Annihilation is cerebral sci-fi modern art that's leaving audiences with mixed feelings

Movie Title:     Annihilation

Grade:   B

Rating: R, 1 hour 55 minutes

In a Nutshell: 
Based on the first book in Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation; Authority; Acceptance , Director Alex Garland decided not to make the film an adaptation, but a “dream of the book.”  

Like most dreams, this film feels incomplete and somewhat unsatisfying in the end.

Critics seem to be falling all over themselves with this movie, but the audience I sat with hated it.  Some people saw that I was writing notes for a review, so when we walked out, they asked me what I thought.  More importantly, I asked THEM what THEY thought.  One guy shouted, “It sucked!”  Several admitted they were disappointed and felt they had just wasted 2 hours of their lives.  They were mostly guys looking for a sci-fi action flick like Alien.  The good thing was that audience members wanted to TALK about it.  I love that.

The best description I’ve heard of this film is “sci-fi modern art.”  It's one of those polarizing movies that some people will love and others will hate.

                                                  

Tips for parents: 

• Some bloody, gory, disgusting deaths.
• Tons of F-bombs and profanity.
• Twice you see the naked back side of Natalie Portman while she’s having sex.  
• Marital infidelity.
• Creepy skeletons.

Uplifting theme: 

• Humanity
• Resistance to change
• Trust

                                                   

Things I liked:

• I adore Natalie Portman.  She is both beauty and brains.
• There is a similar scene in this movie that made Sigourney Weaver famous in Alien, where she is side-by-side with a sharp-toothed monster.  Viewers who are expecting the entire movie to be another Alien will be disappointed.
• It was good to see Jennifer Jason Leigh in something again, although it annoyed me that she was always playing with something between her fingers in the first half of the movie.
• There are mostly women in the movie and they all do a great job. 
• Director Alex Garland also did Ex Machina, so people were really expecting elevated material from him.  He is great at providing social commentary and getting audiences to think.
• Beautiful, delicate, colorful images.  The "shimmer" is beautiful to look at and definitely creates that dream-like feeling that the director was going for.  The environments are an interesting hybrid of heaven and hell.
• I have really enjoyed Gina Rodriguez in Jane the Virgin: Season 1 and she does a great job in this film.  What I didn’t enjoy is that she drops F-bombs almost every time she opens her mouth.  We get it…you’re tough now.
• Surprisingly, this movie is going to be released on Netflix outside of the USA shortly after the USA theater release.
• The musical score is noticeably good.   
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Things I didn’t like:

• It is no Arrival.  I loved that movie for so many reasons.  That's a movie that was expertly crafted to REALLY make you think.  You can read my movie review of Arrival here.
• There were moments when I was actually bored.  It’s a slow burn for sure.
• Extremely cliched, disappointing ending.
• I felt like I was watching a frustrating episode of Lost - The Complete First Season where a lot of questions are presented with no answers.
• The film goes back and forth in time, which could be confusing and frustrating for some people.
• When are people ever going to learn that it’s not wise to go off alone in a hostile, unknown territory?
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Interesting lines:

• “It’s destroying everything.” – Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh)

“It’s not destroying.  It’s making something new.” – Lena (Natalie Portman)

• “God doesn’t make mistakes.  It’s pretty much key to the whole God thing.” – Kane (Oscar Isaac)
• “Soldier scientist.  You can fight.  You can learn.  You can save him.” – Dr. Ventress
• “Almost none of us commits suicide.  Almost all of us self-destruct in some way or another.” – Dr. Ventress

                                          @trinaboice

Want to read the books that this movie was based on?

   

Deepwater Horizon pays a respectable and riveting tribute to the worst oil disaster in US History

Movie Title:  Deepwater Horizon

Grade:  A-

Rating:  PG-13, 99 minutes

In a Nutshell:  If you don’t remember the real events from when this true story happened, you learn that the oil rig’s blowout lasted 87 days, making it the worst oil disaster in U.S. history.  Director Peter Berg is great at creating tension and action sequences that make it hard to look away.  This is the second time he and Mark Wahlberg have filmed a true story action flick (Lone Survivor), and they have another one hitting the big screen soon (Patriot Day).

It’s truly stunning how they filmed this movie, because it looks and feels so real.  It took over $100 million to recreate this man-made disaster that shook the country in 2010.

Uplifting theme: 

• Family is everything.
• Hope, greed, sacrifice for others, friendship, grit and determination.

Things I liked:

• Impressive machinery and rough working conditions will make you respect the men and women who work on oil rigs.  The film does a good job paying tribute to the people in this tough industry.
• There is some humor in the beginning that allows you to sense the friendship and comradery among the team workers and allows you to begin to care about them.
• John Malkovich gives a great performance with an interesting Southern drawl.
• I’m always so impressed with people who are calm in an emergency.
• It’s great to see Kurt Russell in movies.  The first time I saw him in a movie I was a little girl and thought he was so handsome.  It was nice to see him and Kate Hudson together in the same movie.  Don’t we all miss Goldie Hawn?
• I love Gina Rodriguez from the hit TV show “Jane the Virgin” for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. It’s great to see she got another gig in a movie.  She learned to rap for her role in the indie film Filly Brown in 2012.
• The touching reunion scene at the end of the movie got the audience crying all around me.
• You get to see pictures of the real people who died in this disaster.   
• Mark Wahlberg is the perfect actor to play this rough and tumble oil rig worker with a heart.  
• There is a powerful scene when Kurt Russell and John Malkovich just look at each other, yet volumes are spoken.

Things I didn’t like:

• Sometimes people talk really fast and slurred, making it hard to understand what they say.
• It’s often difficult to see what’s going on, because there is fire, mud, oil, and debris flying everywhere.
• If you want to see this movie, do it at the theater.  Some of the scenes are dark and will look terrible on your computer screen.
• There is a lot of facial hair in this movie!  Why is that such a popular thing right now?  Just a little bit of scruff is sexy, but when you can hide jelly beans in your beard, you know it’s too long.
• The audience won’t always be able to understand the technical jargon.

Interesting lines:

• “Hope ain’t a tactic, Don.” – Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg)

Funny lines:

• “I don’t know if it’s stupid, but it ain’t smart.” – Caleb Holloway (Dylan O’Brien)

Tips for parents: 

• 2 F-bombs and lots of other profanity.
• Bloody, deep wounds, people in perilous situations, death, destruction.