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chrart
Reviews
What a Man (2011)
light fun with heart
What A Man (WAM) tasted like it was a reply to Rabbits Without Ears (RWE) from 2007. Not only does WAM also feature actor Matthias Schweighöfer (here as the main protagonist) but it also deals with the presumed women's addiction to macho jerks. Except that WAM deconstructs the stereotype, rather than celebrating it (as in RWE), stressing that a man's authenticity is key. There's a funny scene when Alex talks to his male friend about the macho's assumed natural order of women liking men who tell them what to do - while a rowing boat passes by with a female coxswain commanding the male rowers, immediately calling Alex's conversation into question.
The film is creative, fun to watch and tackles the gender theme very well, sending Alex through various situations aimed at finding himself. The writing and cast was spot on and allowed me to feel the chemistry between Alex and Nele. WAM is a very good German film that made me laugh and emotionally engaged in the relationships. That said, as a romantic comedy it's not In the sea of negative stereotyping, it's good to know that some writers don't take the easy way out and know the art of letting you leave the movie theater with a good feeling.
Wing Commander (1999)
to the stars
I understand that many dismiss the film because it didn't stay true enough to the universe established in the video game. On the other hand, there are those like me who know nothing about the game and watched the film due to interest in things sci-fi in general and the film delivered on that end. Much of the premise and cultural setting reminded me of the original Battlestar Galactica. There are some really good fighting scenes, but, most of all, it's a sci-fi movie that is actually in space - for the whole length of the film (which I do appreciate) - not hiding on some Earth-like planet.
The film features some strong female characters, but, as pointed out by others, some aspects are regular Hollywood fare. I really liked the pilgrim mythology. Putting aside any relationship to the video game, the film is fun, has its emotional moments and features some great visuals.
Green Lantern (2011)
to fear or not to fear (this movie)
Although the comic book series might be intriguing, the film fell flat with its cocktail of stereotypes and insistence that fear is bad because it leads to evilness - missing the fact that fear is a natural response that serves a vital purpose and it's really the underlying pain that, if untreated, has a tendency to lead to violence against others. The hero must be feeling so much pain that he completely numbs his fear, but to bring light into that side of his personality would be much too deep for this shallow roller coaster ride. The only thing I can take away from this film is the bad feeling that some writers still think that when women say 'no' they really mean 'yes,' like when Carol repeatedly rejects Hal's invitation to dance just to then lose herself against his large shoulders when they are dancing together in the next scene, which of course leads to more eventually. That's just low.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Where are the women?
So the Iranians build evil nuclear facilities, the Germans are bad anyways (the German car had to be a Decepticon, of course) and the Russians still can't be trusted. And 10 years after 9/11 Americans fear nothing more than an invasion...and women; why else are there literally hundreds of men but only three women in the film?
It's sad to see that in the year 2011 women on film still either have to be mothers or supermodels. Well, or they have to be so butch (Mearing) that you might as well have the credentials to be a guy, which makes you anything but sympathetic, except to Simmons, who seems to be attracted to that kind of woman and makes sure that the only female without male attachment is properly attached in the end. But, even more disturbing, where are all the women soldiers? Shivering in fear and crawling under the wings of their boyfriends, I guess. Because guys fight tough and women can only make bad decisions (Mearing), raise children (Judy Witwicky), or be compared to a car - a thing to possess - and contribute by whispering betrayal in the ears of the enemy (Carly Spencer), in this case to no one less than Megatron.
The movie is quite unnerving with fast cuts and ever-moving camera work from the very beginning. Where has the art of building suspense disappeared to? The action sequences are stunning and probably the reason why most people stayed until the end; though cutting the movie down to 90 minutes would have greatly improved it. I went because I liked the premise with the moon landing at the beginning. There were some good ideas and a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it all went downhill after the first five minutes. I should have read the prequel comic instead. At least the previous two Transformers movies featured some humor and offered some fun entertainment, if you powered down your brain a bit. This one just hurt.
Splice (2009)
The common phobias
It's an average film that picks up on the anxieties of today -- uncontrolled women and transgenderism. Sadly, when privilege is based on physiology, any kind of sex/gender transgression is seen as a threat and has to either be ridiculed (a la frequent jokes in 'How I Met Your Mother') or demonized, like in this movie. The movie shows that if you think a female monster is already hard to control, threatening to kill you at any time with her phallic tail, the female that is allowed to become male will be even more ferocious -- i.e., where the female seduces, the female-turned-male rapes (women) and, furthermore, kills all other males, hinting at the fear that when you allow women to be more like men, they will do away with the original men. The bigotry leads all the way to the end when the offspring parented by two women can't be anything else but monstrous -- as it is framed in the final scene.
It's sad to see such blatant homo-, trans- and female-phobia being produced in Canada. If anything, the existence of this movie itself is scary in its extent of bigotry.
What the movie does well is keeping the viewer invested in the story until the end. As much as we disliked it, none of us wanted to turn it off until it was over, hoping that things might turn out better than we feared. The film had some good scary moments and the plot was carried forward by a healthy dose of emotion. Annoying, on top of the criticism above, were the stupid decisions these 'scientists' kept making.