Guns, Germs and Steel (TV) 7.0

Guns, Germs and Steel (TV Series 2005): A PBS documentary concerning Jared Diamond's theory on why there is such disparity between those who have advanced technology and those who still live primitively. (7.4)

Stars: Jared Diamond

This is a three-part NatGeo/PBS documentary based on Jared Diamond's book by the same name. The details about the book and Diamond's theory are outlined in this Wikipedia article. Note that he is a professor of geography (at UCLA). He argues that the reason for the Europeans to have more "cargo" (stuff) is the simple matter of geography ... they were in the right place at the right time with the right raw material (crops, animals and steel). The documentary should really be called a docu-drama as some scenes are reenactments of what "may have" happened in key historical events. My argument is that Diamond glosses over the effects of economic, cultural and religious reasons for Europeans concurring the rest of the world. IMHO, he gives too much emphasis to the happenstance and geography of early societies. (But, a debate of the content is suitable for a different blog.) The documentary is good, but it probably could have been condensed into a single episode. As is always the case, I bet the book is better. My Rating: 7.0

The Housemaid (R) 7.0

The Housemaid (2010) Hanyo (original title): A man's affair with his family's housemaid leads to a dark consequences. (6.6)

Director: Sang-soo Im
Writers: Ki-young Kim (based on the film by)
Stars: Do-yeon Jeon, Jung-Jae Lee, Yeo-Jong Yun, Woo Seo
Language: Korean (w/ English subtitles)

The opening sequence is somewhat disconnected from the rest of the movie, but it gives a nice glimpse into the daily life in a South Korean city. Then the movie shows what goes on in a super-rich family. (w/o giving away the plot detail ...) I was waiting for the two maids to get back at the evils of the rich family in a different way, that door was cracked open a bit with the mention of the older maid's son at two occasions. I didn't feel any strong emotions towards any of the characters; perhaps, a bit more development in the maid's character would have earned more sympathy. Very good acting by the whole cast. My Rating: 7.0

Untamed Heart (PG-13) 6.0

Untamed Heart (1993): Caroline has not had much luck in love. Boyfriends seem to either leave her or cheat on her. Then she meets a shy, introverted man at work named Adam. (6.6)

Director: Tony Bill
Stars: Christian Slater, Marisa Tomei and Rosie Perez

Originally, I was going to give a high score for this movie simply because Marisa Tomei looks good. But the story doesn't have a hell of a lot in it. The story can be summed up as "Girl meets boy. They fall in love. Tragedy strikes." (That's the summary line in IMDB.) At least, Rosie Perez has her chipmunk voice under control, most of the time. I guess, the character development at the beginning was all wrong; Tomei's character doesn't earn the audiences' sympathy enough. But her acting was pretty good. Story had potential; needed something more. My Rating: 6.0

The Man from Nowhere (R) 6.0

The Man from Nowhere (2010) Ajeossi (original title): A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug- and organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend. (7.8)

Director: Jeong-beom Lee
Stars: Bin Won, Thanayong Wongtrakul and Sae-ron Kim
Language: Korean (w/ English subtitles)

No originality in the story. Too predictable, too sentimental, too formulaic. The fight scenes are nicely choreographed, but utterly unrealistic and silly to the point of being laughable. A set of bit over-the-top dramatic moments (quite a few, actually) take away otherwise a good acting performance by the whole cast. (Funny to hear some guy shouting in Sinhalese in one of the scenes in a Korean movie; he gets killed pretty quickly, so I don't know who that Sri Lankan man is.) My Rating: 6.0

Fire in Babylon (PG) 6.5

Fire in Babylon (2010): Feature documentary about the great West Indies cricket team of the 1970's/80's. (7.2)

Director: Stevan Riley
Writer: Stevan Riley
Stars: Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Michael Holding, Colin Croft

I grew up reading (okay, barely understanding the English sports page) about the fearsome West Indian cricket team. Not having seen any TV coverage (we didn't have TV back then), I hadn't much seen any of them play, so it was nice to see some of the match footage. I guess, I learned from this documentary that Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson showed the Windies how the bowling should be intimidating. I would have liked to have seen the famous "Michael Holding to Jeff Boycott" over. As a documentary, it has a lot more than just cricket footage ... in that famous laid-back island style, which is great. But I'm puzzled by the fact that they didn't talk about the two limited-over world cup titles the team won during the same era. Towards the end, do they sing their own praises a tad bit too much? I dunno. Then again, for the rest of the world, West Indies were (still are?) the second favorite team after their own team. I'm sorry that _that_ team never came to Sri Lanka as we didn't have Test status back then. I think, the director could have used other voices other than the team members. It would have been nice to have heard from those who played against that team. My Rating: 6.5

Rango (PG) 7.0

Rango (2011): Rango is an ordinary chameleon who accidentally winds up in the town of Dirt, a lawless outpost in the Wild West in desperate need of a new sheriff. (7.4)

Director: Gore Verbinski
Stars: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher and Timothy Olyphant

Ha ... all the cliches, all the stereotypes, etc of old westerns; yet, somehow when they are done by animated cartoonish animals, it is hilarious. Yes, spoofs of lots of movies, and even Mr. Eastwood makes an appearance. That's just good. Dialog and animation are nice. My Rating: 7.0

The Lathe of Heaven (PG) 6.5

The Lathe of Heaven (TV 1980): George Orr, a man whose dreams can change waking reality, tries to suppress this unpredictable gift with drugs. Dr. Haber, an assigned psychiatrist, discovers the gift to be real and hypnotically induces Mr. Orr to change reality for the benefit of mankind. (7.2)

Directors: Fred Barzyk, David R. Loxton
Writers: Diane English, Ursula K. Le Guin (novel)
Stars: Bruce Davison, Kevin Conway, Margaret Avery

I haven't read the novel. This is a made-for-tv movie from PBS (and the transfer to DVD is pretty bad). The story is very intriguing. Le Guin is listed as a technical consultant to the movie also. The acting is fine. I just can't get too excited about the looks of the movie, being 30+ years old and VHS -> DVD transfer bleeding colors... I should go read the book. My Rating: 6.5

V for Vendetta (R) 8.0

V for Vendetta (2006): A shadowy freedom fighter known only as "V" uses terrorist tactics to fight against his totalitarian society. Upon rescuing a girl from the secret police, he also finds his best chance at having an ally. (8.2)

Director: James McTeigue
Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman and Rupert Graves

The movie, loosely based on a DC comic, tells a powerful story of uprising against "A Brave New World"-esque society in England. Hugo Weaving as V gives a wonderful performance, considering that the audience never sees any facial expressions. The portrayal of "news" the home viewer "needs" to hear by the government/corporation controlled media and purported experts is so chilling because we can see it on today's TV. The movie does retain some action sequences from the comic-book style. (So, I watched this because my son reminded me of the rhyme "Remember remember the fifth of November gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot..." today 11/05) My Rating: 8.0

Il Mare (PG) 8.0

Il Mare (2000) Siworae (original title): The two protagonists who both live in the same house two years apart in time, but are able to communicate through a mysterious post box. (7.7)

Director: Hyun-seung Lee
Stars: Jung-Jae Lee, Gianna Jun and Mu-saeng Kim
Language: Korean (w/ English subtitles, also Mandarin|Cantonese)

All the descriptions above this move gives away the major plotline, but the strength of it is in the human story. The movie is less about the wonder of being able to communicate across the timeline and more about the struggles the characters go through. If you identify with either or both characters, this movie will speak to you. My score is based on that fact (YMMV). Acting and cinematography were great. My Rating: 8.0

Red State (R) 6.0

Red State (2011): Set in Middle America, a group of teens receive an online invitation for sex, though they soon encounter fundamentalists with a much more sinister agenda. (6.4)

Director: Kevin Smith
Writer: Kevin Smith
Stars: Michael Parks, Melissa Leo and John Goodman

This is kind of a ripped from headlines story that combines the Westboro Baptist Church tactics with the Davidian compound in Waco, TX & other ATF/FBI raids and the paranoia around "domestic terror cells". It starts out with a bit of a thought process, but soon loses the cerebral quality to the gun-toting action-packed drama. I would have liked if this was presented as a multi-faceted argument for/against various points of view. Opportunity missed. My Rating: 6.0