The Soloist and the dignity of non-judgment

 

The Soloist, based on a true story, shines a heart-warming ray of light into squalor, blight and hopelessness.

The backdrop is Los Angeles, which ultimately serves as a metaphor for the human condition, and it's depressing. 

Throughout the film we are shown alternating images and vistas of beauty and ugliness, order and chaos, light and darkness: in one scene, the camera pans upwards from the literal underbelly of streets where the homeless Mr. Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (played by Jamie Foxx) lives to the bright shiny streets of downtown Los Angeles where Times writer Steve Lopez (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) works. There are plenty of more visually disturbing scenes to offset the bright, sunny beautiful scenes worth seeing almost for their own sake. But the screenplay is not the driving force of this movie. The driving force of this movie is, absolutely, the story - no car chase, no explosions, no '"big reveal" twist ending...just a heartwarming story.

The Avatar Review: Part 5 "The Final Wrap-up"

Once again, my apologies for the delay of this last part review of this film. I’ve been busy with class preparation and projects at work and abroad.

The Avatar Review: Part 1: "Iconic Impact" (Intro)

Every generation or so there comes a movie so unique, so groundbreaking that it becomes iconic in its own time, for that era. Some are without question simply that, while others can be and have been debated for its status as one of these iconic films. Some samples of those that can be without question in regards to it uniqueness and its effect in society for its time in my opinion include: the original Star Wars trilogy, the Indiana Jones movies (well not so much the last one),The Godfather, The Ten Commandments, Jaws, The Shawshank Redemption, Casablanca, Roots, The Matrix, Dark City, E.T., The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and Saving Private Ryan, to name a few. 

Others which I think were decent movies for their time but not nearly as ground breaking (but which I'll mention because if I didn't I could possibly get heat lol) might include: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Green Mile, Fantasia, Titanic, The Blair Witch Project, etc. Each of these ones did have a impact for its time. Big enough to be considered iconic? Well, that’s debatable.