Fish and Cherries Productions

Creative content from a mad mind.

Jan-14-2015

Reel Snippet – The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game is a great biopic about a great man and also a very poignant one. The movie doesn’t just focus on his breaking of the Enigma cypher in World War II, but also his struggles against the isolation of being homosexual and autistic (though the latter is never explicitly stated). In fact, Turing’s speech about the nature of the Imitation Game, known to us as the Turing Test, could very well be seen as criticizing how society treats those who think and behave differently.

On the subject of Turing, Benedict Cumberbatch plays the part of Alan Turing beautifully. There are some similarities to his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes and some may be tempted to say the two are the same, but that isn’t necessarily true. Holmes is a lot more smug in his attitude and dialogue while Turning seems legitimately oblivious to social cues, subtext, and interaction in general, which is why I drew the conclusion about his autism. My only real gripe is that Charles Dance feels a little underused. Then again, he represents only a part of such an involved, tragic story. With great acting, beautiful writing, and a heart-wrenching look into the mind of an ostracized man, this movie is surely worth a watch.
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Jan-14-2015

Reel Snippet – Penguins of Madagascar

Penguins of Madagascar wasn’t anything super spectacular or groundbreaking, but it was still fun. I may not have thought much of the original Madagascar when I saw it, but I thought the penguins were the best part, so this was welcome entertainment. There were a lot of clever and fast jokes, as well as a string of puns that I couldn’t tell whether they were clever, corny, ironic, or all three. That said, the plot is a string of tropes and conventions, which leaves Benedict Cumberbatch’s character, which he brings all of his natural charm to, as merely a plot device and not a particularly interesting character. As such, you’ll probably figure out most of the plot as soon as movie gets going.

The biggest stick for me is that the moral seems very confused: there’s a message at the end about how a person’s worth is truly what’s on the inside, but this is being delivered while the heroes are turning people from monstrous to cute. That’s such a huge contradiction that I’m still trying to get my head around it. Honestly, though, I’m glad I saw it. The penguins are their funny selves and there’s plenty of good comedy from the side characters, which is all I was really expecting. It has its faults and it doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s still fun.

Posted under Reel Snippets
Feb-8-2014

Reel Snippets – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a superb movie with some very serious drawbacks. As I was watching, I realized that the biggest strength of the Middle-Earth movies is the set design, as all of the scenery looks absolutely immaculate. Other great elements are the characters, their interactions, the river scene, and especially Smaug himself, who Benedict Cumberbatch gives a wonderful voice to. The biggest drawback is the ending, or lack thereof. The climax inside the dwarf halls feels like a massive build-up to the conflict at Rivertown that anyone who read the book knows is going to happen, but right as Smaug is flying towards the town, the movie just abruptly ends. Sadly, this makes the second movie in the Hobbit trilogy feel very much like it was just setting up set pieces for the final installment. However, the acting is still great, the casting is wonderful, the excessive build-up is still good build-up, and it is a huge improvement over the previous installment. I would tell you to see it, but let’s face it: it’s a Middle-Earth movie directed by Peter Jackson, so you already have.

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