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Showing posts with the label sci fi

"Embers" Has a Great Premise but Sluggish Delivery

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Embers (2015) Taking place in a post apocalyptic world in which a disease which makes creating and maintaining memories impossible, Embers  offers a glimpse into the lives of several different people who have their own ways of grappling with the harsh world in which they have no way of knowing who the people around them are. Interspersed between these glimpses into the lives of those too poor to afford a way to escape the disease, we are offered a look at the empty life of a young woman who lives in a shelter with her father, untouched by the disease but horribly bored with nothing to do but test her memory time and time again. With its fascinating premise, beautiful and meticulous camera shots, and slow atmospheric soundtrack, I really wanted to like Embers . Unfortunately, Embers  failed to hold my attention throughout the course of the film, as it wavered awkwardly from scenario to scenario and fell into the trap of repetition as married couples forget one another an...

The Star Wars Universe is Strangely Tangible in "Rogue One"

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Rogue One (2016) In previous releases in the Star Wars  franchise the audience has been subjected to witnessing the drama unfold within the Skywalker family, which was an entertaining (phenomenally so) experience, but felt distant and turned the audience into a sort of third party. Rogue One , however, transforms the audience into a part of the film through its fantastic and sometimes horrifying or grotesque cinematography. Rather than being given passing shots of city streets and the aliens which occupy the Star Wars universe, the camera weaves through crowded streets as though the audience is stumbling past these creatures first-hand when it isn't panning upwards to reveal intimidating shots of the massive spaceships soaring up above. This intimacy within Rogue One's  cinematography is closely tied to its plot as well, which focuses on the common people rather than the Skywalker family as previous releases did. While Star Wars  took audience members through a f...