'Edge of Tomorrow'; 'The Fault in our Stars'

As shown in the June 11, 2014 edition of the 'Monroe County Reporter':

This science-fiction film reminded me of a cross between “Groundhog Day” (1993), “Inception” (2010) and “Starship Troopers” (1997).  Set in the near-distant future, an asteroid has crashed onto Earth and a spider-like alien life-form has begun inhabiting the soil of the crash site in western Europe, seeking dominion over the human race.   An international task-force has assembled in England to engage a major offensive on the beaches of France as a last-chance stand.  What happens next is history, well almost.  This is not a spoiler alert: the alien species, called Mimics, end up obliterating the humans that day on the beach, except for the fact one of its alpha creatures spills its alien blood on a dead Tom Cruise, whose character is Major William Cage.  This blood transfer has now granted Cage the ability to live the same day over and over again every time he dies.  The movie feels like watching someone play a video game and they have an unlimited amount of lives to figure out how to beat a seemingly impossible level.  And to be honest, it is fun to watch.  The character development and the story itself unfolds the more we see Cage repeat each day.  During this single day, Cage lives, dies and repeats countless times and gets to know a character named Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), who in a previous battle with the Mimics also experienced Cage’s gift and curse.  I hope the Casting Director realized this, but Time itself comes to the forefront as the major character in this film.  Unfortunately Time only works well with Cruise and Blunt’s characters.  The audience meets other characters in this story but it’s as if they are not affected by the new created pathways of Major Cage and thus are not capable of new actions themselves. The cleverness of this adapted story is its invitation to be grateful for the real-life warriors whom have spilt human blood for our sake.  Not only was this film released on the anniversary of D-Day and visually and thematically alludes to its horror, but one scene depicts a group of old war veterans naming cowardice where they see it.  Being courageous and living in the present moment go hand-in-hand.

Shakespeare was wrong.  At least that’s the suggested claim in the title of film adapted from Josh Green’s 2012 fiction novel.  The title references Act 1 Scene 2 of “Julius Caesar” where Cassius says to Brutus: The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars But in ourselves, that we are underlings. The movie, set in present day Indiana, is about two teenagers, one dying of cancer and the other in remission, who meet at a support group, fall in love and wrestle with the beauty and cruelty of their affliction. Seventeen-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster, whose thyroid cancer has spread to her lungs, is convincingly portrayed by twenty-two-year-old actress Shailene Woodley.  She meets eighteen-year-old Augustus Waters, a basketball star whose osteosarcoma led to the amputation of one of his legs.  Augustus is played by twenty-year-old Ansel Elgort.  A wide variety of emotions are on display in this film, where the target audience is built-up only to be overwhelmed by the inevitable fate these two have together.  It is evident the delight and pleasure Hazel and Augustus share with one another inspires courage to its audience on how to live in the present moment.  Hazel as narrator of the film forewarns her audience this story is not sugarcoated because of the prescribed ending. What unfolds is a deeply touching tale of the necessity to meet pain with kindness and not violence.  The narrator helps us see examples of a world where there is a great disconnect between body and soul, where disillusionment reigns and narcissists reject  the power to truly bless. The intelligently paced movie highlights the beauty of our mortal humanity, that we are not mere faulty underlings and how an immortal and abundant life can be courageously discovered in the here and now.

'Godzilla'

As shown in the June 4, 2014 edition of the 'Monroe County Reporter':

Does Plant Vogtle in Burke County, Georgia have a contingency plan if a Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Object (MUTO) attacks?  In the latest adaption of Ishiro Honda's 1954 "Godzilla", the 'King of the Monsters' is not the only creature who is innately connected to substantial quantities of nuclear power.  There are other creatures wreaking havoc.

The film begins in the year 1999 and a giant skeleton is unearthed during a mining operation in the Philippines.  Scientists working on the classified Monarch Project arrive at the site, headed by Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe).  In this massive skeleton, they discover two egg-shaped pods.  One has recently hatched and a light at the end of a tunnel reveals an exit trail.

The very next setting is Tokyo, Japan where the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant is monitoring unusual seismic activity in the region.  On the morning of his birthday, American plant engineer Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) and his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) run out the door and say good-bye to their son Ford as they head to the plant for work, uncelebrated.  On his way to the plant, Joe expresses caution to his wife.  Joe states he has recommended to his peers they shut down the reactors to avoid a catastrophic meltdown.  However, before this is done, a team led by his wife is assigned to inspect the core for damage.  The film's audience have come to theater to watch a Godzilla movie, and they know during this sequence of events this is no natural earthquake.

The Godzilla folklore has been a story of man versus nature in the context of nuclear energy.  The latest adaptation depicts the collision of two nuclear families, one monster and the other human.  We learn as the film's story develops that Godzilla is hunting a male and female MUTA who both feed from and mate utilizing nuclear power.  After the film's opening sequence, Brody's son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is met in the present as a military explosive ordinance disposal officer, and has a wife (Elizabeth Olsen) and son of his own whom he leaves frequently while on duty.  The nucleus of their family and thus the movie is drawn by Ford's own longing to not abandon his loved ones.

Just as the 1954 "Godzilla" served an emotional metaphor for the nuclear terror felt in the aftermath of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Lucky Dragon 5 catastrophes, I can only imagine so too can this recent adaption lead its audience to places of similar reaction.  "Godzilla" reminds us that ultimately humans may strive to be God-like but are never God.  The film also invites us to feel the terror of abandonment, when nature overcomes and God does not intervene.  Las Vegas' destruction in the film is an allusion to human greed.  I wonder what it must've been like for those who endured real disasters, especially the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.  When the Golden Gate Bridge is the scene of monster destruction one can only remember the horrific scenes from the 1989 earthquake.  The first responders in the monsters' destructive wake lets us keep in mind the heroes of 9-11.  Seeing the wounded and homeless find shelter at Candlestick Park bears resemblance to the Superdome following Katrina.  The Hawaiian beach party interrupted by a Godzilla tsunami provides terrifying visual thought of what it might have been like along the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004.  How ready can we be?