Spartacus is extremely graphic -- blood, and intercourse throughout the entire series. It is entertaining, but more so has a sense of underlying themes:
1. Men going to full lengths to protect their women (and seek vengeance for them).
2. Roman empire feasting on power, with every senator acting to further his own ambitions and not doing what is best for the republic
3. Spartacus's one notable comment, "every man, woman and a child has a right to freedom" -- a concept way beyond his time, yet that which makes his character not just a visceral vengeance-seeking gladiator, but a visionary for his time and people.
The characters in Spartacus are pretty flat, but there is plenty of political intrigue and war depicted to make up for that. The best part of the series is quite literally the cool references to roman culture and mythology. Also the code of ethics for battle, and maybe a glimpse into the sad but clamored lifestyle of a gladiator.
If you thoroughly enjoyed 300 and Troy, Spartacus might be worth a watch.
It could definitely be better television - with dynamic characters, and more emphasis on the plot than gore and violence, but it can definitely satisfy guilty pleasure needs.
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Moonlight (2016)
Moonlight is a profound film.
It is a real work of art. It is the only movie I have seen so far in which the main character could be a metaphor to your own self, and your journey.
Little is a gay black kid growing up in Florida a few decades ago. The crack scene is high, even his mother has caught on to it. The one inspiration he looks up to is the neighborhood crack dealer (played by Marsharsha Ali) who takes the kid as his own and looks after him.
It is hard to personify Little, other than to say, he could be all of us in hard situations. He is extremely self-withdrawn and unconfident.
The situation doesn't improve as his mom's addiction becomes a lifestyle, and he is more and more bullied at school. He finds comfort in talking to his friend, Kevin, who is more outgoing.
Kevin offers Little, now Black his first sexual experience in high school, and although in a better life, this is too young and a bad decision, Black finds true happiness in discovering who he really is in that scene.
As an adult, Black evolves into a drug dealer, and decides to face his past, to remedy his present and future...
This movie is really a character study. It is worthy to note a couple of things:
1. The character's real name is not what he is often referred to, showing the transition of identity, but the difficulty in pealing layers to reveal one's true nature.
2. It is hard to kick bad habits, but easy to lose the ones we love.
It is a real work of art. It is the only movie I have seen so far in which the main character could be a metaphor to your own self, and your journey.
Little is a gay black kid growing up in Florida a few decades ago. The crack scene is high, even his mother has caught on to it. The one inspiration he looks up to is the neighborhood crack dealer (played by Marsharsha Ali) who takes the kid as his own and looks after him.
It is hard to personify Little, other than to say, he could be all of us in hard situations. He is extremely self-withdrawn and unconfident.
The situation doesn't improve as his mom's addiction becomes a lifestyle, and he is more and more bullied at school. He finds comfort in talking to his friend, Kevin, who is more outgoing.
Kevin offers Little, now Black his first sexual experience in high school, and although in a better life, this is too young and a bad decision, Black finds true happiness in discovering who he really is in that scene.
As an adult, Black evolves into a drug dealer, and decides to face his past, to remedy his present and future...
This movie is really a character study. It is worthy to note a couple of things:
1. The character's real name is not what he is often referred to, showing the transition of identity, but the difficulty in pealing layers to reveal one's true nature.
2. It is hard to kick bad habits, but easy to lose the ones we love.
Lion (2016)
Here is a beautiful movie about self-identity and the struggle to address your past.
The main character Sar-oo (as he is called in the beginning) is a young boy living in the slums of Calcutta. He is close to his family, and one day gets lost. He finds himself, through a myriad of situations, eventually being adopted by an Australian couple and growing up there, having glimmers and nostalgia regarding his past.
His past is heavy and wrought with emotional sadness, but the one comfort Saroo finds is in the love he feels from his birth brother and mother during his childhood.
Nicole Kidman plays his adoptive mother, with a sense of real compassion and caring, sometimes so much so that it could destroy her.
Dev Patel plays the 25 year old Saroo beautifully, as a strong, empathetic person who feels it is right to connect with his birth mother and brother to let them know he is okay.
Rooney Mara plays his supportive girlfriend.
Overall this movie will make you cry. It won't leave you empty though.
It is a beautiful journey of a young man growing to find himself through reaching within to the depth of his past, and willing to face it in the future.
The main character Sar-oo (as he is called in the beginning) is a young boy living in the slums of Calcutta. He is close to his family, and one day gets lost. He finds himself, through a myriad of situations, eventually being adopted by an Australian couple and growing up there, having glimmers and nostalgia regarding his past.
His past is heavy and wrought with emotional sadness, but the one comfort Saroo finds is in the love he feels from his birth brother and mother during his childhood.
Nicole Kidman plays his adoptive mother, with a sense of real compassion and caring, sometimes so much so that it could destroy her.
Dev Patel plays the 25 year old Saroo beautifully, as a strong, empathetic person who feels it is right to connect with his birth mother and brother to let them know he is okay.
Rooney Mara plays his supportive girlfriend.
Overall this movie will make you cry. It won't leave you empty though.
It is a beautiful journey of a young man growing to find himself through reaching within to the depth of his past, and willing to face it in the future.
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