Public Enemies (2009)
Dir. Michael Mann
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Summary: In the 1930's, J. Edgar Hoover, who at the time was the Director of the FBI, assigns Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) the job of arresting known criminals such as Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and America's #1 most wanted John Dillinger (Johnny Depp). John Dillinger, unfazed by his #1 most wanted status, continues on doing what he does best, robbing banks. Dillinger continues to get himself out of harm's way with Purvis getting closer with each robbery until their fateful encounter.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Review: The movie runs about 2.5 hours when in fact, they probably could have cut it down a bit. There are moments in the movie when it runs dry and starts to get dull, but overall the movie kept me interested. Bale and Depp both played their characters exceptionally well and really rounded out the story. Some people have complained that the movie made John Dillinger out be more of a hero when in fact he really was a bank robber, a "bad guy". This may be true, but from information that I have gathered, a lot of people idolized him with some thinking of him as some "Robin Hood". I'm sure that the love of Dillinger and the hate of the government was embellished , but I feel it was within the bounds of what history showed. Public Enemies reminded me in some ways of "American Gangster" which starred Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. Both movies were long and both had similiar elements in what happened to the gangster.
Final Thoughts:
- I liked how every so often, you would get shots being seen through the eye of the old camcorders of the day. Some of the first shots that didn't have Dillinger in them had me wondering if they were found footage or just B-roll that was touched up.
- One of those embellishments to make Dillinger look good was the fact that you never really saw Dillinger kill any cops, even though he had killed several.
- With these kinds of movies, I always wonder how much of the dialogue was actually said back then.
Moon (2009)
Dir. Duncan Jones
3/5 Stars
Summary: Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) has spent that past 3 years on the moon alone gathering Helium-3, which is meant to help diminish Earth's power issues. Sam's only real company is GERTY (Kevin Spacey), a computer/robot that helps run the station. With only 2 weeks to go before heading back to Earth to be with his wife and kids, Sam gets into an accident while checking on equipment on the moon's surface. He wakes up in the infirmary and is informed by GERTY that the rescue team, Eliza, will be coming to clean up the aftermath of the accident. After he has recovered, Sam makes an unauthorized trip outside the station and makes a startling discovery. From this point, he begins to question his sanity, the company he works for, GERTY and even his own identity. While trying to work through all the confusion, Sam continues to focus on his one main goal, which is to get back to Earth.
***Spoiler Alert***
Review: This film was recommended to me, but before I watched it I took a look at the trailer so I had some idea of what the movie was about. There really isn't much action/movement in the movie, which meant that the acting needed to be stepped up. Unfortunately, I thought the acting was mediocre with a few better moments along with some not so great ones. The whole movie felt like a mixture of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "The 6th Day". On the one hand you have GERTY, who really is just a more mobile HAL and has a handful of emoticons to display his "emotions" while on the other side you have the entire cloning idea where after one dies, a copy is created or in this case "awakened" to replace the old one.
As usual, if there were to be a villain or antagonist, the company/big business uses cloning as a shady means of cheap labor since it appears that the clones have a shelf life of 3 years. It is unclear as to how the original Sam Bell fits in, whether he willingly allowed the company to do this or if it was done without his knowledge. What I found interesting in the film though was how GERTY held some human elements. He was programmed to aid Sam, but it seemed as if there was an actual friendship that had formed between him and perhaps several of the clone Sams throughout the years.
Despite only running for 97 mins, the film had its long points and it felt like it was lacking something. Although the idea was interesting and it was well put together, it just fell short.
Final Thoughts:
- I'm curious as to how GERTY got the new clones from under the station to the infirmary because it seemed like their bodies were kept in pull-out drawers.
- I didn't realize until after the movie that Sam Rockwell also played Guy Fleegman in "Galaxy Quest".
- I liked how Rockwell's character went through different emotional stages as he began to understand the truth of what was really going on and who he was.
- I came out of the movie thinking that it wasn't that bad of a movie, but nothing about it really reached out to me.
Away We Go (2009)
Dir. Sam Mendes
4/5 Stars
Summary: "Away We Go" is a story about a couple, Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph), who decide to move after discovering that Verona is pregnant. Determined to be close to some friends or relatives, they choose several cities around the US and one city up in Canada hoping that one of these places will provide the right environment for them to bring up their child. At each stop, they meet up with friends or family, sometimes with humorous and awkward consequences, and in the process learn more about how they do and do not want to raise their child while also coming to terms with the fact that their lives are changing.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Review: I came into this movie unsure of what exactly to expect. I personally liked how we are given an idea as to the personalites of Burt and Verona early on in the first scene. Immediately I began enjoying both characters and how well they were portrayed by Krasinski and Rudolph. If you are looking for a sappy, chick flick, love story I would probably look elsewhere as this film brings a much more human element to romantic comedy. Interestingly enough, Verona is the more even keeled person in the relationship although she continues to be affected from losing her parents while in college. Meanwhile, Burt is one of those guys who you can tell isn't super smart, but you know his heart is in the right place.
Throughout the movie, it's pretty heartwarming to watch Burt comfort (not always successfully) his wife during times when she has issues with the changes her body is going through and his antics during times to make her happy (most notably would be her insistence that he should get angry/they should argue more often).
While some of the friends and family that they meet with were interesting (both in good and bad ways) I really had a problem with Verona's ex-co-worker. It could have been the way the parents were or how they treated their kids and each other, but something just really annoyed me about them. Thankfully they were over quickly and I got to enjoy the rest of the film. All in all, it was a very interesting and thought-provoking film.
Final Thoughts
- I really liked how John Krasinski played Burt. It wasn't just in dialogue, but in his body language and actions that really brought the character together I thought. I think any big fan of "The Office" will catch glimpses of Jim, but I think the facial hair helps separate the two characters.
- I really loved the shots at the beginning of the film as well as towards the end of the film. How the shots were set and framed conveyed such a beautiful picture of where they came (in the beginning) as well as where they were at (towards the end). The attention to detail left me in awe.
- I didn't exactly like how they sort of mentioned Verona's job, but still left it vague. I still have no real clue what she does except that she draws body parts.
- I would recommend seeing this movie in theaters (although you will most likely have to search for a theater that is actually showing it)
