Friday, October 24, 2008

Tropic Thunder


Tropic thunder is a story of an actor and his team shooting in Vietnam to relive the story of a war survivor, but ends up fighting in a real war.

Ben Stiller produced a film that is composed of comedy, drama, and action. It then becomes confusing how the story would develop. Despite the complexity of the film, it still makes sense. Overall, it is an entertaining film.

"Life is a drama," as the saying goes. But with the blurring of the "real" and the "reel" nowadays, drama reveals life's hidden mysteries. One does not need to "act" or pretend, but to live the reality of the role being acted upon. Yes, the whole concept is confusing, but it is something the Tropic Thunder tries to break into and solve. The lesson is: whether in the "real" or in the "reel", there will always be life, and life is as natural as can be lived.

Just watch out for excessive violence and foul language; this film is not suited for children.

Rating: 3/5

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Igor


Igor is a digitally animated film about a hunchback slave who wants to show the world that he can aslo be a truly evil scientist.

Inspired from the classic "Frankenstein" novel, Igor is successful in creatively coming up with an alternative - entertaining, wacky, zany, and that which appeals to kids and adults alike.

The only thing I'm concerned about is how the cast is concerned about doing something "evil". Though the real point of the story is to make a satire out of it, being committed to destroying and killing is not a worthy motivation or the main mover of a story.

But the point of the story is still well-taken, and I hope that parents could instruct their children while watching this movie to always aim to do good at all cost. Otherwise, we really would find it hard to identify with the sentiments of this movie or even understand what it's all about.

Rating: 3/5

Friday, October 10, 2008

Mirrors

Mirrors is a film about a man who has unusual encounters with mirrors that he wants to trace the cause and end the nightmare bringing havoc to his family.

The visual and audio effects that make up this horror film are doing their job quite well. Using the same conventions, they never fail to cause the audience to scream or jump from their seats.

On the other hand, the film may work for those who want to be frightened. But for people of faith, Mirrors surely doesn't make any sense. There is no sense of redemption. The power of the evil one over the bodies of peoples to hurt at will is just almost absolute. Worse, man offers himself as a viable alternative to combat evil using his own powers. If there were even a ray of hope from the Source of goodness and light, then the film would pass critical eyes. But Mirrors doesn't offer this alternative.

Rating: 1.5/5