Quarantine 2: Terminal (2011)

Countdown to Halloween: October 12, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

How often does the sequel turn out better than the first? Not often. But that’s definitely the case with Quarantine 2. I don’t think it’s necessarily because of the story, but I think it’s because of the way it was filmed. The first one was filmed Blair Witch style — from a handheld camera — and I think it worked. Journalists will do anything, including worrying about filming while people are dying, to get their story told. I don’t think that would have worked a second time, and I think the people who made this knew that, and filmed it traditionally. And I think that’s the main reason why this worked so well.

Granted, it has its faults. The ground crewman points out that different measures get taken since 9/11. He’s right. So how did one of the passengers manage to check a bag containing a firearm and a ton of ammo? TSA doesn’t allow that, even in checked baggage. I’m pretty sure if I went and looked at TSA regulations, animal carriers would need to meet a certain requirement, and the one shown in the movie certainly did not. But I digress. In general I think it worked very well. My boyfriend didn’t hate it, and that really says something. I definitely enjoyed this from start to finish. I’m also wondering about the possibility for a third. Not sure how all this would work a third time… I didn’t even have full confidence it would work this time. But, they surprised me, and it did. And for some reason, I think the plane/terminal setting was perfect. I couldn’t say exactly why, but it was.

The other reason why this was actually scary is because unlike the first movie, you get information. I can’t go too much into it without it being a spoiler, but what I will say is that I was briefly terrified last night after a certain bit of information was given. It’s entirely horrifying how easily this could actually happen.

And that’s the mark of a truly great horror movie. It’s legitimately horrifying to the viewer.

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Mooz-lum (2010)

Date Watched: September 24, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

I originally wanted to see this because Nia Long was front and center on the cover. I love her, and I was a little disappointed that she didn’t appear in the movie more. But when she was on screen, she was amazing, as always.

Now, as far as the rest goes, I’m going to have to try and be very careful what I say. Obviously since September 11, Islam is a hot button issue with a lot of people. Even though this is my blog, I don’t want to be misinterpreted.

Here goes.

Regardless of what religion, race, etc. you are, you say you want to be treated the same as everyone else. Right? Then why does your kid need to go to a school that’s just other kids of his kind? Why is your school better than the school where everyone is the same? Okay, so he got picked on in regular school because he’s Muslim. Well, that other kid got picked on for being black, and the one over there got made fun of because his parents are gay, the one next to him gets picked on because he’s fat. Kids will ALWAYS find something to make fun of. If it’s not religion, it’s body, it’s family, it’s skin, it’s your damned shoes. And, if you think your religion is so much better than ours that you have to take your kid out of regular school to go to a specialized school, then obviously, you don’t want your kid treated like everyone else, and you don’t SEE him as like everyone else. You see him as BETTER than the rest of them. That in itself makes YOU worse than anyone else, because you have an elitist attitude.

That’s about all I can say without sounding like a Nazi. Regardless of how I state something, matters of ethnicity can and will be twisted around to make me look like a racist.

But, um… obviously since I have such big opinions on such big things, I think it’s safe to say that the movie was pretty good.

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Sarafina! (1992)

Date Watched: September 10, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

Set in 1970s apartheid-era South Africa, this movie is quite a gem. It’s hard to imagine how a time so violent and so full of hatred — specifically the 1976 student uprising in Soweto — can be set to music, and from what I understand, this movie has been criticized quite a bit for doing so. But Africa’s culture is so full of music, there’s no other way it could have been done. Mbongeni Ngema writes an addictive, inspiring, empowering, and timeless score. Whoopi, although the biggest on the cover, isn’t the star. Even Leleti Khumalo (Sarafina), who appears behind her on the cover and delivers an outstanding performance, isn’t the star. The star truly is Negema’s music. It speaks louder than any scripted words could.

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Mario’s Story (2007)

Date Watched: August 20, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

This is everything that drives me insane about the penal system in this country.

Don’t get me wrong… I think if you murder someone, you should be put to death. Except the problem here is that the justice system is more worried about looking good to the public than actually carrying out justice.

Mario was convicted of a crime based on eyewitness testimony alone. Once other eyewitnesses came forward after his conviction and sentence and years in prison… and they said that Mario couldn’t possibly have murdered anybody because he wasn’t standing where the original witness put him… the courts denied evidence with the same credibility to free him as it had to lock him up. Why? Because the prosecutors, investigators, judge, and jury don’t want the OJ Simpson complex hanging over their heads and their careers. You know what I’m talking about. OJ was guilty but for some reason, he got away with it. Well, that can NEVER happen again because everyone involved with that case looks like a moron and none of them had a good reputation after that. So now they’re going to make it look like the US justice cogs could never, EVER skip a peg and make a mistake ever again. So Mario, locked up for something he legitimately didn’t do… is denied freedom just so these jerks don’t look bad for screwing up.

WHAT. THE. HECK.

Ugh. Uggggggh!

Obviously this isn’t a post about Mario as much as it is about the film made about his story, but like I’ve said a million times: if a documentary evokes any substantial level of emotion, it’s a good film. It did its job.

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For The Bible Tells Me So (2007)

Date Watched: July 25, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

I hate that these people exist.

If God wants to judge someone for being gay, that’s his prerogative… NOT YOURS. Especially your own child.

There were two different stories here that stick in my mind. One was a family who, when their son came out… while they were disappointed and maybe ashamed at first, they did everything they could to learn, including speaking with several psychologists… all the while, still loving their son. Now, they’re activists for gay rights, and they’re still firm in their faith. They just took the time to study long enough to learn that the typical Leviticus arguments are garbage and selectively read and exploited to justify hatemongers.

The other story was a mother whose daughter was so terrified to come out to her, she wrote a letter while away at college. Her mother then wrote her a letter back saying how disappointed she was, how hurt… and of course, Bible references. Typical… selectively read Leviticus. You know it’s just as big a sin, according to scripture, to wear linen and cotton at the same time? Anyway, this girl never spoke to her mother again, and she hung herself in her closet. Her mother basically caused the death of her daughter. Only after this happened did the mother bother to learn anything. She ran her mouth first, and then took the effort to know her daughter after her death. Now she’s an activist of some sort trying to prevent other parents having to go through the same thing. DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED. Other parents? How about the kids who end their lives? The parents aren’t the ones suffering. Honestly, if your own ignorance causes you suffering, I have no sympathy. It’s self-inflicted suffering. You did it, you deserve it. If you can’t be bothered to learn and try and form EDUCATED opinions, rather than relying on so-called “Christian” radical rhetoric, then you deserve every shard of pain you feel.

All this to say what I think I’ve already gotten across here… this was a very emotional documentary. A very well-made film. The angrier, the sadder, the more emotional you get, the bigger the proof that the filmmaker did what he/she set out to do. This is no exception.

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Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005)

Date Watched: May 21, 2011
Source: Netflix Instant Play

So of course I don’t want to shop at Wal-Mart anymore.

Except I feel like I can justify it if I know I’m buying an American-made product.

And then I think about the one person I know who works at Wal-Mart, and how she’s been there for 10 years, and how some of this information seems kinda inaccurate.

But I still don’t really want to shop there anymore. Not because of the people who work in the stores, but for the people who work in China. Go figure. My theory is that the people who work in the stores choose to work there, because I am an American and I know that there are skillions of craptastic jobs you could choose before lowering yourself to work at Wal-Mart. Unless you’re disabled. Which, I might add, was not addressed in the slightest during the film. So I’m guessing that the one set of laws Wal-Mart DOES follow includes the ones about employing the handicapped and such.

But I still don’t really want to shop there anymore.

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Paths of Glory (1957)

Date Watched: December 4, 2010
Source: Netflix Instant Play

This film is freaking infuriating. You take one big shot General who can’t take his eyes off the prize, and countless men basically kamikaze themselves to the Germans. When the rest retreat or don’t advance, it pisses off the big shot General, who then orders three men to be chosen at random to be charged with treason. Treason! What a ridiculous charge to begin with. And of course, no matter how hard their lawyer tries, he can’t defend them in any way, because the big shot General and all the other big shots basically have the right to veto and squash any defense presented to them, no matter how BS their reasoning is. And so three men end up paying with their lives, on top of thousands paying theirs just so some ass big shot upstairs can get a promotion. And he ends up getting the boot for the whole debacle to begin with. So either they paid with their lives for nothing, or… they paid with their lives for nothing. WHAT THE HELL.

This movie pisses me off. Nobody deserves this kind of treatment.

Not even the stupid Frenchies.

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Extreme Measures (1996)

Date Watched: November 27, 2010
Source: Netflix Instant Play

First of all, I can’t take Hugh Grant seriously as a doctor. I’m sorry, I just can’t. I think it might be the hair.

Anyway, this deals with an issue that managed to leave me torn, which I’m pretty sure means it fulfilled its purpose. The gist of it is that homeless people are being kidnapped and used to test a doctor’s work on a spinal surgery that can do amazing things such as heal paralysis. Yeah… I know. How the heck could I be torn? It’s obviously wrong to kidnap people and use them against their will for medical research. While that may be, consider the medical possibilities. If the cure for AIDS or cancer was the issue here, would people feel the same? Oh, what’s one or a dozen derelicts when you could cure AIDS and cancer? Makes you think a little bit, no matter how much of a humanitarian you might consider yourself.

Anywho, with all that said, I think that aside from Hugh Grant’s hair, this was a darned good movie.

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John Q (2002)

Date Watched: November 26, 2010
Source: Netflix Instant Play

This damned movie had me biting my nails. I yelled at the TV, clenched my teeth, and banged my fists on the bed.

The story is everything that’s wrong with healthcare and the people who run it these days. Sure, I understand that someone has to pay for it, but why does it have to be so freakin’ expensive? It doesn’t. But I’m not going to go into the political statements this film makes.

I will say that I think I might hate Anne Heche now, just because I will always associate her stinking face with this character. The one who refused to help, and then took a grieving family and made it even worse. Denzel was excellent as always, and that kid was so darned cute. Some of this is over-acted, but I think Denzel hit the nail on the head. I really enjoyed this, frustrating as it was.

The ending pissed me off, though. Severely. But that proves how much I got into the rest of the film.

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God on Trial (2008)

Date Watched: September 25, 2010
Source: Netflix Instant Play

If the Jews are God’s chosen people, and he vowed to take care of them, was he in breach of contract with them? Those are the charges – breach of contract – brought up against God during a “trial” held in an extermination camp dormitory. Half of the men know they’re to die by the next day, and they spend their last hours trying to determine if God went against their contract with Him.

It’s an interesting argument made by both sides. You might start the film with an argument and “verdict” already in mind, but you’ll end the film wondering. It’s an excellent movie for anyone who struggles with the possibility of God. Great movie.

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