Movies
I’ll try to review most of the films I watch. Ratings are out of four stars. The stars are really just an indication of how strongly I feel a film should be watched. A four star review means I would urge you to watch; no stars means I would urge you not to watch.
I saw James Cameron’s new film Avatar this weekend. It’s wonderful.
Much has already been said about the film. Response is mostly positive. Of course, the film has left some fans disappointed as well.
I fall into the group of fans who loved the movie with a passion, and I’d like to see it again some time. Here some personal thoughts of mine that I hope are not just a restatement of the above consensuses…
You can’t shake it. The feelings of suspense, warmth, anger, sadness, and terror are so strong in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire that I was on a post-film high for hours after the showing.
What makes Slumdog Millionaire different from other Dickensian “journey” films is that Jamal’s story is presented with such intense sights and sounds that you are transported to India and are therefore witness to a wide array of imagery unseen on this side of the world.
This is a story of a big brother who picks up his sister’s shoes from the cobbler. He has to buy some potatoes for his mother before returning home, and – as he digs through the cheap potatoes pile – a blind trash collector mistakenly takes the shoes. Ali is terrified to find the shoes have disappeared, and later returns home, tears in his eyes, to tell his sister he’s lost her shoes.
And thus begins a tale of love, adversity, and warmth. Oh, so much warmth.
