TMNT and Shooter

Jude, Ashley and I went to see "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" this last Friday night. Occasianally on Saturday mornings we'll watch the cartoon, so the kids were somewhat familiar with the idea. Also, weve watched the trailer for the movie, so we've been looking froward to it for a while now. It was alright I guess. The kids enjoyed it. There was some good animation, some fun action and it was funny at times. It just didn't impress us the way that "Finding Nemo" or even "Madagascar" does. If you're going to go with computer animation, you might as well amaze us. It shouldn't be just another way to make a movie, I want to be blown away, or at least captivated by the animation. Also, there should of been more focus on the turtles as individuals and as a group. Too much attention was paid to the plot, and specific threads, I went to see the turtles, ninja turtles.

Marky Mark is finally beginning to impress me. Beginning with "The Departed" last year, and now he is good again in "Shooter". He's not as good here, but good enough to be convincing, and although the movie itself isn't great, he can't be held responsible. I went to see this movie yesterday with my friend Rob. Rob knows more about military tactics and techniques than anyone else I know. It is difficult to impress Rob with most movies, because of how Hollywoodized they are. "Shooter" impressed Rob, with its attention to detail and accuracy regarding snipers. Of course we did find things to copmplain about, but still it is by far the best representation of how snipers operate. That was the strenght and enjoyable aspect to the film. Its weakness was in story and character motivation. This is dissapointing from Antoine Fuqua, considering that he directed "Training Day", which had all the tactical detail right on plus a powerful stroy and character study. The story and the character were just good enough to not detract from the sniper aspects, which I must admit was what drew me to the film in the first place. So my conclusion would be this, if you really want to see some accurate sniper stuff, go see "Shooter", if you want to see a movie where the filmmakers were so innacurate that they had to us Spanish Navy vessles to double for our Navy, then rent "Navy Seals", now that'll get you some laughs.

300

The choreography in "300" is amazing. Usually in battle movies, as defined by "Braveheart", there is a string af individual slashes, stabs, bludgeonings, etc... all edited together to make up a battle sequence. In "300" the camera follows one or two men for as much as five straight minutes, as the work together to take on hordes of enemies. The first guy will slash one enemy, then slam the next to the ground with his sheild, as he does this, his companion will finish off the enemy who just got slammed and spin to attack the next in line. I've seen exemaples of this technique in martial arts movies, but never this smoothly or on this scale. In martial arts movies, very often I get the feeling that it is more of a dance, a rehearsed set of moves. It is still fun to watch, but knowing it has been choreogaphed takes away from the illusion of the story. The strength in the battles of "300" is that everything matches, the characters, the stylization, the sound and the choreography. Now, I could go into the weaknesses of the film, the story, the speeches, the distracting presence of Faramir, but then if you want to see the best, watch "Braveheart" again, if you want to see some sweet fight scenes, "300" is for you.

Black Snake Moan

Have you ever had one of those moments, when there is something stressfull going on in your life, and you open the Bible, and the first thing you read speaks directly to what you're dealing with? I believe that it is good to have a good knowledge of what the Bible teaches, so as to be prepared for any situation. At the same time I do believe that God can, and does reveal answers to us in His word when we need them most. This is one of the ideas that "Black Snake Moan" explores, in a very interesting way. The main concept of the film though is true love. I am a sucker for movies about true love. From "Casablanca" to "The Princess Bride" to "Forrest Gump", true love just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside (in a good way). Of course to really capture true love, you must contrast it with false love, which isn't pretty. "Black Snake Moan" sets up it's exploration into true love with a truly dark journey into the underbelly of despair and debauchery. In "Casablanca" Rick and Ilsa have a tug-of-war with their hearts. In "The Princess Bride" there is an actual "Pit of Despair" and true love is tested by death. And Jenny in "Forrest Gump" spirals down into the depths of society, running away from true love, as though she feels she doesn't deserve it. "Black Snake Moan" isn't dealing with a new concept, but it does take a unique way of looking at it. Is it our responsibility as Christians to show those around us true love? Perhaps it isn't a good idea to chain people down, and try to force them to see it our way, but I think there a ways to spread true love without chains.

P.S. Samuel L. Jackson doesn't dissapoint, the opposite is true, as someone who thought he was great in "Pulp Fiction", here finally is a follow-up to that role.