At The Movies......

Hello there. Those who know me know that I love movies and since I consider myself a bit of an authority on them, I'm gonna give you my take on the movies I've seen.

I’ll start with the movie I watched most recently- Green Lantern.

Green Lantern

What can I say about Green Lantern? Well, for one thing, Blake Lively is smoking hot! Second- why didn’t they use a black guy? I believe this would have been a good role for Will Smith if it had been written a little better (if he hadn't already done Hancock, that is. I'll bet he's reluctant to do another super-hero movie now..). Ryan Reynolds did OK, had a chance to show off his pecs and do a few stunts. Blake lively was OK- nothing really demanding. I liked Peter Sarsgaard though. There were some good special effects but that was about it. One thing that I didn’t like was the romantic aspect with Reynolds and Lively- a little too clichéd for me. We’ve seen it a hundred times (I think Prince of Persia killed the whole romance thing for me- God, it was annoying). Again, though, the writing could have been better. Generally, I think Marvel has done a better job with its super-hero movies than DC.

Rating- 6/10

X-Men: First Class

Talk about doing a good job with your movies- Marvel scores another hit! Great movie. The casting and script were top notch. The best of the X-Men franchise. To be honest, when I heard that James McAvoy was going to play Xavier, I had my doubts but boy was I wrong! He was good. Michael Fassbender was also very good as Magneto. I see why there are rumors about him being the next Bond. He oozed menace throughout and did the emotional stuff well. On the movie itself- it wasn’t too long, had good special effects and had a good supporting cast.  It was an all-around great movie. Recommended.

Rating 8.5/10

Bridesmaids

I was a bit skeptical about watching Bridesmaids but I checked it out online and heard good things so I decided to try my luck. I did not regret it. I found it to be funny and heartfelt. Kristen Wiig, while I’d never seen her in a leading role, acquitted herself very well. I found her very funny and real- I could actually imagine someone in her shoes saying what she said and doing the things she did. Maya Rudolph was good too. I’ve looked out for her ever since I watched “Away We Go” which I found very nice. Rose Byrne was quite good too but the scene stealer was Melissa McCarthy’s character. She was hilarious in every scene she did. The love interest was also well cast and I always enjoy watching Jon Hamm. The movie was well written with some very funny jokes. Very nice movie with an unforgettable scene in one street. I wouldn’t expect any less from the producers of “Knocked Up and “The 40 year-old Virgin”. Well worth watching.

Rating- 8/10

Coming Up….

I’m going to see “Thor”, “Fast Five” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-part 2” which I’m really waiting for-I thought part 1 was the best in the series. I read the book and found the first half to be quite tedious but the filmmakers did a good job of cutting out the extraneous material without losing the essence of the book.

Till I write again....

THE POWER OF WILL.

I had been postponing writing this blog for some time for reasons I could not understand. It wasn’t because there weren’t things to write about- life is full of interesting things, but nothing really inspired me to write. Until last night.

I was driving home from work at about 9 P.M when I saw a woman sitting by the side of the road. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she was sick. She did not beg for money- she just said that she was sick. I could sense her pride but at the same time, I could sense her desperation. It made me question why life is so unfair- why so few have so much and why so many have so little. I am ashamed to say that I questioned God but I did. I mulled over it for awhile and came to a conclusion. I was once in church when a pastor was talking about creation. He said that God created man in his own image and likeness. But when man sinned, God’s likeness left him. We are created in the same image but we have none of the likeness. If we were LIKE God, people wouldn’t be on the street, people wouldn’t suffer.

The fact of the matter, though, is that we are not like God. We are programmed to look after number one- ourselves. Let’s use Nigeria as an example. We complain that our lawmakers and elected officials are corrupt but when we know people in power, we berate them if they aren’t. There are people who are in positions to effect real change but that change, while good for the masses does not favour them as much as not changing things could. Sometimes the insanity of the situation baffles me (maybe it’s because I think I’m sane).

I was talking to my uncle the other day and asked him why we are so corrupt. He said that people in power think that they have to steal to survive. The system is so flawed that these people who are supposed to try to change said system actually make it worse because it is already so bad. Can you see how insane it is? God gave man the most rational brain of all the animals but we have managed to turn being irrational into the most rational thing. Sometimes I think that this nation is doomed. People go to church and pastors say “let’s pray for Nigeria” but prayers can only get you so far. God will use people to effect change. He will not come down to change things Himself- at least, I don’t think so. How will he do this? He will use people who have the WILL to change things.

Every time someone brings up the topic of this country, saying how bad things are, I always cite the example of Brazil. Brazil’s economy was in the gutter a dozen years ago. Poverty was rife, unemployment was the norm. But in came Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva- a man with the will to change things and today, Brazil has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. They are planning to host the World Cup and Olympics back to back. Yes, back to back. This is a country that was struggling 12 years ago. But because someone said “it’s time for things to change for the better” (which was the most RATIONAL thing) and had the will to back it up, we are seeing a different Brazil today.

Let’s not get carried away- I don’t presume to know about the world. In fact, I am quite naive when I think about it. But I believe that to truly effect change, you must be naïve to some extent. You must be able to say that things are not okay but more importantly, have the will to back those words up. Our leaders are in positions to truly make an impact on our lives but they are doing the “rational” thing and looking after themselves and their families by exploiting an already flawed system and making it worse.  We must start to be “irrational” and “insane” if we are to move forward. Sometimes, it is at the edge of insanity that we find true reason.