Love and Monsters (2020)

I won't try getting too philosophical and extracting some hidden message from "Love and Monsters" to fit the late context, because I probably wouldn't agree with what message might send. I just simply took the movie as it is - a light SciFi with a consistent comedy part.

We have a dystopian context, where after humanity successfully avoided a cataclismic disaster by bombing an asteroid on its way to Earth, fount itself in a different problem = the radioactive waste landing on the planet created mutations causing various species to dangerously grow overnight. Lots of times I thought that we're lucky that pidgeons aren't 10-15 times bigger, otherwise we would be extinct. That's pretty much the conclusion the movie reaches, although I didn't see any pidgeon there, but we have others - the "monsters" in the title.

In this situation, pretty much everybody retired in various shelters, periodically going out for food. Some kind of "Zombieland", but with mutated creatures instead of zombies. In a group of survivors we find Joel, who after many years finds his former girlfriend, in some other shelter on the seaside at something like seven days of walking - and so we get the "love" in the title. That leads to the main part in the movie - the travel to meet her again. Only that Joel has a small big problem, zero experience in fighting what awaits him outside, or better said a "freeze panic" effect when encountering anything with more legs, tentacles, or other types of members, larger than himself.

Obviously the subject described above has lots of potential. The movie delivers withn an "ok" margin. I guess it could've been better, or better said I felt something missing. Maybe it was just the comic side and the drama exits from that don't have enough force to have the same effect as for example "Guardians of the Galaxy". Maybe there are some action threads that seemed unfinished. Or maybe I did expect too much. Anyway, bottom line, the movie was fun.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Stalker (1979)

After the entry of last week I remembered that I actually don't remember well another movie by Tarkovsky, seen quite long ago. That's how I got to re-watch "Stalker". And since I don't have the best mood for writing, it probably was the best option. Because we have again a movie where's useless to talk too much.

The movie is carried almost from beginning to the end by 3 actors, together with the cinematography, editing and sound that overpass lots of what's released these days in cinemas. The "stalker" is a man who leads two people into a Zone, where something not well defined happened, the outcome being a strange relative reality contained in a deserted, closed and guarded perimeter. In the Zone there's a Room, which is said that grants any wish to one who enters - the apparent reason for the illegally organized expeditions. In all this context, any viewer is left to create a personal interpretation for what's seen = from the path to the Room, which cannot be the shortest, up to effectively discussing its purpose.

You shouldn't expect something clear in the story development - the script written by the Strugatskiy brothers (based on one of their own novels) has dialogues that sometimes make sense, sometimes don't. A problem is that at some points this creates lengths, which make the slow development quite noticeable. Still, typically this is perfectly compensated by the technical part, the editing/camera work being complemented by a location setting that's probably among the best in all dystopias I've ever seen (it was filmed somewhere nearby a deserted hydraulic plant in Estonia).

Bottom line: It's a movie that requires patience, and even more I think it also requires some years = you'll get something when you're 10 (probably not much), something else after 20, something else after 30, and so on...

Rating: 4 out of 5

"The Windup Girl"

Since a while I'm having trouble writing at the "standard" frequency of one entry/week, fixed as target when I started this blog. But I'm counting ... I have a delay of 6 entries up to now for 2016, which I'm fooling myself that I'll catch back this summer. The problem is that I don't really get to see anymore at least one movie every week, including the one that just ended. However, I've just managed somehow to finish my "travel book" = a novel that I'm reading between long breaks while I'm waiting in airports or when I'm flying, I'm in a train, etc. Let's just say that I noticed at some point that I don't work well while I'm in transit and since the rest of the time I don't have time to read anything else than scientific stuff, I decided that fiction gets total priority for travel time. So, moving back, lucky me ... I don't have a movie for this week, but I have a book: "The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi - Hugo & Nebula winner in 2010.

If I remember well, the prizes were a part of the reason why I bought the book. Quite disappointing I would say compared to other Hugo winners, but let's delve a bit into the subject first. The action is set in a future where few countries still have their own natural production of food, the market being dominated by various companies activating in creating artificial species and in gene hacking (including also live beings). The situation is a follow-up of several epidemics propagated through food infestation, which apparently killed lots of the world's population. Not so many in Thailand though, the place where the novel is set, where the Ministry of Environment is a sort of armed force managing the country stability on this matters, and relying on a secret seed bank - point of interest for many foreign enterprises. From here an entire political intrigue gets built up, having on the opposite side the Ministry of Trade, an entry point in the country for various shady deals. Somewhere lost in the middle of all this we have "the windup girl" - Emiko, an artificial being, created to serve as a secretary (made in Japan), a forbidden product on the import market, which somehow ended up from her initial role to being the property of a brothel owner. Initially she's a minor character, but as I think it's written also somewhere on the book cover, she will have a decisive impact in the destiny of the kingdom ...

This happens, however, after many many many chapters, out of the total of 50. Without spoilers, I think it's the novel with the longest intrigue I've ever read. I could say it's spanning up to after half of its length. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but the development of the action up to a key point when "the windup girl" finally advances to being more of a main character, just seemed to serve as construction for what follows. The novel is highly descriptive and very visual, which adds some lengths that sometimes I found a bit exaggerated. Actually, the author's writing style relies on this - you have for quite some time a slow advancing pace after which you get hit with a shock scene, most often an unannounced death a la Game-of-Thrones, to keep you following. Besides the twists that evaporate shortly, the only part that's more consistent is a constant dialogue with a ghost, or you could say it's with the inner self, of a member in the armed forces of the Ministry of Environment, one of the characters that's getting "upgraded" from secondary to main character status until the ending. Which ending leaves open some questions ... but I said I'll withhold from spoilers ...

The verdict: I think it's one of the few cases where a screen version has serious chances of being better than the written material. I don't know if there's anything planned, but the novel is relatively recent. That's pretty much all for now, back next time with hopefully a good movie ...

Turbo Kid (2015)

I've watched "Turbo Kid" last night. A crazy indie where sometimes you can't really get if it's really bad or just too good.

The year is 1997. In an alternative reality, the humanity collapsed into a wasteland where water is rare and hard to get (guess I've heard somewhere this context). There we have "The Kid". A boy of something like 15-16 years old, who lives his life trading scavenged waste. Sold for water in one of the existing camps .. the normal camp .. led by Frederick - the arm wrestler (a sort of Crocodile Dundee without the knife but with an iron fist - metaphorically speaking ... at least until a certain point in time). The other camp .. not so normal .. is led by Zeus - a guy with a single eye, who resembles a bit Immortal Joe from Mad Max, as well as his subjects (I was saying something about the water context, right?). Well, in all this uncertain and sad existence, in a sunny (or not) day, the Kid meets Apple. A girl about the same age, in a total contrast with the surroundings considering her continuous smile, the hair color and other things, who invades the personal space of our kid, who can't anymore get rid of her.

Writing the above, I realize that what looked like a sort of "The Quick and the Dead" mixed with "Mad Max" mixed with "Defendor", and which seemed to me that covered a simple revenge subject, is actually a bit more complex considering how much it puts together. I'll keep away the details for now, you have them in the titles above (on which you can add "Terminator" - now I'm getting the subtle '97 reference ;), "Tomorrowland" and others) + also in the trailer. Probably all this mix makes "Turbo Kid" so good in the end as combined product - not taking itself too seriously, being an assorted salad, and the way the salad is served. If some acted parts, starting with Apple, could get in line for an Academy Award, some others are utter abysmal, but overall they compensate each other. The production design has most often the level of a diploma movie for graduating film studies, but the directors were enough aware of that to make fun of it - and it works ... Chases using cheap and small bikes (the only wheel-based transportation apparently left after the apocalypse) - that I doubt I've seen in any other movie. On top of all we have also the '80s synth on the soundtrack that completes perfectly the image.

To conclude: I liked it. If you don't have an issue with blood & gore exaggeration and you're open for self-satire, you should see this. The verdict is positive, after placing everything together. Or maybe I got soft sensing the need for a "Apple" in my life ... :) ...

Rating: 4 out of 5

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

I went with low expectations to the new "Mad Max". Because long long ago, when I've seen the other 3 I found them way too chaotic and boring (and that considering that I was at an age when movies with excess gunpowder were much more impressive for my eyes than they are now). The final thoughts now, after watching "Fury Road" are completely different ...

The trailer gives just a hint on the subject, and that's good, so I won't say more. Trust me, there is a story behind the explosions, dust, blood & gore. A simple one, but it's there, and it's decent enough to keep together what surrounds it. Actually even more than that, if I would get into the symbolism of some sequences. Anyway, I don't have much time to write, so I'll move to something that I normally leave more towards the end: the visuals. As many say, the movie looks indeed stunning, and I have to subjectively appreciate some particular changes between warm and cold camera filters. The 3D looks good (which I'm rarely noticing) and the effects are probably the best I've seen since the last "Planet of the Apes".

To give a bit more than a technical appreciation let me talk about the characters, where the leading actor didn't seem convincing for a leading actor. The truth is that this comes from the script, where Mad Max is rather a secondary character in the story. On the other hand I have to give credit to ... Immortal Joe aka "new addition in top 10 villains of all time" (if I would make such a top). Absolutely "hateable" :) That's pretty much all for today. Conclusion: If you like dystopias and you're not allergic to SciFi steam punk, then watch this.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Hunger Games - Mockingjay: Part 1 (2014)

I'm still trying to find time for an alternative since I watched THG3.1 (= like 4 days ago) but it seems I constantly fail. So, let's deal with this one, maybe it removes the curse ...

I went too sleep during this. Literally (well ... getting my eyes closed). Twice. I have to admit I was tired. Still, last time, when watching "Interstellar" I was even more tired, and the movie was longer. No eye closing. So ... So, the last "The Hunger Games" episode is nothing more than something like a prequel for the last part, leaving the impression (probably resembling the truth) that this movie was split in two and made longer just to cash in more ( IMDb was saying something like: highest opening this year. so ... ). Should I tell anything about the subject ? I'm not sure it helps. There isn't any Hunger Games in this "Hunger Games". Which is actually good. Finally a different story. The action is focused on Katniss becoming the symbol of the rebellion. Ok, that's enough. More, in the movie.

There's a mistery for me on how I got to see all the three parts by now. The first was so & so. The second left me the impression of a mediocre reboot. And the third is something like a teen movie meets a political thriller meets a dystopian sci-fi. Which might end up in an interesting combination if it wouldn't be below average on each of the three genres. And to put the cherry on top, as much as I was convinced by Jennifer Lawrence's acting skills in "Silver Linings Playbook" (getting over the subjective side, seriously :P) as much, after this "Hunger Games", seems to me that she should win the next year Golden Raspberry.

Rating: 3 out of 5 (= due to the fact I was close to snoring at some points, and maybe there was the best essential part of the movie which I unforgivably missed, who knows)

Oblivion (2013)

I don't even know where to start from. The impression that 2013 is a good year for SciFi seems to be a good point, at least quantity related. "Oblivion" was the first released. It's good that not the last too ...

I have to admit that I was pleasantly impressed by the story. Even if the trailer gives enough info, it's far from giving everything, especially related to the twists in the movie. In brief, we have a pair - him & her - assigned for surveying Earth after a war which caused the evacuation of the entire population. Their role is to ensure maintenance for a set of protection drones which are programmed to eradicate what's left of the enemy resistance. Meanwhile, a series of extraction platforms gather the necessary resources needed to establish the new human colony. Other info: for security reasons, the memory of the two was wiped when they were sent to Earth, and their activity is monitored from a gigantic space station located on the orbit. That's all. I won't say more. Well, maybe just that it's not an action packed SciFi like "heroic fight against the alien invasion ; we win ; the end". No .. the story is nice .. there is romance, some nuances (relatively vague, it's true, but still there) of a psy thriller a la PKD, twists as I was saying. But, there's a problem ...

Actually, two. The script and the directing. I would be extremely critic towards the movie, but I'm stopped by the fact that the screenwriter an the director is also the story's author. So, for that we cut a bit from the guilt. To be fair, everything's rolling on pretty well up to two thirds of the movie. When I was starting to believe that I have chances to witness one of the best SciFi in the last years. Point where .. avalanche .. everything you can get .. cliche lines, dumb syncs a la Hollywood (pay attention to the last two drone attacks), inconsistencies in the action, overdramatized scenes, overacting ... everything. True, the mess is sort of saved by some twists, but these have also downsides (because they add to the inconsistencies - we have DNA tracking capacity from outer space, but to differentiate between a man and a woman at a distance of a few meters is impossible - it will get some sens when you watch the movie, and we have others). So ...

So, I'll try to give some credit to the story and imagine it's ending in another movie done properly :) As in with the ending written differently in the script. Because, as feeling for the first two thirds is after all one of the nicest SciFi's I've seen in a while. You have a dystopian air that gives enough intensity to feel it like a silence between two storms. A romance on top, which, as weird as may sound, remembered me of a scene in "The English Patient" (weird for a SciFi, but if the movie is able to get that from me has a subjective plus). And you have at least a twist which is not announced by anything, it's quite original, and hard to foresee .. but again, the script looks like forgetting it quickly enough after to cut almost all the added value ...

Rating: 3 out of 5