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Reviews
Passengers (2016)
After All....Love is Self-Identification NOT Sacrifice
Imagine the fairytale Sleeping Beauty meeting the novel Robinson Crusoe, and then going somewhere none of us has gone before. This is a beautiful love story, and at its heart lies the question of sacrifice, which is so often associated with loving. It is my view, however, that love is not the destruction of the self but the identification of the self, and the story plot-theme allows for this identification to happen--[Spoiler: "But you will be alone" VRS "I will never see you again."}
It seems that the script was meddled with over time. I wish the mentor figure was introduced early and permitted to play a significant psychological part in the development of the love story. His death scene would then have had more meaning by focusing the question of remaining alone or enhancing life as two individuals side-by-side. The mentor would also tighten the conflict of telling or not telling the love object of the sacrifice involved and explore this Gordian knot until it unravels.
I think the photo booth (deleted scenes) was a brilliant idea that must have been cut out of the ending too. The photo booth could have been used to show a glimpse of the life of the two people aboard ship across time. I wish five more minutes were granted to the story to accomplish this via the eyes of the captain of the ship.
Finally, I wish the "book" which documented their life had been shown to survive them, appearing in a book store in the new world, as Robinson Crusoe is still found in bookstores on our plant. In this way, Aurora's dream of impacting the world of men by her writing would have been shown to fulfill itself because she took this path that began with apparent sacrifice--thereby showing that the path we set ourselves to a goal may not be the right path to travel, or the only one.
Thank you for this beautiful love story and for the look at space travel. It felt so possible and real, a dream to long for. And as for the love of two people that can exist alone, cocooned so to speak while surrounded by many, many people, I am grateful that I know this to be real.
Cloud Atlas (2012)
A Celestial Road Map to Nowhere
Cloud Atlas falls from a very great height in its charting of a celestial road map for mankind.
Follow the birthmark not the faces--is the point of enlightenment in this movie, but it happens too early. After that, the movie has nothing to offer.
In recognition of Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces", there are beautiful visual mentions of "our" greatest tales: Jean Val Jean's escape into the sewers of Paris, Frodo crouching under the bridge, follow the white rabbit...
But this movie, this myth, is a mess- chaos in the nursery, petulant imagination set free and not one flight of fancy worth following. Even following the birthmark as it fulfills its final shape into a shooting star fails to add substance to this "Cloud", which like all clouds remains diaphenous.
The closest the story comes to any "meaning" is the birthmark which holds all the "virtues" of mankind: courage, compassion, loyalty, love, etc. But each storyline is made of flatlining scenes; and worse, as the history of lives interweaves haphazard across the screen, the thematic "glue" is just as much of a cliche.
There is one beauty to this cloud. Breathing life into the lifeless stories is the puzzle of deciphering familiar faces beneath the makeup artistry; and this, in turn, is only made possible as each actor reveals a kaleidoscope of possibilities within his thespian imagination.
The Whole Wide World (1996)
Memorable Performance from D'Onofrio
As a review of this kind will say more about me than the movie, I will say very little. The "kiss scene" is worthy of the writer portrayed in this movie. Imagine the soul of a Titan surrendering to an earthly kiss? D'Onofrio's kiss appeared in the trailer, and that was enough for me. I had to see the movie. Now, after the kiss follows a moment of disillusionment. Somehow D'Onofrio reminded me a dragon's flight when his body shies away while his longing spirit still lingers for a moment. Beyond this, his acting is daring, fresh and convincing. I knew his face but never remembered him from previous movies. Now I will remember this actor. If only to see this performance, I recommend this movie.
The Happy Prince (2018)
A Wilde-like Fairytale
I think it's the hardest form of storytelling to weave a tragedy as if it were an inspirational poem, a hymn to the best within us.
You watch this film and ache for past wrongs, while marveling at the greatness of a soul that sees beauty even in squalor and celebrates life to the utmost despite its pain.
I know I could talk about the social wrongs behind Wilde's story, what he must have felt as a boy when his highest (secret) emotions were condemned-but this isn't what this movie is about.
The opposite is true. Very subtly, writer/director/actor, Rupert Everett, exposes the hypocrisy of English Victorian morality by contrasting it with the Continent, where the events of the story take place.
It might have been a sad history. But Everett transformed the events into a Wilde-like fairytale. Indeed, the prince was happy even as his heart broke.
Altamira (2016)
An original, self-taught scientist stands against the world in the name of Truth
Like the trailer, which soars with a sense of greatness, this is a beautiful film that stayed with me, and keeps recurring to my mind weeks later. No spoilers in this review, I'll just recommend the story to original thinkers who know how hard it is to stand against the crowd and state the truth, because it is the truth. And to keep faith with yourself--against the universe if need be.
If you are religious and worry that this story will attack your love of God, I don't think that will happen. If you believe that God created existence; then exploring this beauty cannot be a threat to God. If you hold no beliefs but rely on reason to understand the world around you, then you will revere Marcelino de Sautuola's courage, vision and unbending spirit.
I take away his story to stay with me as I walk through life.
At Sachem Farm (1998)
A Comedy Rich with Wisdom
A remarkable film, rich with wisdom, humor and a benevolent outlook on life. It has been my favorite movie for years, I've watched it countless times, I've never outgrown it, and I never cease to find new beauty in it.
THE THEME: What role does philosophy play in the life of man? THE PLOT-THEME: "Can a man sitting on a pillar be relevant to the world in which he lives?" THE PLOT (without spoilers): A young man struggles to figure out what he wants to do with his life. Everything he attempts ends in failure. When he decides to sell the most valuable asset he owns and invest the proceeds in his craziest idea yet, a quirky (deceptively illogical) chain of events is initiated by his uncle, to help his nephew find the road to happiness.
Edmond Rostand wrote "Cyrano de Bergerac" in his early thirties; Huddles wrote and brought to life "Uncorked." (Or "Higher Love" as it was called in Europe; or "At Satchem Farm" as he originally titled it.) The only sadness I feel when I watch this movie comes from realizing that we live in a culture that didn't award an Oscar (several of them) to this achievement. I hope Mr Huddles stumbles on this review. I wanted to say, "Thank you for seeing me through moments of doubt and sadness over many years."