Movie Review: "Persepolis"

This film is an autobiographical animated work by Iranian ex-patriotic Marjane Satrapi. The story encompasses her early childhood before the Iranian Revolution, her adolescence in Vienna Austria and her return to Iran during and after the Iraq-Iran war. She chronicles her early liberal precocious childhood followed by the draconian stifling society of Tehran while she attends college. In the midst of a childhood crisis, she angrily turns against God.

Most of the animation is black and white, but interesting. The mood is dark and fatalistic. The story ends abruptly without any meaningful closure.

Movie Review: “There Will Be Blood”

This movie is based on a novel by muckraker author Upton Sinclair. The plot centers around the blind and completely immoral ambitions of Daniel Plainview, an imaginary oil driller in early twentieth century California. Plainview is enticed to drill for oil in a very remote area by a local Pentecostal lay pastor, Eli Sunday. Sunday and Plainview’s bitter rivalry force both to come to terms with their life long self deceptions. As per Hollywood usual, the entrepreneurs of the story are portrayed as being almost completely profit driven, while the local church people are cast as ignorant misguided simpletons. Daniel Day-Lewis (Plainview) and Paul Dano (Eli Sunday) portrayal of their respective characters are certainly worthy of an Oscar nomination.