Saturday, September 25, 2004
NEW POLICE STORY
Featuring: Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Daniel Wu
Brief Synopsis: A gang rob banks and terrorize the Hong Kong police force who in turn attempt to catch them.
Comments: It looked interesting from the trailer and it isn’t actually a terrible film. The problem is that it is so clichéd with wayward kids and the cop that is in remorse over past mistakes to incredibly cheesy romantic moments. Jackie Chan tries to come across into serious acting with his drunk cop role and it really doesn’t work for me. It is not only overdone but it is overdone with music layered on top (and if the actor has to explain their emotion, I always see it as a bad sign). It being a Jackie Chan film, there are the usual pre-requisite stunts to stun the audience as well as an interesting grab the cops scene. Nicolas Tse has a nice debut in this Police Story series as the mysterious stranger from nowhere but otherwise many of the characters are instantly forgettable.
Thing to learn from this film: When it looks as if the bus is not on under control, go and check!
Rating: 5/10
Featuring: Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Daniel Wu
Brief Synopsis: A gang rob banks and terrorize the Hong Kong police force who in turn attempt to catch them.
Comments: It looked interesting from the trailer and it isn’t actually a terrible film. The problem is that it is so clichéd with wayward kids and the cop that is in remorse over past mistakes to incredibly cheesy romantic moments. Jackie Chan tries to come across into serious acting with his drunk cop role and it really doesn’t work for me. It is not only overdone but it is overdone with music layered on top (and if the actor has to explain their emotion, I always see it as a bad sign). It being a Jackie Chan film, there are the usual pre-requisite stunts to stun the audience as well as an interesting grab the cops scene. Nicolas Tse has a nice debut in this Police Story series as the mysterious stranger from nowhere but otherwise many of the characters are instantly forgettable.
Thing to learn from this film: When it looks as if the bus is not on under control, go and check!
Rating: 5/10
Saturday, September 11, 2004
WICKER PARK
Featuring: Josh Hartnett, Rose Byrne, Diane Kruger, Matthew Lillard
Brief Synopsis: 2 guys, 2 girls, a lot of romantic/stalker interest.
Comments: This really is such a strange film that it difficult to decide what to type. It reminds me of a Booker prize book that I once borrowed off Kiley where each chapter is told from a different person’s viewpoint with the story moving along. This naturally makes reading or watching difficult as we expect a linear storyline with the occasional flashbacks that are fill in the background. However with this method of movie telling, it made the first third of the film very confusing (and a little boring) to watch but after the viewer understands what is going on, the realization dawns that it a clever and fairly original way to tell the story.
It is a romance story worth telling as romantic interests and desires fly all over the room. The storyline is mainly driven by Josh Hartnett’s character at the beginning but we are slowly introduced into the viewpoints of the three other protagonists as time rumbles on. At the end of the film, both my wife and I agreed it was enjoyable but disagreed on whether it was worth watching again if given the chance. I argued yes on the grounds of The Sixth Sense where the beginning would now make sense in the context of the whole film but she thought not because the surprise factor would no longer be there although the boyish Josh Hartnett would!
Thing to learn from this film: You can’t make somebody love you.
Rating: 8/10
Featuring: Josh Hartnett, Rose Byrne, Diane Kruger, Matthew Lillard
Brief Synopsis: 2 guys, 2 girls, a lot of romantic/stalker interest.
Comments: This really is such a strange film that it difficult to decide what to type. It reminds me of a Booker prize book that I once borrowed off Kiley where each chapter is told from a different person’s viewpoint with the story moving along. This naturally makes reading or watching difficult as we expect a linear storyline with the occasional flashbacks that are fill in the background. However with this method of movie telling, it made the first third of the film very confusing (and a little boring) to watch but after the viewer understands what is going on, the realization dawns that it a clever and fairly original way to tell the story.
It is a romance story worth telling as romantic interests and desires fly all over the room. The storyline is mainly driven by Josh Hartnett’s character at the beginning but we are slowly introduced into the viewpoints of the three other protagonists as time rumbles on. At the end of the film, both my wife and I agreed it was enjoyable but disagreed on whether it was worth watching again if given the chance. I argued yes on the grounds of The Sixth Sense where the beginning would now make sense in the context of the whole film but she thought not because the surprise factor would no longer be there although the boyish Josh Hartnett would!
Thing to learn from this film: You can’t make somebody love you.
Rating: 8/10
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
ALIEN VS PREDATOR
Featuring: Alexa Woods, Sebastian de Rosa, Charles Bishop Weyland
Brief Synopsis: Predators come from outer space to hunt Alien creatures. Human beings get caught in between with rather fatal consequences.
Comments: Frankly if you have never heard of either of these two fictional space creatures, you really shouldn't watch this film. And even if you have, enter the cinema with the lowest of low expectations. The storyline and acting is decidedly average (there is truely astounding scene about the Predator species being worshipped as Gods! And why would anyone want to take sub automatic machine guns into a pyramid? Buried beneath the ice. In Antartica.) but the only thing that people want to see is the fighting. There's not enough of it in my opinion but what there is, it's not too bad. And isn't Alien impregnation very much like a sexually transmitted disease?
Thing to learn from this film: If you are a man, you don't stand a chance against Aliens!
Rating: 4.5/10
Featuring: Alexa Woods, Sebastian de Rosa, Charles Bishop Weyland
Brief Synopsis: Predators come from outer space to hunt Alien creatures. Human beings get caught in between with rather fatal consequences.
Comments: Frankly if you have never heard of either of these two fictional space creatures, you really shouldn't watch this film. And even if you have, enter the cinema with the lowest of low expectations. The storyline and acting is decidedly average (there is truely astounding scene about the Predator species being worshipped as Gods! And why would anyone want to take sub automatic machine guns into a pyramid? Buried beneath the ice. In Antartica.) but the only thing that people want to see is the fighting. There's not enough of it in my opinion but what there is, it's not too bad. And isn't Alien impregnation very much like a sexually transmitted disease?
Thing to learn from this film: If you are a man, you don't stand a chance against Aliens!
Rating: 4.5/10
