November 26, 2009 • 12:03 pm
I have to admit that I have a bit of a penchant towards end of the world type movies – and there have been some particularly good ones over the last few years such as ‘Right at your door’ (2006). I tend to prefer those based in reality rather than say zombie flix, maybe because part of me is secretly going ‘what would I do if it was me in this position? Perhaps I can learn something here for when civilization does collapse and maybe survive!’
There was definitely some of this going on as I was watching ‘Carriers’. It opens with 4 friends mucking about on a road trip in a stolen car. Within moments we discover that they are survivors of a viral pandemic that has wiped out almost everybody. They live by a certain set of rules, one of which is that if someone is infected you leave them because they are as good as dead. Of course it all goes horribly wrong. If it’s you who gets infected – screw the rules! But I felt that it was all played out pretty truthfully, any person they came across was terrified of these four characters and vice versa. Who is infected and who is not? You can’t immediately tell and so fear leads to ‘ordinary’ people killing each other – dwindling the tiny human population further. The whole story was convincingly and economically told by writer/directors Àlex and David Pastor with good performances all round (I thought Christopher Meloni whom I hadn’t seen before was particularly good – he reminded me of Mark Strong).
Even with a pre James Tiberius Kirk Chris Pine the film criminally only took about $100K in the US and disappeared without a trace. Track it down!
Filed under: film, horror, sci-fi, thriller , Chris Pine, Christopher Meloni, Emily VanCamp, Lou Taylor Pucci, Piper Perabo
February 18, 2009 • 1:35 pm
This film has been on my list to see for a while so when I suddenly had the opportunity to see it I was there!
Directed and co-written by Duncan Jones (with Nathan Parker), a philosopher whose graduation thesis was titled ‘How to Kill Your Computer Friend: An Investigation of the Mind/Body Problem and How It Relates to the Hypothetical Creation of a Thinking Machine’ – I knew this was going to be an intriguing story.
And I love sci-fi.
Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a man who works for a large mining corporation, and with the breakdown of his marriage has decided to take a 3 year contract – an assignment to live and work alone on the Moon supervising an automated mining operation. As his time there comes to an end he begins to have some very unusual experiences.
I really liked the film alot, aspects of it reminded me a little of Doug Trumball’s ‘Silent Running’ (1972) – (that’s a great film check it out on DVD!) – and it’s good to see a British sci-fi movie for a change – it has an intelligent story and some great production values, the moonbase is interestingly designed and the sfx are generally good. Kevin Spacey voices the HAL like AI and Sam Rockwell does a great job as the whole film revolves around him (sorry but I can’t say how without ruining the story for you – avoid reviews before seeing the film – they’re bound to shove in some plot spoilers).
If you’re a huge sci-fi fan then the plot won’t be a complete surprise to you but you’ll still care enough to want to find out what happens and how it’ll end. If you’re not into sci-fi, don’t be put off, the human aspect of the story will carry you through.
Filed under: cinema, drama, entertainment, film, movies, sci-fi , Douglas Trumball, Duncan Jones, Kevin Spacey, Moon, Sam Rockwell, SIlent Running
December 24, 2008 • 2:39 pm
November 6, 2008 • 12:48 pm
It’s a shame that in the USA no one went to see this film. Unlike ‘I Am Legend’ which was a glossy action orientated apocalyptic film (with a big star) - ‘Blindness’ is just plain dark, grim and gritty. A realistic portrait of how quickly humanity can fall, and the fragility of our civilization.
In a city where everyone else is going blind (a bright milky white blindness), Julianne Moore plays one of the few who for some reason remains unaffected. When her newly blinded husband is carted off to an isolated ‘prison’, she goes with him. As the building begins to overflow with more and more quarantined, frightened and newly blinded people – it isn’t long before they begin fighting amongst themselves, wallowing around in shit and basically living in total despair.
Whilst those afflicted with this new blindness are in some ways sheltered from the full horror of their surroundings, Julianne Moore’s character can see it all. The decay, the bodies and the filth.
I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know how faithful the film is to it, but the way many of the characters treat each other is all too believable. There are also some impressive (and I’m guessing) non CGI created city sequences where the pockets of humanity wander hopelessly around deserted streets and smashed up cars looking for food.
So pretty bleak, but a fascinating watch with some very interesting camerawork and terrific performances from all the cast.
The ending? Hmmm.
Filed under: cinema, drama, entertainment, film, movies, sci-fi , Blindness, City of God, Constant Gardener, Fernando Meirelles, Juliann Moore, Mark Ruffalo, reviews, v124
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