After seeing an episode of I Shouldn’t Be Alive a few years ago that told the story of Aron Ralston, the adventure seeker whose arm was pinned between a boulder and a rock wall and who managed to survive, I wasn’t sure there was a need for a full-length feature film. The only way that Danny Boyle’s (Slumdog Millionaire, Yesterday)127 Hours would be able to affect me was if there was a masterful lead acting performance, some stylish directing, or a combination of the two. Fortunately, that was precisely what happened.
Category Archives: Adventure
True Grit (2010)
I am the first to admit that I am not as big a fan of Joel and Ethan Coen-directed movies as most people are. While I did enjoy Fargo (1996) and A Single Man (2009), I wouldn’t say I liked Miller’s Crossing (1990) and Barton Fink (1991). While No Country for Old Men was pretty good, it wasn’t even close to the best movie of 2007. Then there are the other Coen-directed movies I would prefer to see. These include Burn After Reading (2008), The Ladykillers (2007), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), or O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). I appreciate a good Western. Once True Grit earned a Best Picture Academy Award nomination, it became a no-brainer to see the movie, despite my reservations about the Coens.
Into The Wild (2007)
The Sean Penn (The Crossing Guard, The Pledge) directed Into the Wild had all the promise of a movie that could have lived in the lives of high school students around the country for years to come. The novel of the same name, penned by Jon Krakauer, is part of the high school curriculum in many school systems around the country. The movie is rated R. I’ve seen it twice. Had a couple of scenes been toned down, the movie could have easily earned a PG-13 rating, allowing it to be shown in English class after students read the book. I don’t know if Penn thought about this when making the movie and, if he did, if he even cared. It is, however, food for thought.