Whale Rider (2002)

A sob story of colossal proportion, Whale Rider falls under the category “minority trying to keep its culture alive.” In this case, it’s the Maori culture in New Zealand we are talking about, and the story of a family that loses its only male offspring and has to live with his twin, who will have to take over the destiny of the tribe. Acting is pretty good, admittedly, with the young hero having received more than a few awards and nominations and being pretty certain of a real chance at an acting career. Continue reading

Fantastic 4 (2005)

Amazing how much two different comic book franchises can be. The Fantastic 4 was one of the grandest comic book series, second only to Spiderman, but the movie derived from the former was worth only a fraction of the latter’s spinoff. Actually, even the X-Men series works much better in movies. There is something about the characters of the series that doesn’t work as well. In both other franchises, the heros are derelicts fighting for survival and hiding from a cruel society that wants to get rid of superfreaks. Continue reading

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Some movies are just not meant for you. Brokeback Mountain was certainly not meant for me, and I had a hard time separating the movie’s impact on me from the movie itself. My friend J. and I went together to this remote theater, one of only two showings in the whole city of San Francisco. Stonestown Galleria is a suburban shopping mall, and the tiny theater on its edges seemed to be an unlikely place for what was hailed as a groundbreaking movie. Continue reading

Meet the Fockers (2004)

Short story: lame. I confess I kept the movie as a particular treat in my Netflix list, and I was looking forward to a funny movie. “Meet the Parents” was stuck in my brain as an incredibly laugh-worthy movie, and I though that Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand would just be a hoot together. Not so. Amazing. I don’t know what happened. Even Robert de Niro lost all his funny bones in this sequel. Continue reading

House of Wax (2005)

Well, what did I expect? A bunch of teenage rowdies crowds to the opening game of the season, gets stranded in a back country hole and all hell breaks loose. Predictable to the point that my main activity during the movie was hitting fast forward on the remote, and the whole experience shrank down to possibly 30 minutes. Someone had told me this was the best horror thriller they had seen in years, so I thought it can’t hurt if I watch it. Continue reading

Hotel Rwanda (2004)

That’s one movie that I wish I hadn’t seen. 2004 (when the movie was released) marked the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. The majority Hutu people killed about a million minority Tutsis to free themselves of the spectre of tyranny. Within 100 days they carried out one of the most vicious and devastating attacks on fellow humans that a nation ever attempted. Why do I wish I hadn’t seen this movie? Continue reading

Saved! (2004)

Never ever listen to NPR. They will make anything they like sound grave and wise, and everything they don’t will become sinister and perilous. Saved! is a teen comedy about Christian fundamentalists. It has all the trappings of a typical teen comedy, and the Christian fundamentalist component is just color added to the usual plot of popular vs. not so trying to get through hell. Mary attends a Christian high school in Baltimore, MD. Continue reading

Starship Troopers (1997)

This is a really hard movie to get, and even when you get it, you are still left with doubts as to whether you actually got the right thing. Confusing? Get ready for more. Paul Verhoeven’s film Starship Troopers is on the surface just a plain sci-fi militaristic action thriller as there have been dozens before and after. Humanity (represented by the Federation) is caught in a deadly fight with an alien race, the Bugs. Continue reading

The Godfather (1972)

Rarely have I had such split emotions about a movie. I was not prepared for what I saw, and I am not sure I have a coherent opinion about this movie. It is exciting, and it is dull. It is wonderful, and it is disappointing. There is just not one opinion to form, but a great many, and very conflicting ones. In short: the movie is about the Corleone family, a Mafia family that is trying to wrestle itself out of a complicated system of vendette that has engulfed the family’s scion, Don Vito Corleone (played by an astounding Marlon Brando). Continue reading

The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

Ernesto “Che” Guevara, famous revolutionary, came from an upper middle class environment and dreamt of becoming a doctor before deciding to shoot at people instead. This movie is about the young doctor-to-be going on a road trip with a friend and discovering poverty. Like a great many European (and European-inspired) movies with a background in social strife, this movie is very plump in its melodramatic accentuation of the rigors of poverty and prejudice. Continue reading