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Reviews
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
making all the right moves
One of the best things about "Searching for Bobby Fischer" is that it brilliantly captures the essence of the book it was based on. Fred Waitzkin's book is not just about chess but focuses much on the relationship between a father and his son. The film does exactly the same and the interaction between the actors is handled skilfully by its director. This is without doubt one of the best sports movies I have seen in a while, you feel an intense level of excitement throughout the chess games and there is a great blend of poignancy, humour and serious drama also at play. Ben Kingsley is fantastic as Bruce Pandolfini and his scenes with the young Max Pomeranc are a joy to watch. Max Pomeranc who plays Josh Waitzkin is perfect in the lead role and really shows he is the heart of the movie. Adapting books to films has never been an easy task but this one is probably one of the best adaptations I have ever seen.
Hulk (2003)
true to the spirit of comic books
Ang Lee shows why he is one of the best visionary directors in the world today. "HULK" is perfectly cast, ingeniously and innovatively directed, and uniquely possesses a perfect blend between story and special effects. The special effects are so good that the Hulk actually looks real. It is a fantastic film with great performances from the lead actors. What I really liked the most about this film was that it reflected the in-depth story-telling of comic books in its golden period of the 80s and 90s. None of this elementary superhero story-telling between good and evil generally directed to wider viewing audiences. Because this is not a film for the kids. Instead we see more darker themes which are more apparent in the actual comic books. It is abundantly clear that Ang Lee has made this film especially for the comic book enthusiasts, electing to stay true to its spirit, ignoring the usual Hollywood tendency to ensure a wider viewing audience i.e. children will enjoy it. Studio execs will hopefully realise that this is how comic book adaptations should be made.
Whale Rider (2002)
Beautiful simple story with powerful themes
Whale Rider is a beautiful film, seemingly simple and yet to a greater degree it is deeply evocative, filled with powerful themes that at first seem only relevant to its New Zealand settings but in fact transcend them. The two most obvious themes being the constant conflict between tradition and modern day life, and the importance of family and children in our society.
The performance of Keisha Castle-Hughes as Pai is extraordinary, it is the centre-piece of the film and she more than convincingly carries the film. You will not see a better performance on film this year.
I got the impression the film would have had an even greater impact on me had I not read about its success that it had already received on the international film festival circuit. Even despite that though, I came away from it still very much impressed.
Whale Rider is more than worthy of the praise it has received, and thoroughly deserves worldwide attention.
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
A great disappointment
***SPOILERS***
I am a big fan of the Star Wars series but I have to say that Episode II was an extreme disappointment. I feel that Lucas has ruined his own franchise by betraying the most appealing elements of the earlier and latter films.
But first the positives, the computer digital images of landscapes, droids, towering cities etc are very impressive. Perhaps the best computer-created scenery ever to be seen in the cinema. But that's it.
The negatives: the acting is appalling. I suppose Lucas was going for the space-opera like dialogue, and a little cheese is fine especially since much of the Star Wars movies is full of it. But there were lines of dialogue in that movie that did not sound like they came from a Star Wars universe, the lines were so corny and cliche-ridden that they made me cringe and say to myself "what on earth is George doing?". Back to the acting, Christiansen is terrible - he delivers the lines with way too much feeling, they don't seem real and genuine at all. I suppose it's not entirely his fault since he didn't write the script himself. And as I had expected, what on earth was George Lucas doing hiring Samuel L. Jackson? All I could think was, that's Shaft, that's Jules from Pulp Fiction wielding a purple lightsaber, speaking his Jedi lines as if he was Dirty Harry. That was abysmal casting, as was the casting of New Zealanders. Temuera Morrison is great but he seems out of place in this movie. To my mind, Lucas has sacrificed story-line for special effects and high-octane action sequences. The action sequences are indeed impressive however, especially the scene in the arena when all the jedi knights come to the rescue of Kenobi, Skywalker and Amidala. Perhaps the best action scene in the entire series. The chase through Coruscant is also heart-pounding. But the weakness in the film is that it doesn't encircle these fight scenes with a credible and engaging story-line, something I believe Lucas achieved in all the other Star Wars films to date no matter how ridiculous they may have seemed. That was the beauty of the earlier films. Episode II, is just plain crass. And finally, the worst part about the movie of all, was the decision to make Master Yoda into a kung-fu lightsaber wielding fighting machine. To me, Lucas has broken one of the number one rules in the Star Wars universe - he broke the mystery surrounding Yoda - in all the other movies we see Yoda and think of him much like a serene and meditative buddha, midget-sized to make us wonder how is this little guy one of the most powerful jedi in the universe? The strength of the Yoda character was that he represented complete inner peace and strength. We did not need to see him move, or for that matter somersault in the air. The crowd burst out laughing when Yoda fought Dooku, especially when Yoda posed his snaring dragon-type pose like kung-fu exponents practise, but I suspect the laughing was more to the likes of "omigod what is this?!", in other words the audience didn't take the movie too seriously, but I did and had great expectations for the movie. There is little character development for Count Dooku as well, he is only really introduced at the end of the movie, which is bad-timing since he's the villain and has to fight the good guys. It's like he just turned up to a prize fight and he found out he was on the draw cards. The melodramatic scenes between Skywalker and Amidala were way too serious and soppy, nothing like Hans Solo and Leia. This was perhaps the least credible part of the film, I was simply not convinced that they were in love with each other. Anyone who believes they are compelling need therapy.
I cannot think to the like of me why Lucas made Episode II in this way, to my mind he has clearly betrayed the beauty of his earlier films and I am no longer excited to see Episode III. 3/10
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
sixty-six year old kid
My partner and I went to see this when we were bored on a Sunday night. There was nothing else on worth watching and we had always considered Woody Allen films to be a bit risky so it was quite a courageous choice on our part. Woody Allen has the tendency to make the kind of films no other director would normally conceive to make. Partly because they may sometimes be the kind of films no film studio would be willing to support financially, or either because the plot seems too crazy to make into a watchable film. Because of this tendency, Allen can sometimes hit his mark with precision and make immensely enjoyable films like Annie Hall (1977) and my favourite, Manhattan Murder Mystery (1988). At the same time Allen can also make some abysmal mish-mash of films like Celebrity (1997) and Deconstructing Harry (1998).
In The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Allen has created a comedy/mystery whose plot resembles something somewhat belonging to perhaps a Scooby Doo cartoon, or maybe one of those detective novels that 11-14 year olds read. Allen plays C.W.Briggs, a gumshoe investigator who works for an insurance fraud company, and whose latest case involves a series of jewellery thefts cleverly engineered by a professional hypnotist Zoltan Polgar (David Ogden-Stiers). Allen is joined by a splendid cast once again, this time with Helen Hunt who plays Betty Ann Fitzgerald, Dan Aykroyd, Charlize Theron and many other notable actors. Wallace Shawn also makes an appearance, Fezzini the Sicilian from Rob Reiner's classic The Princess Bride (1986). It seems like every actor or actress in Hollywood wants to be in a Woody Allen film - perhaps an indication that Allen's craftmanship while not considered popular film studio material is generally regarded in such high esteem by the acting profession. I think also they have more fun in Allen's films, I don't know where else Helen Hunt can dress up in a 1950s red outfit and carry a cigarette in her hand like one of those femme fatale characters that appeared in the film noir of that period.
I found the movie to be hilarious, my partner and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I laughed out loud several times, I especially liked the line "Look I don't want to say I didn't enjoy it but I didn't" or "Paris? the actual city?". You could almost sense that the actors were making fun of it while they were playing their parts. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion was a very fun movie to watch and although it was not probably what you would consider a masterpiece it was nevertheless a fun film, and in effect cured a night of potentially absolute boredom. Allen, who makes a successful return to acting in his own movies after a couple of years, is classic Allen, quick-witted one-liners accompanied by what you would describe as exasperating body movement. And there's a catchy jazzy score to go with it. My only criticism for the movie would be that although Helen Hunt does an excellent job playing her character, I think, without giving too much away, it would have better sense in terms of the story's plausability if the character of Betty Ann Fitzgerald was played by someone like Diane Keaton.
You should go watch this movie bearing in mind Woody Allen's creative flair for making the kind of movies that really he wants to make for his own self-interest rather than what big Hollywood film studios would generally be interested in, which is, in other words, movies that most intelligent people would appreciate. If you are going to go watch this, then go with a relaxed laid-back attitude, with the expectation that the film is exactly what the title suggests, the product of a sixty year old kid's imagination.