movies i've seen in 2009

So keeping with my major, I've decided that one of my New Year's Resolutions would be to watch more movies, both for entertainment and to observe direction and whatnot. I've done pretty well so far, here are the movies I've seen. Spoiler alert, I'll be summarizing/giving my analysis.

Slumdog Millionaire:
My Dad and I were going to the movies before I went to Rome and I wanted to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but my Dad was insistent on seeing Slumdog Millionaire so I just went with it, even though I've never heard of the film. We go to the movies, and the movie immediately opens with a close-up of the main character getting tortured. Pretty interesting. The movie develops to show the main character, Jamal, in a game show in India, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? They explain why the main character is getting tortured because he won the game show, with questions that an ordinary waiter should not know the answers to. The game show hosts are insistent that he cheated, when he insists that he did not. After the torturing, the authorities decide that they want to see his side of the story, so they play the DVD of the show to see how he knew the answers. But as the questions go on, Jamal shows through stories that the only reason that he knew the answers was because of some event that happened in his long and arduous history of growing up in a world of war, conflict, and heartbreak. A wonderful story, excellently executed through juxtaposition in addition to both sadness and humor ends in the overplayed ending of everyone believing the underdog and him winning the show and the love of his life. But even though I usually hate those kind of endings, I give it 8/10. Also, the credits show that it was based off a book, so of course I went and got it, originally published as q&a and written by Vikas Swarup. I liked the book a lot, especially because he did things differently than the movie which made both versions unique. I highly recommend both mediums.

Mall Cop:
Blech. Some shots were filmed well. Little dialouge was executed well. Humor was hardly present. Mostly, it was a story that has been done a million times before but was also surrounded with bad humor and bad acting. 2/10.

The Wrestler:
Again, another movie that my Dad was insistent on seeing that I was apathetic about. So we went, and we arrived to the movies as the opening credits were shown with audio from the main character, Randy "The Ram" 's successful wrestling career. And I was mad because I like to watch the previews and the opening credits, but whatever. We got there just in time to see that Darren Aronofsky directed this film, therefore I was very excited to see it. Immediately, I was able to see some really unique and interesting choices for direction. For example, the majority of the film is shot from behind Mickey Rourke (Randy), with the cameraman walking and making the camera somewhat shaky. Normally, shakiness bothers me but that really made you feel like you were part of the film and right behind Randy. Also, these shots would have very little cutaways, if any. Even though long shots sometimes make the pacing longer causing boredom, it really connected the audience with the main character who was going through so much hardship with his career in wrestling, his health, his crush on a stripper, and his disintegrating relationship with his daughter. The acting was superb, especially from Randy's daughter, who was completely believable in both scenes where she started to connect with her father who was absent for her entire life, and then later on when he abandoned her yet again and she was forced to cut him out of her life completely. Rourke was impeccable, and I really felt pity for his character and the heartbreaking life he lived. My only severe problem was with the ending, because it was a completely open ending. I was confused when the lights started to turn on. Basically, every question and dilemma that was brought up in the film was left unresolved. That was most likely the feeling that the director wanted, to show that the main character's life is just like a never-ending story, even if he died (which is one of the possibilites). I appreciated that kind of ending, but it still annoyed me. Anyway, highly recommened unless you're one of the people who cannot stand open endings. 7.5/10

Gran Torino:
I have been looking forward to seeing this movie since I saw the preview in Slumdog Millionaire. And I was not disappointed. I didn't like Million Dollar Baby when I saw it in 2004, but maybe that was because I did not really have a passion for movies like I do now. But now I can appreciate Clint Eastwood's choices for direction and acting. His relentless humor (basically, every other sentence he said had me laughing hysterically) towards every character never got tiresome, and the underlying plot of him trying to find peace with himself made me reflect and wonder if I have peace with myself. The main plot of this stubborn American that is surrounded by foreigners and gangs grew into surprising and saddening twists that reminded me that the world we live in is filled with people that only want to cause destruction. But there are still people that wish to do good: in this case, that person is Clint Eastwood, even though he was established as a man who had no qualms with killing the enemy in war and protecting what was his by any means necessary. Eastwood turns out to be the martyr in order for the innocent citizens to live in peace, making the ending complete but saddening. Superb film, highly recommended. 9/10