Review – Deliverance

Deliverance [1972]

Starring: Burt Reynolds, John Voigt, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty
Director: John Boorman
Screenwriter: James Dickey

The idea of “mountain men” has been one that has pervaded American society since urbanism and suburbanism became more widespread. Deliverance is perhaps the first movie to portray the idea of the outside urbanites or suburbanites going into an ultra-rural, Appalachia-esque setting and, essentially, getting in way over their heads. Deliverance is, at times, scary, and there are scenes that have become iconic since its original release, but the overall result of the movie leaves one somewhat detached, and hollow. Some films do this effectively, but in many ways, Deliverance is as flat as the conventions it follows. The fear that’s evoked from a couple of scenes never truly follows through to the end, and so I was left wondering what the point of it all was.

The 1001 Movies You Must See

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. I’ve joined a little movie club called The 1001 Movies You Must See. The basic premise of it is that a bunch of bloggers who love movies get together, review films every week from the book The 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and then collectively post those reviews to the blog that’s been set up. It’s really fun, and I’m going to start doing it. I’m going to post a review of one of the next films up to be reviewed, Deliverance very shortly, but I just thought I would let everyone know.

I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. I won’t be reviewing every single of the 1001 movies, but I’ll try to do my best to review as many of them as I can. My schedule is busier than it was over break, what with my being back in classes and all, but I will be reviewing at least one of the movies per week. I highly encourage you all to check out the blog, which you can go to here, or you can look on the blog roll on the right. It’s gonna be some good times.

Why Do Video Game Adaptations Suck?

Why do video game adaptations suck? This question has been plaguing me ever since I saw Super Mario Brothers, the very first video game adaptation, and realized that movies couldn’t just be dumb. They could be downright god-awful. Every movie lover has his moment of realization, and Super Mario Brothers was mine. The problem is that since then, we haven’t really come that far. It’s not as if the video game adaptations being made today are far superior to that of Super Mario Brothers. There are myriad reasons why: bad, unknown actors, bad, unknown writers who probably wrote the screenplays on the toilet while taking a break from writing thirty other screenplays that will never get bought by a studio, and of course, Uwe Boll. Though I shouldn’t pick on just him, even if he is the very worst. Other directors have done video game adaptations as well. The issue with directors is the same as the other issues: they’re unknown, small-time, and inexperienced. Hollywood obviously doesn’t have any trust in video game adaptations. And I can’t help but wonder why.

Some Thoughts on the Golden Globes

The Golden Globes carried no surprises, in my opinion. That’s just the problem, but there’s not much to be said about it except “oh well” and just move on. The only interesting thing here is the implication it has on the Oscar race.

A Conversation With John Gilpatrick

I’ve begun doing some collaborative work with a fellow blogger and Twitterer, John Gilpatrick. You can visit his blog, John Likes Movies, by going here. We’ve decided to do “conversations” every now and then. Discussions about current movie news, awards, or review movies we’ve both seen. It’s always going to be different, because it’s just a conversation. It’s not an in-depth interview of any kind. It’s simply the thoughts, ideas and insights of two guys who love movies, coming together to talk about movies. We hope to do this more in the future, to make this the first of many. I hope you all enjoy it. If so, please comment. Feedback is always a nice reward.

In this edition, we talk about a few things, including the recent decision by Sony concerning the Spider-Man movie franchise, the Oscars, and more specifically, Kathryn Bigelow’s seemingly inevitable win for Best Director on the horizon. Check out the full conversation after the jump.

The Significance of Gears of War in The Hurt Locker

Note: Although I do not specifically spoil anything about the movie, I do allude to a specific scene in the film. For those perfectionists out there who need to see a film untainted by such discussions, I would advise you to see the movie before reading. If not, or if you’ve seen the movie, by all means, please keep reading.

I’m really taken by surprise that more people have not commented on the fact that Spec. Eldridge is playing the video game “Gears of War” in one scene of The Hurt Locker. I think that this should be further examined, yet I haven’t seen anything that even talks about it in the reviews I’ve read. I don’t know why that is (perhaps those reviewing the movie haven’t played the game), but I think it requires further examination. It was obviously intentional. Eldridge could be playing any game at all, and yet he’s playing what some consider to be the most realistic war game ever. Realistic in the way it portrays combat, and puts you in the middle of fire fights, scrambling to find cover and hiding behind any object possible in order to survive.

Review – The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker [2009]

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Screenwriter: Mark Boal

The Hurt Locker is a great film. It is a film about a war, The Iraq War, that was begun on political terms, and continues to be debated within the media and within society on political terms. On terms of conservative versus liberal, and and good versus evil. But The Hurt Locker refuses to take such a simplistic view, and understands that for the soldiers who actually fight the war, and die in the war, it is not about such facile things.

Review – Precious

Precious [2009]

Starring: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey
Director: Lee Daniels
Screenwriter: Geoffrey Fletcher

Clareece Prescious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a black, obese, illiterate 16-year-old who’s pregnant with her second child, both from her own father, the first with Down’s Syndrome. This may sound like an extreme. And perhaps it is. Yet perhaps it is the story of more people than we all are willing to admit. For those with any inkling of understanding of inner-city life, the welfare system, and the scarring physical and psychological damage that’s inflicted upon children every day understands that though the picture may be bleak, and may seem like an extreme, it nonetheless represents one dark aspect of our human society. True, the extremism of her situation does not afflict every single person of the inner-city. That does not stop the themes that surround her from afflicting a great many of them. Lee Daniels’ Precious is a bleak film that’s flawlessly acted, powerful, and yet slightly marred by direction and camera work that, at times, doesn’t quite know what it wants.

Change of Plans

Slight. I’ve noticed the minimal… okay, let’s be honest… the zero amount of different adding Digg tags to my posts has made. Thus, I’m getting rid of them, as nice and unobtrusive as they are.

Still looking for ways to increase traffic to my site, though, so if anyone has a good solution, let me know, please.

Producers Guild Announces Its Nominees

The PGA announced its nominees for this year. All-in-all pretty predictable, but there are a couple of pleasant surprises. Check out the nominees and some commentary after the jump.