(no subject)
28 - Cars - One of Pixar's weaker offerings; the animation is excellent as one might expect, but the story lacks some of the edge of previous films. The plot is hackneyed - city flyboy finds himself trapped in a small backwoods town and despite his best attempts to escape, discovers what's really important in life. *yawn* How much do you want to guess that they all live happily ever after?
29 - Blithe Spirit - Black and white version of the Noel Coward play with Rex Harrison. As a product of its time, not too shabby; to a contemporary audience it lacks the charm of its peers.
30 - Curse of the Golden Flower - A film that is as beautiful as one would expect from the director and cinematographer of House of Flying Daggers, the adjective most often applied to this film is "Shakespearian". Eschewing the wire-work set pieces of Hero and Flying Daggers, this film focuses on the epic power struggle taking place within China's ruling family during the Tang dynasty. The Emperor is poisoning the Empress, the Empress has been sleeping with her stepson, his half-brother however is the competent capable one, and the youngest son watches the plotting and power plays with hungry eyes. This film manages to be at once claustrophobic and epic.
31 - Elizabeth:The Golden Age - In theory, this film should manage to be both claustrophobic and epic, and to some extent it achieves that, but less so than Golden Flower. Cate Blanchett is very good as Elizabeth, trying to live her life within the constraints imposed by her position as Queen, but the film often feels rather slow and ponderous. Did Elizabeth really get herself up like Joan of Arc in gleaming silver armour on a white horse and give a speech to her troops in the field? I don't know, but I know that if she did, she would have used the words "I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of a King. A King of England no less", which were oddly absent from this film. Honestly, this film felt like an uneasy compromise between a historical epic and a romantic chick flick, and accommodating the latter weakened the film.
29 - Blithe Spirit - Black and white version of the Noel Coward play with Rex Harrison. As a product of its time, not too shabby; to a contemporary audience it lacks the charm of its peers.
30 - Curse of the Golden Flower - A film that is as beautiful as one would expect from the director and cinematographer of House of Flying Daggers, the adjective most often applied to this film is "Shakespearian". Eschewing the wire-work set pieces of Hero and Flying Daggers, this film focuses on the epic power struggle taking place within China's ruling family during the Tang dynasty. The Emperor is poisoning the Empress, the Empress has been sleeping with her stepson, his half-brother however is the competent capable one, and the youngest son watches the plotting and power plays with hungry eyes. This film manages to be at once claustrophobic and epic.
31 - Elizabeth:The Golden Age - In theory, this film should manage to be both claustrophobic and epic, and to some extent it achieves that, but less so than Golden Flower. Cate Blanchett is very good as Elizabeth, trying to live her life within the constraints imposed by her position as Queen, but the film often feels rather slow and ponderous. Did Elizabeth really get herself up like Joan of Arc in gleaming silver armour on a white horse and give a speech to her troops in the field? I don't know, but I know that if she did, she would have used the words "I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of a King. A King of England no less", which were oddly absent from this film. Honestly, this film felt like an uneasy compromise between a historical epic and a romantic chick flick, and accommodating the latter weakened the film.