dblatchd Reviews

The Fountain (2006)

A mix of 2001, Solaris, Apocalypto, and 400 years of Spanish history

[10/10 · 7 December 2006]

I was urged to see this by a negative, yet honest, review in the San Francisco Chronicle. Plus five delightful years living with my young family in early post-Franco Spain. Plus being a sci-fi nut. The Inquisition led by Torquemada (any resemblance to the man called Moqtada in present-day Iraq who is pictured on the cover of the current issue of a popular US weekly is more than coincidental) absolutely destroyed the fabric of Spanish culture for over 500 years: from the Christian defeat of the Moors at Cordoba (do read Michener's Iberia) to the adoption of a modern constitution in 1978. The inquisitors required all Muslims and people of the Jewish faith to convert to Christianity. Those who refused were executed; those who converted were later exiled (e.g. the Sephardic Jews and the Spanish Diaspora.)

The only part of Spain not previously conquered by the Moors is the Basque country in the north, which is a whole other fascinating part of Spanish history. Bizet's opera Carmen deals briefly with Basque norms.

The production staff of this film is to be congratulated on a totally accurate historical representation (and artistic depiction of Mudejar architecture in Granada.)

Man of the Year (2006)

Follows the path of Chris Rock in Head of State and John Belushi in Animal House

[10/10 · 17 November 2006]

Despite having received a poor review in the San Francisco Chronicle, this is the funniest movie that Robin Williams has ever made. Funny like, "A Prairie Home Companion." The tag lines, one-liners, rip-offs, innuendo's, and embarrassments keep falling out of this movie one after another. Add the participation of Saturday Night Live, and Lorne Michaels and his crew, and you have a recipe for something special. Dour Christopher Walken and his dry humor add a pinch of salt. (His smoking habit ALMOST makes me want to quit.) Laura Linney is so attractive that - (well, shut my mouth.) Jeff Goldblum looks like he'd just stepped out of one of the Jurassic Park pieces. I'm surprised that they didn't have Spielberg appear too. Faith Daniels with cleavage... Karen Hines, whom I don't recall seeing before, looks like a budding Natalie Wood. Tom Dobbs' (Williams' character) support staff provides a laugh-a-minute. The voting machine company is called Delacroy, and YOU figure out whose corporate name that is a play on! The plot line has an ending that is all too predictable towards the end (the Chron's main criticism.) But being an engineer, I was constantly looking at my watch during the last 20 minutes and analyzing the timing to see how this thing would fit within the 115 allotted. It was like cutting a length of wood to fit a measured space.

Chernobyl: The Final Warning (1991 TV Movie)

A true-to-life representation

[10/10 · 26 October 2006]

I have been closely involved with the peaceful applications of nuclear energy nearly all of my professional career. I have also traveled in Russia. I can therefore vouch for the accuracy of this film.

It is no secret that the accident was caused by a highly risky experiment unauthorized by the higher-ups in Moscow. The local operating staff desired to check the recovery of this unit (one of four at the site) following a turbine trip, wherein the turbine-generator was intentionally tripped off-line. What they didn't understand in detail was the response of the nuclear reactor to such an event, and they failed to immediately engage whatever active reactor safeguards were installed to prevent such an accident. Also, unlike general practice in the US, France, the UK, and elsewhere, the plant was not equipped with containment vessels or structures to withstand the physical pressures of credible (let alone hypothetical) reactor accidents.

In short, due to the unique physics characteristics of this particular type of reactor (of which several were built in various countries,) it underwent a predictable positive reactivity transient and exploded. The neutron moderator is graphite, which burned. Hence the fire. The nuclear fuel containing all of the radioactive fission products was dispersed in the explosion. Lacking a pressure containment, these lethal compounds and elements were free to travel wherever the atmosphere carried them.

The entire accident, in all of its manifestations, was carefully reviewed in detail by the international technical community long after the event. This review was conducted over a period of many months, with almost unanimous consensus. As one result, a similar facility in the US was shut down and decommissioned.

As another, management heads rolled in Chernobyl, Moscow, and places in-between. Precious lives were (and still are being) lost. The penultimate far-reaching effect of this tragedy is also yet to be dispelled - the public's fear of nuclear power and its potential consequences.

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Scenes in Paris

[26 October 2006]

We just spent two weeks in Paris, and while walking to the Bazar Hotel De Ville department store one day we passed one of the final scenes, where Conklin is shot, right by the Seine. (BHV is perhaps the largest department store in Paris. It is across the street from the Hotel De Ville.)

The Mansard-roofed building, which houses the CIA station in the movie, and adjacent street near Pont De Sally are unmistakable. They are on the north side (the Right Bank) of the river, on Quai Des Celestins

Time did not permit a complete walk-down of all the Parisian scenes, but the Zurich railroad station looks very much like Gare Saint Lazare (near another well-known department store, Galeries Lafayette) in Paris.