Predestination | Awkward…

This film came to my ears thanks to my father, he was the one who recommended it to me. He, as same as me, is a big fan of the genre of science fiction, even if he is too casual sometimes, I usually rely on his taste and recommendations…

The film which I’m about to write is Predestination, directed by Spierig Brothers and starring Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook. I did not bother to look any trailer, such was the confidence I had in my father that I didn’t waste my time looking for any synopsis of the film. And I render thansk for it, because after I found, when I saw a trailer, that the story would have been resolved long before because of the spoilers I found on the trailer, and it would have ruined the experience of film. And for this reason, I won’t talk too much about the plot, so the film surprises you as it did with me (if you still want to see the film afeter this review). Of course you can search in google for the synopsis… But again, I do not recommended you to do so.

I always liked Ethan Hawke as actor, no matter the gender that he plays in; romantic dramas, action, horror, science fiction… He deals with any kind of movie and he usually acts really well. But is Sara Snook the one who have done an outstanding job here, sespecially in the first half of the movie (mostly because she appears much more than Ethan).

The film has a very convoluted script, being honest, at first I was not interested and it even seemed a bit boring but then when you think you already understand what is going on in this movie,takes you straight to a sub-plot, breaking the monotonous rhythm that I thought the story would take and then it is twisted even more… But don’t worry, It is not a film too complex, so will not need to be too concentrated, is not like Primer (LINK).

We will not find great action scenes or special effects, neither an innovative plot that has not been shown before in any movie, but it is an intelligent and ingenious plot which gives another turn to a nut we have already saw in the past. Remember that is based on the novel by A. Heinlein titled «All You Zombies«, so is not an original script, but hey, is a really good adaptation.

But it is not all good, far from it… As I said at the beginning the tempo is very slow, and I’m not talking about 15 minutes, but about 40-50 agonizing minutes. Maybe because I’m already tanned with these films,but I found it a bit predictable (but not that last twist). And finally the most negative point that the film has, because it’s a spoiler I am going to hide it here (just select and drag with the mouse the blank space):
When in the bar Ethan tells to Sarah «What would you do if you found that person who ruined your life and I guarantee you’d come away without any problem if you kill him right there?». She tells him she would kill him right there, without hesitation…
Then, they go back in time and “voilá”, she finds that it was herself the person who ruined her life… Well, okay (We’ll ignore that it is very strange that you can’t recognize yourself, even if you have changed your sex) I understand that you do not want to shoot yourself… But from there to fuck yourself? What the hell is going on? What is this? The climax of narcissism? A hoax, I do not know if this happens as well on the novel, but I can’t deal with this. It makes no sense for me, and it ruined the whole movie for me…

Despite all the good things I have said about the film, I found so insulting what I have commented on the spoiler, so I can’t recommend you the movie… Unless you have nothing to do in a boring day, but only if you want to be taken for a fool, that’s your problem.

NOT Recommended.

DiRT Rally | What an Early Acces!

DiRT Rally is one of those games that you do not see very often, a return to the origins by a company specialized in the sector of motor games,in particular rally, Codemasters. It seems they missed those golden years of Colin McRae games. DiRT Rally goes back to that, It is a rally game as thos made before; direct and hard. Nothing like gymkhanas or dumb tests as in previous games of the DiRT series. Here you are alone with your co-pilot and the different stages you’ll face with a generous variety of cars. Before you continue reading, I made it clear, if you want a challenge and / or simulation, keep reading, if instead you are looking for something simpler and more arcade, this is not your game.

What most surprised me was the directness of its intentios. You just start, you buy a car and you star racing. No one has to explain why you’re there or why you want to run rallies:if you bought the game you already know that, that is what you were looking for!

Keep in mind that before starting the «Career» mode you should run a stage just to test your skills and then adjust the level of aids, you can configure the game as a semi-simulator or as a full “sim” where dominate the car is a really crazy task.

In the “Carrer” mode you will start with lower power cars and as more as you win you could buy better rally cars, tune them and also improve your pit crew.

You can play with keyboard and mouse, steering wheel or with a controller, and it works well with all control systems, but obviously it is advisable to use a wheel to have the best possible experience (because it is an Early Acess not all wheels are compatible ant they do not respond as they should, but they are already working on this).

The most experienced players will agree, This is a game where what matters is not driving too fast, but to make a clean stage, without exits of road and with caution, but when you learn how your car responds and when you get use to the mechanics you could be a bit more risky and go faster. But be careful with cuting the curves (take a look at the video down) and/or brake / accelerate too early or late. To deal with this you will have the help of your co-pilote, you must pay attention to him, since their support is vital to finish the race in one piece.

DiRT Rally is an Early Access exclusive for PC but the developers have already said -if it works fine in sales- they would consider to develop versions for consoles. Its an Early Access very solid and stable that could pass for a finished game, although Codemasters say they still have much to do and that they will hear the fans when deciding their next steps. For now has; 17 cars (among which you can find some as mythical as: Lancia Delta S4, Subaru Impreza 1995, Audi Quattro S1, etc) and 3 rally with 12 stages each, ie a total of 36 different «tracks», these stages are located in Greece, Monte Carlo and Wales. The developers have already confirmed a new game mode, “climbhill” and maps and new cars that will soon arrive.

Summarizing, if you like motor games, but especially rallies, and you have 25 pounds… Support this honest, funny and brave project.

RECOMMENDED

Wayward Pines | The first episode.

I came to know this TV mini-series randomly, I didn’t know of its existence until I saw a friend talking about it in Twitter. It will be realesed the 14th may of this year, but I had the chance to watch the pilot episode, and about this episode I will write today in this new entry. Something like a «first impressions».

Produced by M. Night Shyamalan and directed by Chad Hodge and his team, this serie has the following synopsis: A Secret Service agent goes to Wayward Pines, Idaho, in search of two federal agents who have disappeared in the bucolic village. He soon learns that he may never leave alive Wayward Pines.

And on that synopsis the first episode is developed, and like in almost any pilot episode its focused on presenting the characters of this thriller.

When I finished this first chapter I had a strange feeling. On the one hand I liked the design and the casting, Matt Dillon surprised me, I managed to connect and empathize with his character. But on the other hand, although the story is presented well and captures your attention, it gets deflated very fast and you realize it’s something you’ve seen in some other series or movies (The Truman Show?), but something is true, it’s focused in a different way, never seen – at least for me – before…

The hand of M. Night Shyamalan is slightly felt here, but clearly it is not him who is behind the camera. Haters of the indian director will be happy with this but its sad for those who still rely on his work and ideas, like me.

I really hope, they manage to tangle the plot intelligently, because I have the impression that they have already told me the whole plot, in only 43 minutes. But please, do not become a copy of Lost where a script was invented every other day leaving so many gaps and treating the viewer as an asshole. But, again, I trust in Shyamalan, and I hope that as the producer like he is, his mind also take part in the development of the plot (it must be emphasized that it is based on a novel, we’ll see if itsblindly followed or if they prefer to follow their own way).

We should give a vote of confidence to this project and follow it closely, at least I will do so.

RECOMMENDED

The Faculty | And a short anecdote…

I will talk about The Faculty, Robert Rodriguez, a movie starred by Elijah Wood before becoming Frodo forever and sink his career. Sorry Elijah, those sad eyes will always be of Frodo, forever….

The film takes place in an institute, in which some aliens get into the body of people, starting with teachers.The only way to prove you do not have an alien inside your body is… snorting cocaine. Yes, as you read it – it may be a parody of The Thing and its blood test, who knows-. You could not prove it with a joint, no, but with a line of coke. That is, the film makes the desire of almost every student; kill teachers and have an excuse to get very high. I’d rather be junkie than martian.

The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, who also made Scream and I know what you did last summer. Specialized in adolescents and horror, don’t get him out of there. If the movie is about a psychopath, but who kills adults… He won’t be interested. If the film is about teens but they don’t die in an horribly way, he won’t be interested. t may be due to a bad experience in high school and he wants some kind of revenge, even if it only happens in his fantasies…

The director, Robert Rodriguez, he was a normal director before getting trapped by a technology. In his case was the chroma, those green screens used to create a world or objects with a Computer. He discovered that he didn’t need to move to any locations and that he didn’t need any scenery and he went crazy; Sin City, that film of the kids with Antonio Banderas, every film… As soons as he can, he takes out a chroma, and inmedatily he starts recording.

Deviating from the topic, it is a very similar case to his namesake, Robert Zemeckis, he remained stuck in what is known as «live action», that is, shoot the actors and then make up an animation, with this technique Zemeckis created; Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol. What is achieved with this technique? Movies played by corpses. Tom Hanks appears in Polar Express, but dead… Without feelings, like a zombie. Something really beautiful happened in this story. After creating three films witht this technique and without success in sales, but with the technique increasingly perfected… His “”””””friend”””””” Spielberg appeared, and he made Tintin. With the same technique, but exaggerating a little more the traits from the character, so they didn’t seem to be corpses and BANG, sellout. Robert, that’s not being a good friend… Even if he produced you Back to the future. That does not justify to let you create these three failures of movies and after when he saw his moment, he made his film with the same technique. What if it were the other way around? Would he leave you to take advantage of his work to ensure a bombshell? Ask him… “Can I shoot Schindler’s List 2? With a new twist, a teenager travels to the past with a cool car to prevent the Holocaust”.

He wouldn’t let you, right? No further questions…

Come on, enjoy The Faculty, but, don’t take drugs or kill teachers without a good excuse please. You must be very sure that there are aliens involved…

RECOMMENDED