Saw two good movies this weekend which I'll detail below (similar weekend release and quality wise as when Drag Me to Hell and Up came out on the same weekend!). Before I do, the Where the Wild Things Are trailer makes me nearly tear up every time.
WATCH IT!
That is an ad for District 9. There have been similar billboards, posters, bus benches all over LA for a few months now. All in all it has been a very well ran marketing campaign.
But what is it for? Why, a great science fiction film of course. The film is smart, tense, sad, action packed... all the things one would want out of a sci-fi summer blockbuster. I use the word blockbuster with a bit of a wince, as that can be a dirty word.
The movie has a great concept. Aliens came to Earth, now what? Like most (if not all) good sci-fi, the movie is a very personal story. A small story that is swept up in larger happenings. It illustrates a lot of social issues that have been present and will always be present. What I like about the film is that it doesn't make a lot of comments on this, it just presents it as it is and leaves the comments to come from the viewer. When I watched it, I didn't see a piece of fiction - I saw our world.
This film is great sci-fi in the vein of James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven. Moon earlier this year was great sci-fi in a more restrained manner (Kubrick, Terry Gilliam perhaps) and this is the other end of the intelligent sci-fi spectrum. I don't want to say much more than that. Take it in. Definitely see it. It is absolutely one of the years best films and heralds a great new talent in film.
The second film is Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo. Miyazaki is a master that can be mentioned in the same sentence as Walt Disney, no question. Yes, he is that good. Ponyo is a very cute film and is probably his youngest aimed film ever. Even more so than Totoro. The film is very colorful and masterfully made, but there is nary an adult theme in site. A few brief glimpses, but by and large this is about the joy of two young friends and the adults and their themes are left by the side of the road.
The film has a very painterly look with some backgrounds looking like a color pencil/water color hybrid piece (as opposed to an animated backdrop). This may be Miyazaki's most colorful and weirdly visual movie (and that's saying something). I definitely recommend it if you love animation. But if you do see it, again, it is about the joys and wonderment of youth - so leave your adult baggage at the door.
1 comment:
Some of the movies you write about would not be a choice I would be interested in but the way you describe them
makes me want to see them!
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