Caribana Weekend
Jump Up
Just got back from the gym where I was talking about Caribana with the Trinidadian grrl Lisa. She made me so hungry, I went and got a roti...
It will be a quiet weekend for me. I was hoping to do a few more things but I think it is a reflection type of day. I will try to master a few more notes in my quest to learn the guitar. I wil not be able to afford to take lessons when I'm in NYC. I now need to go through my basement and get all my kitchen things for when I move down!
I have gotten back some financial statements and I have been finding that a few things have been incorrect. It has been frustrating mainly because, I had originally found the inconsistancies and reported it immediately yet here I am 3 months later and the error is still there. I finally called them up and they corrected it and as a result, I will be getting a little more financial assistance.
HERO
I watched HERO for the first time. While it had its pluses, overall if was pretty silly. It tried too hard to be an epic. It tried too hard to be art. It tried too hard to be beautiful. It tried hard too be lyrical. It failed, hard.
The English Dub was horrific. It made the acting stilted and hokey. I always think that subtitles are much better. The english wording was there to fit the movements but not necessarily the actions thus making the actors seem like they did not know what they were saying or the emotions did not suit the moment.
The cinematography was stunning at times and silly other times. But the worst thing was the 'Wire-Fu. All the martial arts done on wires. It makes it so hokey. At once it is amazing and ridiculous. The martial arts were good but then added to the wires, it sometimes took on an outlandish energy. Especially silly was the sword fight on the water. Once again, they have taken on the old American adage, "If one explosion is GOOD, then a slew of explosions will be better!!". If a few minutes of fighting is good, then 10-15 minute stretches must be better. Except, when it does not further the plot...OK OK, so in this case it mostly did.
LMH pointed out that colour sequences. Each segment was accompanied by a colour that would dominate the scene. At once powerful and immediately, over the top. Striking as they were, I myself could not discern any pattern to the colour. Nor, could I see if the colours were related to any of the traditional personifications (Red-Anger, Green-Envy, Blue-Sad). Again, I could be wrong but I did not see it or sense it. I was not sure if it was distracting or beautiful
It seems to me the Chinese wanted to make an Epic that would sell the world on China. It felt to me like a movie made by committee. It plagiarized parts from other famous movies such as Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger for example(Which I also did not like-but the acting was much superior) and The Matrix movies in an attempt to cash in on any asian phenomenon that has made it into mainstream Western society.
Now, I know I was only watching parts intensely and other parts in a general way but one of the things that was silly, were the amount of times the characters 'Broken Sword' and 'Snow' die/ kill each other/kill selves/ kill everyone/bore us to death. At the end, I forgot if they were good or bad and which death, if any, were real.
The meeting between the nameless 'Hero' and the Emperor was right out of the Princess Bride' when Wesley meets the Spaniard in the battle of wits. It was a case of, 'You may not know, but I know you know that I know that you know that I know you know'.Follow? You are left wondering...'If he knew, what the fu**k is he letting the assassin so close... Sheeesh
The dumbest thing was the 'Permission to Execute'. This occurs at the end of the movie when then sycophants are begging the Emperor to slay the assassin. It was so stupid, repetitious and once again...Hokey. Perhaps it should have been one sycophant but the chorus of them and the length it went on.. I was thinking...'My God, either kill him or kill them! But put the viewer out of our misery!'
Just got back from the gym where I was talking about Caribana with the Trinidadian grrl Lisa. She made me so hungry, I went and got a roti...
It will be a quiet weekend for me. I was hoping to do a few more things but I think it is a reflection type of day. I will try to master a few more notes in my quest to learn the guitar. I wil not be able to afford to take lessons when I'm in NYC. I now need to go through my basement and get all my kitchen things for when I move down!
I have gotten back some financial statements and I have been finding that a few things have been incorrect. It has been frustrating mainly because, I had originally found the inconsistancies and reported it immediately yet here I am 3 months later and the error is still there. I finally called them up and they corrected it and as a result, I will be getting a little more financial assistance.
HERO
I watched HERO for the first time. While it had its pluses, overall if was pretty silly. It tried too hard to be an epic. It tried too hard to be art. It tried too hard to be beautiful. It tried hard too be lyrical. It failed, hard.
The English Dub was horrific. It made the acting stilted and hokey. I always think that subtitles are much better. The english wording was there to fit the movements but not necessarily the actions thus making the actors seem like they did not know what they were saying or the emotions did not suit the moment.
The cinematography was stunning at times and silly other times. But the worst thing was the 'Wire-Fu. All the martial arts done on wires. It makes it so hokey. At once it is amazing and ridiculous. The martial arts were good but then added to the wires, it sometimes took on an outlandish energy. Especially silly was the sword fight on the water. Once again, they have taken on the old American adage, "If one explosion is GOOD, then a slew of explosions will be better!!". If a few minutes of fighting is good, then 10-15 minute stretches must be better. Except, when it does not further the plot...OK OK, so in this case it mostly did.
LMH pointed out that colour sequences. Each segment was accompanied by a colour that would dominate the scene. At once powerful and immediately, over the top. Striking as they were, I myself could not discern any pattern to the colour. Nor, could I see if the colours were related to any of the traditional personifications (Red-Anger, Green-Envy, Blue-Sad). Again, I could be wrong but I did not see it or sense it. I was not sure if it was distracting or beautiful
It seems to me the Chinese wanted to make an Epic that would sell the world on China. It felt to me like a movie made by committee. It plagiarized parts from other famous movies such as Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger for example(Which I also did not like-but the acting was much superior) and The Matrix movies in an attempt to cash in on any asian phenomenon that has made it into mainstream Western society.
Now, I know I was only watching parts intensely and other parts in a general way but one of the things that was silly, were the amount of times the characters 'Broken Sword' and 'Snow' die/ kill each other/kill selves/ kill everyone/bore us to death. At the end, I forgot if they were good or bad and which death, if any, were real.
The meeting between the nameless 'Hero' and the Emperor was right out of the Princess Bride' when Wesley meets the Spaniard in the battle of wits. It was a case of, 'You may not know, but I know you know that I know that you know that I know you know'.Follow? You are left wondering...'If he knew, what the fu**k is he letting the assassin so close... Sheeesh
The dumbest thing was the 'Permission to Execute'. This occurs at the end of the movie when then sycophants are begging the Emperor to slay the assassin. It was so stupid, repetitious and once again...Hokey. Perhaps it should have been one sycophant but the chorus of them and the length it went on.. I was thinking...'My God, either kill him or kill them! But put the viewer out of our misery!'