Green Zone
From Netflix: U.S. Defense Intelligence Agent Clark Poundstone doesn't want to hear what Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller has to say about not finding the weapons of mass destruction he's been sent to Iraq to unearth. Why the cover-up?
My Take: I'm behind on this one, and I'll admit I almost sent it back. The problem with topical movies like this is once the topic is over, the movie loses some of its luster. We didn't find WMD in Iraq. I get it. I remember. But if you'll notice, no one cares anymore. Hell, no one even cares about Iraq anymore.
Quick sidetrack: remember when Iraq was a huge deal? It was everywhere! And then Obama was elected president, and suddenly everything just disappeared! This had nothing to do with Obama, but it was a nice reminder of just how much power media has to shape our daily lives. Iraq was tied to President Bush like a ball-and-chain. It was "his war," and as soon as he left office, the interest in Iraq went out the window. No more reporting on how things were going, the latest car bomb to explode, the successful turnout at elections, nothing. And likewise, many of my friends who couldn't shut up about Iraq were suddenly trying to focus on something else to whine about. That turned out to be Afghanistan, which has sort of become "Obama's war." I just think it's very interesting how we move on as a society and how the media can shape everything we do.
Okay back to the movie. Like I said, I almost sent this one back because I figured it was going to be something that didn't really interest me. But I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, Matt Damon has had a much better career since "Goodwill Hunting" than his buddy Ben, but he hasn't always hit homeruns. He does here. While he may not be as memorable a soldier as, say, Tom Hanks, he did play the role well and was believable all the way through.
I really liked the way this movie was shot, and also the way everyone was playing sides against one another. Sure you've seen plenty of movies where the CIA is at odds with the government, but I can't think of a movie in recent history where the hatred between the two organizations was so palpable. The casting was perfect, the dialogue was great, and what I liked most was that everyone had dirt on them, no one in this movie was perfect. Not even Matt Damon's character. While it might not leave you feeling as wholesome, it is a much more realistic interpretation of how people really are.
My only complaint about this movie is that there is no reference to what really happened during these days. If there was ever a movie that needed the text over black at the beginning or end, it was this one. How close to reality was this movie? Was it even based off of actual events? Or was it completely fictional? I think it's a filmmaker's responsibility to let the viewers know... especially if you're going to reference real-world events or use actual footage (like Bush on the aircraft carrier) to propel your message. We need to know if you're doing an expose, or if you're just bullshitting something that could have happened.
For being an older movie that is based on a very topical event, I think "Green Zone" holds its own pretty well. At its core, it's a nice mysterious flick, full of unclean and not-wholesome people. Lots of twists and turns, very gritty. And enjoyable.
Wreck It Ralph
From Netflix: Wreck-It Ralph longs to be the good guy instead of the villain in an old-school video game. He sees his chance and sneaks into the arcade's newest game, a flashy first-person shooter. But in doing the forbidden, he unleashes a deadly enemy.
My Take: If there were ever a movie catered specifically for me, it was this one. I'm so glad I got to grow up in the time I did, a time where I got a taste of the classic "arcades," a time where it actually made sense to go put a quarter in a machine (and just one quarter, mind you), because what you got was SO much better than the home gaming experience. That's not the case anymore... now you go to arcades and you're like "really? That's it?" It's sad, but it was inevitable.
"Wreck It Ralph" was in itself not the greatest movie ever. It lacked the epicness of "Wall-E" or even "Up." It had a nice message hidden within it, and it was a message that I think most kids would get. But it just didn't feel like the movie I thought it was going to be. The story was kinda meh, and most of it was spent in that candy game -- it just didn't cover a whole lot of ground. But that's not to say it was all bad.
The animation was very clean, and also really cool. I love that they took the time to animate the different characters so closely to the games they portrayed (for example, older game characters moved jerky, or with lower frame rates). The music was good, and the voice acting was spot on. Some of the dialogue was a little rough, and honestly the special effects were sort of creepy. If I had little kids and they were watching this, I might be a little upset because of the intensity of some of the weird effects.
But what really sold it for me were all the of the excellent tie-ins this movie accomplished. There were just so many, and all of them were inserted so cleverly, it really was quite an accomplishment. Seriously, everywhere you look is a tie-in... whether it's a character from a classic game, or "All your base belong to us" being spray-painted on a subway wall, these guys definitely knew their game. Though I have to say, they did screw up the Contra code. It's up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-b-a-b-a-select-start (or select-select-start if you're playing two player). For everything they nailed, that was a very important one.
"Wreck It Ralph" was a great trip down memory lane, and it was a great way to explain what happens to video games when the arcade closes. Hanging out in the surge protector? Brilliant! However, it never explored these ideas to their fullest. It was a relatively short movie, which may have been by design, but I think if they had been allowed to let this story breathe a little bit, they could have had something truly epic on their hands.
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