Movietime!
After a rather long slow week, I have come to the conclusion that I have watched entirely too many movies in too short a time. Yes. I have seen the following movies in the past couple of days. That I remember, anyway....
House of Sand and Fog: I rented it because it had got so many recommendations for the acting... and indeed, they were true. Ben Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo were especially amazing in their roles- at no point did I ever get the impression that they were not who they were playing. The plot is quite good and twisty, and I liked the set-up of the dilemma. I especially liked the misunderstandings between the characters. I personally really identified with the immigrants, and so was a bit angry at Jennifer Connelly's character, Kathy. However, at times it seemed a bit overdone. Every character went insane in some way or another. There was not a simple content character, with the possible exception of Esmail (Jonathan Ahdout) and even he was troubled. By the end, the plot had become so convoluted that it was a bit ridiculous, and the ending was too overly dramatic, especially the last line. The lost bird metaphor was beaten to death, and by the end, when the table in the Berani household was thrown yet again I laughed in this horribly depressing movie. Final judgement- worth it, but mostly for the acting- the plot, though it showed a lot of potential just became way too melodramatic by the end.
After House of Sand and Fog left me so depressed, I did not want to go to sleep with that being the last movie on my mind. So I watched Finding Nemo. I usually do not watch Disney movies willingly, but this movie was so recommended to me that I decided to give it a try. Especially since I really wanted to see a movie that ended well and I doubted that there would be a Disney movie that ended in tragedy. I am glad that I did see it, since it was so good. First of all, the animation is really beautiful. The whale and water were particularly well done, I believe, and at one point there was a buoy which I was certain was real. There was even a paint spot on it. There was such a contrast between the Disney characters and the animation... the scene where Nigel deposited Dorrie and Marlon after they visited the dentist especially screamed out to me. For a couple of seconds I was positive that it was animated characters on a filmed background. Yes. As for the Disney animation... it was cute. Especially the facial expressions. As far as the story went, I really liked it. It ended happily of course, but I enjoyed the fact that there were some grayish characters. Marlon was too overprotective to the point that he was hurting his son; Gil almost sacrifices Nemo in his quest to escape; Bruce almost eats Dorrie & Marlon; Marlon does not trust Dorrie; etc, etc, etc. I also loved the satire- there was a lot of humor that was subtle and funny for those above the age of seven. The only negative thing I can say about the movie is that it drags a bit in pace, but that might have been because I was curious as to how the actual finding of Nemo would go. All in all, a definite recommendation.
I saw more movies, but most were on HBO and old, so I figure it not worth it to mention, since none were particularly good.
House of Sand and Fog: I rented it because it had got so many recommendations for the acting... and indeed, they were true. Ben Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo were especially amazing in their roles- at no point did I ever get the impression that they were not who they were playing. The plot is quite good and twisty, and I liked the set-up of the dilemma. I especially liked the misunderstandings between the characters. I personally really identified with the immigrants, and so was a bit angry at Jennifer Connelly's character, Kathy. However, at times it seemed a bit overdone. Every character went insane in some way or another. There was not a simple content character, with the possible exception of Esmail (Jonathan Ahdout) and even he was troubled. By the end, the plot had become so convoluted that it was a bit ridiculous, and the ending was too overly dramatic, especially the last line. The lost bird metaphor was beaten to death, and by the end, when the table in the Berani household was thrown yet again I laughed in this horribly depressing movie. Final judgement- worth it, but mostly for the acting- the plot, though it showed a lot of potential just became way too melodramatic by the end.
After House of Sand and Fog left me so depressed, I did not want to go to sleep with that being the last movie on my mind. So I watched Finding Nemo. I usually do not watch Disney movies willingly, but this movie was so recommended to me that I decided to give it a try. Especially since I really wanted to see a movie that ended well and I doubted that there would be a Disney movie that ended in tragedy. I am glad that I did see it, since it was so good. First of all, the animation is really beautiful. The whale and water were particularly well done, I believe, and at one point there was a buoy which I was certain was real. There was even a paint spot on it. There was such a contrast between the Disney characters and the animation... the scene where Nigel deposited Dorrie and Marlon after they visited the dentist especially screamed out to me. For a couple of seconds I was positive that it was animated characters on a filmed background. Yes. As for the Disney animation... it was cute. Especially the facial expressions. As far as the story went, I really liked it. It ended happily of course, but I enjoyed the fact that there were some grayish characters. Marlon was too overprotective to the point that he was hurting his son; Gil almost sacrifices Nemo in his quest to escape; Bruce almost eats Dorrie & Marlon; Marlon does not trust Dorrie; etc, etc, etc. I also loved the satire- there was a lot of humor that was subtle and funny for those above the age of seven. The only negative thing I can say about the movie is that it drags a bit in pace, but that might have been because I was curious as to how the actual finding of Nemo would go. All in all, a definite recommendation.
I saw more movies, but most were on HBO and old, so I figure it not worth it to mention, since none were particularly good.