Movie Reviews

I have watched quite a few important movies lately. I am going to post my $0.02 for each here. There are a few more movies I mean to watch and probably will review them. The reason I'm writing about all of these is because they are all pretty much dramas and are more meaningful, in many ways, than just straight up comedy or action flicks.

The three I'm going to review in this post are "Changeling," "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas," and "Watchmen." These may or may not contain spoilers so read at your own risk. Here we go:


"Changeling"

This movie was critically-acclaimed. Directed by The Man With No Name himself, Clint Eastwood. Powerfully acted by Angelina Jolie, John Malkovitch and others. This movie, among other things, paid detailed attention to the time period. There were several stories going on actually, and several themes as well. It's interesting that even in the late 1920's, the LAPD was doing poorly.

Although the story of Christine Collins (Angeline Jolie) was very intriguing, I was more interested in the story of the boy Sanford Clark. They did pretty well following the history of everything that happened (I did my research on it). If interested, look up the Wineville chicken Coop Murders to read about all of the actual history, before or after the movie, either way.

8/10




"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas"

No I didn't spell it incorrectly, well I did but that's how the title is spelled, for whatever reason. This movie is about an 8 year old boy named Bruno. His father is a Nazi officer and the family move out into the country--about a mile away from a concentration camp. This story is about Bruno learning about the Halocaust and what Jews really are (actual people) and the friendship between him and Schmul (a Jewish boy stuck in a concentration camp). There was a lot to be said in this movie. It's powerful how blatantly black and white things are in it, especially through the viewpoint of a child.

And goddamn the ending. That's all I have to say.

8/10



Before I review "Watchmen," I want to talk a little about the previous two movies. Both involve tragedy and children. I'm with Eastwood on the idea that the worst possible crimes a human can commit is against children. I happened to watch both of the movies (seperate nights) late at night before I went to bed, which I recommended against doing. These movies stick with you and make you think about a lot of things. They also make you want to find the children in your life and hold them close, away from all the goddamn despicable evils out there.

Holy shit.

Anyways, onto...

"Watchmen"

Here are my two complaints, somewhat spoilerific: Ozymandias' character was shown as very shallow in the movie. In the graphic novel, he was revered by everyone and so the ending was so much more shocking. Also, the ending was very hollywood, not too detracting but I liked the conversation between Dr. Manhattan and Ozy at the end of the graphic novel.

Everything else was superb. Yes it's 2 and a half hours long. Did it feel like it? Yes and no. Some people say its too long and slow in parts and others say its not long enough. Yes there was a lot of superfluous material from the graphic novel cut (the thing was loaded with material) but overall, I think it was one of the best, if not THE best comic book adaptation I've ever witnessed. Yes I saw it on opening night and yes I am a fan of the graphic novel. Other than the things I've mentioned, really all the complaints people have against it are ultimately against the graphic novel itself because the movie is very true, shot for shot, to the source material.

9/10



So not too spoiled, I suppose. But anyways, expect more...I plan to watch "Seven Pounds", "Doubt," "Gran Torino" (of course more Eastwood!), and "Blindness."