I've been watching quite a few movies, but I've fallen behind on reviewing them. Anyway, I remember loving Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters as a kid. I hadn't watched it in a few years, but I watched it last week for the fourth or fifth time.
Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) are kicked out of university because of their lack of proper and fruitful research. They start a business of catching paranormal entities, only to find out that something bigger is brewing in New York City, and Venkman will stop at nothing to make sure Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) notices him.
It's a cheesy film, and it's a typical eighties' film, but it's cute and enjoyable. Now that I watched it again, I caught on to some of the innuendos in the film (gate keeper, key master), which made me laugh. Really, there's not much to say because it's a childhood film. Even if it was bad, it's hard for me to focus on that because it's a nostalgic film for me. I mean, really, it's a simple film, and I find the characters aren't necessarily given a lot of back story. I find Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson) is just there, but we still barely see him. I know the point of the film is the ghosts, but all I get is a little bit of information on the characters. Still, as I said, it's not something I really care about that much because it's only made to entertain, and because it has a nostalgic value to it, and it has aged well, it's hard for me to really complain about anything because nothing bothers me about it that much. There are problems, but with a film like this, there's nothing that actually bothered me about it.
I'd give the film a seven point seven on ten. It's entertaining, funny, but nothing extraordinary. If you also like Rick Moranis, he's in it, which is cool! If you've never watched the film, go watch it. I mean really, who doesn't know the line, "Who ya gonna call"?
A long time ago (two months ago), I reviewed Clerks from Kevin Smith. After watching and reviewing the film, I really got into the mood of watching the sequel again. I couldn't find it anywhere (I had put it on a DVD) and couldn't be bothered to re-download it. There was a huge thunderstorm last night, and I lost my Internet connection for a little while. I decided to watch a movie instead of playing Minecraft. During my search, I found Gentlemen Broncos, but more important, Clerks II! Thus I sat down to watch the sequel for the second time.
Dante (Brian O'Halloran) heads out to open the Quick Stop only to find that the store is on fire. Randall (Jeff Anderson), it turns out, left the coffee pot on after closing up. The two end up getting employed at Mooby's, a fast food restaurant, only to be surrounded, once again, by some new, weird, and annoying customers. Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) are back, as well as some new friends including Dante's new fiancee, Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith), Dante and Randall's boss, Becky (Rosario Dawson), and Elias (Trevor Fehrman), a very peculiar co-worker at Mooby's.
The first time I watched this film, I loved it. I loved it even more after watching it a second time because I got to re-hear jokes I found hilarious the first time, and appreciate them even more the second time. I also, cough, was also more informed about certain events that happen in the film since I last watched it, so it also added some more hilarity to the film. The acting is way better in this film than Clerks, and though the dialogue isn't necessarily as witty, it's still amazing, and I laughed a lot. I also liked the new characters that were added in, and I found I appreciated Jay and Silent Bob a lot more in this film. In Clerks, I found they were more of just a little side bit, but in this film, they were better incorporated with the main characters.
Overall I'd give the film an eight on ten, just as I did Clerks. I can't say which one I prefer because I felt both films were a bit different, but were both really good. While Clerks is more safe to watch around family and friends, I'm warning you that you should probably only watch this film with a close friend because it can be pretty graphic. Someone told me they watched it with their parents - by god, I feel for them.
If you don't know who Ingmar Bergman is, you're missing out on one of the greatest directors that ever helped produce cinema. Alright, I have to be honest... I had only watched one other Ingmar Bergman film before this one (it was Wild Strawberries, aka Smultronstället), but I'm going to go ahead and make that statement anyway for two reasons. The first reason being that I did watch two films now and both made me think AND made me feel, which is extremely rare for a film to do. The second reason being that I have read enough about the man to see I'm not alone on this. Of course, the second reason isn't always valid since we all have different tastes, but if a director's films are still praised today, even if they were made over fifty years ago, and they're praised by people all over the world, then you can usually guess the director is at least good. Anyway, here is one film of his splendid collection called The Seventh Seal, or Det sjunde inseglet, starring Max von Sydow, Nils Poppe, Bibi Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, and Bengt Ekerot.
Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) meets Death (Bengt Ekerot) during his travels across Sweden with his squire, Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand) in 14th century in the midst of the Black Plague. He asks to play chess with Death, saying that if he wins the match, he will be allowed to live a longer life. He continuously postpones the game, trying to find out the meaning of life and where one goes once they die. During his journey, he meets Mia (Bibi Andersson), Jof (Nils Poppe), Blacksmith Plog (Åke Fridell), as well as others who try to find meaning in life as the black plague kills people around them.
That synopsis doesn't really do the film justice because it only reveals the surface of this film. As I mentioned, this film made me think, as well as evoked an emotional response. A man is desperately trying to figure out what happens after death because he himself is about to die. He's living in a time where people are dying by the thousands, claiming a god is punishing them. It's interesting because it's not just, "Oh, I'm going to heaven." Instead, we actually get a film that questions the existence of a god, especially in the time of a major crisis. Since I am not very knowledgeable of Swedish culture, especially in the fifties', only of North American culture, I find this amazing. I rarely see a film question what happens after death today, let alone over fifty years ago. I love it. The acting is also good, and I love the personification of Death, which has become stereotypical apparently. I know we see Death in Last Action Hero, but anyway...
I loved the way the film was shot as well. Not only was I enjoying the dialogue, I enjoyed the cinematography. I definitely have a thing for black and white films since I find they're beautiful, but this one was also well shot. It was beautiful to look at, and that definitely made the film even more enjoyable.
I'd give the film eight point three stars on ten. I really enjoyed it. I can't give it justice with just talking about it, so go watch it - it's definitely worth it.
Two reviews in one day? Woah! I started babysitting a friend's little sister yesterday, and I'll be doing so for the next few weeks. She's ten, however, and so far I've not had to do much except sit around, do some dishes, and cook food. We've been watching movies together, but today I got there before she woke up, so I decided to watch anotherJohn Carpenter cult film, Escape from New York. Unlike Big Trouble in Little China, this one was commercially a success, but it has since been established as a cult hit. This film stars Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, Adrienne Barbeau, Donald Pleasence, and Isaac Hayes.
While the president (Donald Pleasence) of United States is on his way to an important summit in 1997, his plane is hijacked by a terrorist. He escapes through an escape pod, but lands in New York city, which, ten years previously, became a prison island where prisoners are sent for the rest of their days. The authorities try to get the president, but their results prove fruitless. Enter Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), an honourable special forces soldier turned robber who has been arrested. Hauk (Lee Van Cleef), an agent in the special forces, offers Snake a deal - rescue the president in 24 hours, and he's given a pardon. There's also a catch - microscopic explosives are implanted in his neck that will explode in 24 hours to ensure Snake goes along with the deal. While New York offers Snake companions to help him in his journey to find the president, the Duke (Isaac Hayes) and his gang are going to prove to be a big problem for Snake, Cabbie (Ernest Borgnine), Brain (Harry Dean Stanton), and Maggie (Adrienne Barbeau).
I loved this film. I'm not sure if Big Trouble in Little Trouble made me a science-fiction-John Carpenter-and-Kurt-Russell lover, but man, I thought the film was grand. Again, it's not a film you watch to think, but simply to be entertained with action and funny lines. It isn't as cheesy as Big Trouble, rather more serious in fact, but it's still a light-hearted film. I also thought the concept of the crime rate in the United States becoming so high that they dedicate a city to housing prisoners and letting them take care of each other interesting. I thought it was pretty amazing that the prisoners never escaped, even if the walls are huge. Manhattan Island is 87.5 square km, or 33.77 square miles, depending on the system you prefer. That's pretty huge! That would mean having people surrounding the whole barrier the whole time, and having a helicopter for at least every few kilometres to ensure no one is sneaking around. Still, that didn't bother me in the least; I just like nitpicking. I just watched the film to be entertained, and entertained I was. The film makes me want to re-watch The Thing (I didn't think it was all that good when watched it), and check out more John Carpenter science fiction films. Kurt Russell was an iconic badass (what did you expect?), and the other characters were well played. I also enjoyed the eighties' soundtrack which John Carpenter also contributed to. That's talent right there!
I'd give the film eight stars on ten. It deserves the cult status it has earned, and it's worth a watch from any action lover. Don't expect too much from it - simply watch it to be entertained.
I was busy sitting around one evening when I pulled out the list I made before summer began of all the films and television series I wanted to watch. I looked at it, and I realised I still had quite a few films to watch. I also realised I had mostly been watching Asian films lately, so I decided to watch some English speaking films again. Of course I chose The Big Lebowski directed by the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan Coen as the first film to watch.
Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), better known as the Dude, comes home one day to find two men demanding him some money because of his apparent wife, and one of them urinates on his rug. They soon realise they've targetted the wrong Jeffrey Lebowski, and promptly leave. The next day, the Dude talks over the ordeal with his bowling partners, Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) and Donny Kerabatsos (Steve Buscemi). Walter convinces the Dude to go to the other Jeffrey Lebowski's house and demand a new rug. When he arrives, Mr. Lebowski (David Huddleston) is anything but understanding, and instead, he proceeeds to refer to him as a bum and to get a job. He manages to get a rug by lying to Mr. Lebowski's butler (Philip Seymour Hoffman). The next day, the Dude is asked to save Mr. Lebowski's wife, Bunny (Tara Reid) and get some money by Mr. Lebowski's daughter, Maude (Julianne Moore), and the Dude and his companions are now in for a very strange ride.
The movie was very nineties' - it was weird, quirky, and funny, but I thought it did it well. I thought the actors and actresses did a fantastic job, including Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Elliott, and others. I thought the jokes were funny, and the writing was good too. It was a film that didn't really follow one plot, so in the end, you don't really find you went anywhere with the film, which bothered me a bit. I felt like I watched a good movie, but it didn't really end with a "conclusion", for lack of a better word. It just felt like we had the kidnapping business, it miraculously was fixed, and then boom, a bunch of random plots thrown in which go nowhere, and then the film is over. Although it had good points in it, and I liked the characters, the overall plot didn't bring me anywhere. While a film can be quirky and weird, I appreciate it when I actually get a film that feels like it ends. This one didn't feel like it ended. It just felt like it stopped, and it was not concluded. There's nothing that bothers me more than a film that was going well, and the ending is not good.
I'd give the film seven point six stars on ten. It was funny, and the writing was good, but the plot was a mess, in my opinion. Since the plot is an important part in a film, I can't give it an eight. Still, it's worth a watch for the dialogue and characters. Oh, also, the soundtrack was amazing.
As you already know from my Joint Security Area review, I would call Park Chan-wook an outstanding director. In fact, I would go as far as to say that he is definitely one of my favourite directors of all time. Oldboy was the first film I watched from him a few years back. I thought it was a film that stood alone, but when I found out it was actually the second installment in a trilogy from Park Chan-wook, I made it a goal to watch the other films as well. First, obviously, we shall start with the first film of the trilogy, Boksuneun naui geot, or, as it is known in English, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.
After 2000's Joint Security Area was a huge success, Park Chan-wook was given la carte blanche to make whatever film he wanted. He completed the vengeance-minded script he had been writing before Joint Security Area. This became the next film Park Chan-wook directed and wrote, and it became known as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.
Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun) is a deaf and dumb man whose sister (Lim Ji-eun) is in desperate need for a kidney transplant. When he is laid off from his job at a factory and loses the money to pay for the transplant when he tries to sell his own kidney to a group of illegal organ donors, Cha Yeong-mi (Doona Bae), his anarchist-supporting girlfriend convinces Ryu to kidnap his old boss' (Sang Kang-ho) daughter in order to get the money they need. Things go terribly wrong, however, which results in revenge from both sides.
I didn't get to watch the film in one sitting, but I still enjoyed it. The first thing I really liked about it was the vengeance and revenge was not one-sided. You felt for both Ryu and Park Dong-jin (Song Kang-ho's character) in the anger they felt. It wasn't like Ryu was the bad guy because we saw the hard life he endured with both his sister and his own life; the same goes for Park Dong-jin - he may be the head of a large company, but he isn't shown as a sadistic man who only cares about money. He loves his daughter, and he, too, is enduring hard circumstances in life. This results in the viewer not being able to choose sides, which leads to an even more emotionally-tearing film.
I also liked the characters themselves. Ryu was sweet, trying his hardest to do the right thing for his sister, but never quite making it. Park Dong-jin's character was, again, a sympathetic man who was not just a "big boss". He was also sweet, and the viewer could sympathise with him, just like the title suggests. Not to mention the acting was pretty good! Ryu pulled off a deaf and dumb man very well, and, well, Song Kang-ho delivered a great performance as usual.
Nonetheless, I found the film a bit slow. It took a little too long for things to get going. In fact, if I recall correctly, the first hour is just the build-up to the kidnapping of the daughter, and the film is two hours long. After that, I found the film went about nicely, but the fact that it took half the duration of the film to get to the main point of the film, and introduce the other protagonist seems a bit too exaggerated for me.
I'd give the film a seven point six on ten. I thought the story was interesting, the acting grand, the actors compelling, but still, it was a slow-moving film for a good part of the film. It's definitely worth a watch. Also, if you can, I heard there's a version that goes from colour to black and white. I didn't see that version, but it might be interesting to watch.
The second film in the vengeance trilogy is, I would say, the most recognised film in the trilogy, as well as one of the films Park Chan-wook is best known for internationally. It is actually based on the Japanese manga Old Boy from Tsuchiya Garon and Minegishi Nobuaki, though Park Chan-wook adapted it into a screenplay. I couldn't tell you how accurately it follows the manga as I never read it, but the main idea is the same. Also, I haven't watched this film in a few months so please bare with me in the review.
Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) gets drunk one night on his daughter's birthday. He's taken into a police station in response to his disorderly conduct, but his friend, No Joo-hwan (Ji Dae-han) thankfully bails him out. Suddenly Oh Dae-su is kidnapped and taken into solitary confinement for fifteen years, finding out through the televised news that his wife was murdered, he has been accused as the murderer, and his daughter was put in the care of foster parents. One day he finds himself on top of a roof in a suit and is determined to find out why and who placed him in that room for fifteen years. Along the way he befriends a woman, Mi-do (Kang Hye-jeon), but the journey to finding the truth is a lot worse than Oh Dae-su is expecting.
The two times I watched this film, I watched it with English dubbing (it was the only version available at the video store), and it was horribly dubbed. Nonetheless, I really loved the story and characters. It definitely deserves all the recognition it gets. As I mentioned, the story is well written - I should definitely check ou the manga. Park Chan-wook managed to take the story and make it into a wonderful film. However, the actors and actresses definitely made the film even better. Choi Min-sik, well, you already know he is a wonderful actor (I Saw the Devil, for example). Kang Hye-jeon takes Mi-do's character and makes her even more sweet than expected. I was actually shocked to see she was the Director's Wife in Three... Extremes. She definitely has some good acting abilities! Yu Ji-tae (he comes in later in the film) is also takes his character and makes him his own. It was an amazing performance that made him completely believable in his role. I thought the beginning with the drunken scene was a bit unnecessary. There were other means to show he had a daughter and wife without including a ten minute scene. It's funny because while I thought the intro to Ryu in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance was too long, here I thought it was a little too short or even just unnessary. Still, it helps put into place Oh Dae-su's character, and we get to see Choi Min-sik act drunk. The only major complaint I really have would just be the dubbing performance, but that's not the fault of the director and the actors. It was definitely a wasteful performance, and I hope the dubbed version international audiences watch is a lot better than the one I watched because it's distracting.
I'd give the film an eight point two on ten. The story was interesting, the acting great, and just an overall entertaining but sad film. My favourite from the vengeance trilogy, and a film to show to your friends to introduce them to the works of Park Chan-wook.
The final film, Chinjeolhan geumjassi (Korean title), in the vengeance trilogy. It has also been called Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, but for whatever reason, in certain areas, the film is only known as Lady Vengeance. Reminds me of a bit of Dead Alive...
Lee Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-ae), also known as Kind-Hearted Geum-Ja, is finally released from prison after serving a sentence of thirteen and a half years for the kidnapping and murder of a little boy, Park Won-mo, a crime she actually did not commit. While she showed a good nature in prison (helping others and displaying a strong Christian faith), now that she is out, she is out to get revenge on the real killer, Mr. Baek (Choi Min-sik). Even when she meets her daughter again, her mind is focused on revenge, and it seems like nothing will get in her way.
The film, I find, was a bit more comical, at least in terms of the visual effects. If you've watched the film, I'm pretty sure you'll see from where I'm coming from. Nonetheless, the story is definitely very dramatic and heavy. I don't find it as suspenseful as Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, but there is one scene later in the film that I thought was actually very interesting. I won't give anything away, but watch the film, and I'm sure you can guess which scene it is. I thought the acting was good. Not the best, but good. I'd say the reason for this is that the characters were not, in my opinion, super well developped. I found the film lacked the depth that both Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy had. The story was good, but it wasn't as good as the films before it. The characters seemed a bit rushed overall, and while Lee Yeong-ae and Choi Min-sik didn't deliver bad performances, I think had the characters been more developped, their performances could have been phenomenal. However, I did enjoy seeing all the main characters of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy in the film as well. Make sure to look out for them!
I'd give the film seven point five stars on ten. It lacked a serious tone throughout the film that bothered me a bit. I found the film a bit rushed, and just not as good as the films before it. It's better than the average film, that's for sure, but in terms of what I expected considering Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy, it was a bit disappointing. Although I sound like I didn't like the film, I did. I thought it was funny, and the final scene is heart-wretching. You do feel for Lee Geum-ji, but I would have preferred that throughout the film, not just one scene. I think had Jenny (Lee Geum-ji's daughter) suffered a similar fate as Park Won-mo (the little boy), I think it would have made a better film. While I think satisfying selfish revenge was what the point of the film was, I think in terms of story, the death of Jenny would have been better. However, that's just my take on the story. It's still worth a watch, but I wouldn't say it was my favourite in the trilogy. There was just something it lacked, though I can't quite put my finger on it.
