Embrace the Flux

Trailer: The Messenger

// October 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // Movies

Is it really fair to classify Oren Moverman’s The Messenger as something resembling a ‘heart-wrencher?’

In the story, Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) and Anthony Stone (Woody Harrelson) breathe new life into a classic juxtaposition of old military versus new. Harrelson portrays a hardened veteran who has resolved to deliver death notices. He trains Montogomery – recently back from service – in the methodical and robotic disposition necessary to carry out the job. He wants Will to remain – like himself – soulless. At first, Montgomery maintains a similar killing-machine attitude that allowed him to survive in the army. But widows are not insurgents–insurgents do not cry, shout, beg or plead. Montgomery is confronted with emotions he has ultimately been trained to push away.

And slowly but surely Montgomery’s job eats away at his stoic demeanor. Deprived of all emotional support as a soldier and still recovering from the shock of war, Will isn’t allowed to recover any semblance of his former self. As the death notices pile up, Will’s steely resolve begins to crumble. That is, until he meets Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton). Knocking a final dent in Will’s armor, The Messenger becomes a heart-wrenching sob story while maintaining valuable post-war commentary. Having made it past Sundance and the Berlin Film Festival, The Messenger will be hitting the big screens November 13th. Make sure to see this award-winning epic when the time comes.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

// August 25th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Technology

Call of Duty and first person shooter have become nearly synonymous terms in today’s video game world. Hailed an epic shooter by consumers worldwide, Modern Warfare 1 propelled the series to new heights. But subsequent complications over the direction of the series (historical warfare vs. modern warfare) triggered the fifth, less renowned installment: World at War. Now, two years after Call of Duty’s first epic staple, Modern Warfare is back. Are you as pumped as we are?

With night-vision goggles in the prestige edition, custom characters and classes, and a newly-incorporated RPG aspect, Modern Warfare 2 seems to have received a serious makeover. Want more endurance? Do a little sprinting. Need some iron lungs? Hold your breath while you’re sniping—you’ll get an adrenaline rush. Featuring updated armor, new clothing and a wider array of weapons, Modern Warfare 2 sounds like it’s going to set the bar once again. Pre-order it now at GameStop.

Keep patient a bit longer and you’ll wake up with a Christmas morning feeling on November the 10^th—official release date for installment number six.

Check out the trailer below for a preview of things to come.

Inglourious Basterds: Back with a Vengeance

// August 23rd, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Movies

Storybook form, flashbacks abound, and certainly not lacking in your supernatural gore, Inglourious Basterds screams quintessential Tarantino. But aside from a return to the quirkiness that is Quentin, we think Basterds might indeed be Tarantino’s “masterpiece,”—as echoed by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) to precariously conclude the film.

Not too surprising, Basterds proved less action-packed than the trailers led us to believe. When there was action, it was Tarantino action. But as a whole, the film was oriented further towards its overarching story.  And unlike the Kill Bill series (some might disagree here), story is what propelled Basterds to potential “masterpiece” status.

The story’s characters, in classic Tarantino fashion, do purvey a hint of parody. But contrary to some of his other films, Tarantino models his characters this way not to poke fun at the peculiarity of mankind, but to force a mental reaction upon his audience. He takes our historical perception of “the other” – German perception of the WWII American, American perception of the WWII German, the Frenchman, the Englishman, the Italian,  etc. – and models such perception in a way that directly reexamines the global lack of humanity during the war. Ultimately, he spells out the irrationality of WWII through exaggerated character conduct. In so doing, Tarantino defies all odds by attaching humor to a point in history that couldn’t be further from the fact.

Inglourious Basterds might be fiction, but the fiction portrayed is ingenious allegory. Quentin’s message is clear: the Nazis have only themselves to blame for their undoing.  And this message couldn’t have struck with such force if it weren’t for the incredible performances of Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent (Shoshanna Dreyfus) and Cristopher Waltz (Col. Hans Landa). Intelligent art direction, witty humor, a loaded story and first-rate acting (all with a Tarantino cherry on top)—Inglourious Basterds passes with flying colors. Get to your local cinema quick! This one’s definitely worth the $10.50.

The Hurt Locker

// August 17th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Movies

We at Embrace the Flux were nothing short of stoked to see Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker (2009). Unfortunately, we left the theatre scratching our heads in confusion. In short, the story lacked a clear direction. Perhaps that was the point: war has no purpose. Notwithstanding, the film didn’t draw us in as we would have expected from the all the hype.

The Hurt Locker is the story of a bomb squad working in Baghdad, Iraq. Two of the members are close to the end of their allotted duty when a new bomb technician, Sergeant William James, is assigned to the crew. The film focuses on the squad’s final days in Iraq—zeroing in upon the most intense of those days.  Despite the lack of clear direction, The Hurt Locker wasn’t a total failure. For the gore enthusiasts, war-film ingredients—blood, sweat, heavy breathing and curse words—were indeed present. For the more artsy out there, the film’s cliché war feel was pleasantly complemented by stunning visuals and descriptive art direction. Jeremy Renner (Sergeant William James) and Anthony Mackie (Sergeant J.T. Sanborn), both nominated for Independent Spirit Awards, respectively conveyed admirable screen presence.

While The Hurt Locker didn’t meet our expectations, it did accurately portray the intense adversity soldiers in Iraq must face on a daily basis. Still, Bigelow might have been more successful had she given the film a stronger anecdotal backdrop. It feels a bit like watching the realism of Black Hawk Down (2004) meets the mentality of Jarhead (2007). If you’re looking for a war film driven by tension and anxiety, go see The Hurt Locker. Otherwise, we recommend you steer clear.