Big Stars Big Projects: Inception and the Adjustment Bureau

2010 will have a wide variety of genre blockbusters but there are two of note that this author finds quite intriguing. The first is Christopher Nolan's Inception which stars a wide cast of stars including Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabee, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, and Marion Coltillard about a theif who specializes in a very science-fiction-esque way of committing a heist and plans to leave the business for good but the last job is not what he expected. I am excited for Inception because it is Nolan's return to filmmaking since the Dark Knight and Nolan's films always give me a mental thrill and exercise and I'm always excited to see what he does next. Another movie similair to Inception is the film coming out in September titled The Adjustment Bureau starting Matt Damon and Emily Blunt about a senatorial candidate who falls in love for a ballerina, only to find out its not meant to be, according to a mysterious Bureau's plan so the man must fight and outsmart the Bureau in order to succeed. The film is based off a story by Phillip K. Dick called ""the Adjustment Team" and judging by the trailer, it looks very good. George Nolfi, writer of "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Ocean's Twelve", two other Damon projects, is directing and seems to have a good handle on things so this project looks very cool, especially with Matt Damon and the lovely Emily Blunt in the leads.

What is Super 8?

If you've seen Iron Man 2 this past weekend, you've most likely seen the strange new trailer for J.J. Abrams' next directorial effort, Super 8. The trailer involves a train carrying materials from Area 51 to Ohio in 1979, only to be caught in a deadly crash with a pickup truck. After the huge explosion, the train is seen in ruins on the side of the road but a pounding noise is heard before one of the cars from the train is seen slowly being pounded open by one of the cargo inside. The trailer ends as the door bursts open and the thing escapes. Meant as a homage to Steven Spielberg's earlier alien films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T., J.J. Abrams' Super 8 starts shooting this fall and will be released in the summer of 2011.

Overlooked film of 2009: Moon

Astronaut Sam Bell has been living on the moon for the past 3 years, taking care of mchines that extract helium 3 from the moon's soil as much needed energy back on Earth, for the company Lunar Industries. Its been a lonely couple of years for Sam as his only companion has been the robot Gerty. Luckily, however, Sam has only two weeks to go before he heads back home. However, the loneliness maybe starting to get to him as he is hallicunating. One of these hallicunations puts Sam into an accident that knocks him unconscious. Sam later wakes up in the infirmy, being looked after by Gerty. Something doesn't feel right though so Sam sneaks back to the accident site to investigate. There, he makes a shocking discovery. If there has been a 2009 film that has been grossly underseen, it is Moon. Moon is a wonderful exercise in science-fiction that sparked multiple emotions out of me as I watched it. The film is expertly and wonderfully directed and written by first time director Duncan Jones (son of singer David Bowie)who creates his own fantasticlly original story and at the same time homages back to the great British science-fiction films of the 60s. Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell pulls off a great feat in his acting for this film that has helped me gain new respect for him, and Kevin Spacey was a nice treat as the voice of the robot Gerty. The set of the film was surprisingly simple yet effective as it made me feel very cramped and alone as I watched this picture and Rockwell does such a nice job that by the end, my heart was beating and I strongly identified with Rockwell's character, wanting him to succeed. This film is a real delight and I can't wait to see what Duncan Jones has next in store. Overall, 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5 for Moon.

Movie Review: DisneyNature's Oceans

DisneyNature's Oceans is a spellbounding documentary about the world's oceans that explores the different kinds of wildlife ranging from whales to seals to the tiny coral reef inhabitants. The film is expertly shot with eye opening moments where you wonder, "How did they film that?" Nicely narrated in the U.S. by Pierce Brosnan, the film talks about the differnt kinds of marine biology in a fun and informative way, even giving fascinating facts on creatures that I had never heard of before. The film also delves into the dark side of the oceans as humans have damaged the oceans and its wildlife pretty badly (enough for the filmmakers to get a shot of an otter swimming next to a submerged shopping cart) but that we're also slowly learning to take better care of the oceans as well. This was a fun and informative movie that was well made and definetely a fun film for everyone to watch, especially on Earth Day. Overall, 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5.

Movie Review: Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Alice Kingsley isn't having the best of days. She's been having the same dream over and over again, her father has recently died, and her mother and sister have taken her to a formal party where she finds that her sister is being cheated on and she is given a marriage proposal by the pompous son of a lord her father used to work with. Confused and not knowing how to reply, Alice says she needs some time to think as a distraction for when she sees a white rabbit in a waistcoast and gives chase after it. During the chase, Alice falls through a rabiit world and lands in a strange world with strange beings who claim to know her. Alice is soon off on a strange and wild adventure involving these beings which she soon realizes is connected to her strange reaccuring dream, and her past. Its been a while since I had seen a film by Tim Burton so this film was refreshing. Tim Burton helped create a very bizarre yet wonderful Wonderland and breathed life into Lewis Carroll's famous characters. The only character that seems to falter however, is Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter because he goes all over the place confusingly, one minute acting cheerful and weirdly funny and the next being darkly sinnical the next. Depp is also upstaged by Mia Wasikowska as Alice, who is quietly odd yet reliably likeable enough that the audience likes her. As for the story, the beginning seems to bounce around confusingly as much as the Mad Hatter but soon focuses down into a clear and really fun storyline that ends on a nice note. It was nice seeing Tim Burton in good form again. Overall, 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5 for Alice in Wonderland

Academy Award Nominated Movie Review 7: District 9

In 1982, a spaceship looms over Johannesburg, South Africa and the world has its first contact with aliens. The aliens are discovered to be bug-like creatures that are in huge numbers and sickly and in poor conditions with their ship broken. The humans offer refuge to the aliens but conditions become hostile as the aliens need to steal food to survive and are derogitively nicknamed "Prawns". The aliens are confined into a government camp within Johannesburg named District 9, which soon becomes a slum. 26 years later, a private military company named Multinational United (MNU) is hired by the Johannesburg government to relocate the 1.8 million aliens to a new camp called District 10. Wikus van de Merwe, a young but pompous member of the MNU team leads the extraction team by giving out eviction notices to the aliens. Meanwhile, one of the aliens dubbed "Christopher Johnson", with the help of his son and a friend, searches for technology from the alien ship to distill a liquid into a container that will power the ship to go back home. Wikus accidently finds the container however and while fiddling with it,accidently sprays himself in the face with the liquid. This little mistake has big consequences for Wikus as it changes his view of the MNU, the aliens, and his life forever. I did not have the luck of seeing this movie in the theater due to my lack of knowledge of it, which was a big mistake. This movie was fantastic! The writer and director Neill Blomkamp gives the film a weightened realism of sharing his expieriences growing up in Johannesburg when he was a kid, while mixing in the bizarre and fantastic elements of Science-Fiction to create a wonderfully original story and world. The aliens, while grotesque at first, are expertly created and characterized so that throughout the story, you develop sympathy for them. The characterization of the aliens through very well done special effects and actors in motion capture suits was well done and really added to the stories and character. The main character of Wikus and his story arc were extremely effective and emotionally tugging, in part thanks to Blomkamp's strong writing and the actor Sharlto Copley's wonderful characterization. This is pure fun science-fiction expertly done. I can't wait to see these characters again and I can't wait to see what Blomkamp and Copley cook up together in the future. Overall, 4 stars of 5 for District 9. (Note: I was unable to see Precious, An Education, or A Serious Man in time for this blog. Sorry for the inconvience).

Running Hawks Prepare for Big Ten Championship

Betsy Flood, Tiffany Medenwaldt, Jeff Thode and Jeffery Herron are just a handful of the Iowa Hawkeye track standouts at the Musco Twiilight meet May 22nd. Their tremendous accomplishments should give them an extra edge at the Track and Field Big Ten Championships, approaching this weekend in Bloomington, Indiana.
After winning the 3,000-meter at the Musco Twilight XI meet, sophomore Betsy Flood was named Big Ten Women’s Track co-Athlete of the week for May 5. Her mark of 9:22:63 is a college-best and ranks third all-time at Iowa.
Though freshman Jeff Thode was not name an athlete of the week, his performance at the Musco Twilight XI meet made history, setting a new facility and meet record in the 1,500 meters. His efforts will make a dent in the Iowa record book with a time of 3:44:51.
SophomoreTiffany Medenwaldt also made a dent in the record book with her winning toss of 161-3 (49.16m) at Musco. Her toss broke a nearly 20-year record set by Denise Taylor in 1992. She also placed second in the hammer throw. Medenwaldt’s toss of 171-11 (52.40) puts her second all-time at Iowa.
Another sophomore, Jeffery Herron, made a best collegiate mark. Herron successfully shifted from the high jump to the long jump with his best collegiate mark of 24-9 (7.54 m). This performance places Herron at the top of the Big Ten rankings and 41st nationally. Also, his mark ranks ninth all-time at Iowa.
Now that is ammunition for the Big Ten Championship. The University of Iowa track teams head to Bloomington for three days of competition, starting Friday, May 14.
Ammunition is something that the track Hawks need. Last season at the Big Ten Championships, something odd happened to the University of Iowa track and field coach, Larry Wieczorek. No, he didn’t have a heart attack or leave the program, but for the second time in 13 seasons, none of his Hawkeyes placed on the top of the award’s podium. Of course, Larry Wieczorek is anticipating his team to do better this year.
When the University of Iowa track teams compete at Robert C. Haugh Complex in Bloomington, they are determined to fulfill what they didn’t last season. Wieczorek told Hawkeye Sports, “You’re trying to have an outstanding team, but you’re also trying to have outstanding individuals and ultimately winning a Big Ten title is the top of the heap.” In addition to Flood, Thode, Medenwaldt and Herron, Wiezorek adds Ray Varner to the contender mix. “We have some contenders in there for sure; probably our lead guy is Ray Varner in the 400 hurdles.” In the Big Ten, Jeffery Herron is ranked first in the long jump, while Zeke Sayon is ranked first in the 100, and Matt Byers is ranked No. 1 in the javelin as a freshman.
So, the stats are on the Hawks’ side. A repeat of last Big Tens does not look likely; however, anything has proved to happen at the championship event. Last season the Hawkeye men finished seventh during outdoors with 69 points, while the women finished 10th with 31. Both the men and women progressed at the most recent indoor championships in February. The men placed 5th and the women were 9th. Wieczorek believes his team will improve even more at this championship and be a contender for the championship. On paper the Hawks look like serious competition, but Wieczorek explains the difficulty his Big Ten opponents. “The Big Ten is a tough conference. I explain this to people: we got 5th indoors, and that’s like the football team getting a bowl berth or the basketball team getting an NCAA tournament bid. Track and field is pretty strong in the Big Ten. We'd like to be in the top 5. If we're out of the top 5, I'd feel probably we underachieved. On the other end of it, we'd like to be in the top 3. If you get in the top 3, then you're moving toward being a real contender. Part of that process is to become a 100-point team; we scored 57 indoors -- right on our paper points. We're in that 100-range on paper, so one of our stated goals is to become a 100-point team. If we got 100 points this weekend, I'd consider that a successful Big Ten championships for us."
Improvement is the goal. With focus, fire, and a little luck the Hawks should be on their way. The Big Ten Network will air a tape-delay broadcast of the championships on Saturday, May 22 at 3 p. m. Central time.