redmarsmom

As a child, I was a huge fan of the original Planet of the Apes movies. They are EXACTLY what science fiction was meant to be. The original "Planet of the Apes" is a perfect 10 in my book. If memory serves, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was a little lame, but as a set, the original movies were amazing. I was lost pondering the way out of their looping-cause-and-effect world. These movies got us all thinking about animal rights, religion versus science, nuclear war and the fact that we COULD accidentally destroy the planet. The remake of "Planet of the Apes" was a disappointment, so I went to see the new "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" with low expectations and WAS COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY! This movie is a re-imagining of the original story, not a remake, so it is very fresh, incorporating current science and highlighting a new and different potential apocalypse for humanity to worry about. It is a completely new story that totally understands and and honors the first. The "echos" from the original were so perfect they caused the audience to gasp in unison--and yes, I probably cried. What may be less obvious to movie goers was that the writers also honored and lifted themes and scenes directly from real-life cases of Apes who lived with Humans for a time (as pets or for science). I am referring to the cases of Nim Chimpsky and of Lucy (two chimps raised in homes to see if they would learn language). Both made great strides in language learning, had strong friendship with their caretakers, eventually became too hard to control, and well . . . it didn't end well for either of these chimps. There is a movie called "Nim Chimpsky" and an NPR story on "Lucy." Check those out after you see this movie. So, I will leave it to other reviewers to tell you how great the action and cinematography was. I was too lost in the heart-rending story: Yes, you will be totally cheering for the Apes when they break out to wreak havoc on San Francisco!

Young Bao, is a must-see for fans of Carabao. However, it is overly reverent of its subject and so pales in comparison to the (maybe) sillier 1985 เสียงเพลงแห่งเสรีภาพ "Siang Playng Heng Seyreepaap," (Music of Freedom), the first movie about the band's origins, where the band members played themselves. Both stories appear to be almost completely fictional and only agree on a few key points: Aed was constantly off in a corner writing new songs for the band with a clear sense of purpose; there was apparently an incident where the band was fired from their gig because Aed wouldn't dress up; and he also was a heavy smoker. The new movie is interesting in showing us the political context: The Thammasat University massacre that caused many students activities to flee to the jungle to join the communists. It also caused Aed's father to send him to the Philippines for study to keep him out of trouble. The actor who plays Aed in Young Bao, plays him constantly serious and gloomy, in complete contrast to the 1985 movie where Aed played himself. In that movie, Aed was utterly charming, upbeat, and always launching into a pep talk about how things weren't so bad and they would make it if they kept trying. The old movie also had some long musical sections that were completely magical. For this new movie, the producers went to a lot of trouble to recruit young actors who are actual musicians. So why not let them play??!! The absence of any new live music was my biggest frustration with the new movie. I don't believe the Young Bao theme song, which is kind of interesting, was even written by anyone in the band Carabao. I think someone else wrote it for this movie.