"Bridge of Spies" and "Everest"

Relaxed on my vacation and with no care in the world, now I can actually enjoy some movies, apparently there were lots of movies shown while I was out there somewhere and while I didn't actually care much for "Unbroken" (surprisingly, since the book was excellent and gripping, everything that movie was not) now I have two that need to be mention.

Steven Spielberg have been world's top class movie director for majority of my life, in fact he might actually be THE best living movie director when it comes down to continuous success he had achieved trough decades. Sure, he can be sentimental and always have some kids in there but this is why we love him anyway, the only people who can criticise someone with such back catalogue are snobs who would rather prefer some starving unknown artist from Azerbaijan just for the sake of discussion - yes, Spielberg has such clout, influence and power that he can basically do whatever he pleases and he earned it, so get over with it and if you dislike big successful blockbusters go elsewhere. Every time I see new Spielberg movie I enjoy it so much and realise why we love movies, it is a magic that not everybody knows how to create. It is not just a big budget - Angelina Jolie directed "Unbroken" that had no financial limits and was based on gripping book but the final result was bland and curiously slow I couldn't help but wonder what would Spielberg do with the same subject.

"Bridge of Spies" is all about cold war and what it meant to live in post-WW2 world with their own paranoia, fear of Nuclear war, suspicion on every step and power of media that could crown or destroy you. What is very interesting here is that Spielberg really goes not for American propaganda (as some say) but for humanity in this circumstances where there are no real heroes and everybody movies in the grey areas where nothing is really moral, brave and right - there are selfish and dangerous people on both sides and there are always innocent victims who simply happened to have been in the wrong place in the wrong time. That movie is actually based on real story which is quite fascinating because we are very quick to forget what a dangerous place the world was not long ago - the whole subject of Berlin Wall was quite unforgettable. Most surprising was the role of Russian spy Rudolf Abel played by excellent Mark Rylance and my God he was excellent, towards end of the movie we are really seriously concerned about him and this is again Spielberg making us care for his characters.

"Everest" had everything - huge cast, famous stars, story based on real life tragedy, big budget, visually spectacular locations and what not, but ultimately it ends up bland, disappointing experience, which just goes to show that not every big-budgeted extravaganza actually has solid core.

On many levels, this gigantic monster falters because we are so dazzled with the nature, snow, wind, the valleys, bridges and avalanches that we fail to connect with the characters who are given 2 minutes each so when moment arrives we should care for them, we can't really tell who is who - the problem of ensemble cast - as they are all buried under that cumbersome clothes. Honestly, there is this little voice inside me telling me "nobody forced them to go there, it was just a hobby" and its difficult to feel empathy for people who leave their families and loved ones for the sake of expensive adventure kick. Movie tries very hard to suggest this was something heroic and brave but at the end it just left me with feeling of pointless sacrifices. I guess I was simply not born to be adventurous mountaineer.

p.s.

However there is a picture of me from Mont Blanc - accidental picture, taken as a souvenir from a exhibition about Mount Blanc climbing. This is as far as I would ever go.

And this is the very top of Mont Blanc.