Inglourious Basterds
With his new movie ‘Inglourious Basterds’, American screenwriter and director Quentin Tarantino adds another ‘instant classic’ to his already impressive list of ‘hits’, which includes ‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1991), ‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994) and ‘Kill Bill’ (2003). While watching the movie, you might find it rather funny. This can be disturbing, as there is nothing funny about Hitler, Nazis, or the persecution of the Jews! However, once you accept the comedic nature of the movie, you quickly realize that this is Tarantino exploring, once again, a well-established cinematic genre. In this movie he mixes elements of Hollywood ‘war’ movies, with influences of classical German Expressionistic cinema, along with plenty of stylized violence. Unfortunately, this is the kind of movie which is best not to tell you too much about. Doing so, would only destroy the extraordinary tension of the plot, and its absolutely amazing resolution. Just put your preconceptions to one side, and sit back and enjoy Tarantino’s latest terrific cinematic offering.
Triangle
When a group of friends, enjoying a pleasant afternoon yachting, are suddenly struck by an unusual violent thunder storm, their boat is capsized, and they are rescued by a passing luxury ocean-liner. However, there is something very odd about this ocean-liner. There is no-one else on board. As things progress, it becomes very apparent that there is some sort of ‘identity’ stalking them all over the liner, and intent on hunting them all down. This peculiar movie comes from Australia, and, although it offers no explanation or rationale, it presents a very intriguing surrealistic atmosphere, in which all the characters seem to be doomed to repeat their actions over and over again.
Long Weekend
Directed by Jamie Blanks, this is another surrealistic movie, also coming from Australia. And, it offers no reasonable explanation either. As viewers, you must simply go with the flow, and become absorbed in the strange events taking place. An unhappy couple go away to an isolated beach to spend a long weekend camping. However, their total disregard for the environment, and their ceaseless bickering, seems to get on the nerves of the local wildlife, and it sets about extracting a bitter revenge. Or does it? Could there just be something odd about this beach? The Australian Landscape is renowned for its mystical qualities, and in this movie the locations are very foreboding. The film is fascinating, but, don’t even try to figure it all out.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls
Surrealism also appears in this rather good computer- animated cartoon. In a small town, which, up until now, has existed on a diet of sardines, a ‘wacky’ scientist invents a new machine which will turn water into food. Of any sort. Just program it in. Anyway, through some unforeseen mishaps, the machine finishes up floating permanently over the town, and it rains ‘junk’ food. Unfortunately, as the machine sucks in moisture from the clouds, the ‘junk’ food it produces becomes bigger and bigger and bigger, until the whole town is inundated. As the cartoon goes along, it takes some pretty good swipes at the current vogue for ‘disaster’ movies, but, I tell you, a tidal wave of ‘junk’ food is much scarier than good old-fashioned water! Some of the intricacies of the plot might soar over the heads of the ‘little ones’, but, the kiddies will get a big kick out of hamburgers, pizzas, and meatballs falling from the sky.
Harry Brown
Michael Caine stars in this movie as a widowed pensioner, living in a council estate in South London. The estate is riddled with drug dealers and seethes with gang violence. When his best friend is murdered by one of these gangs, Michael doesn’t really achieve satisfaction from the police, and he sets about obtaining justice vigilante style. Unlike an American movie of the same genre, this British movie, directed by Daniel Barber, contains an extremely good amount of gritty realism, and it delves quite successfully into characterization and motivation. Michael Caine is superb in the movie. This is one of his better ‘more mature’ roles. However, no matter how much you can applaud his actions, it is hard to condone his methods!
Precious
If this is the sort of movie Oprah Winfrey is giving up her successful TV career to produce, then she should really re-think her options. The movie is incredibly bad. A grotesquely overweight 17 year old girl, already the mother of one incestuous child, and pregnant with another, having been continually raped by her own father, wishes to improve her lot in life. She is aided and abetted in this by a sympathetic and beautiful lesbian school teacher. The movie is preachy and tedious, as it just hammers away about the necessities of literacy and higher education. Granted, the movie does tackle some important issues, but, the subjects have long been some of Oprah’s more favorite ones, and the whole thing would have made an interesting segment on her TV Chat Show, rather than this abysmal movie.
9
This cartoon is ‘presented’ by Tim Burton, but he is just the executive producer, and really has little involvement. It is more the work of director Shane Acker. The cartoon is a Sci-Fi fantasy for adults, and to be honest, I didn’t understand it at all. After an apocalyptic war some miniature robots have to save mankind. Check it out for yourself and see what you make of it!
