Happy Feet Two (2011)

We took our kids to see this over spring break as it was a cheap deal and didn't appear to be too scary for our young. They enjoyed it - though my daughter did get scared at one point.

They film seemed typical in its humour and quite glittery in its animation and I enjoyed it except for the the niggling I had for the first 90% of the film when the plankton were discussing existentialism. I disagreed with much of what appeared to be the one's conclusion, but was surprised and pleased with the conclusion.

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Never Let Me Go (2010)

This terribly moving film begins at the edge of sanity where children are raised in an idyllic setting and then harvested for their organs once they reach adulthood. The organ donors live out their purpose without questioning why or without really believing that they have any other purpose. Aside from the heavy sentimental reaction I got from watching their young lives get snuffed out, I was pushed to consider the idea of free will as it was presented in the film - and I always appreciate that opportunity!

As I often do, I really appreciated the gentleness in the film and the easy pace as it massaged the fate of the characters into our minds.

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The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

This is another adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story (Minority Report, Blade Runner, Total Recall) - written as usual to challenge people's ideas about free will.

David Norris has a promising political career that suddenly goes awry, but he manages to fall in love on the night of his election defeat. What happens next though is far more outrageous: agents prevent him from meeting the girl again. What agents? Well from the Adjustment Bureau of course - a sci-fi organization who makes sure everything is staying on track, God's agents, angels with hats if you please.

The film really can't be taken seriously since the story is full of holes and is actually quite ridiculous, but as a parable about free will, it can't be ignored. I was quite disturbed by it's conclusion actually.

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The Trotsky (2009)

An upperclass Jewish Montreal high school student believes he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky, a Russian revolutionary, and that his life's calling is to bring revolution to Canada. He leaves private school to attend public school for his final semester where he immediately begins to challenge the established authority garnering attention from the press and the woman he believes must be his future wife.

The film is fun and the actors perform well, and while I did enjoy it, it bears a clear taste of Canadian cinema which Canadian films can't seem to escape - a neediness to be different.

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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.

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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

While it isn't the most inspiring film of last year, it certainly did not merit the barrage of negative reviews it got. The wildly inventive film keeps its viewers engaged and minds tantalized with great visual tricks.

Doctor Parnassus unwittingly wins immortality from the devil as well as many other prizes, but they only bring him despair. The episode told in this film is more contemporary and his friends try to save him from yet another botched deal with the devil.

The film is both serious in its nature, but too playful to take at all seriously and this might be its downfall - it can't decide what it is. But then again, the film does have a fair bit to say about choice so this demonstrates the quality quite well.

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The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

While there are obvious stylistic and realistic flaws in the telling of this story (as in Where do these "soldiers" find all that time to maintain such great hair? Where did Zion get all their supplies and energy to live deep beneath the earth? etc.), the story is compelling and brings out all the best questions about determinism. I personally enjoyed all the dialogue pertaining to free choice. That, and it's a great kung-fu flick too.

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The Brothers Bloom (2008)

What is advertised as a playful comedy is actually a relatively pensive and moderately quirky film. A bit more suffering than I anticipated.

Two brothers who grow up in the foster system develop elaborate schemes to con the wealthy - a way of getting back at the establishment. After doing this for about 25 years, Bloom tires of being on the run and having his life scripted by brother Stephen but is convinced to pull one more heist involving romancing a rich, young attractive heiress.

As I mentioned in my opening sentence, while the film is fun on a certain level, Bloom (Adrien Brody) suffers through a psychological breakdown and that brings the most value to the film.

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Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Lewis Carroll wrote this story to be made into a film by Tim Burton.

A victorian young woman named Alice is faced with duty when a rabbit distracts her for an instant. Next thing she knows, she is hurdling downwards into Wonderland and speaking with flowers, a dodo and a caterpillar named Absalom. She charms nearly everyone she meets and faces execution before ultimately being the champion.

This is not a children's movie. Burton brings an edginess to the story through darker artistic inspiration - the Queen of Hearts is beheading her subjects after all. The design is jaw dropping. All of the actors (voice and live action) draw you into their madness and desperation.

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Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

Happy-Go-Lucky is a great film from writer director Mike Leigh (maker of one of my all-time favorites: Secrets and Lies). People's inhibitions are exposed by an over-the-top optimist.

Poppy is an early thirties grade school teacher who talks non-stop and nary utters a negative word. She is single and is unstressed about her precariously lonely future as a spinster. Once her bike is stolen, she decides to finally take driving lessons. Her instructor is a grim fundamentalist who is her complete opposite.

Poppy is an award-winning role provided by Sally Hawkins who beams! The film is a genuine treatise on the power of positive living.

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Blade Runner (1982)

Ridley Scott's followup feature to Alien is another futuristic tale set in distant 2019 L.A.

Harrison Ford plays Deckard, a blade runner or tracker of rogue robots (replicants). He's drawn out of self-imposed retirement to track some (very) humanoid replicants who are out to extend their lifetimes. So, basically a detective story with action and a cyborg slant.

The general themes are determinism, value of life and the uniqueness of human consciousness. Much of the film is a little overplayed, something that seems to stick to action movies still today. What does set Blade Runner apart from the others (and made it a standard for decades of sci-fi flicks to follow) is the deeper writing - thanks to the original story from Philip K. Dick.

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Hellboy (2004)

Yet another of the comic book franchise, this time from Dark Horse Comics (Conan, Buffy). Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro takes this one on.

This rather funny tale with great visual effects is about a little demon who is raised by a CIA agent and fights on the side of good. Rasputin, a near immortal conjurer, seeks to use Hellboy in his scheme to destroy the world. The two duke it out.

Hellboy stands out among the superhero movies that I've seen in that it is more willing to embrace humour than coolness. It's protagonist is not perfect (now a common superhero theme), but he's also not at all human except that he's been forced to fit into society and is now an extra-societal protector of society.

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Unknown (2006)

A puzzle piece ala Memento, Unknown draws on the idea that people are essentially good or evil. The premise of the film is intriguing as it gives each one a clean conscience, but in an environment of fear.

Five bloodied men awake in a chemical fog in a warehouse with acute amnesia. It becomes quickly apparent that some of them kidnapped the others, but none can recall who was who. They attempt to piece events together as time runs out.

The acting in the film was excellent, giving the equally terrific script fullness in each graceful turn. The editing was subtle and engaging with its brief mental images as the men begin to recall their pasts.

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I, Robot (2004)

Based on the short stories of Isaac Asimov, I, Robot takes a trip into the future technologically, but also into the annals of human history.

When a mysterious death occurs at the head office that makes all the android robots in the world, a typical Will Smith cop with luddite tendencies is brought in to investigate. What he slowly uncovers is a conspiracy that the robots are planning to take over. But no one believes him because that would mean they would be breaking the three laws governing robotics that is programmed into each of them:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

There are plenty of great visual effects and the story is actually very good, though some of the lines are a mite cheesy. For an action movie there is a lot less melodrama and tough guy stuff than I expected.

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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.

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When Nietzsche Wept (2007)

It is sad when talented people do not have the resources available to produce essentially great works. So is the case in this film which should have been rewritten and had better visual effects for the dream sequences (as they were, it seemed like 80's television).

The story is a great one: Nietzsche and Dr. Breuer (Freud's mentor) team up to put a new philosophy into practice. The problems, lust and self-hatred, is age old and the solution appears beyond the men's grasp. As they descend towards a nihilistic and hopeless end, it is their friendship and the loving people around them that bring them salvation.

Armand Assante deserves special mention for his portrayal of the tortured Friedrich Nietzsche. He is very articulate and his eyes (and moustache) give away the essence of his loneliness.

I read in another review that the temptresses weren't given the depth of character that they had in the novel on which the film is based. It is certain that these great minds would not have solely been tempted physically, but would also have been drawn to like minded and affectionate women.

Truth: Irregardless of our philosophies, love is the engine that drives us to do things for the other.

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.

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Cast Away (2000)

Having spent 10 months of my life living on Pacific Islands, I relate to this movie better than most I imagine. The night scenes especially take me back to my days in the Marshall Islands with the bright dark blue sky and the glistening ocean and the shadows on the beach. The coconuts and coral reef are so far removed from our lives in North America, but a part of life in the islands.

This has the scariest plane crash sequence I have ever seen. Even after watching this movie 4 or 5 times, I get very tense. This also has some of the most heartbreaking scenes I have ever seen. The characters' loss is so pronounced in their eyes and in the writing.

With Robinson Crusoe being the legend it is, this movie attempts to explore what a real life island survival would look like. I think it makes an honest effort, though some of the elements might be contrived (if only to propel the story ahead). It really makes you wonder what it would be like. I've wanted to be a competitor on Survivor just for the experience - forget the $1,000,000 prize.

The substance of the film is survival and what keeps a person alive. Is it Duty? Destiny? Love? Fear? Curiosity? Cast Away really captures the essence of all of these and is a poetic saga speaking to each of these. Without these forces, there really isn't much to live for.

The film is quite long, but just right for those who like to immerse themselves into a story. This one is told in 4 parts and it lingers for much longer than it takes to watch it.

IMDB

Stranger than Fiction (2006)

I was sincerely surprised at how good this movie was. Will Ferrell pulled off what Adam Sandler did in Punch Drunk Love.

Super story telling that may be on the edge of preachy, but not as much as I ♥ Huckabees. The characters are refreshingly original and keep the viewer interested in their fate.

The music is something quite notable in the film. Nothing too pretentious, everything very evocative.

The portrayal of determinism and the search for destiny and the quest for survival are so uniquely portrayed. The author of our hero's life can easily be akin to the author of life, writing out beautiful stories as we seek out to lead our own lives in opposition to what is lain out before us. I am not a determinist, but this film was great at displaying what it is that I don't believe in. There are aspects like plans for our lives that are best for the world or choosing to do what is right that I do agree with and are threads in the philosophy of this film.

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