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The Island (2005)
the island illusion
i am a nauseatingly lazy person and very little can tempt me to move my muscles. brain or otherwise. but this time i was forced into writing this review to crush the enthusiasm of people who recommended this movie and the ones who are so sincerely defending it.
the movie is full of worms and deals with too many wild cards in a row. of course,Scarlett Johanson lights up the screen most of the times except for the acting part. but there isn't much of an acting required to be a clone so you wouldn't mind the deadpan expressions. Ewan McGregor disappoints you mainly because you expect a much better choice of film from him.
everyone in this Utopian world looks like he belongs to a fancy fitness crazy gym or perhaps the set of Logan's run. the movie begins with a sophisticated void that gradually changes into sensational tooting, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, trilling... and then bang! the meaning subsides... and an indifferent void spreads monstrously like a gray vegetation.
and the script! its not just clichéd... some of the words are so horribly common that you cannot escape them at any cost. the intense cry of six-echo, "my name... is Lincoln" will thrust you back to matrix's "my name... is Neo" and you will find your eyes going towards the matrix DVD longingly. but you won't quit the movie yet. it is a science fiction that royally wastes McGregor's talents, you cant miss it. 'the island' is matrix without its intellect, Gattaca without its heart gripping story, Logan's run without its expansion and Aeon flux without its innovative execution. if you enjoy watching protracted chase sequences, unnecessary exaggeration, things made mighty without a reason and finally a less than original reason to support the movie, then 'the island' is my definite recommendation. otherwise, do yourself a favor and switch to American idol.
Le mépris (1963)
Godard's Contempt
The whole movie can be captured in one moment. That one fleeting second when the absurd irony and futility of 'everything' will dawn upon you. Either that or you will merely take it for what it is. A masterpiece.
So obviously chained by the wrath of Gods, the movie on the whole has too much to offer. Whether it is the parallels between the existing world and the world of homer, the constant struggle with commercialism or the perusal of a writer's integrity... you will keep on jumping between realism and.... romanticism? Throughout the movie, a haunting melancholic theme continues to play magic on nerves. Amongst countless striking scenes lies a splendidly performed sequence made on a shoestring budget in the apartment that captures the unsettling confessions of the pair. Definitely worth seeing/experiencing!
As much as you will fall under the spell of Godard and feel for the likes of Lang, you can't help being amused by the almost comical character of Palance. Very comical, Very contemptuous.
But at the end its Lang that captures attention on the whole. A lone figure standing amidst harmonious chaos, staring silently at everyone and no one, while life effortlessly moves around him. He makes perfect sense.
Contempt. The whole thing takes place within a system that seems to be contemptuous of itself. So much so that it even ends up holding a mocking mirror, capturing an ultimate contempt for the audience.