The Time Trio
The Time Trio
Lovers across metaphysical time; modern-day time travel; recreating the scenario the day Bobby Kennedy was shot: three variations on the theme of how the spirit transcends all obstacles hit movie theaters Thanksgiving week.
In The Fountain, Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz portray lovers across a thousand-year time span. This highly imaginative--but slightly convoluted--movie explores how spirits keep meeting, over and over, through the space-time continuum. What ties the three tales together is The Tree of Eternal Life; and how, ultimately, one has to die in order to be reborn. That, however, is a difficult lesson that Weisz' character grasps much more readily than Jackman's, so it is Jackman's quest that we follow over the course of the movie. Metaphysical; spiritual; highly creative: hallmarks of the director/screenwriter Darren Aronofsky (who happens to be Weisz' fiance and the father of her son), who was also responsible for the critically acclaimed Requiem for a Dream. The Fountain will keep you engrossed; you'll have to pay attention, though, and to think. Ninina needs 2.75 popcorn boxes.
Ditto, for Deja Vu. (I'm not ashamed to admit I had to see this twice...just to be sure.) The space-time continuum this time, however, embraces four days in modern-day New Orleans. A "patriot" (Jim Caviezel) plants a bomb on a ferry boat, set to go off on Mardi Gras. It does...and the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms) investigator (played by Denzel Washington with marked nuance) probes, and probes, until he stumbles upon a government project that enables time travel (at the cost of producing major power outages throughout the Eastern Seaboard). At great personal risk, he "goes back"; finds the "patriot," and is joined in his efforts to avert the disaster by a comely lass (Paula Patton, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Halle Berry). Does he, or doesn't he? Well, you're going to have to finish this sentence for yourselves. Shot on location, some of the most searing footage was of the decimated Wards of New Orleans: as a matter of fact, the movie was dedicated to The Crescent City. The triumph of the human spirit? In many ways, Deja Vu is a touching metaphor for...what if? Oh, if only...This is a Tony Scott/Jerry Bruckheimer joint effort: be prepared for larger-than-life special effects and action sequences. Ninina needs 3.5 popcorn boxes.
Speaking of metaphors: plain and simple, Emilio Estevez' Bobby aims to compare the Vietnam War Era with modern times. This drama-documentary (as in The Queen, where Diana was portrayed via footage, Bobby, Ethel, and the crowds at historical points in the movie are real) focuses on the preparations at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles for Bobby's arrival during the evening of the California primary in 1968, and the people who inadvertently played a part in the history of his assassination. The ensemble cast is star-studded, to say the least: it includes Anthony Hopkins; Harry Belafonte; Sharon Stone; Demi Moore; Ashton Kutcher; William H. Macy; Christian Slater; Lindsay Lohan; Elijah Wood; Helen Hunt; Martin Sheen; Emilio Estevez, himself; Laurence Fishburne; and Six Feet Under's Freddy Rodriguez. To give more weight to some performances over others is perhaps a difficult task: Ashton Kutcher amused as a self-styled guru on a perpetual high. In my opinion, the "break-out" role belonged to Freddy Rodriguez as the busboy who was in real life pictured holding on to Bobby's hand as he lay dying. Is this a great movie? No, I don't think so. But it was engrossing, and it's definitely trying to tell us something. Ninina needs 2.25 popcorn boxes.
Lovers across metaphysical time; modern-day time travel; recreating the scenario the day Bobby Kennedy was shot: three variations on the theme of how the spirit transcends all obstacles hit movie theaters Thanksgiving week.
In The Fountain, Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz portray lovers across a thousand-year time span. This highly imaginative--but slightly convoluted--movie explores how spirits keep meeting, over and over, through the space-time continuum. What ties the three tales together is The Tree of Eternal Life; and how, ultimately, one has to die in order to be reborn. That, however, is a difficult lesson that Weisz' character grasps much more readily than Jackman's, so it is Jackman's quest that we follow over the course of the movie. Metaphysical; spiritual; highly creative: hallmarks of the director/screenwriter Darren Aronofsky (who happens to be Weisz' fiance and the father of her son), who was also responsible for the critically acclaimed Requiem for a Dream. The Fountain will keep you engrossed; you'll have to pay attention, though, and to think. Ninina needs 2.75 popcorn boxes.
Ditto, for Deja Vu. (I'm not ashamed to admit I had to see this twice...just to be sure.) The space-time continuum this time, however, embraces four days in modern-day New Orleans. A "patriot" (Jim Caviezel) plants a bomb on a ferry boat, set to go off on Mardi Gras. It does...and the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms) investigator (played by Denzel Washington with marked nuance) probes, and probes, until he stumbles upon a government project that enables time travel (at the cost of producing major power outages throughout the Eastern Seaboard). At great personal risk, he "goes back"; finds the "patriot," and is joined in his efforts to avert the disaster by a comely lass (Paula Patton, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Halle Berry). Does he, or doesn't he? Well, you're going to have to finish this sentence for yourselves. Shot on location, some of the most searing footage was of the decimated Wards of New Orleans: as a matter of fact, the movie was dedicated to The Crescent City. The triumph of the human spirit? In many ways, Deja Vu is a touching metaphor for...what if? Oh, if only...This is a Tony Scott/Jerry Bruckheimer joint effort: be prepared for larger-than-life special effects and action sequences. Ninina needs 3.5 popcorn boxes.
Speaking of metaphors: plain and simple, Emilio Estevez' Bobby aims to compare the Vietnam War Era with modern times. This drama-documentary (as in The Queen, where Diana was portrayed via footage, Bobby, Ethel, and the crowds at historical points in the movie are real) focuses on the preparations at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles for Bobby's arrival during the evening of the California primary in 1968, and the people who inadvertently played a part in the history of his assassination. The ensemble cast is star-studded, to say the least: it includes Anthony Hopkins; Harry Belafonte; Sharon Stone; Demi Moore; Ashton Kutcher; William H. Macy; Christian Slater; Lindsay Lohan; Elijah Wood; Helen Hunt; Martin Sheen; Emilio Estevez, himself; Laurence Fishburne; and Six Feet Under's Freddy Rodriguez. To give more weight to some performances over others is perhaps a difficult task: Ashton Kutcher amused as a self-styled guru on a perpetual high. In my opinion, the "break-out" role belonged to Freddy Rodriguez as the busboy who was in real life pictured holding on to Bobby's hand as he lay dying. Is this a great movie? No, I don't think so. But it was engrossing, and it's definitely trying to tell us something. Ninina needs 2.25 popcorn boxes.
posted by Ninina Mameyez at 7:48 PM
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