When Jacob discussed his past "relationship" with Hank, the sadness of his life is exhumed and somewhat purifies his outer exterior. His crimes don't vanish and are not forgotten, but the viewer (at least I did) felt pity toward him and his persona. Hank, on the other hand, is a puppet gotten out of control thanks to his puppeteer, his wife. The combination of those two evil minds and callous souls just adds to the effect of corruption among the innocent simply from the presence of millions of evenly cut pieces of paper. Is paper worth a life? Never. We live for today and hope for tomorrow. Materialistic belongings are always a spectacular addition on top of the sundae, but is it the actual ice cream that is at the core? (Cheesy as that sounds.) I think not.
Eh, greed kills. Greed drives people insane. Human nature to want more, why are we never satisfied?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
A Simple Plan
I missed the second day of watching so I am not caught up in the events, but these were my thoughts from the first day.
1.) Fox and Chickens: fox diligently and menacingly watched over the chickens and finally attacked. This is definitely added into the movie to foreshadow the upcoming actions of greedy men feeding on the weak to collect the millions, especially Hank.
2.) "New" Year: you would usually connect a new year to a fresh start with new resolutions to do better the following year. In the movie, it is used to indicate a new path but not necessarily the correct one.
3.) Color "white": usually identified with purity and innocence, yet there is nothing innocent about committing murder to protect a huge bundle of cash from becoming public news. It is also ironic that in a town so peaceful and covered in white (snow, house, sky, church, trees) such an event can be occurring.
4.) Black bird: always watching. "Black" the color of death, a foreshadow for what is to come.
5.) Strong effects of greed on people: clearly visible among Jacob and Lou, and Hank and his wife. Ironically, both Hank and his wife were the first to declare it unruly to take the money but both become obsessed in the greed more than the other two men. This change in character is visible from the terror and shock on the dying farmer's face.
A few details to ponder over...
1.) Fox and Chickens: fox diligently and menacingly watched over the chickens and finally attacked. This is definitely added into the movie to foreshadow the upcoming actions of greedy men feeding on the weak to collect the millions, especially Hank.
2.) "New" Year: you would usually connect a new year to a fresh start with new resolutions to do better the following year. In the movie, it is used to indicate a new path but not necessarily the correct one.
3.) Color "white": usually identified with purity and innocence, yet there is nothing innocent about committing murder to protect a huge bundle of cash from becoming public news. It is also ironic that in a town so peaceful and covered in white (snow, house, sky, church, trees) such an event can be occurring.
4.) Black bird: always watching. "Black" the color of death, a foreshadow for what is to come.
5.) Strong effects of greed on people: clearly visible among Jacob and Lou, and Hank and his wife. Ironically, both Hank and his wife were the first to declare it unruly to take the money but both become obsessed in the greed more than the other two men. This change in character is visible from the terror and shock on the dying farmer's face.
A few details to ponder over...
Angels and Demons, ah, what a nice title.
This past Sunday night, I decided it was time for a trip to the movie theater off Richmond Ave. I checked the movie listings online and was unenthusiastic about the choices. Unfortunately, I was persuaded into watching Angels and Demons.
From the very beginning of the movie, I knew I didn't think anything of it and that it would not remain in my memory past a few weeks. To start off, Robert Langdon, a symbologist, is interrupted by an agent sent from the Vatican while completing laps around the pool at Harvard. He's given urgent news about the trouble at the holy city and decides to jump on a plane to the Vatican. Maybe it was the unrealistic qualities of this type of situation ever occurring to us normal folk or maybe it was simply the fact that this method of attracting the average viewer into a suspenseful mystery flick rubbed off a good five years ago with the DaVinci Code, nonetheless, whatever the reason was, that very scene left me with a bitter inclination toward the movie.
And my intuition was correct. From there, the movie took a stroll down memory lane or what Mr. Bennett would describe as "spitting out the same formula" that Hollywood loves to implement ever so often. Professor Landgon arrives to the scene of panic, is thrown into a mystery which he solves using a single piece of paper from Galileo's little booklet of truth about the universe and his support of the heliocentric theory and his fancy for following the pointing fingers of statues, meets leading lady figure Vittoria, the scientist behind the antimatter experiment, dodges bullets and fire to rescue the cardinals, saves the last (who becomes the Pope) and reveals the ploy of Camerlengo McKenno against the church. Phew, all in a day's work of course.
Unfortunately, the mystery lacked real depth. The most shocking part of the mystery was when the Camerlengo masterfully jumped out of a bomb-carrying helicopter seconds before tremendous explosion and managed to walk away with a few harmless scratches. (A priest that flies helicopters and knows how to professionally sky dive!) Otherwise, I have to say, the DaVinci Code had more plot and mystery. Angels and Demons was the perfect example of a Dan Brown novel discussing the relationship between religion and science plus the extra dose of action packed thriller.
And in the end, it was neither. It barely went in depth into the religious history and connections that Dan Brown lives on and in numerous scenes repeated the same information. Yet, it wasn't "daredevil" enough for a twenty first century action movie with nonstop shooting and blood and chaos absolutely everywhere.
Well, at least at the end of the day, it was $11 and 2 hour 17 minutes spent not worthwhile.
Side note: I am not commenting on the actor's competence, simply the movie plot.
From the very beginning of the movie, I knew I didn't think anything of it and that it would not remain in my memory past a few weeks. To start off, Robert Langdon, a symbologist, is interrupted by an agent sent from the Vatican while completing laps around the pool at Harvard. He's given urgent news about the trouble at the holy city and decides to jump on a plane to the Vatican. Maybe it was the unrealistic qualities of this type of situation ever occurring to us normal folk or maybe it was simply the fact that this method of attracting the average viewer into a suspenseful mystery flick rubbed off a good five years ago with the DaVinci Code, nonetheless, whatever the reason was, that very scene left me with a bitter inclination toward the movie.
And my intuition was correct. From there, the movie took a stroll down memory lane or what Mr. Bennett would describe as "spitting out the same formula" that Hollywood loves to implement ever so often. Professor Landgon arrives to the scene of panic, is thrown into a mystery which he solves using a single piece of paper from Galileo's little booklet of truth about the universe and his support of the heliocentric theory and his fancy for following the pointing fingers of statues, meets leading lady figure Vittoria, the scientist behind the antimatter experiment, dodges bullets and fire to rescue the cardinals, saves the last (who becomes the Pope) and reveals the ploy of Camerlengo McKenno against the church. Phew, all in a day's work of course.
Unfortunately, the mystery lacked real depth. The most shocking part of the mystery was when the Camerlengo masterfully jumped out of a bomb-carrying helicopter seconds before tremendous explosion and managed to walk away with a few harmless scratches. (A priest that flies helicopters and knows how to professionally sky dive!) Otherwise, I have to say, the DaVinci Code had more plot and mystery. Angels and Demons was the perfect example of a Dan Brown novel discussing the relationship between religion and science plus the extra dose of action packed thriller.
And in the end, it was neither. It barely went in depth into the religious history and connections that Dan Brown lives on and in numerous scenes repeated the same information. Yet, it wasn't "daredevil" enough for a twenty first century action movie with nonstop shooting and blood and chaos absolutely everywhere.
Well, at least at the end of the day, it was $11 and 2 hour 17 minutes spent not worthwhile.
Side note: I am not commenting on the actor's competence, simply the movie plot.
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