Clare Henney: September 2013

Lately my weekends have been about catching up on the movies that I didn’t get to see in the cinemas. Being from the province and at least an hour or two away from the nearest movie house, watching these films at home has been my regular option. Lucky for me I have people I can borrow movies from so I can catch up without that much effort on my part. Here are seven movies that I’ve recently watched and my take on each one:

Oz the Great and Powerful – Everyone’s familiar with the story of the Wizard of Oz and the story from the musical Wicked but this story about how the Wizard became the Wizard is something that I never knew about until I saw the movie. I liked the approach of the movie that started off in black and white and gradually started growing in color as the film went along. I’ve always found James Franco a bit odd but I think that quirkiness worked for this role. It was an entertaining movie for someone like me who is familiar with the other stories – not so sure if people unfamiliar would like it though (my office mates, for example, didn’t care much for it).

Jack the Giant Slayer – A new interpretation of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. One big difference from the fairy tale is that in this movie, there is an entire kingdom of giants in the sky that were kept there by a magical crown after they were defeated by an ancient king. So when Jack gets the beans that grow the beanstalk, taking the princess up in the sky with it, the giants have to again be defeated with the magical crown. It’s a good story and the effects are amazing but for me, this isn’t the kind of movie I’d watch again. Once is enough.

The Purge – This was a movie recommended by my sister. It’s about the Purge, a 12-hour window where people can commit any and every crime they want as long as this is the only time that it happens in the entire year. On this one particular purge, a family is invaded and have to defend themselves from their own neighbors. It was as bit disturbing but nothing much really happened except for bloody violence. I’d appreciate it if there were more to the story but that’s about it.

The young guy who comes in with his friends to taunt, scare and attack the family (led by Ethan Hawke) was very creepy, I don’t think I can see him in another movie and not think of this role again.