NOAH

fantasy, science fiction

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Russell Crowe: Noah

Jennifer Connelly: his wife Naameh

Douglas Booth: their oldest son Shem

Logan Lerman: Shem’s brother Ham

Leo Carroll: the youngest son Japheth

Anthony Hopkins: Noah’s grandfather Methuselah

Emma Watson: Ila, a badly injured survivor of a slaughter

REVIEW

The title of the movie is that of an historical figure who according to scriptures saved mankind from the wrath of God. Sure we all understand Hollywood takes certain liberties with the truth as we know it but when they rewrite the biblical story and have big ugly creatures made out of lumps of coal help Noah build the Ark, when men use tools and utensils well before they are invented (iron weapons and shields, rockets, chain link fence, animal traps) then the movie is nothing but a travesty of the Biblical recounting of these events. 

This fantasy, science-fiction film has no business making use of the name of Noah because of its implications. Call it “Noah and the lumps of coal” and I have no problem with that knowing it is a film about some guy called Noah who has some rather strange friends. So if he tosses down a seed into the barren ground and magically a forest of trees appears, trees just the right size to build an ark that’s alright because my expectations would be nothing more than seeing a soon-to-be-forgotten figment of someone’s imagination.

If that’s not bad enough, the film is overlong at two hours and twenty minutes, it is sluggish at times (probably to provide some relief to the senses after one of many loud, bombastic battles better suited to Star Wars) and makes Noah out to be something of a brutally cruel monster, not the man chosen by God to fulfill a mission of mercy.  

One final thought: as the audience filed out, the pervasive mood was that of bitter disappointment or perhaps disbelief. No one seemed happy or pleased with what they had just seen.

CLASSIFICATION

 for violence, disturbing images and brief suggestive content.

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Science fiction

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
James Franco: research scientist Will Rodman
David Oyelowo: his boss Steven Jacobs
Tyler Labine: animal handler Robert Franklin
John Lithgow: Will’s father Charles
Freida Pinto: primatologist Caroline Aranha
Brian Cox: primate rescue center owner John Landon
Tom Felton: his son Dodge

REVIEW
The thing that sets this apart is the realistic CGI effects that results in convincingly lifelike ape and chimps who take on human-like characteristics. In short order they become unhappy with their state in life and do something about it. That sets up lots of fast-paced action scenes culminating in one climatic battle that for some is a bit too long.

Since the principal actors never get around to talking there won’t be any acting awards for them (nor for the rest of the crew either).

A brief scene midway through the end-credits is probably a preview of the next instalment. You heard it here first.

CLASSIFICATION

for violence, terror, some sexuality and brief strong language.

THOR

Science fiction action adventure

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Natalie Portman: astrophysicist Jane Foster
Stellan Skarsgård: the authority on Nordic legend Dr. Erik Selvig
Kat Dennings: intern Darcy Lewis
Anthony Hopkins: King Odin, ruler of Asgard
Chris Hemsworth: his son Thor
Tom Hiddleston: Thor's adoptive brother Loki
Idris Elba: Asgard’s gatekeeper, Heimdall
Colm Feore: Laufey the Frost Giant King
Clark Gregg: Agent Coulson of SHEILD

REVIEW
Unquestionably geared to the comic book and superhero loving crowd this
tale about gods and man and the battle between good and evil is entertaining enough but a tad too long at almost 2 hours. In part because of the too frequent battles that I felt very detached about, not really caring one way or the other about the outcome.

There are a few brief moments of comic relief but for the most part it zips along at a pretty frantic pace in a computer driven CGI world. The acting, what there is of it, won’t make the short list of Academy Award performances. In fact the acting won’t make the long list either.

CLASSIFICATION
for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence.

SOURCE CODE

Science fiction thriller

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Jake Gyllenhaal: U.S. Army helicopter pilot Captain Colter Stevens
Michelle Monaghan: 28-year-old Christina Warren
Vera Farmiga: Air Force Capt. Colleen Goodwin
Jeffrey Wright: Source Code inventor Dr. Rutledge

REVIEW
Sci-fi fans will immediately recognize the time loop plot device in which time runs normally for a set period (in this case 8 minutes) then resets to the beginning and repeats as many times as required.

Couple that with the newest technology that allows the US military to use “time reassignment” that sends the subject to a place in time as someone other than himself and you have the makings of a very entertaining hour and a half.

There are some really good performances, the action is fast paced and the CGI quite good. My only one serious complaint is the fact the 8 minute sequences soon become a bit tiresome. Fewer sometimes is better.

CLASSIFICATION
for some violence including disturbing images, and for language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
1. The Rotating product placement is one of my favourite nitpicks: from one shot to the next the item in question moves about without being touched so that the brand name is clearly seen. In this instance it is the Dunking Donuts bag on the seat beside Christina.
2. Colter gets off the Chicago-bound commuter train at the Glenbrooke station (the thinly disguised real Glenview station) and the platform clock behind him correctly shows the time to be 7:43 (the scheduled time for train #2116) the but the clock in the trackside station tower reads 4:10.
3. Colter passes by several bikes getting to the exit door; bikes are not permitted on this early morning train.
4. Given that the train is travelling north to south and he alights on the left hand side he would be in early morning shadow not bright sunlight.
5. The crane shot above the platform clearly shows downtown Chicago to be reasonably close; Glenbrooke station is a good 20 miles from the city.
6. Later with the train speeding towards its destination seeing Lake Erie on the right hand side means our point of view is from the East whereas train # 2116 is coming from the north.
7. Colter Is given a phone number to call beginning with 465. There is no such area code in the United States.

P.S.
Canadian comic Russell Peters plays it mostly straight but does have one stand-up routine worth a chuckle.

NEVER LET ME GO

Science fiction drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Carey Mulligan: 28-year-old Kathy
Andrew Garfield: her longtime school chum Tommy
Charlotte Rampling: Miss Emily, headmistress of Hailsham Academy
Isobel Meikle-Small: 12-year-old young Kathy
Charlie Rowe: young Tommy
Ella Purnell: young Ruth
Keira Knightley: older Ruth
Sally Hawkins: new teacher Miss Lucy

REVIEW
After the opening scene the rest of the movie relies upon flashbacks to an earlier time when we learn that the students of this British co-ed boarding school have a special purpose in life. At the same time some of them have to deal with the teenage problem of a love triangle.

Things move slowly enough that no one will get left behind and viewers of British persuasion can better understand the various accents and will get more of the one-liners while we less fortunate ones sit and wonder what’s so funny?

Although she doesn’t get as much screen time as some of the others, this is Knightley’s best performance in years.

CLASSIFICATION
for nudity, sexual encounter and language.

INCEPTION

Science fiction

F.Y.I.
An extractor: someone who can enter into other people’s dreams
An inception: the implantation of an idea deep in someone’s subconscious
Two-dream layers: people dream that they’re dreaming
Three-dream layers: a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Leonardo DiCaprio: Dominic "Dom" Cobb, an extractor
Ken Watanabe: Saito, CEO of a Japanese energy company
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Dom’s longtime associate Arthur
Marion Cotillard: Dom’s wife Mallorie "Mal" Cobb
Michael Caine: Miles, college professor and Dom’s father-in-law
Ellen Page: Ariadne, a brilliant young architect
Tom Hardy: Eames, a forger
Dileep Rao: Yusuf, a chemical genius
Cillian Murphy: Robert Fischer, Jr., heir to a business empire
Pete Postlethwaite: Robert’s ailing father Maurice
Tom Berenger: Maurice’s right hand man Browning

REVIEW
Too long (2½ hours), too confusing (at least for me) and too repetitive (car chases and gun battles go on forever).

Blurring the lines between reality and fantasy is a mainstay of science-fiction movies but sometimes they can go too far with it. Such is the case with this one: after a while it all becomes too much to keep track of what we are seeing.

Consequently about the midpoint I’d given up any hope of ever figuring it out so I occupied myself watching the movie's astonishing special effects and looking for Nitpicks, of which there are quite a few.

CLASSIFICATION
for sequences of violence and action throughout.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• Cobb’s gun is slid across the conference table with the handle away from him but when he later grabs it he is able to shoot the gun without first having to twist it around.
• In the first car chase the grill of the yellow cab gets smashed in pretty badly. But in the next scene the grill is mostly intact and stays that way until the cab drives into the warehouse once more with a badly damaged grill.
• Like the other passengers Arthur puts on headphones when he enters the white van. During its fall from the bridge he no longer has them on until it enters the water and they reappear.
• A car explodes in a big fireball outside the Paris café followed by a lot of debris then another big explosion, this time with the same car that has already been blown to bits as well as others.
• While lying down after being shot Saito’s shirt is unbuttoned at the top and you can see the white sticky tape and part of his blood pack on his chest to create the illusion of being wounded.
• As Arthur helps the team members to the elevator the green EXIT sign is backwards.
• Arthur enters hotel room 491 and says it is directly below room 528. No where have I ever seen room numbers assigned in that manner.
• Arthur and Cobb leave their Tokyo hotel room and go up the stairs to the roof. It is clearly night-time as they get in the helicopter but in the next scene when it flies off it is mid-day.
• While Saito and Cobb are in another helicopter it is raining against the window behind them but seconds later when they are about to take off there is no rain to be seen anywhere.
• The Immigration Officer stamps Cobb’s passport after examining it. Passports of US Citizens returning from abroad are not stamped by US Immigration.

SPLICE

Science fiction

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Adrien Brody: genetic researcher Clive Nicoli
Sarah Polley: his associate and girlfriend Elsa Kast
Brandon McGibbon: Clive’s brother lab technician Gavin
David Hewlett: their boss William “Bill” Barlow
Simona Maicanescu: Joan Chorot, head of the pharmaceutical firm
Delphine Chanéac: Dren

REVIEW
This updated “Frankenstein” tale of two scientists working with gene-splicing technology to create new species has a twist: the result of their efforts might have beneficial pharmaceutical implications. But maybe not.

The CGI is pretty seamless and the use of gore to shock is done sparingly although there are moments when turning the head aside seems the best course of action, certainly for the squeamish like me.

The acting is fine and the leads do a credible job of being “a almost married couple”. Certainly not for everyone, but those who are into this sort of thing will find it mildly entertaining.

CLASSIFICATION
for disturbing elements including strong sexuality, nudity, sci-fi violence and language.

AVATAR

Science fiction
Portions in the Na’vi language with English subtitles

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Sam Worthington: former U.S Marine Jake Sully
Joel David Moore: biologist Norm Spellman
Sigourney Weaver: Program Director Dr. Grace Augustine
Stephen Lang: Security Chief Col. Miles Quaritch
Giovanni Ribisi: Senior Administrator Parker Selfridge
Michelle Rodriguez: former U.S Marine pilot Trudy Chacon
Zoe Saldana: Neytiri, a princess of the Na'vi tribe
Wes Studi: Eytukan, King of the Na’vi
C.C.H. Pounder: his wife Queen Mo’at
Laz Alonso: their son Prince Tsu’Tey

REVIEW
Fans of this genre of movie with an abundance of time on their hands will absolutely love it. This is a film of superlatives and excesses:
• photorealistic imagery done in beautiful colours
• beautiful rendering of imaginative creatures
• a good story (although lacking originality)
• intelligent use of 3D to immerse us rather than scare us
• some excellent acting
• and it is loud, very loud; in fact your ears are constantly being assaulted by the intense sound

But the main problem is that it goes on forever and ever; well ok for two hours and 42 minutes. But it seems longer. Especially the final battle. I didn’t time it but after a good 30 minutes I had seen enough and left.

CLASSIFICATION
for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.

P.S.
Avatar: noun
A human mind in an alien body, a representation of a real person in a virtual world.

SURROGATES

Science fiction

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Bruce Willis: FBI agent Tom Greer
Radha Mitchell: his partner Jennifer Peters
James Cromwell: inventor Dr. Lionel Canter
Ving Rhames: The Prophet
Rosamund Pike: Green’s wife Maggie

REVIEW
The target audience (teenage males) will love it because there’s lots of action, wild car chases, really cool weapons and gorgeous women. The rest of us will find it less enthralling.

Because the main premise is not really spelled out it takes some time before you catch on to what is happening. Fans of this sort of movie probably do not need this “background” information, but I certainly could have used it. Well maybe not.

CLASSIFICATION
for intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, language, sexuality and a drug-related scene.

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE

Science fiction, romance

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Eric Bana: 30-year-old Henry DeTamble, Library researcher
Rachel McAdams: the adult Clare Abshire, an artist
Arliss Howard: Henry’s father Richard
Brooklyn Proulx: the young Clare
Ron Livingston: Gomez, boyfriend of Clares roommate
Stephen Tobolowsky: geneticist Dr. Kendrick

REVIEW
Watching this film about a time traveler (someone who can move from one instant in time to another) is like being bounced about on a rocking ship. Just when you think you got a good grasp on the situation, it all changes. An interesting premise this time travelling but it leads to a jumbled mess of encounters as you are witness to things happening totally out of sequence.

Any movie that is primarily a love story to my mind is best served in the traditional narrative form with the odd flashback as required. That way we get to see how things play out. Instead, as each new episode is presented, we know soon it’s going to disappear. Not much fun in that.

CLASSIFICATION
for thematic elements, brief disturbing images, nudity and sexuality.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• With the bride and her father about to walk down the aisle, almost half the house behind them is in shadow. By the time they arrive at the altar moments later the entire façade is now in brilliant sunlight.
• While Henry is talking to the young Clare in the meadow, a white thread is clearly visible hanging from her left sleeve. It disappears and reappears between shots.
• Henry slides into bed on the left hand side. The next shot is a close up with him talking to Clare and as the camera pulls back we see he somehow in an instant has gotten over to the right hand side.

9

Science fiction

WITH THE VOICES OF
Elijah Wood: No. 9
Martin Landau: his first acquaintance, No. 2
Christopher Plummer: the group’s leader, No. 1
John C. Reilly: one-eyed No. 5
Jennifer Connelly: No. 7
and others no doubt

REVIEW
Another movie about the end of civilization with the survivors having to deal with a changed world, this one is too scary for children, too boring for everyone else. Offering up state of the art computer generated animation is not enough: there has to be a story worth watching. And that’s where it fails miserably.

Instead it is simply a series of action scenes while they run and hide from the mechanical monster followed by a brief period of inane dialogue until another crisis comes along which precipitates the next batch of action scenes. It soon becomes predictive and not very interesting. And not a funny line anywhere; not surprising given the grim, gloomy place they find themselves in.

With no opportunity to get to know these rag doll creatures (they have no names, just a number) it is impossible to be emotionally involved in their situation. So you watch them scurry about dispassionately. Seemed pointless so I walked out.

CLASSIFICATION
for violence and scary images.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
No. 9’s zipper is closed when No. 2 shows him the missing part. No. 2 then proceeds to insert it in No. 9 whose zipper has magically unzipped itself.

P.S.
I was not the first to leave the theatre part way through. Two couples had better sense than me and left before I did.

DISTRICT 9

Science fiction action/adventure

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Sharlto Copley: Wikus Van Der Merwe, employee of MNU a private security firm
David James: Colonel Koobus Venter, head of the military unit
Vanessa Haywood: Wikus’ wife Tania

REVIEW
Shot as a docudrama we learn from television news clips and the on-air interviews that extraterrestrials have travelled to our planet. Things evolve quickly enough what with crisp editing and rapid fire developments. There’s hardly a pause in the action until midway through.

The CGI effects are remarkable and the acting by Copley first-rate.

The squeamish like me will have to avert their eyes for some scenes. However coming in at almost two hours, it is a tad too long. For that it gets one star lopped off.

CLASSIFICATION
for bloody violence and pervasive language.

MOON

Science fiction

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Sam Rockwell: Sam Bell, contract employee with Lunar Industries
Kevin Spacey: his "assistant" the computer GERTY
Dominique McElligott: Sam’s wife Tess

REVIEW
With the knowledge gained from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey a certain element of dread underlies the actions of GERTY, Sam’s only companion on the Moon station. Other than that most of the film is devoted to Sam’s daily routine and it’s only at the half-way point that there is any new development.

So you have to be patient since not much else happens: no battle scenes, no explosions, no impending disaster. There’s just Sam and GERTY, which is hardly enough.

CLASSIFICATION
for language.
That’s got to be a mistake: there are more swear words in most PG rated movies than in this one, nothing sexual and no violence which are generally the earmarks for a classification of this sort.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
1. Sam puts a bandage on his hand after scalding himself with hot water. The bandage does not stay in place and “moves” closer or farther away from his knuckles between different scenes.
2. Sound needs a medium to propagate and cannot travel in a vacuum. The Moon has an atmosphere so thin as to be almost negligible so you would not hear the sound of the hatch being slammed shut when Sam is checking out the equipment.
3. In the replay of Sam’s conversation with Eve there is no pause before he asks “Are you sure?”. But in the original transmission, the pause is at least 5 seconds long.

P.S.
There are eight known isotopes of helium, but only helium-3 and helium-4 are stable. Helium-3 (written 3He) is present on Earth only in trace amounts. The Moon’s surface contains helium-3 at concentrations in the order of 0.01 ppm, far more than on Earth. A number of people, starting with Gerald Kulcinski in 1986, proposed mining the helium-3 as a safe and clean source of energy when used as fuel in a nuclear fusion process.

STAR TREK

Science fiction adventure

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Chris Hemsworth: Captain George Kirk of the U.S.S. Kelvin
Chris Pine: his son James Tiberius Kirk as an adult
Zoe Saldana: Cadet Nyota Uhura
Bruce Greenwood: Captain Christopher Pike, commander of the U.S.S. Enterprise
Zachary Quinto: the adult Spock, Pike’s second in command
Eric Bana: Captain Nero, commander of the renegade spaceship
Karl Urban: Leonard “Bones” McCoy, the Enterprise’s resident physician
John Cho: Hikaru Sulu, pilot of the Enterprise
Anton Yelchin: another crew member Pavel Chekov
Leonard Nimoy: the elder Spock
Simon Pegg: master technician Montgomery "Scotty" Scott

REVIEW
They have wisely played down the romantic love interest aspect and instead devoted most of the time to the on-going battle between the forces of good and evil. You will have to see the movie to find out which side wins out.

The special effects are nothing short of amazing thanks to some excellent CGI and the action is virtually non-stop. The acting is bang-on with a smattering of humour from time to time. Nothing outrageous, just the chuckle type of thing in keeping with the serious nature of their undertaking.

Although committed “Trekkers” can never get enough, others will find the running time of two hours plus a tad too long.

CLASSIFICATION

for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
James T. gets into a barroom fight and gets a cut on the eyebrow and just below his left eye. At first the wound is jagged but it soon becomes just a curve, sometimes disappearing completely only to reappear in later scenes.

KNOWING

Science fiction

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Lara Robinson: Lucinda Embry, a student in a Boston primary school
Chandler Canterbury: 10-year-old Caleb Koestler
Nicolas Cage: his father John, a professor of astrophysics at MIT
Nadia Townsend: John’s sister Grace
Rose Byrne: Lucinda’s daughter Diana
Lara Robinson: Diana’s 10-year-old daughter Abby

REVIEW
It starts off with a decent premise, suitably mysterious and worthy of being solved 50 years later. Trouble is, as one member of the audience remarked, “John does it all by himself in a matter of minutes and denies the rest of us any opportunity to figure it out for ourselves…what a gyp!”

But that’s not the only problem with the film: it’s too long by at least half an hour with a totally unnecessary trip to an old cabin and a prolonged finale that “goes on forever”. In fact as someone else observed “the ending needs to be rewritten to come to a more satisfying conclusion”. Nuff said.

In all fairness though, the CGI effects are quite impressive and there are several creepy moments, scary enough that the kid sitting beside me jumped out of his seat 3 or 4 inches on two occasions.

CLASSIFICATION
for disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief language.

CHILDREN OF MEN

Science fiction

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Clive Owen: Theodore (Theo) Faron, a government clerk
Julianne Moore: his former girlfriend, Julian Taylor, leader of the militant group Fishes
Claire-Hope Ashitey: 18-year-old Kee, an illegal immigrant
Michael Caine: aging hippie Jasper Palmer
Chiwetel Ejiofor: Luke, unruly member of the group Fishes
Peter Mullan: Sid, a wise-cracking corrupt security guard

REVIEW
This is one heckuva movie with some rather innovative techniques (extremely long 2-minute tracking shots, a hand-held sequence with a long pause in it) that only serve to emphasise how depressing the whole thing really is. Since it is set in the near future (some 20 years from now), it is within the realm of possibility. And it is not a pretty place. You will not the leave the theatre unmoved and it won’t be a cheerful exit.

CLASSIFICATION
for strong violence, language, some drug use and brief nudity.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
After being ambushed in the woods, the car’s windshield has a bullet hole in it and one of the side windows is completely shattered. Minutes later when they arrive at their destination, both windows are intact with no sign of any damage.

WAR OF THE WORLDS

Science fiction

BACKGROUND
The War of the Worlds was a science fiction novel written by H.G. Wells in 1898 describing the invasion of Earth by aliens from Mars, who use laser-like Heat Rays and chemical weapons (the Black Smoke) to overcome any resistance. The invaders devastate much of eastern England, including the city of London.

On October 30, 1938, as a Halloween special, Orson Welles presented a live radio adaptation on CBS. The announcer began by explaining that what was to follow was based on the famous H.G. Wells novel. Then the program itself started as an ordinary music show, only occasionally interrupted by news flashes. Initially, the news is of strange explosions sighted on Mars. The news reports grew more frequent and increasingly ominous after a meteorite--later revealed as a Martian rocket capsule--lands in New Jersey. A crowd gathers, and the events are related by the on-the-scene reporter Carl Philips up until the Martians incinerate curious onlookers with their "heat ray".

Many people missed or ignored the opening remarks of the program, and in the atmosphere of growing tension and anxiety in the days leading up to World War II, took it to be an actual news broadcast. Panic ensued, with people fleeing the area, and others thinking they could smell the poison gas or could see the flashes of the fighting in the distance.

Several people rushed to the "scene" of the events in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey (a small farming community northeast of Trenton) to see if they could catch a glimpse of the unfolding events. A couple of astronomers from Princeton University went out looking for the "meteorite" that had supposedly fallen near their school. Some people, who had brought firearms, reportedly mistook a local farmer's water tower for an alien spaceship and shot at it. The size of the crowd increased as more and more people rushed to the area. Eventually police were sent to help control the panicked crowds. To people arriving later in the evening, it really did look like the events being narrated on the radio broadcast, with panicked crowds and flashing police lights streaming across the masses.

Because of the panic caused by this radio play, TV networks have deemed it necessary to post bulletins directed to their viewing audience to inform them some TV stories are in fact fictional-drama, and not really happening. Disclaimers of this sort were shown during broadcasts of the 1983 television movie Special Bulletin and most recently NBC placed disclaimers in an October 1999 TV movie dramatising the possible disastrous effects of the Y2K bug.

The Los Angeles CBS affiliate radio station, KNX, re-broadcasts the radio program every year on Halloween.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Tom Cruise: Ray Ferrier, a crane operator on the New Jersey dockyards
Justin Chatwin: his 16-year-old son Robbie
Dakota Fanning: Robbie's 10-year-old little sister Rachel
Tim Robbins: a cellar-dwelling survivalist, Ogilvy Fox

REVIEW
As disaster movies go, this is one of the best. The story is compelling enough to keep you riveted to the screen most of the time, although it does get a bit repetitive here and there. The acting is excellent and the special effects are fantastic.

CLASSIFICATION
for frightening sequences of science fiction violence and disturbing images.