Life of Pi

Life of Pi has got to be included in one of the most meaningful movies I've ever seen. For this year, it's the first movie I've watched and I'm off to a good start. Of course books can never be replaced by cinema, but I have to say the movie complemented it. Well for one, the movie gave highlights to the visual seduction of nature, the same nature that lured Pi to being an outcast. The movie gave characters life. Having affection for a live Bengal tiger who could easily be someone's death while like Pi, we question, demand and surrender to faith all over again. If you haven't read the book, the movie is an already a powerful treat. If you pursue reading the book after watching the movie, then much better.

Life of Pi, more than the spectacle that the movie presents, efficiently laid out important life messages that will stick and make a huge impact. The movie moved me in such a way that I was scared how Pi was so recognizable. I may not have his brilliant mind or suffered the same peril as he did, but his cycle of faith astonished me.  From being mesmerized by someone powerful like God, to having unwavering faith, to be seduced by beauty and hope only to endure more suffering, to taste hope only to lose it, to question God and not get an answer, to misunderstand until anger erupts so we can finally surrender and let go. Don't we all go through the same episodes at some point?

This story paints a picture of how we go through life's sufferings and how we stand in the matters of faith and God. We end up believing what we want to believe and some of us come out being better persons. More than anything, this movie is a story about faith and hope amidst obscurities. It also includes important parental lessons in life plainly presented. It's good to watch with family and friends, perfect if you want to do something productive and meaningful in your life today. You'll never know, it moved me so much that it inspired me to do something different and see life and God in a better perspective.

Skyfall

Skyfall is probably the first James Bond movie I saw on the big screen. I have to say that my knowledge about the popular British spy is very limited to sexy scenes, suave action scenes, ballad song for opening credits and a daring James Bond on tux. So I was pretty anxious to see Skyfall. I thought for a non fan, I wouldn't get the story what James Bond is all about.

After the movie, all I can say is that Daniel Craig was my James Bond of choice. He's got enough physical capacity, suave moves, intelligent features and intense appeal.

But unfortunately, the story was a bit of a linear drag. It didn't offer intricate conflicts as I had expected. Batman's was better, Mission Impossible, Charlie's Angels were better. Taken was better, shall I continue? The story is just about an old ex-M16 agent trying to get back at the elusive head of the department, M, played by the excellent Judi Dench because of her failed judgment call on a mission. It's case of an old agent with hurt feelings getting back at James Bond and company. The main villain, played by Javier Bardem, initiated a plot to expose identities of the M16 agents to put M in hot water, plant chaos in the department then eventually kill her. 

I know. I think Fox's series Homeland had a better premise. 

Subplot was more interesting though, it's the idea of conflict within the protagonists' characters in terms of touching the subjects of retirement and letting go. The movie shows how physical limitations and the safer judgement calls brought by experience and sentimentality tend to be liabilities in the spy job. It's how we are reminded that James Bond is vulnerable. And how M tries to hold of retirement until the job is done. That for me is more interesting than putting wasting Javier Bardem's pittance of a character. I was not even terrified. 

And there was this minor thing about the setting. James Bond used the streets and rooftops of Istanbul in their main action scenes. If you've seen the movie Taken, you'll be seeing the same rooftops with a better chase scene. I don't know what's with Istanbul nowadays that makes it so popular in Hollywood action movies.  The country is beautiful, but same rooftops in the chase scene makes me cringe. They also used Shanghai, which comes off as a short imitation to Mission Impossible. Seeing Skyfall using exact locations with less than spectacular scenes just force people to compare. At least in the Bourne was more original, they risked using Manila.

But in totality, I liked the dialogues and the actors are brilliant. Since this is not a drama movie, their exhibits are bit limited, but put the same set of characters in an English piece, I think they would pull it off brilliantly. Some parts in the movie, I imagine them in a different movie. What really disappointed me though was Javier Bardem's character. I didn't like the villain, no sort of impact. At the end, you don't know what the fuss was about. Javier Bardem's character in Skyfall is NOTHING compared to his villain character in No Country for Old Men. There was nothing left to develop. All actors in this movie are brilliant, but I guess unless you're  M or James Bond, it wouldn't have much impact. 

I've been a fan of Sam Mendes as a director, but I think Skyfall is not his best. For a non-fan, it was a bit of a drag and I just loved the movie because of the dialogues and the actors imagined in a different movie. At the end, James Bond is still James Bond, but there's no added stellar value in terms of action scenes, plots and settings. It's something we have definitely seen before and the worst part is that we saw something already better. 

Wreck it Ralph

I watched 2 movies this weekend one of which is Wreck-It-Ralph. I enjoyed it more.

Wreck It Ralph is a story that glimpses the"lives" of arcade heroes and villains particularly that of Ralph, who is the villain of the long running game Fix-It-Felix. Ralph's role in the game just like any arcade villain is to make some character's life miserable. He does it by wrecking the condo building of the tenant characters while the player, who takes on the Felix character, repairs it. And just like any arcade game, there are levels and power-ups. What humans don't know is what goes on after the arcade closes for the night.

As the arcade closes down, the characters of these games resume their lives so different from their real roles in the game. The villains are not so bad anymore, characters travel to the game central and get drinks, they mingle with each other and somehow have the same emotions, aspirations and dreams like humans. This is where Ralph's conflict comes in. Ralph, being the primary villain of his game, wants to be accepted as a good guy. He doesn't like the life he leads and he wants other characters to go past his villain looks and role and see him for what he really is, a good guy. He wants to be accepted.

But it was not that easy. Nobody wanted to accept him as good because he is programmed to be bad and they do not mess with their programs and alter their roles in the fear of having the human gamers figure out something's wrong in the game. Imagine the villain started to help the hero in the arcade, it won't be that fun to play anymore. So Ralph embarked on a journey to get a hero's medal to prove to his group that he could be a hero and he is in fact a good guy. That journey led to the cross of other characters in other games and his strong friendship with Venellope Von Sweets in the game Sugar Rush.

Wreck-it-Ralph has more depth to it than what normal good-evil cartoons offer. I find the premise very creative and interesting in trying to balance the role that was given to you, what society sees of you and what you envision for yourself. It's an inner conflict of trying to accept what we are and what is really important in our lives. The movie has a series of funny moments excellently done and the fact of emulating the arcade characters that we love into life makes it all funny watching it in the big screen. You realize for yourself that you cannot please everybody and society may judge you for your looks, but at the end of the day, it's what you think that really matters.

It's one of those cartoons that adults would enjoy and definitely kids would love and learn from. It's not all eye candy. It's something that I would definitely watch again. Disney did a great job in picking out a good story.