27.1.07
Lots
I have a serious backlog, so it's time for very short reviews of everything else I have seen this January:
Memoirs of a Geisha – 2005
The plot is too complicated to describe in detail here, but it's about a poor girl who works her way up the geisha ranks to be the most famous. It's a great film with a fair bit of emotion packed in. The cast is pretty good, despite the lack of actual Japanese. Lovely love story included. Proud Ziyi Zhang is ever easy on the eyes and plays the lead. Also stars Li Gong, Ken Watanabe and the amazing Michelle Yeoh. The whole cast rules. Obviously it is all glorified to the extreme. I enjoyed it. 7.5/10
Kate on imdb comments for this film says this about the film and I agree: "So, let me re-address the question: Can a group of American men and Chinese actresses render the world of a geisha? The answer, I guess, really depends on what you are looking for. If you would like a little bit of delight from an aesthetically pleasing picture with a vague standard for authenticity and realism, this movie delivers it. I would not say Rob Marshall (director) failed completely. Memoirs of a Geisha is not the first, nor the last, movie that subjects another culture to the crude lens of American exoticism. It definitely is not the worst one."
March of the Penguins – 2005
Remarkable documentary-film. Planet Earth touched on this fascinating world of the penguin, but we learn a great deal more with this picture narrated very well by Morgan Freeman. Simply fascinating, and it's always good to stop and realise what goes on out there. Such a harsh evironment for these cute animals. 8/10
Mission Impossible – 1996
Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Jean Reno, Jon Voight, Vanessa Redgrave, Kristin Scott Thomas and some French bint work to create a complicated, but brilliant, action film. Cruise makes Ethan Hunt to be one of the best action characters out there. Great entertainment, but not if your looking for a no thinking required action film. 7.5/10
Mission Impossible II – 2000
This one is directed by God John Woo, and so visually it's better than the first. Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton (damned sexy in this) and Brendan Gleeson support with Ving, back for more, too. Good stuff. 7/10
The Ring – 2002
Naomi Watts (King Kong) stars in this American remake of the Japanese original. Not quite as good, but a damn fine attempt. The main guy just ain't as cool though as the Japanese guy in the original Ringu. 6/10
United 93 – 2006
The story of the fourth plane to crash during 9/11 due to the passengers uprising against the terrorist idiots. The conclusion is extremely well done and impacts that bit harder as you realise clearly what it must have been like for them. It's a tense film, as you would expect. You feel the chaos, and it remains pretty neutral throughout. 8/10
X-men: The Last Stand – 2006
Introducing more characters with some unexpected moments if you are not that familiar with the comics, like me. Vinnie Jones looks great as Jugganaut, just a shame they gave him some lines. Ellen Page plays Kitty and boy is she hot; another highly attractive Canadian gal! Problem is too many characters are introduced with no development. They are simply packed in too show off their cool abilities. It's safe to say the fans hate it, especially with the complete fuck around of the Phoenix plot. I sort of enjoyed it, mainly due to Shakespearean actors Stewart and Mckellen who both bring so much to these films and I do believe they enjoy this far-removed stuff. It does have some great action moments. 5/10
Comments:
<< Home
I've had the same feeling as your 12.1.07 comment recently too! I don't know what it is for you but crikey my boss doesn't half give us a lot of work. We are not all single women who wants to seemingly devote their lives to the crappy company! Funnily enough I just spent the last 40 minutes writing up film reviews from ages ago too.
Anyway my comments on the ones you've seen are: Memoirs of a Geisha is something I was semi-wanted to watch but never got round to it. Despite liking Zhang Ziyi, it doesn't appeal to me for some reason. I got March of the Penguins on DVD but it was all in French (and it's been a LONG time since GCSE French). Mission Impossible is just confusing as hell. I thought the second was too ridiciously John Woo (what the heck happened to him? And Thandie Newton?? I know who I miss more!). X-Men: The Last Stand I wrote about in June 06 although yes, I agree not enough character development (which would have taken too long anyway) - although it was cool to see so many superpowers!
Oh and Heat is one of my favourite films of all time too!
Post a Comment
Anyway my comments on the ones you've seen are: Memoirs of a Geisha is something I was semi-wanted to watch but never got round to it. Despite liking Zhang Ziyi, it doesn't appeal to me for some reason. I got March of the Penguins on DVD but it was all in French (and it's been a LONG time since GCSE French). Mission Impossible is just confusing as hell. I thought the second was too ridiciously John Woo (what the heck happened to him? And Thandie Newton?? I know who I miss more!). X-Men: The Last Stand I wrote about in June 06 although yes, I agree not enough character development (which would have taken too long anyway) - although it was cool to see so many superpowers!
Oh and Heat is one of my favourite films of all time too!
<< Home
