Ask
anyone – Land Before Time is the
saddest cartoon ever. If you want your kid to experience anguish, then that
film is for you! Not even those cute finger puppets at Pizza Hut can save the sadness caused by this movie. When Little Foot was crying as his Mom
starts to fade after she protected him against the savage tyrannosaur, you are
not human if you can’t feel despair. Add the fact the depressing Diana Ross song playing in the
background...
Tears,
prepare to be unleashed!
I had
tears in my eyes when I saw Christopher
Reeve’s Somewhere in Time. That movie is so traumatic that I don’t want to
check my pockets to see if I have change.
A Walk To Remember... Rudy... Life is Beautiful...
these are titles that can touch you in ways that aren’t pornographic.
While
I was compelled with those films, I never shed a tear.
Which
brings me to 127 Hours.
Aron Ralston is an adventurer. He likes to
check out nature and the goodness it offers. However, a flawed attempt to look
cool cost him an arm and his life.
Oops.
You
see, this movie makes you feel for Aron. You envy his life when he tours a
bunch of hot chicks to the most serene spot that technology has yet to touch.
And yet, you hate to be in his place when he fell alongside a rock that instantly
crushes his hand.
When
you see him attempt to set himself free, you can’t help yourself but to root
for him. When he his water is slowly running out, you find yourself wondering
of how you’ll do in that predicament. When he drinks his urine... you find
yourself telling the real-life Aron what an awesome person he is for not giving
up.
And
when he sacrificed his limb to live, you can hear people flinching with disapproval.
When his crappy Swiss knife-like tool struck his skin people were looking
elsewhere in disgust! When he was cutting his bone using pliers or some tool
not meant on clipping bone... fuck it was brutal!
But
what can you do? Really??? He was stuck in a rock with food and water rations
out and with a raven circling above his head!
Even a
mere ant is an enemy for him.
For
some insane reason, I haven’t seen Slumdog
Millionaire. I know the movie is good and I have a .MOV file of it my
computer or in my USB but I don’t know why I don’t want to see it. This was
before I saw this movie. The way Danny
Boyle imagined this movie was epic. It wasn’t glamorous or tech-filled but
it gives you a nice feel to capture the story. His camera angles were
mind-blowing and how he envisioned the story made me realize that if I’m going
to steal a concept, I’m going to check out his portfolio. Boyle was detailed in
telling the story and I can’t really find flaws in this flick except when Aron
was imitating a talk show host.
But
you see, I think that part is integral to the story. He is trying to be funny
even if he is not. Even when he is trying to be funny, the people inside the
cinema is thinking that he is just doing this to forget the fact that he is
about to die. The video cam is a powerful way to convey his feelings. You feel
Aron’s anguish and James Franco did an awesome job portraying the character.
Hell,
you gotta feel for him when he tried to jack off when he shot the boobies of
the chick he recently met but he doesn’t have the strength to do it!
I have
been a fan of James Franco ever
since I saw him in Freaks and Geeks...
which was unfortunately just two years ago. I know him before that as the guy
that portrayed the Green Goblin’s son
in the Spiderman franchise and the
guy that acted alongside Cesar Montano
in The Great Raid. Playing the James Dean-like rebel in the Judd Apatow series, he was awesome.
Playing a stoner with a heart in Pineapple
Express, it seems as if he is great in these kinds of
stoner/hippie/adventurer role which was what Aron Ralston is all about.
You
can’t help to enjoy him in this movie because he brings out the awesome. The
emotions he unleashes are very real and whenever he tries to untangle
himself... do something brave... to something disgusting... and do something
bloody, we believe that his work is genuine.
Watching
it on your laptop could be good... but watching it on the big screen is
awesome. You can see and hear the reactions of the people inside the cinema.
The character was seriously established in this movie and I would have given
Franco the nod for Best Actor,
except that it could have been ruled out since he is also the host of the event
alongside Anne Hathaway.
This
is such an inspiring tale that should compel people. The way he freed himself
and the way he did things just to survive made me realize how important life is.
If
Aron just said to his mom that he’s going to that place... or if he just took
the normal route... or if he didn’t do things solo, things would have been
different. But instead of blaming life, he continues to live it.
This
is a beautiful film.
Land
Before Time and Somewhere in Time... meet 127 Hours.
Now
combine yourselves to have a perfect tear-infested moment!
Game
over!