Sunshine

Sunshine is an awesome serious science fiction movie, a rare breed that only emerges from the crowds of superhero, horror, space opera and other related genres. Really a science fiction / psychological thriller, this movie shows the way a small crew on a long haul in a dangerous mission vital for the survival of the human race handles themselves when everything goes wrong. The psychological aspect seemed realistic to me, as did much of the space stuff, but macguffin seemed a little sketchy.

Sunshine is a treat for the eyes and ears. After just 15 or 20 minutes I was already amazed at the use of color, blues and grays and greens inside of the ship and violent yellow and white for the sun create a strong contrast and give insight to the strange dichotomy of stress and boredom that must come along with a long trip to save the world when you have only one chance to do it. The music is great and helps create much of the drama during spacewalks and other such moments. I actually had to turn down the volume during a couple parts so I would be able to handle it better.

Cost/Benefit Analysis: I didn't pay to see it, but I would love to see it on a big screen with a great sound system behind it. I would gladly pay full price to see it.

Moon

Moving from the Sun to the Moon, here is another great serious Sci Fi movie. This is what you call "soft" science fiction, I guess, one of the movies that is more about ideas than it is about future technology or spaceships. SPOILER ALERT: there is a twist and pretty common one at that, revealed and then dealt with in a casual and unconventional manner. The movie is full of sci fi tropes, but subverts them left and right, especially with the robot character. Refreshing.

Sam Rockwell is great. He has a lot of charisma, charm and chemistry with the cast. His laid back demeanor is a comfortable alternative to the take-charge assertive protagonists often seen in Star Trek and other more operatic space adventures.

The special effects are kind of strange strange because they often look like scale models or toys bouncing around on a model of the moon, but they still look good. Maybe I'm remembering things incorrectly, but these shots look like they were recorded from a satillite orbiting the moon or a with a high-quality moon security camera, a great move to make (if it was made at all) considering the anti-corporate tilt the movie has.

Cost/Benefit Analysis: I actually paid to see this one in the theater. Totally worth it, and I dragged two friends along to give more money to serious science fiction.

Food, Inc

Food Inc. is a crash-course in all of the things that suck about the food industry today and should be required viewing for everyone that eats food. Inspired by the writing of Michael Pollan and Eric Schlossinger, Food Inc. covers the industrialization of animals and crops, the sins of Monsanto (patenting genes), congressional/governmental infiltration by food company people, the profliferation of corn, loss of diversity in food product manufacture, treatment of slaughter house workers, etc. If you've read those authors before, then this is a refresher course, but if you're a freshman-level foodie, there is some eye-opening stuff here.

Although the movie is fairly entertaining as far as documentaries go, it is still very obviously portraying one group as good (organic farmers, the two writers) and another evil (food industry). The two groups as presented are similar to the kind of Good vs. Evil seen in The Lord of the Rings. Based on similar documentaries I have seen on the subject, the film makers could have shown footage much more damning, but I think that they protect their message this way.

When you were little, you were undoubtedly told, "Don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where it has been." This is why everyone should see this movie. You may not feel the need to change your eating habits to avoid industrial food (but you certainly might), a responsible person should know.

Cost/benefit analysis: I saw this in the theater, but my dad paid for my ticket (yay family fun) so I paid nothing. It's not the most ground-breaking message, so wait for Redbox or Netflix to see this one.

Yellowbeard

Yellowbeard is a late 70's or early 80's comedy with an incredible cast, a bunch of pirate ships and fake facial hair, and a completely nonsensical plot. Starring Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, plus Cheech and Chong, the movie worth seeing just for the cast alone, but that's pretty much the only reason to recommend it.

Sometimes strong acting can overcome a stupid script. Horrible acting also has a way of doing this. Sadly, the cast is too good for the movie to slide into so bad it's good territory, but they don't seem to care enough to put in the effort it would take to make the script work, leaving Yellowbeard a collection of half-baked jokes from the least-funny member of Monty Python.

I would see this movie only if you are intrigued by the cast. I can't recommend it as either a good or bad movie.

Cost/Benefit analysis: I paid nothing to see this movie, but I got to see some people I hadn't in a while and I got a good free meal. I'd gladly do that again if I was watching a different, but just as bad movie but I hope I never have to see this movie again.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I don't care what anyone says about how slow this movie is, it will always be one of the best. But, it does have a meandering plot, there is no way to deny that. To be fair, I am reviewing this movie based on the extended edition, which seems extra-meandering, but is apparently what you're getting when you get the Special edition DVD. Who knew?

But once you get past the crawling plot, there's nothing stopping you enjoying everything about this movie. Except for the dubbing over of the Italian actors, which is usually pretty bad. I guess they used the money they saved by filming in Italy to make the rest of the movie so fantastic.

From the first moment you see Clint Eastwood, you know that he is a badass. From the first moment you see Angel Eyes, you know that he is an evil bastard. From the first moment you see Tuco, you know that he is a scoundrel. The three main characters are perfectly cast, and even though Clint manages to become the coolest person in the world just though lighting a cigar, Tuco is probably the best character, and the most perfectly cast. Not to say that he's really all that ugly, but he's the soul of the movie and is such a joy to watch that he makes you forget what a horrible person he is.

Also of note is the is the film's score. Everyone knows the 8 note main theme or motif or whatever and as awesome as it is, the music at the end of the movie is where they really turn on the good stuff.

Cost/Benefit analysis: I watched a DVD that my uncle gave me for Christmas a couple years ago, so this cost me nothing. However, I would pay the cost of rental or the price of admission to see this in an a theater late at night or something like that.

Final notes
Best scene: Clint Eastwood plays with the kitten that he keeps in his hat
Best costuming: the poncho

Master and Commander

This movie is very good. It has fantastic music, engaging characters, beautiful photography of an awesome boat sailing around and a solid story to tie it all together. The most exciting thing for me, being a big old nerd, is that it is basically a Star Trek movie. As a matter of fact this review is an admission of nerd-guilt more than it is a valuable critique, but no one reads this blog so it's no big deal.

It's just like The Wrath of Khan or The Undiscovered Country or First Contact. One of the good (even-numbered) movies where the Enterprise goes up against a stronger foe, and has to use their brains to make up for missing brawn, reconciling their dedication to exploration and discovery with their commitment to defend their territory from the invading offenders. In the Star Treks, they're up against the Borg or the Klingons (or Ricardo Montalbon) and they use special sensors they had for documenting gaseous anomalies to let their missiles take out the invisible Klingon ship. Or something like that.

As the Enterprise often does, Russell Crowe's crew must choose between personal and professional loyalties. The Spock to Russell Crowe's Kirk is the ship's doctor. Like Kirk and Spock, these two share a close bond despite their difference in rank. They play delightful cello and violin duets and argue when the doctor wants to play Darwin and Russel Crowe needs to prepare the ship for battle.

The battles are exciting, gritty and carry a certain substance and weight that is missing from the ship battles in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The good guys defeat their foe through clever tricksy-ness that basically amounts to disguising their warp signature to make the Klingons think that they are something they are not.

Cost/Benefit Analysis: Definitely worth the cost of a rental. The sound and photography are so good that I would totally pay to price to see it on the big screen if I ever get the chance. The last little duet they play alone makes it worth while.

Bottle Rocket

Imagine yourself in a time gone past; a time when Bob Saget was the wholesome, forced host of a mail-in blooper show for family videos, back when Ellen Degeneres was straight and The Simpsons did more than ape Family Guy's style. It was the early ninties. Then, all of a sudden, something changed. A bright young screen writer teamed up with his brother and an ambitious filmmaker ready to make his mark on a movie industry intent on churning out indistinguishable action and comedy movies to make the most ground-breaking, convention-shattering movie in the history of American cinema. That movie was Bottle Rocket.

In a post-Bottle Rocket world, movies ceased to concern themselves with explosions and special effects. Instead, they piled quirk on top of Daddy issues, and spiced everything awkwardness and bad hair with soundtrack by David Bowie. It's true that Bottle Rocket feels a bit like "My First Movie" by Wes Anderson and the Wilson Brothers, but the casually paced story offers a lot, especially for those curious about the progenitors of modern Cinema.

Cost/Benefit: I paid nothing to see this movie, but I would have been ok paying rental/budget prices.