Sicko - Movie Review

Sicko (2007)
D: Michael Moore
Cast: Michael Moore & his hand-picked victims
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386032/

"A documentary comparing the highly profitable American health care industry to other nations, and HMO horror stories"

 
Michael Moore's best known for his docudrama Bowling of Columbine, that discussed firearms laws and regulation in the US. Often wide-eyed and constantly hiding his agenda behind a "pathetic little average American Joe looking for justice", he's received his share of criticizm as well.

There was some of this present in Fahrenheit 9/11, but luckily not so much anymore in Sicko. Sure, he drags WTC rescue workers all the way to Guantanamo Bay just to be stopped at the gates to request the same medical care for them as the prisoners receive inside. Obviously they weren't going to let him in.

Sicko makes a couple of great points, though about the American healthcare system. This is particularly relevant now, as Obama's health care bill was just passed. This is something that's been sought after by some politicians for the last 100 years, but is coming a reality only now.

Being a Scandinavian I had no clear understanding of the US healthcare system, so I will briefly explain it here. In the US you buy health insurance, so that if something goes wrong your treatment will be paid for by your insurance. We at least in theory. Moore tells the stories of numerous people that are turned down by their insurance companies because of frivolous reasons and thus are denied any treatment for their illness. According to Moore, the insurance companies hardly ever truly cover you, but try to help you out as little ass possible. If it was this bad every time, I can't understand why Obama's bill receives so much opposition in the States - even from citizens, not just the insurance companies.

So Moore's film has incidentally become very relevant to our time, even though at the time of filming this now passed health bill wasn't even heard of. For us Europeans that are mostly used to the opposite kind of healthcare, it's a great wake-up call to appreciate what we've got. Also, a study should be done accross European healthcare systems to highlight differences and similarities between them. I personally think that Finland's healthcare system would have a few things to learn from say the Britts and the French.

Check this one out, it will make you think, not sob eventhough the latter seems at times to be Moore's ultimate goal.

3 / 5

Jurassic Park (1993) - Movie review

Jurassic Park (1993)
D: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/

"During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok."

Jurassic Park is an epic action flick with elements of a disaster movie as well as a touch of horror. Since it revolves around mankind bringing creatures extinct over 65 million years ago, some elements of sci-fi bear heavy here as well.

I first saw Jurassic Park as a kid, so naturally it had a huge impact on me. This grip still holds. I picked up this film again after a nostalgia trip to my MegaDrive/Genesis games, among which is the original Jrassic Park title.

Jurassic Park hasn't aged one bit. Well, you can tell when there's CGI on the screen, but SFX-wise Hollywood hasn't come notably further in my opinion. Besides, you can always tell when there's CGI on the screen, so this can't really be a point of review. Howver, in Jurassic Park, special effects were used to tell a story, a feat that in my opinion is currently being lost in 3D gimmicks and films like the new Star Wars Episodes. There are a lot of dinosaur dummies thrown into the mix as well, suspending disbelief atleast a little better.

So on the surface, JP still looks good. The dinosaurs sound good and it's a very powerful universe into which you're thrown since minute 1. Actor performances are really good as well for this kind of movie. One-liners, snappy remarks and some stereotype characters really contribute to this film. This is yet another feat not very often accomplished in high-budget Hollywood movies.

Some of the scenes in Jurassic Park deserve the 'simply epic' label, and it has nothing to do with jaw-dropping visual gimmicks designed to woo the audience. For example the introduction of the T-Rex is simply brilliant. The scene where the T-Rex attacks the two vehicles is methiculous and solemn, as well as exciting and even scary. There's no over-the-top music in the background and no stingers or other gimmicks. The pace is just right and it's just interesting to see the characters cope with this situation.

Now don't get me wrong, though. Jurassic Park is the cornerstone of larger-than-life high-budget Hollywood films. It just carries with it such originality and interesting content, that its really a remarkable film. And I just love the score in this.


4.5 / 5