Saw
Unleashed
and
Kung Fu Hustle
last night. Enjoyed both of them. You have to be prepared in
Unleashed,
for a lot of simplisitc sentimental dialogue and an unbelievable plot, but if you give up your expectations, the cool fight sequences and Jet Li's performance will draw you in. Morgan Freeman is awesome, as always, even though he's pretty much a Magical Negro.
Kung Fu Hustle
is loads of fun--even more if you know a lot about kung fu movies and can recognize all the scenes and tropes being skewered.
Also saw the trailer for
Lords of Dogtown,
a fictional version of the events covered in
Dogtown and Z Boys,
a documentary which I loved.
Looked damn good and it was cool to see a movie about the late 60s-70s where kids and clothes and houses looked like I remember they did.
Just saw
Kingdom of Heaven.
I thought Orlando did a decent job of pained and restrained
nobility in blossom.
Were they playing to his strengths? Dunno. Definitely not a
leader through charisma -- leading through honourable action instead.
Peter Jackson has ruined me. Dude.
Boromir death scene, Minas Tirith, Helm's Deep, flowering of the White Tree, mondo battering ram ...
of course there are a limited number of ways to show
a siege,
but still. There needs to be a moratorium on heroes
taking a bunch of arrows and keeping fighting,
for at least a couple more years.
Orlando's got a great if narrow niche -- blacksmiths who leave the forge to fight. I wouldn't have thought there were two movies with that hero at the core, but I say he should run with it.
Has he ever done a non-period movie?
Not that's gotten wide release in the US, no. IIRC, he has
Calcium Kid, Haven,
and
Elizabethtown
done. Still, to deflect
Ned Kelly, Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers, Return Of The King, Pirates Of The Caribbean 1-3
-- that'll take some doing. Seeing as people have seen some of those.
Oh, and if Liam Neeson
trains Bruce Wayne and then dies,
[KoH spoiler] that'd make at least three
mentor/corpse
thingies
he's
got going.
Has he ever done a non-period movie?
Does "Blackhawk Down" count as a period movie?
Does "Blackhawk Down" count as a period movie?
Given enough time, it will.
Sorry, haven't had my coffee yet....
Does "Blackhawk Down" count as a period movie?
I wouldn't call it one, but Troy is a period movie.
A.O. Scott, The New York Times:
This is by far the best film in the more recent trilogy, and also the best of the four episodes Mr. Lucas has directed. That's right (and my inner 11-year-old shudders as I type this): it's better than "Star Wars."
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker:
The general opinion of “Revenge of the Sith” seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones.” True, but only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion.
Hee. Love Anthony Lane for the excellent burn.
I've not seen it yet, so can't comment, but that kind of bitchery is funny to me.
(Until it's my script.)
"Empire Strikes Back" is the best one, anyway.
