ericsavage's reviews

My parents told me a stork's tale when I was young that they went to see a movie called Eric at the cinema, and that's where I got my name. It was only when I found the movie on IMDb that I finally believed them. Incredibly, the main actor is John Savage, and my full name is Eric John Savage, with the first-born being named John as a long-term custom in the Savage family since medieval times.

I found the movie on YouTube and was keen to watch it, but my parents didn't seem so keen, and having finally watched to the end this Christmas Day, I can see why they were hesitant. Still, it's a good reminder of the bond between family, and I too I am the eldest of 3 and love playing soccer, guitar and singing. Now I need to read the book.

During the opening scene of falling down from a space station, the visuals were so impressive that I thought we were in for an amazing ride, but sadly that didn't materialize.

I recently watched 2001 Space Odyssey for the first time, and it was so slow that I had to fast forward some sections. I feel like you'll enjoy Ad Astra if you liked the Space Odyssey - it's not as slow, but the stillness and pacing are kind of similar. In fact, many of the space themes have been explored before, although Ad Astra adds some ideas of its own, and that alone makes it worth a casual watch.

If anything, the best thing I took from the film was the awesome sense of loneliness out in space. I guess it's both a compliment and a criticism that a movie could make you feel so empty?

First up, remember this is an art film and it suspends a lot of reality to explore ideas in a way you can't normally. The moment you see a family of kids scaling a rock face together in the rain, you either laugh and get on with it, or you become quite irritated, and for the latter, the movie might not work.

What I loved was how I found myself both supporting and criticising the father's reasoning and intentions the whole way - managing that kind of love-hate with the audience is film mastery.

Ignoring the political commentary, this is a story of family and parenting, and in a world lost in individualism, there's something very appealing about rediscovering that social connection again, and this story is a taste of something we could have again.

As with all rating systems, it seems a large number of users will either give a reasonable rating, or a straight-up 1, which obviously is dishonest, but what's very reflective of this particular title is that the 1's seem to fall on both sides of the opinion scale, which is a real credit to the film makers.

As a pro-war person, I was really put off by the teary-eyed drone operators and got annoyed while the cameras lurked around a single girl and forgot all about the primary mission, but that is about as much fault as I can find. Halfway in, at that moment you suddenly remember you're in a chair watching a movie, I thought: the pacing is really fantastic. It was so tense I had to take a break, which you can do when you're watching on your own television.

In handling such a fragile topic, it would be incredibly difficult to cover every angle and not leave a loop hole somewhere, but I found myself listening intellectually to the movie in a way that I really do. Given my loathing for the ignorance of the liberal left, it was with some credit that I had to acknowledge some of the arguments made. As such, this is a great movie to watch with intellectual friends.

There's so much you can do with sci-fi and humour, and both Guardians of the Galaxy movies are pathfinders in this genre. MIBI has its funny moments, but you walk away unfulfilled.

I thought Tessa Thompson might bring a nice quirky offering to the mix, but instead she took the mean feminist role - the know-it-all who was suddenly able to fix space-age bikes within a day of joining the team ... come on!. Again, a missed opportunity. There was a real chance to do what Spiderman did with Toby Maguire and give the audience a much more in-depth exploration into the first-timer's discovery of this wonderful universe and the skills required to be a man in black.

After the movie I watched the trailer again and it doesn't lie - the movie really is that bland - perhaps they could have brought some comedians in to spice up the script?

If you treat the movie as a cultural trip, there's a lot to enjoy: many panoramas of Durban's best sights, suburban familiarities, cultural insights, etc. The cinematography is very decent for a South African film and the acting is generally decent.

If you're viewing the film as a foreigner, you'll get some insight into a quirky subculture of South Africa that is less talked about overseas. Although the strong Hindu view of the movie doesn't nearly represent all Durban Indians, the humour and conversation is about right.