Well, it's time again. Time to list the films I watched and give them a grade.
And after the last two review periods, I also need to not grade something in such a way that my movie guru, Tom, has to call me out on (I don't completely agree with his thoughts Home Alone, but I admit I messed up up on Terminator Salvation-- I didn't think it was awful, but I did forget about the thing with the heart-- bad).
Like I say every time: A's are works of art, B's are worth watching, C's have good and bad, D's may have one redeeming quality, and F's suck ass.
I also note how I watched it. Everything is in the form of a DVD unless otherwise mentioned (films I see in theatres usually get a little bump just for the experience of being in a theatre and I note "TV" as those that couldn't get a little bump via "extras" that a DVD or BluRay Disc could get).
Otherwise, the grades are based on the work-- or the entertainment value (I try to differentiate when there is a strong leaning toward one or the other).
Finally, I stopped trying to write a lot about each film. I wrote what I felt and tried to keep it succinct (except in some cases that deserved more-- or at least I had more to say).
Let's go. Starting with A:
Astro Boy— I admit to not watching this 100% from beginning to end, but what I did see was decent. Fairly typical story, but the visuals were pretty beautiful. Not sure why this didn’t do better other than it wasn’t terribly unique—and probably the anime fanboys blasted it because it was “too American”. I don’t know; I found it enjoyable—but I have no previous experience with the character. C+
Big Fan— A story about a pathetic “little” man who cares for nothing but his beloved New York Giants. He meets his linebacker idol, who then kicks his ass (he had good reasons). The “big fan” has to reconcile his feelings for his favorite player and his favorite team with the reality that he was badly hurt by that player all while fellow fans and family members are giving him advice to sue the player—or else to not do anything that could jeopardize the Giants’ chances during he football season (like press charges, so the linebacker can’t play).
This is one of those odd flicks I like to call “slice of life” films. It’s like a snapshot of one particular time in a character’s life. These films usually highlight one or more of the following artists: actor, director, or writer. There’s usually not much more to them. The film ends on pretty much the same note as it begins; there’s no “new way of looking at life” or new lifestyle (it’s kinda like an episode of The Simpsons; the story happened, but if you didn’t watch it, you can watch the next episode and not have “missed” anything). These films are not bad, they just don’t seem to have a reason to exist other than to show-off a little. In this case, Patton Oswalt got to show off his dramatic chops; and they are impressive.
Good movie for what it was (I think it accomplished what it set out to do), but I wished there had been something more to cling onto. B+ for the work, B- for the film.
Food, Inc.—TV. I had heard a lot about this movie, and I finally got the time to watch it. This documentary takes a look at where the vast majority of our food comes from. It’s not from the cute, red-painted barns we’re led to believe in our hearts (and we know it’s not true in our heads already). It’s a cruel, manufacturing-based business. For example, chickens are breed to be so bulky in the chest (because Americans want breast meat) that the rest of their bodies can’t keep up. The chickens are bred to be grown so quickly, their bones often break under the strain. But that’s okay, the chicken coops are so crowded that the chickens have no room to move anyway. The sheer number of them keeps them upright—because there is no room to fall down.
We also see how corporations keep the farmers “down” by constantly insisting on new, expensive technology, which keeps the farmers in debt. If the farmers don’t like the new things, they can’t complain because they owe so much, they need the corporate contracts to pay their bills. Corporations also hound the “little man” so much, if they don’t play ball, they’re run out of business.
But that’s all “okay” because consumers get to buy food for less than it costs to produce the food because of subsidies and lobbying efforts.
So the film reminds us to eat organic and try to avoid the corporate-mindset food products. Good advice, but I also know that if the entire world was fed with organic foods, there would be no land left because it would all be needed to farm. As terrible as the conditions are (and it’s not just livestock, plants have the same production-line mentality, which has helped with the rise of problems like e coli), the mass-production of food has made it easy for most people to eat—and the yields are so great, that less land is needed (even with the price of more engineered and tampered-with food).
It’s a tough choice. I guess trying to meet somewhere in the middle is the best way to approach our food choices. This movie is recommended—but you may not want to know where your food comes from… B
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