4/5
This is the most expensive Korean movie ever made, it's epic.
I really enjoyed this movie! The fight scenes were a bit much for me, too gory but otherwise the story was great. I actually enjoyed seeing Zhang in a more subdued roll, in other films she's fighting impossible fights. In this one she's cast well as the Princess with a cool head.
I especially liked Jung Woo-Sung as Yeo-sol. He was kick ass. :D He acts circles around any Hollywood actor and he doesn't speak! He must have said less than 20 words through the whole movie but blew me away none-the-less. It's all conveyed with his body. I found the movie had everything, touching scenes and even a bit of comedy. And blood, if you don't like major fight scenes and blood you really must stay away from this one.
It also looked gorgeous. The costumes were interesting and the actors looked real. They were dirty, bloody and sweaty through the whole thing, just like they would have been. The landscape was captured well, the desert scenes were breath taking.
One thing I didn't like was the use of modern music, these types of movies are always better with traditional music.
All in all, great adventure and action. I'm surprised it's isn't as well known as some of the other movies like it.
Foreign & Int'l Action Adventure Chinese - 130 mins - 2001
Touted as the most expensive Korean film ever produced, Musa is a sweeping real-life epic about an official envoy from Koryo (ancient Korea) struggling to stay alive in war-torn China. The film is set in 1375 when the Yuan dynasty collapses after a 100-year reign against the insurgent Ming. As the Ming dynasty solidifies power pushing the remaining Yuan armies to the north and west, Koryo sends a delegation of diplomats to shore up their strained relations with the new government. Upon arrival the lead diplomat is thrown in jail and the rest are exiled to the dusty hinterland for spying. There, the party is ambushed by Yuan soldiers. The survivors are led by General Choi Jung and a bodyguard slave of another fallen general, Yeo-sol. After facing all sorts of adversities, the group make it to a remote country inn where they learn that the beautiful Ming princess Furong (played by Zhang Ziyi of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame) has been kidnapped. When Yeo-sol gets abducted by the same band of Yuan thugs, Choi Jung resolves to free them both. Fleeing from the same Yuan army, the Koryo warriors with Furong in tow learn that the Yuan has burned all ferryboats in the Yellow River valley. When they happen upon a group of Ming refugees, Furong promises them supplies and safe passage home if they escort the refugees to the Mud Castle upriver. The castle, however, proves to be in ruins and the Yuan are closing in. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Movie Reveiw Children of Men
4/5
This movie was fabulous, bleak but hopeful at the end. I love foreign films, the good ones usually don't spell everything out for you. Hollywood has lost all it's magic in this respect. Even the award winners like Babel and Crash (not the Kronenberg Crash, I liked that one), they really aren't that good. The are always too sentimental or over acted.
In Children of Men Clive Owen is perfect for the reluctant hero in an apocalypse type story. Alcoholic, disillusioned and broke he's recruited by a terrorist/activist group. Of course, all hell breaks loose and he is caught in the crossfire. It's quite the adventure and it held me from the first minute until the very end. The cinematography is amazing, the acting is top notch.
This movie was fabulous, bleak but hopeful at the end. I love foreign films, the good ones usually don't spell everything out for you. Hollywood has lost all it's magic in this respect. Even the award winners like Babel and Crash (not the Kronenberg Crash, I liked that one), they really aren't that good. The are always too sentimental or over acted.
In Children of Men Clive Owen is perfect for the reluctant hero in an apocalypse type story. Alcoholic, disillusioned and broke he's recruited by a terrorist/activist group. Of course, all hell breaks loose and he is caught in the crossfire. It's quite the adventure and it held me from the first minute until the very end. The cinematography is amazing, the acting is top notch.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Movie Review Insomnia 2002 Al Pacino Hilary Swank
I much prefer the original 1997 Norwegian version of this movie by the same name. It was subtle and nuanced. The remake hits you over the head and spells everything out.
I don't suppose I could watch the remake and be unbiased because I did like the original so much. But even so, standing on it's own it just didn't draw me in emotionally. Pacino's partner, Hap, was completely characterless, I really couldn't care less what happened to him.
Swank calls it in as well. Williams is the only bright spot. That and our beautiful British Columbia scenery that doubles for Alaska. I think it was filmed in Stewart BC - just gorgeous.
Pacino would have done better to not run around looking like a slack jawed imbecile who hasn't showered in six months. You get the feeling had the actor been any other, the director, Nolan, would have asked his star to shut his mouth and get his hair washed and cut. Or just rein him in, Pacino needs a very strong director to keep him from chewing everything in sight. In the original version, the lead detective pulls it off because his sleeplessness is only very subtly portrayed. Because, let's get real, any cop looking like Pacino, out of control and drunk, would have been given a little break by his superiors. I did love him in Scent of a Woman, what a sexy and subtle actor he can be. That and Scar Face and that's about it so I'm not a fan.
I also get the feeling Nolan would have liked to make this movie more like the original but couldn't because the producers were looking for a certain type of movie. It's a shame really.
Skip it - rent the original. This movie didn't move me one bit, the original made me hot for some odd reason. I loved the lead and sexual tension. Thankfully though, they didn't try to pull any of that with Pacino.
I don't suppose I could watch the remake and be unbiased because I did like the original so much. But even so, standing on it's own it just didn't draw me in emotionally. Pacino's partner, Hap, was completely characterless, I really couldn't care less what happened to him.
Swank calls it in as well. Williams is the only bright spot. That and our beautiful British Columbia scenery that doubles for Alaska. I think it was filmed in Stewart BC - just gorgeous.
Pacino would have done better to not run around looking like a slack jawed imbecile who hasn't showered in six months. You get the feeling had the actor been any other, the director, Nolan, would have asked his star to shut his mouth and get his hair washed and cut. Or just rein him in, Pacino needs a very strong director to keep him from chewing everything in sight. In the original version, the lead detective pulls it off because his sleeplessness is only very subtly portrayed. Because, let's get real, any cop looking like Pacino, out of control and drunk, would have been given a little break by his superiors. I did love him in Scent of a Woman, what a sexy and subtle actor he can be. That and Scar Face and that's about it so I'm not a fan.
I also get the feeling Nolan would have liked to make this movie more like the original but couldn't because the producers were looking for a certain type of movie. It's a shame really.
Skip it - rent the original. This movie didn't move me one bit, the original made me hot for some odd reason. I loved the lead and sexual tension. Thankfully though, they didn't try to pull any of that with Pacino.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Movie Review Hero
4/5 stars
Gorgeous and heart breaking. Great story, acting and visuals. I have to say right off the bat here that I adore Chinese films, especially Zhang Yimou's. Hero is his first 'kung fu' movie and it works well.
The acting is superb and the special effects are better than Crouching Tiger and Yimou's House of Flying Daggers.
It's sad the majority will probably look a film like this over. All we in North America have is Jolie and Pitt churning out pap, so sad.
Gorgeous and heart breaking. Great story, acting and visuals. I have to say right off the bat here that I adore Chinese films, especially Zhang Yimou's. Hero is his first 'kung fu' movie and it works well.
The acting is superb and the special effects are better than Crouching Tiger and Yimou's House of Flying Daggers.
It's sad the majority will probably look a film like this over. All we in North America have is Jolie and Pitt churning out pap, so sad.
Movie Review Cold Mountain
3/5 stars
I can't believe I'm about to say this but Jude Law has won me over. He and Zellweger make this movie worth seeing. Kidman I usually adore, I loved Dogville, The Others, Dead Calm, but she's just cold in this movie. There doesn't appear to be much chemistry between the Law and Kidman which doesn't help.
Law dons the best accent in the film and, Kidman's is so forced it sounds rediculous but Law's is understated and perfect.
Kidman looks gorgeous, her beauty is really played up. But he actors don't seem to know quite what to do with themselves at first. Like the director told them to act awkward so they do the best they can but it doesn't come across as genuine. Only Law and Zellweger maintain their characters well.
The story is dramatic and interesting and I cried through the whole darn thing. I'm grateful for the graphic nature of the war scenes, maybe we won't glorify war so much if we actually see what happens instead of a sterilized version.
So, I recommend Cold Mountain if you like epic-type period films and above all, love stories.
I can't believe I'm about to say this but Jude Law has won me over. He and Zellweger make this movie worth seeing. Kidman I usually adore, I loved Dogville, The Others, Dead Calm, but she's just cold in this movie. There doesn't appear to be much chemistry between the Law and Kidman which doesn't help.
Law dons the best accent in the film and, Kidman's is so forced it sounds rediculous but Law's is understated and perfect.
Kidman looks gorgeous, her beauty is really played up. But he actors don't seem to know quite what to do with themselves at first. Like the director told them to act awkward so they do the best they can but it doesn't come across as genuine. Only Law and Zellweger maintain their characters well.
The story is dramatic and interesting and I cried through the whole darn thing. I'm grateful for the graphic nature of the war scenes, maybe we won't glorify war so much if we actually see what happens instead of a sterilized version.
So, I recommend Cold Mountain if you like epic-type period films and above all, love stories.
Movie Review Hotel Rwanda
5/5 stars
How in $%* didn't this warrant an Oscar nomination???
In 1994 I was 23, in April we had just started building our home and when I wasn't building one news story had me completely transfixed, OJ damn Simpson. His murder trial was the biggest story of 1994, especially the summer. What a waste of air time.
It is a fact that very few news organisations to this day do not have a reporter (print or live) in Africa, not.one.reporter for all of Africa. Why don't we care what happens in Africa?I wonder if it is exactly the same in Darfur? I haven't even heard the word Darfur in the media for months now.
The world, especially the very rich and powerful UN, failed Rwanda. They didn't fail to intervene in Yugoslavia though, some say they had learned their lesson in Rwanda, I say they intervened because Yugoslavians are white, plain and simple.
I'm not ashamed to say I bawled while watching this movie, I've been known to weep during a touching seen but this movie touched me profoundly it was gut wrenching. I don't believe it could have been done better.
I can say it would have been perfect had Daillaire been willing to cooperate but I can't say I blame him for not trusting the Hollywood machine. He doesn't agree with the portrayal of UN general based on him, Nolte's character.One good thing about Nolte though, he doesn't tear up the screen like he's been known to do. He performance was understated and perfect. Along with the rest of the cast, just flawless.
Everyone on this planet needs to see this movie, especially our children. It should be part of the high school curriculum, required viewing. Along with holocaust films. Anything we can do to increase compassion in our children, this is the only antidote to genocide. And I'm not speaking of the type of pseudo compassion religions teach, I mean real compassion for our fellow man regardless of the circumstances.
How in $%* didn't this warrant an Oscar nomination???
In 1994 I was 23, in April we had just started building our home and when I wasn't building one news story had me completely transfixed, OJ damn Simpson. His murder trial was the biggest story of 1994, especially the summer. What a waste of air time.
It is a fact that very few news organisations to this day do not have a reporter (print or live) in Africa, not.one.reporter for all of Africa. Why don't we care what happens in Africa?I wonder if it is exactly the same in Darfur? I haven't even heard the word Darfur in the media for months now.
The world, especially the very rich and powerful UN, failed Rwanda. They didn't fail to intervene in Yugoslavia though, some say they had learned their lesson in Rwanda, I say they intervened because Yugoslavians are white, plain and simple.
I'm not ashamed to say I bawled while watching this movie, I've been known to weep during a touching seen but this movie touched me profoundly it was gut wrenching. I don't believe it could have been done better.
I can say it would have been perfect had Daillaire been willing to cooperate but I can't say I blame him for not trusting the Hollywood machine. He doesn't agree with the portrayal of UN general based on him, Nolte's character.One good thing about Nolte though, he doesn't tear up the screen like he's been known to do. He performance was understated and perfect. Along with the rest of the cast, just flawless.
Everyone on this planet needs to see this movie, especially our children. It should be part of the high school curriculum, required viewing. Along with holocaust films. Anything we can do to increase compassion in our children, this is the only antidote to genocide. And I'm not speaking of the type of pseudo compassion religions teach, I mean real compassion for our fellow man regardless of the circumstances.
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