Now Playing: Elysium

Jodie Foster kind of announced her retirement from acting this year – making Elysium her last role.  (Don’t worry, she recanted)  I’ve always like Ms. Foster and her reunion with the awesome William Fichtner had me very excited.  Didn’t hurt that Matt Damon and Sharlto Copley were also in there, both of whom I enjoyed in their previous South African cinematic excursions.

Turns out that Elysium was much more of an action movie than I had thought previously.  I sort of remember it being billed as a thinly veiled morality play about illegal aliens, inherent human rights, and the oppression of so many by so few.
("There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.")

It did that quite well, especially in the second half.

What it suffered from, though, was too many things blowing up.  It gets a little tedious watching things go kablooey for like 14 minutes.  Unless the editing is really really tight, it can get, well, boring.  I kept thinking “enough already, get back to the plot!”

When it did get back to the plot, it was very interesting.  Despite having the technology and the ability, some people choose to hoard their quality of life.  The scene where Max is fried by radiation in a sweatshop is keenly reminiscent of the Bangladeshi factory disaster – that hit home.  As does the medical tech that lives in the bedrooms of the ultra-rich while entire hospitals go without elsewhere.  So, too, the use of mercenaries to keep law and order in places where one doesn’t have any authority.  The analogy was a bit heavy-handed at times, but it is an original screenplay action movie, so I was willing to forgive the sometime-unsubtle approach.

The tech and effects were outright spectacular.  Very well-done, seamlessly presented and easily believed.  Everything, from the exoskeleton to the magnetic data relays, from the med units to the cylon-esque robots… all good.  The effects are what make this movie watchable and fascinating.

It was good movie, overall. The actors were quite capable and the directing was pretty sharp.  Editing is where the movie lost a lot of momentum.  Oh, and I could have done without the fake (British?) accent …what was that about?  I get they were going for an international Esperanto feel, but really…

3 out of 5 stars.

On Stage: Stratford, 2013

This year at Stratford was our most ambitious yet - eight plays in five days!  Instead of reviewing all of them for you, I decided to write my thoughts in Haiku.  Here they are, ranked in chronological viewing order.

Tommy
Rock!  Who! Lights! Action!
Wanted this to be much more.
Geriatric glow?

Fiddler on the Roof
So many songs I knew!
The cast was infectious good!
Singing in my sleep.

Romeo and Juliet
Not a favourite play.
Hype so low, shouldn’t disappoint.
Verily, it did.

Merchant of Venice
Mediocre set.
Portia stole the show; Shylock?
Creative treatment.

Othello
You know the story:
Jealous Moor, vile Iago.
Fab stage; coughing bitch.

Waiting for Godot
I don’t get modern.
It’s true.  Needed more tramps, wit.
Charmed by the actors.

Three Muskeeters
Swashbuckling good times!
Source text? Pulpy fiction goodness.
Very good looking gents.

Mary Stuart
Daydreaming hist’ry:
Fantastical clash of Queens.
Yes, she is my King!

I thought the theme of prejudice made for some interesting inter-play - especially when Tevye and Shylock are played by the same actor.  You can't help but feel like there's a conversation happening there.  And how Desdemona must sneer at Portia and her mean-spirited attitude. 

Next year, there's talk of madness.  I can' wait.

hot in cleveland

This weekend, I'm spending four days in Cleveland at Digipalooza 2013.  It's basically a corporate-sponsored event by our eBook provider.   Honestly, an eBook Support conference.  So far?  Awesome.  A painless drive by our lead-foot chauffeur had us cruising in almost ninety minutes early.

A leisurely check-in followed by the discovery of the following things:
1) my room is apparently huge - king-size bed, conference desk, cutest little club chair and ottoman; the bathroom has enough room for all my nonsense to spread out.
2) there's free wi-fi, but only in my room, so yay!
3) I only need four minutes to completely unpack, including getting the soap out of its packaging.

We wandered about downtown Cleveland for a bit, getting our orientation down.  (Their great lake is north of the city).  Had a well-earned lunch at Zocalo, complete with a frozen guava margarita.  Took a two-hour break before registration.  (I wanted to nap, but worked on my Staff Conference session instead).

Tonight, there was a mixer.  I'm not too good at big crowds of strangers.  Thankfully Cooper and TheFields were there to be excellent company.  We found a table strategically placed near the (open) bar and snack table; this worked, because we attracted two fellow white-belts (first-time attendees) and descended quickly into geekery galore.  A fun evening full of fantastic confabulation:
1) The Three Stages of King: "Which Stephen King book is the best?" ... "Real question: is he even worth reading?"
2) Even amazing books are sometimes flawed: "Harry Potter plotholes. They exist."
3) At the movies: "It has Robots.  And monsters. What is there to NOT like?"
4) Mixology: "Gin tastes like pine cones.  No, Christmas trees!"
5) In TV Land: "Is J.J. Abrams done already?  Was he done halfway through Season One of Lost?"

An early evening back in the room.  (American TV has a LOT of randomosity.)

Now Playing: Wolverine

This weekend, we were able to catch Wolverine, one of my favourite Marvel characters.  Before we went to see it, I had read a number of Facebook reviews, all of which started with an iteration of “well, it was better than the first movie…”; this gives the impression that it wasn’t very good, but at least better... well, hell.  I liked the first movie.  There were some parts that could have used some attention to detail, but it was still pretty entertaining.  This movie, though?  It wasn’t just better than the first movie, it was pretty awesome!

Casting and location were brilliant: the cinematography really benefitted from actually shooting in Japan, with the shadows and the mountains lending an authenticity to the movie.  Jackman has completely made this his role – and after being in SEVEN movies as the same character?  Good luck to anyone rebooting this series.  Yukiowas great, Viper was stunning, and having Famke Janssen come back as Jean Grey was simply brilliant.  A very strong female cast indeed.

The special effects were all very believable, the CGI remaining unobtrusive.  I will lodge a formal complaint here: in order to retain their PG-13 rating, the bloodletting was thoroughly sanitised.  There’s this scene where a sword is pulled out of the abdomen, and it comes away perfectly clean.  I don’t know what’s worse, exposing children to blood or giving them the impression that it’s possible for a sword through the gut not to kill you.  I wish they would release an R version of these superhero movies, for us adult fans.

So, yeah: I recommend it, especially if you’re in to action movies, comic books, or sci-fi.  3.5 out of 5 stars.

Now Playing: Despicable Me 2

A slow weekend had us take in Despicable Me 2 while killing time on a Sunday night.  I had really enjoyed the first one and thought the second held some promise.  Alas, like most sequels, it didn’t have the same spark.  The girls seemed watered down, Gru wasn’t evil enough, and while I enjoyed the introduction of Lucy, she wasn’t enough to carry the whole movie.  Minions?  Still awesome. Not too much else to report.

So, yeah, catch it on Netflix.  Better yet, rewatch the first one, which is still LOL funny.  2.5 out of 5 stars.

hoodie

When I travel, I carry three pieces of what I consider essential clothing:
-    A change of underwear for everyday, including socks.
-    A lightweight quilted shell (doubles as cold-weather guard and a comfy pillow)
-    A black hoodie: it’s a blanket, a coat, an umbrella, a pillow and it covers mild stains (at least until your next laundry stop).
Sure there are things you should carry – Tshirts, travel-size toiletries, scarf – but if any of the above were forgotten, I’d actually buy a replacement.  I crossed this great and beautiful country with my customs hoodie (saved my life); I covered The Rock in my Library Wench hoodie; I took in the majesty of the Grand Canyon in my Jasper hoodie.  The hoodie is indispensable.  And a Canadian winter?  A hoodie is the undergarment, often paired with a down-filled waterproof puffy vest. 

So, I find it fascinating that a piece of clothing as versatile and as useful as a hoodie has become so vilified.  How it could be used as a reason for suspicion, a reason for a bullet in the chest?

The Not Guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial makes me ill.  The blatant racial and sexist profiling (would he have fired if it was a black girl, a white man) is incredible enough; the fact that he was acquitted as having acted reasonably is just downright nauseating.  Since when does suspicion allow you to murder? And is my car or my computer or my home theatre system worth a young man’s life?  There are just so many things wrong with this picture: stand your ground laws, rampant gun violence, institutionalised racism ... and all in a country that prides itself on freedom. 

Where was Trayvon Martin’s freedom to wear a hoodie? Eat skittles? Walk home without being harassed? 

As Elle so eloquently put it:
“The American justice system is still stacked against black people, don't delude yourselves, this isn't a post-racial world unless you're white and privileged. That's not a dig against white people, that's an honest interpretation of our social structure. Institutionalized racism is so much worse because it looks like fairness but it's really just prejudice wrapped in a pretty package. I'd rather be called a Nigger to my face than being lulled into a false sense of security. God, if people only understood that race is a social concept, not a scientific one. The traits most commonly used to distinguish one race from another, like skin and eye color, or the width of the nose, are traits controlled by a relatively few number of genes. We are more similar than different, there's only one real SCIENTIFIC race and that's the HUMAN RACE! But understanding that takes a little more education and comprehension than the average racist has. There are times when being Canadian feels so damn good. There's racism everywhere, but dear God the systemic racism in the US scares me. Black men in the US pull up your pants, put the blunt down, pick up a book, and educate yourself. This is what the system thinks of you…nothing.”

Now Playing: Pacific Rim

Have to admit: I was pretty excited about Pacific Rim.  Not only did it have Guillermo del Toro at the helm (whose work in Pan's Labyrinth and El Orfanato was pretty stellar), but it also involved giants robots and Idris Elba!  It's like the perfect setup for a decent popcorn-muncher.

So, let's cover the good stuff: the special effects were great.  Very believable, excellent physics integration, not cheesy at all.  For both Robot and Kaiju.  Also, love the bringing back of the term "kaiju", which I haven't heard in some time and I think is the perfect shorthand for this sort of monster.  Cloverfield should have referenced it, but didn't (then, that movie wasn't very good).  Also, also: kinda loved the interaction between the two scientists ...and, that's about it.

Frankly, the movie had too many issues.

First, the cast members really looked alike.  I mean, don't they  have brunet(te)s that can kick ass?  They even bottle-blonded the two huge (and obviously dark-haired) Russians.  It was ridiculous.

And then there's the running time: 132 minutes.  That's really long for an action flick.  Fast-paced movies need to keep up a good clip so you don't mired in details (why didn't they detonate nukes on these creatures? why did they think a WALL would stop them? wait, what's that about dinosaurs?)  Somewhere along the line, I got a little, well, bored.

Finally, if they wanted us to care about the characters, they needed to give us more time to identify with them.  The only one that I would have been sad to lose was Miss Mori, but most of that was due to the totally adorable Mana Ashida, with her blue coat and little red shoe.  the rest?  Expendable. 

So, what to rate this?  Well, I wouldn't recommend watching it in theatres (waste of money) and I think watching it at home would actually detract from the movie's best parts: the special effects.  That alone is a 50% fail.  But coupled with its inability to live up to its own hype and for giving away all the best lines in the trailer: 2 out of 5 stars.