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Moon starring Sam Rockwell

Posted on April 4, 2010 Written by ripitup

Moon starring Sam Rockwell. Image via: christybharath.files.wordpress.com

Some time in the future, astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is stationed on the moon. The world’s energy problem has been solved with helium-3 and it is massively available on the moon. Sam is alone in his station except for his talking computer Gerty (voice by Kevin Spacey). He is approaching the end of his 3 year-contract with Lunar Industries and he can’t wait to go home to his wife and baby daughter.However, he starts having problems. He starts imagining things. And outside the station, he has an accident. When he wakes up back at the station, he is in for a massive surprise….

I wish I could write more but anything else will be giving spoilers. The truth is, it is safe to say the movie really begins after Sam wakes up in the infirmary. The first scenes of the film are used to show the surroundings, get to know Sam and his mission. While it is not boring, the pace is slow. But after Sam wakes up, it is one intriguing revelation after another.

Sam Rockwell is almost the only actor and he has done fascinating job at keeping your interest and winning your empathy.

I’m not the biggest sci-fi fan, but when a movie is good, you have to give its due. See it.

Directed by Duncan Jones. Screenplay by Nathan Parker.

8.0 on IMDB, voted by over 40.000 people. Yeah, I am not the only one who liked it.

The Box starring James Marsden, Cameron Diaz & Frank Langella

Posted on March 30, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Box with Cameron Diaz and James Marsden. Frank Langella gives creepy and mysterious a whole new meaning. So what would you do to get $1.000.000?

1976. A black box is dropped at the house of Norma and Arthur Lewis (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden), a happily married couple with a kid. They have the house, the car, the careers and things seem quite perfect in their front. Well, there are some problems. NASA employee Arthur fails to get his chance to become an astronaut and the private school Norma is teaching at -and their son goes to school to- cuts off his scholarship. And there is the almost life-long disability that has been bothering Norma, her constant limping due to her 4 cut-off toes. What comes in the form of a suggestion however is something they never could have anticipated.

A mysterious old man – Arlington Steward – with an extremely disfigured half-face appears at the door. Norma invites the man in, both shocked and intrigued. As it turns out, this is the man who dropped the mysterious black box at their door and he has come with a proposition. The box has a red button. If the couple presses it within 24 hours, someone they don’t know will die. And they will receive $1.000.000, if she and her husband don’t tell anyone. He leaves Norma shocked. Arthur doesn’t really take it seriously. But after a while, “what if” questions start to surface. What if that man is serious? What if they will actually be paid $1.000.000? Are they ready to be responsible to be responsible for someone’s death?

Eventually, money and financial troubles win over conscience and the button is pushed.

It turns out Arlington meant everything he said. But will their act have other consequences? Who the hell is Arlington Steward? Why are there so many people around them acting weird? Where does the money come from? Will they ever be safe?

Now, this movie has one of the most interesting premises I have ever run into. I found myself glued to the screen, wondering about Arlington, the money and feeling shocked at the fact that both Norma took the man seriously and easily pushed the button. How could a seemingly good person be that reckless of someone else’s life? The movie is slowly-paced, intending to build the tension and curiosity. While I can’t say I was bored, I couldn’t find the exciting explanation I was waiting for in the end. What happened and why will be shown to you to a certain extent. However a lot will left to your imagination and interpretation.

The screenplay is based on a short-story by Richard Matheson, called Button, Button. The movie is written for the screen and directed by Richard Kelly, writer and director of the cult hit Donnie Darko. While Darko is better-paced, I was more intrigued by The Box.

I am looking forward to read Matheson’s story and see how much/what Kelly left out.

I should say it is always good to watch Marsden and Frank Langella really crept me out.

6.0 on IMDB. I guess I can say 6.5-7 for some parts and 6.0 for other.

Favorite Line

Norma Lewis: What happens now? Will you make the offer to someone else?

Arlington Stweard:Yes, Mrs Lewis. And you can be sure it will be made to someone you don’t know.

Favorite Scene

Last conflict for the Lewises. My favorite part of the whole movie.

The Nines starring Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis

Posted on October 26, 2009 Written by ripitup

The Nines starring Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis — Ryan Reynolds in The Nines. Three parts, three roles and all open to audience interpretation.

the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5mFAc1OTVM

Prepare yourself for a weird, compelling and interesting story. Well, stories actually. The movie consists of three parts, all interconnected somehow but even though they provide some answers to your questions, ultimately you will have to come up with your own explanations. It is safe to say, the story is pretty much interactive. How?

The Nines starring Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis

The movie is written and directed by John August, who is known for his screenplays of the movies Big Fish, Go and the animation Corpse Bride and the 2005 version of Charlie and Chocolate Factory. Apart from Go, all three were directed by Tim Burton.

Gary (Reynolds) is a popular yet depressed Hollywood actor. He decides to burn all his girlfriend’s stuff but ends up burning the whole house. He gets on his car, and drinks while driving. He also uses crack and sees what appear to be hallucinations: two guys sitting at the back of his car: two guys that look exactly like him, only slightly different: one wearing glasses and one with darker hair and beard (check out the poster above). Then he crashes his car, is put under house arrest and meets his over eager yet determined publicist Margaret (Melissa McCarthy). He also has an attractive neighbor Sarah (Hope Davis) – who flirts with him in interesting ways. Gary can’t quite get used to the house arrest because odd things keep happening to him. He finds notes and voices that tell him to look for number 9 and the frequency he comes across the number freaks him out. Margaret and Sarah also seem to despise each other. Sarah tells Ryan that she can get him out of the situation whereas Margaret has a very interesting explanation for what’s happening. She claims that she and Gary have been friends for a long time, only Gary doesn’t remember it. And this is only the first part of the bizarre story…

Reynolds plays three different versions of himself. The characters are all him, only with different jobs, names and styles. Melissa McCarthy and Hope Davis also appear in all the stories, again all of them playing different versions of themselves. In the second part, Reynolds plays a TV show creator/writer named Gavin who is best friends with actress Melissa (McCarthy). This time Hope Davis is called Susan, the TV executive who is helping Gavin out with the project. Gavin is one of the “hallucinations” Gary saw in the beginning when he was driving at the beginning. Melissa and Susan have contradictory interests, just like the first part- each thinks Ryan’s character is better off without the other one in his life.

Third story is the dark-haired,bearded version Gary saw in his car. This guy is called Gabriel and he is a video games designer. In this part, Melissa McCarthy plays Mary, Gabriel’s wife and the mother of his kid, who incidentally plays in the show. Davis plays Sierra, a woman Gabriel asks for help when their car breaks down.

Complicated? Yes. Open to interpretations? Hell, yes. Did I give any spoilers? Trust me I didn’t give away anything more than the trailer suggests. But I didn’t mention one of the key actors, or any of the suggestions the movie makes. Trust me, you will have your surprises and theories when you watch it. It is one of the movies you might have to think about after it’s finished. Have fun. I did.

Other Posts on Ryan Reynolds

The Proposal starring Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock

Foolproof starring Ryan Reynolds

20 Tall Actors from Hollywood

The Man from Earth starring David Lee Smith

Posted on October 22, 2009 Written by ripitup

The Man from Earth starring David Lee Smith. Image via http://caramelwhistle.com

Professor John Oldman (David Lee Smith) is in his late 30s and he has just lefty his position as a professor at the university. He has only worked there for 10 years so his friends can’t quite understand his desire to move on. But he is determined so they decide to throw him a going away party. As his friends gather and chat, the script gives us little clues that we are about to witness some interesting story; like why does John have a Van Gogh painting that unmistakably resembles an original? His friends also mention that John hasn’t aged a day in 10 years. It turns out that they don’t know him as well as they think. He has quite an explanation as to why he has to move. He is also torn between telling his friends. Then he does. To the disbelief of all the science people in the room, he admits to being immortal. He is about 14.000 years old. His aging has stopped at age 35 so in order to go unnoticed, he leaves every 10 years and moves on to something else. They are also getting outrageous with his claims, since it goes against all their specialties: biology, anthropology, archeology… But he is so consistent, some seem so to believe him. After all they can’t disprove his story…The more his friends listen, the more they get concerned by John’s well-being. Is he nuts? Or are they actually facing a former caveman?

The script is full of intelligent twists. David Lee Smith portrays his character intensely and persuasively. The story is interesting and it glues you to the screen. They hardly ever leave the house and the only other filming location is the front yard of his house. The director is Richard Schenkman. The amazing story belongs to Jerome Bixby. He is the writer of the original Star Trek. And even if you like Star Trek or not, this story is nothing short of a masterpiece. It appeals to movie lovers of different tastes and surprises you with its intelligence and creativity. You won’t regret seeing this.

Fun note:

The Man from Earth, David Lee Smith, dated V‘s Erica Evans/Lost’s Juliet Elizabeth Mitchell in the mid-90s.

Other Sci-Fi Movies/Movies with Sci-Fi Elements

Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio

Strange Days starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Lewis and Angela Bassett

Timeline starring Gerard Butler and Paul Walker

Surrogates starring Bruce Willis and Rosamund Pike

Knowing starring Nicholas Cage

Gamer starring Gerard Butler