Some movie updates

It's been a while, and thus there are a few movies to report on, but I won't be too long winded. I'll focus mainly on my most recent viewing: Blood Diamond.

Blood Diamond was on my list of end of the year movies that I had been looking forward to, and while not a waste of time it certainly had the fingerprints of Hollywood smudging the camera lens. The movie is about the diamond industry in Africa, more specifically the black market diamond industry that's run by warlords to finance their operations, and the way all of this had been exploited for a time by big time jewelers. These are the very same types of warlords who kidnap children and force them to become child soldiers, something that could be a very strong moral subject to base a movie around, but was somewhat put to waste here.

The squandered potential of this film is just that, a great moral message dealing with a topic that's not often brought to the forefront which is used as a backdrop for this story rather than being a focal point. Hotel Rwanda, or even Catch a Fire this is not. One of the film's three main characters, Solomon (Djimon Hounsou) is the one who finds the so called blood diamond and also has a son who is abducted and turned into one of the "freedom fighters." This was the chance to really be an eye opening film, but instead wound up being a C storyline behind A)This is an action movie and B)Look! Leo and Jennifer are gonna fall in love! Solomon also becomes less and less interesting throughout the film as it seems his character loses all rational thought and assumes the best way to get to his son is a straight line.

That covers the bad. Despite the criticism, it wasn't all bollocks. DiCaprio and Hounsou both turned in fine performances; DiCaprio with a good handle on an accent I thought he'd flub, and Hounsou despite what I consider to be weak writing for his character. And even though they didn't fully capitalize on the issue which I think could have made this an important film, it was still present, and anytime something is put into a feature film in the US it certainly helps to raise awareness among a generally sheltered audience.

Four buried diamonds out of seven.
--------------

Quick bits:

-Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny Playful, fun, and with good music. I had been afraid it would rehash old Tenacious D material, but it was fresh and with just enough mention of old things to give the *nudge nudge wink wink* to longtime fans.

-THX 1138 One of those movies that I always felt I was supposed to have seen. Interesting story, but done at a pace that diminishes interest. I think this shows George Lucas' ability to come up with good story and his inability to fully realize the potential of his own ideas when it comes time to write the script.