Movie Reviews

Evangelists dominate Sunday morning services in their mega-churches, yoga gurus instruct scantily-clad men and women to contort their bodies in heated rooms, and self-help authors coach their students to create image boards. This is just a small sample of people who lead religious or spiritual lessons to millions of men and women looking for their place in the world, or even their own bodies.

How does a massive cinematic franchise return when it unlinks itself from the convergence of another colossal franchise? How does one re-assimilate into society after a major traumatic event, perhaps war, between countries, between galaxies? Iron Man 3 follows Tony Stark’s post-Avengers’ life, the role that disfigurement has on traumatized individuals, and the very real implications of military and terrorist-industrial complexes.

Predestination may force certain individuals to chase their supposed privileges or reject them entirely. In The Place Beyond the Pines, we see the catalysts and the outcomes of these polarities test the role of revenge on an intimate family feud. This melodramatic thriller is told in three parts, from the perspectives of two men and their genetic legacies.

The innocence of children extends to their truthful interpretation of the world. I particularly remember times when I was a child where I would say things that were accurate but faux pas in terms of conventional manners. Moments such as these are looked at as humorous because children really do not know any better. In The Hunt, we see how a young child’s interpretation of her surroundings clashes with her and another adult’s innocence.