After the last couple of posts which were all about me installing Ubuntu Linux on my computer (been using this for a week now and it's going good), here is an update on the recent movies I watched —

• I Am Legend — Three years after a virus goes out of control, Dr Robert Neville (Will Smith) is (he believes) the last man on the planet.  Most humans died, the remaining were turned into creatures called the "darkseekers" who, like vampires, are extremely sensitive to light.  Daily, Neville broadcasts a radio message, just in case there are uninfected people somewhere, and continues his experiments, trying to set things right.  I liked the movie, and thought that Will Smith carried it well too (as he's on screen for the majority of the running time of the movie).  This is from Constantine director Francis Lawrence.  8/10.
• Contact — A very thought-provoking science fiction movie, starring Jodie Foster as astronomer Ellie Arroway, who works with the SETI project.  Now we (humans) have been sending transmissions into space for years, hoping that someone will pick these up and actually drop us a line sometime.  What would happen if an alien civilisation decided to make contact with us?  That's what this movie is about.  While there are some (Arroway) who see this as a discovery that would further humanity, there are others (US Government Military Advisor, played by James Woods) who believe that it is a defense threat, and yet other religious fanatics see this as an ominous sign that might mean the end of the world.  The further twist in the tale?  The transmissions that Arroway receives contain data.  Thousands of pages of data.  What does it all mean?  Excellent movie.  Directed by Robert Zemeckis.  9/10.
• Billa — There is a separate post about this movie.  You see, I did a drawing based on this yesterday and also experimented with colouring that digitally with The GIMP.  So I thought I should give that a post for itself.
• Death Sentence — This movie comes from Saw director James Wan and stars Kevin Bacon as family man Nick Hume.  When a gang related incident causes the death of his older son, Hume goes after the gang members and wants to eliminate them one by one.  Well done movie.  7/10.
• Beowulf — Don't get me wrong, the animation (done through performance capture) is very good and I watched this one in IMAX 3D, so the effect was awesome.  But maybe this is not my type of movie or something... I didn't like it all that much.  Set in Denmark, 507 AD, this movie is about the warrior Beowulf (Ray Winstone) who kills the monster Grendel, only to later face Grendel's mother (Angelina Jolie).  Directed by Robert Zemeckis.  6/10.
• Saw IV — This is the second time I am watching this and it was a great movie!  Though Jigsaw is dead, officer Rigg (Lyriq Bent) finds himself involved in another "game" that will take him 90 minutes to play.  Loved the way they gave more background on Tobin Bell's John Kramer character before he became Jigsaw.  9/10.

A few more posts coming up...