Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed one of my favorite films in recent memory, Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), so I was curious about Pacific Rim (2013), despite mixed reviews and mediocre box office results. I watched it last night courtesy of Netflix and found it routine, similar to so many of the big action flicks produced nowadays. The story is simple: Aliens have been waiting thousands of years below the sea to unleash huge monsters in order to conquer, colonize the planet. If I understood it correctly, environmental factors finally free them to create havoc -- cliché #1 of several: dog, manic genius; female superior to all males; traumatized young vet enticed back to duty; strong, wise, cancer-stricken leader. There are obvious influences at work: Godzilla, and the Alien and Transformers series. There is not a single real surprise along the way. The film’s budget was 190 million, and it looks it, as do all popcorn movies in the age of CGI. It earned “only” 100 million in the U.S., but I suspect it made a profit after worldwide distribution and DVD sales and rentals. Contributors at IMDb are a lot more enthusiastic about it than I, rating it 7.1 of ten. On a scale of five, I rate it 2.5, and that may be pushing it. There are just too many works like it out there. It is not really distinguishable from the rest. It lacks the imagination and touching humanity that made Pan’s Labyrinth so memorable.
It looks like Vladimir Putin is testing President Obama. Will he try to take over the entire Ukraine? I see no solution other than a partition between those who wish to align with the west and those who identify with Russia. If things go smoothly for Russia, is it just the first of its moves to regain its lost empire? One of the many things President Bush got wrong was his belief, upon looking into the former KGB agent's eyes, that there is a good soul behind them.
My thanks to the kind folks who purchased books today on Bay Parkway, and to the local super who helped me haul the crates to the front of the Chase bank. I stayed past four, as the weather is expected to be miserable the next few days. At least the snowfall has been revised down to three to six inches -- whatever that's worth.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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