READERS' CHOICE #28: EDGE OF TOMORROW (2014)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

7.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once, and I think it must have been shortly after it was released, so it was about 10 years ago

BEST SEQUENCE

I'll describe it in more detail later because I want to avoid spoilers up top, but it happens at minute 24

BEST LINE

Not a whole lot to choose from, so I'll just go with "On your feet, maggot!"

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

91%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Gripping, well-acted, funny, and clever, Edge of Tomorrow offers entertaining proof that Tom Cruise is still more than capable of shouldering the weight of a blockbuster action thriller."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

Redacted for spoiler reasons

DIRECTOR

Doug Liman

MAIN CAST

Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Noah Taylor

THOUGHTS

• I really like this movie and if you haven't watched it I think you should. Even though I only saw it once a long time ago, I've always thought fondly of it and I was excited to watch it again. I was so excited to watch it again, in fact, that I even convinced my wife to watch it with me despite the fact that action and sci-fi aren't usually her preferred genres of movie. She also liked it a lot, and maybe even found it more thrilling than I did on this viewing
• And this I partially chalk up to the movie being unspoiled for her. For me, I realized that the real fun of the movie came from the central premise and watching it be realized and explored. The action itself I found a little generic, which is honestly fine in the interest of not overstuffing the movie with ideas and distracting from the real draw, but it does thrill the most on first viewing. And at this point I will again wonder if there's any real concern about avoiding spoilers for a movie that's over a decade old, but hey, if my wife was able to go into it unspoiled, perhaps it could happen for you too
• Spoilers from this point on, however
• So, here's the IMDB synopsis: "A man fighting in a war against aliens must relive the same day every time he dies until he can find a way to stop their power source with the help of an elite soldier." And yep, you guessed it, this is basically a sci-fi/action riff on Groundhog Day. That description is a little reductive, though, because Edge of Tomorrow really does run with the idea, having a lot of fun in the process. Like I said, the action's a little generic especially in the first big battle sequence, but I think this actually enhances the lead-up to my favourite moment, when we watch the ostensible hero of the movie, Tom Cruise's William Cage, die. It's such a fantastic rug pull, seeing ol' Tom's face outright melting after being covered in alien blood. Wait a minute, we might be thinking, what's going on here? Only to then see him wake up again earlier that morning, at which point we realize the game that the movie is playing
• And then the fun really begins, especially getting to watch Tom Cruise die again and again and again - sometimes out of clumsiness, sometimes out of ineptitude, and sometimes out of sheer necessity in order to reset the loop. The film and the Japanese light novel it's based on both took inspiration from the death/respawn loop found in video games, which is a fun additional layer especially for a gamer like me
• Speaking of the light novel that inspired the movie, All You Need Is Kill, that was the movie's original name but they changed it mostly to remove the word "kill" from the title. Live Die Repeat was also considered, although that in itself is kind of a spoiler too
• And I think we'll leave it there. It really is a fun movie and if you haven't seen it I hope that you do (although also if you haven't seen it, I hope that you stopped reading 4 bullet points ago)

Up next: Let the Right One In. And I plan on reviewing the original Swedish movie from 2008, although I have also seen the American remake Let Me In from 2010 (and maybe I'll give that a rewatch too just for a quick compare and contrast)

READERS' CHOICE #29: CITY OF GOD (2002)

TW: Child death

THRILL SCALE 1-10

8.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Never

BEST SEQUENCE

The farewell party for Benny. The strobe lighting was extremely effective and immediately made me feel on edge and disoriented while watching

BEST LINE

"Why return to the City of God, where God forgets about you?"

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

91%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"City of God offers a shocking and disturbing -- but always compelling -- look at life in the slums of Rio de Janiero."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"In the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin."

DIRECTOR(S)

Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund

MAIN CAST

Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge

THOUGHTS

• Usually when I say a film reminded me of other films I don't mean that as a bad thing, especially if it reminded me of films I like. This is definitely the case with City of God - a lot of similarities with Scorsese's work, especially Goodfellas (one of my favourite movies), and at times it also reminded me of Tarantino. However, a big difference between City of God and the films of those two directors would be the ages of the main characters. I would estimate that most of the characters in City of God don't make it past their early 20s, and a lot of the action happens when they're even younger, in their teens. In this sense especially I was also reminded of films like Menace II Society and Boyz n the Hood
• City of God takes it even further, however, with some pretty shocking scenes of violence committed by and inflicted upon characters who appear to be 12 and under (and, again, trigger warning and also spoiler warning). There's a harrowing scene in which the teenaged drug lord Li'l Zé wants to make an example of some much younger kids, so he threatens two of them with a gun. I was sure that Li'l Zé was going to let them go after scaring them out of their wits, but no, he actually shoots each of them in the foot before telling another preteen to execute one of them. Again I was sure that Li'l Zé would relent, but the movie sees this scene through to its grim conclusion. It's heartrending but it doesn't feel manipulative
• Just like in Goodfellas this movie moves at a fair clip, rarely settling down for long, and always keeping us captivated. City of God got four nominations at the Academy Awards in 2004 (Director, Cinematography, Film Editing and Adapted Screenplay). Pretty impressive, especially for a foreign film, but that was the same year that The Return of the King won pretty much everything so City of God was definitely at a disadvantage. Oddly enough it wasn't nominated for Best Foreign Film the previous year when it was released in Brazil, and therefore when it was submitted by Brazil to the Academy for consideration
• Speaking of Brazilian cinema, City of God was executive produced by Walter Salles, the director of I'm Still Here, the most recent Best Foreign Film winner
• Finally, the vast majority of the cast was recruited from the real slums of Rio de Janeiro, and some of them had actually lived in the real City of God favela. This contributes to a real sense of authenticity, but in cases like this you also have to hope that it wasn't mere exploitation going on here. Assistance groups were set up to aid the actors after filming finished, but the authenticity vs. exploitation debate is an interesting (and potentially troubling) one to consider

Up next: Some more sci-fi coming at you. Edge of Tomorrow from 2014