The Age of Stupid (2009)

This documentary is told from a future perspective of the last man living on earth, so it's a bit hyperbolic. It extrapolates our environmental damage to the planet to the point where all the polar ice caps have melted and all humanity (except one Brit) is lost to drought, storm, etc.

The man scans documentary footage of what is our present day of people trying to fight the trend towards obliteration. Some good stuff in terms of alternative energy, but discouraging in how very little traction their efforts make.

IMDB

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Not ever being a fan of the Planet of the Apes franchise or having ever seen the TV series or the following movies, I didn't know what to expect in relation to the actual storytelling in this pre-quel, but my expectations were low. I watched this movie mainly for the stunning computer graphic renderings of the apes.

The story - pretty lame, including some super cheesy performances. The visual effects - really amazing.

Official Site | IMDB

The Animatrix (2003)

To complete my first viewing of The Matrix films, I watched this collection of animated shorts that flesh out some of the side stories from the live action films. Each of the nine animations are produced by a different production company and carry very different styles with them. It is clear that some of the films direct their efforts to emphasize very different aspects of the Matrix flicks: style, philosophy, and action.

Official Site | IMDB

Le Temps du Loup (2003)

This is perhaps my favourite of director Michael Haneke's films. The persistent darkness surrounding the good family lifts for such brief moments that the light is dazzling when we see it.

A family on holidays finds itself trapped in a lawless part of France where no one is allowed in or out, food and water are scarce and shelter is negotiated. We see the fallen associate with the image bearers.

IMDB

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Where there was satisfaction in the finality of the story, I think the resolution felt forced, a weak negotiation. The effects were terrific and the enigma at the beginning was fun, but the micro-stories during the battle were rather formulaic as was the final sacrifice.

A fun trilogy; I'm better for having watched it.

IMDB

New York, I Love You (2009)

This is a response to Paris, Je t'Aime - a collection of short films by various directors demonstrating the vibrancy of one of Earth's largest and popular cities.

Again, like its Paris counterpart, it is a hit and miss with the shorts. Some are very entertaining, original and engaging, others are shallower. I didn't find the films as moving as the Paris ones. The project managed to attract many big name actors.

Official Site | IMDB

The Road (2009)

Adapted from the exquisite novel by Cormac McCarthy, The Road is a harsh poem of contrast.

A man and his son travel on foot down abandoned highways and through burnt out towns after the world has suffered some kind of massive catastrophe. Marauding gangs are an ever present danger as is hunger, cold and depression.

While many films fall far shorter than the novels they've adapted, this one stands squarely on its feet thanks to the attention of the humanely portrayed characters, a simple soundtrack by Nick Cave, and magnificent direction by Australian director John Hillcoat.

I loved this film.

Official Site | IMDB

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)

Keanu Reeves was made to play emotionless aliens, but that still doesn't make the movie better than the original (see below). 

Same plot as the old movie, but with a different cause for alarm: the environment. The effects are more sophisticated too.

This movie tries too hard to explain everything rather than leaving it a mystery like in the original. It also tries to endear us to the characters without giving them original dialogue. The movie isn't all bad though - Jennifer Connelly is fun to watch.

Official Site | IMDB

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

I didn't expect to be moved by such an old film that wouldn't be able to support a sci-fi flick with good enough visual effects. I was actually blown away by how much I enjoyed it against my low expectations. I had to watch it because the new 2008 one was in the mail.

A space craft lands in Washington DC. A humanoid alien emerges with a companion giant robot whose eyes can make weapons disappear. The robot is also indestructible. The alien wishes to meet with world leaders from every nation to discuss impending doom. Unfortunately, the world leaders have more important things to do.

Science fiction usually carry some moral weight upon its shoulders. In this case, the impending doom is that because earth has created nuclear weapons and because we continue to be violent with each other, we will ultimately destroy ourselves and our lovely planet.

Another important message in the film is to give voice to children and, women and science who have been traditionally marginalized in issues of war (men, passion/ideology and violence are usually too loud). This was the most impressive aspect of the film for me.

One hilarious part:

Dr. 1: He (the alien) made me feel like a 3rd class witch doctor.

Dr. 2: Have you got a light?

IMDB

Watchmen (2009)

This year's big budget graphic novel epic has arrived following the massive successes of 300 and Sin City. As expected, the crowds came out, the visual effects department delivered, there was plenty of graphic violence, a gratuitous sex scene, and the characters were deeply flawed.

What would the United States be like if there were superhero crime fighters? Well, Watchmen is one person's interpretation. Only one of the characters is gifted with actual superpowers and that is Dr. Manhattan who was departicalized in a nuclear accident - now he can do pretty much everything he wants. His main job though is to stave off nuclear war with the Soviets. The bad guy, a secret until the end, wants to get the missiles in the air. And the real hero is Rorschach, a manic-revenge guy who is the only one still wearing a cape.

While the film is a great production as a whole, it doesn't quite nail the whole issue of human nature as it means to and aside from Rorschach, the characters are slightly boring. The soundtrack rocks, Malin Akerman looks great and so do a few choice scenes, but it ultimately fails to provoke.

Official Site | IMDB

The Happening (2008)

As a fan of several of Shyamalan's films, I can't say that he's on a roll lately. The rumours around the writer/director's arrogance might be true after having watched his take on nature's revenge on humanity.

A chemical or a frequency released upon crowds of people neutralize their sense of survival and they kill themselves, en masse, and in very gruesome ways. In essence, New England becomes host to suicide-fest. The film is another in a series of apocalyptic films geared towards the north-easter United States produced recently.

Visually, Shyamalan is definitely a master of suspense, but he overdoes his 'point the camera at what isn't happening' so much that we get tired of watching. That said, most of the film is very well crafted photography-wise. The denouement is probably the worst that I've seen in a long, long time.

I was reminded of Hitchcock's The Birds with its openendedness and use of a terrifying natural phonomenon. 

Truth: We ought not assume that we know everything that there is to know about nature and there are perhaps threats to humanity that we have not been exposed to yet.

Official Site | IMDB

Apocalypto (2006)

How the world ends according to Mel Gibson. This film is a venture into pre-Columbian Mayan lands, something cinema has forgotten, until now.

Jaguars Paw is a hunter in a remote tribe. When his village is attacked and many of the people taken captive, it is revealed that some serious ills have afflicted the neighbouring lands: deforestation, mining, plagues, and slavery. Complete with human sacrifices and an extensive jungle chase, this film arouses both a primitive connection to the earth and a distaste for all things bloody.

The cinematography in this film is superb as are the costumes and sets; we really are transported to this era. What does lack a bit is more story. Jaguar's Paw seems to imitate Rambo First Blood in the last half of the film and aside from the journey to and from the sacrificial alters, there isn't a lot happening. The life and death intensity of the story doesn't really permit added story, but some added depth or revealed motives would have added a lot. Gibson does seem to try and simplify the story so we see it from one character's perspective and that is refreshing too.

Truth: Civilizations and empires end because of excess caused by greed.

Official Site IMDB

Southland Tales (2007)

Big waste of energy. I understand what writer director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) is trying to do with this, but it's like a vomit fest that won't end.

The film is a convoluted mess of B-actors, cheesy lines, mediocre special effects, and lines from the Book of Revelation. The end of the world is nigh and what is important is promoting a porn star's new line of products - an allegory for how the world is more keen on entertainment than the really important events that are happening around us.

The plot takes us into a sci-fi world of televisions, elections, and guns in modern day Los Angeles. We are given an introduction that essentially says Big Brother is watching, something corrupt is going on, and the apocalypse is on. It's an interesting premise, but anyone who wants to spend hours dissecting the mess is crazy - there are several much better films on the subject that are worth much more consideration.

Truth: Our minds are being fed crap and are therefore too full and busy to consider reality.

Official Site | IMDB

The Invasion (2007)

It seems that starting with a classic story, big time actors, and a big budget doesn't necessarily equate a good movie. By trying too hard to earn good ticket sales, the film is hollow; this remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a flop.

An alien virus takes hold in the world, but we get the inside scoop on the center of the universe, Washington D.C. The virus only manifests itself after the carrier sleeps. The infected then show no emotion and join the army of zombies trying to infect the masses by vomiting in their drinks (or faces). The story rides on a series of coincidences and illogical sequences with a perky Nicole Kidman trying too hard to show emotional restraint.

There is a hint of allegory in regards to people being asleep to the realities and horrors of the world because of government control, but it fades pretty quickly behind story repeats that we've seen before in War of the Worlds and 28 Days Later among a multitude of other movies.

Truth: Human nature is to be cruel and at the same time resist cruelty; indifference should not reign.

Official Site | IMDB

Dnevnoy Dozor (2006)

I highly anticipated watching the sequel to the tremendously original Night Watch. I'm not a vampire movie fan, but this one took the battle of good vs. evil and the determinism vs. choice discussion to a great visual height.

Day Watch turns the page of our protagonist's understanding of his choice to abort his son in the first film. We see the consequences on both parties and we can appreciate a broader view of how decisions based on self affect others. The new characters are only slightly more compelling than the first movie's cast. The story is just as multifaceted, relying more on sensitive intuition than overt exposition.

My absolute favorite part about this film is that it doesn't cater to any other culture's sensitivity (particularly western ones). It is flat out Russian and if a viewer doesn't understand some cultural nuance or historical nod, so what. They aren't out to please everyone, they are out to make a great film - and a great film it is.

Official Site | IMDB

I Am Legend (2007)

Another in a rash of apocalyptic films where salvation comes from the United States. Sorry, I'm cynical that way.

Will Smith plays a scientist who is immune to a virus that destroyed the majority of the planet by transforming its victims into nocturnal vampire-zombies. He's alone in New York City - and really this is the strength of the film - where he hunts deer and we see the infrastructure decaying under nature's clutches over the past three years. Much like 28 Days Later we see an empty city and this is very, very cool.

The film makers try to avoid heavy explanation time about what has happened to all the people by dropping hints with newspaper clippings all over Smith's flat. But in the end, they cannot resist and we get a run down of events.

I didn't particularly enjoy the film for it's super hero nature and the comic book nature of the villains. I Am Legend fails where 28 Days Later succeeds. We dwell on cool stuff like the solitude in the city far more than cultivating the protagonist's struggle - and maybe this is because there aren't many turns in the story to begin with.

Official Site | IMDB

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

Being nominated for an Academy Award surely gave another boost to the already growing momentum of this important film. The documentary follows former US vice president Al Gore on his tour of slideshows around the world. Gore expounds on the effects of global warming and the scientifically predicted long-term consequences of releasing CO₂ into our atmosphere and oceans.

I was particularly touched by the effects of losing our polar ice caps, which are remnants of the ice age (or the flood). They would not be recuperated in a winter or two. The balance between increased rainfall (floods) in some areas and drought in other areas is also startling.

I found it interesting that the film only lightly touched on the use of coal, and the bulk of that time was focused on China. An PRI program I listen to called Open Source had a program on Nov 14, 2006 about coal in the US. 40% of carbon emissions are from coal powered electrical plants. One interviewee said that if they stopped coal usage, we wouldn't have to reduce oil based emissions to lower carbon emissions.

Other reactions to the film were more spiritual. I fear that many Christians will believe the skeptics of this inconvenient truth based on the idea that many of these same scientists who are revealing the catastrophic future are also atheists and evolutionists. Some may also accept that the world is ending soon, so why should mankind delay apocalypse (some would call it the glory).

Al Gore is almost magically gracious in his words about the current Bush administration and their inactivity on the global warming issue. I haven't resolved that one, but I was struck by it and I hope that many Republicans are too.

I hope that I can be as gracious toward people who downplay the facts about greenhouse gases for economic reasons. Again, I can't resolve why anyone would let the planet be burned up so that big companies can make billions of dollars and so that they can keep their jobs in the oil and coal sectors. The jobs are certainly transferable and the money is to be made in renewable resources and renewable energy... like geothermal energy for instance...

Official Site | IMDB | Trailer