Sunday Reviews
Jan. 4th, 2009 11:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddI promised myself that I'd do it right, this time 'round. And since I never did get around to writing the rest of my reviews for 2008, I'll write them up along with the new ones. Let's see how long this resolution lasts...
Feel free to discuss in the comments!
Amazing Grace:
My mother recommended this to me a few months ago, and it's a good thing she did, because I probably would have remained ignorant of its existence otherwise, which would have been a shame.
The handsome Ioan Gruffudd (you may know him as Horatio Hornblower) plays William Wilberforce, the MP who led the battle to abolish the slave trade in Great Britain, working year in, year out, at the expense of his health, to try to make the world a better place. It sounds trite to say so, perhaps, but it's a very moving and inspirational story; the movie tells it simply and without ever descending into sentimentalism, which would have been incredibly easy. The titular hymn is used sparingly, and everything was low-key and understated, which I appreciated.
As an added bonus, you get to play "Who's That Guy?" when face after familiar (to those who watch British productions) face appears on screen. Well-known Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour is also in the cast.
Final verdict: 8/10
Rome (season 1):
What I'd heard first and foremost about this series was that it was full of violence and sex, and that it was okay but not great. While I agree that there is at times excessive gore (the gladiator fight in episode 11 had me half-averting my eyes), there wasn't all that much sex -- oh wait, silly me, I forgot that nudity = sex, and there is brief full frontal nudity of both sexes. And while I'd agree it's not a great series, I thought it really rather good, especially the characters of Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus. Not only are their stories interesting, the actors are damn good.
Another complaint I'd read about was that it was overacted, and that the characters do nothing but spend their time plotting against one another. First of all, I don't think there was much overacted, it's just that some characters (Atia, for starters!) don't know how to do anything else. Secondly, I found it all worked: Octavian is annoying, but that's the way you'd expect an intelligent, slightly awkward young man to act in his situation.
One thing I always like about such series is the glimpse into the everyday life of the period. While I don't consider myself an expert on ancient Rome by any means, most of the details felt right to me, including the way slaves were treated and the way the gods were worshipped. Still, I was a bit confused by the going in and out of Rome and how it affected the various titles; last year I read Imperium, which went on about such things at great length, such as who had the right to wear a crown of which type of leaves and when they could wear it and whether or not they could retain their title inside the walls of the city. If anyone knows more about this (yes, I'm too lazy to go look it up), enlighten me?
I'm apparently a horrible slash/yaoi fan, because until Atia asked Octavian about his "affair" with Caesar, the thought that their little closet interlude might have sounded that way to the cook never even occurred to me. Perhaps it's because in my mind, the ancient Romans are all, "We are most definitely NOT GAY!" (while the ancient Greeks are all, "BOYS!!! :D~~~"). That Atia doesn't seem to care -- seems gleeful, really -- that her son is bending over for Caesar is meant to show how little she cares for the morals of her time, as long as she can advance her ambitions.
And I know I've already said this, but Cicero is MR. COLLINS! XD
Final verdict: 8/10
Enfin veuve:
This was another movie I watched on the flight to or from France over Golden Week, because I would have felt silly to not watch a French movie at some point during the trip.
The story is about a middle-aged woman having an affair. She's been putting off leaving her husband, when he suddenly dies of heart failiure. Her lover thinks that this means they can finally be together, but Anne-Marie doesn't want her whole family, who's shown up to "help her deal with her grief", to find out so soon. Anne-Marie is a silly, flighty twit, and finally her lover gets fed up with her wishy-washiness. The ending is not stupidly sappy, but it's hopeful, and at least Anne-Marie has grown up.
This wasn't a really memorable movie, but it did contain the best instance I've ever seen of grapes used as comic relief: Michèle Laroque's delivery of, "Oh! Mon raisin..." absolutely killed me, and she's nice to look at. Why is it that France is so good at producing lovely actresses who age beautifully?
Final verdict: 6/10
Iron Man:
This I watched on the way home from Taiwan, back in August, and missed the last ten minutes because we were beginning our descent and the captain kept interrupting.
So I'm not a big fan of superheroes, and I knew pretty much nothing at all about Iron Man, but I don't think that made any difference. The movie zips around a lot, it's stylish enough, though simplistic, but since I wasn't expecting a terribly nuanced character, it was okay. The funny bits might have been funnier if I'd been able to hear them properly (damn plane engines!), but other than that, it was... okay, I guess. Certainly not enough to make me want to learn anything more about Iron Man!
Final verdict: 5/10, because while it looked good, it didn't grab my interest at all.
Feel free to discuss in the comments!
Amazing Grace:
My mother recommended this to me a few months ago, and it's a good thing she did, because I probably would have remained ignorant of its existence otherwise, which would have been a shame.
The handsome Ioan Gruffudd (you may know him as Horatio Hornblower) plays William Wilberforce, the MP who led the battle to abolish the slave trade in Great Britain, working year in, year out, at the expense of his health, to try to make the world a better place. It sounds trite to say so, perhaps, but it's a very moving and inspirational story; the movie tells it simply and without ever descending into sentimentalism, which would have been incredibly easy. The titular hymn is used sparingly, and everything was low-key and understated, which I appreciated.
As an added bonus, you get to play "Who's That Guy?" when face after familiar (to those who watch British productions) face appears on screen. Well-known Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour is also in the cast.
Final verdict: 8/10
Rome (season 1):
What I'd heard first and foremost about this series was that it was full of violence and sex, and that it was okay but not great. While I agree that there is at times excessive gore (the gladiator fight in episode 11 had me half-averting my eyes), there wasn't all that much sex -- oh wait, silly me, I forgot that nudity = sex, and there is brief full frontal nudity of both sexes. And while I'd agree it's not a great series, I thought it really rather good, especially the characters of Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus. Not only are their stories interesting, the actors are damn good.
Another complaint I'd read about was that it was overacted, and that the characters do nothing but spend their time plotting against one another. First of all, I don't think there was much overacted, it's just that some characters (Atia, for starters!) don't know how to do anything else. Secondly, I found it all worked: Octavian is annoying, but that's the way you'd expect an intelligent, slightly awkward young man to act in his situation.
One thing I always like about such series is the glimpse into the everyday life of the period. While I don't consider myself an expert on ancient Rome by any means, most of the details felt right to me, including the way slaves were treated and the way the gods were worshipped. Still, I was a bit confused by the going in and out of Rome and how it affected the various titles; last year I read Imperium, which went on about such things at great length, such as who had the right to wear a crown of which type of leaves and when they could wear it and whether or not they could retain their title inside the walls of the city. If anyone knows more about this (yes, I'm too lazy to go look it up), enlighten me?
I'm apparently a horrible slash/yaoi fan, because until Atia asked Octavian about his "affair" with Caesar, the thought that their little closet interlude might have sounded that way to the cook never even occurred to me. Perhaps it's because in my mind, the ancient Romans are all, "We are most definitely NOT GAY!" (while the ancient Greeks are all, "BOYS!!! :D~~~"). That Atia doesn't seem to care -- seems gleeful, really -- that her son is bending over for Caesar is meant to show how little she cares for the morals of her time, as long as she can advance her ambitions.
And I know I've already said this, but Cicero is MR. COLLINS! XD
Final verdict: 8/10
Enfin veuve:
This was another movie I watched on the flight to or from France over Golden Week, because I would have felt silly to not watch a French movie at some point during the trip.
The story is about a middle-aged woman having an affair. She's been putting off leaving her husband, when he suddenly dies of heart failiure. Her lover thinks that this means they can finally be together, but Anne-Marie doesn't want her whole family, who's shown up to "help her deal with her grief", to find out so soon. Anne-Marie is a silly, flighty twit, and finally her lover gets fed up with her wishy-washiness. The ending is not stupidly sappy, but it's hopeful, and at least Anne-Marie has grown up.
This wasn't a really memorable movie, but it did contain the best instance I've ever seen of grapes used as comic relief: Michèle Laroque's delivery of, "Oh! Mon raisin..." absolutely killed me, and she's nice to look at. Why is it that France is so good at producing lovely actresses who age beautifully?
Final verdict: 6/10
Iron Man:
This I watched on the way home from Taiwan, back in August, and missed the last ten minutes because we were beginning our descent and the captain kept interrupting.
So I'm not a big fan of superheroes, and I knew pretty much nothing at all about Iron Man, but I don't think that made any difference. The movie zips around a lot, it's stylish enough, though simplistic, but since I wasn't expecting a terribly nuanced character, it was okay. The funny bits might have been funnier if I'd been able to hear them properly (damn plane engines!), but other than that, it was... okay, I guess. Certainly not enough to make me want to learn anything more about Iron Man!
Final verdict: 5/10, because while it looked good, it didn't grab my interest at all.
