fa7999 Reviews

Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015)

Ingrid Bergman as remembered today

[17 May 2016]

I cannot disagree more with the post above. Notorious is a well regarded Hitchcock classic. It was Bergman's film and she gave the vest performance from any Hitch films. Journey to Italy is considered the first modern film, a major classic of cinema and hailed by such influential directors as Truffaut, Godard, Rohmer, Scorsese and of course Bazan. Bogie will not be a romantic idol without the radiant and luminous Bergman. Can you picture another major actress at that time in the role of Ilsa? All three films are on the list of Sight and Sound 2012 best films ever poll.

And there are still a large audience for films such as Gas light, spellbound, Anastasia and Autumn sonata.

A Distant Cry from Spring (1980)

To Mr Avid

[20 April 2016]

This film has been a favorite of mine since I first saw it over 30 years ago. It is an ordinary love story told in such beautiful narrative. Both leads are excellent especially the female lead. I think she and Setsure Hara are the two actresses that best embodied the Japaneae women postwar.

Recently quite a few films by the great Yoji Yamada has been released on blu Rays, including yellow Hankerchief and a distant cry from the mountain. I also want. To recommend another film coscripted by Yamada, Castle of Sand, recently restored and released on blu ray. These films are so much different from the Hollywood blockbusters and offer some have satisfaction after each viewing. Remarkable.

Muddy River (1981)

Great film and about its DVD release

[9/10 · 9 January 2016]

To answer the questions from the two reviewers above, Japan released a DVD box set of all major works by Oguri, including Muddy River and His masterpiece Sting of death. I saw Muddy River in the early 80s and connected with this film deeply. Exceptional film and one of a handful of best movies about children. To the great list about child movie a reviewer mentioned above, I will add Ponette and Shoeshine t the list. Or even maybe Ivan's childhood. Ponette has probably the best child performance ever captured on the silver screen.

Oguri only made a handful of films in his career but undoubtedly he has left a strong impression on many cinephiles. I highly recommend that you guys check out his other films.

House of Flying Daggers (2004)

A total piece of trash

[1/10 · 2 August 2004]

How can one of the most talented directors of the 90s make such a POS?

Zhang tried to make a duplicate of 'crouching tiger' with "Hero", and failed miserable. Now in the second try, he has made a movie so bad that it makes "Hero" look like "Casablanca".

Zhang needs to go back to his old style and make more movies like "to live" and "the story of Qiu Ju". Martial arts is not his territory and he is not Ang Lee. If Mr. Zhang still believes that martial arts movie will produce him an Oscar that he has coveted for 20 years, he needs to readjust his strategy.

A total waste of time and on a scale of 1-10, this movie gets a solid 5.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

I am glad that the 'rings' are finally over

[1/10 · 19 December 2003]

Stupid movie, already slightly better than the first 2 installations. At least we did not sleep for more than an hour during the show and caught the ending.

What's the fuss about these movies? Spectacular views? Well, why not take a tour in Australia and experience the views first hand?

The Dawns Here Are Quiet (1972)

One of the very best movies I have ever watched

[10/10 · 16 October 2003]

This is arguably one of the very best war movies ever made. The story is touching and poetic. A great ensemble cast shine under the careful and sensitive direction under Stanislav Rostotsky. The use of montage and different coloring schemes for several different periods work nicely and the cinematography is stunning. This is a movie not to be missed by any serious movie buff. Ruscico is gonna release in on DVD sometime in 2004. Keep your fingers crossed.

The Last Aristocrats (1989)

Best film directed by Xie Jin

[10/10 · 30 July 2003]

Very good film features a top notch performance from Pan Hong, the best Chinese actress in the 80s. Her performance was very strong in the last 2/3 of the movies. The score is one of the most impressive soundtracks I have ever heard. Recommended.

The Last Empress (1987)

See it for the story and the performanes by the two leads

[9/10 · 30 July 2003]

The movie had a sad story, as sad as its heroine.

The movie originally run about 140 minutes. However, due to the protest of Fu Jie (Fu Yi's younger brother), the movie was cut short, and some key sequences were lost during the cut. But still this is a very good movie. Both Pan Hong and Jian Wen are in top form here.

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Heading my top ten list of all time great movies!

[10/10 · 16 June 2003]

Everyone is trying to compare this movie to 'goodfellas' and 'the godfather' because they are all gangster movies. It seems that people fail to realize that these are vastly different movies. "Goodfellas" excelled at its excellent direction and cinematography; "godfather" with its awesome performances and a great script. However, neither one of these movies offer as much thermatic impact over its audience like "america". I guess lots of movie audience will be scared away from the rich themes of friendship, betrayal, love, regret that are displayed in multilayers in "america". The movie forces its audience to immerse deep with its main characters and do some soul searching after reviewing. I watched the movie about 8-10 times in the last 12 years and simply could not forget noodles and max.

Great story, great direction, tremendous acting from De Niro, Woods, to the young actors like Scot Tiler and Rusty Jacobs. The cinematography is wonderful, and art direction/set desing is awesome. Throw in the best soundtrack of all time and you get a rare masterpiece right here. This is a movie that I will rank along with 'passions of joan arc', 'bicycle thief', 'decalogue', 'casablanca', 'andrew rublev', 'berlin alexander square', '400 blows', 'tokyo story' and 'seven samurai' as one of the best movies of all time. And it's certainly my personal all time favorite.

Sophie's Choice (1982)

Great performance by Streep, but not the best in the movie history.

[8/10 · 6 April 2002]

Falconetti's performance in 'the passion of Joan Arc' IS the signature performance of the history of movies. Period. Streep gave her best performance in "sophie's choice", but I feel her performance here a little bit too proficient and pitch-perfect but coldly over-studied. Typical Streep way. I won't rank her performance in 'Sophie' above Jessica Lange's "Frances", which also came out in 82.

There are lots of great female performances that you can cite on: Masina in 'la strada' and 'night of cabiria', Watson in 'breaking the waves' (heck, how can she ever lost to Frances M in 'fargo'? Another evidence that the Academy is clueless and run by morons), Ullman, Anderson, and Thulin in Bergman movies... The list goes on and on...

Three Colors: Red (1994)

The best in the remarkable 'Three color trilogy'

[10/10 · 13 January 2002]

Kieslowski, IMHO, is one of the 3 best directors working in Europe since the 80s (lars von trier and mike leigh are the other two). His 'decalogue' ranks among the 10 of my all time favorite and tied with 'once upon a time in america' as the best movie (series) in the 80s.

His 'three color trilogy' is also marvellous, and is on my all time top 50 list. "Red" is the best among the three, although I can make a strong argument for "blue". This movie is in the top 3 of all movies in the 90s, along with 'goodfellas' and 'breaking the waves'.

This trilogy is a must own for any serious movie buff.