Friday, August 11, 2006

World Trade Center

WORLD TRADE CENTER
Directed by Oliver Stone
Produced by Paramount Pictures

August 11, 2006 - The film may rekindle traumatic moments for some, but I believe that the WORLD TRADE CENTER has a powerful message that can heal painful memories and and bring about a deeper, livelier spirituality.

It is a story of 2 Port Authority policemen who try to save people but they fall prey when the Twin Towers collapsed and they have to be rescued.

The recreation of the burning WTC was superbly done, the animation blending seamlessly with the actual place. Michael Pena and Nicholas Cage performed realistically the roles of Will Jimeno and Sgt. John McLoughlin. The screenplay uses everyday language. The feeling was right for every scene and the whole film is not about how it was made but rather about the what happened and how everyone felt as they recounted everything that transpired during that fateful day. Recreating the tragic event is the main challenge for this film and much more; it is actual experience of going through the ordeal until the two policemen would be saved.

WORLD TRADE CENTER is an actual event that caused sorrow for the Americans and the entire world. But we only knew it from the news, from the footage of the collapse of the building and the thousands of people who have died in the tragedy. But we haven't known what it means to actually go through the entire experience trying to save people and becoming a victim oneself. This film enables us to go through the actual experience of one trapped in the pile, of someone who hopes against hope that his/her loved one is still alive, and the process of going through the whole ordeal until one is saved by others.

Moreover, I feel that a spirituality just came out of the film. It is not just a story a tragedy. Nor is it a story hating the offenders and asking for justice. It becomes a story of hope that sooner or later, a person in danger of death would have to be saved. It is a story of heroism, a triumph of the goodness of men and women who risked their lives to save others. Most significantly, the highlight of the film is openness attributed to the Almighty, the Lord who is sustaining them and saving people from dying. This is not a film about whether he believes in God or not. WORLD TRADE CENTER showed us an obvious, decisive reality - in the midst of a tragedy, God is still there to be with His people.

I therefore feel that the WORLD TRADE CENTER transformed from an event to a breathing life form. From two tall buildings, it tansformed into real people with concrete experiences to tell. Whether dead or alive, each has a particular, unique place in this with a message of hope to give to others simply becuase of nothing else except faith.

Rating: 5/5

Friday, August 04, 2006

Cars


Produced by: Pixar / Walt Disney

It is a story about a popular race car that is held up in an obsolete Route 66 before he could make it to his championship race in California.

As usual, Pixar's high quality animation is at its finest. Save for some dragging parts, the overall script seemed ok. The beauty of this film is how inamate objects become personified, not just the cars but Route 66 itself.

This is a story that tries to capture the glorious old days and how these are easily killed by modernism.

Overall rating: 3/5

Welcome to MediaTalk at your fingertips!

We make reviews on what we have heard, seen, and read lately to guide us and understand the workings of mass media.

So far, I am giving a summary of the movies I've seen lately. Later, I hope to give a longer article like a movie analysis. These are the movies I've seen lately:

MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND (comedy/fantasy) presents feminism in a satirical way in the context of a male-dominated sexist world. Rating: 2.5/5

MONSTER HOUSE (action/fantasy/adventure/ horror/comedy) reevaluates how much the of the inner child is lost by many adults today and the efforts needed to recover it. Rating: 3/5

SUPERMAN (action/fantasy/adventure) revived the old comic superhero as well as the relived the memory of the late Christopher Reeve, but he also might revive the sagging America's superhero image in today's times. Rating: 3/5

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN (action/ adventure/comedy) , a film two hours and a half tries to be at par with the box office epic films, but somehow fails to transcend its usual trite entertainment, adventure, and comic formula. Rating: 3/5


CARS is next!

So, welcome to Mediatalk at your Fingertips!