“If you understand what happened in the camps, you have a much better understanding of what we’re all about as human beings” says Tim Blake Nelson, director and writer of “The Grey Zone”. But will we ever be able to understand the holocaust? Will we ever be able to understand why we as humans would destroy others like us? Why we would kill Children, and elderly people who were treated like worthless animals? Why one man ordered the destruction of the Jewish race nearly wiping out the entire population of Polish Jews? Based on the play by Tim Blake Nelson and Miklos Nyiszli’s book “Auschwitz: a Doctor’s Eyewitness Account”, “The Grey Zone” dares to explore that question but never gives an answer. There is no answer good enough to explain why the holocaust even happened in the first place.
Tag Archives: Adaptation
Tape (2001)
One of my favorite, and possibly one of the most under rated directors of our time Richard Linklater continues to top himself. There’s not many directors these days that show they have both style (ala Dazed and Confused, School of Rock), and substance (Waking Life) at their disposal. Linklater can dispense both these traits in either film he chooses and often times it successful. He released this right off of the tail coats of “Waking Life” which was equally as brilliant. Based on the play by Stephen Belber, the film instantly begins with a very authentic and realistic disposition. The film and story relies heavily, and almost completely on human characteristics and mannerisms.
White Oleander (2002)
It’s a shame Alison Lohman has never done a lot of work for Hollywood over the years. While she has remained consistent through television and film roles, she hasn’t really ever broken out as a highly publicized cinematic artist. Like Sarah Polley and Vera Farmiga, she’s always remained on the fringe, but never quite broke out as someone overly saturated. Perhaps that’s a good thiing. Whenever Alison Lohman decides to commit to a film she’s a force to be reckoned with. One of the better dramatic suspense films of 2002 that came out at a time where other films were stealing its thunder was indeed “White Oleander.”
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
Based on the book by Doris Pilkington, “Rabbit Proof Fence” follows the early nineteen hundreds when the government would take Aboriginal children from their villages and families supposedly for their own good where they would be placed in a concentration camp to be educated and trained to be civil. Three young girls are taken from their mother to be taken to the camp. After a while, the oldest daughter Molly decides to escape the camp with her sisters and trek over one-thousand miles to get back home to their mother and must dodge a skilled tracker who must take them back to the camp. What make this movie so heart-wrenching is the fact that these three children are willing to walk more than a thousand miles just to get back to their family.
Minority Report (2002)
In the movie it’s the future (2054) and we now see Washington D.C. where a system known as pre-crime is born. Pre-Crime is a new law system where people known as pre-cognitive are used as machines which can foretell the future and predict a major crime. Tom Cruise plays John Anderton, one of the best officers who bust the people who commit the pre-crimes. The system is perfect, flawless and it does the job… but what happens when the system turns on you? Now, accused of killing a man in thirty-six hours he doesn’t know, he is now on the run from his own task force and a Government official (Colin Farrell) who wants him at all costs.
House of the Dead (2003)
After the (literally) seven minute long opening to “House of the dead”, I was almost sure this would suck as I instantly lost patience with this frenzied film; man, I should learn to listen to my instincts more. I sat in the theatres watching and squirming in my seat because I had to use the bathroom, and had pre-determined I would hold it until the movie ended (not wanting to miss out). After about ten minutes in, to the bathroom I went. What’s sad is that this is not only a bad movie, but a bad zombie movie with a lot of potential to it. With a plot off of “Zombie” and “Resident Evil”, the movie had a lot of chances to become innovative and creative yet Uwe Boll takes no chances and goes by the book.
Real Women Have Curves (2002)
Ana is proud of her body, and she doesn’t hide it; not from her mother not from anyone and struts confidently. What’s so unique about that? She’s a heavy set girl. Often times in Hollywood movies, the main character who is often a girl that is as thin as a stick pretends to look ugly. Not that America Ferrerra is ugly; she’s a very beautiful girl. But, there’s this perception among the masses that a girl has to be thin to be beautiful but what the film says is that you can look any way you choose and still be beautiful. It’s a message injected from writer Josefina Lopez; It’s a positive message, it’s a realistic message, and it’s a message that should be spread to many of today’s young girls. In a world where beautiful means successful, this film is grounded in reality showing that Ana is beautiful and successful just because of who she is.