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I have fallen behind in my reviews, so here I will try to catch up on them.
We have finished watching the first season of ROME. If you are a history buff, it is probably worth watching for the sets and costumes alone. Now, the story itself does considerable violence to history in its telling and missing out on a lot of interesting characters and stories in the process. It focuses on the stories of two members of the XIII Legion, one a centurion, in and out of war against the backdrop of Julius Caesar's rise to power. Historical flaws aside, it is pretty well acted and acceptably plotted. My Grade: B-
Caught A History of Violence a while back. Not good, acceptable acting, the plot becomes increasing thin as it moves on to a resolution that lacks any real resolution or punch. Another fine failure from David Cronenberg, even the craggy good looks of Viggo Mortensen do nothing to save the movie. My Grade: D+
Viktor borrowed a copy of the new War of the Worlds by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise and we watched it while he was at work. It is interesting on two points: 1) it shows the alien invasion from the point of view of the common person, who has no idea what is happening or why. We never get any 'big picture' information except through rumors that the characters hear. 2) The tripods look really cool, especially in motion. However, the plot is weak, with poor internal consistency and the military is shown as idiots (not deliberately, mind you, it is just that in the combat scenes the tactics used are: let us line up in a big long firing line and keep shooting). Cruise's character has no ideas, all he wants to do is survive with his kids, not that that is a bad things, but he does not question, does not take an active role in anything and generally moves from set piece to set piece at the whim of the director. Still, the tripods are cool (and the DVD had a section about the how they were designed and animated, which was cool). My Grade: C-
We have finished watching the first season of ROME. If you are a history buff, it is probably worth watching for the sets and costumes alone. Now, the story itself does considerable violence to history in its telling and missing out on a lot of interesting characters and stories in the process. It focuses on the stories of two members of the XIII Legion, one a centurion, in and out of war against the backdrop of Julius Caesar's rise to power. Historical flaws aside, it is pretty well acted and acceptably plotted. My Grade: B-
Caught A History of Violence a while back. Not good, acceptable acting, the plot becomes increasing thin as it moves on to a resolution that lacks any real resolution or punch. Another fine failure from David Cronenberg, even the craggy good looks of Viggo Mortensen do nothing to save the movie. My Grade: D+
Viktor borrowed a copy of the new War of the Worlds by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise and we watched it while he was at work. It is interesting on two points: 1) it shows the alien invasion from the point of view of the common person, who has no idea what is happening or why. We never get any 'big picture' information except through rumors that the characters hear. 2) The tripods look really cool, especially in motion. However, the plot is weak, with poor internal consistency and the military is shown as idiots (not deliberately, mind you, it is just that in the combat scenes the tactics used are: let us line up in a big long firing line and keep shooting). Cruise's character has no ideas, all he wants to do is survive with his kids, not that that is a bad things, but he does not question, does not take an active role in anything and generally moves from set piece to set piece at the whim of the director. Still, the tripods are cool (and the DVD had a section about the how they were designed and animated, which was cool). My Grade: C-