Maybe I’m getting cynical in my old age, but I didn’t really quite enjoy this as much as I hoped to.
(IMDB) – Dr. Adrian Helmsley, part of a worldwide geophysical team investigating the effect on the earth of radiation from unprecedented solar storms, learns that the earth’s core is heating up. He warns U.S. President Thomas Wilson that the crust of the earth is becoming unstable and that without proper preparations for saving a fraction of the world’s population, the entire race is doomed. Meanwhile, writer Jackson Curtis stumbles on the same information. While the world’s leaders race to build “arks” to escape the impending cataclysm, Curtis struggles to find a way to save his family.
Surprise, surprise – another disaster movie! Why are there so many? While I do appreciate the excitement created in films by having things randomly explode for no real rhyme or reason, I’m not a real fan of the disaster movie genre. Because they’re all the same.
Smart scientist discovers that bad shit is going to happen, people try to stop it/prepare for it, asteroid/aliens/mother nature tries to wipe out humanity – BUT WE DON’T TAKE ORDERS FROM NO ONE, BITCH.
And have you ever noticed that in the vast majority of disaster movies the US presidents are black? Is it supposed to be some sort of ‘only when we overcome our prejudices and elect a black president will we be able to stand united and triumph over whatever evils come our way’ message?
I remember when we first heard about this movie we were saying, “Yeah, they’re going to have a black president again. And he’s going to be played by… I dunno, Danny Glover. Haven’t seen him around in a while.” We looked it up, and what do you know – the president in 2012 was played by Danny Glover!
Anyways, it may have been to add a little humor to the situation, but the whole thing with the Queen kind of rubbed the wrong way. Danny Glover was the brave US president who gave up his seat and stood by his people at the White House and died heroically, while the Queen went happily along onto the ark with her corgis – to hell with England! That’s what I got from it. Maybe I’m just over analyzing things. *shrug*
About the characters – I really couldn’t care about anyone aside from the Russian’s dog, Sasha, the Russian chick, and the scientist guy. And that’s in order of who I cared about most.
I really could not feel any love for John Cusack’s character. I mean, what kind of person ignores a large fence with a RESTRICTED AREA sign, a large rotting moose corpse, and a shit load of steam just to see the spot where he used to snog his ex-wife? He purposely put his children in harms way – more than once! I wish the wife’s boyfriend would have lived instead. He may have had a pretentious job and car, but he’d never be charged with reckless child endangerment.
I won’t even touch upon all the Mayan calendar/Nostradamus and science stuff. I mean… Really? Please.
I must say, I did like how they had French people speaking French, Chinese people speaking Chinese, and the Saudi prince actually reading from right-to-left. Usually movies just have everyone speaking English, or reading incorrectly, and that bugs me. I remember in the new The Day The Earth Stood Still they had this one little scene where they had a stereotypical Muslim guy with an atrociously fake beard pasted on. It was so bad it was hilarious.
Lastly – no disaster movie should ever be two and a half hours long. It didn’t even have any musical numbers! And people complain about Bollywood having long ass movies…
Rating: 2/5
(IMDB) - In the future, Jake, a paraplegic war veteran, is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na’vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture.
(IMDB) - The film deals with a newly married couple caught on camera at a hotel during their honeymoon. The video is released on the Internet and the bride ultimately commits suicide. The husband, in pursuit of revenge, delves into the world of underground pornography, eventually traveling to Amsterdam and Switzerland to seek out the criminals of the underground pornography industry that profited from the film. 
(YesAsia.com) – Andy Lau is ‘Aaron’, a rich, successful businessman who falls off a boat, and drifts ashore an island located in Hong Kong’s rural outskirts. He’s mistaken for an illegal immigrant, and is taken in by a family who runs a small grocery store. The owner (Deannie Ip) is a bit unscrupulous, but ‘Aaron’ falls in love with her daughter ‘Yvonne’ (Sharla Cheung), who just so happens to work at his company. Discovering rest and enjoyment in his new pauper lifestyle, the former rich playboy hides his identity and goes about trying to win ‘Yvonne’s’ heart. But ‘Yvonne’ desires to leave her poor life, and ‘Aaron’s’ company is threatened by a hostile takeover! Can the pauper return to being a prince and win the heart of his chosen princess?
(IMDB) – The story begins with Speed Racer who is a young man with natural racing instincts whose goal is to win The Crucible, a cross-country car racing rally that took the life of his older brother, Rex Racer. Speed is loyal to the family business, run by his parents Pops and Mom. Pops designed Speed’s car, the Mach 5. The owner of Royalton Industries makes Speed a lucrative offer, Speed rejects the offer, angering the owner. Speed also uncovers a secret that top corporate interests, including Royalton, are fixing races and cheating to gain profit. With the offer to Speed denied, Royalton wants to ensure that Speed will not win races. Speed finds support from his parents and his girlfriend Trixie and enters The Crucible in a partnership with his one-time rival, Racer X, seeking to rescue his family’s business and the racing sport itself.
(IMDB) – The film follows the rise to power of Daniel Plainview – a charismatic and ruthless oil prospector, driven to succeed by his intense hatred of others and psychological need to see any and all competitors fail. When he learns of oil-rich land in California that can be bought cheaply, he moves his operation there and begins manipulating and exploiting the local landowners into selling him their property. Using his young adopted son H.W. to project the image of a caring family man, Plainview gains the cooperation of almost all the locals with lofty promises to build schools and cultivate the land to make their community flourish. Over time, Plainview’s gradual accumulation of wealth and power causes his true self to surface, and he begins to slowly alienate himself from everyone in his life.
(IMDB) – In the year 2056 – the not so distant future – an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. Out of the tragedy, a savior emerges: GeneCo, a biotech company that offers organ transplants, for a price. Those who miss their payments are scheduled for repossession and hunted by villainous Repo Men. In a world where surgery addicts are hooked on painkilling drugs and murder is sanctioned by law, a sheltered young girl searches for the cure to her own rare disease as well as information about her family’s mysterious history. After being sucked into the haunting world of GeneCo, she is unable to turn back, as all of her questions will be answered at the wildly anticipated spectacular event: The Genetic Opera.
(IMDB) – When the head of Ong-Bak, the sacred Buddha of a poor village is stolen, the population is plunged into misery. The Buddha was the focal point of an anniversary vigil believed to bring rain to the drought-stricken area. Young Ting is selected by the villagers to travel to Bangkok and rescue the relic in time for their ceremony. Ting has an affinity with the statue as he was left on the temple steps as a baby and raised by monks, who taught him Muay Thai, but forbade him to use it in combat. But now he is forced to delve into a seedy underworld and try to avoid temptation…
