Fish Story (2009)

I have neither the time, nor the mood for writing lately. It's probably noticeable :) ... I didn't lose track yet on the rate of entries/week ( I know that I'm one behind ;) ) = maybe there are still some chances to catch up. The good side is that long breaks bring better movies. Like "Fish Story", or "Fisshu sutôrî" in Japanese, because we have something from that part of the world...

I don't really know in what genre to fit the movie. I guess I could mix together comedy, drama, romance, musical, SciFi, and maybe others. As a short summary I can say that's a sort of concise "Cloud Atlas", better centered on the "in-depth idea", more lighthearted, and without box office claims (now don't get me wrong, I liked "Cloud Atlas", but sometimes got a bit lost in details). The movie starts with the apocalypse of 2012, when a comet has a couple hours until hitting Earth, and the planet inhabitants wait helplessly for the end. Including the residents of the Nippon archipelago. I'm not gonna give any spoiler ( although the outcome is sort of predictable, but not the details ;) ). We slowly move back to 1975 (with some stops on the way). when an unsuccessful punk band, with lousy sales and about to disband, releases a last album including ... "Fish Story". A song with lines that make no sense, and which gets a cassette recording with an enigmatic silenced part in the middle. Stuff that over the years gives birth to various urban legends on the song break reason. And so, the movie carries us forward and backward in time, with various scenes that connect more-or-less to "Fish Story". It's sufficiently chaotic to put your brain at work a bit on trying to tie the loose ends, but at the same time it's perfectly structured not to give you headaches. The story unfolds in a pretty concise manner, although it might not seem so in the beginning. But pretty much everything starts connecting from a point onwards in a sort of long time propagated butterfly effect. And if by chance you still get lost in the story building chain, don't worry, you'll get it before the end ;) ...

I could start with the movies philosophy and what it wants to transmit to the public ( if it wants something :) ). However, I guess that the "in-depth idea" I was mentioning that's more clear, maybe it's clear just for me. So I'll let everybody to get a personal conclusion. On my side I'll stick to the "Cloud Atlas tagline": "Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future." ...

Rating: 4 out of 5

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

I've already given a short intro for "Edge of Tomorrow" in the preview I did two entries ago. So let's dig directly in the story. Somewhere in an apocalyptic future, where an alien race is about to conquer Earth, major Cage (Tom Cruise) serves bravely his mother planet as a proud member of .. the public relations department of the army. Activity that gets a sudden change (in a sort of unrealistic fashion .. although you could try to explain it later), in a sunny day, when the joined armies commanding general personally sends our major to the front line. Where he eventually gets deployed by force, qualified as deserter, and with his rank stripped and reduced to private = "ready" for face-to-face combat. Of course, being a total noob in using the equipped weaponry, major Cage dies at a short time after setting his foot on the battlefield. Not alone though, but taking with him also a particular specimen of the alien fauna. Thing that, without saying more ( check out the movie :) ) allows him to open again his eyes, at the beginning of the first day in his short and unfortunate soldier career ...

As compared in the preview entry, we have indeed a sort of "Groundhog Day" = neverending repeat, but just as starting point. Further ... why, how it got there, how it can get out of there + other minor aspects = saving the planet & getting the girl :) are part of one of the nicest SciFi stories I've seen in the last years. Again, mentioning that I have a soft spot for time travel ;) It's not about the complexity or philosophic depths here (= as in "Looper" for instance), but the story is very well structured and quite entertaining for the almost two hours the movie has. I'd actually say, unlike other times, in this case it was so .. I don't know, lighthearted let's say, such that I didn't even try to find loopholes in the time reset theory. I just enjoyed it as it was.

I can't make any particular appreciation on the technical side of the movie, but the script helps a lot. Besides the main genre = SciFi & action, we also have some comic relief added, or (light spoiler) as an IMDb comment was saying, something like "if you hate Tom Cruise, that's the movie you should see" with a reference on how many ways the main character can die. As a final point, we also have a pretty smoothly integrated romance, which sort of runs along with the main action thread ( although quite discreetly :) ), and which I liked a lot (stuff that rarely happens). I don't know if it was about Emily Blunt, or how the story went, but well :) ... Overall, the movie was a very nice surprise, and I can warmly recommend it ;)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Summer-Fall 2014 Movie Preview - Part 2

So, it seems that last time's "hope" for the posting frequency was hopeless. Ok, let's forget it and kick-off the fall previews (which as usual are not that many because it's a bit early for end-of-year trailers) ...

"Maze Runner" gets released in September. It's a debut movie (director & screenwriters), the casting's a bit obscure, the expectancies low, trailer .. relatively interesting ...
"Good People" is a thriller directed by a guy from Danemark (Henrik Ruben Genz) who's totally unknown for me, but apparently known in his country (+ having an Oscar nomination for a short movie). I have a feeling I won't be disappointed by this one. Besides that, who likes Anna Friel ( me included :) ), quite rarely seen on big screen, has an opportunity to catch her here (true though that seems to be quite a small role) ...
"Book of Life" it's an animation to be released in October. No, no ... it's not about the Bible. Looks more like a sort of "Tim Burton" after-death animated experience in a lighter version (and more colored) ...
"Kingsman: The Secret Service" seems to be a sort of lighter version (since we're at this topic) for Bond. And considering we still have to wait for the next 007 ...
"Interstellar" is closing today's entry, as main headline for November. The last product by Nolan & Nolan seemed I guess a bit more interesting before last trailer's release. Which I don't know how to say it nicely, but it suggests me a sort of a bit more elaborated "Armageddon", but still keeping a tear-generating factor to impress the average public. Especially since I don't see anymore in the screenwriters list the name of Kip Thorne (known physician) who appears now only as producer. Well, we'll see what we get ...
That's it. Next time ( I won't say when :) ) I'll be back with an already announced entry = something pretty good running now in cinemas ;) ...

Summer-Fall 2014 Movie Preview - Part 1

Yeah, yeah .. I know :) I'm again behind schedule with my entries. Don't worry, we'll recover = 2 entries, I hope, in 2 days ;) (with emphasis on "I hope" :P). The usual preview for end of May - start of June. Let's see what summer brings ...

"Edge of Tomorrow", already released in some places, is an adaptation after a Japanese SciFi novel, which according to some was supposed to combine "Groundhog Day" with "Independence Day". Well, somehow I managed to see this movie in a Basel cinema this Friday (don't ask), so I can say that: 1. the small piece of romance that's nicely thrown there somewhere is so waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better (at least for me) compared to what I remember from "Groundhog Day" and 2. who compared this with "I-Day" deserves to be cut in pieces and fed to aliens :D The best movie I've seen this year (well, on par with "Philomena", but a total different genre). I'll dedicate a full entry for it. By then, all can I say is don't miss it ;) ...
"Borgman" is a Dutch production, which I've decided to add on the list to bring some color to the typical made-in-Hollywood collection. I don't know more than it's a thriller that already has been shown in a couple of festivals, and is supposed to get an international release soon. More, in the trailer.
"How to Train Your Dragon 2" comes out in June. For me, "HTTYD" is the best animation ever made (well, I still have some indecision regarding "Emperor's New Groove" - the former #1). So, on one hand this sequel is mandatory to see, but on the other hand I'm afraid that it might have been better not to be made. Because I think it's really, really hard to reach at least 3/4 of what the original managed to offer. And from my experience, the ultra-aggressive marketing (very present these days) was never deserved when it got to the final product. But, we'll see ...
"Earth to Echo" has the release date somewhere at the beginning of July. At a first sight is seems to be a sort of "E.T." remake combined with some "Super 8". Unfortunately for my preferences, seems biased more to the former than to the latter, but since most SciFi's find a place on my list ;) ...
"Jupiter Ascending" is the most recent production by the Wachowski's ("Matrix", "Cloud Atlas"). A bit too colored for me, but I thought it deserves a chance ... after all I can't say that I've ever been disappointed by them ...
"Lucy" is my guilty pleasure :) for this July. Comments are useless. Check out the trailer ;) ...
"Guardians of the Galaxy" starts the month of August, and is the first time when I'm actually 100% convinced to watch a production based on Marvel Universe. Finally, something that seems to depart from the classic recipe of superhero troubled with existential issues. It might sound weird, but I sense something from "John Carter" in this trailer ... even though it doesn't seem to have anything in common ... I'm referring to the atmosphere .. and I loved "John Carter" ;) ...
"The Expendables 3" doesn't require much introduction. Because it probably doesn't have much story either :) But if it gets to the level of the 2nd part (God forbid to be like the first), it deserves the ticket money ;) ...
"Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" ends August. Finally we get a sequel, at 9 years after the first, and after many delays and casting changes. Stuff that usually doesn't announce something good. But, for the sake of the old times ;) ...
For the Fall season, next time = very soon ;) ...