Such is the case with “Saints and Soldiers.”

We gave the DVD to my dad as one of his Father’s Day presents, and watched it as a family. Well… as a family for perhaps 15 minutes, afterwhich we sent out all those under the age of 10. The film does not waste one second becoming an intense experience, as the first scene is the infamous massacre at Malmedy. In general, the story consists of four soldiers, trying to get highly-sensitive information to the Allies from behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge. Every soldier comes from different walks of life, but their interactions and outward actions create a transparently strong bond between them all.

“Saints and Soldiers” tells stories of bravery and honor, as well as morality and self-sacrifice. The end that you hope for never comes, and that only adds to the deeply rooted meaning of the movie. The most focused character of the film, Deacon, played by Corbin Allred, is a member of the LDS Church, though it is only subtley announced when he says that he served a mission in Berlin. Deacon’s altruistic innocence saves his fellow soldiers and others caught up in the war, and provides a richness to the film not found in big-budget Hollywood flicks. To truly understand “Saints and Soldiers” however, it is critical that you closely listen to Deacon’s dialogue about life after death. Without it, you may never arrive at an understanding and satisfaction with “Saints and Soldiers.” Is that good enough to pique your curiosity but not spoil the film?

“Saints and Soldiers” was produced for under $1 million, but you would never be able to tell when watching it. The entire movie also seems to have been rendered with a high-pass filter, (though I could be wrong, I’m not expert in the movie industry) which provides a great amount of realism to the time piece. As an indie-film, the producers were trying to figure out a way to get the most people to see it, and therefore implemented a “shotgun” style move by sending it to as many film festivals as they could, hoping to get into a few. And into a few they were received – plus just about every other one imaginable! The movie was the winner of numerous awards, such as:

• Best Picture: San Diego Film Festival
• Best Picture: Sacramento Festival of Cinema
• Best Picture: Long Beach International Film Festival
• Best Picture: Marco Island Film Festival
• Best Picture: Ojai Film Festival
• Best Picture: Heartland Film Festival
• Best Picture: Stony Brook Festival
• Independent Spirit Award Nominee: Best First Feature and Cinematography
• Best Picture: Teluride Indiefest
• Best Picture: Gloria Film Festival
• Best Picture: Winslow Film Festival
• Best Picture: Temecula Valley Film Festival
• Best Picture: Big Bear International Film Festival

Wow, if that many people thought that the film was good enough to win “Best Picture” in just about everything, I’d say that I’d have to agree! Therefore, Go see it! I’ve seen it available at both Blockbuster and Hollywood Video here in Colorado, so I’m sure it’s available somewhere where you are! Now! Go watch it now! You won’t regret it.

“10.5 – If the Humanity doesn’t get you, the Camera Shake Will” “10.5 – NBC’s New All-Time Low” “10.5 – Why Didn’t California Sink Completely?” These are all possible titles for NBC’s most recent 2-part television movie, “10.5.” The movie was about a series of earthquakes in California and Washington that finally culminate in a grand earthquake measuring 10.5 on the Richter scale, dissolving half of southern California and leaving the viewing audience, um, laughing.

If you were one of the poor, unfortunate souls who did not manage to catch this show on it’s first run through, trust me, I won’t tell you anything you cannot already guess will occur throughout the entire show. To preface my comments, let me say that this was by far the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life. Don’t get me wrong, it did have it’s benefits, such as rolling on the floor busting a gut, but the majority of it (99.9 %) was a bit iffy. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly encourage you to do so, stretching before and after so that you don’t pull any muscles while laughing hysterically.

As stated before, the major premise of the movie was that several fault lines along California were being activated by a much deeper, fully connected fault that was going to cause a chain reaction and rip apart California. However, one bright seismologist (they call them geologists in the flick, oops) decides that this matches her theory, and she is suddenly elevated to adviser to the President to somehow stave off disaster. I’m not sure if it is the fact that mankind is somehow stopping massive earthquakes, or the fact that the solution is the entirely predictable use of nuclear weapons to �fuse the tectonic plates together� that got me. While this pathetic story line is going on, we are also following six other story lines, all of which are played by actors that could not have possibly more perfectly stereotyped their characters. From the teenage girl that complains while she is being swallowed into the earth to the woman governor of California who is on a feministic power struggle, every part of internationalized America is covered except for the indicted pastor who does drugs.

The cinematography is also one of the most notable characteristics of a film. I believe it could best be described as done by a five year old ADHD child who has recently discovered that not only can his camera zoom in and out, but he has Parkinsons as well. The camera did not hold a single steady shot for more than 2.5 seconds without either zooming in and out randomly, or panning from the first crazy angle to a second. There is quite possibly enough aimless movement
to make you nauseated, or at least disturbed by the insane amount that you are ridiculing the film. Also, during one portion of the slow-motion climax, the background noise mutes and the only music playing is the dramatic woman wooooing in the background; only countered by the fact that you really don’t care that people are falling into the earth.

And as if the movie wasn’t sickeningly trite enough, the movie ends like a cartoon: As the chasm of the earth rushes toward the ill-placed command post, the star of the show and her to-be lover fall to the ground, can’t get up, and it looks like they are doomed. Until the earthquake suddenly stops mere inches from there position. But happy day! It does, and everyone gets up, instinctively knowing that somehow the entire episode is over, even though they have been on constantly shaking ground the entire time. Parts of California are saved, the President sheds a tear and breathes a sigh of relief, and everybody is happy and with their loved ones. Please excuse me while i puke.

Now here comes what looks like a good movie for a change! “The Terminal” is about a man who comes from an Eastern European country that dissolved while he was on the plane to America. Thus, because of customs, he is not allowed to enter US soil and must stay in the airport. Somewhere between a comedy, a romance, and a feel-good movie, I’m definitely seeing this one!

Starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones (oooooh ) the acting should be really superb. The plot is also original, something I haven’t ever seen before anyways. Comes out June 18th, o wait! That’s today!!! Well maybe I can swing up a date for tomorrow!

Watch the Trailer

Update: Well my parents went to see it, and guess what? They said it was boring! Dangit, I thought it was going to be good!

IO2Technology: Heliodisplay/ Interactive Free-Space Display

Estimating the Airspeed of an Unladen Swallow

what kind of world are we living in?