It's review time again.

So, a bit of introduction...

So, over the last few days, I've been catching up on some movies. If you haven't noticed, I seem to do it in spurts, and this is certainly no exception.

So, this post will be again dedicated to the review of some of these movies...

Meet the Robinsons

Great film. Another movie where the trailers not only didn't do it any justice, they failed completely to even tell us what the film was about. Turns out, Disney still knows how to churn them out. My only real gripe is that with the advent of CGI, it's all starting to look and feel the same. I remember days gone by where an animated film varied from studio to studio.

The story is about an orphan boy, who abandons hope of being adopted in favor of building a machine that would let him see his Mother out of the depths of his own mind. However, a mysterious, although brutally stupid man from the future who tries to steal his invention so he can pass it off as his own. He's taken by a boy, claiming to be from the future and there to help him, to the future in an attempt to convince him to repair his science fair project, and promptly gets stuck there. That aside, the film is actually great.

The story is pretty amusing, and it's done with Disney's typical humor. I was happy that there was a minimum of toilet humor, which seems to be getting more and more rare these days. My only real gripe is that the writer's made no real attempt at keeping straight the temporal mechanics of a film of this nature. The other gripe is that the story gets to be a little rushed, but, that's to be expected. And, no, I'm not looking for a time travel story int he vein of the great minds behind Star Trek, just something a bit more plausible... but, still, it's a kid movie. And my kids loved it, and that's really what matters, right?

The Last Mimzy

This film didn't exactly broadside my like some I've seen lately. The movie is based on a short story by Lewis Padgett, and I think they did a fantastic job bringing it to life.

The tale is somewhat complex, being a thread woven about the history of the future. A teacher stands before her class, in what appears to be a utopian future, and begins to tell them the history of how their world became as it was. The story follows a scientist desperate to try one last time to save humanity, he sends back what she refers to as the last Mimzy. A box is sent back in time, where it's found by Noah and Emma Wlder, who mistake the items in the box, at first, to be merely toys of some kind. Quickly, however, we discover that these are not merely playthings. The story progresses with the children learning quickly and displaying new and strange abilities, almost like magic. But all of this new found talent is actually leading them on an adventure to save the future of mankind.

The movie is done beautifully. It's filled with skillful cinematography and beautiful special effects. The story is well crafted, though it feels a little clunky at times, and there are moments where you feel that the screenwriter is trying to cram a few points down your throat. The most obvious comes at the beginning where you see screens of all sorts, whether they be on cell phones, televisions, portable video game systems, or what have you. Throughout, as well, there are mentions of pollutants, both cultural and otherwise.

Another thing I have problems with comes from the sheer amount of bizarre Tibetan references, and a call back to Alice Lidell, Lewis Carroll's muse for Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland and it's sequel, which feels a bit pointless.

These few things aside, though, the story works well and I, for one, enjoyed it.


Children of Men

When I finished watching this movie, I could only think of one thing to say: Wow! By that I mean I think that it's brilliant.

The concept of the movie is pretty straight forward. It's a post-apocalyptic style sci-fi film, but it's not your average "nuke falls and the world struggles to carry on". Instead, the concept of the world revolves around an almost more terrifying planet: almost simultaneously, the world over, women became infertile, and now, nearly 19 years later, there hasn't been a single child born on the entire planet. The story takes place in Britian, the last country on earth that seems not to have fallen to anarchy. They credit this to their pleasant living to massive deportation and internment of illegal immigrants.Our main character is, as it seems, a regular joe, though one who seems somewhat well connected and a terrible past of some sort. He's approached by his former wife, the mother of their now dead child, and now leader of a terrorist organization known as "the fishies", for help in getting a woman to the coast and out of Britain. He comes through, but, in the ensuing flight from the country, she is killed by anarchists, or so it seems. When it comes to light that the woman they were trying to extricate from the country is actually pregnant, and that the fishies actually staged their leader's death in the hopes that they would keep the girl and her baby as a way to unite the world and bring about peace under the baby as a banner.

Thus begins a flight for freedom to what's known as the Human Project.

Now, this film is beautiful. The cinematography is impeccable, almost like a visual meal for the eyes to take in. As a friend points out to me, there's a remarkably long steady-cam shot that qualifies as amazing.

The acting in the film is great, although at a few points the dialog is a little weak, and the dynamic between the main hero and his former wife is a little hard to interperet. Overall, though, the script is solid and admirably performed.

The most amazing aspect of the entire thing is the detail. The entire world is crafted beautifully into a believable future devoid of children, a sci-fi world that seems more than plausible given the state it's in.

There are stunning changes from the beauty of the cities, to the suburban landscapes pockmarked with pollution belching factories to the run down camps immigrant camps that are literally entire cities that have been converted to dank worlds of despair. Beyond the macro details, however, the micro is even more well drafted, simple things that crop up and stay with you throughout and manage to create something greater than the whole.

I really couldn't say enough good things about it. Sure, there are problems, and trust me, I find them with almost every movie. But, I can say honestly, and with conviction, that this is one of the best movies that I've seen in a very long time.


The Hills Have Eyes

Horror is a genre renowned for it's consistent regurgitation of plot devices. The Hills Have Eyes certainly doesn't break new ground. However, it's a semi-different take on powerful mutant inbred man-beasts is certainly not yet over-used. Rather than hillbillies, we find people mutated when they refused to leave the New Mexico desert during the nuclear tests of the 50's.

The movie revolves around a semi-dysfunctional extended family as they wen their through the desert on the way to sunny cali-for-ni-a. They cross paths with the wrong gas attendant and end up being directed down a 'shortcut' that actually leads to the den of mutants that have lived off those unlucky enough to stumble down their paths for decades.

For the most part the film has all those things that a good horror should. It's filled with plenty of gore, disturbing images, and the constant fear of baby murder. There's the typical fair of ludicrously stupid mistakes, which lead to even more.

In short, it's nothing new, but if you love horror, it's well worth a watch.


Thus concludes the reviews...

But, as a special bonus, I shall give you a great little game called Makos. It's a remarkable little gem that is inline with the great puzzle time wasters of our generation, such as Bejeweled. The major difference being that this revolves around blowing up cute little animal block in the hopes of getting a great score.


Goodnight interwebs... sleep well.