Reviews

Though I gave it an 8 out of 10, I am very fascinated with this flick (I intended to rate it 9). This film again consolidates my theory that the British really knows how to offer the first class romance without humiliate the audience¡¦s intellect. Many of American romances appeal to the sensual attraction, with poor performance and terrible story, while English counterparts usually carry on with extraordinary casting and more serious implications. B.J. is no exception. Again we see the energy and power of British actors and actresses, with whose excellent jobs enrich the texture of the whole film. Of course Renee Zellweger is brilliant, who actually enlivens the woman with all kinds of foibles but at the same time makes it impossible for viewers to dislike her. The songs fit into the story seamlessly, and cinematography and composition of certain shots are unforgettable. However there is one reason that keeps me from rating it higher. While I expected to see a female enlightenment in this film, I found the ending quite disappointing in this dimention. B.J.¡¦s success in her career is a gift offered by Darcy, and her happiness, obviously, relies mainly on her love life. I don¡¦t know what other feminists think of this film, but I really think it¡¦s a setback.

October Sky is a highly lauded movie, and it¡¦s easy to see why. The story is easy to comprehend and many turning points are gripping, the actors and actresses do fairly good jobs, especially Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Cooper, the hero finally gets what he wants, and it¡¦s a true story. Frankly I think the director¡¦s achievement is not comparable to the sparks and heat the original story generates. We don¡¦t see any special narrative or cinematography; the power of the movie relies much on the riveting plot and tough situation the young hero is trapped in that most audience will find themselves identify with the characters. We feel Homer¡¦s desire to earn his father¡¦s recognition and create his own future, and his resilience wins our respect. ¡§October Sky¡¨ reminds me of a later 2001 Japanese production of mini series ¡§Rocket Boy,¡¨ which might owe some of the inspiration from this movie. Actually these two works shot from two different cultures provide interesting comparison. When October Sky unfolds a story of a young man crying out loud to claim his right over his own destiny, ¡§Rocket Boy¡¨ offers a more compromised description that could sometimes constitute an acrid criticism of modern society. Starring the outstanding actor Yuji Oda, ¡§Rocket Boy¡¨ focuses on three men as ordinary as can be: a travel agent who has a dream of becoming an astronaut, a boastful advertising agent who is on the brink of being torn apart by his inferiority complex resulted from the extreme success of his father and older brother (like what Homer feels in his family), and a food company employee who is about to getting married but scared of this idea. The collected social consciousness superimposes its definition of success on its constituents and steps further to force them suffocate their dreams by claiming them ¡§impossible.¡¨ To compensate for his lost ideal, Kobayashi (Yuji) works in the tour operator because it¡¦s called ¡§Galaxy.¡¨ When his client fails him and his girlfriend decides to leave him, he finally finds strength from his father¡¦s words, who had determined to be a sailor but later found life on the sea less attractive as he had presumed. ¡§But I don¡¦t regret it,¡¨ his father told Kobayashi, ¡§at least I tried.¡¨ It is his father¡¦s confession that encourages him to resign his job and apply for astronautships despite the fact that he hurts his legs and needs to move around on a wheelchair. Kobayashi¡¦s effort finally fails, and he goes back to the travel agency. But his ¡§crazy¡¨ courage inspires his friends, and everyone loves him more. Just before the end of the series, Kobayashi is on the job as a guide of a space camp meant to let children learn more about astronauts. After the tour is over we see him leaning against a tree, unfolding a sheet of poster he tears from the bulletin board that says: ¡§Astronauts Wanted for 2004.¡¨ Kobayashi looks at the piece of paper and laughs and laughs, just like a kid looking at his ticket to Disneyland. Kobayashi may never get what he wants, but he dares his destiny and ¡§just does it.¡¨ This series is so heart-gripping not because the hero exhibits any heroic deeds, but his ordinariness and unstoppable urge to realize his dream which make us wonder and envy. Unlike Dilbert or other sarcastic writings, this show enlightens us and teaches us something. Homer and Kobayashi both have the dream, and they do what they can despite other people¡¦s opinions. I recommend other IMDB users to see the Japanese TV series. If you are a nine-to-fiver, you will feel more touched. I feel sorry that IMDB doesn¡¦t have its data, maybe you can ask somebody from Japan to help you.

I can't believe there are only so few comments on this unbelievably funny show! It must be that it ended too early before audiences remember to put their comments on IMDB. I heard many people commend ¡§Friends¡¨ or ¡§Mad About You,¡¨ but I find little fun when I actually watch these shows. ¡§Murphy Brown¡¨ is by far the most intelligent and hilarious series I¡¦ve ever watched, maybe the only sitcom ever interests me, because I generally prefer more serious shows such as ¡§Homicide: Life on the Street¡¨ or ¡§thirtysomething.¡¨ Murphy Brown has all the incredible cast. I especially prefer the interaction between the cranky Murphy and the panicky Miles. I¡¦m not sadistic, but I always roll to the floor every time Murphy torments Miles with her disastrous ideas. Like one IMDB user says, I really miss all of the characters. When can they make a show like this?

I have to own up that I am no fan of Harry Potter series. I read The Sorcerer's Stone partly because my girlfriend who completes all four HP's recommends them highly and partly out of curiosity. I finished it in two or three days and find it not so good as people said. We can see similar stock characters and typical stories in classics such as Charles Dickens' works and other novels intended for kids: a bereaved child in a hostile environment is recognized as the center of some important events and a respect figure. But this is for kids, and I have no objection for that. This Sunday I took my girlfriend to see the movie she had expected so long, only found it worse than the original book. Many viewers mention that the film omits too many quotes and episodes on the book, however this is not what I object to. When dealing with a literary work, a film director has to decide what to put in the flick and what to leave out; a movie can not include all characters or plots, or audience will be bored, and Warner Bros. will be broke. My opinion is just the opposite to these diehard fans: the director should cut off more irrelevant plots to make this film more tightly organized, like what he did when making Home Alone. Columbus is too concerned about satisfying book fans that he fails to edit the story into a more organic whole; the result is that he deletes the beginning as well as the resolution of many episodes to shorten runtime. But by doing this, he is being unfair to non-readers of HP. I think many moviegoers without prior knowledge of the story will be bewildered by some important scenes. Furthermore, the director doesn't make Harry Potter and other characters more vivid. If the actor doesn't have the extraordinary smile and innocent look, many viewers might lose interest on him. The earlier mirror episode provides an excellent chance to dig deeper inside Harry Potter's psychology and desire, which will make us identify and sympathize more with the boy, but the director doesn't hold on to the chance and let it slip away. We can see many great British actors in this film, all wasted in the flat narrative style. Columbus might cast them out of their appearance, and makeup might be the best thing in this blockbuster. You don't frown when characters show up--they look just the way they are supposed to look. This is an attempt to translate words into images, and that's the only thing Columbus does.

I¡¦m quite surprised to find out that I seem to be the only non-Australian user who ever commented on this incredibly good TV movie. I clicked the hyperlinks around and found the leading actor Richard Roxburgh is the Duke in Moulin Rouge. I ran across this TV movie several years ago when I was just looking for some interesting show, and there it was. I never had a chance to see the complete show, and our local channel split it into two parts. I was quite shocked by the authentic but acerbic delineation of the police as well as some extremely violent shots that would be refused by American TV producers. Actually I could believe that it actually happened in the 80¡¦s in Australia, which is supposed to be a highly democratic and peaceful in every way. The incredulous scenes of the police looting civilians and murder, and the most ironic medal awarded to our hero.

Of course all these elements do not constitute this film as a masterpiece; what make this flick worth recommendations are the actors¡¦ impeccable performance and the director¡¦s ability to withhold too much personal comment that would ruin the cold style throughout the film. The police gangs¡¦ drinking binge and their obsession with interests and power appall the audience, and their ambivalent sentiments toward each other bewilder me. Their many-faceted acts make them more solid and close to real persons, and we all have a better understanding of the time and that part of Australia. This is definitely the best TV movie of the genre, and I feel really lucky to have seen this film.

I have to own up that I only viewed two films made by Beat Takeshi, Kikujiro and Hana-bi (Fireworks as its English title), and I became a fan of his cold, speechless films. I also had the chance to view Kinji Fukasaku's 1982 blockbuster (sorry I didn't know its English Title). I see many positive reviews on this board and find many viewers bear positive attitudes toward the way the old director pictures violence among teenage kids. As a Taiwanese I have more chances than most IMDB users to see Japanese films as well as animations. Our country is awash with Japanese pop idols and we have three major cable channels dedicated to broadcasting Japanese TV shows. So actually the "excessive" blood-shedding scenes in Battle Royale gave me no surprise. That's the way many Japanese dramas, even TV shows, present violent events. However the tension and cinematography are still capable of shocking us. The gravity of this film also goes further than most Hollywood flicks.

But from another point of view, this film is a cocktail which owes so many to previous movies. The first of course is "Lord of the Fly," which constitutes the backbone of this film. "Lord of the Fly" has inspired a much respected comic artist (sorry, don't know how to put his name in English) to astound the Japanese readers with his masterpiece, the title may be translated as "The Abandoned Island." Maybe the director got more ideas from this comic, which is common in Japanese showbiz. The explosive necklace really reminds me of the 1991 "Deadlock" starring Rutger Hauer who plays a prisoner escapes from a hi-tech prison which contains its inmates by connecting two random prisoners through radio frequency emitted from the sophisticated electronic necklace fixed to each person. In that film, any criminal who tries to leave the prison will trigger the explosive on their neck when he/she is away from the other inmate a defined distance. The final showdown when the hero and his love shoot Takeshi only to find out he is only holding a water pistol associates the final scene of "Falling Down" starring Michael Douglas.

Despite all the heritage the director may inherit, the key tone in this film is quite "Japan." I don't know how many users are familiar with Japanese comic books or animation, but awe to teenage power by the collective adults seems to be typical of Japanese. In the milestone animation "Akira" by Katsuhiro Ôtomo, I feel that adults, especially middle-aged males, envy young adults' energy with a sense of fear. "Akira" to me is a perfect example in which an ignored kid has the potential of destroying the earth, while politicians can actually do little to contain the impending disaster.

In this film I find the director is quite ambivalent toward teenagers. Most of them are appalling, while some still show a grain of good occasionally. Therefore I think the director is too ambiguous about his attitude, and this movie is too evasive. But some scenes will never escape from your mind, and idea is really cool.