2012 Movies -Prometheus, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Hunstman, Skyfall, and Looper

2012 Movies -Prometheus, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Hunstman, Skyfall, and Looper:

Having seen all the best picture nominees (except for Amour, which I will be trying to see in the next week in one of the few theaters playing it), and all of the best actor/actress and supporting performances possible (again, except for Emmanuelle Riva in Amour), I watched all of the movies nominated for technical awards as well.  Here are the ones not already reviewed:

Prometheus is nominated for Visual Effects.

2012 Prometheus

Meredith Vickers: If you're really going down there, you're going to die.
Peter Weyland: Very negative way of looking at things.  Exactly why you should have stayed at home.
Meredith Vickers: Did you really think I was gonna sit in a boardroom for years arguing over who was in charge while you go look for some miracle on some godforsaken rock in the middle of space?  A king has his reign, and then he dies.  It's inevitable.  That is natural order of things. 

Noomi Rapace as Elizabeth Shaw.

I had no idea what it was about when I rented it.  At one point I observed to Tyler that it seemed a lot like Alien, and at that time he pointed out to me that it is an Alien prequel.  Aha.  It started out with an interesting premise: Scientists searching for their creators on an alien planet, funded by a rich business man (Weyland), and led by his representatives, a tough gal (Vickers) played by Charlize Theron and an android named David.  Noomi Rapace plays Elizabeth Shaw, one of the scientists, and I was excited to discover that she played Lisbeth in the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (I couldn't place her at first, she looks very different without all the goth makeup and when speaking English).  Despite the intriguing beginning, it quickly devolved into a straight-forward monster movie, with all the characters getting wiped out by various alien entities, with the exception of our heroine, Sigourney Weaver -whoops, I mean Noomi Rapace.  I wanted to follow her character to see where she ended up after the movie ended, but oh well.  It really felt like it could have been more, but I guess Ridley Scott decided not to stray from the tried and true aliens killing humans in all sorts of gruesome ways formula.

2012 Mirror Mirror

Prince Alcott: I think Snow White is the most beautiful woman in the whole world.
Evil Queen: Agree to disagree.




Snow White: You know, all that time locked up in the castle, I did a lot of reading.  I read so many stories where the prince saves the princess in the end.
Prince Alcott: Open the door.  Open the door, Snow.
Snow White: I think it's time we change that ending.
Prince Alcott: No, you're messing with tried-and-true storytelling.  It's been focus-grouped and it works.  Just let me save you.

Lily Collins as Snow White receiving the poison apple.

Snow White is hot right now, kicked off by the great TV show Once Upon a Time, in which Snow, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, is most prominent fairytale character, and now featuring in two movies: Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman (reviewed below).  Mirror Mirror is the whimsical, funny take on the story.  Julia Roberts plays the queen, and she's extremely entertaining.  Ditto Nathan Lane as her faithful servant.  I was pleasantly surprised by Lily Collins as Snow White.  She was far more appealing and endearing than the previews made her out to be, though her eyebrows are distractingly bushy, which makes no rational sense considering the budget they had for makeup and costumes.  The dwarves she befriends are fun and comical, and the prince is amusing as well.  The whole movie is silly, but it's silly on purpose, which is enjoyable.  It ends with a random, colorful, Bollywood dance number, which pretty much sums up the tone of the movie -goofy but entertaining.  I will enjoy watching it again to get a good laugh.

Mirror Mirror is nominated for Best Costumes.

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White
in Once Upon a Time.

2012 Snow White and the Huntsman

"Our scars protect us.  Without beauty we are worthless to the Queen.  It's a sacrifice we made so we could raise our children in peace while their fathers are at war.  And you, your sacrifice will come."

Charlize Theron as Ravenna the Queen.

Nominated for Costume Design and Visual Effects.  This is the darker take on the Snow White tale.  Charlize Theron is the opposite of the hilarious Julia Roberts portrayal.  She is dark, menacing, and spends her time eating the hearts of birds and sucking the souls out of young women to maintain her youth and beauty.  To be honest, it's her story that feels more intriguing than Snow White's.  Her mother put a spell on her as a child in order to protect her right before she is abducted by soldiers, making it so that she gains power from her beauty: "Your beauty is all that can save you, Ravenna!  This spell will make your beauty your power and protection.  By fairest blood it is done.  But be warned, by fairest blood this spell can be undone."  I want to know more of her back-story.  It seems that she had a pretty traumatic upbringing to lead her to this way of life: "I was ruined by a king like you once.  I replaced his queen.  An old woman.  And in time I too would have been replaced.  Men use women.  They ruin us and when they are finished with us they toss us to the dogs like scraps."  Sadly, we aren't to learn much more.

Kristen Stewart as Snow White.

Snow White is played by Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame, and the director knew just how to use her to best advantage -she speaks very little, and spends most of her time gazing around or fleeing from danger.  Near the end she gives a speech to her soldiers to inspire them before battle, and that was the low point -it's just not her forte.  Chris Hemsworth plays the huntsman, a drunkard mourning the death of his wife, who ends up helping Snow White.  Chris Hemsworth is always fun to watch somehow, even in silly movies.  Snow White's childhood friend William is played by Sam Claflin, who is mostly interesting because we know that he will be playing Finnick Odair in Catching Fire later this year -I hope he is up to the task!

It's not a tough movie to watch, and it keeps your interest, but it's nothing phenomenal.  The one thing the movie can't escape is that Charlize Theron is certainly fairer than Kristen Stewart -there's just no way around it.  Kristen Stewart doesn't have hair black as night, lips red as blood, or skin white as snow as the prologue claims she will.  Charlize Theron, on the other hand, is looking terrific -that is, when she maintains her diet of the souls of pretty young women and doesn't overdo it with her magic (she can start to look a bit haggard if she lets herself slip in these areas!).

2012 Skyfall

M (Riding in Bond's car): Not very comfortable, is it?
Bon (Indicating a red eject button): You gonna complain all the way?
M: Go on!  Eject me!  See if I care!
 
Skyfall was nominated in the following categories: Cinematography, Original Score, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing.  Now, the Sound Editing was excellent, but I have to say, I think the Sound Mixing may have been even better...who am I kidding?  I don't care or know anything about those categories, but I'm sure whatever they are, they are wonderful and important.  And can it really be called an Original Score?  The same music has been used in countless Bond movies in the past.  Anyway, the cinematography was alright -Tyler thought it looked a bit Blade Runner-esque.

The traditional "Bond Girl."

I would say that Skyfall is a bit better than the average Bond movie, because the cast is very good (Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem), it develops the relationship between Bond and M, and it has a bit more humor than usual.  Otherwise, it is pretty much your average Bond movie.  If you are a Bond fan (it's not really my cup of tea), then you will like it.  It has action, women,  flashy cars, a villain bent on destruction, and a good old fashioned "If you take another step I will shoot you" "But wait until you hear the evil plan I have to stop you" "Okay, let's hear it" "I am going to push this button and drop a train on your head and escape" "Oh dear, I wish I had shot you instead of listening to all that and letting you push the button" scene.

2012 Looper

"Then I saw it.  I saw a mom who would die for her son.  A man who would kill for his wife.  A boy, angry and alone.  Laid out in front of him, the bad path.  I saw it, and the path was a circle, round and round.  So I changed it."

 

Looper was not nominated for anything, but I had heard good things about it, and Tyler was interested in seeing it.  It was actually pretty gripping right from the beginning.  The opening scene shows a man waiting in an abandoned field with a gun, checking his watch, when all of a sudden a blindfolded man appears out of nowhere in front of him, and the character shoots him without hesitation.  The gist of the movie is that in the future there is time travel, and they send people back to the past to be executed, because murders are too tricky in the future.  The executioners in the past get lots of money, but a limited life span.  They have to kill their future selves at one point, which completes their "loop".  Bruce Willis is the main character's future self, and he escapes being executed by his younger self in order to try to bring down the child that will become a terrible criminal boss in the future.  It's a really interesting plot, and a great idea; however, unfortunately, it stops making sense as it goes along.  The inconsistencies become glaring, and the ending doesn't quite work.  It kind of ruins what was a really promising and entertaining movie, which is disappointing.