Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

Okay, I really only saw about one noteworthy movie in January and February, but I've no excuse for not having updated before now on the several decent films I saw during my greater amount of free time in March.

So, this is me catching up on my reviews . . . (sort of!).

Sun., Jan. 29: After church I was able to take in a showing of this 4th installment in the "Underworld" series, in spite of the very low rating it was getting on Rotten Tomatoes.

I didn't have terribly high hopes for this film (in my opinion, the only other even numbered film in this franchise had pretty much sucked and undermined some of the most interesting and moving aspects of the original film and the "Rise of the Lycans" prequel), but I enjoyed "Underworld: Awakening" for what it was -- which was an obvious and unapologetic AU continuation/revision of the "Underworld" storyline, in which suddenly the Lycans are the bad guys and have been all along, rather than Viktor having been responsible for starting the war between vampires and Lycans and killing Selene's family, etc..

A cynical person might suggest that I only seem to like "Underworld" films which have Michael Sheen (Lucian) in them, but I swear that's not the ONLY reason I much preferred films 1 and 3 to 2 and 4! :)

Thurs., March 8: When I saw that "The Secret World of Arrietty" (the latest film from Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli, though not direct by Miyazaki himself) was no longer going to be showing anywhere in town as of that Friday, it provided the impetus for me to get out and see the last matinee-price show.

It was WONDERFUL! So beautiful and detailed and lush, and with a lot of heart as well as intellect (if you see it in second-run theaters or on DVD, watch for the way even the water molecules and droplets are in scale, etc.). This latest imagining of The Borrowers is absolutely worth seeing for adults as well as children.

Thurs., March 8: Since there was a showing of "This Means War" -- with Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as super CIA agents and best buds who accidentally fall in love with the same woman -- starting right as I got out of the Studio Ghibli "Borrowers" movie, I went ahead and saw that, as well.

Rotten Tomatoes gave it a really rotten rating (even lower than their rating for "Underworld: Awakening"), but I was able to get a lot of laughs out of "This Means War", in spite of the fact that there was no way in THIS economic climate that the guys would've been able to get away with devoting so many CIA resources to trying to keep each other from scoring with Reese Witherspoon's character. It felt a lot like an attempted "True Lies" homage (without the James Cameron touch, unfortunately) with an emphasis on the screwball comedy aspects.

If you can see it for a bargain matinee price, I think you might get a kick out of it, too, if only for 'the pretty' of Chris Pine and Tom Hardy!

Sun., March 25: I decided to see the Hindi-language film "Agent Vinod" as a reward to myself after preaching that Sunday, and I wasn't disappointed. Even though my local theater had the film focused so that the bottom half of the English subtitles was cut off, I was still able to figure out what was going on and what was being said all during the movie (and I made sure to let the manager know so they could correct the problem afterwards). From the opening scenes in Afghanistan with blatant references to Spaghetti Westerns in general and to "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" in particular, through to the edge-of-your-seat denouement, it was a great ride . . . if you enjoy action films and spy thrillers, which I do!

Thurs., March 29: After a great lunch meeting/faculty training event at the university (free buffet luncheon that was excellent, along with reports from 20 or so fellow faculty members who'd been given scholarships to take a bunch of classes on technology and education -- online courses, online research, use of social media in education, and that sort of thing) I just had time to get to the nearest multiplex to see the matinee showing of "JOHN CARTER", which was GREAT!

I don't know why it's been getting such a bad rap for being a 'flop' in spite of making lots of money, but I was thoroughly impressed and engrossed (not to mention entertained throughout).

In the interests of full disclosure, I should say that I only remember reading one or two of the John Carter of Mars novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs when I was a teenager. My younger sister was the real "John Carter" fan in our family, while I mainly collected and read (and re-read) the Tarzan of the Apes series by Burroughs (with a lesser interest in the At the Earth's Core, Land That Time Forgot, and other series, though I was very fond of the one-shot retelling of the Prisoner of Zenda story that Burroughs published as The Mad King).

Anyway, you should definitely see it on the big screen, whether or not you've ever read the novels by Burroughs. I think they did a great job of staying true to the story and characters of "A Princess of Mars" while updating the language and some of the themes, etc., to make it compelling, believable, current, and thrillingly non-sexist. I think you'll love it, if you haven't seen it already.

And that's about all . . . for now!