I have been looking forward to watching Invictus for quite some time now. I was able to finally take the time to watch it (thanks to Redbox availability!). Now I am not wholly sure why I was so looking forward to this story. It could have been the intriguing story of Nelson Mandela and the beginnings of his presidency, or how it so involved the South African Rugby team, or it could have possibly just been the fact that Morgan Freeman was the lead actor. In all honesty, it was probably the latter.
It didn’t dawn on me until the credits had rolled that this was another of Clint Eastwood’s directorial works. I have to say that the movie was engaging, well paced, and overall entertaining. I was able to overlook the somewhat difficult accents both Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon used in this movie. Granted, I am no expert when it comes to South African dialect, but it just felt stiff in comparison to the dialogue heard in “District 9″ (also based in South Africa). That aside, I felt the performances given by each actor was solid and heartfelt.
If you look at this movie as an inspirational sports movie like “Miracle”, “Remember the Titans”, “Rudy” or similar movies, then you will likely be disappointed. If you look at the movie as a journey of a fledgling leader attempting to unite his people through any means necessary, then you will likely enjoy the story. This movie ultimately succeeds in inspiring the viewer with an unlikely combination of politics and sports while rarely ever going “over the top.”
And, to answer your question, which I also asked, of “What does Invictus mean?” Well, I learned that it is Latin for “unconquered”. An apt title for this journey.
|
||||||
|
I guess I am a purest when it comes to movies based off books. The more I think about this movie, the less I like it. Don’t get me wrong, there are several high points to the film:
But, as a whole, I found the movie extremely lacking. I found the general pace of the movie to be slow and found that David Yates (director) tended to focus a lot of screen time to items that seemed inconsequential. And then there was the whole “lack of climax” during the third act. Yes, there is an important event that takes place and it is sad, for those who love the books. However, when a book has several large sequences that, in my opinion, MAKE the book great, one would expect those sequences to get the film treatment. Not so much in HP6. Where was the Battle of Hogwarts? Where was the White Tomb? I sit through this 2+ hour film and am not treated to, arguably, the best scenes in the entire series? How disappointing… By the end of the movie, I have forgotten why I even care who the Half-Blood Prince really is… Yes, I know I have plenty of complaints… it doesn’t mean this movie is necessarily bad, just lacking. If you haven’t read the books, you will probably love this movie. I am just a bit picky when it comes to film adaptations of novels… I would encourage you to see the film because there are some truly great moments, just go into with a heads-up on what to expect. This past weekend, we gathered a group of friends and went to the local cinema to watch “Star Trek” as directed by J.J. Abrams. I didn’t fully know what to expect when we walked into the theater. The level of hype around this movie equaled that of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and we know how that panned out.We were all pleasantly surprised to be treated to a fantastic film. Who would’ve thought that this movie could live up to the hype and standards set by, not only, hardcore Star Trek fans, but avid Abrams followers? There are so many reasons this movie could have failed: poor casting, blackhole-sized plot holes, terrible script, lack of respect for the source material… and this film managed to walk all of these tightropes with grace and ease. And to top it off, it was an exciting journey from the first frame to the final fanfare. Most Star Trek folks know that the series focuses on the characters… and this film is no different. All of the players enter the story as the plot demands, which allows for the proper introductions to be made for each and every character. And while Scotty shows up a bit late in the film for my tastes, it makes sense in the grand scheme of the movie. The cast was spot on for each role. Chris Pine took command of James T. Kirk with reckless abandon. Zachary Quinto embodied the youthful Spock. I could take you through the entire list, but I will leave you with these two: Simon Pegg as Scotty (excellent, if underused) and the return of Leonard Nemoy (trust me, it just worked). There is plenty of action to go around. In fact, there are only a few lulls in the entire 2 hour running time. The starship battles are spectacular, the halo-jumping skydive is amazing, and well… plenty of handy fisticuffs. There is no better review for a movie than wanting to go right back into the theater and watch it again immediately. If I hadn’t have had plans already for the evening, that’s exactly what I would’ve done. This franchise reboot worked and worked well. It got my excited about Star Trek and anxious to see the next installment. Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a theater viewing of this movie.  Last week, some folks celebrated Cinco de Mayo on Friday… which would’ve been Ocho de Mayo, but I am not sure anyone was actually keeping track. There was a smorgasbord of food available for everyone and most was quite tasty. There was a peculiar gem on the dessert table though… the Margarita Cake. I have never had one of these before, much less heard of it. Regardless of my ignorance, this was a phenomenal cake: moist, tasty, and satisfying. I have been in search of a recipe for this cake and found, what I believe, was the recipe used for the cake I had. I wasn’t expecting to find so many different variants on this idea. But here we go…  INGREDIENTS  After watching President Obama’s Inauguration on January 20th, I have been debating on how to word my thoughts about the day. I did manage to watch most of the inaugural events from the comfort of my desk via Hulu.com. As an aside, I was amused that my inauguration coverage was brought to me by the movie “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”. 
Anyway, I watched and listened. Impressed by the day’s events? Yes. I was not inspired, nor awe-struck.I was expecting more from his speech. Eloquent? Yes. Moving? Not so much… Still, I debated on how I feel about the entire event (up until 12:45p when my meetings began). Then I ran across this post by Toby Harnden, which captured my sentiment’s pretty much.
After the hype and the words, can President Barack Obama deliver? :: Toby Harnden 5. It is startling how much of a leap into the unknown Americans are making. Obama is almost completely untested. You should read the rest of the post for his other 8 thoughts. I found it quite interesting. How many of you have found yourself reading the newspaper (people still do this?) or your news website of choice and run across an article that just doesn’t surprise you one bit, no matter how atrocious it may be? Now, I’ll admit, there are news stories worse than the one I am about to mention, but this one just got to me. Let me give you a snippet from the article: 75% Of Latest Bank Of America Bailout Used To Pay Merrill Lynch Bonuses Yes, well, you probably thought that that cash would be used to bolster the bank’s capital or something. (We know you weren’t dumb enough to think it might have been used to make loans). This aggravates me to no end, as it embodies the fleecing of America to the utmost. I have no solutions… just venting… Time.com has an article spelling out some interesting desserts featuring, the best of all food groups, Bacon! Recipes:
From the looks of it, most of these recipes are not for the faint of heart, when it comes to cooking. But I am sure that they would generate some fairly tasty, if not odd, flavor combinations. I have to admit, the Bacon Chocolate Bar intrigues me, meaning that I must attempt to make it. Again, I like unusual food pairings, so this is right up my alley. |
Misc.NewsShoppingTech |
|||||
|
Powered by WordPress & the Atahualpa Theme by BytesForAll. Discuss on our WP Forum |
||||||