The Final Take with Parker Mott

Rachel Weisz is the unwavering, intelligent Hypatia in "Agora".

Alejandro Amenabar’s Agora is a fitting way to wrap up this course, because it emulates many of the studied peplum tropes, in order to tell a Roman epic that is convincingly cerebral in nature. As the late critic Roger Ebert wrote: “I went to Agora expecting an epic with swords, sandals, and sex. I found swords and sandals, some unexpected opinions about sex, and a great deal more.” (Ebert) Ebert indicates that Agora challenges the contemporary preconceived notion, as a result of Hollywood action bombast like Clash of the Titans and Immortals, that peplum films automatically involve a robust male hero with a gorgeous woman tucked at his side, and plenty of chariot races to carry us along to the conclusion. (continue reading…)

Peter Ustinov as Nero in Mervyn LeRoy's "Quo Vadis".

You could not get enough of Peter Ustinov. His full-bodied, full-toned presence often commanded the viewer’s eyes away from the action to solely on him. Ustinov also tended to be elusive in his acted films, particularly the sword-and-sandal ones, intermittently sashaying in and stealing the show. In them, he often played supporting roles, but diversity made it impossible to typecast him. (continue reading…)

The Gandalf (Ian McKellen) awaits Bilbo, heavenly sun shining in, in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey".

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey unfolds in blithe fashion, in that Howard Hawks tradition where a small band of characters banter and indulge themselves, while occasionally taking a breather to participate in the plot. There is an objective that drives this unexpected journey – a trip to the Lonely Mountain to obtain a treasure guarded by the sinister dragon Smaug – but at 170 minutes it barely seems like a bother at all. The Hobbit is all journey, little destination. (continue reading…)

I'm on a boat: A boy and tiger band together to survive out at sea in "Life of Pi".

Deemed nearly “unfilmable”, Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, in spite of its shortcomings, is a worthy, lustrous rebuke: an epic and visually resplendent 3D cinematic adventure out in the cosmic waters of the South Pacific. Intended as a reflective piece, Life of Pi dramatizes the survival of a young, determined, and idealistic Indian boy named Piscine “Pi” Patel (Suraj Sharma), named after a French swimming pool (as bad a name since Johnny Cash’s “Boy Named Sue”). (continue reading…)

Tom Hanks and Halle Berry avoid trouble in "Cloud Atlas".

I can’t – I simply can’t – recommend Cloud Atlas, but not for a second would I discourage seeing it. It’s a three-hour cosmic blockbuster-of-sorts hermetically sealed in its own visual grandiosity. While a theoretical philosopher would probably call it Beclouded Atlas, I know there are viewers out there who will embrace the movie for its imagery. It took me two viewings to embrace the mystique of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and after doing the same with Cloud Atlas I wasn’t as convinced, although still a bit dazzled. (continue reading…)

2.5 Stars out of 4
(184 minutes)

"I'm Spartacus."

Spartacus seems like a long, reluctant picture. It’s over three hours, it went through three directors until reaching its final product, and it is merely an extension off the array of Roman epics. Ben Hur had reigned 74, 000, 000 dollars at the box office and one year later, Spartacus would accompany it at a measly 1.8 million. But Spartacus as cinema feels like an ordinal, underwhelming picture. As it was for Kubrick. (continue reading…)