Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Atonement, Talking Chipmunks, and The Seeker

Based on Ian McEwan's novel, Atonement is a wonderful movie with beautiful sceneries. 13 year-old writer Briony Tallis (played brilliantly by Saoirse Ronan, in my opinion), mistakenly interpreted things happened between her older sister Cecilia and their neighbour Robbie Turner she had seen and later sent him to jail for something he didn't do. As time went by, Briony's mind began to open but she could not undo things she had done and spent the rest of her life to atone. The movie follows the book closely, but watching what Briony saw and after that the thing really happened can be confusing. Also the Dunkirk scene, when the soldiers sing on the beach, I wonder if this really happened because I read they were without food and water for days and many had to walk many miles before reaching the beach. The book itself is not easy to read because of the long sentences, so thanks to this movie adaptation. The ending is very moving and Vanessa Redgrave who plays the older Briony, did it very well.


Alvin and The Chipmunks is an entertaining movie, about a desperate song writer, Dave Seville, and three chipmunks who turn out to be able to sing and dance and help him in his career. The story developes to how the greedy manager tries to make the chipmunks trio into a money making machine. I like better how Alvin, Simon, and Theodore look like in the 70's than in this computer generated cartoon. Ross Bagdasarian Sr. had wonderful voice and I miss his Dave Seville. It was strange to hear songs like The Witch Doctor and Christmas Don't Be Late I heard so often in my childhood, and this movie, set in present time, shows Seville writes 'new' songs for the chipmunks.


The Seeker: The Dark is Rising is another entertaining movie. Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig), the seventh son of the seventh son, destined to be The Seeker. The Dark, in this movie is represented by The Rider (Christopher Eccleston), is going to have his full strength 5 days after Christmas, and to defeat him, Will must seek and collect 6 signs scattered in place and time. I haven't read the book and I cannot understand why people say this is a poor adaptation, but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Amelia Warner, who plays Maggie, is very beautiful and doesn't look a day older than when I saw her in Lorna Doone (2000).

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