# 184 Children of Men (2006)

The Oscar race is almost over and I'm happy to announce that I've seen almost all of the major nominees (except for The King's Speech which I'm going to see in a couple of hours), which includes the contenders in the Best Motion Picture, Best Performances, Best Writing and Best Animated Feature Film categories. However I noticed having lost some of my followers, which is natural since I haven't had enough time for my reviews, but for those of you who have stayed around, I'll try to get back on track with blogging.

Children of Men is a sci-fi drama, set in the United Kingdom of 2027. It's about the world in which global infertility leads to societal failure, and people can no longer hope for a better future. Accidentally, the main character, Theo, finds out that there is a pregnant woman who happens to be a refugee, and he must find safe transit for her in order to save her and her baby.

First of all, I have to say that infertility as an idea for apocalypse is very interesting. While a lot of movies show the human race trying to avoid extinction by fighting natural disasters, Children of Men shows us what would happen if people didn't have to fight for their own lives, but at the same time had to face the fact that after their death, there will be no more mankind. I have to admit that the idea of leaving this world without leaving some kind of mark in it is pretty terrifying.

Another interesting issue this film brings up is illegal immigration. I loved how The Children of Men deals with it because it doesn't try to glorify the immigrants, but at the same time we see that to "mother nature" it doesn't matter what color of skin we have, which step of the social ladder we're on, and how well-educated we are. So to me the main idea behind this is that all humans should be treated as humans, even if for some reason you find their presence disturbing. This is a very deep movie, and, at times, very thrilling.

Interesting fact: When Theo is walking down the ramp on Battersea Power Station, a stenciled image of two policemen kissing can be seen on a wall. The image was created by "Banksy", a British "guerilla artist" who specializes in that kind of work. Other Banksy works appear in the film, including a stenciled image of a child looking down a shop.
Favorite quote: "Whiffet! I'm a virgin. Nah! Be great, though, wouldn't it? Fuck knows. I don't know half the wankers' names".

# 183 The Wild Bunch (1969)

The Wild Bunch is about a group of aging outlaws who can no longer keep up with the changing modern world. The whole film we see one group of tough guys following another group of tough guys, and half of the time I couldn't even tell which group was on the screen at the moment.

I hate reviewing westerns because everyone else but me seems to like them. This one is not an exception. There were a couple of good things about it, one of them being Bo Hopkins' acting who played Crazy Lee. I also liked how it was revealed that Crazy Lee was Sykes' grandson. Another thing I would like to mention is that we get to see the gang members' memories a lot, so I guess we could say that the non-linear narration is used in this film, however, sometimes it was confusing.

Other than that I saw a lot of bloody violence and men striving to survive by any means. I don't even think that the idea of changes and people not being able to fit in in the new world was delivered that well. The question is, if I weren't so biased towards the genre, would I be able to appreciate it more? Probably not. Definitely not my type of movie.

The February is here, which means were getting closer to the Academy Awards. We're trying to see all of the films that have been nominated, but most of them haven't even come out here yet. Five out of ten nominees in "The Best Motion Picture" category come out in theaters in the second half of the month, and there are many more movies in other categories that we haven't seen yet. So February is going to be very busy, but I'll try to find some time for at least two more reviews this month.

Interesting fact: There were not enough uniforms for all of the stunt people and extras in the gun battle. If someone was filmed getting shot, the costume people would repair a uniform by washing off the fake blood, taping and painting over the bullet holes, drying the paint and sending either the same or a different performer out to get shot again.

Favorite quote: "What I like, and what I need, are two different things".