Movie catchup roundup #2

My second round of ensuring that I am cultured in the way of movies that I should have seen in my lifetime: completed.

The Last Samurai

This was supposed to be another one of those tear-jerking movies, but it took me a long while to watch it (about 6 hours or so). What I particularly enjoyed about this movie was its commentary on industrialisation and colonisation: civilisations that ran effectively stood no chance against the machines that the arrogant West brought. It was also touching to see the development of a hardened character, such as Tom Cruise (who it was nice to see in a different role), into an empathetic and peaceful individual who now fights for what he believes is right, and he fought for the underdog - doesn't that just make him truly dreamy? I am exaggerating, but it was a nice development of a character. I wasn't expecting the (spoiler alert) months spent in the peaceful Japanese village, but the filmmakers did pull it off quite well, luckily. I'm glad that I can say that I've now seen it, but I don't think it will stand out in my mental movie bank in future.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I loved it. It was wonderful escapism and it had a really entertaining cast. It was beyond weird, yet it didn't seem to be trying too hard to be so. It was almost like a commercialised Dr Who, but without making the viewer feel like a niche nerd. It was funny and it was serious: how would you feel if your planet was demolished? Overall, I feel like I have added a little bit of culture to my life, but only a small amount: I need to read the book because the books are always better. (Maybe one day I'll even watch other versions of it...)

21 & Over

I had not heard good things about this movie, but I don't think it was all that bad. I would say that the quality of our teen comedy movies is declining - this movie was unoriginal, drawing from movies like Project X and The Hangover. I'll also admit that they really do say the main character's name far too much: "Jeff Chan!" It was mindless and stupid, and sometimes that's a good thing. It was pretty far-fetched, of course. I could relate to the "college life" situation portrayed, but not too much, thank goodness. While I've seen a fair amount of bush-diving injuries around campus, we tend to be a lot more conservative here in South Africa, so luckily this Jeff Chan situation is not that likely to happen.

The commentary on friend relationships and the way they deteriorate as we move away from teen years really did hit home: I find myself missing "the good ol' school days" when things were simple and you knew exactly what was going on with everyone's life (I went to a really small high school - less than 400 students). I don't miss being in high school, it wasn't "the best time of my life", but it certainly was a lot simpler back then, and maybe I just miss having so much free and lazy time... And not having to make life-changing decisions, which is where I am right now, and it is seriously stressing me out, eep!