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Reviews
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Fine acting saves a dodgy script
Just how close this is to the original I couldn't say as I haven't seen the 1962 Frank Sinatra original, but as a stand alone political conspiracy thriller it definitely exceeded my expectations.
The first thing that you notice about this film is the acting - superb from all participants. Denzel Washington gives a typically solid performance in the lead role and Liev Schrieber impresses as Raymond Shaw, but most credit must go to Meryl Streep for her highly chilling turn as the mother of a vice-presidential candidate. Her brilliantly psychotic performance is surely worthy of yet another Oscar nomination, and with good reason.
But the acting has to be up to scratch as the script isn't. There are several moments in the film in which you really will have to suspend disbelief as the film climbs to new heights of implausibility, and the film's central premise - that an army unit has been brainwashed and that Raymond Shaw is being controlled by a global corporation - would surely not have got through the first production meeting had this been an original idea.
But since when has a dodgy script stopped a film from being any good? If you're prepared to forget the real world for a couple of hours and forgive the weak ending, which suggests that the scriptwriters missed their deadline and were given an hour to think of an ending, you should find this an engrossing political thriller.
7/10
After the Sunset (2004)
Style over Substance for Brosnan
This flashy heist movie certainly takes advantage of it's assets. The Caribbean locations look superb and Salma Hayek takes over the screen in every scene. It's just a shame that it lacks substance.
As far as the plot goes, anyone who has seen Brosnan in The Thomas Crown Affair may get more than a small feeling of deja vu here, with Brosnan playing virtually the same character, with his specialty shifted from art to diamonds. Woody Harrelson plays the FBI agent obsessed with catching Brosnan's character and Salma Hayek providing eye candy as Brosnan's lover and partner in crime. What follows is a fairly predictable caper movie.
None of the actors are displaying their best performances here, with Brosnan simply going through the motions he learned from Bond and Hayek reduced to doing little more than appearing in a series of increasingly skimpy bikinis. Neither actors nor director seem to be treating the film as anything more than a paid holiday in the Caribbean.
These criticisms aside though, After The Sunset is still a fairly enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. You'll forget the contrived plot as you get engrossed in the stylistic, shallow world of the Caribbean and, though you may not want to see it again and again and it certainly won't win any awards, its perfect popcorn fare.
6/10
Ying xiong (2002)
Most beautiful film ever made?
Well maybe, maybe not, but there's no doubt it's something special. Right from the films opening moments through to the spectacular finale, Ying Xiong (Hero) manages to create both a sense of scale to equal Lord of the Rings while focussing on the individual stories of the central characters.
Although this is advertised as Jet Li's film, and while he certainly has the lion's share of the action, the heart of this film belongs to Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Broken Sword) and Maggie Cheung (Flying Snow). Their romance, while not the main plot of the film, is by far the most intimate and intriuging part of a film which doesn't shy away from trying to link a story around its mind-blowing action sequences.
Whether it achieves this is debatable, for while the Sword/Snow subplot has substance the main plot, although simply told, has its problems, especially as an audience trying to follow the story through subtitles may get slightly confused from time to time as to what exactly just happened. But just be glad the studio resisted the urge to dub it, for having the film in any language other than Mandarin would surely detract from it.
Having said that though, the most compelling sequences are those where everyone shuts up and the astounding cinematography does the talking. Every fight scene from the golden autumn forest to the tranquil lake is beautifully choreographed and wonderfully shot. The film is told as a series of flashbacks, with each one having a different colour theme, such as Red, Blue, White and Green. But although this may sound like a gimmick to Western audiences, each colour represents an emotion in China and all the colour themes are just subtle enough so that, while still glaringly obvious, they act only as an aid to the story, rather than taking it over.
This is an astonishingly beautiful film to look at and, although the central story is a little thin, fine performances and the aforementioned fight scenes mean this film is a cut above most martial arts films.
Family Guy (1999)
taking surrealism to a whole new level
Well done Fox for giving in and granting this superb slice of surrealism a fourth series, as it is one of the most innovative and funny adult comedies ever.
For those of you unfamiliar with Family Guy's format, the Griffin family consists of fat, beer-loving couch potato Peter, sensible mom Lois, teenage daughter with problems Meg and naive Chris. So far so Simpsons. But when you discover the remaining two members of the family are Brian, a talking dog with a weakness for Martinis, and Stewie, a one-year old baby with plans for world-domination and severe matricidal tendencies, you get the feeling things aren't quite as straightforward as you thought.
It has to be said that Family Guy's plot lines are nothing special, but where the shows genius lies is in its frequent, surreal flashbacks of life in the Griffin household. These couple the bizarre with the simply ridiculous, and there unpredictability is what gives the show's humour much of its bite. <example> Lois and Peter are talking about the theatre. Lois reminds Peter of the last time he interrupted a performance. Cut to a theatre performance of Cats. The three actors on stage dance around to music for around 30 seconds. The viewer will be spending this time trying to think of just how Peter interrupts the performance. What no-one expects is for Peter's car to suddenly drive through the set and run over one of the cats. it may just sound stupid here but see it on screen and you'd have to have the sense of humour of a rock not to laugh yourself silly.
Possibly the most interesting characters in the show are Brian and Stewie. This may just be because they are the most surreal of the family, but they also have all the best lines and plot lines, especially in the special episodes "Road to Rhode Island" and "Road to Europe" where the terrible twosome leave their family behind to have their own adventures.
With peripheral characters including sexual pervert Quagmire, Mayor Adam West (wonderfully voiced by the Batman star himself) and Death, Family Guy can definitely never be accused of taking itself to seriously. Family guy is wonderfully self-aware and, although frequent references to US TV shows and stars should in theory alienate non-American viewers, it rarely spoils the joke.
In conclusion, Family Guy treads a fine line between intelligent satire and childish crudeness and comes out as the finest animated comedy ever, delivering its laughs with more frequency and consistency than the Simpsons ever did. Roll on season 4
Charmed (1998)
Please God no more leprechauns!!!!
I just picked up Charmed recently while searching for a replacement for Buffy and I think I've found it in this great fantasy drama about three sisters who possess supernatural powers.
I think the best way to describe this show for non-viewers would be a more grown up version of Buffy. I'll use Buffy as a comparison because chances are you'll know what I'm talking about. But this is perhaps slightly unfair as the shows do have many differences. Although both deal with the pressures of trying to balance a normal life with a most definitely abnormal second life, perhaps the biggest difference is the shows focus. Whereas Buffy is all about high-kicking fight action, Charmed takes a far less gung-ho approach and puts the emphasis more on the characters' normal lifes, which is a good thing.
Another thing this show has over many of its rivals is a healthy disregard for it's character's safety. The character Leo, with his healing powers coupling with an inordinate amount of meddling with time gives the writers great freedom to put the sisters in mortal peril at every opportunity. This may seem odd, but a death count of over a dozen deaths and miraculous recoveries apiece for each of the main characters (plus the permanent ones)does add a lot to the show.
Probably the biggest drawback with the show though, is the writers unashamed stealing of every magical character to ever appear in fiction. Throughout the shows run, we've seen cupid, the four horsemen of the apocalypse (wearing a nice line in co-ordinated suits), shapeshifters, psychics, empaths, banshees, a wide selection of various demons and warlocks, and even leprechauns, who travel around the world on rainbows. Welcome to rock bottom.
Overall, the writing on the show leaves a lot of room for improvement, especially in season 5, but fortunately, this doesn't detract from a great all round show that should leave any fan of fantasy more that satisfied.