philosoraptor42

Creation

I wasn't expecting much from this one and so I guess I wasn't disappointed. There are actually some really awesome scenes, including a rather wonderful stop-motion animation depicting the cruelty in nature which fuelled Charles Darwin's doubt in religious matters. In the end, the problem is that the scenes tie together badly and don't lead to the emotional involvement that the background music suggests you ought to be feeling.

I think the biggest criticism would have to be the way they depict the daughter Annie. I don't think Darwin was really known for having fevered visions, so showing him seeing her everywhere and having conversations with her as if she were still alive is a bit dodgy. That could, however, be explained away as poetic license... if it worked. Unfortunately it leads to continuity issues. Once it is revealed ("The Sixth Sense" style) part way through the movie that the daughter Annie is dead and that this is the main cause of Darwin's anxiety. If the scenes beforehand depicting her as happy, smiling, charismatic, inquisitive and loveable had all been of Annie herself, rather than a fevered vision, we might have felt shocked by the turn of events whereby she dies. Unfortunately, not only do we not go from seeing a happy girl to a dying one, but we feel wholly in the dark as to which depictions were of the girl and which were of the 'ghost'.

The actors act their heart out and, as I said before, this sometimes leads to some brilliant scenes. The girl playing Annie is absolutely fantastic, Paul Bettany is expectedly wonderful and Jennifer Connely finally seems to get the opportunity to play a proper 3-dimensional character rather than a simple love interest. (Yeah, she's still the wife, but she's far from the passive figure she appeared in A Beautiful Mind.) Unfortunately, in spite of some wonderful moments, the overall pacing fails to engage the audience.

3/5

P.S. I could have sworn I'd seen the girl who plays Annie Darwin in something before, but it seems I must be mistaken. I hope the actress, Martha West, is picked up for more roles on the basis of her performance here.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Absolutely bloody brilliant! I had no idea how amazingly awesome this was going to turn out to be. Every minute is packed with ideas and it never once resorts to toilet humour or condescends the audience. Dare I suggest that there's a teensy bit of feminism in there too? (Then again, I think it fails the Bechdel Test.)

I don't recognise the guy voicing the main character, but he does a damn fine job. Considering that the main character isn't a well-known name it's odd to see that his monkey (with a translating machine which doesn't work quite as efficiently as the ones in "Up") is played by Neil Patrick Harris (as seen playing "Dr. Horrible"). Anna Farris is excellent as the female lead and Bruce Campbell is absolutely superb as the mayor.

I'm not really sure how to sell this to you, but Mark Kermode's description is "David Lynch for kids". (At very least, that must have you intrigued.) Weird, wacky and wonderful. A full rollercoaster ride of excitement with decent characters and you couldn't accuse this of being predictable. Everyone needs to see this!

5/5

Changeling

The critical reaction to this movie seemed very mixed on this one. A year on imdb currently ranks the movie at 8.0/10. (Decent movies tend to be 7.0 and above, but most movies don't reach 8.0. Hype can make a difference though.) On the other hand, Rotten Tomatoes shows only 61% of reviewers liking the movie. (The consensus review says "a compelling story that unfortunately gives in to convention too often. I'm not sure I understand what they mean at all.)

The poster above says "a true story" and that's quite hard to take seriously with many movies, but checking out the details it's really true! In fact it was initially billed as being "based on a true story" and then this was changed. Now if I go into details on all the crazy yet true things in this movie, then I'll just end up spoiling it (and I don't want to do that). However, the central shocking premise to beging with is that Angelina Jolie's son goes missing and (no, she doesn't adopt another child from Africa. Shame on you for thinking that!) the police eventually present her, publically, with a child. She doesn't recognise him, but the police insist that it is her son and things get creepier from there on in. (As I said before, true story not a horror movie.)

My significant other had been musing occasionally as to whether Angelina Jolie really deserves her reputation for being a great actress (because things like "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" or "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" certainly don't warrant it). This movie answers that question. Angelina Jolie gets the opportunity to really shine in a movie with a good plot, good atmosphere, good characters and a superb gripping plot. That said, it must also be noted that this is quite hard-going as well. Creepy and shocking are not adjectives I'm throwing about for the hell of it and the knowledge that when they say "a true story" they really mean it makes it all the harder.

With this and Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood is on a bit of a winning streak right now.

5/5

Skin

I have to say right off that this was an extremely interesting premise. It's a story about apartheid in South Africa which I hadn't heard before: The story of Sandra Liang. Two major names both give brilliant performances Sophie Okonedo playing Sandra Laing and Sam Neil playing her father. Alice Krige, an actress who actually comes from South Africa, is absolutely brilliant in the role of the mother.

The amazing premise is that a white couple have a child with distinctly black features. DNA tests are done and it's conclusive that the white couple are the parents. You can imagine how well she is accepted in the apartheid system.... Interestingly, in an interview Sophie Okonedo says there's a limit to how much she can identify with Sandra because unlike herself, Sandra wasn't mixed race. It's a vital point really. A mixed race child has parents of two distinct races. Sandra Laing does not have this.

Anyway, this has the fantastic peformances just like Creation did, but it also manages to keep your attention well. An intriguing true story, good performances and it really makes you think. Still, in the end there wasn't quite enough happening and it didn't suck you in quite enough to get the full 5 out of 5. (Please note that I am in a position where I am reviewing this side by side with Changeling, which knocked my socks off.)

4/5