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Reviews
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
somewhat disappointing
It would have been refreshing to see more female roles. The greatest Chinese pirate of all time was not a man! It was a woman, Ching Shih. In this movie, she is relegated to one of the supporting 9 pirate brethren roles. She she should have had the lead.
The Calypso was pretty cool, but a little too much like out of Zena, Warrior Princess (a great show, but not appropriate in the POTC setting, IMHO).
We didn't see much of Tia Dalma in POTC 2, and only a little more in POTC 3. According to the storyline, her character plays a central role throughout all 3 movies. So why not give her more face time? Her compelling relationship with Davy Jones could have been explored more, which would have re-enforced what we learned in the first two movies. The movie alludes to Dalma's and Jones' pain, but we don't witness it. That could have been very powerful.
The writers had a great opportunity to play off the ancient seafaring myth of a flat world, a place that ancient mariners truly dreaded, to the extent that it halted westward expansion for a millennium. How many times in the history books have you seen those images of great sea monsters lurking at the edge of the earth, where any ship foolish enough to travel was doomed - to either those monsters or an eternal abyss? It could have (and should have) been an allegorical high point, ala Moby Dick. It could have had the Kraken (or a bunch of baby Krakens) writhing in a bubbling sea of despair, warning the mariners to turn back, but they press on through that adversity. Unfortunately, that drama was very much underplayed and, hence, a disappointment.
Another disappointment was in the lack of creative fortitude of the first two movies. As posted elsewhere on this site, POTC 1 was fresh (skeletons walking the ocean floor), POTC 2 introduced new creative drama and fun(the Kraken!, headhunters, Jack's lizard walk), but POTC 3 just seems to lack that creative genius.
One emotional high would have to be Boostrap's mid-movie behavior. Anybody who has watched a loved one waste away with Alzheimer's will certainly be touched by that scene. And Jack's internal dialogue was interesting, but could have been a little more ethereal, perhaps like some of those dark scenes from What Dreams May Come (but with the POTC aesthetic).
Overall, POTC doesn't hold a candle to LOTR, but then its not supposed to. I view POTC sort of like the ride: it should be fun, a little scary, and a little wet. Unfortunately, most of the fun is missing from POTC 3; what fun is there is misplaced, and there isn't enough emotional dark drama to offset it(perhaps aside from Bootstrap).
Charlotte's Web (2006)
Lame, lame, lame
What a disappointment. I was astonished that a major motion picture, with a budget in the 10s of millions, could get this story so wrong. I mean, E.B. White's book is a brilliantly written classic. You'd have to really have a boneheaded approach to ruin that story, but this effort does it. The first flaw is opting to shoot live action with lame CGI. Watching a feature-length version of Mr. Ed is simply dreadful. They should have hired one of those excellent Japanese firms to animate it, similar to Piglet's Big Movie. Next up, is the screenplay. With all that excellent source material, you'd think the movie would be chock full of humor and thoughtful insights. Instead, its one BIG BORISH experience, with the most trite moralizing. Finally, you'd think an all-star cast would have rendered at least some inspirational performances, but I have to say, all the life was drained out of this talent pool. Was it the director? Studio? I don't know, but I deliver a better Templeton read to my daughter during bedtime story time. Wilbur has none of those adorable self-doubting hissy fits, and what happened to "certainly, ertainly ertainly?" I know Oprah can do better, that's why I'm perplexed by what went wrong with the talent. I'll have to see if I can get a hold of the 1970s movie version. With Paul Linde, its got to be far better than this lame turkey.
Yi ge dou bu neng shao (1999)
To Wei, With Love
A true story, or not? It doesn't matter. This is such a brilliant movie on so many levels its hard to recount them all.
This is a great movie for just about anybody. It gets better if you like a story that features an un-compromising, absolutely determined female child in the lead role. But its even better if you happen to have had a teacher in your life you endeared, or are a teacher and have had a favorite pupil. It gets better if you're a father looking for a strong role model for your daughter. Its better still if you have Chinese ancestry in your family. It gets better if you have an interest in learning more about the daily conditions of modern-day rural and urban China, delivered via a master cinematographer. It gets better if you think education occurs best when children take an active role in lessons situated in a context meaningful to them (see the math lessons in the movie). And finally, if you are many of these, there's a message at the top of the credit roll that will either break your heart or confirm your knowledge of the relentless unfairness of the human condition.
On top of all this, the movie is littered with priceless vignettes: the children writing single-character calligraphy on the chalk board; the misbehaving students and the absent teacher; the dedicated teacher who will stand for two days at the security gate asking every passerby if they are the "general manager"; the famished child waif guiltily but aggressively eating someone's leftover dinner from the tabletop of a street-side café; the pervasive role of money on life's most basic pursuits.
This movie has the emotion of "To Sir, with Love" and the honesty of Himalaya.
Yimou Zhang doesn't just use actresses and actors to portray the parts; he uses the real thing, culling the mayor, students, and teachers from rural villages, the television station manager, the restaurateur from the city, etc. How he manages to capture these people in the natural presentations of their characters is impressive. The performances were so convincing I marveled at their exquisite, authentic qualities. I kept asking myself "how did these actresses and actors nail their parts so well?" When the credits rolled the secret was revealed.
The Wild Women of Wongo (1959)
uh. . .its about the sex folks
This is a . . .great movie! Yes, that's right. If you're looking for better acting, check out the Spring Shakespeare production at your local high school.
However, if you want to see some sexy women as they were portrayed in the 1950s, start RIGHT HERE. Not only do you get to see voluptuous shapely figures and attractive faces, but hey, at one point a gang of spear-wielding women drive two would-be rapists to their deaths. Then they tie up men and make them march. 1950s Betty Friedan! Right on! There's even a girl fight in the sand; a precursor to our sexually provocative modern-day mud wrestling and wet T-shirt nights.
I'll take this over that Spielberg crap any day.
To enhance your experience, get a copy of the Tube's Wild Women of Wongo, a great song on their gold seller Outside Inside album. Play this music on your stereo in continuous loop mode simultaneously with the movie soundtrack.
By the way, you can watch the movie for free at http://video.google.com/videoplay? docid=1694106186353825572& q=type%3Asv_classicmovies (remove the spaces in this URL)
Hoodwinked! (2005)
a story line that makes you think
Criticizing this movie for poor animation not only misses the point but is inaccurate. I observed a mix of elements in the animation artwork. Its as if each major artist on the animation team was given sufficient flexibility to leave their own imprint. Perhaps that's why Red, The Wolf, the detective and Boingo each have a distinctive texture and movement, albeit just a few steps above wireframe.
This individuality extends to the background work: the skies, the river and the forest each, at least to me, appear to have been created by individual artists using varying media elements. If you're looking for a modernist commonality across elements, this could appear problematic. However, to me the artwork comes across as more post-modern in its aesthetic, and interesting.
Critics of the animation also seem to come from a perspective that if its not just like Pixar, it sucks. Well, I think Studio Ghibli and some Disney movies (like the original 1940s Sleeping Beauty, or Piglet's Big Movie crafted in Japan) are far superior to any CGI, even by Pixar. While Nemo is a beautiful picture, it lacks the human touch you'll find in, say, Kiki's Delivery Service, or Totoro. Even shows like Sailor Moon and South Park contain fascinating techniques you don't see in CGI, like erasure lines or really simple perspective lines. You can literally see the artist's work process.
But the storyline is of course more important than the animation, and this keeps you guessing. I defy any critic of the storyline to predict how each individual's character will mesh prior to seeing it on screen, or to finger the culprit ahead of the detective. Movies that make me think receive a higher notch than ones that rely primarily on emotional appeal, even if it is a children's movie. This movie provides children an introduction to "who done it", in the great tradition.
Ultimately, my six year old daughter liked the movie, who is, after all, a member of the target audience.
Mononoke-hime (1997)
visually stunning; spotty English-version voice talent
This is perhaps Miyazaki's most visually stunning artwork. The visuals alone are worth viewing. The Nightwalker is particularly magical. Unfortunately, that's the best part. The moral carried throughout the storyline focuses on the battle between the natural environment and human's development of the environment; good enough so far. However, some of the English-version voice talent is lacking to awful. Billy Bob Thornton, to put it flatly, sucks. His voice doesn't fit the character and his delivery is annoying from the get-go. Every time is character appears, I cringe. Almost as bad are the anonymous voice characterizations of evil creatures. Its as if the talent were taken off the street, paid $50, then in post-production some cheesy sound effects were added to make the voice sound "scary". Simply awful! The voice talent is nearly saved by Jada Pinkett Smith's London-inflected, accurate characterization (I hope I got the correct actress). In the end though, it's the visuals that make this a movie worth watching, at least once.
My Fair Lady (1964)
Great in the theatre, but not on DVD
Although a brilliant movie, there are three problems with My Fair Lady on DVD: 1) the movie was designed to viewed on the big screen, 2) the audio commentary is poor and 3) Audrey Hepburn.
1) Cukor shot this movie as a direct adaptation from the stage, which was appropriate for theatrical release, but not for home viewing. For example, a great deal of action in this movie is conveyed via the actor's facial expressions. However, Cukor frequently includes wide-angle shots that encompass the entire set. Appropriate enough for the theatre, but a great deal is lost when viewing at home, even on a larger flat-screen monitor.
2) I listened to about an hour of the audio commentary and then could bear no more. It is largely a bitching session about how difficult it was to restore the film, containing technical detail appropriate for a UCLA film school student, but not the general public.
3) Audrey Hepburn was a great actor. I've seen a number of her films on the big screen at the Stanford Theatre (a wonderfully restored theatre in Palo Alto that screens the classics). However, Audrey overacts Eliza the guttersnipe and her lip sync performance is embarrassing. She nearly recovers with her Ascot performance, which is absolutely stunning and hilarious. This is Audrey at her best. However, clearly this is a role meant for Julie Andrews. Like Rex Harrison, Julie mastered this role on the stage, and she would have been absolutely perfect in the movie. For a glimpse into how Andrews performed this role on stage, get the soundtrack for the original play featuring Harrison and Andrews.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Its About Addiction
Lord of the Rings is not an epic struggle between "good" and "evil". That level of analysis is more appropriate for pop trash, such as Lucas' Star Wars.
Lord of the Rings is about addiction. Any addict, or anyone who works with addicts, will immediately recognize the ring's affect on its bearer as quite similar to the affect of serious addictive elements on the addict, such as that found in heroin addiction, alcohol addiction, or religion addiction. There are numerous parallels between the power of the ring and addictive behavior: the transformation that occurs in Bilbo, Frodo, Gollum and the Ringwraithes; the incipient, all-consuming desire to use the drug, but also the fear to do so; Frodo's desire to see Gollum restore to Smeagol, so that Frodo may hope to also return to a pre-addictive state; the inability to return to a pre-addictive state, as with Bilbo and Frodo; the overwhelming temptation to use, even among those who are cognizant of its terrible descriptive power, as with Galadriel and Gandalf; the development of multiple personalities, as with Gollum/Smeagol; the isolation of addiction, as with Gollum living alone in the depths of the Misty Mountains for countless years with his "precious"; the discarding of loved ones, as with Frodo to Sam or Smeagol to Deagol; the delusion of strength acquired by addictive usage, such as with Boromir and Faramir; the deterioration of perceived strength over time, and ultimate corruption of the soul, as with Gollum and the Wraithes. These are all highly correlated with serious addictions.
With this understanding of addiction in mind, it is a painful yet inspirational experience to view the epic journey that occurs in the three LOTR movies. So much is familiar. Even Frodo's and Bilbo's decision to accompany the elves across the waters to live out their days is indicative of a life that has been utterly and irreversibly changed due to past addiction the addict is never really cured.
Thank you so much Peter Jackson, for bringing Tolkein's books to life. Now, how about The Hobbit?
Piglet's Big Movie (2003)
One of Disney's rare successes
Disney is certainly guilty of releasing a long string of disappointing, soulless, superficial animated features, e.g., The Lion King. However, Piglet's Big Movie has soul, and is extremely well-crafted. I'm 43, and I enjoy this movie just as much as my five year old daughter. There are moving moments throughout, which are deeply reinforced by Carly Simon's wonderful work. The animation is beautiful, creative, and punctuates the storyline in surprising ways. It reminds me of Kiki's Delivery Service, another excellent animated feature.
The flashback sequences work well for me, particularly since I read the original Milne books to my daughter, the source material for these flashbacks.
This movie is much better than other Disney attempts at Pooh I've seen, such as the Tigger movie from a few years ago. It seems that Hollywood is incapable of creating anything of value. In Piglet's Big Movie, the key elements of the soundtrack are from Carly Simon (New York), and the animation was crafted in Japan.
I don't quite understand why this movie receives such poor reviews in IMDb. Perhaps viewers have been fed so much garbage from Disney for so long that, like sugar and high fructose corn syrup, viewers' tastes have become dulled and swollen to the point that craftsmanship is no longer appreciated, nor can viewers appreciate an elegantly executed, yet simple storyline. I'd like to blame Disney for just "giving its audience what it wants", but then, this is a democracy, and ultimately, the people decide where quality lies.
Himalaya - l'enfance d'un chef (1999)
a work of art
If you believe film should be an artform, then you'll love Himalaya. As the director states in the bonus audio track, the production team did not identify and write to a "target market" when developing the screen writing, they did not follow the dreary Hollywood "recipe" for film-making, and, most importantly, they did use non-actors to portray almost all the lead and back-up roles.
Tinle, the lead character, is a treasure. The first time I viewed the movie, I thought, 'what a wonderful actor.' His timing is exact yet unpredictable, his personality forceful, his face is exquisite, his form unique and authentic. A natural, I thought. Indeed, he plays himself in a quasi-autobiography, and what a wonderful character he is.
This is a movie about an ancient civilization we are losing and, sadly, will soon be lost. Really, its a documentary, and, as the director states, will certainly be used by future historians as a visual artifact of what is soon to become the lost Dolpo civilization of Nepal. The soundtrack conditions you to this heartbreaking reality.
The movie is successful on many levels: a mother's lost love (who hasn't seen her adult child since he was eight); a loving grandfather/grandson relationship, which is painfully lost; a wife who loses her husband, and a young boy who loses his father then attempts to make sense out of the loss; a young religious man who chooses the 'difficult' path over the easy monastic life; a classic confrontation between generations; and an old man whose entire life is built on strength, perseverance, and admiration, but then who ultimately must let go of it all to those who are destined to succeed him.
I loved this movie. It made me think of my mother, an artist, whom I miss dearly. Himalaya is a work of art.