January 25, film 14: The Fugitive

Sorry about the wrong aspect in the trailer, this was the best Youtube could come up with.

What?
A doctor gets wrongfully accused of and convicted for the murder on his wife. When he manages to escape, he sets out on a quest to find the real murderer of his wife, while being chased by the US Marshalls.

Where?
Parent’s place.

With?
My mother.

Why?
This is one of those films everyone seems to have seen, but I have somehow managed to miss it all the time. It was on tv, so it was the easy option too. (It also served as a good reminders why commercial broadcasters suck; too many ad breaks :S)

Worth it?
It’s a pretty good yarn, well paced, solid action, generally more or less believable characters and good chases. As far as action movies go this is about as good as it can get. Nevertheless there were a number of plot holes and continuity issues that kinda spoiled the film for me and interfered with my suspension of disbelief. It’s definitely worth watching if you stumble upon it, but not as special as I had expected.

7/10

January 23, film 13: Children of Men

Warning: trailer is a bit heavy on spoilers.

What?
It’s 2027. The youngest person on the planet was born in 2009. Hope has run out, most of the world has collapsed under it’s own weight. Only the UK is holding it more or less together, but in the process it got a dictatorial regime and the whole world appears to be fleeing to the last place on earth that has a semblance of civilisation left. All of a sudden Theo (Owen) gets contacted by his ex (Moore), whom he hasn’t seen or spoken with in a decade. She is in an activist movement that promotes equal rights for immigrants, and she needs him to arrange papers so a girl in their group can travel.

Where?
At parents’.

With?
My mother (and the dogs).

Why?
I saw it once before, and thought it was pretty good. Also, recently I saw a special in io9 about long shots in movies and it mentions one scene that seems more or less impossible to have been shot in one take, but yet that is the case, and it is brilliant. The quality is a bit crap, and there might be a spoiler or two, but it’s still worth watching.

Worth it?
First of all a word of warning. I had forgotten about the ultraviolence in this movie. It might not be the best idea in the world to watch it with your mother… Nevertheless. Wow. It was as good as I remembered. There are few dystopias as bleak as this one, and it really succeeds at making you wonder what in life is worth living for if there will be no one left to carry the torch. This film is full of memorable scenes, one of the best is close to the end when people respond to the sound of hope. The only downside to this movie in my opinion is that it is a bit heavy-handed in it’s social commentary of nowadays  Brittain, but it’s still very very good.

8/10