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princessAlamander
Reviews
Beacon77 (2009)
Willingly Suspend Disbelief and Take the Ride
Apocalyptic conspiracy thrillers are a genre unto themselves. There are enough out there in film as well as literature (often these cross paths at some point). This is a new favorite for me.
One night, Sarah hangs out with her impulsive friend Zoe. They end up at the home of Zoe's professor so that Zoe can proclaim her love. Sarah tags along.
Once there, it is clear that this is not going to be just any ordinary girl's night out. Zoe's professor, Malcolm is working with a couple on a highly ambitious project decoding the secrets in the Torah. This entails hacking into the Vatican, avoiding being hacked by the Pentagon, remote readers from secret government projects, and a lot of thinking outside of the visible dimensions.
Malcolm, Declan, and Andrea along with the assistance/distraction of Zoe and Sarah are about to open doors that some feel should never be opened, and others have dreamed about cracking for a long time.
What ensues is a fantastical, fascinating, fatal, and final, fast-paced ride.
If this is a genre you enjoy, I would say give this one a definite GO! It is Pi in color and without the personal journey towards insanity plus DaVinci Code without the silly, far-fetched, and cheese-ball theories.
Elizabethtown (2005)
Almost well written characters, as well played as possible in a story without stakes nor consequences.
This film had the potential to be a really sweet love story about a guy growing up and a girl discarding her "substitute" status in the social order of things. It could have been a touching story of on young man's relationship with his father and how that relationship grew after the father's death through his extended family and friends. It was neither of these things though it wants to be both. It took me a while to put my finger on it but in the end the main problem with this story is a complete lack of stakes and consequences. At the end of the day, that's really what makes a great story; something is risked and something happens because of that risk. There was nothing to lose and no reason not to throw it all on the line in this film.
Drew fails big and then is dad dies while visiting his family in Elizabethtown. His mother doesn't like her in-law family and so sends Drew to "take care of things". On his flight to Kentucky, Drew meets Claire, pretty, sweet, insightful, Claire. Their relationship is very sweet throughout the film but they keep not really getting together because...well, there really isn't any reason they shouldn't be together. So the love story is cute but well, pointless. The story line about the father's death is even shakier. Firstly, we don't know who this guy is. we know people like him but don't know why. We know that Drew didn't know his father well, but not what the status of their relationship really was. We know Drew's mother doesn't like that side of the family but not why. And NO ONE seems to be upset this guy died. The only person to cry for him is a complete stranger.
This film is a train wreck with some sparkly, sweet moments in between.