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Reviews
The Cosmonaut (2013)
A beautiful film, don't listen to the naysayers
I'm going to keep this short and sweet, as I rarely go out of my way to review on IMDb, but this movie has a ~5/10 currently. That is RIDICULOUS.
This movie is beautiful, as another reviewer said, almost like poetry. It had enough sci-fi in it to satisfy the science nerd in me, yet how the film impacted me from an emotional standpoint is where it really hits home.
Watch this movie. It's certainly open to some interpretation, but I thought it was almost majestic (some scenes, for sure), and is definitely worth a watch. It's disgusting that this movie isn't reviewed higher, it was better than 90% of films I see.
The Divide (2011)
Solid Flick - Why the haters are wrong:
I created this IMDb account solely due to some of the ridiculous hate and remarks about this movie on existing reviews.
I felt a recurring complaint was that the characters actions were 'unrealistic' and the characters were so 'stupid' etc. To address both, take the simple scenario they open the movie with. A bunch of seemingly random 'groups' of people barreling down the stairs in a desperate and manic state trying to survive. In New York City. A select group ends up making it into this 'bunker'. Now, I surround myself with generally intellectual people, but if you think that taking a sample of 8 strangers from a random NYC building is going to yield a predominant output of good-hearted, intelligent people - then you're living in a damn bubble. News flash, there are impulsive sick f's everywhere you look, and equally important - sub ~90 IQ seems to be average these days.
Anyway, my point being, complaints about the unrealistic characters are completely unwarranted. If anything, the movie was probably a realistic depiction of ~8 random people in this situation. However, another group of 8 could yield an entirely different result. I think that's part of what the movie is trying to convey -- that getting stuck in a bunker during a post-apocalyptic scenario can potentially cause a Divide-esque situation. One person even mentioned that there weren't any 'enlightening' remarks or memorable quotes from the characters. No sh*t! This isn't Casablanca buddy, this is ~8 random people in a claustrophobic room dying of acute radiation poisoning and losing their minds while they're at it!
Now look, there were a few issues with the movie. I will admit there were a few scenes where the acting was lackluster and the situation was predictable. You may even roll your eyes once or twice. I was definitely disappointed with the fact that the movie didn't dive into more of the 'What's going on outside' story, but that's how the damn game goes! This movie wasn't about that subject, and as disappointing as it was, at least they gave us something! I mean seriously, most Sci-Fi or Post-apocalyptic movies these days are complete crap*, and most would've cut to black after she exited the sewer (*pun intended). It was a nice addition to have the guys drop on in with the HAZMAT suits and swoop the girl up. But that wasn't what the movie was about. The Lord of the Flies style deterioration (or decay - hah) of their bunker society was the focus, and I thought they did a damn good job of portraying an (again, potential) situation of this nature. My jaw dropped a few times and I was pleasantly surprised at how bold the writers/director was with some of the 'sick-f***' actions of Bobby and Josh. Props to Biehn, Ventimiglia, Arquette and Eklund for some generally awesome acting performances. The rest were solid too, and Lauren German.. Beautiful.
Most importantly: How many time's did you think about what you would do in this exact scenario? How you would break down, mentally and physically? Once your hair started falling out? ACCEPTING YOUR IMMANENT DEATH? Once the doors were welded shut and once the fire started? I'll just leave it at that.
I am a huge fan of post-apocalyptic scenarios, so maybe I'm biased, but I liked this movie more than numerous other "highly rated" flicks I've seen in the past year or two. Take Hunger Games for example, raving reviews from the critics... I enjoyed The Divide more. And speaking of unrealistic, the Hunger Games epitomizes unrealistic. But I'm not even going to go there. If you're some avid Christian or bible thumping religious buffoon and can't handle some brutal potentially real life scenarios, then stay away! This movie is not for you. If you love happy-go-lucky teenage girl stories like Hunger Games or Twilight, please, stay away. (I'm not saying Hunger Games was horrible by any means, it was entertaining enough. I am only commenting on the massive influx of rave reviews for Hunger Games - whereas The Divide achieves an undeserving 5.8?!)
Although the scenario isn't exactly something new (people stuck in a room, losing their minds), it was a fresh take on it, and 10-fold more enjoyable than the 'competition'. The post-apocalyptic back story is a great back-bone to this scenario, and although I wish we found out more - like 90%+ of related movies these days - we are left in some uncomfortable ambiguity. But in the end, that doesn't take away from this movie.
Solid Flick, 8/10. 7/10 if Post-Apocalyptic scenarios aren't your thing at all.