Do you know what this is? It's a do what ever I want and get away with it badge!

Over the holidays I watched a pair of fluffy summer popcorn movies, Transformers and Spider-Man 3. My general reaction to each of them was pretty much the same, though for different reasons. I thought they were both pretty blah. They share the big reasons for that, a weak script and plot. Without a good script, plot or characters, it's hard to really get into a movie - no matter how flashy or fun it is. Even pure comedies at least need characters you can empathize with a bit.

I suppose there's some empathy for the characters in Spider-Man, but it gets ruined by the poor dialog and the giant goofy section in the middle - where we stop caring for them. In Transformers, true to Michael Bay fashion, they didn't even try. It was just a joyride from the start.

The Transformers did have one aspect that was very interesting; the effects were amazing. There were these giant talking robots interacting with people, and the whole time it just worked. Computer graphics have come a very long way. I remember when I saw Jurassic Park being struck by how real the dinosaurs looked, but you knew they were still fake, they looked both real and fake at the same time. We're past that now, things just look like they're actually there. It's a wonderful power to put in the hands of creative filmmakers. I love science fiction and fantasy, and to give filmmakers the ability put realistic looking visuals to the amazing things they can dream up is pretty cool.

Of course, sometimes they don't pair all that coolness with an intersting story, and then it's just an exercise is imaging cool things, instead of doing what great sci-fi and fantasy do: explore personal stories outside the constraints of our realistic world.

Labels: Movie

You don't understand. I have a relationship with my phone, we have a chemistry together, I can't explain it.

I watched Keeping the Faith on comedy central last weekend on a lazy afternoon. I remember liking this movie when I saw it a few years ago (it was made in 2000.) I'd really forgotten the details of the movie, I knew it had to do with a priest and a rabbi falling for the same girl, but forgot about a lot of the religious overtones.

Some people would find this movie morally bankrupt, and if I think about it clearly is. You have people going against their religious faiths, their lifelong vows, and keeping major secrets from best friends. Those are the kinds of things that typically make you dislike characters. The movie somehow manages to be light hearted and cute so we don't start really disliking the characters, but also serious enough that there's some impact.

Someone who was seriously religious might think differently, since both of the main characters are religious leaders and don't really act like it at all. It's like a movie made by secular people about what they imaging being a religious leader might be like. As a secular viewer, I thought it was cute, but I can image a religious viewer being a little insulted.

I liked it because I it has some wit, Jenna Elfman's character is lots of fun, and it includes a few struggles about interfaith relationships - something I have some personal experience with.

Labels: Movie

Why don't you ask your boss how badly he wants to stick his neck out for a terrorist

Warning: Some spoilers

It's been about a month since I saw Rendition, but I've been lazy about writing. It's a movie about a despicable practice by the US Government called Extraordinary Rendition where we kidnap suspected terrorists and send them abroad to avoid any pesky issues with things like due process, constitutional rights, or laws that govern how you treat captives.

The movie is all about congratulating liberals over being disgusted by this practice, and true to form I felt mighty congratulated while I watched it. I found it to be easy to watch (except some of the torture bits) with interesting characters and a good flow. It wasn't until after the movie when I started to think about it, and realized this movie really missed the boat.

The problem is they didn't really even try. The suspected terrorist here is so clearly not a terrorist. He's lived in the US for most of his life, is a highly paid professional, and has pregnant wife and son. Then to play on some audience prejudices he speaks excellent English and is married to a cute white girl (Reese Witherspoon.) This means you're watching the whole movie thinking this is despicable and ridiculous, because this guy is clearly innocent. The problem is that when the guy is clearly innocent there is zero moral gray area to explore.

It's easy to think extraordinary rendition is terrible when the victim is innocent. The tougher thing is how do you feel about it when it's an honest to goodness terrorist, or maybe just someone who is heavily involved with terrorists. Now there's some meaty morality stuff to consider.

A large part of our justice system is based on treating guilty people with humanity and respect, not presuming people are guilty until they're convicted, and error on the side of innocence if you're not sure. The idea here is even guilty people are people, and it's better to let some guilty people go free than to wrongly convict some innocent people.

If you start digging into those questions I think you'd have the capacity for a much better film. Show some extraordinary rendition with a victim the audience doesn't like. Then challenge them to think about if it's right or wrong in that case. I'll also claim this will get further in a quest to change people's minds about the practice too. In Rendition the guy is so clearly innocent and likable, unless you're already a liberal government cynic it's hard to believe this could actually happen. But it's easy to believe it could happen with an unlikable guy who is actually involved with terrorism. Show people that situation, get them to understand it's wrong even in those circumstances, and then you'll get them on your side for real.

Labels: Movie

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