Posts filed under 'Films'
I can’t let an entry pass without writing about “He Was A Quiet Man”, a psychological film from Frank A. Cappello starring Christian Slater, Elisha Cuthbert, and William H. Macy. The film is about the resistance of the weak against the bullies. Bob Maconel (Slater) is an employee who keeps a six shooter in his drawer, but never had the right timing to cause an onslaught on his six predetermined victims until one day when a co-worker did it and he became a hero after killing the murderer. This is where I got lost because the ending showed that it was him who did the killing.
I think the movie failed me, however, Slater’s acting was super-excellent. I’m a big fan of Christian Slater, but he’s really grown into a better actor. Recently I also saw Anthony Hopkins’ mind boggling “Slipstream” and Slater also played a semi-psycho. If “Quiet Man” had more substance, Slater would have been a good candidate for an Oscar. I agree with the critics’ statements about Christian Slater in this movie. This is by far the best acting he’s ever done.
April 17th, 2008
The last weekend, I wasn’t lucky with the movies I picked. Saturday morning I went to Blockbuster to exchange my two-month-due rental with a couple of “the latest.” I rented “Death At A Funeral” and “Across The Universe” and watched them accordingly. I was disappointed with my choices.
“Death At A Funeral” looks familiar to me, but I can’t remember what this film reminded me of. The whole movie happened at a funeral service in the family house of the deceased located in some countryside in England. There, different characters collided. There’s the insecure son, the cocky son, the widow, and a bunch of relatives and friends with their own problems. I can’t even call most of these people names because their characters are too shallow, underdeveloped and useless to the story. The only thing good that came out of this movie is that the events were perfectly timed to compliment each other. I was even disgusted at one point when Howard tried to pull Uncle Alfie’s trousers and put him on the toilet and he got all the shit all over his hands and face. That was disgusting!
“Across The Universe” is a musical. I’m never fond of musical and I always think that musicals should just stay in theaters and not the motion pictures. I only rented this movie because “Across The Universe” is my all-time favorite Beatles song. The movie is terrible and they even messed up the scene when Jude was singing “Across The Universe” because they mixed it with “Helter Skelter”. I love “Helter Skelter” but don’t mix it with the title track. The characters were terribly developed and the story didn’t have enough conflict to be made into a movie. Again, this movie is too shallow.
I expected more comedy from “Funeral” - British comedy that is. The story was concentrated on how to piece the puzzle of events without thinking about how the characters are doing. “Universe” is the second movie featuring Beatles music. I did not expect anything from it other than the music. They were all good vocalists, especially the lead. Well, I’m biased because I’ll pick British singers over American singers anytime. Good luck to me in the next weekend. I hope to pick good ones this time.
April 9th, 2008
Tonight, before going to bed I thought I’d post an entry on a very interesting Korean film I just saw. It’s called Somebody Special. It’s a romantic comedy about a baseball player trying to find the meaning of love and a girl who has been in love with him since they were young. The story does not interest me, rather it’s the humor. Though many have said that romance and comedy blended really well in the movie (and I agree), the humor has the upperhand. It’s not a simple funny humor, rather it’s a laugh-out-loud humor delivered subtly yet obvious. Finally a paradox from me.
I found this film while searching for Lee Na Young’s works. I like Na Young’s acting because she’s eccentric. She’s vulnerable, yet strong and I think she’s the only actress who can do what she does with her tongue (no malicious intent).
March 17th, 2008
Finally, I had the time and resources to watch this movie. I did not bother watch the series, nor have an intention to. The reason being that firstly, I don’t like the theme of the story and secondly, I don’t like the lead actress in the series. The movie, however, is an exception because of Song Hae Gyo (there are countless spelling in the web, but I chose this for no reason other than it’s easy to pronounce). I will not elaborate on the story because I’m not Korean and I don’t have the background of the story. All I can say is that Song Hae Gyo did her part as Hwang Jin Yi [only from what I know of the character] wonderfully in this motion picture. Not only was she stunningly beautiful, her acting did not fail. I’ve been wanting to see this film even before it was released, but it took me this long to finally see it. I’m not disappointed. It made me watch Full House again.
February 18th, 2008
I woke up with a good morning smile on my face, but it was ruined. It was ruined after watching a Korean film Lovers’ Concerto. Essentially, it is a story of friendship that ended with eternal separation. Like most Korean films, Lovers’ Concerto has a fragile sense to it with two terminally ill characters who eventually died leaving a friend alone reminiscing their past lives. Just thinking about the film, listening to the last letters pushes my gut deep down inside of me. Do not watch this film if you are physically or emotionally alone because it will hit you hard where it hurts.
February 17th, 2008
Last night I watched on DVD a Swiss film Vitus. It’s about a boy named Vitus who is a genius and striving to becoming a normal boy. He eventually fooled everyone that he is normal. What caught my attention is a dialogue between Vitus and a school teacher who believed he is not a genius. The teacher asked him if he knows which river flows through Cairo. He lied and said no and offered to look it up on the Atlas for the teacher. The teacher then responded that there is no need because she already knows the name of the river. Vitus, without hesitation, asked his teacher if teachers always know more than their pupils. The teacher of course responded that it is true. So then Vitus asked the teacher again who invented the Steam Engine. The teacher answered proudly that it was James Watt. So Vitus asked her why it wasn’t Watt’s teacher who invented the Steam Engine.
February 7th, 2008
I just finished watching this film and although it is utterly stupid, it’s awesome. The film obviously does not have a decent plot, but they managed to create a fun and engaging semi-musical motion picture. I love the soundtrack because they are all songs circa ochenta. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the 80s music and does not mind stupidity and not in the mood to be critical of the movie.
January 25th, 2008
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