across the universe [A-]

moviemcpeake snippet: wow. what a way to start my fall film festival. across the universe was fantastic, brilliant, poetic, wacky, fun, political, a true revolution. the acting was flawless and showcases that there are some brilliant young actors (that are not craving media attention). across the universe also renewed my love and appreciation for the beatles (not that i ever lacked appreciation for the great band). their songs turned into a unique love story that even people who despise musicals can fall in love with. my only complaint is there is a few forced minutes (felt pretty long and drawn out) which are filled with a crazed, trippy side show, but it did fit with the beatles song chosen so it wasn't out of context, the moment just took me too far the world i was enjoying. the ending was lacking for a film with so much passion and one character story flaw. but the film is risky and there were moments perfected with brillance so i was willing to overlook the scenes that flopped.

i would like to throw some kudos to the director, julie taymore. she also directed frida, which thrives from poetic movement, art direction, and music. in my book, that makes her a top contender to only have directed 6 films and two of them are brilliant AND be a woman. i am still giving a standing ovation to evan rachel wood, jim sturgess, and joe anderson. i hope to see more of them. predication...many oscar nominations for this film!

recommendation: see it, buy the soundtrack, memorize all songs, buy the dvd and have a blast singing your way through this incredible story.

into the wild [A]

moviemcpeake snippet: As I sit surrounded by taupe walls, white noise, and to do lists a mile long, it is not hard to understand how an internal passion drives the hero and villain of this film. Alexander Supertramp (Christopher McCandless)’s decisions will cause many conflicting feelings. Was he just a selfish young man with no regards for the people who cared about him, did he not care or think he was invincible, was he mentally unstable, was he incredible, was he brave, was he just running confused…

He was his own savior and his own worse enemy. He rescues and hurts. He was a black and white of himself. He was brilliant and yes, didn’t have to die but we are all fallible. There was something incredible about the path he chose, something that I completely understand but I am not sure I can explain. Was he arrogant? Of course. Was he human? Absolutely.

“It is easy, when you are young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough , it is your God-given right to have it. . . I was a raw youth who mistook passion for insight and acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic. I thought climbing the Devils Thumb would fix all that was wrong with my life. In the end, of course, it changed almost nothing. But I came to appreciate that mountains make poor receptacles for dreams...“
-Jon Krakauer (author of Into The Wild)

“Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road…”
-McCandless

After reading the book, magazine articles, and now experiencing his journey on film, I cringe when people or editorials call this an adventure. An adventure is not something personally revealing, a struggle of good and evil or full of baggage and life. You cannot fit was Chris accomplished into a neat little adventure package. This was an epic journey for one’s survival and Jon Krakauer and Sean Penn captured his journey of enlightenment and fatality in the most poetic way imaginable.

recommendation: see it. read it. own the dvd (should be great extras) and then buy the soundtrack because eddie vedder kills it. it is the complete package.