Gattaca

I really appreciate my local library for stocking old movies. I still have a VHS player which increases my viewing variety. They'll soon be obsolete and, sadly, filling landfills.)

I watched a really really old movie (well, old as Hollywood goes) Gattaca from 1997, staring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.

The movie was eerie. That seems to have made it unique...I think.

I enjoyed the cinematography. It was a bit monotonous but I think that was one of the points.

I wanted to see more of Jude Law. He did well but not enough of him.

It was amazing that the casting crew found children and teens that resembled Vincent and Anton so well. (I often suspect them of casting the stars' children as their younger versions. But seldom since most natural children don't resemble their parents at all.)

Anyway, the movie was a milder form of science fiction--what Asimov liked to call sci-fi, what I call fake science fiction. (I suspect he was referring to a a science fiction story written by a non-science fiction writer. I could be wrong about Gattaca though.)

The plot was secondary to the visual scenes. A good deal of it was left open to interpretation...like what planet were they on? Was that really the sun or a simulation of a sunrise? And how come nobody recognized that Hawke's Jerome was wearing contact lenses? Did they just help him see clearly or did they alter his eye color?

Anyway, if you like mystifying sci-fi and moderately old movies from 1990's you might like it.

It's not bad (regardless of the negative viewer comments I read on the Internet. I don't know what the critics said, but who cares?

Revenge?

I'm very disturbed that movies and even TV shows are doing themes and plots showing revenge as a good idea.

That's scary. Encouraging people to take the law into their own hands is seriously wrong. Killing someone who killed a friend or family member of yours makes you exactly like the person who did the killing in the first place. Worse, since revenge includes hate.

A hero of a movie going after the cops and judge that put him in prison for something he didn't do, it just proves prison is where he belongs. DUH

Why would revenge be worth going to prison and then being killed yourself in revenge be a good idea?

The ignorance of some of the human race never fails to amaze me (or sadden and disgust me.) I'm trying hard not to judge people, but hell...when did naive come to mean stupid?


Aren't gangs bad enough with their revenge killings? Young people recruited into gangs, younger children of rival gang members plus innocent by-standers are getting killed for no reason other than a false idea that violence is a fun game.

Let's not add the general population to revenge killings.

The revenge I do approve of is honest law enforcement clapping handcuffs on a bad guy and tossing him into jail for trial. I do believe in the legal system including it's flaws. Some bad guys do get away without punishment and some innocent people get locked up, but by-passing the whole system is not the way to fight injustice.

Justice can sometimes be unjust. But we need to get rid of the idea that revenge is a good idea. One person or a gang of people do not have the right to decide how justice should be carried out.

I never used to believe in "evil", thinking it was just an "absence of good". Now I'm pretty sure evil exists and it's not just wrong, illegal, or bad choices. It's...well...it's evil.

To stop evil, stop thinking violent revenge is a fine idea.

And stop watching those damn movies and television shows based on revenge.

Thank you.

New Matthew Goode Movies?

IMDb listed four future movies for Matthew Goode in starring or co-starring roles. I'm anxiously awaiting their airing on the big screen. Or on Netflix (DVD.)

Hopefully they will actually make these movies not just plan to make them.

The reason I'm questioning it is because some of the future movies that IMDb listed for Gerard Butler never materialized. Though it's hardly IMDb's fault. I waited for those movies since I was totally in love with Gerry before I abandoned him for Matthew Goode.

Movie stars really do need to make movies now and then or people will forget them.

By the way, there really is a difference between actors and movie stars.

I just love that funny story George Hamilton told about himself. He was walking some place--maybe the beach?--and a little girl said, "Hey. You're that actor." George laughed and said, "I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star!"

Matthew is has evolved into an amazing actor. He doesn't merely play a role, he becomes a character. Watch The Lookout or Watchmen. As I've said before about Leap Year, I still can't believe Declan is really Matthew Goode. He's that good.

I sure wish they'd hurry up and release Burning Man. I've heard from other fans through this blog that it was filmed in Australia. I assume it's a British movie. It's not about THE burning man (like the big straw thing they lit on fire in ancient times -- the wicker man and/or Zozobra) but about a guy that owns a diner. I hope he doesn't really burn the hamburgers despite them name (where did they get that name anyway?) This guy has a daughter which is good since Matthew now has a real daughter and knows how a father ought to behave (One would hope.) (Wait, I just found out it's a son in the movie. Same difference. I also think he plays a broken-hearted man which is usually the usual for Goode movies.

Matthew played a pub & restaurant owner. He was a minor cheft chef in Leap Year. Maybe that's why they hired him for Burning Man. He looks good with a knife. He also had a knife in The Lookout, I believe. For different reasons.

Burning Man may just jump to DVD in the United States and never open in theaters here--the way some of Gerry Butler's movies did. (Dear Frankie, Shattered/Butterfly on a Wheel.)

DVD's are okay with me. I can watch a DVD over and over as many times as I want. I must have seen Leap Year 100 or 150 times.

I often exaggerate to make a point, a funny point.

I think actors like Matthew and movie stars like Gerry ought to stick to the British movie industry. American movies, especially romantic comedies, are so immature and well... I hate to say it, bad. (Though Lear Year was NOT bad. It was a movie you either loved or hated. Not many people ever said "Oh, it was ok.")

A stupid romantic comedy can ruin someones career. Look what happened to Gerry. That was quite a step down from 300 to dumb comedies. I won't mention those, you know which ones.

I'm glad Chasing Liberty didn't nip Matthew's career in the bud. It was a practice movie. A long screen test. Those don't count as real movies. I can forgive him for that one since he made up for it in Imagine Me and You where he played a real person. Well done.

Here's the movies IMDb lists on their Matthew Goode page:

2011 Burning Man (post-production)

2012 Overdrive (pre-production)

2012 Stoker (pre-production)

2013 Crooked House (pre-production)

Yipee and hurry, hurry.

Dark Matter

I checked Dark Matter out of my local library and slipped it in the DVD player. I had an idea (from the cover) that it was a mystery or a crime solving story.

When I realized it wasn't and being puzzled, I paused it and looked it up on IMDb.

Dark Matter staring Liu Ye, Aidan Quinn & Meryl Streep, was loosely based on the graduate student that flipped out a number of years ago and opened fire on several of his classmates and professors.

I researched the true story behind it...and then how the movie differed as to character and motive development and decided I didn't like the true story or where the movie headed with it.

I stopped the DVD player, put the DVD back in the case and returned it to the library without taking another look. (It's nice we don't have to rewind DVDs.)

I can't handle difficult plots (based on true incidents or otherwise) that bring out the unfairness and/or tragedy of human life in a too realistic way.

I don't necessarily want everything to be funny, happy, light and sugary. But this just wasn't my "cup of tea" even though it's about some subjects I do like: academia and astronomy.

[Aside: Don't ask me about that stuff. I was under the mistaken impression that A Beautiful Mind was science fiction. Imagine my shock when it really wasn't spies chasing John Nash around campus.]

Even if stories about pain and/or tragedy are not for me, you can still watch DM and decide for yourself. This might be one of the good movies. It's good acting, good script, fascinating and classy. Great music, too.

Perhaps you might decide it's NOT about pain or tragedy.

We don't all have to like the same cup of tea (or movies). Earl Grey?