New-to-me movies in July

1. Hostel Part II (2007)
2. Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
3. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind / Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984)
4. Lucy (2014)

REVIEWS:

1. Hostel Part II (2007)

After watching the first Hostel movie, which showed visceral images of torture, I told myself I would never again watch another movie in the franchise. The images of body mutilation was just too much for me and I was deeply unsettled after seeing the movie. Basically, it just wasn’t for me.

However, when Hostel II showed up on my TV screen on a day when I had nothing better to do*, I found myself watching it. The sequel was downplayed the graphic torture scenes, implying more than actually showing, which still made me cringe, but wasn’t as unsettling (my friend would say this makes is a less interesting movie, but I digress). At any rate, the movie was a more enjoyable experience for me and I thought the characters went in some really interesting directions.

2. Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

An adorable movie for any Disney fan. Emma Thompson is wonderful (as always), as are many of the other actors. The incorporation of music from the original Mary Poppins was wonderful.

3. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind / Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984)

Wonderful! I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to see this. Humans survive in an apocalyptic world, full of poisoned forests and giant insects (which represent the guardians of the forests). Nausicaä is a princess of the Valley of the Wind. She has a deep connection with the world around her and is thus able to understand the insects and forest enough to not be in constant conflict with it. She’s strong without being emotionless. One of the wonderful things about all Miyazaki films is the way they portray complexity of the characters, even the warlike people from neighboring kingdoms who invade the Valley are interesting characters with their own worldviews and moments of integrity and courage. I love it.

4. Lucy (2014)

I don’t know what to think about this movie. On the one hand it’s visually stunning and Scarlett Johansson is fantastic as a kick ass hero. But on the other — the “humans use only 10% of their brain” thing has long been disproved, the growth of her powers is cool but too radical, to the point that there is not much of a threat to her other than her body falling apart from overdose, and it’s racist (the worst moment was when Lucy walk up to two taxi drivers and then kills him, when he says, “No” — in what world is this acceptable??). It’s one of those cases in which a movie had a lot of potential for cool and ended up being disappointing. I would like to see feminist movies that are actually feminist and without the racism, thank you very much.

*Not true. I usually have lots of things to do, including writing — “nothing better to do” usually means “feeling lazy as a sloth”.