Moviejournal: prisoner

Prisoner takes us into a believable place where dark and somber mood infused with redneck aggravation dominates the longish screen time. Jackman plays a brut and control freakish family man who can always be seen as a religious fanatic given a slight twist of the plot in any day.

The plot and story aside, being an uneducated control freak in modern times must be an extremely taxing endeavor. Increasingly apparent, the world is filled with conflicting info that we must learn to make choices that keep ourselves sane. this falls into another fallacy that is so well written by Taleb. (reminder to myself: must finish his latest book, not taking 2 years like last book!). The fact that everything conceivable are probably in a state of flux and conflict is a state of mind each of the social elite must fathom and diligently observe and digest in their chosen field.

Well back to the story, Gylanhaal plays the detective exceptionally well, albeit with a dollop of occasional dopiness that adds to the weight of the character. The old lazy part is easy to guess from the 2nd or 3rd appearance of the surprisingly calm old grandma. The story itself is palpable and based in realism, the film doesn't go out of its way to expose blood or violence which is appreciated.

a good rounded film but nothing to be classic about it in my book.

Moviejournal: Rush

Being an F1 fan is not easy in this part of the world and this age: the constant dominance of schumacher and vettle would put harddened fans to sleep, and the twilight time zone we are in makes watching race finishes extremely taxing. However once a while somebody dazzles that makes it all worthwhile. The hamilton chase, the wet races, Senna (vs prost), and now Rush which is an intimate story on James Hunt and Niki Lauda.

like the recent film Gravity, rush is a beautifully cinematographered masterpiece. the ambience is decidedly 70's and raw, the v12 sound blast unfiltered to viewer's eardrum through the surround sounds. chris hemsworth shines in the role, revealing a surprising depth you wouldn't expect from hammer weaving Thor. an thoroughly enjoyable epic film.

Moviejournal: Gravity

disclosure: haven't read any commercial reviews so what follows are purely instinctive response.

a peculiar film by a major studio (warner bros). a story featuring two of the big name stars of our time (the still excellent figured sandra bullock and a aging but nonetheless charming and vivid clooney at his best). The main story line is a rather somber and terse one: a swipe at the downbeat russian and their reckless blasting of their own (and enemy state's) satellites. the tone is definitely a friendly one to the vast and rich chinese cinema goer market: a generous inclusion of the latest chinese space adventure (the tiangong and shenzhou shuttle) would woo a lot of chinese viewers.

Visually it's an absolute stunner. the beautifully rendered (whether it's a real shot or 3d rendering is unknown to me) earch and the dark and deep milky way jumped out of the silver screen, through the cheap and cheerful 3d glasses and hits your optical nerve and sensory organs with such clarity and impression it literally moves you to tears about the setting of this film. as most newspapers are reporting, the opening 13 minute shot is such a revelation. Tears, fires, space rubbish fly at the speed of supersonic bullets, disintegrating ISS, falling shuttle slicing through the blue sky, space walk, floating objects inside a shuttle. Everything is so beautifully shot and rendered it beggars belief even 10 years ago that a film could be so viscerally real. Music and shot selection plays a key part in accentuating the occasion.  I would definitely say this is a real contender for the best cinematography and costume design. Lately i keep thinking what's separately also run films and the greats are merely what they do in the climax - if they just zoom in that little closer and music swells up that little bit louder and more touching, it would all come together for a lot of films.

acting wise i certainly have no qualms with bullock and clooney's fine acting. she deserves a nomination for this one for single handedly paints a character texture that is complex yet believable. her facial adventure alone is enough to convey the gravity (ha) of the situation in most cases.