2012 Movies I didn't get the time to review - Part I
Ruby Sparks
Ruby Sparks is an underrated movie of 2012. It is the story of a writer who is facing writer's block and goes through therapy. As he attempts to write again about a fictional girl with a dog who the protagonist falls in love with, he realizes that the girl becomes real. He has absolute control over her, whatever he writes in the book she does in real life. The writers brother-in-law thinks he has hit a jackpot, 'you can make her do anything you want'. For a while that works great, but the problem is because it is phony, it takes meaning off of life. The writer thinks about it and realizes that if he truly loved her, he will have to 'set her free', which he does and loses his love. This kind of goes to the point that for there to be true love, the one loved has to have freedom to chose. If there is no freedom, then there is no love.
Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas was a beautiful movie. I loved the visuals and the sound track. The story was a bit disjointed as it involves six different stories running in parallel in different points in human history. Anyways, I found a common thread of Social Darwinism that ran through them all. In each of the stories there is a powerful person/tribe who 'eats-off' the weaker person/tribe. In one of the stories setup in the 18th century Tom Hanks' character says, "man is meat and the strong do eat" has he deceives and poisons a rich guy to kill him and take his money. Social Darwinism develops with each generation until finally in a futuristic society, human beings are harvested for meat. The ones that are harvested revolt as in a 'proletariat revolution' and the civilization goes back to stone age, even there the Strong 'eat' the Weak. Of course, there is a Saviour who comes from the outside world, in the form of Halle Berry to save Tom Hanks and his family from the Strong tribe that is trying to eat them. In a world without God who gives intrinsic value to human life, Social Darwinism reigns. Nothing can stop that, not even a proletariat revolution.
Looper
Looper is a movie with an interesting storyline. Contract killers kill people across time and eventually they will have to kill their own future-self (I know it is confusing, take it for what it is). The protagonist contract killer has to kill his own furture-self too. He misses, and becomes a target. The contract killer's future self wants to kill a kid (hoping that if the kid died he wouldn't have to die - again confusing, take it for what it is). This kid has a mother who the protagonist contract killer likes. Anyways, the point being there is a web of complex relationships where multiple people are intent on killing someone for some selfish reason. It looks like this cycle will exponentially grow to affect a much larger group of people at which point one of these characters decides to sacrifice their own life and put an end to the cycle of pain and suffering.
Often in our lives, too we live in a vicious of cycle of inflicted pain and suffering that unless someone decides to sacrificially take pain and not retaliate the cycle becomes bigger and bigger until it brings all humanity down. In a sense that is what Christ did on the cross, He broke the despondent cycle of intrinsic and inflicted sin by dying on the Cross, the cycle remains broken for good.
Prometheus
Prometheus in one 2012 movie which I wish I had seen twice, alas I saw it just once. Prometheus is a very philosophical movie. The movie depicts a chain creations. Human beings are created by other beings and human being create other beings (the humanoid robots). Each creation seeks answers for the reason for its creation and longs to communicate with the Creator. The humanoid which lives among humans seeks answers, but nobody cares about him much at all. The protagonist of the story is a researcher who is seeking the race that created humans. She finally finds the Creator race, and at the moment when she thinks she is at the cusp of discovering the answer to why humans were created, to her utter horror the Creator destroys all the humans alongside her. Deep within she was hoping that the reason behind creation was 'love'. She is devastated that the reason for creation wasn't love. In fact, looking back, the humanoid seeks answers for the same question, but humans do no bother to make the humanoid feel love. So what you have here is a series of 'creations' seeking love of their Creators, but they get none.
What made Prometheus most interesting to me is that at the very beginning of the movie when the researcher is a kid her father gives her a crucifix and tells her that she is love by God. The movie at a very deep level brings out the desire that human beings have to be loved 'eternally' by the Creator, for if there is no eternal love then life becomes meaningless.
Ruby Sparks is an underrated movie of 2012. It is the story of a writer who is facing writer's block and goes through therapy. As he attempts to write again about a fictional girl with a dog who the protagonist falls in love with, he realizes that the girl becomes real. He has absolute control over her, whatever he writes in the book she does in real life. The writers brother-in-law thinks he has hit a jackpot, 'you can make her do anything you want'. For a while that works great, but the problem is because it is phony, it takes meaning off of life. The writer thinks about it and realizes that if he truly loved her, he will have to 'set her free', which he does and loses his love. This kind of goes to the point that for there to be true love, the one loved has to have freedom to chose. If there is no freedom, then there is no love.
Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas was a beautiful movie. I loved the visuals and the sound track. The story was a bit disjointed as it involves six different stories running in parallel in different points in human history. Anyways, I found a common thread of Social Darwinism that ran through them all. In each of the stories there is a powerful person/tribe who 'eats-off' the weaker person/tribe. In one of the stories setup in the 18th century Tom Hanks' character says, "man is meat and the strong do eat" has he deceives and poisons a rich guy to kill him and take his money. Social Darwinism develops with each generation until finally in a futuristic society, human beings are harvested for meat. The ones that are harvested revolt as in a 'proletariat revolution' and the civilization goes back to stone age, even there the Strong 'eat' the Weak. Of course, there is a Saviour who comes from the outside world, in the form of Halle Berry to save Tom Hanks and his family from the Strong tribe that is trying to eat them. In a world without God who gives intrinsic value to human life, Social Darwinism reigns. Nothing can stop that, not even a proletariat revolution.
Looper
Looper is a movie with an interesting storyline. Contract killers kill people across time and eventually they will have to kill their own future-self (I know it is confusing, take it for what it is). The protagonist contract killer has to kill his own furture-self too. He misses, and becomes a target. The contract killer's future self wants to kill a kid (hoping that if the kid died he wouldn't have to die - again confusing, take it for what it is). This kid has a mother who the protagonist contract killer likes. Anyways, the point being there is a web of complex relationships where multiple people are intent on killing someone for some selfish reason. It looks like this cycle will exponentially grow to affect a much larger group of people at which point one of these characters decides to sacrifice their own life and put an end to the cycle of pain and suffering.
Often in our lives, too we live in a vicious of cycle of inflicted pain and suffering that unless someone decides to sacrificially take pain and not retaliate the cycle becomes bigger and bigger until it brings all humanity down. In a sense that is what Christ did on the cross, He broke the despondent cycle of intrinsic and inflicted sin by dying on the Cross, the cycle remains broken for good.
Prometheus
Prometheus in one 2012 movie which I wish I had seen twice, alas I saw it just once. Prometheus is a very philosophical movie. The movie depicts a chain creations. Human beings are created by other beings and human being create other beings (the humanoid robots). Each creation seeks answers for the reason for its creation and longs to communicate with the Creator. The humanoid which lives among humans seeks answers, but nobody cares about him much at all. The protagonist of the story is a researcher who is seeking the race that created humans. She finally finds the Creator race, and at the moment when she thinks she is at the cusp of discovering the answer to why humans were created, to her utter horror the Creator destroys all the humans alongside her. Deep within she was hoping that the reason behind creation was 'love'. She is devastated that the reason for creation wasn't love. In fact, looking back, the humanoid seeks answers for the same question, but humans do no bother to make the humanoid feel love. So what you have here is a series of 'creations' seeking love of their Creators, but they get none.
What made Prometheus most interesting to me is that at the very beginning of the movie when the researcher is a kid her father gives her a crucifix and tells her that she is love by God. The movie at a very deep level brings out the desire that human beings have to be loved 'eternally' by the Creator, for if there is no eternal love then life becomes meaningless.