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Apr. 27th, 2008 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddI'm all packed! Because I'm leaving for France tomorrow!
Hadn't I mentionned that? Well, I am! Leaving for France, that is. Unfortunately, I only get to spend five days there, but still, Provence in springtime? I am so there. :D
Last week I was lazy and didn't write out my reviews, so now I have to pay the price and make up for it.
Children of Men:
I'm of two minds about this movie: on one hand, I enjoyed it, and thought it was well-done, if not terribly original; on the other hand, at more than one point I felt I was being horribly manipulated. When Kee (and how symbolic is that name, really?!) first reveals her secret, the shot of her standing nearly naked amond the cows, though beautiful, is just too precious. And later on, when Kee carries her child past the outstretched hands of countless women, I was moved to tears, while at the same time I resented the overly dramatic music and the dream-like quality of the image.
Speaking of that scene, why is it that the people in that apartment building aren't trying to escape? From what I could tell, the shelling is only coming from one side, so what makes them think they're safer on the fourth floor than they would be running out the back door?
Another thing that bothered me was how every single time Michael Caine was on screen, I couldn't stop thinking, "Hey! That's Michael Caine done up to look like a hippy!", which was rather distracting.
Final verdict: 8/10
La cité des enfants perdus:
Dès que j'entendis le titre de ce film, il y a plusieurs années, je fus intriguée, mais ce n'est que tout récemment que je fis l'effort de me le procurer. Hélas, je ne prêtai pas toute mon attention lorsque je le regardai, puisque je finissais un ouvrage de tricot et en plus, mon ordinateur avait choisi ce soir-là d'être plus bruyant que d'habitude, me rendant difficile l'écoute.
Quel film étrange et charmant à la fois! L'idée d'un homme incapable de rêver était un point de départ intéressant (et il me semble avoir lu quelque part que le cerveau a besoin de rêver, sans quoi on devient fou...) Le côté visuel me plût beaucoup avec ses couleurs à la fois ternes et saturées, et l'atmosphère fut à la fois menaçante et absurde.
Et Miette, quelle enfant adorable!
Note finale: 8/10
Strange Circus:
This is the kind of movie that is arty and weird and gross and makes me scratch my head and wonder whether I should be trying to take it seriously or laughing at it. In this case, the serious failed me halfway through, right about the time the main character started abusing perfectly good spaghetti. After that, the weird just started to seem silly to me and the "What is real? What is in her mind?" ending seemed like a cheat. Still, there are some cool images in there, if you can stomach the totally disturbing (and they're meant to be -- at least I really hope no one in their right mind finds them arousing!) sex scenes.
When I saw the trailer for this, it put me in mind of a manga I saw ages ago at Chapters and that I really regret not buying. It was a reissue of a "classic Japanese horror comic" or some such, about a young girl who ends up in a travelling circus. The art was reminiscent of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, and the details in the images made them all the more disturbing. Anyway, the movie has very little of that manga's sophistication, but I guess it's similar in some respects.
Final verdict: 6/10
I saw this at the cinema this afternoon. We'd been planning to see Cloverfield, but it was sold out, and we didn't want to wait until the next showing, so we picked this instead, which gives you an idea of the dearth of good movies playing at Roppongi Hills today!
What's up with Hollywood's recent Philip K. Dick obsession? I know this is "loosely based" on a story of his, but I can't help but wonder whether the original ending was so... schmaltzy-feeling.
For once, I didn't spend the whole movie unable to forget that Nicolas Cage was, indeed, Nicolas Cage. It helped that both Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel are smoking hot, and Ms. Moore's character was kicking asses and taking names the whole way through.
Final verdict: 7/10 (6 but for the two leading ladies)
I also have two books to review, but I'll save those for when I get back from France.
I'm going to France! :D
Hadn't I mentionned that? Well, I am! Leaving for France, that is. Unfortunately, I only get to spend five days there, but still, Provence in springtime? I am so there. :D
Last week I was lazy and didn't write out my reviews, so now I have to pay the price and make up for it.
Children of Men:
I'm of two minds about this movie: on one hand, I enjoyed it, and thought it was well-done, if not terribly original; on the other hand, at more than one point I felt I was being horribly manipulated. When Kee (and how symbolic is that name, really?!) first reveals her secret, the shot of her standing nearly naked amond the cows, though beautiful, is just too precious. And later on, when Kee carries her child past the outstretched hands of countless women, I was moved to tears, while at the same time I resented the overly dramatic music and the dream-like quality of the image.
Speaking of that scene, why is it that the people in that apartment building aren't trying to escape? From what I could tell, the shelling is only coming from one side, so what makes them think they're safer on the fourth floor than they would be running out the back door?
Another thing that bothered me was how every single time Michael Caine was on screen, I couldn't stop thinking, "Hey! That's Michael Caine done up to look like a hippy!", which was rather distracting.
Final verdict: 8/10
La cité des enfants perdus:
Dès que j'entendis le titre de ce film, il y a plusieurs années, je fus intriguée, mais ce n'est que tout récemment que je fis l'effort de me le procurer. Hélas, je ne prêtai pas toute mon attention lorsque je le regardai, puisque je finissais un ouvrage de tricot et en plus, mon ordinateur avait choisi ce soir-là d'être plus bruyant que d'habitude, me rendant difficile l'écoute.
Quel film étrange et charmant à la fois! L'idée d'un homme incapable de rêver était un point de départ intéressant (et il me semble avoir lu quelque part que le cerveau a besoin de rêver, sans quoi on devient fou...) Le côté visuel me plût beaucoup avec ses couleurs à la fois ternes et saturées, et l'atmosphère fut à la fois menaçante et absurde.
Et Miette, quelle enfant adorable!
Note finale: 8/10
Strange Circus:
This is the kind of movie that is arty and weird and gross and makes me scratch my head and wonder whether I should be trying to take it seriously or laughing at it. In this case, the serious failed me halfway through, right about the time the main character started abusing perfectly good spaghetti. After that, the weird just started to seem silly to me and the "What is real? What is in her mind?" ending seemed like a cheat. Still, there are some cool images in there, if you can stomach the totally disturbing (and they're meant to be -- at least I really hope no one in their right mind finds them arousing!) sex scenes.
When I saw the trailer for this, it put me in mind of a manga I saw ages ago at Chapters and that I really regret not buying. It was a reissue of a "classic Japanese horror comic" or some such, about a young girl who ends up in a travelling circus. The art was reminiscent of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, and the details in the images made them all the more disturbing. Anyway, the movie has very little of that manga's sophistication, but I guess it's similar in some respects.
Final verdict: 6/10
I saw this at the cinema this afternoon. We'd been planning to see Cloverfield, but it was sold out, and we didn't want to wait until the next showing, so we picked this instead, which gives you an idea of the dearth of good movies playing at Roppongi Hills today!
What's up with Hollywood's recent Philip K. Dick obsession? I know this is "loosely based" on a story of his, but I can't help but wonder whether the original ending was so... schmaltzy-feeling.
For once, I didn't spend the whole movie unable to forget that Nicolas Cage was, indeed, Nicolas Cage. It helped that both Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel are smoking hot, and Ms. Moore's character was kicking asses and taking names the whole way through.
Final verdict: 7/10 (6 but for the two leading ladies)
I also have two books to review, but I'll save those for when I get back from France.
I'm going to France! :D
