Life of Pi

I'm going to keep this short. There are several points I'd like to make about Life of Pi.

1) It is a good movie.
2) I can add it to my list of films that make me scared of the ocean.
3) CG technology has come a long way since Jumanji. I was impressed!
4) If I ever get a pet I might name it Richard Parker.
5) The ending had an interesting twist.
6) I can't tell you if it was better than the book because I never read the books.
7) Apparently Gerard Depardieu is still around.
8) I give it 7.9 stars.

Oblivion

I recently saw Oblivion and really liked it. As much as many people claim to dislike Tom Cruise, I have yet to see a performance of his I was not impressed with and did not enjoy. The thing that really impressed me most about this movie was the special effects. The visuals in this film are amazing and for me that was enough to overlook other problems with the movie.

This is a science fiction movie about a man who's job is to repair drones that maintain giant water generators on earth after it has essentially been destroyed by aliens. Cruise and a partner live in a cushy futuristic home up in the sky and he drives a cool spaceship around all day in order to make sure the generators on earth that make life support for all the humans who have evacuated to another planet possible.

The story develops as he starts to have strange memories and questions his work. He later ends up saving a woman who he recognizes from dreams he has been having. This movie borrows many ideas and concepts from a bunch of other sci-fi movies, yet it still had an original feel to it. I really liked it and give it 7.9 stars despite what the harsh critics say.

Two Mediocre Movies

Frequently when I see a movie that wasn't so great I tend to put off writing a review for it. It's no fun doing a write up about a movie you didn't really enjoy. Several weeks ago I saw two movies and neither one impressed me. As a result I am going to do two short reviews on the same post. The culprit movies were One For The Money and Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed.

One For the Money was not nearly as bad as the 2% critic approval rating it got on Rotten Tomatoes, but it was still lacking. It felt more like I was watching an episode from a TV show that is soon to be cancelled about a lady bounty hunter more than it did an actual movie. I give it 5.8 stars.

Saints and Soldiers: Airbourne Creed is a sort of sequel. Actually, I'm not sure if it's really a sequel but it is not nearly as good as the original movie that came out 9 years ago. As much as I enjoy war movies and respect "the greatest generation", I could not get into this low budget film. It just felt flat and I could not figure out what point or message the movie was trying to make. I give it 6.2 stars.