Posts from ‘Movies’
Salt: Not so sweet
I suspect that going into the film Salt it is probably a disadvantage watching the above trailer and forming the expectation that this might be like a Bourne film.
It’s not.
Salt stars Angelina Jolie and is about a CIA agent who goes on the run after a Russian defector names her as a Russian sleeper agent who is going to kill the Russian President on US soil.
Who is Salt? I know but I don't really care...
That trailer and the general description make Salt sound like a pretty cool movie but to be honest in the actual execution it’s a severely lacking film. First off the whole idea of Russians infiltrating America to assassinate presidents and take over nuclear bombs feels like it’s an idea that went out with the cold war. I found it really clichéd, like a poor man’s Bond villain routine. The plot loses its credibility as we dive head first into the “plunging the world into war” for Mother Russia and to wipe out the evil American capitalist swine storyline!
A huge problem is that we don’t have anyone to identify as the main villain of the piece, there’s no mastermind behind it all, well there is but he certainly doesn’t rate much of a mention, I might have felt different had he been stroking a white cat and actually had any real impact.
I will admit that there are at least one or two twists that are impressive enough that they elevate themselves above the mucky muck story but they’re not exactly Crying Game/Fight Club level revelations and they don’t save the movie.
The stunts and the action sequences seem mediocre at best and the acting seems bored. In fact Jolie (who I quite like normally) looks exhausted throughout, I just want her to eat a nice meal and have a nap.
At the end of the film I just don’t care about any of the characters, they’ve made no impression on me and I don’t honestly care if they live or die. If they make a sequel, which they certainly seem interested in I won’t bother seeing it outside of some sick curiosity to see if they have learnt from this underwhelming experience.
See it if you have nothing else to watch, it’s not effective enough to make you think it’s really bad.
Rating: 
A while back I made the case for the film Signs, in which I defended the indefensible and tried to make reason of the completely illogical ending that involved water and the aliens. Whilst I think most would probably still disagree I’m happy with my interpretation of it to still enjoy the rest of the film.
Now you may not think that Superman: The Movie needs any defending but there’s one sequence in the film that pretty much everyone will roll their eyes and poor children who learn science from movies get the completely wrong idea about how the planet spins on its axis and orbits the sun. Not to mention the fact that time is not specifically attached to the direction the Earth is spinning:
So I was watching Superman on Blu-ray the other night. Apart from the average sound at the beginning of the film when the amazing Superman theme begins the crystal clear definition is worth it, though it does force you to confront the special effects that don’t appear as special anymore.
But that scene when Superman turns the Earth backwards is the scene that betrayed me when I was a child. When I discovered that it just wasn’t possible it made me really angry and confused and it was another moment when I realised that movies were full of exaggeration and falsehoods. Forgive me because I was only seven or eight and I hadn’t believed in Santa or the Easter Bunny, I believed in the movies.
But whilst watching Superman now, with all I know about the concepts around time travel and physics (the latter isn’t much I must admit) I refused to have the film ruined for me. It’s such a brilliant film and Christopher Reeve is almost heartbreakingly good as both Clark Kent and Superman so it doesn’t deserve this horrible comic book moment.
I mean that’s what it is, it’s supposed to be a comic book moment and it is the epitome of what one might consider a comic book solution of the Golden or Silver Ages. I can accept it as such but I want more sophistication.
The way I interpret that sequence with Superman circling the Earth is Superman himself moving through time and not really affecting the Earth’s rotation. Then the sequence when he goes back the other way is him adjusting his position in the time line.
The problem with my theory is that there will be two Superman’s in this timeline as the original will no longer be required to go back in time and will continue on as normal. Unless you subscribe to the multiverse theory and Superman has passed through into a universe that he has only just left…
Owww. My poor head.
Still it makes swallowing that scene and enjoying the film in general a lot easier if you just go numb to the consequences and paradox.
Rating: 
I am a big fan of Kick Ass and had a great time when I saw it at the movies, now it’s coming out on DVD and Blu-ray here in Australia on August 19th and thanks to Universal we’re giving away 5 copies of the movie!
Not only that though but one lucky entry is going to win this John Romita Jr image printed on an A1 canvas:
So what do you need to do to go into the running for these Kick Ass prizes (honestly I couldn’t resist)?
Well first off it is only open to Australians (Sorry! I know! But it’s cool because I’ve got an international competition coming up soon)
How to enter:
Via Twitter:
Just tweet the message “I just entered the #KickAss give away on @leesargent’s blog! http://bit.ly/bpN9aO” (click the link for it to do it for you!)
Via Facebook:
Click on the Like button below and leave a message on the Facebook page for Quit Your Day Job:
UPDATE: the original like button didn’t quite work out so sorry to those who already clicked it – please just resubmit!
You can enter once through Twitter and once through Facebook.
We’ll pick five people at random from the Facebook and Twitter likes and tweets on August 16th and the prizes (you nominate your format) will be sent out after August 19th when the movie is released.
