Monday, March 21, 2011

The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau could have been a really great film. At its core it's full of interesting philosophical questions, ones that introduce possibilities that both fit into and are new to global spiritual narratives. Ideas of fate, free will and intelligently designed plans are expressed alongside darker ramifications like the sacrifice of potential in some for the ultimate success of others. The thought that the plan for our lives is always being rewritten, that there are angel-like forces at work in our world to enforce it, the fact that there are lingering effects from previous incarnations of our plan, the possibility that our plan involves cutting someone we love's life short so we can be driven to succeed... the fact that there is a plan at all, an architect, the chairman! There is so much intellectual possibility in this film.

And it expands from there. Writer/director George Nolfi plants these ideas into the world we're currently living in and then ties them back through time, using the highs and lows of human history as evidence for his mythology. The whole thing is quite brilliant. But then it starts to break down.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

The 2010 My Cinema HONORARY AWARDS

Introducing the annual My Cinema Honorary Award. This distinction, announced separately from the rest of the winners, is awarded each year to celebrate standout achievement in any given category. We have 2 winners this year, because we simply couldn't choose. Winners aren't nominated in the regular My Cinema Awards. Rather, they're honored separately as the best things that happened in cinema all year (whether they be directors, actors, cinematographers, writers, etc...).  It just so happens that both of this year's winners are actors. Without further ado, this year's winners are...