bibliogramma | Hugo Nominations: Long Form Dramatic Presentation (Reply)

These are going to be very personal observations, based solely on my viewing experience and the kinds of things I value in film - which are rather different in some ways from what I value in books. Also, because of my disabilities, I don't go out to see films in theatres, I watch them at home on a regular-sized TV. So the power of special effects are minimised, and the film has to hold me despite the lights being on and the minutiae of life bustling around me.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was one of the better action flicks I've seen in recent times. Perhaps because it's more than just an action flick.

Sure, it has great action scenes and comic book superheroes like Cap and Black Widow and Falcon, and the absolutely amazing Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. And it's a taut spy thriller thriller. It's well acted, well written, well directed. It goes Boom very satisfactorily.

But it is also a look at what happens to soldiers who come home and find home has changed, and so have they. And it's an examination of the growth of the surveillance state, and the way we have all been tempted to sacrifice freedom and the right to privacy out of fear.

Edge of Tomorrow

In Edge of Tomorrow, based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's novel All You Need is Kill, a soldier who has never been in combat dies when sent on a mission against alien invaders - but not before being trapped in a time loop that has him reliving the mission again and again. Not an original idea by any means, but reasonably well done. The concept of the repeating time loop is an old one; there are two variations, one in which the protagonist cannot change the events of the loop (not as common as the other, but Heinlein's by His Bootstraps and All You Zombies are solid examples) and one in which the protagonist can - Groundhog Day, source Code. The ST:NG episode Cause and Effect, Philip Dick's Martian Time Slip, and many, many others.

Tom Cruise does his best Tom Cruise impersonation to good effect, and the process of figuring out just what has to be done for the war with the aliens to end in victory rather than total disaster is engaging. Also, damn fine kick ass female soldier helps Cruise's character figure out how the loop began and how to end it in a winning position.

Guardians of the Galaxy

This was a fun romp, but there wasn't much to think about, and while I enjoy goofy adventures, I really groove on something that has levels and layers. Also, the acting, writing and direction was of a solid workmanlike quality, but nothing really special.

Interstellar

I'm sure this film got wonderfully science fictional at some point - but I'm afraid I bailed on it after about 45 minutes of the flattest acting and most boring exposition I've seen in a long time. And the pace, dear gods and goddesses, the pace was so slow I just could not maintain interest. While Matthew McConaughey can deliver a powerful performance with understated intensity, I didn't see it in this film, and that was unfortunate, as that might have kept me watching. But there wasn't enough there to hold me, so I turned it off and watched something else.

The Lego Movie

I appreciated the truly spot-on, if perhaps a bit heavy-handed, satire (yes, I'm understating) and the fan service gave me more than a few chuckles, but... I just can't seem to get into this kind of animated film. Actually, I have some difficulties with most animated films, but the ones with cute robots and/or toys just leave me kind of cold. This was, however, more interesting than many such ventures, being more than just a two-hour commercial.

Setting aside my personal reactions, this had some good writing and some amusingly appropriate voice acting by the cast, and if our children must watch animated films about their toys, better something subversive than something about the joys of conformity and comsumerism.