If We Had No Moon

Narrated by Patrick Stewart, this is a pretty interesting doc about -- you guessed it -- what would happen if we had no moon. Turns out, the little guy is important! Decent visuals and lots of interesting tidbits of information illustrate the theories about how the moon itself formed (probably from a rogue planet called "Orpheus" which collided with Earth many millions of years ago) as well as what the effects of the moon on earth is. The short answer is that without the moon, Earth would be a much more unstable place, and life most likely would not have developed, at least not in the same manner as it did.

Another interesting implication: having a moon as big as ours could be relatively uncommon in the rest of the galaxy. Does this make it even harder for life to evolve elsewhere?

Big Trouble in Little China

I think Carpenter got it better in They Live, but this was more of an action romp than anything else, so I suppose he wasn't going for much more than that. There's something subterranean about his films: there's always a hidden, submerged reality that the protagonist slowly discovers (Prince of Darkness, The Thing, They Live, The Mouth of Madness). I think the theme of much of his ouevre is that reality is a much darker and deadlier place than it appears. I don't think this is Carpenter's concept only, but he does seem to repeat it often.

I do think he got the action and protagonist better in They Live. There wasn't much to Big Trouble except Kurt Russel's lines, some 80's special effects, and too much action. I watched this while grading and got a bit bored. Definitely B-rate but not one of my favorites, especially given how good Carpenter can be.

Deadwood: Season 3

Loved the first half of this season. As good as or better than Season 1. The introduction of the Hearst character really served to focus the plot and characters. I was a little disappointed with the somewhat anti-climactic ending, as well as the lack of any real closure or resolution. Since it's the last season, I was expecting more of a finale, but then went online and discovered that the creators were expecting to do a 4th season, so that explains that.

Considering all 3 seasons together, Deadwood ranks up there as some of the best dramatic TV I've seen (along with Rome, the first season of Heroes, the first couple seasons of BSG, maybe first season of Lost, etc.).

Pandorum

I liked the combination of genres and the overall concept. This is a movie that could have come straight from the Conway brothers' collective creative minds. I will admit, about half or 2/3 into the movie, I became a little underwhelmed. Seemed like a glorified B-grade movie, with some of the plot being either too predictable (the "monsters" are just humans who have evolved over time) or just not making any sense (how did that bridge officer just suddenly pop into Dennis Quaid's room?) or kind of cheesy (the one guy who told the story of the ship via wall art renderings). However, the very end of the movie definitely made up for everything, and all my previous complaints vanished. I definitely did not see the whole thing with the Dennis Quaid character. Really liked that. I also liked the final revelation of the ship's final resting spot.

Overall: 3 stars

I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel!

Terminator Salvation

I was expecting as bad as T3, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's definitely not as good as the first two, but it wasn't half bad. I'd say the beginning was a little better than the ending. I'm not sure where they are going with the franchise, so it didn't really have much closure.

Lots of cool Terminator gadget and machine stuff. Some good action scenes and visuals.

Up in the Air

Clooney plays a man without a real home who considers the airport his home. The movie is good once Clooney's character's foil is introduced. I don't really like the ending--I thought it too ambiguous without any closure. I do tend to like some closure with my ambiguity, thank you. There are a handful of little cameos as well which make the movie enjoyable. Emily would like this.

Outland

This is definitely a sci-fi Western (Neil and Chris, you guys would like it). A lone Marshall played by Sean Connery takes on corruption in a small mining town on Jupiter's moon, Io. The reveal comes early, so it becomes more about his struggle against greed and corruption. I enjoyed it. The setting was appropriate given the genre, and there is a nice little surprise performance by the gritty, foul-mouthed doctor stationed there by the company. I'd also say that the critique of the corporation feels a little bit cyberpunky as well.

I watched this on Netflix instant movie.

Pandorum

This was a great, fun cross-genre film. It had horror, sci-fi, and I would argue post-apocalyptic elements contained all in one movie! What else could you ask for!

A great ending too! Kind of a mix between Alien, Event Horizon, and get this, The Road Warrior!

The Men Who Stare at Goats

The best part of this movie is the references to Star Wars and Jedi Knights throughout, while the main character is played by Ewan McGregor.

The story is interesting and believable in the way that the military industrial complex is willing to try anything and believe in anything.

The actual storyline in the movie was disappointing for some reason. If I were judging a movie's success or failure on whether or not I want to see it again, this one would fail.

On a positive note, Jeff Bridges plays a military hippie, which resonates with qualities of the ole' Duder.

Capitalism: A Love Story

Typical Michael Moore here. Good if you are new to critiques of our current economic system. For me, I had basically heard of all of these problems before watching the movie, and Moore isn't really able to bring too much new to the table that I haven't heard before.

It was not quite the eye opener that Fahrenheit 9/11 was for me, and this movie wasn't quite as filled with the over the top antics that were present in Sicko. Still, it was nice to see the personal stories of some of the foreclosures, and see the first hand accounts from victims of some of the corporate policies. It also goes into how the banks controlled Congress during the bailouts, and interviews some congressmen about their perspective on the events.

It's a basic critique of how banks have too much influence and control over our political institutions, but after seeing a movie like America: Freedom to Fascism, this one seems quite tame.

A Serious Man

What can I say, I'm a big fan of the Cohen Brothers, and they don't disappoint with this one either!

Overall, it wasn't quite as good as the Big Lebowski, Fargo and No Country for Old Men, but it was definitely better than Burn After Reading. It had typical Cohen Brothers elements such as dark humor, quirky minor characters that can steal scenes, and a great ending.

It does have elements of academia in it, but the setting is in the 60's, so for some reason it seems believable.

Also, it does fall short on a structural note where it does not develop one of the characters enough for the ending to be quite as powerful as it could have been, but that is one of the few complaints.

9

This was more of a visual enterprise, though the premise was pretty original, the actual plot was a typical hero's journey sort of thing. For some reason it kind of fell flat to me.

Some very cool visuals though for a cartoon. In the end, it wasn't super memorable, but worth a watch for the post-apocalyptic genre.

District 9

I thought initially that the movie might be overhanded in its social statement, but the politics didn't harm the plot too much even as it did make a good critique of power and capitalism via massive medical companies and how they demean the rights of the individual.

I really liked the transformation of the protagonist as well as the story of the alien father and son. I didn't really expect to like this, so I was happily surprised!

John

Pandorum

I enjoyed this one a good deal. It had a nice surprise ending as well as some good tension. Good sci-fi/horror mix!

John