127 Hours
Aron Ralston goes hiking alone in the desert southwest and falls down a crevice. As he falls, a large rock follows him, and traps his arm between it and the side of the canyon. For the next 127 hours Aron struggles to pull himself loose and in the end, he cuts off his arm to escape. No real spoiler here as the story is based on a true story and was in the headlines several years ago. So, you may ask, how can one sit for an hour and a half, watching a guy stuck between a rock and a hard place? On the edge of your seat.
James Franco, as Ralston, does an excellent job of carrying pretty much the whole movie by himself, with flashbacks thrown in for character development and insight. Sure the first 15-20 or minutes of the first part of the movie shows the first part of Rankin’s desert excursion, done with great cinematography, editing and pulsating beat of a rock video courtesy of Danny Boyle who gave us Slumdog Millionaire.
Here Rankin is shown as a daredevil, outdoor enthusiast, and charismatic hiker/biker. One can’t help but immediately like Franco’s Ralston, and it’s that likeability that makes you care for him and empathize for him those 127 trapped hours and really, really, want to see him get out of his predicament. .
Sure, you know how this ends, but that’s not what is really important, it’s the story of what happens those 127 hours, Ralston’s conflict with his situation, with nature, with human nature and most importantly with himself.
If you’re claustrophobic, this movie isn’t for you. A good portion of the movie is shot in extreme close-up on Franco, with the sides of the canyon walls right up against the camera. If you’re squeamish about blood, especially in ‘real life situations’, you probably will close your eyes for a good portion of the arm amputation; still this part was tastefully shot.
127 Hours is a great character study about a man who takes one misstep and ends up changing his entire existence but it’s also an insight into mans’ determination to survive.
As with most movies based on real people, the movie shows the real Aron Ralston.
115 hours out of 127
For more information check IMDb – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/
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The Social Network
Most Americans have a Facebook account and the Social Network looks at the beginning of this social media. Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, one of the founders of Facebook, who gets dumped by his girlfriend and the audience immediately sees his social awkwardness and skewed way of looking at life. As a way to get back at his ex, Zuckerberg immediately puts the breakup on his blog, where he proceeds to bad mouth the girl. Next, along with his suite mates, he starts an online rating system for the Harvard co-eds, which is literally an overnight success, so such so the site brings down the server housing the website. He’s then approached by three Harvard students to work on a ‘facebook-like site’ but Mark goes off and sets up an early version of Facebook with his only friend. The rest, as they say is history, which places the movie, for me, in a unique place. Here’s a ‘historical’ look at an event that happened seven years ago in late 2003.
The movie is set in a lawyers’ conference rooms, where the three Harvard students and Eduardo Saverin, his only friend are suing Zuckerberg, one for ‘stealing’ the idea for Facebook, the other reason, we don’t find out till towards the end of the movie. Half way in the movie, we are introduced to Sean Parker, founder of Napster, who is played by Justin Timberlake and Parker fast forwards the introduction of Facebook to the world.
As we can recall, Parker had some issues with copyright infringement and the music industry.
Aaron Sorkin, creator and writer for The West Wing and Sports Night, one of my favorite TV shows of the 2000, penned the movie. I saw Sorkin interviewed for this movie and he said he loves the written word, especially dialogue. The dialogue in The Social Network is sheer poetry and one needs to pay attention to every word, every exchange between characters.
Eisenberg is great as Zuckerberg, and captures all the nuances and ticks of the Facebook founder, which for the most part, makes him very unsympathetic. Though Parker is not really a likeable character, mainly because he’s an egomaniac, Timberlake plays him with ease, finesse, and was fun to watch. Armie Hammer plays Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, and it’s interesting to see how they (he) play one brother against the other. One wants to sue Zuckerberg, the other wanted to go through the proper channels.
However, Hammer plays both brothers as pretty, frat boy blowhards who crew and wear their pedigree with big chips on their shoulders. Though none of these characters were really likeable, and they were fun to watch and moved the story along. Eduardo Saverin was the one character for whom I felt sympathy for because he was Zuckerberg’s only friend but that didn’t stop Eduardo from getting a raw deal.
Facebook has been a cultural phenomenon and I give Sorkin kudos for adapting Ben Mezrich’s book “The Accidental Billionaires” for the screen and David Fincher for directing as well as the actors for bringing this recent historical event to life. Social Networks, hits all the marks, writing, directing and acting.
4.75 Friends out of 5
For more information check IMDb – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/
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The Box
“The Box” (2009) “A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a married couple, who know that opening it will grant them a million dollars but will kill someone they don’t know.” Very straight forward premise, but executed quite well. It takes a bit for the action to get going as there is some back story and character development at the very beginning. But once the film gets going, it grabs your attention and you really want to see what’s going on.
Movie is based on Richard Matheson (short story “Button, Button”), check Matheson’s writing ‘chops’. Writer and Director was Richard Kelly of “Donnie Darko” fame. As I was watching this, I kept thinking, this reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode, no Donnie Darko, no Twilight Zone Episode, no Donnie Darko; definitely influenced by both.
Interesting premise, really nicely executed (no pun intended) and kept me interested
The Box has James Marsden and Cameron Diaz as the couple who are visited by Frank Langella’s Arlington Steward and the mysterious box. Nice mix of drama, suspense and sci-fi.
4.7 Boxes out of 5
Currently on HBO, probably available on Netflix.
For more info check IMDb.- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362478/
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Due Date
Due Date is basically, “Trains, Planes, and Automobiles” meet “the Hangover. If you liked the Hangover, you’ll probably like movie. If you liked the charm and guy sweetness of “Trains, Planes and Automobiles,” you probably won’t like this.
I found it OK, a slow in parts, a bit predictable, not a lot of surprises. Great set-up, truly post 9-11. Both Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis say the wrong words on a plane and get thrown off. Downey looses his wallet and has to rely on Galifinakis to get him home to his ‘expectant’ wife, hence the tile of the movie.
Zach Galifianakis’s character, Ethan Tremblay / Ethan Chase (explained in the movie) was truly annoying, but that was the point – the foil to Downey’s Peter Highman, who is uptight and quick to get ticked. Wait a minute, maybe it’s “The Odd Couple” being forced to travel across the country with “The Hangover” gags thrown in for a contemporary young audience.
Jamie Foxx is all too briefly in the movie, and is basically a plot point. So is Michelle Monaghan who is a little more critical in the movie, she is after all the reason Downey’s character needs to get to L.A.
I found the humor lacking, and as with a lot of movies, the best parts were in the previews; though I did like the guys’ ‘entry into Mexico’ mix-up.
Certainly hope there’s no Due Date II. The charm didn’t quite work the first time. Yeah, I liked it, but once is enough. Say isn’t that a Jacqueline Susann’s novel?
2.25 miles out of 5
For more info check IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1231583/
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The Girl Who Played with Fire
“The Girl Who Played with Fire” is the second in the series from the late Stieg Larsson; the first installment being, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, from earlier this year. (See May 2010.) In this movie, “As computer hacker Lisbeth and journalist Mikael investigate a sex-trafficking ring, Lisbeth is accused of three murders, causing her to go on the run while Mikael works to clear her name.”
While this movie stands on its own, it ties in with “Dragon Tattoo” and sets the stage for the third movie, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest it’s not as fresh and unique as the first one and seems to drag in parts.
Interestingly, I was listening to the audio CD version of the book when saw this DVD, and found that some of the book was left out and didn’t have the fullness of the novel. Still the movie bears watching, if you’ve read the book and are a fan of the series.
In, “The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest”, “Lisbeth is recovering in a hospital and awaiting trial for three murders when she is released. Mikael must prove her innocence, but Lisbeth must be willing to share the details of her sordid experiences with the court.” This title is currently in theatres. I’ll probably wait for the DVD.
What’s interesting is that all three books can stand alone, but when taken together work as one long, complex and intricate story.
An American version of “Dragon Tattoo” is currently being made for American audiences, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568346/, and will star Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.
2.5 Ikea Chairs out of 5
For more information, check IMDb – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1216487/
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