REVIEW: The Lovely Bones

Plot summary for The Lovely Bones from comingsoon.net:

Based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, and directed by Oscar® winner Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Jackson & Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens, "The Lovely Bones" centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family – and her killer – from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal. Oscar® nominee Mark Wahlberg and Oscar® winners Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon star along with Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli and Oscar® nominee Saoirse Ronan.

After the Oscar nominations came out, and I realized that we only had seven more to see in order to fill out the top seven categories, I assumed the movie I would enjoy the least was The Blind Side. Well, I was wrong. I absolutely hated The Lovely Bones. Horrible, just horrible.

Of course, I'm sure disappointment factored into some of my dislike. I really enjoyed the novel, and I've given Peter Jackson respect as a director in the past. With such great source material, a proven director, and a decent cast (Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg), its not ridiculous to expect something great, or even just good. But this movie is such a disaster it's hard to know where to start. Maybe it'll be easier in list form.

1. The script: Completely flat, uninspired and disgustingly sentimental. I was miming gagging motions to Wade while Saoirse Ronan dramatically yelled "Dad" from heaven for about the 100th time, in a breathy, whispery voice no less. Everything was overly dramatic and always accompanied by an over-the-top musical score.

2. The CGI: Peter Jackson should really take a break from Weta Digital, his go-to special effects crew. While the computer-generated stuff was nice to look at, it became the focus in this movie. The heartbreaking and poignant aspects of the story were cut short due to all the special effects, which stripped them of their power. I felt bad for Mark Wahlberg. It looks like he's doing a poor job, but every time he has a scene it's completely interrupted with another fantasy sequence. Nothing develops naturally because the CGI is always getting in the way.

3. The editing: The Lovely Bones was 2 hours and 15 minutes long, but feels more like 3 hours. Peter Jackson needs to learn how to cut out the fluff. Specifically, again, the CGI scenes seemed to last forever, yet some moments that really needed to be explored, given the purpose/story, were cut short.

4. Other: Susan Sarandon is completely unnecessary as the grandmother, only providing comic relief in this weird "can't figure out the housework" montage, which feels completely out of place in the movie. Also, a major theme of the book is sexual violence, the consequences not only on the victim, but also family and others, yet Jackson tones this down immensely in order to get a PG-13 rating. While certain events are implied, this evasion of the subject of rape almost seems like an insult to Alice Siebold's work.

Wow, went off on this film a bit... Yet I have no regrets about this review, only that I saw The Lovely Bones to begin with.

Wade: 1/5 stars
Kinsey: 0/5 stars

REVIEW: District 9

Have you ever thought that you were well informed about something but then found out that you weren't? I always thought I was pretty knowledgeable about major world events of the last couple decades, but after seeing Distric 9, from first-time writer/director Neill Blomkamp, I found myself doing a little online research about apartheid, and I definitely did not know the entirety of the events.

District 9 is an allegory for apartheid in South Africa, swapping out Africans for aliens. These aliens, degradingly known as prawns, have stalled out over Johannesburg and are being forced to live in squalor. The main focus of the film is an attempt to move the aliens far away from the city.



I think Kinsey summed it up best when she said this film was unlike anything we've seen in quite a while. Most summer movies can be easily locked into a specific category. Let's take a look at the movies we've seen so far this summer:

Julie & Julia - biopic
The Hurt Locker - war movie
Public Enemies - biopic
Rudo y Cursi - buddy/sports movie
(500) Days of Summer - romantic comedy
Up - animated movie, but I guess it would fall into the original category


(Wow, we really haven't seen that many movies this summer)


So we've got one fairly original concept and five movie types that we've seen before. And we don't even go see your typical summer fare. Now, on the surface, District 9 seems to be just a sci-fi film. But once you see it, you realize its a sci-fi/deep character study/action/mockumentary/political statement/social parable/father-son film all rolled into one. And what's even more impressive is that it did all that on a $30 million dollar budget, miniscule compared to most big summer movies.


Originality is a tough cookie. Anymore, its seems like originality is more about the parts then the whole. No one is going to say that Neill Blomkamp came up with the idea of aliens landing on Earth. That would be ridiculous. But he is one of the first to take those earthbound aliens and make them the meek instead of the mighty. It reminds me a bit of architecture school. We (the students) would pour over the works of famous architects, Louis Kahn, Herzog and de Meuron, MVRDV, Frank Gehry,Peter Zumthor, looking for bits of inspiration, looking for precedent. And in the end, if you were lucky, you had a mostly original work. It wouldn't be Peter Zumthor; it would be Peter Zumthor-esque. I would love to hear Blomkamp talk about his inspiration or precedent for District 9.

There are other fields of science fiction (which I have limited knowledge of) besides film, so maybe the concept of refugee aliens isn't as original as it may seem. But when it comes to the world of movies, District 9 is a novel and very thought provoking film.


Wade: 4/5 stars
Kinsey: 4/5 stars