March 6, 2009
Recent Movies Watched...
A couple weeks ago I saw Slumdog Millionaire (IMDb), which just won best picture in the Academy Awards. I saw it before the awards show, but after all the hype had come out around the film. Although, it first caught my attention a while beforehand because I've been a fan of director Danny Boyle's previous films, including 28 Days Later, and Sunshine. Slumdog is a classic love story, and there are a couple really beautiful moments in the movie, such as when Jamal first invites Latika out of the rain, and of course the final moment the movie is leading up. But one of the things I found most interesting in the movie is the relationship between Jamal and his brother Saleem. They live by different sets of values. But the movie does not ultimately portray either character's values as right or wrong. Jamal can easily be appreciated for his uncompromising values but it is left undetermined weather Saleem's more violent path in life does or does not ultimately protect Jamal and make his dream a possibility.Black Sheep (IMDb) is a dark comedy out of New Zealand. I've become a fan of New Zealand cultureespicially their dry and dark sense of humor, such as in Flight of the Conchords, and Eagle Vs. Shark. Even though this is more of a comedy, there is a lot of disgusting gore and excellent special effects from those responsible for the effects in Lord of the Rings. Black Sheep is a parody of the agricultural industry of sheep in New Zealand. It somehow portrays sheep, a very peaceful-seeming animal, in both a hilarious and menacing way.
Blood Car (IMDb) is a "very indy" horror comedy that is a social satire. The story follows a high school teacher living in a world where gas prices have risen to around $40 a gallon. He sets out to create a car engine that will run on wheat grass but when that fails he stumbles upon an alternative fuel – human blood. The political satire is quite obvious: Our society's dependence on a source of fuel is so painful, its at the point of drawing blood. His enthusiasm becomes and obsession for creating a cheap fuel leading him to turn his car into a blender on wheels. Blood Car screened at the Asheville Film Festival two years ago but at a time I where I was unable to see it, so I was pretty glad to have a chance to catch up on this indy film now that its on video.
Labels: movies
