Chris Stover

Two movies are coming out this weekend of interest to me.  The first is WALL-E.  I hear the first 30 minutes or so have absolutely no dialogue.  That’s my kind of movie.

The second, as depicted above, is Wanted.  I’d compare it to a father-son version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  Angelina Jolie is in it, after all.  So is Morgan Freeman.  And if Morgan Freeman’s in it, you know you’ll at least smile when you see him.

Inquirer movie critic Steven Rea brought up a good point in his review today.  He said the movie is like “gun porn” because of its violent nature — lots of assassinations, lots of gunfire, lots of overall violence.  His thoughts:

The film’s fetishization of firearms should win it the NRA’s seal of approval. Maybe if the murder rate in Philadelphia wasn’t so sickeningly high, Wanted’s senseless adoration of assault weapons wouldn’t be so off-putting.

This is an extremely valid point.  I never thought that living in a city with such a situation would have an effect on how I watch and enjoy a movie.

Perhaps that’s why I wasn’t to keen on M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening.  The gratuitous violence — especially the scenes from Rittenhouse Square, just blocks from my apartment — didn’t make the movie for me.  Shyamalan topped this off by a random newspaper with a headline that read, “Killadelphia.”  He likely intended to have a double meaning, but as Philadelphians look at it in context, the double meaning isn’t necessarily understood immediately.

But something to think about.  Does your living situation have an effect on how you watch movies?  I was always interested in seeing Wanted based on the previews, and then I read Rea’s thoughts.  Now I’m a bit skeptical.

Then again, there’s always WALL-E.