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muffinsm
Reviews
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Charming improvement on the normal teen romance
Delightful sarcastic film with a deceptive wit and a whimsical screenplay. It would be a mistake to confuse the settings or the plot with real life, but the characters feel real enough, particularly the paranoid father and the unsuspectingly appealing hero. I personally liked the unending references to Shakespeare.
The Mummy (1999)
Pure unadulterated entertainment
So, I'll be seeing The Mummy for the seventh time this weekend. For those of you who think that's over the top, it may be. The first five times were at the insistence of my four-year-old daughter who has nerves of steel and came through unscathed. I am looking for friends who haven't been fortunate enough to have seen it yet to provide me an excuse to see it again. I should add that, although I watch movies over and over, in general (the ones I like), I rarely spend my money at the theater to do so.
Many deplore the current trend of blending humor and action and drama and, in this case, horror, and romance. But I love a movie like that. I like getting it all. Some have compared it to the Indiana Jones movies. There is some justification for that and I don't think it suffers by the comparison. If it isn't as graphically violent or as gritty (and it's not), it benefits by the excellent advances in special effects (without being made by them) and by a lead character women might well prefer since he is clearly more interested in the girl than the treasures. In tone and humor, it could also be likened, I think, to "True Lies" and "Men in Black", partially because of the mixes of horror, action, humor and/or romance and partially because of the excellent seamless effects that are part of the story rather than included just to impress.
It is not "best picture" material (more's the pity) because it is obviously too much fun. It is fresh time after time, amusing and thrilling. And I am grateful because it had slipped my mind how versatile and talented Branden Fraser was.
I will not hesitate to purchase it on DVD.
Fei lung mang jeung (1988)
An orgy of acrobatic fighting - what fun!
Whee! I am finding myself enjoying Jackie Chan movies more and more as I shed my Western upbringing and open myself to a different way of thinking. The fight sequences and stunts have always been superlative; the plots, well.
The plot here isn't fabulous, but I found it entertaining enough to easily carry me from wonderful fight scene to the next. I admit to a guilty pleasure watching Sammo Hung, Biao Yuen and Jackie Chan mixing it up against one another and then together against everyone else. All things considered, I rank it up near the top for the Jackie Chan's Hong Kong movies and movies in general. Open your mind to a different mindset on plot devising and enjoy an only superficially serious premise made entertaining with a plethora of gratuitous martial arts.
Long de xin (1985)
Heavy fair for Jackie fans
If there is credit due--and there is--I think it should really to large part go to Samo Hung for directing and doing a first-rate performance as Jackie's well-intentioned but mentally deficient brother. Jackie does a reasonably good job as his older brother who gives up his dreams to care for his brother, but can't help but communicate his unhappiness to his brother, who only ends up in more trouble as a result.
For those who adore the fights scenes--and I fit that characterization--like as not you will be disappointed, though there is an excellent sequence near the end. As an emotional movie, it is somewhat depressing, not the sort of feel-good movie like many of us action lovers are used to.
Sadly, the skillful Samo Hung also does not get a real opportunity to show us his fighting capabilities. Ditto for Biao Yuen (another schoolmate) who can be a glory to watch, but who only gets a few bits and pieces in this one. To catch that, one of the best vehicles is "Dragons Forever" where we get to see them fight each other as well a huge cavalcade of bad guys: delightful and more amusing than this rather serious piece.
The Cannonball Run (1981)
Cheesy but entertaining
What can I say? I have a soft spot for movies where the actors obviously were having a good time. For me, it's contagious. If there is anything disappointing, it was the under-use of the over-the-top action possibilities of Jackie Chan. Oh well. I liked it when I was young and not too critical. I like it now that I'm older--and quite critical--for the same reasons I did when I was young. If it took itself seriously, it would be different. Fortunately, it has no such pretentions.