Coates: District 9

District 9 is a different movie.. First of all, I just have to state that it was confusing to watch at times because it clearly starts as a documentary and ends up being a normal filmed action movie with documentary-type qualities...threw me off a bit. And the choice of the aliens to look like giant insects was also a bit weird. For the rest of the movie, I thought it was quite strange. These aliens have a ship and they are just hanging out in Africa for a while and nobody is really doing anything about them until the humans just get nosy and start evicting them from their town and all hell breaks loose because one guy gets sprayed by a mysterious alien weapon.  The movie is kind of sketchy with the alien's power as well.  They are unable to fight back, or leave for that matter (which is really confusing because they have weapons and a ship).  They apparently have advantages because of their weapons, a space ship, and are pretty strong. I didn't like that the prawns had all of these abilities and didn't get to use them. There was also no explanation to why the prawns are here in the first place. It was strange. The movie took a turn with the plot, making the human turn into one of them which was pretty cool.  I also liked the fact that the aliens had emotions and human characteristics. They were not typical aliens who were only there to destroy the human race. The baby prawn was a nice touch. I had to laugh at a few parts because I could almost understand the aliens better than the humans because of their accent. What was it, a mixture of  British, French, and German or something? The aliens had human names too..Christopher the Prawn? I also had to laugh at the fact that ALIENS LIKE CAT FOOD?? Who knew right? Maybe that is the reason they were here all along. I guess we will all have to wait and see what happens in 3 YEARS!

aww cute wittle baby prawn :)

Oh and if you just so happen to spot a prawn in your town, you can call: 1-866-666-6001 or go to their website: http://www.d-9.com/ for more information. 

^Here's how it should have ended..^

Coates: Restropo

The movie is about the men in the Restropo platoon. We get the inside view of what goes on during the war. The documentary was uncomfortable to me. Their goal was to make us feel like we have been deployed with the soldiers of Restropo, and it truly made me feel that I was there with them. The reality is really terrifying, especially seeing what the soldiers go through. I do not agree with the way Captain Kearney interacted with the village. There was no thought for those people. I was also mad about the whole cow incident too. The worst and probably one of the most powerful scenes was during Operation Rock Avalanche when one of the platoon's best men was killed. It is sad that America has to go into war in the first place, but even worse when they are trained to stop thinking. They lose respect for people and forget all of their emotions and thoughts. Their only thought is protecting their self, their country and their family.

War is a mess of a place. That is why I do not believe in it. There are definitely more ways to solve the issues between countries.  I feel that the only reason that a country should have military is for protection and to keep peace.  Although soldiers keep our county safe, I do not believe that war should be the answer.  And even though I still hate war, it is not the fault of the solider that does the killing; it is the fault of the countries that are in war against one another.  If there is a problem between countries, the UN or other organizations should make laws or solutions to the problems. If a country does not follow those laws, then the UN can decide what to do with them.  In my eyes, there is much more to life than being angry at people.  I try to see the best in everyone, even if they have done wrong.  

Coates: The Ides of March

The Ides of March was... scandalous. The movie is about press secretary, Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling :) who works for Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney).  The movie shows the "behind the scenes" view of a political campaign. Director, George Clooney also inputs his own political views throughout the movie.

 One main one that is clearly stated to me is the issue of abortion.  It is mentioned in the beginning of the movie during a press conference, but is then brushed aside to another topic. The plot almost revolves around it because of what happened to Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood).  The governor and Molly clearly did not take the campaign into thought in this moment of passion, so as a result, she got pregnant.  Had they clearly thought about their actions beforehand, the rest of the movie would have been shot.  Since they did not consider their actions, the pregnancy lead to a chain of events in this movie.  When Stephen found out and took Molly to the "women's health center," (I hate how they call it that, they should just live up to the fact that it's an abortion center) it became a political problem more than a moral problem. He cheated on his wife and she had to deal with the fact that it was against her and her family's beliefs. I almost thought that she was going to keep the baby and walk out of the abortion clinic. It would have made the movie have a greater impact because 1. it would morally be the right thing to do 2. Molly may not have killed herself or accidentally overdosed on the medicine that the abortion clinic gave her.  Personally, I do not agree that using the pregnancy as blackmail was right either.

In the beginning, Morris seemed to be a good and honest man, but in the end, it showed that he clearly cannot live up to his responsibilities. What kind of husband, father, or president will he be if he has to lie or cheat to become the president?  Clearly, in the end of the movie, Stephen Meyers has some explaining to do about how he got to the position he is in.  If he does, then Mike Morris will surely have a lot of explaining to do.
















oh, and this is probably one of the best scenes in the movie: it made me laugh!
http://www.sonypictures.com/previews/movies/theidesofmarch/clips/4051/
hehe :)

Coates: Rendition

Have you ever seen any of the SAW movies? If you have not, I’ll give you a brief description of them in one word: torture.  I have seen all of the movies in this series and each person who is targeted in each of the movies are being tortured. The reason why they are being tortured is because they have harmed themselves or others and are given the “opportunity” and ability to save themselves or others. In most cases, the person in danger is unable to save themself due to a lack of time.  Now how is this relevant to Rendition? This movie is similar because when the accused is being tortured, they have a chance to save themselves or others by giving important information to the government.  If no information is given, the “victim” is not killed, but kept alive so that the torturers can continue to torture the accused so that they cannot escape the torture by death.  The SAW movies rarely make me sick and I can usually watch them with no problem. When I watched Rendition, I could not watch the scenes when someone was tortured.  It was strange to me why I thought this way.  I think it is due to the fact that, A- the SAW movies are not real and Rendition can actually happen; B- the SAW victim was given the chance to survive at their own will and the Rendition victim was tortured nonstop until they gave important information.  It makes me sick that any government or person would be allowed to torture someone for information.  Which brings up another point for Rendition and SAW; would you torture or kill one person to save the life of one, ten, or one hundred or more people? Depending on the situation, I would say I honestly do not know.  I do not believe in torture or killing or anything of the sort and no person or government should have the power to kill or torture someone.