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Nochnoy Dozor (Nightwatch) [2004]

Wow, where to begin…wow. This movie is a Russian production, which is important, since you’ll probably go and watch it in Russian when you get around to seeing it. When I saw it, I felt that there was quite a bit lost in translation, because if you don’t pay supreme attention to the film, it can get quite confusing. That said, it’s an excellent fantasy-horror film about the forces of good and evil, light and darkness waging battle on earth since time immemorial. They do battle through their agents, which are called the Other, and they get to pick a side. I call them agents because they look out for the best interest of their respective side, trying to get ahead. The weird thing is, while the agents are on either of the opposite ends of the spectrum, often they go out to a pub to have a drink together.

The agents of darkness are referred to as vampires, and do your standard issue vampire things. They aren’t allowed to make other vampires from normal, non-Other humans, unless they get permission from the agents of Light, who decide over those matters. Naturally the agents of Darkness are a little pissed and more than a little envious of this. There are shapeshifters, witches, superhumans, vampires, curses, ghosts, etc., so there must be something here for those who like the fantastic.

Anyway, that’s the setting, sort of. It’s really hard to explain, and this movie deserves to be given a fair chance. It’s based on a series of books by Sergei Lukyanenko, and turned into a trilogy of films, Nochnoy Dozor 2: Mel Sudby a.k.a. Day Watch being the next of them.

Ehm, yeah. Hard to explain.

Meet the Fockers [2004]

Director: Jay Roach
Actor: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Owen Wilson

I didn’t like the first film, Meet the Parents, but after seeing the addition of Dustin Hoffmann as the cookie father of Gaylord Focker (Stiller), Bernard Focker, I thought I might enjoy it. Then when I heard Sam say that she really liked it, and that she’d been laughing all the way throughout the film, I thought I’d give it a try. I’d even want to face Barbra Streisand, who I actually thought did a pretty good job, in order to watch this film.

What a waste of time. Stiller is mediocre, Hoffmann is okay, and DeNiro is just downright emberassing. He really needs to stop making films like this. He’s not doing his reputation any good, especially considering how the performance really isn’t that good to begin with. I’m guessing he doesn’t want to be type-cast as the rock hard, in control, though guy, but can’t he do more things like Jackie Brown, Wag the Dog, Sleepers or Flawless to prove that?

Hotel Rwanda [2004]

Director: Terry George
Actor: Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte

For anyone not fully informed about what happened in Rwanda in 1994, I urge you to read this website, which is a pretty comprehensive coverage, viewed from multiple sides of the issue, compiled by the BBC. I suggest reading it, for it’s the backdrop of Hotel Rwanda, a true story about Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager of one of the finest hotels in Kigali, the capitol of Rwanda.

Paul’s job as manager of this luxury hotel afforded him the opportunity to consort with a lot of influential people in Rwanda; army staff and soldiers, politicians, both foreign and domestic dignitaries, and businessmen and women. He is a Hutu, while his wife, and therefore also his children are Tutsi’s.

For those who haven’t taken the time to look at the link I put up in the previous paragraph, in short, when the Belgians colonised Rwanda they took favour to those Rwandese that were of slimmer and taller build, had fairer skin and more European features. They called them Tutsi’s and they called the rest Hutu’s. The Hutu’s were in the majority, but the Tutsi’s held the favour of the colonial masters. Sadly, when the Belgians returned sovereignty to Rwanda, they put the Hutu’s in charge. It took a while, but resentment finally built to the point where the Hutu’s massacred 800.000 Tutsi’s in the span of days. All the while, the UN stood by and couldn’t do anything, like a toothless dog.

Paul decided, in a Shindler’s List sort of way, to provide shelter to Tutsi refugees at his luxury hotel, long since abandoned by tourists and western guests, using his connections to keep the resort safe from attack.

In my opinion, this film follows the same line as Black Hawk Down, Tears of the Sun, The Killing Fields and many other devastatingly shocking films, and are a necessity for Western education. We need to understand what happens in Africa, and in most cases, we need to understand what Western colonialism has brought about, and the damage it did, and still does nowadays.

Constantine [2005]

Director: Francis Lawrence
Actor: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Djimon Hounsou, Tilda Swinton, Peter Stormare

Wow. I really liked this film. Sure, some might complain that it doesn’t follow the Hellblazer comics religiously, and that John Constantine should’ve been a scoucer, but fuck all of that. From all accounts they kept the character very true to the spirit of the character in the comic. So there, let’s not waste any more breathe on that subject any more.

John Constantine is a modern-day warlock who goes around the world banishing demons back to hell. As a young boy he was gifted with the ability to see the demons and angels roaming amongst humanity, influencing humanity and not understanding what he was seeing or why, and not getting anything but misunderstanding from his parents and peers, he commits suicide. He was dead for two whole minutes, and thus his soul was in hell, where all suicidals go. He was revived, but his soul was forever doomed to go hell upon his eventual death, unless he redeemed himself. And so he redeemed himself. Over and over again, banishing demons left, right and center, trying to get into good graces again. Sadly, he hasn’t been able to, and it’s made him very jaded and cynical, but he’s not given up.

Angela is a police officer, and the other half of a pair of twins, the other of which has just committed suicide, damning her soul to an afterlife of damnation. Being a devout Catholic and thus knowing full-well what she was bringing upon herself, her sister is suspicious of the circumstances under which her “suicide” occured. Her inquiries are the start of a rollercoaster ride that lead to the birth into our world of the biggest deamon of all; Lucifer’s son, the anti-Christ.

I just love these In Nomine type movies and as with The Prophecy, I highly recommend this film!

Saw [2004]

Director: James Wan
Actor: Danny Glover, Ken Leung, Cary Elwes, Tobin Bell

This movie got a lot of hype on this website before it came out in the United States, and I was very eager to see it. Having seen it, I was satisfied for what it was, though not as satisfied as I expected I would be. Don’t get me wrong, good film, and definitely worth the price of admission, but it’s no Se7en, although it does have that very same atmosphere.

I used to watch anything with a serial killer in it. Millenium, Profiler, Kiss the Girls (also starring Elwes, by the way), and more of the sort. This film fits really well; serial killer mastermind sets up an elaborate way for his victims to kill themselves, presenting them with death or a horrible alternatives to death, from which they can pick themselves (much like Se7en). Two men find themselves locked in a dirty public bathroom, chained to rusted pipes, with one assignment; kill the other before the clock strikes n, or be killed.

I thought the cinematography was really very good – especially for a relatively inexperienced director – and the mood was set very well. Acting-wise it wasn’t the best performance I’ve seen, but not terrible.