sweetness follows
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Matt's Movie Review - VALHALLA RISING (2009)
VALHALLA RISING
This......was........interesting. This movie follows "One-Eye", a mute warrior of supernatural strength who is held captive by a Norse tribe and forced to fight in "to the death" battles. One-Eye kills his captors and joined by a boy slave named "Are", sets off on a journey to the heart of darkness.
Valhalla Rising is the newest movie from Nicholas Winding Refn who directed Bronson and the Pusher Trilogy. I have not seen Pusher but Bronson is very good. Its like a 2008 Clockwork Orange with an absolute stunning performance by Tom Hardy. After Bronson and Inception, if Mr. Hardy is indeed in the new Batman movie, then color me excited.
However, this movie is almost the opposite of Bronson. The first thing I want to bring up is how this movie was shot. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say every frame of this movie is stunning. Simple shots of the sky, of a knife being dipped in a pond, of raw violent fights, everything looks like a painting. The color contrasts are incredible and I found myself open mouthed multiple times just enjoying the look of this film. This brings me to my second part - dialogue/soundtrack. There is very, VERY little dialogue in this movie. Maybe because it takes place in 1000 AD and men didn't talk much or maybe because our main character One-Eye is a mute. Either way, it works. The imagery combined with minimal dialogue is great but the sparse, ambient soundtrack just takes it to another level. You might be wondering "what the hell is he talking about? no words? weird music? pretty colors???" YES. And it held me in it's grasp the entire movie.
There is a lot of symbolism and imagery throughout the movie along with religious undertones. I'm not here to dissect them, to me that's something everyone needs to get on their own, in their own way. However, I did want to mention it. The movie is separated into parts - WRATH, SACRIFICE, HELL, etc to really drive it home. The last point I want to make is this: This movie will separate people. Some will love it (me), some will hate it. I'm not going to lie, from the 2nd part on not a whole lot happens that many would be considered "action". And this is after an absolute masterpiece 1st part that shows many of One-Eye's fights that again are beautiful yet raw and extremely violent. However, each part is there for a reason and I never got bored with it. This is an extremely unique movie that deserves to be seen - at the very least Part 1 [WRATH]. You might love it, you might hate it, but at least you will have seen something not shat out by Hollywood d-bags.
Valhalla Rising is available on Netflix Instant.
This......was........interesting. This movie follows "One-Eye", a mute warrior of supernatural strength who is held captive by a Norse tribe and forced to fight in "to the death" battles. One-Eye kills his captors and joined by a boy slave named "Are", sets off on a journey to the heart of darkness.
Valhalla Rising is the newest movie from Nicholas Winding Refn who directed Bronson and the Pusher Trilogy. I have not seen Pusher but Bronson is very good. Its like a 2008 Clockwork Orange with an absolute stunning performance by Tom Hardy. After Bronson and Inception, if Mr. Hardy is indeed in the new Batman movie, then color me excited.
However, this movie is almost the opposite of Bronson. The first thing I want to bring up is how this movie was shot. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say every frame of this movie is stunning. Simple shots of the sky, of a knife being dipped in a pond, of raw violent fights, everything looks like a painting. The color contrasts are incredible and I found myself open mouthed multiple times just enjoying the look of this film. This brings me to my second part - dialogue/soundtrack. There is very, VERY little dialogue in this movie. Maybe because it takes place in 1000 AD and men didn't talk much or maybe because our main character One-Eye is a mute. Either way, it works. The imagery combined with minimal dialogue is great but the sparse, ambient soundtrack just takes it to another level. You might be wondering "what the hell is he talking about? no words? weird music? pretty colors???" YES. And it held me in it's grasp the entire movie.
There is a lot of symbolism and imagery throughout the movie along with religious undertones. I'm not here to dissect them, to me that's something everyone needs to get on their own, in their own way. However, I did want to mention it. The movie is separated into parts - WRATH, SACRIFICE, HELL, etc to really drive it home. The last point I want to make is this: This movie will separate people. Some will love it (me), some will hate it. I'm not going to lie, from the 2nd part on not a whole lot happens that many would be considered "action". And this is after an absolute masterpiece 1st part that shows many of One-Eye's fights that again are beautiful yet raw and extremely violent. However, each part is there for a reason and I never got bored with it. This is an extremely unique movie that deserves to be seen - at the very least Part 1 [WRATH]. You might love it, you might hate it, but at least you will have seen something not shat out by Hollywood d-bags.
Valhalla Rising is available on Netflix Instant.
Matt's Movie Review - CENTURIOUN (2010)
CENTURION
Story: A splinter group of Roman soldiers fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is decimated in a devastating guerrilla attack.
WOW. I mean......WOW. This movie clocks in at 97 min and I'd say you're looking at about 96 minutes of just badassness. This is the new movie from one of my favorite directors working today - Neil Marshall. He is responsible for one of, if not the scariest movie of the past 10 years - THE DESCENT along with a few other awesome movies - Dog Soldiers and Doomsday. As a director, he is pretty straight forward. He writes and directs hardcore, badass movies. That's it. Seriously, he's 4 for 4. When I took Lauren to see The Descent in theaters, 2 people left during and afterwards we just stood in silence in the sun to shake off what we just witnessed. True Story. And Doomsday? Imagine all the best 80's action movies, add the same amount of blood from Braveheart AND Gladiator, throw in Bob Hoskins, cannibalism, and 2008 technology and thats Doomsday.
Anyway, back to Centurion. This follows a group of Roman soldiers stranded behind enemy lines after being attacked by the Picts. Who are the Picts? Crazy woods people who use nature, weather, night, and any other advantage to just destroy their opponents. Exhibit A - they take out a whole "legion" of soldiers in one battle. You do NOT mess with the Picts. They capture the Roman general, the soldiers head off to get him back and excitement ensues. And never stops. Like I said earlier, this movie is 97 minutes. Basically if you took all of Bravehearts fight scenes, combined them with some story scenes, thats Centurion. And these fight scenes are just as brutal and messy as anything in Braveheart/Gladiator/Troy/etc.
Beautifully shot, very well acted, and some of the best all out war scenes I've seen in some time, Centurion is a movie I highly recommend. It is currently on Netflix Instant.
Story: A splinter group of Roman soldiers fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is decimated in a devastating guerrilla attack.
WOW. I mean......WOW. This movie clocks in at 97 min and I'd say you're looking at about 96 minutes of just badassness. This is the new movie from one of my favorite directors working today - Neil Marshall. He is responsible for one of, if not the scariest movie of the past 10 years - THE DESCENT along with a few other awesome movies - Dog Soldiers and Doomsday. As a director, he is pretty straight forward. He writes and directs hardcore, badass movies. That's it. Seriously, he's 4 for 4. When I took Lauren to see The Descent in theaters, 2 people left during and afterwards we just stood in silence in the sun to shake off what we just witnessed. True Story. And Doomsday? Imagine all the best 80's action movies, add the same amount of blood from Braveheart AND Gladiator, throw in Bob Hoskins, cannibalism, and 2008 technology and thats Doomsday.
Anyway, back to Centurion. This follows a group of Roman soldiers stranded behind enemy lines after being attacked by the Picts. Who are the Picts? Crazy woods people who use nature, weather, night, and any other advantage to just destroy their opponents. Exhibit A - they take out a whole "legion" of soldiers in one battle. You do NOT mess with the Picts. They capture the Roman general, the soldiers head off to get him back and excitement ensues. And never stops. Like I said earlier, this movie is 97 minutes. Basically if you took all of Bravehearts fight scenes, combined them with some story scenes, thats Centurion. And these fight scenes are just as brutal and messy as anything in Braveheart/Gladiator/Troy/etc.
Beautifully shot, very well acted, and some of the best all out war scenes I've seen in some time, Centurion is a movie I highly recommend. It is currently on Netflix Instant.
Non-GMO Shopping Guide
I finally got around to watching Food Inc. and have recently seen a few programs on the hot topic of GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms or Genetically Engineered Foods).
Bottom line: 3+ times a day we are placing a vote about how the food industry will continue. And, if we want the system to change, we have to start with ourselves and change what we put in our body. Making responsible choices for ourselves and our families is the first step to change. Remember, every purchase is a vote!
Interested in purchasing Non-GMO products? Download this shopping guide or:
-Buy as much organic as you can (the more we buy, the cheaper and more available it will become!)
-Buy local! Support your local farmers. Often, local is the cheapest way to buy organic.
-Look for the Non-GMO label pictured here above.
FYI - Walmart brand items are non-GMO. We use "Great Value" and "Parent's Choice" food and diapers and save tons of money doing so...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)