So God is pissed and He's tired of our bullshit, gun-wielding angels and demons come to exterminate us, a heavenly battle between the archangels Michael and Gabriel, Paul Bettany, and a foul-mouthed granny thrown in for good measure. As a recovering Catholic, what's not to like about this movie?
I like the greenband version of the upcoming movie LEGION better than the redband one.
Just a quick post about two movies that I highly recommend watching.
The latest Marvel-to-movie adaptation of Iron Man is not only the best comic book movie but also the most enjoyable movie to watch in a very long time. It has a really tight narrative that isn't over-the-top or dumbed down, and it has the strongest cast of actors with Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, and Robert Downey, Jr., who plays Tony Stark/Iron Man. My girlfriend and I were extremely impressed with Downey's performance; he played the role of Tony Stark perfectly as the arrogant, super-intelligent industrialist. The visual effects were aesthetically beautiful and creative especially when Tony Stark was designing the suit on a visually stunning holographic/interactive computer interface. It was very clear to me that the use of cgi was there to strengthen the narrative instead of supplanting it.
And the suits rocked!
We also watched Super Size Me on dvd last night. I wasn't sure what was more difficult: the fact that a high fat/fast food diet has the same damaging effects on the liver as alcoholism, or watching Morgan Spurlock (the director, producer, writer, and star himself) endure an intense weight gain of 20 pounds, severe body illness, nausea, vomiting, depression, and a whole host of physical and psychological effects that come from eating 30 days of McDonald's foods. It was seriously gross but very critical of the fast food industry and the state of obesity, health, nutrition, and diet in this country. We also watched the dvd extra called "The Smoking Fry" which was a simple experiment on how fast McDonald's foods "deteriorated" compared to made-fresh burgers from a local vendor. Obviously, the real burgers took a week to begin to decompose. The other burgers took longer. But what was truly disturbing were the McDonald's french fries. They showed no signs of decomposition after 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, and even as long as two months! Everything else had molds, fungi, oozing liquids, or what he called "mossy goodness," and the collective foul stench of rot. But the McD fries still remained the same. It made me think about how difficult losing weight was compared to how easy it is to gain it. If artificial ingredients and preservatives can maintain McD fries for weeks on end, then imagine what that does in your body? How long would it take to get rid of it?
Egads! It's July 16th! The latest movie installment of the Harry Potter series is definitely a hit. So is Talk to Me starring Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and so is the newly redone Transformers! And I'm back to writing again. With a little over two weeks left into the month, I have to crank out my conclusion before August rolls around and I have to make preparations for the new Fall semester. Once again, time is running out.
I came back to see, The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), with a couple of friends and it is absolutely stunning. Set in 1920 Ireland, the story is about two brothers drawn together in rebellion against British colonization, but torn apart when a peace treaty is signed. One brother sees the treaty as inherently unjust; the other, a clearer road to independence. It's a tough movie to watch because of the physical violence and torture, but also because the politics of nationalism is so deeply complex and contradictory. This no cookie cutter movie, or your typical Hollywood flick, as the director, Ken Loach, and Paul Laverty, the writer, do a superb job weaving an intricate political story. It's not superficial nor cliched. It is powerful in its depth and grasp of the complexity of life under colonial, and postcolonial, Ireland. There was a beautiful scene that takes place after the treaty is signed and the room is filled with discussions about whether to support it. The discussions were layered and the individual aspirations and dreams of a free and independent Ireland were entangled, and forced to confront, the need to be a functioning nation, even if it was not wholly free. The exchange was simply brilliant, thoughtful, and contentious. I really liked how the movie portrayed nationalists intelligent men and women who made extraordinarily difficult decisions. It's too easy to dismiss the men, women, and children of these political movements as uneducated and irrational reactionaries who are no better than common criminals. What the movie has done is to demonstrate complexity. And it was fantastic!
With all the hype around 300, and all the criticisms, I came across this YouTube clip that just made me roll on the floor laughing uncontrollably. Enjoy!
300! Yes I saw 300 over the weekend. It was the most visually spectacular, and gripping story of two nations battling each other over ...
... their sexual identities.
And you thought the movie was an accurate representation of the Spartan last stand at Thermopylae? Yeah right! I don't think so. That movie was full of homoerotic discourses. I believe the men of Sparta represent the classic gay community mostly of "white" men with hard abs and chiseled bodies who wear nothing more than a thong to battle. That's 300 Spartans for a grand total of 1800 six pack abs for everyone's visual indulgence. As for Persia, they are the most multicultural of all with not only Persians, but people who look like Chinese, Africans, South Asians, and Mongolians to name a few. They also include livestock with rhinos and pale ape-looking things, as well as non-traditional humanoids, such as goblins, trolls, and ogres (well, to me anyway).
Did I mention the ninjas as well? Anywho ...
All are lead by Xerxes who seems to be an avid member of the S&M/Dominatrix community. Thus, the white gay men of Sparts versus the multicult/S&M/Dominatrix crowd of Persia. Anyways, I thought it was a great movie about happens when sexual diplomacy is abandoned and we have all out sexual war. And if I had a chance, I think I'd live in Persia. Judging from the diversity I saw, I think it'll be a cool place to live, and plus they seem to know how to party.
Here's two spoofs about 300 for your enjoyment. The first is a spoof about 300 as a PG-rated film.
Here's one with some voice-overs to change the dialogue a bit:
