Movies

Two DVD's I've watched recently - Garden State and The Incredibles.

Garden State is a good movie, and definitely worth watching. There is a certain quirkiness and humor that I liked a lot. It also explores some rather deep themes. It's the age old question; what is the point of life? The movie meanders here and there, and there are absurd and seemingly pointless scenes. But - the protagonist starts the movie very highly medicated on psychiatric medications. Throughout the movie he gradually emerges from the medicated state to finally feel life, instead of being immune to it. By the end, he is raw - but not numb.

I think many of us can be numbed to life as if overly medicated, even when we're not on any meds at all. 3.5 stars out of 5.

The second movie is The Incredibles. It's just a total blast from start to finish. It's so amazing how far along animation has come. In video game development they like to talk about "density"; that is, how much "stuff" and detail you have on the screen at any given moment. Movie animation is highly dense now, bordering on photo-realistic. The shadows and shading is amazing. The work that must go into creating even just a few seconds of the film must be enormous.

That's all before you talk about characters and plot, which this movie has lots. Basically, what you have is a family of super heros. The father has gone into insurance after the world had tired of super heros, and it's obvious he's not happy being a 9 to 5 Joe. Soon the entire family is sucked into a James Bond style adventure, complete with James Bond music and an arch nemesis on a tropical island with deadly rockets.

I think the moral here is, if you're a super hero, be a super hero. Don't let the limitations and perceptions of average hold you down. 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Watch them both.