Avatar

The latest from James Cameron took around 15 years in the making from script to finish and the film is probably opening a new chapter in filmmaking with its ability to blend live-action and computer-generated objects.

Set in Pandora where humans actively mine the highly prized unobtanium, a diplomatic effort is initially worked on to peacefully relocate the indigenous Na’vi who live around the unobtanium deposit. Genetically engineered Na’vi bodies able to be remotely controlled by humans are used to blend with the indigenous in order to gain the trust of the Na’vis so that the people will be willingly relocate to avoid more hostile efforts. One of the operators of these avatars (the genetically engineered Na’vis) is Jake Sully who takes over the job from his dead brother. Another is Dr. Grace Augustine, the head of the Avatar Program, a scientist who has been studying both Pandora and its people for some time.

Contrary to the initial expectations, Jake managed to adapt to the lifestyle of the Na’vis and gains the trust from them, while his relationship with Neytiri, the daughter of the Na’vi chieftain Eytucan, grows deeper. It is when the administrator of the miners, Parker Selfridge decided that the time for the diplomatic approach has ran out that Jake must choose whether to side with the miners or with the Na’vis.

This movie has its strength in the visuals rather than the plot or the acting. As previously noted, a new chapter of filmmaking has opened with Avatar, something that is likely to be utilized by other filmmakers. The remarkable blending between virtual and live objects in the film actually made everything seems to be so alive. In addition, the design of Pandora itself is amazing, from the plants to the wildlife, to the landscapes, including the floating mountains. The war machines wachines however, are limited to several ships and a mini-mech model like from Matrix.

Acting is not the main point of the movie, but it’s pretty good nonetheless, although most of the facial expressions are captured with cameras designed specifically by Cameron for this movie. Sam Worthington may not be a famous actor before Avatar, but I’m sure he is now. With the success of Avatar, it is likely that Cameron will follow it up with two sequels as he had told the press before.

The theme itself is a criticism on real-world situations where the strong used to prevail over the weak with the help of technology. From the ancient history of United States when the indians were driven out up to the modern imperialism where oil resources are being fought over. One line from the movie was evidently a total joke when the leader of the mercenaries Col. Miles Quaritch said that ‘terror must be fought with terror’.

We may be awed by the beauty of the nature in Pandora, but let’s not forget that we also have such beautiful landscape and wildlife here in the real world, gradually deteriorating due to human’s exploitation of natural resources. If we want to have such Pandoran beauty, we probably ought to scale back on our own exploitation of our beloved planet.

Overall, Avatar is a wholly remarkable movie in terms of its visuals. Cameron’s success in designing Pandora and visualizing it on screen (including designing its language) is what make this movie worth watching (in 3D if available). It seems that Avatar is already a candidate for the best movie in the next Academy Awards, which I believe highly probably. Along with it, Cameron probably grab the best director award as well.

Final rating: 9.0

Credits:

Directed by James Cameron

Written by James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoë Saldaña, C.C.H. Pounder, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Stephen Lang, Wes Studi, Laz Alonso.

Release year: 2009

IMDB Rating: 8.8

Zombieland

Welcome to the post-apocalyptic America where zombies roam the streets, searching for fresh meat. Well, actually there were just a few zombies spotted on the streets. To survive in Zombieland, several rules ought to be followed such as rule #1: Cardio. Fat people are easy targets in Zombieland because the zombies always outrun them. Another rule is rule #2: Double Tap. Always hit them zombies twice in head, just to make sure.

The movie follows the journey of a college student of which name remains unknown even after the film ends, but assigned as “Columbus”, based on his hometown. He met a man whose name also remains unknown, but designated as “Tallahassee” because he’s from Tallahassee. Later, two sisters Wichita and Little Rock conned them and took their car and guns, although later all four travelled together towards California to visit Pacific Playland. En route, they met Bill Murray who apparently managed to survive by disguising himself as a zombie.

Categorized as a horror-comedy film, I feel that we can drop the horror stuff, because it’s not a scary movie. Not unless you are afraid of zombie makeups. The story itself is never scary, but instead, it is fun. Columbus is a hero but with lack of hero mentality, while Tallahassee is more like of Yosemite Sam without a moustache just as stated by Columbus himself. As for the sisters Wichita and Little Rock, well they lack the specific characterizations. Overall, it’s a very entertaining film, despite its simple story. It reminds me of Simon Pegg’s Shaun of the Dead which I believe was also a very entertaining movie.

Acting is pretty standard here, but the main strength of the movie is in its storytelling. While Shaun of the Dead was rather made as a spoof to Dawn of the Dead, Zombieland is no spoof at all but it’s quite fresh for a zombie flick. A sequel is already thought of, although not yet scripted. It would be interesting to see how the next adventure will be. Will it be able to resume the success or will it fall short of expectations? Nevertheless, for fresh entertainment, I recommend you to watch Zombieland.

Final rating: 8.0 (Yeah, I still think Shaun of the Dead is slightly better)

Credits:

Directed by Ruben Fleischer

Written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin

Release year: 2009

IMDB Rating: 8.0

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (องค์บาก 2)

Considered as a prequel to Tony Jaa’s Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, the movie is set in 15th century Thailand, during the conflict between the Ayutthaya kingdom and the Sukhothai kingdom.

Tony Jaa played Tien, the son of Lord Sihadecho who was killed by Lord Rajasena. Tien managed to escape the murder but found himself captured by slave traders. The day he was captured by the slave traders was the day when a group of pirates led by Cher Nung raided the slavers. Tien was freed and decided to follow Cher Nung and his Pha Beek Krut pirates.

During his stay with the pirates, Tien learned many forms of martial arts. This made him the strongest among other pirates in the settlement. Yet, after a while, Tien decided that he must settle the score with Lord Rajasena who murdered his father and mother. And so he left the village and seek vengeance but later must face a bitter truth regarding his father’s killers.

Obviously set as an action movie, the flick features bloody fight scenes and Tony Jaa using various kinds of weapons. The story is very much simple, although the ending is unclear. It is said that the story will be resolved in the third installment, Ong Bak 3 to be released sometime in 2010.

Not much to expect in terms of acting since this is mostly an action movie, so it’s pretty standard performance by the cast. The production set is pretty good, though. In addition, the rural view of Thailand probably added some exotic impression to the movie. Overall, fight movies enthusiasts should be entertained by this one.

Final rating: 6.5

Credits:

Directed by Tony Jaa & Panna Rittikrai

Story by Tony jaa & Panna Rittikrai

Screenplay by Ek Iemchuen & Nonthakorn Thaweesuk

Starring: Tony Jaa, Sorapong Chatree, Sarunyoo Wongkrachang, Santisuk Promsiri

Release year: 2008

IMDB Rating: 6.4

Dean Spanley

Based on the novel My Talks with Dean Spanley written by Lord Dunsany, Dean Spanley explores the relationship between Henslowe Fisk and his father, Horatio, as well as his brother Harrington who died during the Boer War.

Probably one of the most unusual movies that I have ever seen, Dean Spanley begins with the regular visit by Henslowe Fisk to his father’s home, which occurred every Thursday since Henslowe’s mother passed away. On a particular Thursday, Henslowe took his father to attend a lecture about transmigration of souls, where they met Dean Spanley, a local clergyman. After two additional encounters with Dean Spanley, Henslowe invited him to his home by offering him a bottle of Tokay wine.

Later, Henslowe learned that Dean believed that he was a Welsh Spaniel in his previous life. This easily explained why he was attending the lecture about transmigration of souls – or simply said: reincarnation. A conveyancer named Wrather later joined the meetings, as he became intrigued by Dean’s belief of him being a dog during his previous life. Henslowe also met Wrather during the lecture and it happened that Wrather also provided Henslowe the Tokay wine, which is the Dean’s favorite.

The story connects to Horatio when Henslowe learned that Dean had an initial of WAG in his name. Horatio once in a while told Henslowe that he had a dog named Wag, and this made Henslowe set up another meeting with Dean and Wrather at Horatio’s house. It is in this last meeting that the Dean’s story about his previous life relates – in a very peculiar way - to Harrington Fisk who died in the Boer War.

Maybe not everyone would love the story because of its unusual way of telling it, but surely most people would love the performance from Peter O’Toole as Horatio Fisk. This does not mean that the rest of the cast were mediocre. Actually, all of them were great. Jeremy Northam and Sam Neill, even Bryan Brown and Judy Parfitt who played Wrather and Mrs. Brimley, respectively, did very well in this movie. The dogs were also convincing.

Although peculiar, the movie is very enjoyable overall. The story was well told and the cast were remarkable. A combination that I would naturally expect from a British movie. As for the set and the shots, they were equally good. Note that the film is set during the Edwardian era in England.

Final rating: 9.0

Credits:

Directed by Toa Fraser

Screenplay by Alan Sharp

Based on a novel by Lord Dunsany

Starring: Jeremy Northam, Peter O’Toole, Sam Neill, Bryan Brown, Judy Parfitt

Release year: 2008

IMDB Rating: 7.1

Inglorious Basterds

The latest work from Quentin Tarantino tells the story of a group of Jewish-American soldiers called The Basterds. They wreaked havoc in France which was occupied by Germany. Separately, it also tells the attempt of a young woman seeking revenge on the Germans for murdering her family. Upon knowing that her cinema is going to be used to host a premiere of which the guests list consists of high-ranking German officers, Shosanna set up her plan of vengeance. The Basterds were assigned to explode the cinema so that the Allies could win the war. Both sides worked on their plans without knowing each other at all. And in the end, well let’s say that it’s WWII according to Tarantino.

Although Brad Pitt was assigned as the lead actor, I could not help but feel that Christoph Waltz was the one who made the entire movie remarkable. He’s mean, you know. The antagonist of the story. However, I’m not sure that the audience will be able to really hate his character. In fact, Hans Landa is a charming character. Definitely the best in this movie. If some critics believed that Waltz deserves an Oscar for his role in his movie, I could not agree more.

Other notable performances came from Daniel Brühl who played the war hero Zoller, Sylvester Groth who played Joseph Goebbels, and Diane Krüger as the British spy von Hammersmark. Tarantino also made an appearances in the movie, first as a German soldier and then as an American soldier. In addition, Enzo G. Castellari, the director of The Inglorious Bastards, a 1978 movie which was said to be the inspiration of the Inglorious Basterds, also featured in the movie as a high ranking German officer.

Tarantino split the entire movie into several episodes, beginning with the introduction of Hans Landa and briefly, Shosanna. Then the story jumped to the introduction of Aldo Raine and his new recruits later known as “The Basterds”. The third brings the war hero Frederick Zoller, whose exploits were made as a movie by Joseph Goebbels titled “Nation’s Pride”. More characters were introduced in later episodes including Bridget von Hammersmark and Archie Hicox played by Diane Kruger and Michael Fassbender, respectively. The climax of the whole movie takes place in Shosanna’s cinema in Paris where high ranking Nazi officers including Hitler himself, attended the premiere of Goebbels’ “Nation’s Pride”, while The Basterds and Shosanna working on their own plans separately.

Compared to his previous movies, Inglorious Basterds could be said as the best of Tarantino’s. As previously mentioned, this largely owes to Waltz remarkable acting. Choosing some German-speaking actors in the movie is also an excellent choice and in turn, makes this movie a lot more realistic. Tom Cruise’s Valkyrie should have been made in German instead of using English as the language. In fact, Operation Kino in the Inglorious Basterds eerily resembled Operation Valkyrie. Of course Operation Kino is a lot more fun to watch.

Final rating: 9.0

Credits:

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Written by Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Diane Kruger, Mélanie Laurent, Daniel Brühl, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Til Schweiger, Sylvester Groth, Martin Wuttke, B.J. Novak, Omar Doom, and many more.

Release year: 2009

IMDB Rating: 8.5

Mary and Max

Adam Elliot’s fourth clayography tells the relationship between penpals Mary Daisy Dinkle and Max Jerry Horowitz that spans from 1976 when Mary was 8 years old and Max was 44 years old until 1994. Through their letters we are pulled into their worlds.

Mary lives in Australia in Mount Waverley while Max is a New Yorker. The relationship began when Mary picked up a random name from a phone book and it happened to be Max Horowitz. They both share the same situation that they are both lonely people. While Mary lives with her parents, both of them were too busy with their own businesses. Mary’s father was too busy with stuffed birds, while her mother was too busy cooking sherry and listening to the radio. Max on the other hand, lives with his fish, cat and parrot, and also his imaginary friend Mr. Alfonso Ravioli.

Max suffers from Asperger syndrome and as time passes by, Mary grows up and eventually enters college where she study Asperger syndrome with the purpose to help Max. The relationship between them got its ups and downs but no matter what, both finally got what they have always been looking for: a friend.

According to Adam Elliot, the movie was based on a true story about his relationship with his penpal in New York for over twenty years who also suffered from Asperger syndrome. Regardless of this fact, the movie itself is great. It has the drama, but it could be considered as a dark comedy. Despite it’s a claymation, it is PG-rated. Scenes are nicely shot, and the voice acting is good. But don’t expect colorful scenes like in Coraline because the world of Mary and Max is painted in brown and black and white.

Overall, this is easily one of the best movies that I’ve seen this year, a very recommended movie with great humour and excellent storytelling. Although visuals are mostly in monotonous set of colors, they are still captivating. I am sure that most people will enjoy this from start to finish.

Final rating: 10.0

Credits:

Directed by Adam Elliot

Written by Adam Elliot

Starring: Toni Collette, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bethany Whitmore, Eric Bana, and Barry Humphries

Release year: 2009

IMDB Rating: 8.3

9

This animated movie is based on a short movie 9 by the same director Shane Acker. It tells the story of a bunch of rag dolls in post-apocalyptic earth facing the menace of a machine which accidently reactivated by 9.

Set in a world where humans do not exist anymore due to, of course, their own stupidity, 9 is visually enjoyable. The story is rather predictable actually and voice acting is rather standard for an animated movie.

It begins when 9 got activated by his creator known as the scientist in a lab somewhere in what’s left of earth itself. As 9 wanders the world, he met with another rag doll named 2. Unfortunately, soon afterwards they encounter a cat-like machine and after some time managed to snatch 2 and a device found by 9 just before he left the scientist’s lab. Suffering from the damage inflicted by the cat beast, 9 collapsed and got rescued by yet another rag doll named 5. Soon after he met with other rag dolls 1, 8 and 6. Later, disobeying 1’s order, 5 and 9 set out to find and rescue 2. This takes them to an old factory where they met 7 which was thought to had died long ago. It is in this factory that 9 accidently reactivates a giant construction machine which could fabricate anything out of scrap metals. Now, the rag dolls must figure out a way to deactivate the machine and put the world in peace once and for all.

Visuals are great, and become the strongest point of this movie despite its average storyline and voice acting. Filling the voices are Elijah Wood as 9, Jennifer Connelly as 7, John C. Reilly as 5, Martin Landau as 2 and Christopher Plummer as 1. 6 and 8 are played by Crispin Glover and Fred Tatasciore, respectively. Nobody needs to fill in the voices of 3 and 4 because the twins are unable to speak. As the scientist, Alan Oppenheimer plays the role.

Final rating: 7.0

Credits:

Directed by Shane Acker

Written by Pamela Pettler (Screenplay) and Shane Acker (Story)

Starring: Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, Fred Tatasciore and Alan Oppenheimer.

Release year: 2009

IMDB Rating: 7.1