The storyline follows two main characters, one from Zimbabwe and one from a Mende tribe.  These two men, while both African come from completely different backgrounds and lifestyles.  Their paths cross and they’re thrown into an adventure with a common goal but quite a different end result.

Blood Diamond is certainly true to its name and is centered around blood diamonds or conflict diamonds.  Even with the effort put forth and the agreement signed by many countries around the world there are still blood diamonds on the market.  I found it interesting at the end of the movie when they stated it’s up to the consumer to ensure they are purchasing non blood diamonds.  That’s no easy task when it’s easy to advertise diamonds as being conflict free but much harder if not impossible to actually prove it.

While the movie Blood Diamond is quite violent and horrific at times such is the reality in much of Africa.  The movie truly displays how greed and wealth can easily consume those who succumb to its call, committing atrocious acts along the way stopping at nothing to get what they want.  There are those who never change and those who when given the chance and driven into drastic situations find that little bit of good left in them.

Blood Diamond also shows that when a few good people willing to make a difference, take a stand it does matter.  Change can happen but it takes commitment and sacrifice.  And while there are so many people and countries in this world making great sacrifices everyday there is very little news coverage.  People in America seem to be more interested on watching the inane ongoings of Anna Nicole’s estate for hours on end on CNN. 

Let’s face it North America lives in a bubble, harsh realities outside of that bubble are of little consequence to most.  Reality get’s little coverage in our little bubble and as long as that stays the same then so will much of the rest of the World that could use our help.  Blood diamonds will continue to be sold to the unwary, people will keep dying, children will continue to be soldiers and life goes on.

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The plot is very interesting with a crime being committed on the border of Quebec and Ontario, and I do mean on the border!  Due to the location of the crime both sides must come together to sort the whole thing out.  Two cops who meet at the crime scene are finally partnered up beyond their will to work with one another.  We have Martin Ward from Ontario and David Bouchard from Quebec.  The hilarity brought forth in the film is mostly due to the dynamics between the two cops who are incredibly different from one another.  One is callous and a bit rough around the edges in a rogue sort of way.  The other cop is more of the intellectual, by the book type.

There is a whole lot of cursing and swearing in this movie with a healthy dose of violence and one sex scene so I wouldn’t recommend for children.   Bon Cop Bad Cop is also centered around our National sport, hockey, but not so much so that if you weren’t Canadian you’d feel totally lost.  The sometimes friendly, sometimes not so friendly animosity between the French and English portrayed in the movie is a very realistic depiction of everyday life.  Living on the border myself in Ottawa I can relate to a lot of what was said in the movie and the attitudes people have.

There’s one character in Bon Cop Bad Cop who plays the medical examiner/forensic analyst type who was a riot.  He spoke so fast and just seemed hyper all the time.  It was hard to tell if he was even speaking French because I couldn’t make out one word of what he was saying.  I’d think it’d be more relevant to say he was speaking Quebecois and not French.   Over all the movie was well done and I would rate Bon Cop Bad Cop 8 out of 10 for a Canadian film.  If anyone else has seen the movie I’d be interested in hearing what you thought of it!

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And so they say Hollywood has declared war on Iranians all because Persians are slaughtered in the film and depicted as decadent and evil in comparison to those warrior Spartans. It’s a funny thing because I don’t recall seeing any claims either at the beginning or end of the movie 300 as being based on true history or otherwise claiming to be historically accurate. In addition Iran is also calling the film 300′psychological warfare’ against Iran and it’s people. Wow, it’s a good thing that no one needs to get a grip on reality here.

First of all let’s explore the term ‘Persian’. I’ll begin by asking the question: Does the term Persian relate solely to Iran or Iranians historically speaking? The answer is NO, the term ‘Persian’ would define all those who fell within the region of the Persian Empire. That Persian empire was located in west and southwest Asia and extended from Egypt and the Aegean to India. It is true that Iran was the core of the empire but that’s about the equivalent of Newfoundland saying war is being waged on them because Canadians were being labelled as a bunch of uneducated fishermen.

It was also stated in one of Iran’s newspapers that “The film depicts Iranians as demons, without culture, feeling or humanity, who think of nothing except attacking other nations and killing people.” Notice how easily they slide from the term Persian to Iranian??? Does someone have an insecurity complex maybe? The whole thing is quite silly. If anyone were to watch the movie 300 and after watching the movie come to a sudden and violent conclusion on their own that Iran and it’s people are awful and evil, then there’s nothing wrong with the movie but the people watching it. In all the previews prior to watching the movie and even afterwards did Iran ever cross my mind, nor should it have. The movie 300 isn’t a historical documentation and isn’t about Spartans fighting ‘Iran’.

Since censorship in Iran is locked down tighter than the US border the film is probably not ever going to be released there although rumours have it, it’s already circulating on bootleg DVDs. At any rate there’s nothing that some proxy chaining and Utorrent can’t handle. Iran also comes down really hard on bloggers and I’ve blogged about that before!

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We went to the IMAX at Silver City which was our first time viewing there.  I’ve been to IMAX theaters before but those were always in museums and the films documentaries.   It was a great experience, the screen being six stories high and the sound was unparalleled.   IMAX is Canadian by the way, just thought I’d throw that little tidbit in.  One of the great things about going to an IMAX theater to watch 300 was the lack of retarded crap they show before the movie.  All of the senseless trivia and ads that are annoying and force fed to the audience prior to the film.  Thankfully it’s all far too expensive to create that nonsense on the special reels that IMAX requires.

Watching 300 Spartans kicking ass on that massive screen was nothing short of awesome.  It’s exactly the type of movie you’d want to watch in theaters.  Being a restricted film it was very violent and gory, but a certain honesty lies therein depicting the savagery that life once was.  War in those days was much more honest than modern warfare and brutally so.

Stories of ancient Greece are always fascinating and these 300 Spartans partook of the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC.  These were the finest of King Leonidas men, fearless and war ready they held back countless numbers of Xerxes army.  I don’t want to say too much in case you haven’t watched the movie yet, but it was really well done.  King Leonidas was depicted as having quite the sense of humour and a man of his word!  Even the 300 Spartans had quite a sense of humour in the face of death.  I suppose when you fear nothing your perspective is quite different!

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Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001) is a book written by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser that examines the local and global influence of the United States fast food industry.

Fast Food Nation is an amazing read and a great book delving into the disgusting and somewhat horrid intricacies of the American fast food industry. It’s a book I read years ago and still have a copy of. There’s no skimping in the story-line, Eric goes right back to where it all began and takes you right through to the current day scenario (2001). Regardless of the fact that no-one should be eating fast food anyhow reading this book will only further solidify that fact.

I suppose people just continue to eat fast food either out of sheer ignorance or laziness. Meals are not centered around family or quality time. Instead it’s everyone for themselves, eating must be done quickly because the rat race must go on at your own expense. I could go on about this topic forever but I’ll try and keep it simple.

Last month they came out with a fictionalized thriller inspired by Eric Schlosser’s bestselling nonfiction expose of junk food companies. I haven’t seen the film yet but will be soon! In regards to the book I think it should become standard reading material in schools across the US.

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The movie was pretty good although not quite as gripping as the book. Nothing beats one’s own imagination! The plot is based on a rare strain of the Ebola virus which is being used by terrorists as a bio-weapon against the United States. The story continues with covert agents trying to figure out how it all got started and why. As you find out later in the story the strain was actually created in the United States for use against it’s own people in the pursuit of Capitalism to reap the rewards of creating and selling a vaccine. I’d say the movie is decent but the book’s still better!

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I went to go see Superman returns last night, great movie. It was action packed and had a good plot, very good continuation of the story! It was also a good night for going to the show as there was hardly anyone there, such a difference from the weekends when I normally go watch movies.

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Normally when you go to the cinemas to watch a film you are constantly bombarded with film ads and mundane movie trivia (which doesn’t change for months at a time) right up until the movie begins. On top of that they usually play a couple more film ads before showing trailers for the up and coming movies. Last night was the first time in years that I was able to sit peacefully before the movie and not be forcefed the usual nonsense. It was a pleasant surprise, I’m not sure if I owe that surprise to a change in policy or if it was just sheer luck. I suppose I’ll know the next time I go watch a film.

About the movie:

Ultraviolet begins with ‘Violet’ doing a narrative about a gov’t experiment to genetically enhance soldiers. This experiment however goes awry and it ends up becoming a lethal plague. With a good number of the population infected, the disease makes them faster, stronger and increases their stamina. There are also hints of self regenerative capabilities. On the downside, those infected have a short period of time to live, a decade or so. The government seperates the diseased (hemophages or vampires) from the rest of society, while the normal humans live in fear.

It becomes known that the government has created an antidote for the hemophage disease, in fact the antidote is intended to kill them all off. Violet is obviously a hemophage, a champion of hemophages who is working with or for some underground group fighting back against the “man”. Violets mission is to get the antidote and destroy it, but finds she can’t destroy the antidote as it turns out to be a nine year old boy named ‘six’. Just to point out that there is much violence and killing while she is getting the antidote, what else could possibly happen in this movie?

This movie has plenty of stylized action and tons of violence. The bad guys, wiped out by the dozens are faceless enemies all done up in their troop gear. It’s similiar to watching a movie that’s based on a video game. The special effects are well done and some of the technology used in the movie like “flat space” technology, holograms and disposible cell phones are interesting.

This movie overall really did nothing at all for me. Except for some of the special effects and a couple cool moves it was probably the popcorn I enjoyed the most!

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