Sunday, September 1, 2013

Two movies over the weekend

We rented two movies on the Pay-Per-View box this weekend.  First up was Oblivion with Tom Cruise

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/oblivion-2013/

The Missus and Young Daughter and Young Son saw it together at the theater but for some reason that none of us can remember I wasn't able to go so we rented it so that I could see it.  I liked it very much.  Besides the good story line, the great effects, the very nice setting (mostly shot in Iceland) it made me think about the movie and the plot line after it was over.  When I go back and think about a movie the next day or the day after then I know that the movie made an impression on me.  I enjoyed the characters and the love lost and found for two characters and love found and lost for one of the same persons and another.  I also liked Tom Cruise's character who says near the end of the movie "Everybody dies, Sally. The thing is, to die well" .  Well worth your time.  I am ranking this as in my top five SF movies of all time, I feel that strongly about it.

The other movie was Contagion with Matt Damon and Gweneth Paltrow (among other big name stars)

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contagion-2011/

This movie was appropriate for me in particular since I was sick and probably contagious and infecting everyone in L.A. county for the past week.  It was an-of-the-world-as-we-know-it movie without excessive hyper violence and drama but rather professionals doing what they needed to do to try to save humanity.  Of course being a Hollywood movie the main character (Matt Damon as a suburban Minneapolis dad) owns no firearms until society starts to break down and his neighbors are shot one night by intruders.  The next day Matt goes to another neighbor's empty house, breaks in and steals the neighbor's shotgun for protection.  I guess this way Matt wasn't the evil gun owner, his neighbor was instead and Matt reluctantly had to arm himself.  Maybe Matt learned something after making this movie.

We enjoyed this movie as much as someone can when watching people die for no fault of theirs except to be susceptible to the disease (Matt was immune).  A well done flick and something to ponder when the next report of bird flu from China is heard on CNN.

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