Sunday, April 19, 2015

Grab Bag: The Giver, Ant Man, and Star Wars VII



I apologize for posting late. 
Chorus: "We accept your apology."

You're probably thinking that was pretty weird. It was. But it's what you would've said if you were in the world of 'The Giver'. Man, that movie's creepy. Creepy, but good. 

As the title suggests, this is a multipurpose post. I have many things to cover so let's jump right in.

Let's talk about 'The Giver'. That movie is pretty amazing (despite my "creepy" remarks). The concept behind the story is pretty realistic. Everyone lives in a bland society of equality. Nobody is jealous or unkind. Everything seems to be surviving in harmony; which sounds good on paper (or rather a blog?), but in reality is pretty suckish. 

One individual, The Receiver of Memory, holds all the memories of the community. Nobody can recall events that happened in the past. No war, no disease, no pain. Along with that, the good things can't be remembered either: love, pleasure, kindness, warmth. Yeah, sucky.

It's the most horrible utopia, which is kind of redundant if you think about it. Anyway, it's a good movie that ends well while promoting pro-life ideals and individuality. Despite these great traits, there are some points that are a little lackluster.

First off, I think it's worth mentioning that 'The Giver' was perhaps one of the first novels in the "dystopian" genre of literature that we are familiar with today. We've all read it in grade school. It's a good book. Unfortunately, the mentality of novels in today's society is that of, "Let's make a movie about it!"

"Wow! That movie was just as good as the book, if not better!", Said no movie go-er ever. 
Sadly, 'The Giver' fits into this. It just felt really rushed; as if the production company wanted to jump onto the dystopian bandwagon. I felt the movie was more deserving of a more in-depth film.

Next, the pacing of the movie is pretty wacked up. Normally things like that don't bug me, but movies are supposed to be like cars on an un-clogged highway: moving at a constant speed without changing directions or velocity. 

'The Giver', on the other hand, is more like a stick-shift during rush hour. It didn't ruin the film for me, it's just that some parts were really fleshed out and elaborated on; while some were clearly moved to the back-burner during the writing of the movie. This makes for a very inconsistent pacing. It's not a deal-breaker, more like a deal-bruiser. 

Anyway, enough with the giver. Let's talk Marvel. Who's seen the new 'Ant Man' trailer? If you haven't, you should change that. It's pretty fantastic. Watch it now:



I won't lie to you, I thought (judging from the first trailer) that 'Ant Man' would be pretty stupid. The first teaser made it look very childish and unrealistic. Well, unrealistic within reason. 

My opinion changed when I saw the above trailer. It's looks pretty epic. I'm excited, to say the least. 

Enough Marvel, let's talk Disney. And no, I don't mean Frozen 2. I mean the new Star Wars trailer. I almost peed my pants watching it. It's nothing short of fantastic. I can't think of any better way to end a blog post than with the new trailer: 



Hope you guys enjoyed the post! Peace out.
Best,
-Ryan   

Thursday, April 9, 2015

'Edge Of Tomorrow' and Time Manipulation

A few nights ago I had the pleasure of watching a movie that came out last summer, "Edge of Tomorrow". Despite how underrated it was, it was fantastic. Just goes to show you, you can't go wrong with Tom Cruise and Exo-Suits. 
Basically, in this movie (that takes place in the not-so-distant future) the Earth has been in a five-year war with an alien race. The main character, William Cage, is an officer in the US military...for media relations. This guy has seen like no combat. Ever. Which makes for some funny moments when he gets thrust into an Exo-Suit. 

Anyway, I'm not reviewing this, just giving a synopsis. After being killed within minutes on a suicide mission, Cage wakes up...that morning. Yeah. Freaky. 
By killing one of the aliens, Cage harnessed the innate ability to reset the day. Cool, right? Sounds crazy, but watch the movie and it'll make sense.

Forced to live out the same day in an endless loop, Cage hones his abilities whilst growing closer to winning the war. Let's just say it's pretty insane.

Insanity aside, this movie got me thinking: Wouldn't it be cool to have the ability to manipulate time? Of course, this prospect is outlandish, but a cool concept. However, I think that the idea of having total control is overrated. I would settle for the ability to see four seconds into the future. 

"I walk down the street with a jovial look in my eye. I quickly duck back, narrowly dodging the bullet aimed at my cranium. Something like that would normally be viewed as impossible; but I saw it coming four seconds ago."

See? That would be awesome. You wouldn't necessarily "see" the future, lest you be existing in two parallel universes, but it would be more of a sixth-sense. 

So yeah. There's something for your brain to chew on. I hope you have a great day!

Best,
-Ryan     

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Christian Movies


Christian movies. We've all heard of them. We've even watched them. Some are better than others. In recent years, the christian movie kick has certainly been spurred. 'Noah', 'Son Of God', 'God's Not Dead', and 'Exodus' are just some of these.


I'll be outright with you; I have mixed feelings on them. I'm a life-long Roman-Catholic-Christian (say that three times fast), and the faith-based aspect of these movies is thrilling. It's pleasing to know that hollywood has been instigated to spread teaching about Christianity; but at what cost? 

In many of these movies (specifically the ones based off the Bible itself), you may find yourself saying on multiple occasion, "THAT wasn't in the book." I'm talking to you 'Noah'! We don't know for certain, but giant rock-monsters personifying fallen angels is a tad bit far-fetched.


Now, I know that the public doesn't like to have faith stuffed down their throats. Moderation is key. Sadly, Hollywood tends to view moderation as changing a few things in the Bible to be more entertaining. I won't lie to you, 'Noah' was a very entertaining movie to watch. Behind the mask of CGI, a little voice inside of me was saying, "Yep, that didn't happen."

As far as the movies that take place in modern times (God's Not Dead), I don't have much to say about them. Mainly because I haven't seen them. *shrugs shoulders* 

It may seem I only have flak to throw at these movies, but in reality I'm very excited to see them being produced. I give hollywood an A for effort for this. 

As an aspiring christian director, I wish not to compromise my morals if I make it into the film industry. Knowing an influx of christian movies are in demand comforts me with the prospect of working on a big-name, yet wholesome film.