Ken Jr

Despicable Me, “It’s fluffy!”

Thanks to a few friends of ours Caroline and I were able to enjoy a nice night out this week. The movie theaters don’t seem to have a lot to choose from these days (end of summer doldrums at the box-office I guess) so we didn’t feel too strange about using this precious opportunity to watch an animated film targeted at children.

After receiving some good directions from my very capable older sister, Jen, we headed down the interstate until we found Regal Cinema 20. It was hard to miss as it was the only building that looked like a neon-crown. We parked our car, went in and spent some time failing at arcade games in order to kill some time (I also heard the song “Butterfly” for the first time thanks to DDR).

Alright, so you want to know what I thought of Despicable Me, right? I have to warn you first though that my opinion of the movie may be somewhat biased. I didn’t have to put up with any shrieking children bouncing up and down in the front rows. In fact, we had the entire screen to ourselves that night. The advantage to having our own theater was that we could talk as much as we wanted and laugh like maniacs. And laugh we did.  Despicable Me is easily one of the funniest films of the year. The script-writers didn’t slack on the story either, which is quite refreshing in the age of Happy Meal (tm) movies. I won’t give away too much of the film, but let me just say that while the plot revolves around the actions of a (somehow) loveable super-villain named Gru, the audience begins to figure out very quickly that there are other, more menacing villains that the film wants to warn us about. These villains represent greed, selfish-ambition and vanity. We see all of these traits in Gru at the beginning of the film but by the end his interaction with three adorable little girls helps to change his perspective. As cheesy as this moral message seems I never felt like the movie was being preachy.

Overall feelings: Kids will appreciate the vibrant animation and almost constant slap-stick action. Adults will be able to enjoy the ins-and-outs of the plot as well as the overall moral message (and some of the jokes that will be going over their kids’ heads). If you haven’t seen Despicable Me yet and you’re looking for a fun movie pick-me-up before summer leaves, I definitely recommend it.

Inception: Thoughts and Reactions

Rumor has it that some people still read this blog, so I better post something.

Have you heard of Inception? If you haven’t, chances are that you don’t own a TV or have a computer connected to the Internet. Inception is Christopher Nolan’s latest epic film (the term movie really doesn’t do justice to what this man creates). If you’ve seen the previews you know that the plot revolves around a character whose job is breaking into peoples’ minds through dreams. If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want anything spoiled, you’ll probably want to read the rest of this post later. If you aren’t sure about the movie and want to hear me review it let me just tell you that you won’t be disappointed. My only warning to you is this: pee right before you enter the theater and don’t chug a white-cherry Icee during the first half.

…OK, enough rambling, here are some of my thoughts on this mind-bending sci-fi thriller. Inception is a movie that looks very complex. Just like the final dream sequences, you can continue to peel back the layers and find meaning in every level. Nolan put plenty of thought into the script and it clearly shows.

As much as Inception can be dissected and debated, there is a very clear story that forms the core of the movie. DiCaprio’s character, Cobb, struggles with guilt over the death of his wife. He attributes her death to his actions and as much as he tries to hide his feelings and recapture good memories things in his head are clearly not “under control.” In the movie his subconscious acts out in very startling ways, trying to derail the other characters, inflicting random chaos and ultimately forcing him to confront his memories in the final climactic scene. What’s so great about Inception’s portrayal of Cobb is not just that he is a likable character, but that his guilt and inner struggle become a very believable part of this surreal escapade.

The film offers a sublime resolution to Cobb’s problems. He completes his final mission successfully and is reunited with his children at last. He is only able to do this when he definitively says no to living in the fantasy world of his dreams—the world where his dead wife still lives as a projection of his subconscious desires. Thus the final note in the movie is one of hope that despite the pain we may experience in this life, it is ultimately better to avoid the snare of “ignorance is bliss.” Limbo may be the place where anything is possible, but compared to the vibrancy of real human relationships it may as well be a crumbling wasteland.

Reaction:

So, having presented how the movie causes us to identify with Cobb’s guilt and the resolution of that guilt, what reaction should I have as a thinking audience member? The film of course simply offers its own vision and doesn’t work as much of a “sparring partner,” so I’m going out on a bit of a limb here. My take on Nolan’s world is that the resolution he offers to human pain and suffering (of the emotional and spiritual kind) isn’t satisfying enough. It seems like a warm elixir—pain must be overcome by struggle and inner confrontation, right? We have to face our fears and then learn to leave them in the past where they belong. The problem with such an approach is not its goals but its methods. In the Christian world-view there is only one way to erase the past, and that is through death. As much as we want to believe that we have the capacity to heal ourselves of the demons that haunt us, such power truly belongs to God alone. His means for having us realize that power is by having us participate, in a spiritual and incomprehensible sense, in the death and resurrection of Jesus. By being reborn as new creatures we can see that life isn’t all about the pain and sorrow that we experience now, but the glorious riches and fellowship that belong to those who are in Christ. When we have a heavenly focus we don’t feel attached to the things of this world and we also don’t feel bound by them. In the world of the film, however, the main character has simply traded his grief over the past for worldly happiness. His happiness is admirable but it is also something that will fade away and die in its own time. The benefit of choosing life in Christ is that though our happiness in this world may have its ups and downs, we know that the future holds full reconciliation with God and the peace that we ache for.

Anyways, those are some of my initial thoughts on the film. Please leave your own reactions below. How do you see Inception fitting in with your view of the world? Does Nolan do a good job of presenting inner character struggle?

2012: The Disaster Movie to End All Disaster Movies

OK, not really…but director Roland Emmerich did say that it would be his last disaster film (should we really believe him? C’mon, this is the guy who gave us the now classic uber-patriotic-alien-disaster-movie, Independence Day. More recently he directed the “Everyman’s version” of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, aka The Day After Tomorrow.)

So, after finally seeing 2012 (thank you Redbox) I can weigh in on all of the deep philosophical questions that people have been wrestling with since this movie debuted. These questions include “Would you risk your only chance of survival to save your purse-sized dog?”, “Is it more ethical to pay 1 billion euros for a place on the doomsday survival boat or stow-away on that same boat?” Oh, and I can’t forget the classic conundrum “Now that it’s the end of the world, should I actually be nice to my ex-wife’s boyfriend or should I try to outlive him and win back her heart?” If you are hoping for anything deeper when you watch 2012 you will probably be disappointed as the movie can’t decide whether it is better to glorify human survival in the face of impossible odds, or make ridiculous one-liners while billions of people are dying due to earthquakes and tsunamis (don’t worry, only CGI people were killed during the making of this film, not actual humans…well, except for that one guy).

Some other thoughts on 2012:

Pros: Woody Harrelson playing a hilarious conspiracy nut who turns out to be right, cheesy Russian accents, airplanes dodging falling buildings

Cons: lame acting in the midst of what should be horrific moments (especially the scene where a huge chasm opens up in the middle of a grocery store), excessive (and probably misused) scientific jargon, the movie’s unfortunate switch from campy to preachy half-way through (although the cut scene’s reveal that the ending was intended to be far more positive and cheesy), an incredibly anti-climactic ending (trust me, it’s bad, you don’t even want to know)

That’s all for now folks :)

If you thought that my review was enlightening or way off the mark please leave a comment below before the world ends.

Movie Thoughts: Bright Star

Yesterday I was standing in front of the Redbox vending machine in McDonalds, trying to pick out a DVD before the five people behind me became impatient. I was very fortunate to have Bright Star catch my eye. I was looking for something romantic but not fluffy or overworked and this film fit the bill perfectly.

The story follows the life of John Keats and his love of three years, Fanny Brawne. I’m no expert on Keats’s life so I can’t comment on the accuracy of the film. I can say that the attention to detail in regards to the script (where I felt like I needed an unabridged dictionary at times to look up archaic phrases) and the period costuming will insure that this film becomes a staple for English teachers struggling to give their students a more lively feel for the life of one of the most renowned Romantic poets.

The story is simple and beautiful. Very little “drama” in the usual cinematic sense occurs. We simply observe two characters who happen to fall deeply in love and yet are unable to be together. The film is subdivided by the various obstacles that keep them apart: money, sickness, distance and finally death. Despite all of this tragedy the film and its story remain quite beautiful. Pure love isn’t bemoaned as an inescapable prison, a vexing problem that the plot must work out. Love is instead something to be observed and wondered at. Like Keats’s poems the value isn’t in being able to figure things out immediately, but enjoying the sensation of being immersed in the story. Very few films seem to have this level of artistic sophistication. If you watch the film be prepared for moments where nothing “significant” is occurring. Take in the scenery and the atmosphere, because every little detail forms a world that lets modern audiences look into the lives of people who thought about life and love in ways that are still very uncommon.

If you are looking for a quality “date-night” movie I wholeheartedly suggest Bright Star. Even if you aren’t a literary buff you will find the characters to be memorable and the story immensely meaningful.