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It’s been years since an alien race destroyed the moon, throwing our planet out of whack and causing major earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters.  Then the aliens invaded.  So the human race used nuclear weapons to put a stop to the war.  Now, with much of the planet surface remaining uninhabitable, humans have built a massive pyramid-shaped space station and are preparing to leave for Titan, a moon of Saturn.  Jack (Tom Cruise) and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) are assigned to repair the drones that protect large aqua-processing stations from alien scavengers (“scavs”).  Living and operating from a ‘sky tower’, high above the ground, Jack and Vic run daily operations as instructed by Mission from the space station in orbit.  It’s a dangerous job, but the two are only a couple weeks from completing their mission and heading for Titan with everyone else.

Soon after Jack intercepts and terminates a mysterious signaling device, a space pod enters earth’s orbit and crashes just over the horizon.  When he arrives on scene, Jack finds that the pod contained several humans in ‘delta sleep’.  Before he knows it, a security drone appears and begins to fire upon the sleep pods.  He’s only able to save the life of one of the survivors – and brings her back to the sky tower.  Concerned about the origins of the survivor named Julia (Olga Kurylenko), Vic suspects a possible connection to alien scavengers.  Things get even more complicated when Jack and Julia are captured… by humans.  Beech (Morgan Freeman), a lead figure of hundreds of humans in hiding, insists that Jack help them with a secret mission that would destroy the space station in orbit.  He claims that Jack is ignorant to an ongoing war and that things are not as they seem.

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Fee, Fi, Foe, Fum… you know the rest.  Or do you?  That’s the funny thing about folktales.  Because their origins are often something of a mystery; evolving ever so slightly with every passing generation, they remain simple enough to stay lodged in our minds long after childhood and, as of recently, have become major fodder for Hollywood.  With the advent of digital CG characters and environments, modern film makers seem to be foaming at the mouth to bring our favorite fairytales and the like to life.  But this is Hollywood… and the production companies have no patience to wait for a screenplay that will do justice for such noble projects.  Perfect example: last year’s ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ – a film of fantastic potential; until they hired on one of the worst known actors of today to play the lead character.

But it’s not in the acting where ‘Jack the Giant Slayer‘ falls short.  It’s in the story – or lack thereof.

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It should be noted that this movie is a work of fiction, and though many key plot elements were based on actual events, ‘Zero Dark Thirty‘ should not be considered a reenactment of the whole, true story.  First off, Chastain’s character is referred to as Maya in the film, though this obviously isn’t the CIA agent’s real name.  And as much as the American public would love to believe that the CIA would release crucial (not to mention secret) information to be referenced in a film, it just wouldn’t happen.  In fact, the CIA claims that the film’s portrayal of torture methods being used during suspect interrogations is historically inaccurate.  A first-hand account of the raid on the Bin Laden compound was also eventually published by a member of Seal Team 6… but there are, without a doubt, a number of details that will remain secret.

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Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 10,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 17 years to get that many views.

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Guns.  Guns are an obsession for not just Americans, but for people around the world.  After Sandy Hook, some welcome the idea of stronger gun control policies while others claim it as a violation of our country’s second amendment.  Let’s just get something out of the way real quick: The Bill of Rights, The Constitution and Declaration of Independence were all written by the people of yesteryear – by men; many of whom owned slaves and lived during a time where women had little to no rights, interracial marriage was illegal, and the list goes on.  So why the people of this country constantly bring up what our forefathers had originally envisioned for the sake of trying to make an argument on a current issue is simply beyond me.  Should people have the right to be armed?  Absolutely.  Beyond the use of guns for hunting, one should have the right to protect themselves.  But NOBODY requires a fully-automatic assault rifle to do so.  That’s why they’re called assault weapons – they’re designed with the soul purpose of killing human beings, not hunting Bambi.

Thus, the events of the last two weeks have been fascinating, if not downright disturbing.  Some residents are returning their guns, not wanting them to end up in the hands of easily swayed children.  Others bought up guns and bullets at a staggering rate for fear of political backlash.  You’ll notice I mentioned fear.  Fear is the route of people’s desire to arm themselves with military-grade weapons and barricade themselves away from the outside world.  Again, I feel that everyone has the right to use reasonably sized firearms for self defense.  But unfortunately, fear is a toxic element that spreads like wildfire by means of media, hatred and ignorance.  Some say that without weapons, attack is inevitable.  That may be true (on some level)… but then so is the idea living peacefully with your neighbors.  I, for one, have better things to do than give in to fear mongering.  As a country, we need to focus on building a sense on community and it’s a bit hard when we’ve got over-caffeinated, uneducated, paranoid ‘patriots’ armed to the teeth who blindly scream about harm done unto the second amendment and demonize politicians asking for a more sensible approach to an archaic law.

I suppose the ultimate irony here is that the majority of individuals who arm themselves also identify as people of faith.  Usually, a faith that specifies the killing of other people as a sin.  And assault weapons aren’t purchased for means of ‘self defense’ or ‘injuring’ a would-be burglar… they’re used for killing.  That’s something of a paradox, isn’t it?

Much Love-

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During an art and fashion show at Bar Basic in downtown San Diego last night, speaking with some fellow artists, we observed the diverse crowd that had gathered at the location.  People from all walks had come out to mingle, support local artists and appreciate some great music.  That’s when a gentleman I had just met brought up the massive Southwest Blackout of 2011… and it seems that just about everyone remembers the event fondly.  And there was the irony: it took a catastrophically huge and unplanned technical issue to lighten things up.

Of course there were some headaches.  Because everyone had to leave work early, rush hour became a frustrating trek home, navigating crazy traffic jams caused by lack of power to lights at intersections.  Hospitals and other locations with backup generators did just fine.  It was later in the evening that everyone realized that they needed to put use to the food in their refrigerators… and then it happened.  People started meeting their neighbors, throwing impromptu barbecues and other such gatherings.  Many bars downtown remained open, illuminating unswayed partygoers by flashlight and candle.  In a strange twist of fate, the residents of San Diego had been forced to enjoy our city in a new way… kind of like a huge playground.

It’s only when the ability to veg in front of their televisions and computers had been taken away that this event could take place.  Once people came to terms that this wasn’t the end of the world or work of terrorists, they had to force themselves to accept that maybe there’s more to life than what our fancy little gadgets and the media had to offer.  We had each other.  And just for that one evening, we were that much more human.  Food for thought.

Loosely based on information in the personal letters and diary of Margaret Suckley, Franklin D Roosevelt’s distant cousin commonly known as “Daisy” who died in 1991, ‘Hyde Park on Hudson‘ (originally a theatrical play) outlines the events leading up to the first visit to the United States by the reigning King and Queen of England during a weekend in June of 1939; just months before England entered the second World War.  As this story controversially portrays Daisy’s well-known and close relationship to the famous FDR, one might expect a sense of heightened drama surrounding the events that transpire within…  Instead, as this was a time that still ‘allowed secrets’, there is a sense of simplicity, modest reservation, and even quiet understanding that the president was a man with attributes that needed to remain hidden from the public.  Bill Murray’s performance as of one of America’s favorite presidents feels spot on.  He’s calculated, introspective, polite, and (above all) very human.

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An unsuspectingly witty screenplay by John J. McLaughlin engages some of the biggest names in the film industry to deliver not only a refreshing and interesting look into the life of one of the most notorious directors of our time, but also illuminate the evolution of what’s considered taboo in America’s film community.  Known for his precarious relationships with the leading ladies of his films, not to mention sometimes morbid pranks played upon them, Alfred Hitchcock broke new ground with the making of the 1960 film ‘Psycho’, which was very loosely based upon actual events as outlined in a novel by the same title.  ‘Hitchcock’ seamlessly integrates fun trivial facts, subtle nods to Hitchcock film fans and strong acting performances to shed light on the man behind what is considered to be one of the best films of all time… and the collaborative relationship with his wife that was essential to his success.

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I’ve been writing movie reviews for MovieFloss and our first Podcast was posted on Oct 12, which I mentioned in a post on the same date.  We’ve been keeping up with the project and continue to bring the latest in movie news and share our opinions on the movies we’ve seen.  Podcasts are free on iTunes, so subscribe to the MovieFloss Podcast – enjoy and let us know what you think!