I Prefer Captain Jack Sparrow...

Modern-day pirates are a whole other animal in comparison to Disney's jovial, somewhat clumsy, lady chasing miscreants represented in the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride at Disneyland. A desire to pursue a life of adventure and treasure motivated these whimsical pirates of old. Not so in the case of the Somalian pirates that took Captain Richard Phillips hostage. In response to his character's insisting that there must be other options for his captors to make money other than piracy and kidnapping, one of them flashes him a piercing stare and says simply "maybe in America." This jarring reality highlights the atrocious human rights situations in countries all over the world leading so many to tread down the desperate path of crime with the hopes of appeasing murderous "bosses" back home. These pirates aren't singing songs of "really bad eggs" and "yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me." For them, a pirate's life is nothing to get lyrical about.

These guys mean business...

This guy's in it for the fun

After hearing varying stories quoting the real life crew of the attacked ship as saying Hank's portrayal of Captain Phillips as a hero was entirely inaccurate, I took his actions in the film with a grain of salt. According to the crew members who have come forth with their version of the true events that transpired, Phillips was a surly and over-confident captain. Whereas in the film he acted heroically in attempting to sacrifice his life so the pirates wouldn't shoot a crew member, this allegedly never occurred. Official reports stated that Phillips received and consequently ignored warning upon warning of pirate activity in his ship's area. Read more about the controversy here. Maybe this is heresy. Maybe Phillips really was a valiant survivor able to stay calm in dire scenarios. Whatever. I was not there. Flaws in accuracy aside, Captain Phillips presents a harrowing and captivating tale of survival at sea. 

Though the ending felt prolonged, there was no shortage of nail-biting tension coupled with scenes of non-stop action and thrill. It's funny how brutal we are to our own bodies while watching movies like this- we dig our nails into our palms, clench our jaws, pull on our hair... oh the joyous physical reactions to anxiety. This anxiety never seems to cease as we follow the true events of Captain Richard Phillips and his crew as their ship, the Maersk Alabama, is attacked by Somali pirates in 2009. Once again, how much of it is true I don't know, and I'm not too sure it matters. In the film, the pirates overtake their ship and eventually kidnap its captain, played of course by Tom Hanks, for ransom.

The authenticity of the use of Somali natives (some of whom, I heard, had no prior acting experience and came from Minnesota where there is a thriving Somali population) speaking their native tongue proved a winning choice by director Tom Greengrass (haha, what a fantastic last name! The grass is always greener...). The Somalian actors truly did a phenomenal job. They forced audiences to pity them for the sheer desperation leading them down such a horrendous path in life while simultaneously feeling  dread stemming from their cold-blooded, heartless actions. They could have easily lost all humanity while playing these roles, yet kept it, though often at bay, in their expressions. 

Honestly, I don't feel that Captain Phillips possessed the "wow" factor earning it the Best Picture Oscar. When I saw Argo, I knew it should win. When I saw Little Miss Sunshine and The King's Speech, the choices were blatantly obvious- there could be no other films crowned the winners of their prospective years. So far out of the 2013 nominees, I have seen Captain Phillips, Her, Gravity, American Hustle, The Wolf of Wall Street and Nebraska. I am still waiting for the obvious nominee to come out of the woodwork. 

A Plot that Requires an Atlas to Follow

Fittingly enough, Cloud Atlas needs just that. Or a highly accurate map or cinematic GPS system. Let's face it- weaving in and out of story lines spanning multiple centuries, you're bound to get a little lost.

I'm not sure if the actor-recycling for various roles is helpful or simply another confusing element. If the actors' various roles paralleled each other in some way it would be easier to understand. I had to read audience interpretations of this aspect of Cloud Atlas to attempt to wrap my mind around it. Some characters had star-shaped birthmarks, but the characters seemingly had no correlation to one another. Hugo Weaving portrayed a villain in each story, but why is that significant? And Tom Hanks' plethora of personas did not seem terribly significant either. The interpretation I read said that as time progressed, his character became a better and better person. That seems logical enough, but not overtly obvious during the film. Perhaps reading the book would shed some light onto all of this. But on the big screen, it just adds more for your brain to struggle to comprehend. The good part of the actor-recycling is they got to showcase their talent to shine in varying roles.

The trailer raved that it is visually astounding. This observation, though true to a degree, simply stems from the use of computers to make for complex scenery and makeup to make Tom Hanks have a bigger nose in the 1800s or give Halle Berry a weird skin growth which I guess implies she is from the future.

Now that I delivered the bad news, time for the good. Since there is such an entanglement of stories, there is undoubtably something that everyone can enjoy. I felt like I was watching five movies at once- a comedy, a thriller, a sic-fi adventure, a period piece, multiple love stories and more. I laughed out loud, cringed at the unexpected gory scenes and terrified by the portrayal of the future. For these reasons, Cloud Atlas is worth seeing, but perhaps it is better to read the book first for comprehension's sake.