26 June 2012, evening time
I watched Smokin’ Aces with my brother over the weekend. It’s the perfect Netflix movie: a movie I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to seek out, but watched because it was there. Everyone in the movie is famous. Alica Keys plays a foxy hit lady. Mathew Fox plays a dorky hotel security guard. Ben Affleck plays a bondsman. I could keep going on and on. The plot is simple and very predictable. (The big reveals at the end of the movie are pretty obvious.) The movie suffers from too much telling, not enough showing. The characters are constantly narating what’s happening, what the relationships in the movie are all about, etc. That said, it’s super flashy and fun. If you find yourself with nothing else to watch on Netflix, check it out.
Smokin’ Aces reviewed on Rotten Tomatoes.
Movies
21 June 2012, evening time
The last year and change has gone by so quickly. Mythilli has figured out how to climb our fence. Well, at least one rung. Like her father she has no upper body strength. The fence will keep her in, for now.
[1] Life
18 June 2012, early evening
Reviews of Prometheus have been more mixed than I thought they would be. I suppose it has a lot to live up to, being a sort-of prequel to Alien, directed by the man himself Ridley Scott. I’ll be upfront and say I enjoyed the movie. Suck it, haters.
Prometheus begins with some strange Alien dude eating some strange fluid that ends up destroying his body as he watches a spaceship fly away. He falls into a river and dissolves away. The implication is that this is the source of life on Earth. Fast forward a long time and you have scientists discovering cave paintings about these Aliens, figuring out where they originally came from, and then heading off on a grand adventure of discovery. Like the original Alien, that all turns to shit.
There are countless nods to Alien throughout the film. So many so there isn’t much point trying to list them. So many that comparisons are inevitable. The basic structure of the entire film mirrors Alien, more or less. The problem here is that Alien is clearly the better film: it’s far more focused and coherent. Prometheus suffers from exploring too many mysteries and being a bit half-assed about resolving them. I don’t think every single question a movie asks needs to be spelled out clearly on the screen, but a film should probably make more of an effort than Prometheus does. Putting that aside, there is still a lot to like about Prometheus. The specials effects are amazing. It’s visually stunning. There are several great actors in the movie, who probably could have done more with a better script. Michael Fassbender continues to be awesome, and Charlize Theron continues to be omega-hot. The film is much faster paced than the original alien. Things get weird much quicker. (The movie opens with an alien, after all.) You can tell the film maker and his team were trying to out do themselves when it came to grossing out the audience. It isn’t enough to simply have an alien rip out of someones guts. Here I think Prometheus is most successful. You leave the movie not wanting to touch anything, wishing you could seal up all your orifices.
Go watch this film.
The official Prometheus website.
[3] Movies
