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Reviews
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Good but not the film I was told about. -spoiler-
This is the second time in recent memory I have felt this way about media, the first being The DaVinci Code (which although I think is over-hyped, I still think its a great book, perhaps slightly more worthy than this film, but I digress). Either way, the situation is similar, I feel a good piece of work is having its reputation over embellished by the controversial nature of its subject matter. The view that this movie is supposedly redefining what a "Love Story" can be is, first of all, not something I agree with. I don't think it redefined anything about love, the feelings and the story are fairly old, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen this movie before in the way of side plots or reorganizations or fractions of other films.
It seemed almost as though the point that they were in a sexual relationship was tagged on. Maybe because of how quickly it happened or how it is then just stretched and stretched through out the rest of the slow moving film. It almost like the movie is two movies which were mismatched. The story just seemed so stretched (which I suppose makes sense since the film is based on a short story).
Acting was, well, acting like cowboys, who always kind of seem sexually repressed. This wasn't exactly a major stretch of the imagination.
My biggest criticism is by far how slow and monotonous this movie is. It seems like everything goes on for to long. and when something finally does happen it seems forced and sudden, like when -spoiler- Jack dies -end spoiler-.
Kung fu (2004)
Stephen Chow, God of Comedy
I was lucky enough to catch a free preview screening of this masterpiece of slap stick kung fu genius, and i feel that i should now pay the theater anyways. Let me explain:
Suppose God had a bad day and decided to cheer himself up by creating a new man. This man was one part Charlie Chaplin, one part Bruce Lee, a half a teaspoon Jackie Chan, and an injection of every Looney Toon ever created.
This is quite likely how Stephen Chow came into existence.
Now imagine that after creating this man, God bestow on him an army of stunt-men, a type writer, a movie camera, a hefty special effects budget, and a eighty wardrobes worth of axes, black suits and top hats.
This is quite likely how Kung Fu Hustle came into existence.
Ebert has already said that this a movie where Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton meet Bugs Bunny and Quentin Tarantino, but i think that needs to be amended : Imagine a movie where Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton meet Bugs Bunny and Quentin Tarantino, and then the whole crew go to a opium bar for 36 hours. This movie was great, at least as good if not a little better than Shaolin Soccer, the smash hit Chow made back into two thousand. You never doubt the abilities of any random person to be a master of kungfu or, completely not a master of kung fu.
Also, the cartoonish beating and contortions that every character seem to be able to endure are so brilliantly installed in the film that despite their utter impossibility, no one ever questions their validity. Characters and fly through the atmosphere, surrounded in an aura of flame and not even have a scratch when they reach the ground.
Where Sin City was a living comic book Kung Fu Huslte a living cartoon, and no one stops laughing for the entire time.
A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
A frightfully frenetic and beautifully tragic children's film
First, let it be declared that in the media of movie, it is a downright shock that Nickelodeon's monicker appears in this film. It is by far, the best film they have ever made. Second, it is probably the only movie you will see made for children (supposedly) and containing a claymation elf holding a rifle.
Second, let it be known that this movie is the most visually pleasing children's (live-action) film any of us will see for years. The costume design is amazing, from the strap-laden sunny to the neo-Gothic formality of Violet, and especially in the under-appreciated and subtle '60s formal-casual of Klaus, who looks like a miniature Harold from "Harold and Maude". The sets are equally beautiful, a spree of Burtonesque Gothic-Modern Post-Industrial Asymmetry, from the half formed carnage of The burnt Baudelaire Mansion to the perfectly executed closing credits, animated to perfection. Cinematography also plays an amazing roll on the parts of Violet and Klaus, where ingenious images are used to insert the audience into the minds of the genius Baudelaires.
Last, the performances, only two that everyone has't heard; Jude Law's perfect narration, and The Hoffman Twins astonishing performance as Sunny. Law's performance is so on target that it never occurs that this voice is not the elusive and enigmatic pseudonym himself. He is the perfect compliment to the often exciting or disturbing actions being inflicted upon the accurately charming and intelligent Baudelaires. as for Sunny, they have performed the impossible in giving a perfect performance to an infant from an infant, in both the physical acting and the ingenious form of translation. The sequels are sure to be the greatest of series, even if the events be unfortunate as they have been.
As an artist, this reviewer cannot help but give this movie a 10/10. It is his deep desire that you appreciate it as much as he, if not, well... ... that is rather... ... unfortunate.
Futurama (1999)
HOPEFULLY MORE TO COME
This is an out of the ordinary review, but none the less i would like to say it. Most of my comments here pertain to the DVD box sets. First of all, they have the most hilarious commentaries of any show or movie i have ever seen. You get the notion that these guys obviously love what they do. Billy West and John DiMaggio will even occasionally do the comentaries as their characters (Fry will often comment on how he has no idea who this "Billy West" guy is, and his own (in his opinion) lacluster acting.) But the main thing i would like to say is that the last words of the final episodes commentary gave me a sudden breath of hope for one of my favorite animated sitcoms. That line was Matt Groening saying "SEE YOU ON THE NEXT DVD SET!"
hope is good!
FLCL (2000)
Inevitabley Impossible
This excellent show is, I am told, very similar to the inner workings of my own mind. As such my friends asked me if I understood the show at all. How would I explain it they asked. Well, I believe I came up with the simple conclusion: to understand Fooly Cooly all you need to be able to do is accept two facts at the same time. The first is that nothing is impossible, and the second is that you can't escape the inevitable. Accept contradiction and total flexibility and you can escape into the epic of psychosis that is Fooly Cooly. Pop culture references fly by like gunfire, action and puberty mix with adolescent angst and sexual undertone, creating a world were bass guitars kill, vespas fly, and robots burst from boys who burst from robots. everything from baseball to South Park is referenced in this bullet strewn blast of the human mind. Accepting contradiction contradiction is the only true way to understand definition. Anything and nothing will happen and robots will fly in black wings.