A Barbarian goes to the Movies

A History of Violence - Drama

If you are a fan of the Rock or Ah-nold movies, you probably won't like this movie. Instead of relying on millions of dollars of special effects or the exploding man/car/building scenarios to entertain you, this movie sticks to reality and the intricacies of human emotion. Viggo Mortensen (wait, just let me have this quick fantasy...okay) plays a man with a past that comes back to bite him on his scrumptious ass. There is a great performance given by the boy who plays his son, but I don't know his name and I'm too lazy to look it up. I was very happy to spend money to see this movie in a theater. Ed Harris was creepy in his bad guy role. The wife, again, not looking it up, did very well in being both vulnerable and a bitch. As a woman, I know how hard it is to pull that off.
Unless you have ADD, I'd recommend you check this movie out.


Serenity - Space Fantasy

My husband and I are big fans of the TV series, Firefly, that spawned this movie. As such, I felt a close connection with the characters, probably a lot closer than anyone seeing the movie cold. As such, I bawled my fucking eyes out when one of the characters died. Oh, I'm not ruining anything - there are nine central characters and a lot of secondary characters, guess! I'm not telling which one buys the farm, but it was sad and I hated it.

Anyway, the writing of the TV show was as tight as a virgin's honey-pie. Even more so for the movie. I can't imagine any other actor playing ANY of these parts without messing up the dynamics of the cast. Each person is perfect in their role, balancing the right amount of drama and comedy to keep the audience on their toes. It's not a very long movie, but it doesn't need to be. A story is told, and ending is reached, and enough is left to your imagination that you'll be thinking about those characters once the credits have run. I enjoyed it so much that I'd see it again, and that is the highest compliment I can pay a movie. (I hate sitting in a dark room for two hours with chatty people only slightly less than spending money on a movie when I can catch it later on HBO.)

Please understand, you can watch this movie without having watched the TV show and still be entertained. The writer/director did a great job of including just enough back story to explain the plot. This isn't the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy here, it's just a nice little space adventure with some damn fine acting.