Seven Pounds

The trailers on tv were enough to hook me. A Will Smith movie titled Seven Pounds. I finally watched it and it was totally worth it. The moviemakers didn't want the audience to know exactly what Ben Thomas was up to. They succeeded in creating that mystery. But perhaps one step too far. There were loose ends that bothered a viewer. Will Smith is pure magic, no surprise there. Rosario Dawson is pretty great too.

I won't be a killjoy and give the story away. Let's just say that the climax is colossal. The kind that hits home so hard it knocks the wind out of you. And when you understand it, many people may be flooded with their righteous, moral viewpoints. The protagonist's behaviour would guarantee a place in hell according to most religious doctrines. The plotline of Seven Pounds makes you wonder otherwise.

I'm waiting with bated breath for Angels and Demons, based on the book by Dan Brown, starring Tom Hanks, that releases today in the United States.

Update: Watched Angels and Demons and thought it was great. Does justice to the book, fast-paced and TomHanks is well, Tom Hanks. Flawless performance, no doubt about it. The movie did leave out some parts of the text but that was probably necessary to deliver a powerful story. Watch it to see the Vatican in a whole new light, no pun intended. Everyone's guessing where the movie was shot, the theories oscillating between sets and the actual church. Since access is not likely to be granted at the basilica for a movie like this, the sets are mindbogglingly-convincing. That is some seriosuly talennted art direction.

Airborne entertainment

On the plane ride to Paris, I watched Marley and Me. Although I'm not a dog-lover, this movie is wonderful! (I love dogs more than I used to. Vidu, Vineeta and Kumudaa, look at what you've done, I hope you're happy! :P) The movie, based on a book, is a fantastic story of a man and his dog and the canine's connection with the man's family. Utterly candid and well-told.

Then I watched Vicki Christina Barcelona and the only way I can decribe it as is "weird." But good weird. Can such a thing happen? Coming to the bigger of question of, does such a thing happen? I don't know the answers but Penelope Cruz was entertaining. Can't say the same about Sacrlett Johannsen.

One word (sound?) for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - ugh! I got bored midway and flipped the channel.

Other movies on the trip were "Nights in Rodanthe." This one was no big deal. Unfair as it is, I was comparing the chemistry between Gere and Lane to the kind in "Unfaithful," where it was virtually flawless. And then I watched "Bride Wars." The less said the better.

Landing at the Charles de Gaulle Airport at the crack of dawn was interesting, watching the planes land on the runway in succession. It was like a synchronized dance of fireflies, the planes' lights bright in the night sky.