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sokolovaolga
Reviews
Casino Royale (2006)
Good Bond film
I really liked this film. It was more down to earth and showed more essence of the Bond franchise.
What I didn't like is that it was so much about poker - I don't understand the game but it was fun to watch anyway. Montenegro was a bit too clean cut for me, it was obvious that they substituted another country for it. The bit with the chief of the police in Montenegro was also confusing.
The bond girl has a lot more substance this time, she's purer, smarter, and has a history of her own. This made her a more interesting character to follow. Overall, I appreciated the effort the screenwriters put into character development (for everyone, not just Bond), instead of developing the gadgets. This Bond film is grittier, but also more realistic. Because it bring the issues closer to the everyday level, it also leaves a more lasting impression than other Bond films with their impossible technology and blow-up dolls. The audience in my auditorium was 30+ and it was obvious they enjoyed a more subtle approach.
A note about the new Bond actor: he's a better Bond in action than on a poster. I found that he didn't really come across as "Bond" in the photos for the film, but in action, he's Bond 110%.
Walk on Water (2004)
A great film about forgiveness and reconciliation
As one of the few German-Israeli collaborations this film surprises by feeling very comfortable and warm. Even the dreary German landscape has a nice welcoming touch to it. It is obvious that the producers, actors, etc. have tried to their best to show the landscapes through the lenses of the characters and have succeeded. The view of the landscape is especially important as both countries get two projections each, so four in all for the film.
The real theme of the film is the landscape of the heart and what resentment and anger can do it. Purposeful hatred directed at a certain group, even if it's passive or justified on humanitarian grounds, constructs an expectation that a pattern of previous behavior will be repeated. The connection to the past is never buried, because it is never dealt with. This is where the plot starts off.
Thankfully, the main character comes to realize that staying angry may allow him to punish, but he is only punishing himself. The film brilliantly shows that the need to forgive others is just as important as acceptance of responsibility for hurting others and asking for forgiveness from them.
Walk on Water demonstrates that forgiveness of the ancestral and present wrongs is the only way to start sowing seeds of peace and goodwill for the brighter tomorrow.
Go see this film!
Liegen lernen (2003)
The one who got away
This movie was not very romantic or funny, but it got one point across wonderfully- waiting for the one who got away will screw you over (and all those eligible human bodies around you). In this case, it's the guy that pines over his idyllic first love... in Germany!! Oh so romantic!.. the gray.. dark blue.. coal smelling.. EAST Germany. ;) Nevertheless, your night vision adjusts and the movie gets better.
I really appreciate that the movie deals with men's issues, such as the way they view romantic relationships and how they, even though it's hard to admit, contract and repeat unhealthy patterns in their life. Not the glamorous Haley-Davidson, Mr. Jack Daniels type of masculinity, but the one that lurks beneath the Common Jerk, who (as we all know) cries at night into his pillow, trapped inside his own head.
In essence,this film is for both blocks&birds.. but you gotta to be ready for the presentation. It dissects most common Bf/Gf types and serves them up like a tech assistant at a biology lab. Imagine sugar-free, sunshine-free version of "Before the Sunset" as told by a guy who could actually exist... I loved it.