The Films Who Loved Me - Second Opinions / More Discussion
Amelie
From Dearest Kate
I wouldn't say that Amelie is a "deep" movie. I know people that don't see
much film, much less foreign or alien so they thought Amelie was like
fucking shakespeare.
I find myself drifting away from engaging in plot these days...just style,
angle, movement, silence,-my god, her apartment and closthes were the
greatest! (amelie)
It was not deep: it was colorful, whimsical, slightly tense, fantastic,
sweet&charming, and wistful, and at times odd.
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0053198
now here is a movie with depth and magnitude
but don't listen to meI'm the girl who liked Ace Ventura Pet Detective
Part 2: When Nature Calls.
k
American Beauty - DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT
Comments from T.L.
Oh, your Am. Beauty review:
here's what you shoud touch on a) beautiful acting and cinematography.
b) terrible obvious cliched story tune in, turn on, drop out.
ridiculous to say that the problems of suburban ennui can be cured by
quitting your job, jogging, and smoking weed. spacey had to be killed b/c
there was no way out for the writer the real demise of his family and
life would have been boring, obvious, and all too real. c) compare it to
"The Ice Storm" a far better movie on the same subjects.
It's very good that you called the girl Christina Ricci II. You're dead on.
This isn't actually a review on American Beauty although it could be. It's actually a review of a book that's sort of about T.S. Eliot and his life that I saw on Amazon. But it speaks to the whole American Beauty vs. the public reaction thing. I guess the specific complaints here may not apply exactly (the movie is polished enough, but perhaps the criticism could apply to the annoying soliloquy by camcorder boy). But the idea of critics being upset with other critics is always such fun (as close as you'll ever get to a real food fight).
disappointing and un-subtle
Reviewer: A reader from Connecticut May 24, 1999
I approached this book with high hopes, as all the reviews have seemed to indicate that the book would be fascinating. The themes and the narrative focus are good ones, and the bare bones of the story could make for a wonderful novel. But this ain't it. Cooley will learn, one hopes, that it's not such a great idea to have characters launch into soliloquies of self explanation, over and over, as a way to advance the story. It's surprisingly unpolished, for all its good intentions, and my disappointment is as much with all the un-critical critics as it is with Cooley. This text refers to the Paperback edition.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
Here is the link to
the actual fracas going on at Amazon if anyone's interested.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT
From A Princess Saved From Drowning
> hmm... interesting. so we disagree on the ending! :) why do you think she
dies?!?!?!?!?! i felt like Jen embodied the boy in the legend told to her by
Lo... the one who jumped from the mountain and walked away not even hurt...
so that made me think that she didn't die.
yes - but it would be silly if she didn't die - it just would be less important
> i don't understand why you thought it dragged on
oh well - all i know is - there were times in some scenes when i was ready for the next scene
> at the end of your review, you mention that the plot and character behavior lack consistency throughout the movie... but you don't cite examples!!! i'm curious to know exactly what you were referring to here...
i can't cite examples without runining the movie for innocent people - another example is the whole jade fox poisoning the girl? drug her? then shelter her? then leave? then poison her? i mean, the only thing you can think of is that she was planning to poison Li Mu Bai, but then changed her mind at the last minute realizing that the two heroes were going to finally subdue her disciple. But even that - it's just silly - which is okay - but then the antidote thing was so English Patient - not that i didn't cry during the film. but as i explain, that's not what makes a great movie.
> in the email, in response to my question of why Shu Lien lied to Li Mu bai about fighting with the sword thief,
no - just the fact that SHE would have told him about it immediately - it's ludicrous with how close they were
>i think she figures it out during that tea scene with Jen and her mother
yeah - but that was silly - and i've seen that tea cup dropping thing before in other martial arts movies for the same purpose - it's not very original
> i think that it was okay that Shu Lien fought Jen later on... you said
that wasn't in her wise and mature character but you have to realize what
was at stake... first, the sword that belonged to Li Mu Bai, well Te or
whoever that guy was... but also Shu Lein was probably really fed up with
jen and her obnoxious childish behavior and wanted to teach her a lesson or
two... put her in her right place, maybe...?
no - she knows how good a fighter the young girl is - if she wants to defeat
her - she should let li mu bai do it - if she loves li mu bai - she realizes
that getting herself killed is not the way to go - her love should be more
important than her honor - her character - if truly wise - would have
pacified the little bitch and let li mu bai come and kick her butt
> i don't blame the young girl, (jen) for being a "total psycho"... think
about her position! how would you have liked to have been a girl her age,
with her family, at that time? hmmm... i dont' think i would have been all
composed and sane either!
Okay, society is to blame. [.wav] - but nonetheless - she still is a total psycho - the fact that she tricked her own master (jade fox) that whole time proves she was a psycho from an early age - and that was before her adolescence and forced marriage etc etc
> oh and about the exact length of the film... i think it really was 2
hours... i think it only lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes because of previews.
I don't believe it -
> and just because Chow Yun Fat was a man and also the main character... but
was he really THE main character? and yes, he should probably be considered
the "hero" which all makes sense because it's traditional in kung-fu movies
that the hero always dies... but i think Jen and Shu Lein have equally
central roles in the movie. so you can't really say it isn't a feminist
movie because there is a male lead role.
but that's not what i'm saying - i'm saying that Chow Yun Fat was the only
character who is to be admired and respected in the whole film (Yeoh's character was also a hero until her last fight scene as I've discussed) - that's why it's not feminist
> it does show strong women who try to break out of society's grips...
yes - by being psycho!
so i could see that it is feminist in a way. if Jen dies in the end, that
would mess everything up and i'd be mad so i'll just pretend like Jen lives.
:)
exactly
> oh and you are so random... do you really know Ang Lee or what?
absolutely - we played squash together -
A.I. - DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT
From A Princess Saved From Drowning
i didn't think there was enough emphasis on the whole parent-child
relationship... that whole first section was way rushed and unfulfilling;
the mecha is brought in, the real son comes back, then two accidents later, the
mecha is abandoned??? totally lacking development. while the scene where the
mom is abandoning Haley Joel Osmont in the forest is pretty sad... i didn't
quite buy into any sort of real attachment. she wouldn't have let him go so
easily, then. she would have fought more with her husband, blah blah, etc.,
etc.
i liked "Joe the Gigolo" but as soon as "Flesh Fair" started, though cleverly
coined, the film's demise was accelerated. that part was HORRIBLE!!! and way
too long.
furthermore, the movie should have ended with him stuck down there in the ocean,
looking up at Blue Fairy. but no... they had to drag the whole thing for like
thirty more minutes, bringing in the aliens. at this point, i would rather have
died.
i think this is probably one of the WORST movies i've seen. ever.
so the moral of my email is... i think you were too generous with your review.
I generally agree with these comments. One could argue either way on the ending, although perhaps ending with the ocean scene would have been better. In fact, let me go back and put that in my review, so it looks like I thought of that.
Far From Heaven
From Dearest Kate
you probably saw "far from heaven" without ever having seen "imitation of life" or any other 50s douglas sirk melodrama/'women's film'. the usual thing is that those who are familiar with the genre on which this film is commenting think it's just brilliant, and those who don't think it's overdone. the clothes and interiors, though, are to die for. wow. they did their research. of course they don't realize that there was no such thing as no fault divorce in the fifties, and so no tidy "we'll meet at the lawyers' on thursday" scenario was possible. they would have had to go to a judge, where he would plead guilty to adultury, or abondonment, or sexual cruelty, or something equally unsavory and career damaging. _____ dislikes Blade Runner as much as I do- perhaps more, since he is usually mr. big-time sci-fi person. yes, even the director's cut is boring. ooohhh, it's the future (note- a very eighties, city-is-dissolving/city-paranoia future). ooohhh, there's robots. maybe harrison is a robot! ooohhhh! no one is really human when you get down to it. ooohhhh, darryl hannah is a robot. ooooh, she's with that guy who played larry on newhart. ooooohhhh! it's a mechanical owl. oooohhh! we're all cyborgs a la donna haraway. ooohh, all this theory certainly is hard! the photo is proof of a past that never happened! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT PHOTOGRAPHS CAN LIE AND THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TRUTH AND ALL MEMORY IS FICTION?!?! ARRRGGGHHH! my worldview is destroyed! everything i hold sacred now has no meaning!!!
will "contempt" inspire this much sarcasm when i see it?
With friends like these...
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