Batman Begins is a great movie for one simple fact: it is based on a solid story. And I’m not just talking about the mythos of Batman. I’m talking about the script. David Goyer put together a great script based on classic archetypes — in this case the lost man. (more…)
Hollywood, pay attention — Sin City is what movies are all about.
And give Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller tons of money and free reign to write and direct everything. Heck, give them the keys to the city and get out. [no spoilers] (more…)
I love Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea books and looked forward to the Sci-Fi channel’s production with excitement and dread. We all know what happens when good books get turned into movies. The title “Legends of Earthsea” hinted at the changes.
(more…)
We saw Hero last night. I have to say that I wasn’t overly impressed. It has certainly taken cues from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, perhaps too many.
It’s big problem is slow pacing. Not that there is anything wrong with a slowly paced movie, Hero just doesn’t have enough steam. It failed to really engage me at any point. Even the score, by Tan Dun (he who did CT, HD) sounded too familiar.
I did enjoy the cinematography and the costume color changing, and the basic story line. However, the execution just didn’t quiet work for me.
Overall, 3.5 our of 5.
I went on a movie binge during the past week: Lost in Translation, Hellboy and Lost in La Mancha.
Lost in Translation was good, but different from what I was expecting. It was much slower paced and turned out to be less plot driven and more of a character study (well, two characters). Bill Murray does a terrific job as the lonely, tired actor who is trying to keep working. And Scarlett Johansson does an equally good job in her parallel role of lonely wife stranded in Japan. If you find yourself alone and in a quiet mood, this is a fitting movie.
Hellboy was just plain old fun. Movie execs pay attention — this is how you turn a comic book into a movie. They didn’t waste time trying to explain everything and all of the characters to you, they just got on with the plot. Ron Perlman is perfect in the title role. And the effects are just great. I love that they used models, sets and good make-up augmented by CGI. This is how it should be done. For a rollicking good time, go see this.
Lost in La Mancha is the movie about a movie that doesn’t exist. It is a documentary about Terry Gilliam’s attempt to film a version of Don Quixote. What began as a documentary on the pre-production process of a film turned into a chronicle of a film disaster. Everything that could go wrong did — from jets to flash floods to sick actors. In the end, Gilliam and crew only got 6 days of filming before everything fell apart. I found it very engaging. The bonus disk is just as entertaining as the main movie, mostly because all of it is really interviews and deleted scenes — after all, there isn’t a complete movie to talk about. If you like Gilliam and are interested in the film business, this is a must see.