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Reviews
Chasseurs de dragons (2008)
Solid proof that being able to do pretty CG graphics doesn't make you a movie-maker
This is one of the worst-written movies I've ever had to sit through.
The story's nothing new -- but it's a cartoon, so who cares, as long as it's pretty and fun?
I'm not going to go as deep as the characterisations, or I'll be here all day (except to say that there aren't any; the characters change personality whenever it's convenient to the plot), but whoever wrote the script and visual direction should be forbidden access to so much as pencil and paper. Thumbs down? I'd vote to cut their thumbs off.
"Narrow in on an object/prop. Cut back to character close-up. Character gives a knowing look, which the audience will not even remotely understand. Repeat that several times, with different objects/props."
"Make the characters pay no attention at all the huge lumps of rock are floating around, crashing into each other, generally raining destruction all over, and which could kill them all at any moment -- but make them stop and gasp in fear when they see a harmless-looking, almost pastoral green rock in the distance."
The whole thing is a long succession of events, actions, and behaviour that are only there for the convenience of the writer, to save him having to think or make any effort at all to write the story properly.
This is the Plan 9 of CG cartoons, except that it doesn't have Ed Wood groan factor to make it fun to watch.
Do yourselves a favour: spend your cartoon budget on Pixar movies.
Ping guo (2007)
Take the time to watch this
A truly wonderful movie.
It is rare (incredibly so, given the number of mindless and/or self-pitying movies that spew out from Hollywood) to find a movie that portrays the strengths, weaknesses, goods and ills of its protagonists so well.
The people (note: not characters) in this flick are so well portrayed that, by the end, you don't know whom to hate and whom to side with (with one obvious exception -- but are even that person's decisions the right ones?) Given that it has been banned in China, I perhaps foolishly succumbed to the current US government's anti-China propaganda, and expected there to be political reasons for the ban, but that is quite obviously not the case.
If anything, the ban was more from the fear that people "down on the farm" would come to think that living in a major Chinese city carries with it the same fears and worries as living in a major US city -- which, let's be absolutely honest, is nowhere near the truth.
It's beautifully written and beautifully realised. Far and away better than any Western movie I've had to sit through, lately -- the words "sex" and "city" come to mind. In some ways, it's the same basic idea as that movie , but there's just no comparison.
The only possible bug-bear for Western viewers is that Chinese emotions may be "inscrutable" to them, because they're not used to the East/West differences in facial characteristics. I'm British, with a Royal Navy background, so I can perhaps see such things more easily than someone from "down on the farm" in the US -- but it can't be that hard to see what the characters are feeling, when the actors are playing the parts so well.
Be ready to laugh, to "maintain a stiff upper lip", to hate people for what they do, and to love those same people for other things they do.
It's a blinder, this one. Watch it.
Addendum: Could the IMDb spellchecker be made to take note that the Websters is not a real dictionary?
My Name Is Modesty: A Modesty Blaise Adventure (2004)
Hey! It wasn't crap! What went wrong?!?
I was expecting this to be the same kind of schlock as the previous Modesty Blaise movie, which is why I left it unwatched for so long, but I was very pleasantly surprised.
Far from being a succession of silly gun battles and car/boat chases, it was an almost thoughtful analysis of how a pretty girl gets to become as hard as nails, with nothing being overstated or over-rationalized.
It's likely that the budgetary constraints actually helped with that: less time and effort was spent on finding ever-stupider ways for stunt men to pretend to die, and more was dedicated to making the movie worth watching. Hell, the biggest gun battle takes place off screen -- and the scene where it is heard is all the better for that background noise, that adds to the suspense -- who's winning? Who's dying?
Alexandra Staden might not be as drop-dead gorgeous as Monica Vitti, but few are, and she certainly has every ounce of class and fire that's needed to make the character work -- and the shape of her face, her hair, and her tall, slender body could have been lifted straight from the comic-strip graphics.
Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau was the perfect choice for a Blaise bad-guy, in that he made the character interesting and enjoyable to watch -- even likable (and I doubt I'd consider taking on many brutal, psychopathic murderers as drinking buddies). I can't think of a single one of Hollywood's "former waiters" who could have pulled the role off that well.
Fortunately, Blaise baddies always die, in the end (no spoilers there!) That's a really good thing, because all the girls who would have spent their time swooning over such a disgustingly handsome and interesting hunk can now pragmatically settle for us ordinary Joes.