Movie Round-Up
Jan. 11th, 2006 11:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sleepymaggiePat and I watch a lot of movies out here in Boulder (by this I mean even more than the many, many we used to watch at home). I want to try and write at least something about each of the ones that I see over the next year, maybe every two weeks or so (or when I get around to it).
Early January (and late December) movies:
The Family Stone: Kinda eh. Didn't particularly like it, but didn't hate it either. Seemed to all just be too neat and tidy, particularly the ending.
King Kong: I liked PJ's re-invention of this movie. He did a great job of making it big and amazing and not at all hokey. Jack Black was pretty good in it -- showing he's not just a goof-ball. Once again a computer generated character that didn't have me twitching the whole time -- these one's were a lot like Gollum in that respect.
Syriana: I didn't like this as much as I thought I would. The reviews that I read said that it had really complex and confusing politics and plot, but was still a good movie. I kinda felt that the plot was pretty simple and straightforward. The acting was pretty good though. And I loved Alexander Siddig (who isn't even listed on IMDB in the main cast -- even though he has a bigger part than many of the people who are listed). He was really great in this movie, which is the first thing I've seen him in since DS9 ended.
Munich: This movie rocked my socks. I know its controversial and that the events of the movie may not have occured in real life, but the cinematography was excellent and the acting was superb. I loved the very European feel of much of the movie: so many languages and cities. And Eric Bana was really, really excellent.
Memoirs of a Geisha: I thought I would like this movie at least a little -- for the pretty factor if nothing else. Geisha and their world are generally pretty things, so you'd expect a movie to be pretty. The director's choices for this film ruined any chance of that. I waited until after I saw the film to read reviews (I wanted to be willing to let some of the inaccuracy slide) but wow -- its really way off the mark as far as Geisha are concerned. Even I could see it, and I've only done a little reading on the subject. Then I read some articles (that kt pointed me to) and they confirmed my suspisions: 1, 2, 3, 4. Generally I was not impressed.
The Producers: Saw this today. I didn't really want to see this, I'm not really sure why. I've seen the original movie and the Broadway play. This third version turned out to be almost an exact replica of the play -- so much so it was distracting. It often seemed like they were just filming the actual play, but way too close up to the actors. Facial expressions and actions that are made really big for the stage seemed awkward on film. But as it went on it got a little better -- some of the supporting roles (like Will Farrel and Uma Thurman (I would link but my browser seems to hate me suddenly)) were really good. I guess seeing the exact same jokes again just didn't work too well for me.
We've also been renting some anime recently -- I highly recommend Gilgamesh (if you like Neon Genesis Evangelion at all), and sorta recommend Trigun (it has a wit that I don't always get into, but it is still amusing). Then there's Berserk. Yeah. That's a weird one. More on these later I think.
Early January (and late December) movies:
The Family Stone: Kinda eh. Didn't particularly like it, but didn't hate it either. Seemed to all just be too neat and tidy, particularly the ending.
King Kong: I liked PJ's re-invention of this movie. He did a great job of making it big and amazing and not at all hokey. Jack Black was pretty good in it -- showing he's not just a goof-ball. Once again a computer generated character that didn't have me twitching the whole time -- these one's were a lot like Gollum in that respect.
Syriana: I didn't like this as much as I thought I would. The reviews that I read said that it had really complex and confusing politics and plot, but was still a good movie. I kinda felt that the plot was pretty simple and straightforward. The acting was pretty good though. And I loved Alexander Siddig (who isn't even listed on IMDB in the main cast -- even though he has a bigger part than many of the people who are listed). He was really great in this movie, which is the first thing I've seen him in since DS9 ended.
Munich: This movie rocked my socks. I know its controversial and that the events of the movie may not have occured in real life, but the cinematography was excellent and the acting was superb. I loved the very European feel of much of the movie: so many languages and cities. And Eric Bana was really, really excellent.
Memoirs of a Geisha: I thought I would like this movie at least a little -- for the pretty factor if nothing else. Geisha and their world are generally pretty things, so you'd expect a movie to be pretty. The director's choices for this film ruined any chance of that. I waited until after I saw the film to read reviews (I wanted to be willing to let some of the inaccuracy slide) but wow -- its really way off the mark as far as Geisha are concerned. Even I could see it, and I've only done a little reading on the subject. Then I read some articles (that kt pointed me to) and they confirmed my suspisions: 1, 2, 3, 4. Generally I was not impressed.
The Producers: Saw this today. I didn't really want to see this, I'm not really sure why. I've seen the original movie and the Broadway play. This third version turned out to be almost an exact replica of the play -- so much so it was distracting. It often seemed like they were just filming the actual play, but way too close up to the actors. Facial expressions and actions that are made really big for the stage seemed awkward on film. But as it went on it got a little better -- some of the supporting roles (like Will Farrel and Uma Thurman (I would link but my browser seems to hate me suddenly)) were really good. I guess seeing the exact same jokes again just didn't work too well for me.
We've also been renting some anime recently -- I highly recommend Gilgamesh (if you like Neon Genesis Evangelion at all), and sorta recommend Trigun (it has a wit that I don't always get into, but it is still amusing). Then there's Berserk. Yeah. That's a weird one. More on these later I think.
