Children of Men.

Due to a request from a rabid fan, I will be updating to keep faith in the morale of the troops.

I am so happy that movie theaters still exist, and in a way I wish that movies like this were the reason that they still do. As fun as seeing a lot of huge explosions with bad acting is, the hassle of going to the movie theaters is just not worth it anymore, except for something that is really special. MJR four dollar tickets early morning on Saturdays is the savior of the movie going experience for me. Not only is it extremely cheap, but there haven’t been more than 10 people in the theaters besides me and Kellie, on the day after release for both movies we saw, although they weren’t blockbusters, they were still movies that did good at the box office, even when limited release.

IMDB summary:

In 2027, as humankind faces the likelihood of its own extinction, a disillusioned government agent agrees to help transport and protect a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea where her child’s birth may help scientists to save the future of mankind.

Alfonso Cuarón is officially my new favorite director, trumping Danny Boyle which is no easy feat. It only took the opening scene for me to proclaim that the movie was amazing. I can’t recall the exact order in which I watched Y tu mamá también and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban but I was very quickly enthralled with his disregard of the invention of the steadycam, (Y tu mamá también is one of the very few movies I’ve purchased twice, once for the rated and another for the unrated edition).

No action movie has ever put set me so on edge than the two major action scenes in this movie. Both of them were done in single takes and put the viewer in the center of the action, something that to me made all the difference. Too often action from far away may took cool if stylized enough like a Yimou Zhang film, but mostly it ends up just boring. I’ve never had the experience of feeling on edge in any movie in my entire life until this one, and all of this just two scenes from a movie that is more of a science fiction drama than an action movie.

Acting, writing, directing, music, everything in this movie was just right for the kind of movie that I want. Although it was not perfect, the story could have been a little darker for my taste, but it was good enough. Definitely my favorite movie of the year and easily in my top five favorite movies of all time. Thank you Kellie for introducing me to Alfonso Cuarón and this movie.