Snake Island (2002) Horror Snakes

Snake Island (2002) - Wayne Crawford wrote, directed and starred in this simple horror story about a bunch of tourists and safari workers trapped on an island of deadly snakes. He may not have many credits but is noteworthy for writing the 1983 somewhat popular film Valley Girl. Unfortunately this is not a great film it is more a 'Gag me with a spoon" film. Okay that's a cheap shot sorry. Crawford and co writer Arthur Payne fail to create a story with much of a plot. It is a simple survival story with reptiles as the antagonist, then throw in every variety of snake known to man and suddenly make then more aggressive than most and you have a fight for survival.
  Like I said the story is simple of a safari tour boat is cruising around South Africa looking for animals. They have to stop off at Snake Island to drop off writer  Malcolm Page (William Katt) doing research on snakes for a book and the wildlife resort crew that has recently purchased Snake Island. Headed by Eddie Jones (Russel Savadier) a former finance guy who gave it all up to run a resort on his newly purchased Snake Island. The other safari crew is Capt Jake Malloy (Wayne Crawford) hands Lisa (Dawn Mathews), Ronnie (Nicola Hanekom) and Righteous (Japan Mthembu). They with their tour passengers, newlyweds Carrie (Milan Murray) and Lance (Jason Kennett), and Lawyer on vacation Heather Dorsey (Kate Conner) have the misfortune of having to make the stop that ends up being the end of most of them.

  While Jake is helping Eddie unload gear to the resort, a snake on the boat creates enough rustling and chaos that the gas tank is punctured and the entire group has to spend the night on the island. Through some early scenes of coworkers of Eddie, and POV of snakes stalking them we know the damn things are everywhere. Not only that but they seem to be seeking the humans out.

  There are a bunch of shots to establish characters, Jake hitting on Heather, Ronnie hitting on Malcolm, the newlyweds being, well newlyweds, Lisa getting drunk and dancing topless with Ronnie, Heather stripping down for some swimming pool sex with Jake. Eddie getting blasted and not getting any of the women. Also some nice safari pictures as they take some time to see the island. We learn the island was once a peninsular but a levy break during some flooding turned it into an island. Because of that there is not only a large population of African animals but also an really high count of snakes that had taken to the peninsular's high ground in the rain. This all before the hissing biting fun starts.
  When the group breaks up for the night there are multiple scenes of death and mayhem.Since the bungalows appear to be pretty spread out the snake deaths start but those not involved never know that people are dying. Lisa gets bitten in the show, another gratuitous nudity shot. Heather has a close call, and so it goes. Malcolm doing his research on the island teaches us that for years the snakes have been hunted on the island and so they have evolved over time to seek out and kill humans. Yes evolution makes the snakes killers. Although it is one of the weakest theories and totally not how evolution works, it is the one the writer chose to go with.

  When everyone that is left finally figures this all out, the plan is to split up and try t get to the small boats parked on either side of the island. They are not sure they are there and the snakes who now know the humans are there are on the prowl between them and the boats. I told you this was a simple survival story. This is the whole plot. Someone will make it to the boat you just have to watch to find out who. Okay since William Katt was the Greatest American Hero on TV you can be pretty sure he will be a survivor. But who else?
  In the end there is not enough good action, compelling story or cool twists to get me to recommend this film. The splashes of nudity feel like they were needed to try to sell this to the predominately male horror audience but they are only flashes to tease the teens. The acting is not bad with some very believable performances so that should not stop you from seeing this film. Be warned though if you don't heed my skip it recommendation that you will probably be a bit disappointed. So make up your own mind, hell if you are trying to see every snake movie ever made this won't be the worst you can do, it just won't be the best.
Rating (4.0) 5.0 and up are recommended, some more recommended than others.

Invictus (2009) - Drama

Invictus (2009) - The story of how Nelson Mandela embraced the South African Rugby team in their quest for the 1995 World Cup Championship. Clint Eastwood directed this story of how this great leader took the mostly white supported S.A. Springboks team, and made them a national focal point in South African reconciliation. Morgan Freeman plays Mandela as a wise patriarch teaching the youngsters around him in the art of forgiveness. Matt Damon is Francois Pienaar the captain of the team who is called on by Mandela to lead the underdog team through the competition. Damon's role seemed not particularly important in the movie, I mean I see how we are suppose to see his change of opinion of Mandela, but there is so little interaction between the two that it was hard to see this internal change take place. I think there could have been more overt racism on the team and it would have helped this task, instead we have complaining about doing rugby clinics and resistance to learning the new national anthem and that is it. In fact even the most racist character, Peinaar's father really pulled it insulting punches. It was like the movie was very conscious not to be a movie about racism.

Writer Anthony Peckham gives us a standard sports story of the Springboks fighting through and winning the 1995 Rugby World cup, but the slim screenplay whether cut later or designed this way barely focuses on the journey of the team but more on the strategy of Mandela. The team's story is the secondary story and is regulated to some fine slow motion rugby play and of course the big win against the heavily favored New Zealand team. I understand this decision and truly appreciate Mandela as a leader. As it was so well pointed out in expository dialog, the idea was not to take away the white minorities team but to embrace them as a majority. Mandela saw supporting the minority as vitally important in holding the country together in the post Apartheid world.

What I liked about this movie is the focus on Mandela, the man is a great leader in our time and the movie shows this. Through this story we see his greatness, how he is thinking in a different way than many people in his country and it really carries a wisdom, earned through 27 years as a political prisoner. The Rugby scenes were well done and you get a sense at what the game is about.

On the other side I was put off at times by the sappy music. It was a bit much. There was to be a parallel story between the teams journey and Mandela's agenda but I think it ended up being more about the man and less about the team. There were several places where I wondered whether things were cut. Mandela gives Pienaar the poem Invictus and tells him about how it helped him in his years in prison, then Pienaar talks about how on the bus to the games the guys are in their heads and then they play a song or something to get ready for the coming battle. It felt like they were leading us to a reading of the poem before the big game but nothing ever materialized. There were some scenes that touched upon Mandela's family conflict but they were just brushes with his family through his relationship with his daughter. His estranged wife was mentioned but not included and there was no follow through on the theme. I am not sure there are any Oscars in this film, but it has good entertainment value.

Overall the movie was entertaining and pleasing to watch. Spoiler South Africa did win the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and Mandela did indeed embrace the team. The story told here is decent if not fully realized. Go see for yourself.

Rating (7.5)

Invictus

by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may beFor my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

District 9 (2009) Sci-Fi

District 9 (2009) -Director and cowriter Neill Blommkamp has a winner on his hands. It has been a long time since I have seen a movie that was so enjoyable. I am a science fiction fan and District 9 delivers. After their spaceship become stranded hovering above Johannesburg South Africa. A million desperate aliens, are stranded for twenty years in a refugee camp called district 9. Prawns as they are called live in poverty scavenging trash in the wastes of the district. Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is a government functionary in charge of moving more than a million alien refugees from their camp in district nine to a new facility 200 miles away is the protagonist. He comes across as both a competent civil servant and unaware dupe. (Elisa and I did have a conversation about how in the know Wikus actually is. They needed to make him sympathetic while still showing that he disregarded the aliens as much as anyone else.) He an everyone else seems racist towards the aliens. The callous nature of the approach to moving them re enforces the relationship. They are not human nor are they seen as equal or intelligent. A very interesting juxtaposition considering that their technology is so much more advance than ours. In fact there are governments and multinational corporations searching for a way to use the weapons from the aliens. Unfortunately they are bio engineered and only the aliens can use them. Shot in a style of gathered video it could have been slicker but I do think that the found footage approach did not take too much away from the story.
The rest of the plot centers around Wikus and what happens to him while moving the aliens. He finds a cylinder of black liquid and when it accidentally sprays him things start to change for him. I do not want to give away any more of the plot. Go see this movie!
I will say though, that the tension and action of this film grows from that point on. It transforms into a very good action film and is a great ride.
Rating (9.0)