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Reviews
Dao ma zei (1986)
He stole more than horses
I'm not Martin Scorsese, I'm not a film student, I'm just a guy who likes movies. I saw this film tonight and found myself a little mystified over all the praise. I'm also not the Summer Blockbuster guy either so that's not my justification for not gushing about this film.
I will remember the primitiveness and brutality of life in Tibet. I will remember the colorful and confusing religious rituals. I'm sure they'd say the same thing about Catholicism. The landscape is beautiful, but that kind of sells itself. Why does the director take credit for that?
As stated on other reviews there are several scenes of sheep abuse which are less than politically correct. OK yeah, I get it, it's a different culture. Doesn't make it easier to watch.
Working with a group of non-actors is a major hurdle to overcome and I salute Tian for overcoming this.
I kept thinking it a bit odd that Norbu's wife had no idea what he did for a living. I also found it a bit odd that she had no recrimination for him after getting banished. Further more I'd have thought she'd really see red when their son dies, probably as a result of their standard of living after being banished. Perhaps this is a cultural difference. I understand the director is making a political statement in this film, but ultimately it seems fairly universal, not a product of Chinese society specifically.
To sum up the dubbing was awful, the sound quality in general was very poor, character development was fairly minimal and the one scene of violence (people on people) was not very convincing. I'm sure I would need to go to film school to find out why this film was called the best of the decade, but if you need that much education to appreciate something is it really worth it in the end?
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Matrix 1 is all you need.
The first Matrix movie was an awesome experiance. Then it all kinda went down hill. The second one has some enjoyable fight sequences, and who can forget the chase scene? I walked out of the theater after watching Revolution just kind of scratching my head. There's a lot going on here and a lot to absorb. After watching it and reading all the theories and ideas on the web I've come to the conclusion that we've all been hoodwinked. We've been bamboozled. The brothers W didn't want to enlighten us. They wanted to pick our pockets. What was added to the story was not worth the price of admission. Plot holes DID abound, no matter how many times I read their "explanations". The end is simply unsatisfying. Neo's final phone call at the end of the first movie is much more satisfying. There is some beauty in what I saw, but not much. There's not even a good fight scene in the movie. It's like "Superman Vs Superman", it's hard to care about it. Speaking of hard to care about that's all I'm going to say about the legion of supporting characters. I so wanted to like it, but it was so unnecessary.
Stranded (2001)
Space movie that steals 2 hrs of life
Being a Science Fiction fan and a native of the hometown of one of the actors I had to see this. I was astounded at how bad a sci-fi movie could be. NONE of the science made any sense. Mars gravity has been talked about already, as well as the time lag with Earth communications. Some of the following points may be seen as spoilers, so don't read on if you are> anxious to see the film with fresh eyes.
Astronauts are dedicated well trained professionals. I wouldn't send these people to summer camp unsupervised! Deciding that there are not enough resources to keep 5 people alive until rescue they decide to let 3 die? I don't think decisions like this would be approved by mission control. (maybe that's why they never seem to talk to Earth.) Basically all that's left of the ship is the crew cabin, and in this small space they have enough food, water and oxygen for two people for over two years? I doubt it. The acting was so bad I was actually relieved as they started dying. I couldn't help but root for the old grim reaper! Particularly the director (blond woman) and the geologist (blond guy) I can't remember their names. These two were dubbed, although their lips seemed to be speaking English. Not sure why they were dubbed. (maybe another unexplained Martian phenomena). OK so there was (is?) life on Mars. Is that the whole plot? I guess I was kinda looking for a little more. I wanted to like this movie, but was given no opportunity to. Walking through the Martian landscape was the best visual of the movie, and even that was ruined by the apparent one Earth gravity.