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Sanctum (2011)
The only way out is down.
Filmmaker(s): Alister Grierson

Master diver Frank McGuire has explored the South Pacific's Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank's team—including 17-year-old son Josh and financier Carl Hurley are forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out.

Enclosed We still have things to discover about 3D movies. It is not at all clear that market forces and corporate interests will drive us toward more powerful art. A basic problem is whether the brain will allow itself to be fooled. I suppose it can...


Published February 17, 2024
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The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
This case is a dangerous game of life and death.
Filmmaker(s): Brad Furman

A lawyer conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills.

Reverse Indemnity What an amazingly lucky form the courtroom has presented filmmakers! It allows us to have one film where we sit in our seats with others making sense of a narrative, where we watch another ‘film‘ where a lawyer presents a narrative to a seated audience....


Published February 16, 2024
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Sucker Punch (2011)
You will be unprepared.
Filmmaker(s): Zack Snyder

A young girl, institutionalised by her abusive stepfather, retreats to an alternative reality as a coping strategy and envisions a plan to help her escape.

Intersection as the Razor to the Eye By now you will know that this is a box office flop, presumably because it caters to a demographic that gets easily confused, and the more engaged watchers can’t muddle through. I will say that I admire the overall structure....


Published February 16, 2024
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Central Park Joker (2011)

The Slipperiness of Beginnings I‘m pretty steeped in long form, why it works and how to increase effect. There is the assumption in long form, that you can contain some structure that by itself matters, and in doing so fits into the larger narratives that surround...


Published February 16, 2024
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Source Code (2011)
Make every second count.
Filmmaker(s): Duncan Jones

When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

Time and Times and Half Time An unfortunate rule in science fiction is that you have to explain the world. Thus, you have to maintain three story lines. One is the story that you give the viewers to get them from where they are to where...


Published February 16, 2024
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I Am Number Four (2011)
There were nine of us. Three are dead...
Filmmaker(s): D. J. Caruso

A teenage fugitive with an incredible secret races to stay one step ahead of the mysterious forces seeking destroy him in this sci-fi action thriller. With three dead and one on the run, the race to find the elusive Number Four begins. Outwardly normal teen John Smith never gets too comfortable in the same identity, and along with his guardian, Henri, he is constantly moving from town to town. With each passing day, John gains a stronger grasp on his extraordinary new powers, and his bond to the beings that share his fantastic fate grows stronger.

The Bad Guys I suppose we will have to endure a succession of movies which feature adults pretending to be high school kids. There will be the girl next door falling in forever-love with a supernatural guy, who is threatened. There is not much here to even...


Published February 16, 2024
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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
Live Forever Or Die Trying.
Filmmaker(s): Rob Marshall

Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with a woman from his past, and he's not sure if it's love -- or if she's a ruthless con artist who's using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard, Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn't know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.

New Ships The franchise has shifted. The ‘first trilogy‘ was visually-centred. It was quite literally a ride, allowing Depp room to creatively be silly. Some of the cinematic stretch was significant, and I still remember the Shackleford reference fondly. This is something entirely different. Sure, it...


Published February 14, 2024
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Thor (2011)
Courage is immortal.
Filmmaker(s): Kenneth Branagh

Against his father Odin's will, The Mighty Thor - a powerful but arrogant warrior god - recklessly reignites an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

Shakespeare, Shouted I continue to maintain that the least imaginative and cinematically effective production group is not Michael Bay‘s, Jerry Bruckheimer‘s, or that gleeful combination of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. It is Marvel, who time after time think a hard punch is an effective punch,...


Published February 14, 2024
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Super 8 (2011)
It Arrives.
Filmmaker(s): J.J. Abrams

In 1979 Ohio, several youngsters are making a zombie movie with a Super-8 camera. In the midst of filming, the friends witness a horrifying train derailment and are lucky to escape with their lives. They soon discover that the catastrophe was no accident, as a series of unexplained events and disappearances soon follows. Deputy Jackson Lamb, the father of one of the kids, searches for the terrifying truth behind the crash.

Reborn Another primary layering. This time the idea is to start with a horror subgenre and grow inside it. This is virtually set in the fifties (though literally in 1979). It has the military conspiracy, the small town at risk, the alien monster, the lone cop...


Published February 10, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
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The Tree of Life (2011)
Nothing stands still.
Filmmaker(s): Terrence Malick

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

Connected Paths I’ve been studying Chinese calligraphy in the context of the cinematic life. 1300 years ago, Chinese poet-theorists had the notion that layered expression, perhaps with four layers or more, was the purest expression possible. The first of these layers come with the ideograms: you...


Published February 10, 2024
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