Knowing (2009)

While disaster flicks such as Deep Impact, Armageddon, and Signs have been done many times before, Knowing is a fresh take on the usual sci-fi catastrophic film.

The film begins in 1959, with the opening of a new elementary school. In celebration of its opening, the school decides to bury a time capsule containing the student’s drawings of what they believe the future will look like in the year 2009. A somewhat strange and recluse student by the name of Lucinda doesn’t draw a picture, however. Instead, she begins to furiously scribble numbers on her piece of paper, but is prevented from finishing. During the ceremonial burial of the time capsule, Lucinda goes missing. Her teacher later finds her in the basement gym closet, carving the remaining numbers into the door with her fingernails.

Fifty years later, the time capsule is opened by the school, and each child is given one of the past student’s drawings. Caleb Koestler is given Lucinda’s image of seemingly random numbers, and brings it home to his father, John Koestler (played by Nicholas Cage), a professor and astrophysicist at the local college. At first, John ignores the numbers. But at closer inspection, he discovers that they catalogue the date, fatalities, and location of every major disaster that has happened in the last 50 years. John’s attempt to find Lucinda and speak with her about the numbers fails when he discovers that she has passed away, but instead locates Lucinda’s daughter Diana Whelan, raising her own daughter Abby. Both children, Abby and Caleb, bond over hearing voices speak to them, and discover that mysterious figures are following them around whom they call the “whisper people.” With three disastrous dates still yet to occur, John is determined to stop the events from taking place before they happen first.

The plot of this movie definitely drew me in. I was constantly intrigued throughout the entire film as well as entertained. The crash sequences that also took place were well done and realistic-looking, and the special effects were great. The ending also surprised me, since I could not foresee that particular twist.

The film also consists of many religious undertones. While I would not consider this to be a religious movie, the strange “whisper people” that play a somewhat main role throughout the entire film could be arguably perceived as angels or aliens, depending on which direction you want to take. There were many references to religion throughout the movie, including John Koestler’s father being a pastor, the Noah’s Ark-type situation with the children near the very end of the film, and the Eden symbolism including the image of the Tree of Knowledge also seen at the very end.

On the other end of the spectrum, the “whisper people” could be perceived as aliens. If this is the case, the movie could be hinting towards the realization that all throughout time, we have confused the presence and ideas of “angels” and other forms of higher beings with “aliens”, when they in truth have been aliens all along.

The movie leaves this debate completely open and never fully reveals what exactly the “whisper people” are. I had very interesting discussions with friends who have also seen this movie about the meaning of the “whisper people.” Whether angels, aliens, strangers, or other hybrids, we as viewers can only speculate what we believe them to be.

While I do have some complaints regarding the movie, they are few and far between. One however would be the incredibly odd musical score. I didn’t feel like the classical music that played throughout the entire film fit in with the rest of the movie plot.

Without giving too much away, I would definitely recommend seeing this movie for yourself. It is an entertaining and suspenseful film that also leads to an interesting discussion.
-Lindsay

District 9 (2009)

Moviegoers who are faint of heart: This one is not for you! Needless to say, though, I enjoyed District 9 greatly. It is rated R and contains graphic violence, disturbing situations, and foul profanity. It is also a strikingly realistic sci-fi film brought to us by director Neill Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson, of whom I have been such a fan since Lord of the Rings.

I guess I was expecting to see some big budget version of Bad Taste; one of his earliest works in which aliens come to earth in an attempt to harvest humans for the menu of their intergalactic fast food chain, but what I saw instead was something unlike anything I could have ever imagined coming to an American movie screen.

The film is set in Johannesburg, South Africa, and establishes immediately that an alien mothership came and lost power above the city many years ago. Instead of being the advanced race from which humans will either learn from, or be destroyed by, the idea is put forth that perhaps aliens have problems too, and what would we as a people do if they needed help from us?

Out of the ship come some of the most pathetic aliens you will ever see. They are filthy and emaciated, bringing the residents of Johannesburg the challenge of setting these creatures up with food, and shelter in the form of a refugee camp that quickly degenerates into a slum.

20 years after the mothership first came to a halt above the city, the aliens are experiencing the corruption and racial hostility of their human saviors. Their camp, called District 9, segregates them in a way that reminds us of the apartheid in that country, and holds up a mirror to our fears of anyone or anything different from ourselves.

District 9 is a science fiction film, but it is also very applicable to our social issues and prejudices. Along with that, it is an action-packed and entertaining movie, not to mention the spectacular special effects.

I have hopes that someday it will be watched by our children (not before their teens, hopefully!) during some classic sci-fi marathon they have with films such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Star Wars (1977), and The Matrix (1999). District 9 has all of the elements it needs to stand the test of time as they have, and I hope that it does.

My only "Oh, pleeease!" moment came very near the end when it seemed to me they were departing with a cliffhanger and leaving the plot open for a sequel. It takes talent to tell a story with multiple movies, I know, but it is also a talent to tie up your tale into a neat 2-3 hour movie that I can watch in one sitting. In Hollywood nowadays, that seems to be an outdated idea. Example: Harry Potter movies.

Again I am resisting the urge to ramble on here, and will sum up with this - See District 9 for yourself! I highly recommend it.

-Dani

Public Enemies (2009)

Based on the true and daring exploits of John Dillinger during the Great Depression, Public Enemies stars Johnny Depp and was directed by Michael Mann. There was much hype about this film... we heard all about their filming schedule from T.V. and saw distant glimpses of Johnny Depp on set in his 1930s duds caught by news cameras and aired during reports of local goings-on. They used many outdoor as well as indoor locations in the cities of Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Madison, and Beaver Dam (to name a few!) The whole state of Wisconsin, as well as the Midwest of this country where John Dillinger himself used to roam and ramble, was waiting with great anticipation for this film's release...

I saw it as a treat to myself on the day before my birthday and must say that I enjoyed watching it, but was a little disappointed by how much it reminded me of a mindless action movie.

One of the things that I thought was done well, was the Robin Hood vs. Sheriff of Nottingham situation that Johnny's Dillinger found himself in with Christian Bale's Melvin Pervis; FBI head honcho. The competition between the two seemed to be the main source of energy for the plot, and despite the fact we as an audience know the outcome to their little cat and mouse game, it keeps one biting their nails nonetheless.

Something I did not really expect was the love story that the film wove between Dillinger and Marion Cotillard's Billie Frechette; only one of his many real life romantic interests. This, I think, was one of the weakest elements to the film, and came across looking awkward and nonsensical as they tried very hard to portray the relationship as star-crossed love. The fact that Johnny Depp plays Dillinger behaving suave, and yet more than a little controlling and prone to violence even during his first encounters with Billie, leaves me wondering why she would fall for such a guy? I mean, if a guy came into your place of employment to ask you why you did not do exactly what he had told you to do on your first date with him, and then became so frustrated by your answer that he punched out one of your customers, wouldn't you be at least a little turned off? Well not Billie Frechette apparently. She even seemed to accept the fact that she was supposed to hang around and wait for her beau while he ran amok with his buddies playing shoot-em-up and driving fast, then getting thrown in jail with execution a sobering possibility.

When this movie started to play on our theatre's huge, ultra screen, I was overcome by the feeling that I had sat down in my seat mid-way through the show, instead of right before the previews as I had done in actuality. This I believe, is one of the main issues with the film. It could use a good dose of character establishment before we begin jumping into the action as we do with the film's beginning. Even as some of the gang members die at various points in the film, these deaths lack meaning, as we were never allowed to know their characters, or see the relationships that they had to fellow gang members.

One film that I saw many years ago and explored this territory well was The Newton Boys (1998), and needs to be seen by those that thought Public Enemies was too shallow and too obviously trying to cover their historical inaccuracies with noise and a ridiculous romance. Another film that is in the same vein, but done much better is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007). Brad Pitt as Jesse James really gives you pause, so that you actually THINK about what is occurring on the screen, and you see history in a way that you never considered seeing it before.

My closing thoughts on Public Enemies, (it's so hard to stay focused on my blog subject here and not wander off into recommending better movies...) is that you really must be warned not to expect too much from this film. I know that it is Johnny Depp, but the role he took on here really does him no justice. I know that a good portion was filmed in Wisconsin, but let me assure you that this will never put us on the map due to Public Enemies becoming more classic than Casablanca. Accept Public Enemies for what it is; an action flick that is more fun than deep, and though parading as a historical drama, has gotten most of the facts mixed up without much gain from doing so. Bear in mind as well that this film is rated R.

- Dani