.
- Lots to ponder about language and linguistics, language and meaning, the puzzle and the importance of communication.
- Female hero with lots of brains and only a few characters to keep track of.
- Potentially leads to fruitful discussion about love, suffering, beauty, grace, even religion.
To buy this DVD, click here.
UPGRADE, A Film Review Without Spoilers
UPGRADE
Original Screenplay by Leigh Whannel
A Film Review without spoilers
UPGRADE is a brilliantly told story, a must see for the scifi fan. This film is rated R.
The Short Review. 5 Reasons to Watch
- UPGRADE is a perfectly crafted script. Leigh Whannel writes and directs with stunning precision. From the beginning (a drop of human blood falling into the engine of a car which represents flesh mingling with the machine) to the end (the shedding of blood and establishment of a hierarchy in regard to human versus machine), every image, every word spoken by the characters, each scene is packed with meaning. The writing is deliberative and tight, everything a film or a well-told story ought to be.
- The main character and the peripheral characters all make sense in the world created by Whannel. All of them behave like real humans (or like human-machine hybrids) in a consistent way. I love seeing characters on the screen who make sense.
- Tension and action are delivered in full. If you’re a bit squeamish about violence, like I am, you might need to keep your eyes shut here and there. However, I was delighted by the car chases, the detective narrative and the ratcheting up of tension as the main character grapples with his relationship with the stem chip.
- The plot twists are well-earned and not predictable. You may feel like you understand what you’re seeing and where the story is going, but there are surprises you likely won’t anticipate.
- The climax sends the viewer into contemplation and hopefully discussion, so watch with one friend, at least. All great films lead their audiences to think and question. UPGRADE, like the best scifi, raises questions about morality, ethics in regard to AI and other worthwhile topics, like, where-the-hell-is-our-tech-society-headed? And viewer beware, UPGRADE might make you squeamish about driverless cars.
More Musings on UPGRADE
The film takes place sometime in the future, but not too far into the future. Tech has evolved. Driverless cars operate on the road alongside the old fashioned kind. The main character, Grey, is a mechanic and a technophobe, who works on non-driverless cars. His wife, Asha, works in tech and owns a driverless car.
While riding in that car together, the computer goes haywire and crashes them in a slum. Gangsters descend on them. Both Grey and his wife are shot. Asha dies. Grey is left with a severed spine and faces the prospect of living the rest of his life as a quadriplegic. A high-tech guru offers him the chance to walk again through the use of an experimental chip called stem that will reconnect Grey’s brain to his spinal cord. As Grey contemplates the offer, an offer made in a dark room of the guru’s isolated mansion, for which he needs to sign a confidentiality agreement, the guru asks him: What would Asha want? Grey agrees to receive the stem chip, a Faustian bargain that drives the rest of the plot.
UPGRADE is a film that will not have the mega-media behind it, but it is worth seeing. It was made for good reason and ought to be celebrated, especially by the scifi community. Here are five reasons why you ought to watch this film (especially if you are a hardcore scifi fan and over the age of 16…the rating is for real…brutal violence in this one).
If you need a little more motivation to spend the dollars for a dvd or streaming permission, here is the trailer.
To buy the dvd of this film, click here.
SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, Film Review
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Original Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Jonathan Kasdan
Directed by Ron Howard
Film Review without spoilers
A Fun Film Overall, to watch it, click here.
I walked to our local cinema to watch Solo yesterday and exited the theater content overall, pleased with many of the film’s sub-narratives that made sense within the Star Wars universe. SOLO is primarily a feel good film and appropriate for kids (a dad and his two boys, ages 6 and 8 were in the theater and not overwhelmed by the gore). Gruesome violence is downplayed, though there are more than a few dead bodies by the end of the film, including Chewbacca pulling the arms off of a bad guy. (The audience laughed…but, we never see the bleeding body, just the two arms held up by Chewie).
SOLO is a fun ride for the Star Wars fan or someone who might not care about complex emotional narratives. It’s a space-romp with a number of laughs and swash-buckling action. What rang true? Young Han Solo is charming with a big screen grin that will win the hearts of those who adore good hair and a handsome face. Charm, in fact, is one of the most identifiable characteristics of the younger Han Solo. Others are:
- His optimism in the face of terrible odds
- His ego, connected to his piloting skills (The Millennium Falcon coming into the hands of Solo, following a gambling event with Lando Calrissian fills out a nice piece of backstory)
- His rogue/tough exterior with a subtext of goodness/romanticism and devotion to that which is just
- His loyalty (The Chewbacca mini-narrative is wonderful and touching).
All the characteristics listed above are present in the young Solo, but with a bit more naiveté than we see in the later version when the audience meets the more jaded version of Han Solo in STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE.
What Was Lacking?
It all seems too easy for Han Solo…
Real grit in the face of trauma was less present than I expected, resulting in a somewhat shallow story. The boy Han has grown up on a planet called Corellia, seemingly with little nurture or supervision. Corellia, the filmmakers let you know, has a reputation as a horrible place, yet the audience meets Han as a young twenty-something, empowered and rebellious and unflappable. The setting portrayed in the opening sequence features children living in squalor, but Han is clean and confident, so confident, he is willing to defy a crime boss (this crime boss is a giant centipede-like-creature that lives underwater, but emerges to speak…speaking perfect English actually…ain’t that something!) As Han escapes from Corellia, he is separated from a young woman he loves, Qi’ra. Even at this point, he does not break down or show extreme distress. He enters the Imperial Navy to learn to fly and vows to return for her. I was not convinced saving Qi’ra was driving his ambition to become a pilot. I sense no desperation in this character who is now a pawn in the humongous bureaucracy, which is the Imperial military.
The next time the audience sees Han, he is a part of an Imperial infantry division. He has been kicked out of flight school for insubordination. He is on an unnamed planet waging war with his comrades. It is a dark, smoke-filled environment. A chaotic battle is taking place. The scene is horrifying. Soldiers are dying left and right, diving into trenches, a few are screaming after enduring injuries. How long did Han fight with these warriors? Did he care about any of them? Was he traumatized by this? He is being used by the Empire to oppress those who are battling to stay free. Han never claims to care about politics, but we know he cares about certain people (and a Wookie and the Millennium Falcon). He grows attached and becomes loyal. Why no emotional engagement in this place? If he is defended against emotional engagement, it’s likely there is trauma, trauma that would impact his character. That might have been an interesting angle to take with this film, but instead the filmmakers hurry the story along. Han abandons his defeated and dying fellows in the military and joins up with a crew of thieves. Han escapes the trauma a second time. It all seems too easy.
So…this weekend, there is a bit of buzz about SOLO not making the money the filmmakers had hoped. There are a few news stories out (and it’s only Sunday of second weekend since its release) that indicate a significant decrease in the audience numbers. What does that mean? As with any of the gigantic film franchises that are emerging in the last thirty years, there are films that rise to the top quickly, but fizzle…and those that percolate and stay with you. I’m guessing, SOLO won’t stay with us in that same way that NEW HOPE, EMPIRE or even ROGUE ONE does, but sometimes, that’s okay. Not every film can be great, but a flick like this can still be great entertainment and in this case, SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, delivers for the whole family.