Last Week in Movies (29 Jan-4Feb)

The Awakening (2011)

This is a BBC movies kind of horror/thriller story. Your usual “haunted boarding school in the 1920s” kind of thing. It had some nice twists, and some good actors, but I felt it didn’t completely deliver what it set out to do.

A woman “ghost buster” sets out to find out what is going on in a boarding school for boys in Northern England. What she believes to be tricks turns out to be more real than she could have imagined.

Gran Torino (2008)

“Retired auto worker and Korean War vet Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) fills emptiness in his life with beer and home repair, despising the many Asian, Latino and black families in his neighborhood. Walt becomes a reluctant hero when he stands up to the gangbangers who tried to force an Asian teen to steal Walt’s treasured car. An unlikely friendship develops between Walt and the teen, as he learns he has more in common with his neighbors than he thought.” – Google, through IMDB

This movie had heart, and a fantastic intensity and morality. The racist old man whose family is not particularly great, is now lonely after the death of his wife. Circumstances push him into caring for his Asian neighbours and learn about their culture.

I really liked this movie and the character development of Clint Eastwood’s character. It also highlight the problems of gun violence and gangs in America, if I might add. And the importance of caring for your neighbours.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

It might be surprising but I completely missed this part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It has been on my Watch list for a long time, so I am happy to finally get around to it! Particularly as they will team up with the Avengers soon.

“Brash space adventurer Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) finds himself the quarry of relentless bounty hunters after he steals an orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain. To evade Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with four disparate misfits: gun-toting Rocket Raccoon, treelike-humanoid Groot, enigmatic Gamora, and vengeance-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when he discovers the orb’s true power and the cosmic threat it poses, Quill must rally his ragtag group to save the universe.”  (X)