Posts Tagged ‘Frankenstein’

Short Take: Probably not what you would expect, but definitely exciting on several levels

As this was a film that demanded extra attention, you’ll first find a review by Cliff Bugle and a second by Marisa Carpico. And even these wont cover everything there is to be said.

Director: Ridley Scott

Screenwriters: Jon Spaihts, Damon Lindelof

Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, Guy Pearce

Length: 2h 4m

Synopsis: In the near future, astronomers Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Marshall-Green) make a key discovery that leads them to thinking that the Earth played host to alien visitors during a time before man even conjured the invention of language. They form up with a group of explorers that includes mission supervisor Meredith Vickers (Theron), several biological, geological, and technological specialists, and a robot named David (Fassbender) who is charged with mastering all human-made forms of communication. The expedition destination is a planet (later named LV-223) they suspect holds answers to the genesis of mankind. What ruins they find there, it turns out, were not only made by intelligent life forms, but incredibly ancient beings which share the exact same genetic makeup as humans. What those ancestors, referred to by the scientists as “Engineers,” were developing on that planet, however, proves to be treacherous in ways that could not have possibly been foreseen. With each new discovery the team’s mission faces greater peril, putting everyone’s lives in jeopardy – including Earth’s.

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Short Take: Intriguing, with unsettling cautionary messages

Director: Vincenzo Natali (Cube)

Screenwriter: Vincenzo Natali (Cube), Antionette Terry Bryant, Doug Taylor (They Wait)

Cast: Adrien Brody (King King), Sarah Polley (Dawn of the Dead), Delphine Chaneac

Length: 1h 44m

Synopsis: Elsa (Polley) and Clive (Brody) are a couple who are top-notch geneticists trying to splice the correct combination of DNA strands that will create an organism that produces certain kinds of proteins that can be used to help fight any number of diseases. After enjoying much success with their latest experiments (unique male and female organisms that have the capacity to mate) they are brought down to earth with the news that their company will go bankrupt unless there is a more significant breakthrough sometime soon. Elsa convinces Clive to break the law and try experimenting with human/animal splicing in order to have the resulting organism’s proteins be more readily usable, but from the get-go things don’t go quite as planned. The new organism begins growing like a child, but the older it gets the more dangerous it becomes until eventually the two scientists are forced to fight for their lives.

Warning: This review contains information that might be considered spoiling Read the rest of this entry »

9 - Produced by Tim Burton

Director: Shane Acker (9 (2005; short))

Screenplay: Pamela Pettler

Story: Shane Acker

Cast: Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Crispin Glover

Length: 1h 20m

Synopsis: Thanks to mankind’s technological ambitions the world is now ruled by the machines it created. Man himself has long been extinct, and all that is left of actual life can be found in a small group of mechanical dolls that are the creations of the very scientist who helped spawn the race of machines that led to man’s demise. The goal of the living dolls becomes clear: survive at any cost and keep life alive. Read the rest of this entry »