Falling Face First

Ever been a victim for doing the right thing? It’s the worst. Ordinarily ‘acting by the book’ will allow you to navigate life’s treacherous moments safely, until somebody dies as a result thereof.  

Yes sir, no amount of procedurally correct actions can bring back somebody once they are dead. Death is simply not contained by the boundaries of protocol. A hard fact to swallow, no matter who you are.

When Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerhard Butler) rescues his Commander-In-Chief, President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart), just in time from a car wreck after their vehicle was involved in an accident, he does the right thing, but he doesn’t save the First Lady (Ashley Judd), too. (Who in their right mind doesn’t save Ashley Judd?)

Being more than just the President’s number one agent, but a friend and confidant as well, having Mike around stirs up too many memories for the President of that fateful night when his wife died and so he gets resigned to a desk job, away from the Whitehouse. Fortunately for Mike, fate is about to serve up yet another unlikely twist to his tale. 

During a visit from South Korea’s Prime Minister, the president and a whole bunch of US officials are taken hostage by a North-Korean terrorist, Tang Yeonsak (Rick Yune), who managed to infiltrate the Minister’s detail. Fuelled by rage over the death of his parents who were killed by an American landmine, Tang starts killing hostages down in the Whitehouse’s bunker and threatens to kill the president next unless America withdraws all their military forces from Korea.

Besides insisting on the withdrawal, he also demands the access codes to all the nuclear weapons distributed all over the country. His aim is to activate them and turn America into a nuclear wasteland. Unfortunately for Tang, his acts of terror is about to be met by Banning, a man with skills more terrifying than any terrorist. Having been forced to sit out from real active duty, Mike is more than motivated to make amends for the past and pretty soon, he will once again be his president’s no1 go-to guy.

Unfortunately, it’s not just Olympus (the Secret Service’s code name for the Whitehouse) that has fallen in this movie, but also the film itself. Although it went on to earn $160 million and was made for just $70 million, it’s a typical story of ‘one man against all the odds’ who then goes on to save the day.

Gerhard Butler’s character lacks some serious depth throughout his entire performance, while the whole movie is entrenched with every visual trick and stunt fathomable. The plot falls flat even further when the new acting president ( Morgan Freeman) along with his advisors do what always gets done in these films – they never follow the advice coming from the man on the ground and proceed to act on their ideas. No surprise at all that someone always dies as a result.

It’s nice to see a fairly young man 

such as Aaron Eckhart in the role of president. A man who keeps fit by boxing and doesn’t mind taking a punch himself. 

However, it’s not enough.If you feel like some mindless entertainment about the first successful terrorist attack on the Whitehouse ever, then watch ‘Olympus Has Fallen’. Just be aware that it’s the only significant claim to this film.

                                                                                                         

Life In Every Breath

The concept of breathing is fascinating. It’s something all of us do countless times a day without giving it any or no thought at all. The average adult breathes between 12 – 20 breaths per minute which means that depending on how fast you read, by the time you have finished reading this paragraph you would have done at least 4 – 5 breaths, but this time you’ve actually thought about it, at least once. 

When you can’t breathe all of that changes and you’re suddenly very aware of the importance of this ‘silent-partner’ that enables you to live. 

Dr Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a medical engineer and the mission-specialist on her first trip into space. Accompanying her is commanding officer Matthew Kowalski (George Clooney), a veteran astronaut, who is doing his final mission for NASA before retiring. Everything seems to be going according to plan while on a spacewalk to make some repairs to the Hubble Telescope when they receive a warning from Houston (Mission Control) to immediately abort the mission.

A nearby Russian satellite has been destroyed by a missile strike and the debris from the explosion is approaching the team and can hit them any second. In space, debris like this can have fatal consequences. The warning from Houston is not in time and before they can reach their space shuttle it is destroyed by the impact, killing all of the crew inside.

From there things quickly escalate and take a turn for the worst. Ryan is separated from the Explorer and has to be retrieved by Kowalski, the only one who has a thruster pack. The amount of oxygen she has available to breathe is already at a critical level and with her breathing now completely out of control due to shock, getting to the International Space Station is not only their best chance of finding alternative transport back to Earth, it's a matter of life and death. 

 

As soon as they reach the ISS they notice it too is badly damaged and that both its Soyuz escape pods have already been deployed, but Kowalski believes there is a third one that can be used to help them reach a nearby Chinese space station where they will find another module, one that can be used to take them back to Earth.

Gravity is a spellbinding movie. Director Alfonso Cuaron manages to tell a compelling story at an exhilarating pace that draws you as viewer completely in to what it must feel like when you are orbiting around the Earth and suddenly experience a life or death situation.

The visuals are spectacular and Tim Webber, the film's visual effects supervisor, has done a magnificent job of creating space-effects that are accurate and true. Of course there are some laws of physics that get manipulated for the sake of developing the movie’s plot, but most astronauts interviewed about the authenticity of the movie will tell you what you witness in the film is exactly what you can expect when you are in space.

The film's main theme focuses on the human spirit’s tenacity to fight against and overcome fear. It also challenges certain perceptions, for instance: even if you could remove yourself to some remote place like space, where no other human being can hurt you, you realise that ‘hurt’ is part of life, perhaps the ingredient that defines it and the only way to overcome it is to never give up. Not quitting in life means you are alive. Eventually those who don’t quit - overcome, transforming them from mere survivors to more than conquerors.

James Cameron was quoted saying about Gravity: ‘I was stunned, absolutely floored. I think it's the best space photography ever done, I think it's the best space film ever done, and it's the movie I've been hungry to see for an awful long time.

‘Gravity 3D’ is currently on cinema circuit. If you are hungry to watch a movie that will literally transport you to another world, be sure to watch this one.

Living On The Wrong Side of Town

No one gets to choose where he or she lives. It’s a decision that is made for you before you are born and it can often shape you for good. When you come from a wealthy background, growing up in a decent neighbourhood shouldn’t be a problem or choosing to move to one, should you so desire. You have resources.

Having resources means that any obstacles you have to face are already half dealt with because you have them. But to those who don’t and still have to overcome any, the task is much harder.

When you’re living in despair and among the wrong crowd of people too, not being pulled down into your environment’s social dynamics is often impossible. The hope of keeping a dream for a better life alive with little or no proof of success usually is met with a fatal blow in the form of reality.

If you grew up in Charlestown, Boston, that blow was most likely the result of an armed robbery gone wrong.

In his second feature film as director, Ben Affleck sketches a vivid picture of life growing up in Charlestown. Affleck co-wrote the screenplay as well as starred in this edge of your seat crime-drama.

Doug MacRay (Affleck) is a career criminal, but he’s had enough. After the last bank robbery he and his fellow gang of robbers had commit, Doug realises that there’s a difference between being forced to quit and quitting while you are ahead.

Growing up in Charlestown, nothing good has ever happened in his life. His father was a career criminal too and his mother left them while he was still a young boy. But, when he is forced to follow the young bank manager they kidnapped on their last heist out of fear that she might reveal something to the FBI, Doug’s life takes an unexpected turn for the good when the two of them strike up a romantic relationship.

Claire (Rebecca Hall) is entirely unaware of the true nature of the man she is busy dating, until FBI agent Frawley (Jon Hamm) knocks on her door one day to inform her that since she opened the safe for the robbers and are now seeing their chief suspect in the case, she is likely to face prosecution, unless she is willing to help co-operate and help them catch him.

Round every twist and turn, there’s a classic standoff between the law and the lawless, complemented with some great dark-humour moments, too. 

For Doug, the hope of finding redemption in his life by running away with Claire and starting a new one seems like a real possibility. Who knows, perhaps his heart will be rewarded with what it has always longed for: the opportunity to get away from the wrong side of town.

 ‘The Town’ is a brilliant must-see movie.