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Thursday, July 16, 2015

Maggie



This week's movie rental was Maggie ... a 2015 post-apocalyptic drama film directed by Henry Hobson, written by John Scott III, and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin and Joely Richardson.

I thought the movie was pretty good, if sad and grim, and in its quiet way it made the idea of a zombie plague much more believable (PS - you may want to avert your eyes when the little fox appears). Here's the beginning of the review in Forbes: Review - 'Maggie' Deconstructs Zombie Films, Schwarzenegger And Breslin Shine ...

It is not often that a film comes along which not only subverts genre expectations, but in fact uses that subversion of expectations to create a disconnect between how we traditionally perceive the themes and moral imperatives inherent in the genre and what we are experiencing in the film itself. As our expectation of fulfillment of tropes takes root during viewing of a film, teasing us into aligning ourselves with certain traditional attitudes in order to grant our approval for a certain outcome, our embrace of those assumptions makes us vulnerable should anyone decide to yank the rug out from under us.

That’s precisely what writer John Scott 3 and director Henry Hobson conspire to do in their film Maggie, a zombie apocalypse horror film starring action star Arnold Schwarzenegger that’s actually not an apocalypse after all; that has more drama than horror; and in which Schwarzenegger is not only not the main character, but is instead an ordinary father left helpless in the face of his daughter’s horrible illness. It’s really a film about how families and society deal with terminal illness and the terrible pain it inflicts — in quite different ways — on the sick individuals, their families, and on the community around them ....


And here's a trailer ...


6 Comments:

Anonymous Richard said...

Sounds interesting and good to see our former gov is finding gainful employment:)

10:08 AM  
Blogger crystal said...

Yes :) And looking forward to Terminator Genisys.

10:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for this review!
Jana

1:22 PM  
Blogger Susan said...

Never heard of the movie, but I like that photograph!

6:48 PM  
Blogger crystal said...

Hi Susan,

That's the grim farm house where the characters live :)

7:07 PM  
Blogger Susan said...

It does look a little ominous....

6:13 AM  

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