I haven’t been watching many movies lately because I’ve been stuck on anime and miniseries. My favorite miniseries lately is The Prisoner. It’s about a guy who wakes up in ‘the village’ where everyone thinks there is no place in the world other than that place. The protagonist, played by Jim Caviezel, has pieces of memories of another place but he doesn’t know any other name than the number he has been given. The entire community, is run by one man, number two, played by Ian McKellen. In the village everyone is a number. What unfolds over the six-part series is the prisoner trying to escape, insisting that he is from somewhere else while the leader of the village makes no small effort to convince him and others that may be like him, otherwise.
This Prisoner miniseries is a remake of sorts of a 60’s British series that is quite famous but I have never seen it. The miniseries was aired on AMC and will be aired again this month. It’s also available on Netflix. When the series starts, it was immediately clear that there was a lot more going on that was obvious. I thorough enjoyed this series and tried very hard to figure it all out as I went through it but except for a few points was unable to. That’s the mark of a good story for me. I watched the beginning of it with friends and they were quite taken with it right away. It’s too bad they didn’t make this an ongoing series. I definitely would have watched it. I give it a four out of five marks. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Turtles Forever is a made-for-TV movie that bridges the gap between the different versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ that have hit the big and small scren and it does it amazingly well. If you’ve ever been a fan at any age of any TMNT show, movie, or comic then this animated movie was made is for you. I started watching this thinking it would be just like any other Turtles cartoon. What I got was sci-fi, comedy, satire, and plenty of Ninja Turtle action. This movie far surpassed my expectations and kept me riveted till the end.
I’ve been a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles since they were just comic book heroes so I may be a bit biased. The original TV version was fun but made for kids. The latest version got better and also darker but never held my attention enough to keep up with the seemingly endless episodes. Still I’d watch an episode now and then just to see what was happening in the series. This movie does not require you to be as knowledgeable of Turtle lore as I am. You don’t have to be fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to enjoy this movie but if you are, even just a little, rest assured that you will be appropriately entertained. All that and you can even sit and watch it with your kids.
Consent is a cute short film that plays on the fact that two people should thoroughly discuss sex before actually doing the deed. How thorough? Well you’ll see just as two young adults lean in for the kiss. The language is rather suggestible so don’t play this in front of the kiddies. The film has written and directed by Jason Reitman and won a couple of awards. It’s easily worth a few moments of your time.
Peaceful Warrior was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. It was familiar in that it told the story of a talented young person who with the help of an enigmatic trainer goes through painful growth physically and spiritually to find out who he really is. The unfamiliar part was that there was no one for the protagonist to beat in this film but himself. There is no real villain. In the beginning I thought I was going to be watching some remake of Karate Kid but what I got was a movie that was inspiring and somewhat thought provoking. There were many times where I was looking for Nick Nolte, who played the trainer, to have some magic powers but except for a few tricks and some dream sequences you begin to wonder if he really has any great abilities at all. In fact I’m not totally sure the character even existed except for in the mind of the protagonist.
The story is about a young and talented gymnast who is training to be in the Olympics. He is having the time of his life but something isn’t quite right for him. It starts in his dreams and leads him to a gas station attendant played by Nick Nolte who offers to teach him the way of the warrior but in order for him to go to the next level, he has to leave some of himself behind. The lead is played by a young actor named Scott Mechlowicz who I’ve never seen before. He carries the part well and is believable in gymnastic action even if it’s probably not him in those parts. I enjoyed the whole movie and left it feeling inspired. I give this film a 4 out of 5 marks.
Blindness is a kind of ‘end of the world’ movie. Here the demise of mankind is their loss of site. You never really find out what causes it but you see it start and spread like any other untreatable disease. What happens next is the government’s reaction to something they can neither control nor stop but that’s not all of the story. The movie really seems to find it’s stride when it explores what happens to a specific group of blind people over time once they’re rounded up. Things become very intense and the film paints a tragic and depressing picture of what humanity might become or perhaps already is.
There are a few famililar faces in this movie. Julianne Moore plays the wife of an Eye Doctor who is played by Mark Ruffalo. Julianne’s character is somehow immune to the disease and shares that secret with her sightless husband. The disease does not discriminate so people of all kinds including, doctors, prostitutes, thieves, would-be philosophers, and children find themselves herded together and forming a forced community. It get’s really bad towards the end and parts seem to resemble ‘Lord of the Flies’.
I don’t think I liked any character in this film but that didn’t stop me from watching it through to the end. Watching humanity devolve day by day until they are little more than filthy animals held my attention surprisingly well. I give this movie a 4 out of 5 marks.
I haven’t been watching many movies lately because I’ve been stuck on anime and miniseries. My favorite miniseries lately is The Prisoner. It’s about a guy who wakes up in ‘the village’ where everyone thinks there is no place in the world other than that place. The protagonist, played by Jim Caviezel, has pieces of memories of another place but he doesn’t know any other name than the number he has been given. The entire community, is run by one man, number two, played by Ian McKellen. In the village everyone is a number. What unfolds over the six-part series is the prisoner trying to escape, insisting that he is from somewhere else while the leader of the village makes no small effort to convince him and others that may be like him, otherwise.
