Last Film You Watched

[Protodite Karzahni]

(Hmm, well I watched two films last weekend and mentioning just one seems a little cheap, given how much I enjoyed the one I saw on Saturday. So, in this order, I watched the Chinese film, Curse of the Golden Flower and the American flick, Constantine.)(Curse of the Golden Flower was absolutely gorgeous in both style and visuals. The soundtrack enraptured me and I found the plot very involving. The battle at the end was equally awesome and well worth all the build up it received.)(Constantine was...Alright. I didn't dislike it but I wouldn't rush to watch it again. It just felt a bit dry and contrived. Also why is it cool for demon hunters to swear at their prey now? First Constantine, now DmC...I'm sure there are other examples out there, but I'm not particularly excited to find them.)

[Jean Valjean]

Alright, this is a little late, but on with the reviews.Eight Crazy Nights: I sort of wanted to see this because I knew it would be different. I had seen the last fifteen minutes of the film a couple of years ago sometime in December and I remember thinking "Hey, that animated character looks like Adam Sandler!" Point of fact, it was Adam Sandler and he was just an ink suit actor. Well, that instantly set the tone for comedy. What more I could expect, I wasn't sure.To describe the essence of the movie, it lived on the contrast between cartoons and raunchy humor (very raunchy humor), between the holiday spirit and jerck humor [sic]. I especially emphasize that the narrative, like the main character (who was also the narrator) was for jercks. While I liked the animation, as it was very good animation, it was very strange to see it used for the medium of a film that so delighted in its rottenness. It was even stranger when certain tropes associated with animation were then later used and played straight when otherwise the tone was very realistic. However, I suppose that the animation was a good call, as the art is under-appreciated and it helps make a film stand out. It really separates this from other raunchy comedies.That said, this wasn't my type of film. Although it was about Hanukkah, the tone was very secular. Perhaps that was the main character. Perhaps it was the entire community. Perhaps it was the plot, or maybe the narrative as a whole. I think it was all these things to some extent, and they dragged the movie down so that it's sol redeeming quality was that it was an interesting piece of art. It's not a movie I would recommend and I'm also slightly concerned that children might pick it out because its animated and give their parents a surprise.On another note, there's a three-breasted lady in this movie. Do not confuse with Total Recall.What Women Want: Of the four movies I watched at this de facto sleepover, this was definitely the best. I know it contains Mel Gibson and he gained a bad reputation lately, but I like an occasional chick flick where the male lead is cast by a truly masculine actor. Mel Gibson is up there with men who bristled with real manliness on screen. You don't get that much anymore on screen, or at least not in romances. Liam Neeson and Russel Crowe are two of manlier great actors of this silver screen generation, but sadly I can't recall either of them leading in a solid romance film. So here we have Mel Gibson. It's sad that his chauvinistic gusto at the beginning of the film is a little more convincing now than it used to be, but regardless, I decided to take that out of context. His rough face and course voice contrast the elegance of his inevitable romance with the female lead. There was just something very solid about him.It helped, of course, that once he really grabbed the reigns of the movie's premise, that a freak accident gives him the power to hear the thoughts of women, he becomes a very charismatic person who gets people. That, too, is something that I don't think most romance stories seem to understand as an attractive feature in people.Now, the film in general was very simple. The plot wasn't convoluted. It's was mainly chick flick material, and the narrative emphasis was on the improvement of the main character as he discovers real masculinity through being a more understanding person, humor, and a subplot surrounding the main character's daughter. The last part was a nice touch, as I liked that the mind reading had more than one implication and that he had multiple facets to his life. Sometimes screenwriters can go wrong by mimicking life too much and throwing in something realistic just to show off that they know how to be realistic, but this had a point and went somewhere. For some people, it could be more interesting than the primary plot of the romance, as learning to be a better parent should resonate with some people. The one problem, however, is that anyone who's seen Uncle Buck could predict the entirety of that plotline. I like to name these boyfriends after Bug and call them bugfriends. On the other hand, it's still priceless to see the daughter confess that her father was right for once and come back to him, and to see the father react to this gracefully.As for the romance, well, Helen Hunt is beautiful, and it was accentuated when the premise of the film called for making her character a real and complex person. The more I think about it, the more I love the premise when seen through this moral. So in the end, it was pleasing to see the two main characters find their way through a real romance instead of something feel-good, wishy-washy, and emotionally superficial. Now that's attractive. Is it an iconic romance? No, it isn't quite archetypal, although I would certainly look at this film when taking queues for how to bring household names like Lois and Clark to life. So in that way, it's food for thought. No, it isn't obviously a philosophical film, but it's directed in simpe enough way that someone like Ray Bradbury would appreciate it, as it does allow for thought.Unfortunately, all my friends were talking rather loud so it was difficult to hear some of the dialogue. Considering that the entire ending was a dramatic monologue (Remember when we used to have those?), I honestly don't know how the film ended, so with that in mind I will probably see it again. With my mother.Woah. I just realized what a good idea that is. Hey, if anyone plans on watching this, watch it with your mother. Not your girlfriend, your mother. For some reason that just sounds perfect in my mind.Superstar: It was a trash comedy and basically an elongated SNL skit. I'm not overly fond of films that have farce comedy in a Catholic school. Nor do I like overused upskirt shots. It was definitely humorous throughout, but it was a low level of humor. Anyone could have thought of it, and I don't feel better off for having seen of this. It's one of those things that it's bad enough that you could tell by the cover, so I don't really think that it merits a review. All I really have to add to what people couldn't have guessed already was that there's no surprisingly touching moral at the end.

24601

[Queen of Liars]

Watched Safe today. Pretty much exactly what you would expect from it, and it's pretty enjoyable for what it is. The plot isn't too original or interesting, but it really didn't feel like it during the movie because of how quickly the movie was moving along. The camera work during the fight scenes was great.

(Curse of the Golden Flower was absolutely gorgeous in both style and visuals. The soundtrack enraptured me and I found the plot very involving. The battle at the end was equally awesome and well worth all the build up it received.)

I used to really love that movie, great style and plot. That final scene at the table is very powerful. I need to watch it again, haven't seen it in a couple of years.

[Geardirector]

Tim Burton's Batman, last weekend. Awesome

Edited October 17, 2012 by Kopakamidak