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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Green Zone (2010) in Movies

Aug 8, 2019

Green Zone (2010)

2010 | Drama, Mystery

6.7

(3 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Taking you into the depths of the controversial Iraq conflict is the new thriller “Green Zone”. Matt Damon, stars as chief warrant officer Roy Miller. Along side Damon are a number of well crafted characters such as the shady operations lead, Clark Poundstone, played by the ever snarky Greg Kinnear and the eager journalist, Lawrie Danye, played by Amy Ryan. However, the strongest support both within the plot and story telling came from the local informant “Freddy” played by Khalid Abdalla.

Based on the 2006 award winning book “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone” by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the film focuses on the duality of war. The plot covers both the obtuse role of US military within Iraq and the multitude of complexities a soldier faces in the pursuit of what is right.

“Green Zone” presents a compelling take on the Iraq conflict by pursuing a variety of perspectives and maintaining the intensity of a good thriller. It is a film that manages to enjoy the fruits of a novel basis while avoiding the boring dragging out that so often happens when films try to maintain literary accuracy.

In fact, the beginning was more like playing a good level of Call of Duty Modern Warfare (starring a main character who happens to have once been Jason Bourne) than an adaptation of a famous piece of literature. Partially due to Damon’s acting skills, “Green Zone” manages to walk far from the identity of Bourne and quickly catches viewers up in an entirely different character.

An interesting perspective on a conflict that is still fresh in the minds of US citizens, “Green Zone” proves to be thought-provoking while at the same time creating an enjoyable film-going experience.

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Lovely Bones (2009) in Movies

Aug 8, 2019

The Lovely Bones (2009)

2009 | Drama, Horror, Mystery

6.8

(8 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Life is just beginning to blossom for Suzie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) who has her first date with the boy she’s been dying to kiss, when she is unexpectedly murdered. Her mother can’t deal, her father becomes obsessed and her chain-smoking grandma becomes the most stable force in the family. But Suzie refuses to cross the border between heaven and earth with her killer still on the loose and distressingly interested in her younger sister.

“The Lovely Bones” is a prime example of a good film based on an acclaimed book that could have been great given thirty more minutes. The characters were engaging but less than ideally developed, case in point would be the mother whose sudden flee from her home only to appear picking oranges on a farm left the audience collectively confused.

Still the use of perspective and sound are undeniably captivating. From the graphically delightful and horrific imagery that is the world between heaven and our own to the use of color to establish the time period.

The heroine and villain are equally engrossing yet most of the film’s seasoned actors have performed better. The least developed characters were Suzie’s parents played by Mark Wahlberg and Rachael Weisz. But Susan Sarandon as Grandma Lynn left Wahlberg and Weisz in the dust creating a delightfully flawed character in her supporting role.

Both a drama and a thriller, there were moments during “The Lovely Bones” which captivated the entire theater making it a film that will provide great images for fans of the book. Yet while it will be a delight for those familiar with the book, the plot holes that “The Lovely Bones” leaves for the non-literary crowd are staggering.

In the end “The Lovely Bones” was a good enough film that attempted to stay true to the book but really could have been lovelier.

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches in Books

Feb 3, 2020

Diverse collection of short stories all revisiting the Martian invasion of 1898 (as originally detailed by H.G. Wells). Most (but not all) of the stories are narrated by notables from the period, most (but not all) of these are famous writers: Henry James, Samuel Clemens, Rudyard Kipling, and so on. The collection kind of overlooks the implication that the Martians only actually invade southern England in Wells' novel, but then most adaptations do the same thing, and the stories here aren't even consistent with each other (the fate of Paris varies significantly in the Jules Verne and Pablo Picasso entries).

A bit of a mixed bag, to be honest: some of the stories just restage elements of Wells with a different backdrop, others treat the Martians as a backdrop for more introspective tales, still others indulge in literary pastiche. Unlikely juxtapositions and in-jokes abound - Rudyard Kipling meets Gandhi, Tolstoy meets Stalin, Samuel Clemens (d. 1910) makes reference to John Christopher (b. 1922). The best stories are mostly the ones which recognise the political/satirical subtext powering the Wells novel and attempt to do something similar - so Barbara Hambly's story concerns British imperialism in India, and the effect of the Martians on the situation there, while another looks at the consequences for pre-revolutionary Russia. That said, Connie Willis' Hugo-winning contribution sends the whole conceit of the novel up with a predictable mixture of tongue-in-cheek drollery and sheer absurd silliness, as the unlikely effect of a Martian encounter on the poetry of Emily Dickinson is revealed (especially considering Dickinson died twelve years before the coming of the Martians). The good stories are very good indeed, the less good ones merely a bit tedious. A worthy and worthwhile tribute to the original novel.