MOVIE REVIEW: Juno.
My anticipation of this movie was not high, because even though I usually am anxious to check out movies that the Academy gives multiple nominations to, I just thought... it's about a teenage pregnancy. How riveting is this really going to be?
It just goes to show you the same thing I am preaching to my customers all the time: good writing overcomes many, if not all, shortcomings. You may think Daredevil is an uninspiring character, but put him in the hands of Frank Miller, and you've got a book that will sell, re-sell, and sell some more, for decades down the line. Same thing with this movie. The plotline and the primary actress were not interesting to me. But what a great movie.
I don't want to talk much about plot, so as not to ruin it for anyone else. I just want to hit a couple points that stuck out to me, and let you comment if you've seen the movie. I loved - I LOVED - the dialogue for Juno. I am so attracted to personalities with that kind of wit, that kind of cynicism. Especially because the cynicism usually is there to mask a type of self-deprecation. This character was quick with the sarcasm and snappy remark, and I was laughing out loud through a lot of the first hour at her remarks.
I don't know exactly how I feel about it, but I had a bit of a problem with the way the pregnancy was handled by the parents, I almost felt it was a sampling of how the subject matter was handled by the movie as a whole. A serious issue, but really not all that hard to handle. The parents were at first stunned and betrayed, but after that first scene, they seemed to take it in stride without any real loss of trust for their daughter. And even though it wasn't a smooth ride, at first the pregnancy seemed to be dealt with as a "aw, shucks" sort of wink and a nod. That's too bad... well, just go get an abortion. Not your cup of tea? No problem... we can find you adoptive parents. You'll be back to life as you knew it, in 9 short months. It's just a speed bump.
Am I over-reacting? Perhaps the tone of the movie that they were going for, just didn't lend itself to the serious drama. Perhaps the relational problems between daughter and parents, or the emotional difficulty of letting go of a child you've borne for nine months, weren't things that would fit well into the story that was being crafted. OR... maybe I'm out of touch. Maybe this sort of thing really isn't a big deal anymore. But I was both delighted with the movie, and left feeling a little morose that the subject wasn't discussed with more gravity.
SERIES REVIEW: Tigers vs. Yankees.
Tigers sweep their first series IN New York since 1966. The meat of the order hit the way they were supposed to, we finally had our original lineup (as it was SUPPOSED to be on Opening Day) and they mashed. We still need more innings from our starting pitchers... why can't these guys get into the 7th or 8th innings? This surprising bullpen is going to be a lot less surprising if we have to keep using them for 4 innings a game. THROW STRIKES!!!
GAME REVIEW: Grand Theft Auto IV.
Oh, right, I don't own it. I probably won't play it for a long time, if at all. But I still have to admit that I am SO intrigued by this game. I like open-ended games that allow you to basically choose your own path, go where you want, and do what you want. Imagine the entire city of New York laid out in a virtual environment, and from what I've read, that's GTA 4. Unfortunately, I've also seen a few videos on Youtube containing the various "women of Liberty City" and their activities, along with all the other morally questionable material like stealing cars and shooting the homeless, and I'm having serious misgivings.
Someone is eventually going to trade this game into the store, and I'm going to have to decide whether I'm going to play it or not. What to do?
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6 comments:
The game, much like life, is morally neutral. You can choose to be evil and shoot at homeless people, or not. Just like in real life. Does that make life immoral? Would you choose not to live life because you could choose to shoot at homeless people? So why would you choose not to play the game just because you can choose to do bad things in it?
Of course, not doing the bad things probably makes the game pointless. But that's beside the point.
I'm going to go see if I can find some cookies.
Juno. Good Movie. If Jesus was your dad, what would he say if you got pregnant? Sinner! I think the parents displayed unconditional love, obvious disappointment, and a means to find a way to help a child who messed up. Remember, she is a child. A point that people on our side of the morally right fence forget from time to time.
GTA. Even though you may not choose to do the evil things in the game, comparing it to life would be a drastic mistake, since you are not really offered choices to do GOOD/LAWFUL things in the game. In order to succeed in the the game you HAVE to steal, you HAVE to harm, you HAVE to kill. It is only morally neutral in the fact that you have the choice not to play it.
The Tigers... vs. Minnesota? Face it, the Yankees stink without Rodriguez and are only good until September with him.
Who says you HAVE to succeed in the game? It can be argued that I very much did not succeed in Halo, and yet I continued to play it.
Sergio, are you suggesting that you made the moral choice not to kill anyone in Halo? If so, I might have an inkling of why you failed to achieve a certain level of success.
My favorite part of this whole thread is that Flammer wrote the review BEFORE playing it. I guess I would like to hear his pontifications on morality AFTER playing it.
Flammer does a lot of things backwards. It's his way. It's one of the things I love about him.
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