[wallijonn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang Not even in "Wild at Heart" as Bobby Peru (just like the country)? That role was his contribution to cinematic legend in my mind.

Okay, another one I have add to my "movies to see" list. I'm not a Nicolas Cage fan, either (although I loved him in Family Man. (I love Tea Leone Although her performance in Jurassic Park III was uneven.)). Speaking of Family Man, I fell in love with the little girl - she just ripped my heart out with her cuteness. I guess that's how I remember my daughter at her age.

Willem DaFoe is growing on me; I just watched Spider Man last night. I think Willem has an intensity matched by few other actors. So, many times he just comes off as a psycho, killer or drug dealer. I guess I liked this characterisation because he had no rough hard edges - he was a loving family man.

There's just some actors I like and can identify with and others I can't. William Hurt is also another actor that I have no fondness of, although I liked him in Altered States.

 

[wallijonn]

Home Alone 2 - Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern. Slapstick.

I can watch this one over and over again - it's never tiring hearing Daniel Stern scream or watching Joe Pescu take a pratfall. .

 

[YamiTenshi]

Tell Me Something

A good Korean murder/mystery/suspense film that actually takes some brains to enjoy. It's not to say that the murderer was very hard to find, just think a little harder about it and it seems to make perfect sense.

Granted this film is not as good as Se7en (which I loved

) but it is definately better than the typical Korean mystery film.

The actors were good. I recognized the main actor as the same one from Shiri. Considering the two parts were very similar (a cops trying to find a killer), I can't really comment on his range of acting ability. The female lead was believable in her quiet, tortured, vulnerable, mysteries girl role. Unfortuneately these are the only two characters that stand out, everyone else kinda falls into the background.

To Live

This was the third time I saw tihs film, and I still love it. But understandably it's not for everyone. The first two times I saw this film was in two different film/culture classes, so everyone loved it and got into great discussions about it. This time I saw it is was with my family... Well let's just say that they didn't really get all the subtliness (sp?) and they thought it moved too slowly to be interesting.... I know where they are coming from and I know a lot of people will not like this film.

Anyway, this is a great political film (I believe it was banned in China when it first came out) that's not really about politics. No one ever really talks about politics in this film, it's only in the background of the story. This is essentially a story about a family that is trying to survive against the odds. Even when really bad things happen, the government isn't blamed or even mentioned. The symbolism in this film is excellent (pay attention to the chicken into the goose in the sheep into the ox metaphor

). Anyone who wants to put a message in their film and pass it off with out the authories knowing it should see this film.

The actors were great too. Some of China's best are in this film

. Their emotions were perfect for some scenes, neither over acting nor underacting.

Again, not a film for everyone, but definately recommended nonetheless.

 

[Salt Peanuts]

Finally got around to watching Spiderman 2. Something about Spiderman getting beat up by a villan with a chubby gut made me laugh.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Just finished watching the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who on the BBC. It looks set to be the best yet with great special effects, I won't give the first episode away and spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it but I think this series will very good indeed.

 

[wallijonn]

Heart Breakers - Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sigourney Weaver, Ray Liotta, Gene Hackman. Adult situational comedy, adult humour. Con-Artists mom & daughter marry men & divorce for money. Very little canned music, mostly original music.

Watch it to marvel at Jennifer's beauty or if you hate cigarette smokers. Watch the deleted scenes and curse the director for not putting in the exercise room scene into the movie (Jennifer jogs in place).

I wish they had left in Gene's line: "We only made 7 billion dollars profit last year. It's almost not worth it."

---------
Pinky,

I'm jealous. I wish my local PBS would air Dr. Who Billy Piper looks like a hottie. How's her voice and mannerisms? http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/galle...ile/288/03.jpg

 

[wallijonn]

Cody Banks - Teenage Spy Action Thriller. Buble gum teenie music. Enjoyable family fare.

 

[wallijonn]

Cody Banks 2. Absolutely no redeeming value. Only people who want to see London architecture or to have an idea of what Boston looks like should ever see this movie. I couldn't wait for this movie to finish. 0 headphones (even the music stunk).

Cellular - Kim Bassinger. Action thriller. The usual technical mistakes. Audio is engaging. Kidnapped woman enlists the aid of a man who answers his cell phone. You'll keep watching just to see how it all plays out.

Stalag 17. William Holden. What's there to say? It's a classic.

 

[wallijonn]

Cody Banks 2. Absolutely no redeeming value. Only people who want to see London architecture or to have an idea of what Boston looks like should ever see this movie. I couldn't wait for this movie to finish. 0 headphones (even the music stunk).

Cellular - Kim Bassinger. Action thriller. The usual technical mistakes. Audio is engaging. Kidnapped woman enlists the aid of a man who answers his cell phone. You'll keep watching just to see how it all plays out. A fine rental.

Stalag 17. William Holden. What's there to say? It's a classic.

"Curtains would do wonders for this place. You will not be getting them."

"At ease. At ease."

 

[individual6891]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cylanes I`ve just saw Being John Malkovich. A very strange and also wonderful movie. I really enjoyed the acting of John Cusack, Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener. Loved the John Malkovich Puppet dance! It`s a great movie

Also the DVD is only £4 at your local (?!?!) HMV

 

[chadbang]

Troy. Watchable. But I prefered the occasional fast forward. The early fight scenes were surprisingly badly directed, considering Wolfgang Petersen was at the helm. The later fights, however, were better choreographed. Maybe he needed practice. The story, of course, it a great one and screenplay did Homer the usually Hollywood injustices, but not enough so to sink the ship entirely. I can't say I honestly liked it, but it beat another episode of "Fear Factor".

 

[The Actual]

I just saw Downfall this past weekend. It was pretty good; I would definitely recommend seeing it, as it is one of the best films I have seen in theatres since Million Dollar Baby. However, it was not perfect. Some of the acting was not as perfect as possible, and I didn't really like how they seemed to be trying to build up so much sympathy for some of the characters.

 

[Gigabomber]

Rarely go to the movies, but I caught House of Flying Daggers at the local dollar threatre and it was freakin' awesome. Best movie i have seen in a very long time - if you don't mind subtitles.

 

[YamiTenshi]

Kung Fu Hustle

Well to be honest I think I'm one of the only people that didn't like Shaolin Soccer, so I was a little reluctant to watch this movie. Don't get me wrong, I love Stephen Chow's earlier movies (early to late 90s) but after he discovered computer special effects it all went to hell. I loved his earlier movies because of the way he could play off of the Cantonese language and the comedy was much more verbal then physical (before he went looney tunes

), not to mention there was actually a storyline most of the time.

Anyway back to Kung Fu Hustle. It was actually pretty good. Though it was seriously lacking a coherant storyline and had very little emotional involvement from the characters, and not to mention that the special effects were so over the top that often they became distracting from the actual movie.

And here is where I see the biggest flaw of the movie... it relies very heavily on the audience already knowing something about Hong Kong culture. There were many characters/references that were from older Chinese movies/books/tv series/legends/etc. Even the setting for the movie is an actually place in Hong Kong from a few decades back (I only found out after my dad, whose from Hong Kong explained it to me), the main villian is actually based off of a serial killer from Hong Kong (something that was also explained to me later), and the axe gang was a real gang.

This is great for a Hong Kong audience because there is a sense of familiarity for them especially those that are a little older. But for a foreign audience I really don't see how they are supposed to understand some of the jokes. And especially since the storyline and characters are hugely underdeveloped there will be a lot of confused people.

This is a fun movie to watch... but honestly if you really want to fully enjoy the movie you need to know who the Condor Heros are, where Pig Sty alley is, what the Buddha's Palm is, who Wong Fei Hung's students are, what "Jiang Hu" is and at least half a dozen different fighting techniques that Louis Cha and Gu Long use in their novels. If you meet all these requirements I recommend you see this movie.

P.S. Sorry it seems that my movie reviews are getting a little long.

 

[blip]

Spy Game - A very enjoyable if not earth-shattering film. The plot line is the standard rogue agent (Brad Pitt)/father-like handler (Robert Redford) story. While it lacks the twists and turns that characterise most spy films (it is quite predictable indeed), the plot line is suprisingly involving. In a way, I almost appreciated the lack of twists because it allows for more detailed and, in some ways, believable story telling. It is this restraint, a refusal to be in any way over the top, that sets this movie appart from many of its peers.

Most of the plot plays out in flashbacks by Redford about previous missions involving Pitt. Many of these flashback/vignettes are quite enjoyable... particularly the extended one abouy Beiruit. Again, these vignettes are relatively standard affair for spy movies, but they are executed with aplomb and style. The acting is good. Pitt and Redford have a good chemistry and communication. They really are a high point in the movie.

Visually some will fault the movie for being too stylized and jumpy. I enjoyed the visual tricks employed (particularly the peculiar color scheme used during the Vietnam section). Overall the direction and shooting (while not overly original or award winning) is acceptable and greatly benefits from extensive shooting on site. (Beiruit, for example, may not have actually been Beiruit but it certainly looked like I would imagine Beiruit to look... not like a hollywood sound stage.)

This is not the greatest spy movie ever made. It does not lay claim to the stylized antiquarianism of say Ronin or the fast paced paranoia of the Bourne movies or the psychological games of the Manchurian Candidate. Instead it carves out a much more humble place for itself in telling a concievable enough story that you could easily see it poping up on the 5 o'clock news. It is this sense of reality that makes Spy Game worth viewing over other, more labrythine movies.