December Movie Reviews

Woah, I watched a lot of movies this month. I don't have time to write about them all, just a sentence or two.

Memoirs of a Geisha - Absolutely beautiful in every way; every scene was so full and so perfectly crafted in every way: of nature, in the rain, in the geisha house, the costumes, the make-up and hair. The actors are so full of emotion. One scene I rmbr, the young Chiyo running through a tunnel built of orange pylons? did that come from the book? whatever the case, the colours contrasted beautifully. A story is a story, tactics must be observed. For example, to make the young Chiyo even more pitiable, and her fate even more divergent from her birth, her parents died of an illness. It seems her fate, and her suffering are nobody's fault, but fate's. The actor chosen to play her father was awfully old, though--a near death seventy year old man to play a nine year old daughter's father? All the men, japanese and american were not positively portrayed. They were weak and ugly and simplified charicatures. Most unrealistic of all, was the Chairman, at least 30 years of age, falling in love with a 9 year old girl, and vice versa. When Chiyo becomes Sayura at around twenty, the Chairman must be forty.

Madagascar - The zebra is voice animated by Chris Rock, a black guy; and the lion is voice animated by a white guy. Makes you wonder about the cultural implications, between nature and civility, and who represents what. maybe i'm reading too much into the film. maybe i'm not.

Harry Potter IV - The movie is better than the book (likewise III). Daniel Radcliffe, very good performance. Whats his name who played Ron Weasley stole I, Emma Watson stole III, Daniel Radcliffe made a comeback in IV. The movies are better because they edit the unnecessary parts out of the books, and that makes the books seem just so much more tighter. There are less unnecessary turns to make. Of course, very beautiful spectacle.

King Kong - refer to dec 26.

Water - not all that it's worked up to be. So it's about some fictional victim far away from Canada, that we never hear about and don't know anything about. That doesn't make it good. So Deepha Mehta went through political hurdles to create it. So? The end result, artistically is not much of a break through. It's a simple story, the structure and the plot. It doesn't inspire much anything, and it doesn't take away one's breath. It's quite ordinary.

C.R.A.Z.Y. - very good.

Sabah - creates dialogue over culture and change. Problematically, change and progress are always articulated and measured by proximity to whiten ways. David Alpay's really cute! =)

Four Brothers - (Plot spoiler) Mark Wahlberg could have looked so much better. I didn't like the movie after jacky died, just couldn't get over the death. You'd think the four brothers speak similarly because they were all fostered by the same mother in the same neighbourhood. but the white brothers speak differently than the black brothers.

Saving Face - kinda boring. the actors are emotionless, it seems they've just let go of caring, so they're not sad or happy. the relationship between father and grown daughter is not quite developed.

40 year old Virgin - quite dumb. the guy's gross. don't like.

Batman Begins - there's not much to say about this one either. It's good, can't complain. I don't have much of a response to this one.

Sideways - very disappointing. I expected too much, much more. it won the academy for best screenplay, didn't it? and was nominated for a few more, wasn't it? why? just for a few lines about why they liked wine? Structurally, it did nothing new. And really.... just nothing to say about it.