I watch a lot of movies. I subscribe to Blockbuster online and have the plan that allows me to have 3 movies sitting at my house waiting to be watched at any given time. I'd say I watch an average of 2 movies a week, so I'll pass along a review every now and again.
For my first: The Last King of Scotland.
It dawns on me that I need some sort of rating system, or maybe I don't. Regardless, I don't have one right now, so I'll just list some of the things I liked and some of the things I didn't.
Liked:
"based on real people and events", specifically Idi Amin and his reign in Uganda.
the acting
Gillian Anderson. It was a small part, but I don't recall seeing her since the X-Files. She's cute.
Didn't like:
Not knowing which events were real and which were dramatized. I didn't bother to check the "special features" though.
The choice of time period.
Overall, I liked the movie and feel good about recommending it. I think I would have liked it better if it had focused on a different part of Amin's history. I would rather know how the wacko, Amin in this case, gets to power than what he does when he's in power. Alternatively, I would have like more actual news footage interspersed throughout the movie. It felt a little surfacy to me, and I'm not very well-informed about global political events.
2 comments:
I don't like movies that teach me things. I enjoy my ignorance, and going to a movie should be like going to the Church of Mindlessness. The last thing you want in there is anything that will cause your neurons to fire in a meaningful way. This is what makes all three of the most recent Star Wars movie so perfect, I never once felt my brain turn on the entire time.
Thus, I will not see "The Last King of Scotland" because it's historical and I might learn something, and no one (especially me) wants that.
As for a ratings scale, I always thought one based on "What I'd pay to see this" would be good. It'd go from "Full Big Theater Price" to "Matinee" to "Dollar Cinema" to "Home Rental" to "Cable TV Movie of the Week" to "Couldn't Pay Me to Watch It".
Hey... Gillian passed me a note... she thinks you're cute, too.
Post a Comment