Change Your Image
Athmyr
Reviews
Dollhouse (2009)
Whedon's most intelligent show yet
Dollhouse is the most thought-provoking Whedon show I've seen, and I've watched all of them in their original broadcasts.
It's not for the passive couch potato who seeks mindless entertainment. It has extremely adult themes and makes the viewer uncomfortable watching it. We are not permitted to forget that this is about human trafficking; we are not permitted to forget about consent, identity, and rape. We are pointedly reminded of our societal programming, roles, and the danger of the princess myth in creating problematic expectations. The viewer spends a great deal of time in the villain's hideout, on the inside looking out, trapped with Echo and the other Actives, for the most part.
It's a dark story with many tragic moments, and yet, there's hope. The hero may not come from the expected direction. Expect to have your preconceptions challenged. Whedon is clearly a thoughtful individual who has weighed and considered a lot of angles relating to feminism through his work with Equality Now, and he brings a lot of that to the table with Dollhouse. Despite that, it isn't a pushy polemic ... it just makes one think. It holds a mirror up to one's own perspective.
It's well worth watching.
Unbreakable (2000)
A fascinating homage
Unbreakable is refreshingly different. I think I have an advantage in the fact that I've seen it, but not The Sixth Sense, so I am able to judge it on its own merits without comparing it to the director's previous endeavor.
I could tell from the audience's reaction that it went over their heads. The slightly surreal lighting has been criticized by some as making everything too "washed out." Sigh. These people do not get it. It's *supposed* to be that way, to emphasize and mythicize the ordinariness of the main character's life to comic book proportions. It's part of the homage, people!
Jackson's performance is especially subtle and compelling. His character is an excellent device that attempts to explain to the audience, many of whom aren't getting it anyway, what's going on in a way that doesn't dumb the information down or condescend too much to the peanut gallery. (It's done a bit here and there, particularly with one of the last lines of Price's mother's character, but not too often.) Instead, it generally fits in perfectly with the building of his character.
The movie is not without flaws. The crash flashback, I thought, could have been edited down a bit -- a bit slow in parts. But the slow pace also works to the film's advantage. It gradually unfolds in such a way that it makes you wonder what direction the plot will move in next. This is not the film I expected from the trailers, and I'm delighted to say it's far more interesting. I rather wonder what it might have been like had Terry Gilliam directed it -- probably even better. If I had to reduce it to a "star" rating, I'd probably give it 3.25 - 3.50 out of 4.
I plan to see it again, and that's a rare thing for me to do. If you like comic books, you'll like Unbreakable.
The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
A well-done folk tale
This story is charming and refreshingly uncontrived. Imaginative whimsy fills a tale that takes the viewer into a land overlaid by myth. The soundtrack is one of my personal favorites, filled with authentic Irish music. I highly recommend this for viewers interested in a movie that's a little different from the norm, but is still rich, innocent fun.
Miami Vice (1984)
History-making series that I love
Miami Vice was a blockbuster in its day. It perfectly melded the new sensibilities of high-gloss MTV-style video and music with excellent storytelling. Crockett and Tubbs, the car, the alligator . . . just terrific.
Everest (1998)
Mountain spectacular, people . . . well . . .
Like most IMAX films, Everest has impressive vistas. However, although visually stunning, many of the team members are not what you'd call sympathetic. The team leader actually talks his wife into doing this for their honeymoon (and believe me, they have *no* privacy), then leaves her down at base camp. Not only that, he then attempts the summit without the oxygen all the rest of the climbers use because he "likes the challenge." Challenge or not, it seemed very selfish to the group I went with for him not to use it, to deliberately put himself in greater danger than he had to be with his wife down below, particularly in light of the fact that another climber (with a wife 7 months pregnant at the time) had just died a few days before.
If you can ignore him, however, the rest of it is well worth watching, particularly the story of the son of E. Hillary's guide when the summit was reached for the first time. Liam Neeson's narration is tasteful and unobtrusive, and I can't say enough about the terrific camera work: if heights make you nervous, there are several sequences that you'll definitely have nightmares about. ;)