Movie Review: I Origins

Science and religion needn’t be at odds with each other.  That seems to be the overall message from the sci-fi romance, I Origins. Written, directed and produced by Mike Cahill (Other Earth).  The ambitious film examines the age old question of our existence within the familiar boy meets girl, boy loses girl narrative and does so in a refreshingly original fashion.

The film opens with an array of eyes photographed by Ian Gray (Michael Pitt), a molecular biologist who is obsessed with them and the discovery they might hold. For many years there’s been an ongoing debate on the structure of the eye. Too advanced to replicate, it is believed the eye’s complexity proves God’s existence. Ian Grey believes differently however. A man of science, he sets out to prove the eye’s evolution.To help him with this quest is like-minded lab partner, Karen (Brit Marling).

One serendipitous evening, Ian meets an exotic girl at a Halloween party who disappears shortly after he’s photographed her striking eyes.  Eventually he finds her again and the pair become inseparable. But since Sofi (Astrid Bergés-Frisbey) is free spirited and spiritual her views begin to cause conflict in the relationship.

Without giving away too much, something happens to end their relationship.  Fast forward several years into the future. Sofi’s exact eye pattern shows up in India, which is scientifically impossible considering that our eyes are unique.

Since I certainly don’t want to give the entire film away, I’ll stop there.

What I liked about I Origins, is that the film didn’t deteriorate into the typical religion is right and science is wrong, or vise versa, debate. Through Ian and Sofi, each side was represented and neither character was unlikable for the beliefs they hold. Another thing worth noting is the strong female characters. Karen, played wonderfully by Brit Marling, was Ian’s equal and although it was apparent she was attracted to her superior early on, she wasn’t jealous of Ian’s love for Sofi.

But it’s the performances that really complete the movie. Known mostly for unconventional characters he’s portrayed Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire) was very convincing as a scientist and Astrid Bergés-Frisbey was absolutely charming. Steven Yeun, (Walking Dead) who played Ian’s best friend Kenny, stole every scene he was in as the film’s comic relief. And of course I mentioned Brit Marling earlier.

So, if you are tired of big budget special effects films, check out I Origins. It’s sure to enrich your soul.

I Origins opened July 18th and is in limited release.

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Game of Thrones: The Mountain and the Viper

 

“Well that escalated quickly."

That was my response to the Oberyn vs The Mountain fight. I mean you non-book readers out there. Did YOU expect that? I sure as hell didn’t. Of course, I knew the outcome was possible. I mean,  George R.R. Martin has no problem killing off characters, which lends to the show’s realism.

But before we go there, let’s recap, The Mountain and The Viper because a hell of a lot happened.

The episode starts off in Mole’s Town where the Wildlings make a bloody return. They attack the village where Sam’s girlfriend Gilly and baby are holed up, slaughtering everyone there – except for the Gilly and her son. In an act of mercy, Ygritte spares them.

Word gets back to Castle Black of course and Sam blames himself for Gilly’s presumed demise. But his comrades manage to ease his mind, pointing out that Gilly has survived worse.

Meereen is serene.

Those anxious to see Missandei naked finally get to.  So does Grey Worm, who gawks creepily at her as she bathes. Missandei tells Dany of Grey Worm's staring and while Khaleesi grooms Missandei’s hair,  Dany conveys curiosity about Grey Worm’s worm. Hadn’t he lost his pillar and stones to castration?

By the way, that’s what I’m calling a guy’s nuts and berries from now on.

Missandei and Grey Worm have a little chat. He apologizes for seeing her, but Missandei tells him, she was glad to be seen.

It’s kinda nice to witness a somewhat healthy romance for once.

At Moat Cailin, Theon nearly has a nervous breakdown while pretending to be himself. Still, he manages to talk the men into surrendering, promising they’ll be spared by Ramsey if they do. But of course the promise was never meant to be kept. Ramsey butchers them all and for this he’s rewarded with his father’s name.

Over in Eyrie, Sansa has to testify about the events surrounding her aunt’s death. She reveals her true name and also tells the council that Lysa was madly jealous of her and that she hurled herself out the moon door in a fit of jealous rage.

Looks like Sansa learned a thing or two from Margaery!

And man did Sophie Turner sell that scene!

With Littlefinger in the clear, it doesn’t take long for him to hatch his next scheme, which is for Lysa's son Robin to leave the nest.

Back at Meereen, we discover that Ser Jorah was a spy. In exchange for his information, he would be pardoned by the king. Ser Jorah pleads with Dany to forgive him but she’ll hear none of it and banishes him.

That scene made me sad. Thing is, the moment Ser Jorah fell in love with Dany he stopped spying for Tywin and has been very loyal. I think the pardon was sent to drive a rift between Dany and her most trusted advisor and unfortunately it worked.

Arya and Hound finally reach the borders of Eyrie. This should have been a happy moment for Arya, given all that she’s been through. But alas, life in Westeros is of course a bitch. Arya learns of her aunt’s death and bursts in to hysterical laughter. Of course she's dead! Who isn't at this point?

Inside the Eryie, Littlefinger tells Robin he’s to experience life outside the Vale and a new Sansa, clad in a dress of raven feathers reveals herself. Confident and poised, with hair dyed black, she's assumed the the part of Alayne Stone.

Finally the fight!

The Mountain was really no match for Oberyn’s agility and speed.  But things go wrong when Oberyn becomes too cocky.

After Oberyn lances The Mountain in the chest, instead of leaving it there,  bitch pulls it out and starts monologuing.

With Oberyn’s guard down, all it took was one swipe of The Mountain’s arm to knock Oberyn off his feet. Using what little life that remained, The Mounatin admits to everything he was accused of and kills Oberyn the same way he did his sister, by smashing his head in ala Scanners, then dies.

Tyrion is then sentenced to death.

With two episodes left, what will become of Tyrion? Does Castle Black stand a chance against the Wildlings? What of Sansa and Arya? Will the two be reunited? Then there’s Melisandre, who I’m glad was missing from tonight’s episode. She’s just gotta turn up.

Man, I can't believe this season is almost over!

I give tonight's head exploding installment:

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Game of Thrones: Mockingbird

Last week, Tyrion proved he had bigger balls than a Great Dane on Viagra® by demanding trial by combat.  Jaime wasn't happy with this request of course.  He wanted his brother to follow his orders but Tyrion  couldn’t stand there and listen to Shae's lies. In all honesty who could?

“Don’t give on me just yet.” Tyrion says to Jaime. He survived one trial by combat before with Bronn’s help and he could possibly do so again. Not if Cersei can help it, however. Her champion is someone bigger and badder than even Andre the Giant. She enlists Sir Gregor “The Mountain” to win the challenge.

Next we pick up with Arya and the Mountain’s brother, the Hound. During their journey, they come across a man whose village was destroyed. Mortally wounded, Hound teaches Arya where the heart is by ending the survivor’s suffering by piercing it with his sword.

Shortly thereafter, the victim’s killer, who is still after the bounty on the Hound’s head, attacks him. Affiliated with one of the men who threatened to rape Arya with a stick. Hound asks if the fellow is on her death list to which she replies, “He can’t be, I don’t know his name.” Hound asks for it and the oaf gives it freely, giving  Arya all she needed to end him by stabbing him in the heart. She's a quick learner.

At Castle Black, not much is happening but Snow reiterating how much of a threat the Wildings are.

We then go back to Tyrion. Bronn visits his cell in flashy new duds and informs Tyrion he is to marry. This is something Cersei set up. Ultimately, Bronn doesn’t want to risk his life and won’t be Tyrion’s champion.

Off to Meereen we go. Daario, (who I keep getting confused with Cal on Orphan Black) is bored and needs something or someone to do. All he knows is war and women. Wanting a demonstration on how skilled he is, Dany orders Daario to remove his clothes.

Since this is Game of Thrones, there can’t be male nudity without some female T & A. The Red Witch is seen bathing while Stannis’s wife talks about her heretic daughter. I couldn’t be bothered with this scene to be honest.

By the way, I'm no longer on the fence about Michiel  Huisman as Daario. He's Totally fine.

Totally.

Fine.

Switch back to Mareen where a dejected Jorah bumps into Daario as he’s leaving Dany’s room. Concerned that Dany has put his trust in him, Khaleesi reassures him that she hasn’t. She sent him to kill the masters of Yunkai. At Jorah’s suggestion, she sees to it Hizdahr zo Loraq accompany Daario so that the masters are given a choice to either join her or perish.

In one of three pivotal scenes, Hound tells Arya his brother burned him and that his father protected his sibling by blaming the injury on bedding that caught fire.

Out of sympathy, Arya offers to wash the wound and sew it up, since he’s adverse to cauterizing the gash with fire.

Things lighten up a bit when our favorite bosom buddies, Podrick and Brienne reappear. At an inn for some good food and drink, the chef goes into great detail on how to make a proper kidney pie. This annoys them. To change the subject, Brienne asks the boy, who we know as Hot Pie, if he had seen Sansa Stark. He hadn’t seen her of course but he informs Podrick and Brienne of Arya and gives them a wolf shaped bun to gift her with.

Nearing the end of the episode to the second pivotal scene, Oberyn pays Tyrion a visit. “It is rare to meet a Lannister who shares my enthusiasm for dead Lannisters." He confesses, then goes on to tell the woeful tale of when he first met Tyrion. It’s a heartwrenching story of how Tyrion was treated and described at birth. Labeled a monster, he wasn’t one at all. Cersei was. Caring very little for Cersei and still wanting justice for his sister, who was raped and killed by The Mountain, Oberyn steps in as Tyrion’s champion.

Finally the third and final game-changing scene of tonight’s episode, Mockingbird takes place in the Vale. The brat prince Robin has yet another tantrum. Instead of coddling him like his mother does,  Sansa slaps him in the face after he destroyed the snow castle of Winterfell she had made. Baelish, who sees this happen commends her for doing so and kisses her. Eavesdropping, Aunt Lysa sees this. Simmering with rage, she calls her niece into the throne room pulls her to the edge of the moon door.

Baelish stops Lysa from hurling Sansa through the opening and promises he’ll send Sansa away. But of course that was just a trick to get Lysa to release Sansa. With Sansa at a safe distance  he admits to his wife coldly, “I have only loved one woman. One. My entire life. Your sister.” Then with a hard shove, he sends Lysa to her death out the moon door.

This is Sparta!

Since Baelish couldn’t have Catelyn Stark, he’ll have her beautiful daughter instead.

Ew.

Once again, Peter Dinklage reigned supreme here. He conveyed the sadness Tyrion felt every day of his life at the hands of his evil sister and  callous father so naturally.

I hope Cersei and Tywin dies.

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Game of Thrones: The Laws of Gods and Men

Sorry about missing last week’s recap guys. Not to worry though, I’m back to summarize The Laws of Gods and Men and thanks to one man it was a glorious episode. Which guy is this do you ask? Why Peter Dinklage of course. Once again he turns out a powerful performance, reminding us all why we love Tyrion. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if tonight’s episode doesn’t win him another Emmy.

Right. Lets get right to it.

Lord Stannis and Davos hit up the Iron Bank for cash. These greedy guys, who remind me of the goblins at Gringotts, mean business. Of course they were denied at first. But, Davos doesn’t take no for an answer. He stands up for Stannis and lets it be known that when and if Tywin dies, there goes their money.

Quick sidebar, how many fandoms can Mark Gatiss aka Mycroft be in?

At the Ramsys we see Yara Greyjoy, Theon’s sister. Making good on her word to rescue her shell of a brother, she and her crew infiltrate Ramsay Snow’s castle. But the rescue goes awry when Theon, who now believes he’s Reek, refuses to leave. A battle ensues between Yara’s men and Ramsay’s, which ultimately ends with Yara fleeing the property before hounds could be unleashed on her. The brother she knew is dead. Reek now takes his place.

Reek is awarded a bath for his loyalty and for a moment there I really thought the showrunner would have the balls, or in Theon’s case, the lack there of to show what’s left of his boy parts. But we get nada. Instead we get a homoerotic scene (not that there’s anything wrong with that) with Ramsay bathing Reek. So happy to be treated kindly, Reek agrees to pretend to be Theon Greyjoy again so that Ramsay can take the Greyjoy castle.

Now off to Meereen. Queen Dany’s not-so-little dragons are running amuck. Not surprisingly they’re simply doing what dragons do, which is burning shit up and eating the local livestock. Ever the responsible mother, Danny pays the sheepherder for his loss in triplicate. Unfortunately, the next request wasn’t as easy. Hizdahr zo Loraq, the son of one of the men Dany crucified, asks permission to cut his father down so he can receive a proper burial.

After a bit of back and forth, Dany agrees and Loraq goes on his way. Realizing that being a queen isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, the weary mother of dragons asks how many requests remain. There are over two hundred to follow.

It’s hard out there for a Targaryen.

The High Council is very aware of Dany and her growing army. But Tywin fails to see a problem. He thinks his army is powerful enough to best her. He shouldn’t underestimate the Queen of Meereen and her Unsullied.

Varys is up to something and it’s all the more apparent during Tyrion’s trial. King Tommen, who is quite the likable lad, excuses himself leaving Tywin, Mace Tyrell and Oberyn to oversee court proceedings.

Every witness called testifies against Tyrion of course. With things not looking good, in a move of brotherly love, Jaime strikes s a deal with his father during recess. He’ll go to Casterly Rock and settle down with someone other than his sister and have babies if Tyrion’s life is spared. Tywin agrees and adds that if Tyrion begs for mercy, he’ll be sent to live the rest of his days at Castle Black.

Jaime relays this information to Tyrion, but before he can do as told, a last witness is called. Shae. And man is she pissed. Falling into the woman-scorned stereotype, she gives the most damning testimony of all. This sends Tyrion over the edge. Infuriated by this farce of a trial, he does confess. But not for his nephew’s murder – for simply being born a dwarf.

One of the greatest lines to come from his declaration is to his wretched sister Cersei,

Watching your precious bastard die gave me more relief than a thousand lying whores.

Now that’s gangsta.

The episode ends epically with Tyrion demanding a trial by combat.

I wonder if he’ll name Jaime his champion. Tywin wouldn’t want to lose two sons, now would he?

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Movie Review: Belle

Belle is an enlightening film about Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the bi-racial daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral and her struggle with race, class and gender in the 18th century. Born of a slave from the West Indies, she was left in squalor when her mother died. But unlike most offspring from such relations that were often left behind, Dido was claimed by her father, Captain Sir John Lindsay (Matthew Goode) and brought to live with his Great Uncle, Lord Chief Justice of England Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) his wife (Emily Watson) and half-cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray (Sarah Gadon).

Dido’s story came to be after screenwriter, Misan Sagay came across a painting of Belle and Elizabeth while touring the Scone Palace in Scotland. Since it was uncommon to depict two girls, one black and one white, enjoying each other’s company during a time when most Blacks were slaves and portrayed as such, Sagay became instantly enthralled by the portrait and was inspired to tell the story behind it.

Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761-1804) and her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray (1760-1825)

But this tale wouldn't be the fine piece of work it is without director Amma Asante’s pristine attention to detail or Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s captivating performance.

Mbatha-Raw, who some may recall from Doctor Who and Touch, plays the title role effortlessly. Before we are graced with her presence, the film opens with the younger Dido (Lauren Julien-Box). Once at the Mansfield estate, Dido quickly bonds with her cousin Elizabeth, who was left there after her mother died and father remarried.

It isn’t until Dido matures to adulthood that she is made aware of the way the world sees her. Not permitted to dine with family while guests were present, she is free to join them in the parlor for post dinner activities. “How can I be too high in rank to dine with the servants but too low to dine with the family?” She asks with great annoyance.

Even her father’s inheritance can’t afford her equal treatment. But it can land her a husband. Enter Lady Ashford (Miranda Richardson) and her two sons Oliver (James Norton) and James (
Draco Malfoy Tom Felton). The Ashfords aren’t that well off, but Dido is. Because of this fact, mother Ashford is willing to allow her youngest son, Oliver to marry the Mulatto. Brother James does not approve of this union however and is very vocal about it.

While all of this is going on, Dido’s uncle is investigating the deaths of 142 African slaves who had been thrown overboard a slave ship while in transit. When the ship’s insurance company refused to pay the 30 pounds per slave, the owners brought the insurer to court.

This is where the main love interest comes in. John Davinier (Sam Reid), a passionate human rights activist, falls for the beautiful Dido while trying to convince Lord Mansfield to rule against the slave owners.

During the Zong investigation, Dido embraces her African heritage and she too speaks out against slavery and the owners in this case. Will her passionate words influence her uncle's final decision in the case? You'll have to watch the film to find out.

Belle tackles race, gender and class without being overbearing.  And as a Jane Austen fan,  I loved the wardrobe and language. Plus it was nice to see  a woman of color in a period film who wasn't enslaved, yet was still very socially aware.  The only issues I had with the film, was that the ending was a tad melodramatic and the pacing was a bit sluggish.  But neither faults prevented me from enjoying the movie as a whole.

It is my hope  Belle's success  will inspire more films where the leading actress isn't necessarily Mia Wasikowska or Keira Knightly.  A few years ago, Naomie Harris (Skyfall, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) expressed interest in producing a Jane Austen film with a Black cast.  I would love for that project to happen!

Belle, rated  PG, opens this week. Make sure to catch it.

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