Warning, spoilers do follow.
A bit of 2001: Space Odyssey feel to it, with themes of cloning, evil corporations and the nature of humanity (watch for the moment when the computer/robot cries). Another great example that great science-fiction movies don’t need to have exorbitant budgets.
Sci-fi with a strong social commentary and immigration undertones is right up my alley. The fact that it’s set in South Africa, has great special effects and is set in a very rich and intelligent universe is of course a plus. What’s not to like? 😉 I won’t spoil the movie in the first paragraph of this blog post (you are more than able to read about it online), so go and see it. Now.
That it’s become an absolute classic of our time already 2 weeks after release doesn’t hurt. The social critique of the movie was driven home for me in a post by Inti of Alt1040 (quoted and translated below):
It is no secret that ignorance and fear easily make us racists. The lack of knowledge of the lifestyles of people of different races and nationalities, together with the fear that we might feel for “possible” aggressions are the best nurture for intolerance […] outside of all logic and humanity. Ignorance and fear that are themselves based in prejudice and distorted values. When we know more about other people and find a reflection of ourselves, this fear should disappear together with any racist or xenophobic attitude. What happens when ignorance and fear have a justification and there is no way to clear these obstacles?
Finally watched this Oscar-winning movie. Set in the slums of Mumbai, the plot is very well built, and the soundtrack and camerawork are just excellent. Even though it has its very tragic moments, it is quite an uplifting movie, unlike Amores Perros & Cidade de Deus.
Give it a try if you haven’t yet.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Juan García Esquivel lately. Imagine my surprise when I found this mashup with 2001: Space Odissey, one of my favourite movies.
What happens when you mix George Soros' "The Age of Fallibility", Carl Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World" and Mexican movie "Y tu mamá también"? You end up realising that in the end they might not be so far away from each other.
Basically, their main tenet is that absolute truth is non-existent and we can only reach approximations. Furthermore, we have to be aware of this fact whenever we are constructing our visions of reality, as assuming they are "true" will only cause us several problems: with the policies and attitudes followed by society, with our use of science and technology, and with our understanding of ourselves.
On a recent flight I saw Charlie Wilson's War, and it brought to the silver screen (or LCD, in this case) a couple of interesting points. We already knew that for the Soviets the invasion of Afghanistan was an equivalent of the Vietnam War for the Americans, but I didn't know that many details (still sketchy, after all, it's only a movie) on the American covert operations there.
The movie is funny and well-paced, but one thing that I would have liked to see more is a better job at bringing home the point that some of the "freedom fighters" of the 80's became the "terrorists" of the 2000's due to neglect.
Interestingly enough, I remember some of the newsclips shown in the film, even though then I was a small kid.
During the past few days I've seen quite a few stories that involve time travelling. From an episode of Babylon 5 to the Spanish movie Open your Eyes to the novel The Forever War, I spent this weekend trying to analyse rather convoluted timelines, and finding myself enjoying them.
Interestingly enough, I know that some people close to me have certain difficulties following those plots whereas for me those kind of paradoxes are kind of normal. That's what happens when you grow up with a steady diet of science fiction.
Definitely a movie I want to see, as it depicts the psicological framework of a former SS guard. Not for the faint of heart, though.
I watched the Transformers movie (mecha porn!) during the week and both that and my recent acquisition of a Nintendo Wii (I've already bought online Super Mario Bros. and Punch Out) have convinced me that we're ongoing a serious case of 80's nostagia.
Furthermore, I'm surprised by the amount of fantasy movies currently either on cinemas or on the way. Given that some of the most famous fantasy storylines are product of the escapism needed in times of crisis (Lord of the Rings is a product of the II World War, whereas Star Wars was written during the aftershock of the Vietnam War), I wonder how this offering reflects on the times we're living.
Normalmente no me importaría demasiado, pero dado que ya tiene tiempo que pasó a mejor vida, sirvan estas líneas para recordar a uno de los personajes más entrañables del cine mexicano de los 40s y 50s, Pedro Infante (videos), quien junto a Jorge Negrete (videos), francamente mi preferido, extendieron el gusto por el cine y la música mexicana por el mundo hispanoparlante de aquella época.
Para recordarlos, uno de mis dúos favoritos en Dos Tipos de Cuidado.