"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (2013) Review

I finally saw Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" as per one of the reader's recommendation (*wink*).

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is actually a short story written by James Thurber and was first appeared in The New Yorker in 1939.
A movie with the same name was made in 1947 with a plot line that was current for that time.
The 2013 movie was in the burner from 1994 with Jim Carrey in mind and somehow ended up with Ben Stiller cast in the lead and also directing.

It is one of those feel good movie for the zombies of this generation (i.e. 9am-8pm work time, no after hours bonus, go home, sleep, wake up, rinse and repeat generation) with breathtaking views of Stykkishólmur, a village on the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland, Höfn, a village in southeast Iceland, Skogafoss waterfall and in Vatnajökull National Park.
The plot is current and simple as it revolves on the change that Walter Mitty is going through as an employee of Life magazine that is restructuring from print to online digital magazine.  As a negative assets manager, his job will no longer exists along with a bunch of others.

I would think that this movie would appeal to anyone who ever asks "What is their purpose of life".

The motto of Life magazine, inscribed inside the wallet given to Walter

It promises adventure and comedy, with a dash of innocent romance from a boring life of a negative assets manager going through restructuring.
This movie is certainly a graphical representation of what goes through the mind of a Mittyesque person.

With wanting love as the starting point, Walter ended up in places he never imagined before.  How many of us had really done that?  We often just say "NEXT" when the object of our affection presented us with a choice.

What I really love about this movie is the message that it carries.  Perhaps it awakens something in everyone differently.
Maybe the changes isn't going to be so rapid like Walter's but the only thing that's stopping the change from occurring would only be ourselves, as Walter clearly showed in the movie.


 

"The Randomers" Review

For those who did not catch the youtube link, click here to watch "The Randomers".

The advertisement read: "Female, 23, seeking relationship without speaking".

A movie about love, that truly had me put my knitting and crocheting down, because it has no dialogue.  What held it together was the actors amazing pairs of eyes that spoke volumes and a well put together pieces of music that has no connection at all, but only evokes reminiscence of Charlie Chaplin's silent movie or the sound of the distant cry of abandoned animals.

It takes guts to make a romantic story without words.  As Shakespeare puts it in "The Tempest":
     "Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly to your service."
How does the Graham Jones (director) succeeded in conveying these two lovebirds' love, without proper conversations between them?

For sure, you have to see the movie to know how.  Although, I can tell you this.
Watch for the beautiful ocean scenery around the west coast of Ireland, Connemara National Park, and forests around Galway.

Think about this, if you don't count the meaningless conversations between you and your partner, such as, "Coming back for dinner?", "What time do you expect me to be at your office function?", and the sort, then, you'll know that between the two of you, you pretty much do not saying anything meaningful throughout the day.
Discounting the "I love you"s that became pretty much a drill.

Perhaps this valentine, you can look into your partner's eyes and tell her what you really feel without speaking a word.  If she doesn't get it, try a sonnet?

"The Merchant of Venice"
     "One half of me is yours, the other half yours mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours, and so all yours."

"World War Z" Review

I am not drawn to movies with zombies, but the fact that it was partly shot in Malta, I'll give Brad Pitt another chance to redeem himself after 6 children with Angie.

The movie centered on 'Gerry' (Brad Pitt), a United Nations employee and how he alone saves the world from a pandemic that turns humans into flesh eating animal like creatures.

To me, the plot is predictable (inspired from Max Brooks' 2006 apocalyptic horror novel "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War") and the way the zombies behave, i.e. throwing themselves onto their prey (were they replaced by dolls for those actions? hence the throwing themselves movement?), was unsavory and to have the thought "Walking Dead" perhaps is a better representative of this zombie actions makes it more uncouth.  The teeth clacking part were truly comical.

The funny part came when the story moves to Jerusalem (shot in Valletta, Malta's capital) and the Maltese native who's watching the movie with me started pointing out the streets he often passes and the fact that those extras playing the crowds was shouting "ejja, ejja" (Maltese for "come on, come on"), of course it could've been one of those universal sounds like "oh" or "ah".

For me, the message was too clear for mass subliminal messages.
"Get vaccinated always".
The movie shows that Pitt injected himself with a deadly pathogen to escape being bitten, then when UN develops an anti virus, he's injected again with that anti virus.  Wow, how many times are you going to get yourself injected, Pitt?
For a fact, I never get a flu shot, and I hardly ever get flu ever!  Compare myself to my siblings who do get a shot, they've been sick all year long with flu or cough in and out all the time.  What's wrong here?  Something clearly doesn't add up to me.

To sum it up, I don't like this movie.  Firstly for the cheap body (dummy) throwing zombies.  Secondly, for the underlying mass brainwashing fear induced message of get yourself a jab or die.  The movie end by saying that we need to help each other, well, that's all true, but help each other in what?  Reminding your neighbour to get vaccinated?
Give it a pass if you don't like to be blatantly brainwashed.


Disclaimer:  I do not own the photo above.