"The Time Machine (1960)" Movie Review

Original movie poster for "The Time Machine".

"On January 5, 1900, a disheveled looking H.G. Wells (Rod Taylor) - George to his friends - arrives late to his own dinner party. He tells his guests of his travels in his time machine, the work about which his friends knew. They were also unbelieving, and skeptical of any practical use if it did indeed work. George knew that his machine was stationary in geographic position, but he did not account for changes in what happens over time to that location. He also learns that the machine is not impervious and he is not immune to those who do not understand him or the machine's purpose. George tells his friends that he did not find the Utopian society he so wished had developed. He mentions specifically a civilization several thousand years into the future which consists of the subterranean Morlocks and the surface dwelling Eloi, who on first glance lead a carefree life. Despite all these issues, love can still bloom over the spread of millennia." Written by Huggo (Source below.)

Rod Taylor in the time machine.

Also known as "H. G. Wells' The Time Machine", it was directed and produced by George Pal ("7 Faces of Dr. Lao" - 1964, "Tom Thumb" - 1958, "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" - 1962) with a screenplay written by David Duncan ("Fantastic Voyage" - 1966, "Daniel Boone" - 1964) and based upon the novel by H. G. Wells. It stars Rod Taylor as 'H. George Wells', Alan Young  as both 'David Filby' and 'James Filby', and Yvette Mimieux as 'Weena'.

The script is available to read here: http://sfy.ru/?script=time_machine_1960.

Of course, there is the 2002 version of "The Time Machine" starring Guy Pearce and Jeremy Irons, and directed by Simon Wells, with a screenplay written by John Logan. I saw that movie in the theater when it came out and it was a favorite of mine for a while (and I had a huge crush on Guy Pearce). I plan to see it again, to write a review of it, but also to see if it still holds up. I would also like to read the classic book itself, so those reviews will be forthcoming.

As this is a bit old, I decided I would mention a bit about the cast:

Hey, H. G. Wells predicted cds.
Also, Yvette Mimieux (L) and Rod Taylor.

For anyone who is a fan of Alfred Hitchcock, you may recognize Rod Taylor - he was 'Mitch Brenner' in "The Birds". He was also 'Winston Churchill' in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" that came out in 2009. 

Alan Young won an Emmy in 1951 for "The Alan Young Show" and does voices for animated tv shows, like "Scooby Doo", his most famous character to date being 'Scrooge McDuck'. 

Yvette Mimieux starred as 'Leni Martek' on "The Love Boat" from 1984 - 1986 and was nominated for two Golden Globes - once in 1965 for her role in the tv show "Dr. Kildare" and once again in 1971 for her dramatic turn in the tv show "The Most Deadly Game". 

Playing 'Dr. Philip Hillyer' in this movie, Sebastian Cabot once starred as Kris Kringle in a tv adaptation of "Miracle on 31st Street" in 1973, but is known more for his voice work: did 'Bagheera the Panther' in Disney's "The Jungle Book" and has done a whole slew of narrations, but is usually the narrator of Winnie the Pooh's animated adventures.

Playing 'Anthony Bridewell' in this film, Tom Helmore was 'Gavin Elster' in Hitchcock's "Vertigo" in 1958 and was 'Zachary Wilde' in "Designing Woman".

Does this picture feel like "The Planet of the Apes"
to anyone else?

I just wanted to show that though we as the modern audience most likely don't know these actors or the director, they were really popular in their day and were very esteemed in their profession. This movie was kind of a big deal in its day. Now, granted, the action sequences, music and makeup just aren't going to measure up to today's standards. But for its time, it was top of the line.

Now, about those action sequences, music and makeup..... I thought the makeup for the Morlocks was awesome. They were a bit chubby, but those glowing eyes were really eerie. You can tell that the 2002 version had made homage with their morlocks; they were a bit scarier and more animalistic, but their hair and overall coloring is very similar.

Pretty, pretty princess clothes.

I didn't like the music, because either it was nonexistent or it was overpowering for two very annoying seconds. 

I didn't like the clothes either. H. G. Wells and his friends were dressed appropriately, but the Eloi were in pastel colors which were pretty, but not very realistic. Wouldn't they be dressed in whites or hues of brown? And shouldn't they have been dirty? I can't possibly assume that even though they do nothing else all day that they wash their clothes. They didn't. 

I also have a bone to pick with Wells: If the Eloi were such sheep that they couldn't be bothered to do anything, even defend themselves, why on earth did they keep up the development of their speech? Should they really have been able to speak so well? If they were really like cattle, they should have been using as few words as possible. Just saying.

The Morlocks - look at those eyes!

I like watching some of these old movies. Especially when there is a remake. It's interesting to see the differences; like music is taken more seriously today than it was back then. Makeup and clothes lean towards being more gritty and realistic, whereas back then it was more theatrical. Even the acting is kind of more theatrical back then: some of the gestures they make are a bit too much for a more close up view.

Interesting facts concerning the remake that ties it to the old movie:

- They based the new screenplay written by John Logan on the older version written by David Duncan. 

- Alan Young is in both movies: as the Filby brothers in the 1960 version and in the 2002 version he can be seen as the "Flower Store Worker".

So what three books would you have taken with you, to save a future civilization?

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054387/plotsummary and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268695/fullcredits#writers. 

I give this movie 3.5 out of 5 typewriters.

"Skyfall" Movie Review

"Skyfall" movie poster.

"Bond's (Daniel Craig) mission is to keep a computer drive that has a list of British agents from being used against them. He chases the man who has it and they have a brawl on top of a train. Eve (Naomie Harris), an agent sent to assist Bond has them in her cross hairs but hesitates to take the shot because she might hit Bond but M (Judi Dench) orders her to take it. She does, and hits Bond who falls into the river and is believed to be dead. A few months later, the British government is upset with MI6 for losing the list; specifically with M. She is told that she'll be allowed to retire but she refuses to leave till the matter is resolved. So she returns to HQ to work on it but as she arrives, there's an explosion. In the meantime, Bond, who is not dead, has been laying low. When he learns of what happened, he returns. And M tasks him with finding the one who has the information. He eventually learns that the man who has it (Javier Bardem), is someone from M's past and who has it in for her." Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com (Link below.)

Directed by Sam Mendes ("Revolutionary Road", "Road to Perdition", "American Beauty") with a screenplay by Neal Purvis ("Quantum of Solace", "Casino Royale"), Robert Wade ("Return to Sender", "Die Another Day"), and John Logan ("The Last Samurai", "The Aviator", "Rango", "Coriolanus") with characters created by Ian Fleming. The screenplay is apparently available here.

Again, I thank SourceFed for its review:

Naomie Harris as "Eve".

That flashlight thing was a problem for me as well.

There is an amazing cast in this film; not only do we have the leads but also: Ben Whishaw as Q, also in "Cloud Atlas", Berenice Marlohe as Severine, Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory, Rory Kinnear as Tanner, M's personal assistant, and Albert Finney as Kincade, who I last saw as a part of "Big Fish".

Javier Bardem as "Silva".

To paraphrase Philip DeFranco: "A man so evil, he turned Javier Bardem's hair blonde."Bardem was an excellent bad guy, even if his reasoning for doing bad guy things wasn't all there. When he was getting frisky with Bond, I kept wanting to laugh; I was thinking, "I can't blame him - have you seen Daniel Craig!" Though many people I know thought the scene was awkward.

The intro was pretty cool with an awesome song that features the crooning voice of Adele and made me feel like I was going through a weird acid trip. I understand that this is the way most, if not all of the Bond films begin. This is the first time I have actually sat through one of these movies. So bare with me.

Berenice Marlohe as "Severine".

I also liked the nods to past Bond films; I understood what and when those moments were happening, but just couldn't place which exact film it was. Oh, Bond movies, how you have shaped cinema forever.

Ben Whishaw as "Q".

I couldn't help but feel a bit chagrined towards critics throughout many of scenes featuring dialogue, because they complained that "The Avengers" was full of quips, yet many are raving that this may be one of the best Bond films to date and all the dialogue was was quips. I don't understand you critic people.

I enjoyed this film and particularly loved the ending and explosions and am actually considering watching more Bond movies. 

I give this movie 4 out of 5 typewriters.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074638/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF8KcpeOPKc.

"Wreck-It Ralph" Movie Review

"Wreck-It Ralph" movie poster.

Vanellope von Schweetz
- voiced by Sarah Silverman.

"Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) longs to be as beloved as his game's perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer). Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes... so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan -- win a medal -- but soon wrecks everything, and accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph's only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), a young troublemaking "glitch" from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it's "Game Over" for the entire arcade?" Written by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (Link below.)

Once again I have SourceFed to thank for their recommendation of this film. I probably would've seen it anyway, because I really do love animated films and anything remotely artsy, but it's nice to have their spin on things.

Directed by Rich Moore ("Futurama", "The Simpsons"), the screenplay was written by Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee and based upon the story created by Rich Moore, Phil Johnston ("Cedar Rapids") and Jim Reardon ("Wall-e", "The Simpsons"). Old school gamers, children and anyone else will enjoy this computer generated artistic feast for the eyes.

Sergeant Calhoun - voiced by Jane Lynch.

Disney was in a slump for a while. But now, I think they may actually start being on a roll again with their films. I must say that I really enjoyed this movie. My friends and I loved it. It was beautifully animated with an amazing vocal cast and a cute message to the story. I don't usually like Sarah Silverman, but it was a very good choice for the role. The rest of the cast matched their roles perfectly. It was also nice to see all of the cameos of game characters that are so much a part of society that even I knew who they were, or at least which game they were in.

I give this movie 5 typewriters.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772341/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwwVVErmWC4.

"Hide and Seek" Movie Review

"Hide and Seek" movie poster.

"After his wife commits suicide, David Callway (Robert DeNiro) and his daughter, Emily (Dakota Fanning), move upstate to find peace and 'restart' their lives. But when mysterious and dangerous things start happening, and Emily makes a new friend named Charlie, David and Emily's doctor, Katherine (Famke Janssen), begin to worry. Now, David and Emily must find a way out of this mess...if they are to survive." Written by jmfirecracker (Link below.)
Directed by John Polson (director of "Swimfan" and "Siam Sunset") and written by Ari Schlossberg (writer for "Harper's Island" and "Lucky 13"), "Hide and Seek" is a decent horror or psychological thriller geared towards adults. It reminded me of "Secret Window" (starring Johnny Depp and based on the short story by Stephen King). Also, "Psycho" with it's shower curtain references. If you have seen either of those movies, I just might have given the ending away. Even still, you should watch this film for its great pacing and interesting plot.

Dakota Fanning.

The only thing I found unsettling was DeNiro. Fanning was supposed to be creepy, and she was; a great actress even then. But DeNiro played an extremely calm father throughout everything in his life going to hell. He was a psychologist, but I think most everybody would've lost their cool after the cat died.

I think if I had not been watching this with my friend, who had already seen it, and didn't want me to figure out who it was too early, kept shouting off, "Did you SEE that?! That's telling! Remember that!" It got to the point where I couldn't completely pay attention to the movie. If I had been able to watch it by myself, I may have figured out what was going on a lot sooner than I did. Not that this is see-through, it just wasn't that big a surprise and makes the movie one that you can only watch once, unless you're a nerd and want to see what clues you missed the first go-around.

The dialogue transcript is available here: http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/h/hide-and-seek-script-transcript.html.

Robert DeNiro.

Favorite Lines:

Emily: Do you like her, Daddy?
David: Emily.
Emily: Charlie says you do.
David: Stop this.
Emily: Did Daddy tell you about my mommy?
David: I'm sure Elizabeth doesn't want to hear such things.
Emily: She killed herself. She slit her wrists and drowned in the bathtub. Let's hope you don't wind up like her.

Emily: I have a new friend.
David: A new friend?
Emily: He told me to call him Charlie.
David: When did you meet Charlie?
Emily: Today.
David: When we went to town?
Emily: Just before that.
David: Is he here right now?
Emily: I think he's sleeping.
David: Okay. Well, in that case, we better not wake him.

Katherine: It's not unusual for a child to create an imaginary friend.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382077/plotsummary and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382077/quotes.

"Looper" Movie Review

"Looper" movie poster.

"In 2072, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis)." (Link below.)

Written and directed by Rian Johnson (wrote the screenplay for "Brick"), starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("Inception", "The Dark Knight Rises"), Bruce Willis ("Die Hard", "The Sixth Sense"), Emily Blunt ("The Young Victoria", "The Devil Wears Prada"), Paul Dano ("Cowboys & Aliens", "There Will Be Blood"), and Jeff Daniels ("Good Night and Good Luck", "Speed"). It's an interesting concept and the first time travel movie in the last few years that has nothing to do with romantic bullshit.

Also, Sourcefed's review of it convinced me to go and now, after having seen it, I agree with a lot of their observations (you can see their review below).

The makeup was very well done. They had Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis shot in profile in this one scene and they freakishly looked the same. I'm really glad they decided to make Gordon-Levitt look and act like Willis, because trying to make Willis look like Gordon-Levitt may have been impossible. But great work on their part.

One of the parts that I thought was well-done, but made me a bit squeamish, was when they got the one looper to come back by torturing his young, past self. So you could see him getting scars, losing fingers, his nose, his tongue, his feet, and basically every appendage until he gets close enough so that they can kill him. You couldn't see the actual torture, just the effects of it and that was more disturbing. 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (driving) and Paul Dano.

But it made me think that wouldn't that effect how the rest of that particular man's life would change and therefore he wouldn't be there to be tortured? Time travel is sort of a tricky subject like that. 

I also liked how they made the future more realistic than in previous science fiction movies. There are flying vehicles, but they are not quite up to speed. It seemed very messy there, like the world wasn't 'clean', which is probable with how people treat this planet. Everyone has solar panels on their houses and even their cars. They did a lot of good work with that aspect of it.

Bruce Willis.

I just couldn't completely feel for these loopers though. There were moments where I felt sympathy but then they usually involved somebody else. When things went wrong for them it really sucked, but they were still killing people and had a pretty good time doing it: cars, women, drugs, expensive getaways. I couldn't relate to them in that way.

I enjoyed it. There was gratuitous violence involving gunfire and torture. There was telekinesis, called TK. There was an interesting drug that you would drop into your eyes to get high. There was Bruce Willis yelling "Motherfucker!" which is always a treat. Also, there are boobies. 

Favorite Lines:

Found this awesome poster here.

Joe: Time travel has not yet been invented. But thirty years from now, it will have been.

Joe: Loopers are well paid, they lead a good life...

Abe: This time travel crap, just fries your brain like a egg...

[from trailer] 

Joe: I work as a specialized assassin, in an outfit called the Loopers. When my organization from the future wants someone to die, they zap them back to me and I eliminate the target from the future. The only rule is: never let your target escape... even if your target is you.

Older Joe: I'm going to stop this guy. 

Joe: None of this concerns me... 

Older Joe: It is going to happen to you! 

Joe: It's going to happen to YOU, it's not going to happen to ME!

Abe: I'm from the future, go to China.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276104/quotes and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276104/.

I give this movie 4.5 out of 5 typewriters.

"The Departed" Movie Review

"The Departed" series of movie posters
featuring Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio.

"In South Boston, the state police force is waging war on Irish-American organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). While Billy quickly gains Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the state police as an informer for the syndicate, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the mob and the police that there's a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy-and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself. But is either willing to turn on the friends and comrades they've made during their long stints undercover?" (Link below.)

Jack Nicholson (L)
and Matt Damon.

Not much to say, except this Martin Scorsese film blew my mind! Also, it won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Directing, and Best Film Editing (although I don't think it should've gotten that one - even I noticed those mistakes) in 2007.

Script available here: http://www.screenplaydb.com/film/scripts/departedthe200609/.

"The Departed" movie poster
featuring Jack Nicholson.

Favorite Lines:

[Brown is telling Billy why he signed up for the police] 

Brown: So she tells me, "You never finish anything. You finish the police course, you get taken care of again, baby." So after graduation, I get a blowjob again. 

Billy Costigan: That's great. Your mother sounds like a wonderful woman. 

Brown: Fuck yourself. 

Billy Costigan: Look at it this way: You're a black guy in Boston. You don't need any help from me to be completely fucked. 

Ellerby: Go fuck yourself. 

Dignam: I'm tired from fucking your wife. 

Ellerby: How is your mother? 

Dignam: Good, she's tired from fucking my father.

Leonardo DiCaprio.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/.

"Shutter Island" Movie Review

"Shutter Island" movie poster.

"Federal Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) travel to a government-run mental institution for the criminally insane on Shutter Island, near Boston, when there is a report that one of the prisoners has gone missing. Daniels has his own reasons for wanting to get to the island and carries baggage of his own. He is still traumatized from what he saw when his army unit liberated one of the Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II and is still haunted by the more recent death in a fire of his wife. The head of the hospital, Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley), treats him alright but others give the agents a less than warm reception. Daniels particularly wants to find out what is going on in one of the wards, reserved for the most serious offenders. As Daniels begins to peal away the layers of deceit, it becomes obvious that not all is as it seems." Written by garykmcd (Link below.)

Leonardo DiCaprio.

Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane and directed by Martin Scorsese, I really enjoyed this movie. (Book review found here.) I thought it was very well-done. The script was great. Someone had already told me the ending so I knew what was coming and could see the various ways the scene would look to the detective and to someone who knew what was really going on.

The ending makes me wonder though. I'm trying not to give too much away, but it seems as if he did it on purpose and he walked away with the orderlies just fine. Like he knew what was coming and was welcoming it. I can understand why he would not to live with what he knew. I don't know if I could.

Ben Kingsley.

I recommend this movie if you liked "The Machinist", "The Sixth Sense", or "Unbreakable".

I'm definitely gonna read the book now. I hope it's as good as the movie.

Script available here: http://screenplayexplorer.com/wp-content/scripts/Shutter_Island.pdf.

Favorite Lines:

[Daniels has asked the staff about Rachel's activities before her disappearance] 

Teddy Daniels: Anything unusual occur? 

Nurse Marino: Define 'unusual'. 

Teddy Daniels: Excuse me? 

Nurse Marino: This is a mental institution, Marshal. For the criminally insane. Usual isn't a big part of our day.

Leonardo DiCaprio.

Dr. John Cawley: [examines Rachel's note] Ah, this is definitely Rachel's handwriting. I have no idea... what the "Law of Four" is, though. 

Teddy Daniels: It's not a psychiatric term? 

Dr. John Cawley: No, I'm afraid not. 

Chuck Aule: [reads the note] "Who is 67?" Fucked if I know. 

Dr. John Cawley: I have to say that's quite close to my clinical conclusion.

Warden: Did you enjoy God's latest gift? 

Teddy Daniels: What? 

Warden: God's gift. Your violence. 

[Daniels looks at him blankly] 

Warden: When I came downstairs in my home, and I saw that tree in my living room, it reached out for me... a divine hand. God loves violence. 

Teddy Daniels: I... I hadn't noticed. 

Warden: Sure you have. Why else would there be so much of it? It's in us. It's what we are. We wage war, we burn sacrifices, and pillage and plunder and tear at the flesh of our brothers. And why? Because God gave us violence to wage in his honor. 

Teddy Daniels: I thought God gave us moral order. 

Warden: There's no moral order as pure as this storm. There's no moral order at all. There's just this: can my violence conquer yours?

An image from the film "Shutter Island".

Warden: If I was to sink my teeth into your eye right now, would you be able to stop me before I blinded you? 

Teddy Daniels: Give it a try. 

Warden: That's the spirit.

Dr. John Cawley: Why are you all wet, baby?

Teddy Daniels: After she tried to kill herself the first time, Dolores told me she... she had an insect living inside her brain. She could feel it clicking across her skull, just... pulling the wires, just for fun. She told me that. She told me that but I didn't listen. I loved her so much.

"Shutter Island"
book cover.

"Shutter Island"
book cover.

Teddy Daniels: So, what's our next move? 

Chuck Aule: You tell me. 

Teddy Daniels: I gotta get off this rock, Chuck. Get back to the mainland. Whatever the hell's going on here, it's bad. 

[pause] 

Teddy Daniels: [sotto voce] Don't worry, partner, they're not gonna catch us. 

Chuck Aule: That's right, we're too smart for 'em. 

Teddy Daniels: Yeah, we are, aren't we? 

[pause] 

Teddy Daniels: You know, this place makes me wonder. 

Chuck Aule: Yeah, what's that, boss? 

Teddy Daniels: Which would be worse - to live as a monster? Or to die as a good man?

[gets up and walks off]
Chuck Aule: Teddy?

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/.

"Another Earth" Movie Review

"Another Earth" movie poster.

"On the night of the discovery of a duplicate planet in the solar system, an ambitious young student (Brit Marling) and an accomplished composer (William Mapother) cross paths in a tragic accident." (Link below.)

This was certainly a very interesting film. I would never have been able to come up with something like that. Another whole planet with my exact likeness on it, perhaps with a completely different life than mine.... almost too much for me to understand. Very exciting that Brit Marling, who starred in it and did a great job, also cowrote it with the director, Mike Cahill.

I thought it was beautifully filmed and the music was wonderful. There is even a scene where an actor plays a saw (the kind you use to cut wood) like an instrument which I have never seen before nor heard before.

I would've liked to have seen more science geek stuff like tides and gravity effected by the proximity of the earth being so close to another earth but that wasn't really the story here and I can understand why they would want to skip that.

"Another Earth" movie poster featuring Brit Marling.

I don't want to talk about the ending except to say that it is bittersweet and surprising. I very much enjoyed watching this film and hope there is more like it.

Favorite Lines:

Richard Berendzen: In the grand history of the cosmos, more than thirteen thousand million years old, our Earth is replicated elsewhere. But maybe there is another way of seeing this world. If any small variation arises-they look this way, you look that way-suddenly maybe everything changes and now you begin to wonder, what else is different? Well, one might say that you have an exact mirror image that is suddenly shattered and there's a new reality. And therein lies the opportunity and the mystery. What else? What new? What now?

Rhoda Williams: When early explorers first set out West across the Atlantic, most people thought the world was flat. Most people thought if you sailed far enough West, you would drop off a plane into nothing. Those vessels sailing out into the unknown, they weren't carrying noblemen or aristocrats, artists or merchants. They were crewed by people living on the edge of life: the madmen, orphans, ex-convicts, outcasts like myself. As a felon, I'm an unlikely candidate for most things. But perhaps not for this. Perhaps I am the most likely.

Beautiful image from the movie "Another Earth".

Rhoda Williams: You know that story of the Russian cosmonaut? So, the cosmonaut, He's the first man ever to go into space. Right? The Russians beat the Americans. So he goes up in this big spaceship, but the only habitable part of it's very small. So the cosmonaut's in there, and he's got this portal window, and he's looking out of it, and he sees the curvature of the Earth for the first time. I mean, the first man to ever look at the planet he's from. And he's lost in that moment. And all of a sudden this strange ticking... Begins coming out of the dashboard. Rips out the control panel, right? Takes out his tools. Trying to find the sound, trying to stop the sound. But he can't find it. He can't stop it. It keeps going. Few hours into this, begins to feel like torture. A few days go by with this sound, and he knows that this small sound... will break him. He'll lose his mind. What's he gonna do? He's up in space, alone, in a space closet. He's got 25 days left to go... with this sound. So the cosmonaut decides... the only way to save his sanity... is to fall in love with this sound. So he closes his eyes... and he goes into his imagination, and then he opens them. He doesn't hear ticking anymore. He hears music. And he spends the rest of the voyage sailing through space in total bliss... and peace.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1549572/.

"A Dangerous Method" Movie Review

"A Dangerous Method" movie poster.

"Suffering from hysteria, Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) is hospitalized under the care of Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) who has begun using Dr. Sigmund Freud's (Viggo Mortensen) talking cure with some of his patients. Spielrain's psychological problems are deeply rooted in her childhood and violent father. She is highly intelligent however and hopes to be a doctor, eventually becoming a psychiatrist in her own right. The married Jung and Spielrein eventually become lovers. Jung and Freud develop an almost father-son relationship with Freud seeing the young Jung as his likely successor as the standard-bearer of his beliefs. A deep rift develops between them when Jung diverges from Freud's belief that while psychoanalysis can reveal the cause of psychological problems it cannot cure the patient." Written by garykmcd (Link below.)

Keira Knightley (L) and Michael Fassbender.

An absolutely brilliant movie about not two, but three brilliant minds of the psycho-analytical world, Sabina Spielrein, played by Keira Knightly, Sigmund Freud, played by Viggo Mortensen, and Carl Jung, played by Michael Fassbender. It was quite fun to watch Mr. Mortensen act like Freud, although I can't entirely explain why.

There is something that was a bit absent during the movie, but it's a good thing. Freud and Jung had many discussions together concerning the interpretation of their dreams and analysis of their patients (in particular, Spielrein) but they didn't discuss it overmuch. I know a few people (psychologist majors and alike) who don't usually walk into a movie theatre expecting to learn things, might, for some idiotic reason, think that will be different in the case of this movie. I didn't really learn more than what was already floating around in the ether of common knowledge these days. But I did learn that Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung were not immune to life and its issues, like jealousy, prejudice or submitting to a forbidden relationship.

The only thing that I had a problem with the movie was the stupid tagline they put on the poster: "Based on the true story of Jung, Freud and the patient that came between them." That's not exactly what happened, if anything she tries to patch things up between them. And the tagline also makes one think that (if one does not know the story of Freud and Jung) that they had both slept with her and it caused a rift between them. No, it was all their own fault. They couldn't get over certain ideas, so they ignored each other like they ignored those ideas.

Viggo Mortensen.

Overall, I enjoyed it and thought the performances were all phenomenal. I think they all should've gotten nominated, like Viggo Mortensen has said. The only person I didn't like was Vincent Cassel and that's because his character was a despicable person aptly named Otto Gross. The only actor I thought wasn't performing was Sarah Gadon who played Jung's wife, Emma Jung. Was their relationship really that unpassionate? I'm ill-informed about these people so I can't really judge her performance alongside Mr. Fassbender, but she also seemed unfeeling and aloof as far as her family was concerned as well. I know back then they didn't show their feelings or affection as much as people do now, but even in the privacy of her own home she seemed very distant from everything. I just don't know enough to say for sure.

Also, a side note: I imagine doctors having illicit affairs with their patients probably wasn't as improbable as they make it seem in the film, although very damaging to a career if you want to be taken seriously. It probably happened a lot and still does to a certain degree.

Script available here: http://www.sonyclassics.com/awards-information/screenplays/adangerousmethod_screenplay.pdf.

Favorite Lines:

Sabina Spielrein: [to Jung] I want you to punish me. 

Carl Jung: Sometimes you have to do something unforgivable... just to be able to go on living. 

Sigmund Freud: Experiences like this, however painful, are necessary and inevitable; without them, how can we know life? 

Otto Gross: It seems to me the measure of the true perversity of the human race, that one of its very few reliably pleasurable activities should be the subject of so much hysteria and repression. 

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571222/

"Men In Black 3" Movie Review

"Men in Black 3" movie poster.

"An alien criminal named Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) kills the young Agent K in 1969, altering the timeline, changing the Agency and placing the Earth in danger. Veteran Agent J (Will Smith) must travel back in time to 1969 to before the murder and work with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save him, the Agency, the Earth and humanity itself." Written by Anonymous (Link below.)

I had a tremendous time at the movie theater with this one. Although now I have that new Pitbull song stuck in my head. Oh well. It's entirely possible that the buzz around the internet that this movie may be the best in the trilogy that is the "Men In Black" franchise may actually be true.

Jemaine Clement.

Josh Brolin is every bit as good an impersonator of Tommy Lee Jones as everyone on the web has been stating. He was amazing and very believable as a younger version of Mr. Jones. Speaking of Mr. Jones, he seemed very covered with a veritable mask of makeup in this movie. It was very disconcerting.

Josh Brolin (L) and Will Smith.

I thought that some of the best acting wasn't just from Josh Brolin, but also from Jemaine Clement who played Boris the Animal. I didn't realize until I looked him up that that is the same guy from "The Flight of the Conchords" and, I think, the same guy who narrates the Outback Steakhouse restaurant commercials. 

Emma Thompson and her lovely coif.

Her part was kind of small, but I love Emma Thompson, who plays Agent O, a love interest of Agent K. I don't just love her for her accent either, even if that high class British accent of hers does get me randy. Her hair was amazing in this film! Whoever did her hair should be commended. However, if that is the same person who did Mr. Jones 'makeup mask' it might be one of those things where they are only great every once in a while.

Will Smith astride a largely
disappointing 'space bike'.

There was a lot of stuff missing from the movie that was in the trailers though. I'm not sure if I have a problem with that because a lot of it seemed like excess material. The only thing that I had a real problem with were those space bikes. They looked awesome, but they couldn't beat a regular motorcycle on the freeway. That's the kind of disappointing and pompous computer generated effects that action movies need to stay away from unless the thing actually is astounding. 

Oh, the 3D wasn't necessary at all and there weren't that many scenes where it would've increased the enjoyment of the film.

I enjoyed it, but I kind of hope that that is the end of this series. Hollywood needs to get over its 'sequelitis' that it is making everyone suffer from. 

I give this movie a 4 out of 5. 

Favorite Lines:

(L to R) Josh Brolin as Young Agent K, Michael Sthulbarg
as Griffin, and Will Smith as Agent J.

Agent J: I'm looking for K, have you seen him? Sort of a surly, older gentleman, smiles like this... 

[J makes a poker face] 

O: K's been dead for over forty years.

Agent J: All right, pay attention... 

[neuralyzes a crowd] 

Agent J: Okay. You know how you kids won the goldfish in that little baggy at the school fair, and you didn't want that nasty thing in your house so you flushed it down the toilet? Well, this's what happened... 

[points to an alien fish being towed away] 

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1409024/

P. S. I want to watch the first "Men In Black" movie, but I am afraid that, because technological use in the movies has gotten so good over the years that I won't be able to appreciate this first movie. When I was younger I thought it was so awesome. I don't want to ruin it for myself. Oh, dilemmas.