I have loved movies since I was a kid. Some of my best memories are going to the local video rental store – Take One – with my dad and stocking up for the weekend. There were four I always begged to get: Star Wars (the original), Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Hobbit and Watership Down. To this day, they remain some of my favorites.
In the past couple of weeks, I have talked Steve into watching three movies. To many people, this is normal. Not in our household. Steve has a hard time staying still and not talking for 1.5+ hours.
First, we saw I Am Legend (yes, I know we’re way behind). Based on Richard Matheson’s book, the story is about mankind being destroyed by a virus of its own creation. There is one uninfected person left on Earth (Will Smith), who tries to continue living a normal life by watching taped episodes of the Today Show, hitting golf balls and talking to mannequins. Yes, he interacts with several plastic companions he has placed along the streets of NYC and in the video store he frequents. The rest of the human population has been wiped-out or reduced to flesh-eating beasts that only come out at night – side effect of the virus of course.
As the lack of day-to-day contact with others slowly drives Smith’s character insane, he searches desperately for a cure to make the infected well.Intriguing concept and good acting (mostly by Will Smith). My only criticism is of the CGI effects. They made an empty, crumbling Big Apple look believable. But anything with movement – the now-free zoo animals, roaming deer and those vampire-like infected humans – looked too cartoony. In short, the CGI distracted from an otherwise frightening storyline. It breached the suspension of disbelief with scenes that looked more like a video game than a film.
Whatever happened to special effects that involved models, camera tricks and a good coating of makeup? For me, the three new Star Wars movies were a huge letdown, mostly because of the CGI. The originals seemed so “real” to me as a kid and as an adult. In my opinion, the only movies that really benefited from CGI use were the three Lord of the Rings installments. Each of these films combines the digital technology with actual people, sets, landscapes, etc. Being my favorite books, I went into the theater with high expectations. Peter Jackson and company did not disappoint!
Ok, now for a quick round up of the other two new releases (Valkyrie and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button) that we actually saw in the movie theater. Even harder than getting Steve to watch a movie is convincing him to go into a dark, crowded room to do it (a big bag of buttered popcorn helps!).
Even though you know the ending before ever sitting down, Valkyrie kept me in suspense. Fantastic cast (even Tom Cruise did a fine acting job) and fluid cinematography. Hours after the credits rolled, Steve and I still were discussing what-ifs in history.
Our second trip to a movie theater was to see the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. A love story. A new outlook on life and death. I wonder if my emotional outburst at the end would have been merely a teardrop or two if I wasn’t a parent. Motherhood definitely has given me new eyes.
There are too many movies and too little time to see them all. What do you recommend? No scary movies, please!
By Sarah
