Since this college semester is coming to a close in a few weeks, I’ve decided to post my current Top 10 films list for a two part blog, giving reasons and a video showing a clip from each film.  Now, I won’t go and call myself the best film critic by any stretch of word and there are still plenty of movies I have yet to see.  But I figure there’s no harm in constantly updating your list and for a good while, this has been what the top has looked like.  So here it is, part one:

10. Forrest Gump

This is definitely a clear contender for a most popular film list; and with good reason.  Many scenes, characters and lines have been mentioned, quoted and spoofed countless times, but this is all the more reason it’s such a great movie.  Sure, we’ve all seen it only a billion and a half times already, but it never loses its charm.  Although Forrest might not be the brightest apple on the tree, he’s one of the most naturally good at-heart.  A big part of what makes this such an easy film to follow is how Forrest’s adventures and, at times, struggles are a fair representation of what many common Americans go through.  The film has recently been criticized for having a constrained view on some of these moments but this is more a misconception than anything.  What Forrest deals with and notices are intended to be passed off from his view, which is as neutral and unbiased as you can possibly get.  Some might think the film struggles with its message(s), which it doesn’t but this is only more reason the film relates so easily to us (multiple messages and some not being so clear at first).

“What’s my destiny, Mama?”

“You’re gonna have to figure that out yourself.  Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest.  You never know what you’re gonna get.”

9. Stand By Me

I’ve become a fairly big fan of Stephen King in the past couple years.  I feel that he’s (mostly) offered some of the best stories out there, whether they detail strong characters or have striking scenarios, he’s almost never left me underwhelmed.  And despite how much I might praise his other works; I think the story that hits home the most for me is the film adaptation of Stand By Me.  The plot is very basic and gives us little more than the little journey that our four main characters go through.  But this simplicity gives the film a lot of room to detail the characters and we definitely get a strong dose of that, namely from Gordie and Chris.  The relationship between all four characters feels natural and realistic, with great agreements and sometimes bitter arguments sprouting out.  Anyone who’s seen the film unedited knows that it doesn’t try to sugarcoat anything but you’re not getting morbid or depressing images either.  It’s a kind of film that can easily to speak to anyone because of it cleverly maintaining a mid-ground mood.

“**** writing, I don’t want to be a writer.  It’s stupid.  It’s a stupid waste of time.”

“That’s your dad talking.”

“Bull****”

“Bull true.  I know how your dad feels about you.  He doesn’t give a **** about you, Denny was the one he cared about and don’t try to tell me different.  You’re just a kid, Gordie.”

“Oh, gee!  Thanks, Dad!”

“Wish the hell I was your Dad.  You wouldn’t be goin’ around talkin’ about takin’ these stupid shop courses if I was.  It’s like God gave you something, man, all those stories you can make up.  And He said, ‘This is what I got for ya, kid.  Try not to lose it.’  Kids lose everything unless there’s someone there to look out for them.  And if your parents are too ****ed up to do it, then maybe I should.”

8. Letters from Iwo Jima

This might sound blasphemous to some, but I’m pretty late to the Clint Eastwood party.  In fact, this and Flags of Our Fathers were my introduction to his work.  But as we all know Mr. Eastwood has seldom missed the mark and he definitely did a great job with Flags of Our Fathers.  Then there’s Letters from Iwo Jima, which trumps its American sibling in every conceivable way.  Despite telling the tale from the Japanese point of view, this film actually hits home harder than Flags of Our Fathers.  Giving us an idea of what the conditions were (probably) like for the Japanese soldiers who worked, fought and died on Iwo Jima is one of the film’s strongest aspects.  And it’s carried out throughout the entire runtime with pure excellence, giving us strong performances from the entire cast (especially Ken Watanabe) and dramatic moments matched by a solemnly peaceful score.  War has taken many forms and become the inspiration for a wide variety of films-this is one that gets my utmost recommendation for even the remotely curious.

“If our children can live safely for one more day it would be worth the one more day we defend this island.”

7. The War

Don’t be confused, this isn’t that forgettable film featuring Jason Statham and Jet Li.  Instead, this is a picture from 1994 staring Kevin Costner and a young Elijah Wood playing part of a dirt poor family in 1970.  I will say I’m definitely biased towards this film mostly because it hasn’t gotten much recognition and has thus become more of a cult favorite.  The synopsis doesn’t sound terribly interesting on paper and the happy-happy-joy-joy DVD cover indicates a very bland film.  However, this is a movie that, like most of the films on my Top 10 list, hit close to him simply for its characters.  The relationships are mostly believable and the acting is solid all around.  This leads to a real shame about the film: only two (three if you count Lucas Black) of the actors made it.  Many of the supporting characters were filled by people who looked like they had plenty of potential yet only Wood and Costner hit it big.  A number of messages are told throughout the film and although they aren’t emphasized quite to the extent of, say, Forrest Gump, it helps keep the film from feeling like it’s preaching.  I’m sure most who are reading this haven’t seen the film and likely won’t find it at their local video store.  But I highly urge even buying it since it can very easily grow on you and a number of scenes contribute to give it plenty of re-watch value.

“I hope you know them’s the kids who just beat me up.”

“I know who they are, son.”

“Then why’d you give them Ma and Lidia’s cotton candy?”

6. Schindler’s List

Of all the films on my Top 10 list, this is the one that I can never bring myself to watching multiple times.  I’ve only seen the movie one time, but that single viewing alone leaves such a mark on you that it’s almost impossible to forget the details.  This is a very different film for Spielberg which turns out to be a wonderful shift and only makes me wonder why he hasn’t done more dramas.  On the flip side, part of what helps Schindler’s List work so well is that we haven’t gotten very many films that even come close to hitting the serious mark it has.  Those who haven’t seen it should be aware that this is a very unapologetic viewing which, given the subject matter, is very important.  What’s best is that we get this inspired tale of a single setting in the Holocaust and it never loses the tight grip in the three hour runtime.  Schindler’s List very clearly deserved its Best Picture win at the Oscars for a number of reasons, including how unrelenting, convincing and absorbing it is.

“I could have got more out.  I could have got more.  I don’t know.  If I’d just…I could have got more.”

“Oskar, there are eleven hundred people who are alive because of you.  Look at them.”

“If I’d made more money…I threw away so much money.  You have no idea.  If I’d just…”

“There will be generations because of what you did.”

“I didn’t do enough!”

“You did so much.”

“This car.  Goeth would have bought this car.  Why did I keep the car?  Ten people right there.  Ten people.  Ten more people.”

“This pin.  Two people.  This is gold.  Two more people.  He would have given me two for it, at least one.  One more person.  A person, Stern.  For this.  I could have got one more person…and I didn’t!  And I…I didn’t!”

Ik heb afgelopen maandag de film Batman Begins (2005) op tv gezien. In deze film worden de hoofdrollen gespeeld door Christian Bale als Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Caine als Alfred, Morgan Freeman als Lucius Fox, Gary Oldman als Jim Gordon, Rutger Hauer als Earle, Cillian Murphy als Dr. Jonathan Crane, Liam Neeson als Henri Ducard, Ken Watanabe als Ra’s Al Ghul, Colin McFarlane als Loeb en Katie Holmes als Rachel Dawes.

De kleine jongen Bruce Wayne zag zijn ouders voor zijn ogen wreed vermoord worden: een trauma dat hem voor de rest van zijn leven vervult met wraakgevoelens. Het lot laat hem zijn wraak echter niet uitvoeren. Hij vlucht naar het Oosten, waar hij opgevangen wordt door de ninja-leider Ra’s Al-Ghul, en als hij terugkeert naar zijn thuisstad Gotham City vindt hij die in de handen van maffiabendes en andere gangsters. Hij besluit een nieuw persoon te worden, één die de harten van misdadigers met vrees vervult: Batman! Met de hulp van politieman Jim Gordon zet Batman zijn eerste stappen in zijn strijd tegen het onrecht. Zijn strijd begint tegen de maffiabaas Don Falcone, de gekke dokter Jonathan ’Scarecrow’ Crane en een mysterieuze derde persoon …
[FilmTotaal.nl]

Ik vind dit een hele goede Batman-film. Juist het fet dat de beslissing die Bruce Wayne neemt om als Batman de misdaad te bestrijden halverwege de film genomen wordt vind ik moedig en is verder heel goed uitgewerkt.

Wat ik ook heel goed vind is dat je ziet dat Bruce Wayne altijd last heeft gehad van het feit dat zijn ouders voor zijn ogen vermoord zijn. Ook wel leuk om te zien dat Bruce Wayne bij een groep Ninja’s terecht gekomen is om zichzelf te stalen en veel te leren.

Verder blijft Gotham City gewoon erg gaaf om in beeld te brengen en dat is ook in deze film heel goed gelukt. De nieuwe batmobiel is natuurlijk supergaaf!!

Al met al een film die gewoon zeer goed en onderhoudend is.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara

This excellent review by The Picklebot of a great site called Like the Cast of a Fellini Movie

PLOT

The World War II battle for the strategically important island of Iwo Jima, told from the Japanese perspective. Focusing on the stories of General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) and young conscript Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) as the assault rages about them.

REVIEW

The terms brave and important have been attached wantonly to this picture, and considering it is an American film made from the perspective of the Japanese during a World War II engagement, that seems justified. Clint Eastwood famously realised during the making of Flags of Our Fathers, that there was a vital story to be told about the opponents of this assault. The question is, was this that story?

Enormous attention to detail went into this film, as is always the case with Eastwood’s movies, and it was extremely refreshing to find the whole film in the Japanese language. The script was based on works of non fiction, and the story co-written by the Japanese screenwriter. It felt authentic, and its success in Japan proves the point.

In Eastwood’s hands, the drama is taught throughout, characters are given personal battles to fight before and during the assault, with satisfying conclusions. There is a sense of the classic war movie, without the action degenerating into the glamourisation of post war, propaganda pictures. But this also presents one of the films flaws.

As with The Changling, despite the factual basis of the film, it feels too cinematic. There are overt story arcs, which, while drawing us in, taint the piece by presenting history as a framing device to a personal tale. Like The Thin Red Line, there is a great sense of the foot soldier being passed from pillar to post with little understanding of what is actually happening. But there is too clear a journey for Saigo, as he attempts to get from A to B.

If his path through the war zone had been the main focus of the film, it may have worked, but we also see a great deal through the eyes of General Kuribayashi. The plot strands of the two characters intertwining a little too often.

There is also great effort to humanise the Japanese forces, necessary if we are to root for them in the way Eastwood wants us to. But then we are suddenly presented with scenes to remind us that, actually, the Japanese were baddies – only the characters we are meant to like are acceptable, and then, only because they disagree with the ethos of Imperial Japan.

Each of the main characters are clearly shown to be rebellious and disenfranchised, but nonetheless patriotic to a fault. This need not be the case, Downfall dealt with the very tricky subject of the core of the Nazi party, and succeeded in portraying Hitler and his associates without making us complicit in their beliefs.

Letters From Iwo Jima is a notable stride forward in the American perception of the world beyond its vast borders, and worth watching. However, while featuring engaging performances and excellent photography, it fails to tell us anything new about the conflict that a short documentary on The History Channel could not.

Asi es amigos ,en esta oportunidad nos encontramos ante un film bastante especial,y con un gran reparto encabezado por  Leonardo Dicaprio,Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page y Marion Cotillard.  Todos dirigidos por el gran Christopher Nolan.

]]> http://mymobo.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/cirque-du-freak-the-vampires-assistant/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:11:22 +0000 mymobo http://mymobo.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/cirque-du-freak-the-vampires-assistant/ http://theninthdragonking.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/quality-assessment-cirque-du-freak-the-vampire-assistant/ Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:49:24 +0000 Nate http://theninthdragonking.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/quality-assessment-cirque-du-freak-the-vampire-assistant/

I’ve never read the books but if one were to take this movie at face value and take into consideration that the story is a mash-up of not one but THREE! of the novels then the only thing one would assume is that the series is well, trash. (Can’t possibly as bad as this movie adaptation, I’m sure.)

don't waste your time.

This was the most booooring, limp, bland, completely devoid of any joy/fun movie I’ve seen in a while.  The lead boy reminded of Ashton Kutcher playing Kelso on “That 70s Show” but even more bland and without the quirks.  John C. Reilly works hard, hard, to try to inject some life into this but there’s just no use.  He’s the only good thing in this, him and the spider, the spider! It was unbelievably long and badly, badly paced.  There’s so many well-known actors in the cast and they are all sorely misused.  Pointless.  Grade: D-

Based on the popular series of books by Darren Shan, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant tells the story of a small-town teen who inadvertently shatters a 200-year-old truce between warring factions of vampires. Sixteen-year-old Darren (Chris Massoglia) is your typical adolescent; he spends most of his time with his best friend, Steve (Josh Hutcherson), earns decent grades, and generally manages to stay out of trouble. But trouble finds Darren when he and Steve make the acquaintance of a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) while attending a traveling freak show at a local theater. Transformed into a bloodsucker by Crepsley, Darren joins the Cirque du Freak and quickly ingratiates himself with the unusual cast of characters who populate it, including Madame Truska the Bearded Lady (Salma Hayek) and the traveling sideshow’s towering barker (Ken Watanabe). As Darren works to master his newfound powers as a budding member of the supernatural underworld, he becomes a valued pawn between the vampires and their deadlier rivals, the Vampanese. With tensions between the two sects intensifying, Darren must figure out a means of keeping the coming war from destroying his last vestige of humanity. Patrick Fugit, Orlando Jones, Willem Dafoe, and Jane Krakowski co-star.

Every time I put this film in my DVD player I am delighted to no end.  The Last Samurai is one epic film that I will easily sit myself down for 200 breath-taking minutes and just immerse myself in the beauty and splendor of Edward Zwick’s masterpiece.  Not many so-called “epics” can grab and keep my attention but those that do just floor me with the set design, visuals and the plot and dialogue which make it immensely interesting.  Watching this, I am immediately transported to feudal Japan and it’s like I’m a kid at Christmas.  The visuals alone could be considered eye-candy and if that’s so, I have seen this so many times I’ve gotten cavities – metaphorically speaking, mind you.  I mean could you imagine, literal eye cavities?…that’s gross, but I digress.

I’m just a sucker for anything traditionally Japanese and this was right up my alley.  Also, I’ve been a Tom Cruise fan since birth (being raised on Risky Business and Top Gun) but I’ll admit he can be hokey and obnoxious.  I’ll say right off, this is probably Tom’s finest role and it deserved more credit than it got if you ask me.  Cruise plays war tortured and lost soul Captain Nathan Algren and is sent to Japan after his track record with the Indian Campaigns. However, a bit of a loose canon (and possible military liability), his troubled personal nature still seems respectable enough for the Army to send him to train Japanese soldiers in modern warfare.  Mirroring the modernization efforts in America and subsequent the eradication of the Native American way of life, the samurai are the last hurdle in the Emperor’s attempts to Westernize Japan.  Ken Watanabe (playing Katsumoto) leads last of the traditional countrymen not willing to advance with the rest of the Western world.  Feeling betrayed and almost cast aside despite their past sacrifices, the sizable number of ‘rebel’ citizens are holding fast to the traditions that shaped their proud and beloved country.

What I find most impressive in this story are the slow reveals of the unseen similarities.  Not only are America and Japan facing the same type of civil warring, but the main characters, Algren and Kastumoto, are much more alike then they first realized.  Both once held such respect and pride in their country and their efforts to defend it, but after years of seeing their efforts gone to waste, they are not content nor confident with new direction of their country.  Contrariwise,  the area where they differ is that Katsumoto, though troubled, still finds purpose but Algren has all but given up.  Algren, despite his attempts to run away from his past which now haunts him, finds new purpose and admires the conviction and honor that the samurai hold dear.  This is where the story gets deeper more interesting and really establishes how the two can learn from and respect each other.  In both a physical and spiritual way, (by helping the samurai as opposed to the Army he was hired to train) he is able to make amends for his unsavory military campaign against the Indians by helping the samurai fight the Emperor’s modern crazy advisers and army.  It’s the perfect story of redemption and soul searching without being in your face and preachy.  There is a gentle but still resonating subtlety to this film that really compliments and represents the Japanese way of life.

Cruise gets the top billing in this film but he, in my opinion, is not the star.  Ken Watanabe just steals this movie and though he’s not really a player until a third of the way through, his presence, in one word, is captivating.  Emanating an almost hypnotic dialect, his lines are delivered with this sort of tender yet majestic tone and you can feel the power and wisdom of his royalty behind every word uttered.  If you’ve seen Memoirs of a Geisha, you’ll know he has incredible depth and allure.  I almost wish they would have a prequel to this film that focused on Watanabe but I really don’t want to ruin this film’s beauty and grace with a sequel, prequel or anything of the sort.  In my opinion, I think that a wonderful film (such as this) that can stand alone with out need for continuing the story, or finding the origins, should be the definition of an “epic” film and not just how much content or production the film embodies, but that’s just me.

I’d compare this film to Kingdom of Heaven in its scope, grandeur and beauty.  The attention to detail on costumes, sets, etc. almost rivals the work WETA did in designing the Lord of the Rings films and in ‘Samurai’, it is just a sight to behold.  The Japanese, a people who pride themselves on the perfection of everything they do, are an inspiration to the entire world.  Their commitment to a belief or cause, to them, is literally worth dying for and that’s what makes this film so touching and impacting.

With so much greatness wrapped up in this 2 1/2 hour epic, this film does nothing but shine.  I wish I could do a proper write up and go on and on raving about it but ‘Off the Shelf’ reviews are more of a recommendation post with some personal high and low points thrown in (which is why this would seem an extremely light write up for a film of this magnitude).  As much as I just adore this film, I really hate to find a fault in this movie and that said, the only fault is with Tom Cruise.  Had this been any other actor, I wouldn’t have minded the “love story” angle.  For some reason his tragic love affair with wife of the samurai he killed just seems insulting, and almost plays to the unwritten rule that states “Tom Cruise always gets the girl“.  Now it wasn’t enough to take me out of the movie but I would have preferred they not use it as a plot device.  In his defense, I think his performance in this is much more professional and far beyond the any of his other roles.  As ‘Algren’, he almost disappears in the role and you forget you are watching Tom Cruise.  Finally, the contributions of Zwick, Watanabe, Cruise, production designer Lilly Kilvert and score from Hans Zimmer make for a simply beautiful and unmatched symphony of, what I think is, legendary film making.

G-S-T Seal of Approval: GRANTED…This film is, very deservingly, a Great Cinematic Treasure.

The Vampire’s Assistant opening 23rd of October at MAYO MOVIE WORLD CINEMA .

Synopsis: The Vampire’s Assistant tells the frightening tale of a boy who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares.

14-year-old Darren (Chris Massoglia) was like most kids in his suburban neighborhood. He hung out with his best friend, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble. But when he and his buddy stumble upon a traveling freak show, things begin to change inside Darren. That’s the exact moment when a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) turns him into something, well, bloodthirsty.

Starring: Chris Massoglia, John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Salma Hayek, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Fugit, Orlando Jones, Jane Krakowski, Josh Hutcherson, Ray Stevenson, Michael Cerveris, Frankie Faison, Kristen Schaal

Director: Paul Weitz

- John David

The Vampire’s Assistant opening 23rd of October at S.G.C. ENNISCORTHY.

Synopsis: The Vampire’s Assistant tells the frightening tale of a boy who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares.

14-year-old Darren (Chris Massoglia) was like most kids in his suburban neighborhood. He hung out with his best friend, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble. But when he and his buddy stumble upon a traveling freak show, things begin to change inside Darren. That’s the exact moment when a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) turns him into something, well, bloodthirsty.

Starring: Chris Massoglia, John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Salma Hayek, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Fugit, Orlando Jones, Jane Krakowski, Josh Hutcherson, Ray Stevenson, Michael Cerveris, Frankie Faison, Kristen Schaal

Director: Paul Weitz

- John David

The Vampire’s Assistant opening 23rd of October atS.G.C. DUNGARVAN .

Synopsis: The Vampire’s Assistant tells the frightening tale of a boy who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares.

14-year-old Darren (Chris Massoglia) was like most kids in his suburban neighborhood. He hung out with his best friend, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble. But when he and his buddy stumble upon a traveling freak show, things begin to change inside Darren. That’s the exact moment when a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) turns him into something, well, bloodthirsty.

Starring: Chris Massoglia, John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Salma Hayek, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Fugit, Orlando Jones, Jane Krakowski, Josh Hutcherson, Ray Stevenson, Michael Cerveris, Frankie Faison, Kristen Schaal

Director: Paul Weitz

- John David

John Woo’s massive historical epic comes to America – in condensed form – this November.

The most expensive film in Asian production history but also the highest-grossing among Chinese cinema to date, director John Woo’s Red Cliff relates the momentous Battle of Red Cliffs that marked the end of China’s Han Dynasty and the beginning of its Three Kingdoms period in the Third Century CE. The film also presents something of a comeback for Woo himself, marking his first Chinese film since 1992 and his first full-length feature since the 2003 flop Paycheck.

Though the Asian release saw the four hour-plus epic cut into two parts, American audiences will see an abbrieviated 148-minute version that condenses the complicated and far-reaching story into a single narrative while introducing new footage that helps explain and clarify the depicted events. The film follows Han Chancellor Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) as he leads the Imperial Army on an expedition to crush Southern warlords Sun Quan (Chang Chen) and Liu Bei (You Yung). Desperate for new territory with which to bolster their crumbling empire, the Han army is swift and merciless, overrunning provinces and killing civilians as well as combatants.

Liu Bei and his compatriots lead the defense of the civilians and their own lands, eventually allying with Sun Quan in a last-ditch effort at defense even while Cao Cao’s forces approach the city of Red Cliff, situated along the strategically crucial south bank of the Yangtze River. Quan’s sister, Sun Shangxiang (Zhao Wei), infiltrates Cao Cao’s camp to gather intelligence while leaders on both sides beg, borrow, and steal the supplies and intelligence needed to gain an upper hand. Much of the film’s Asian release detailed the intrigue and human drama leading up to the cataclysmic main engagement, with subterfuge and deceit blooming all around. By the end of the battle the victorious Sun and Liu retain their holdings south of the Yangtze, in time establishing the kingdoms that would come to be known as Shu Han and Eastern Wu.

Woo also co-wrote the screenplay, basing the story not on the landmark historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms (celebrated as one of the finest novels in all of Chinese literature) but on the more neutrally-toned historical record Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, which reportedly presents a more even-handed treatment of characters on both sides of the fighting. As perhaps a sign of the film’s importance as a Chinese cultural event, the nation’s government lent the production more than 100,000 soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army to serve as extras for the combined naval and land battle.

For all that scale the story is also one of characters, many of whom are legends in their own right and revered throughout 17 centuries of Chinese history. Though the cast is stocked to overflowing with Chinese actors both veteran and up-and-coming, the film’s earlier announced cast would have offered a meeting of stars seldom seen: screen legend Chow Yun-Fat (The Killer) was slated to star as Zhou Yu, Quan’s military commander, but withdrew over script and contract disputes. Japanese actor Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins) was cast as Cao Cao but was released after the production drew complaints for casting a non-Chinese actor in such an important role. Finally, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (Internal Affairs) was originally cast as strategist Zhuge Liang (played now by Takeshi Kaneshiro) but replaced Chow instead.

Woo himself became a legend in the early 90s, thanks to staggeringly innovative and artistic work on action films such as Hard Boiled (1992) and especially 1989’s The Killer. His American career was less impressive, starting slowly with the Jean Claude Van Damme vehicle Hard Target (1993) and reaching through the John Travolta-led films Broken Arrow (1996) and Face-Off (1997), both somewhat formulaic efforts that often cribbed plot devices or imagery from Woo’s earlier, Asian-produced work. His films in the current decade have been even less noteworthy, including the Nicolas Cage-starring Windtalkers (2001) and the aforementioned Paycheck.

Still, there’s something about such a sweeping and important work that feels a natural fit for Woo, and if the reduced version does well in theatres hopefully a restored DVD edition will find its way to American shelves.

Red Cliff opens in limited release November 20.

- Michael Kabel

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Following the trend of vampires in film, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant is an adaptation of Darren Shan’s popular series of books. This is the story of a teenage boy who unknowingly breaks a 200 truce between two warring vampire clans. Starring Josh Hutcherson, Ken Watanabe, and John C Reilly, this opens on October 23, 2009.

Iron Man 2 กลายมาเป็นหนังฮีโร่ภาคต่อที่มาพร้อมความสดใหม่และได้ทีมนักแสดงชั้นนำของวงการมาร่วมงานด้วยอย่างคับคั่ง อย่างที่รู้กันว่า นอกจากอะไรๆจะมากขึ้นในภาคนี้แล้ว ก้าวต่อไปที่ใครๆต่างให้ความสนใจก็คือเรื่องราวจะออกมาเป็นอย่างไร ในเมื่อภาคแรกพระเอกของเราได้ออกมาเปิดเผยถึงสถานะฮีโร่กู้โลกไว้ในตอนท้าย และแน่นอนว่าความวุ่นวายที่จะตามมาในภาคสองก็ย่อมติดตามมาด้วยเนื้อเรื่องที่ไปได้ไกลกว่าภาคแรก หรือไกลกว่าหนังแนวเดียวกันด้วยซ้ำ และฉากแอ็กชั่นสุดยิ่งใหญ่ที่มากกว่าเดิม งานนียังมีสองพระเอกRobert Downey Jr. ที่กลับมารับบทแจ้งเกิดอีกครั้งและบทเพื่อนซี้ในเรื่อง Don Cheadle ที่เข้ามาเสียบแทนTerrence Howard ในวินาทีสุดท้าย พร้อมๆกับสองสาวเคียงข้างที่วงในกระซิบมาว่าประชันกันทุกนาทีทั้งในและนอกจอ และสองตัวร้ายหน้าใหม่ ที่หนึ่งในนั้นก็คือ Mickey Rourke นักแสดงรุ่นเก่าที่กลับมาเกิดอีกครั้งเมื่อปลายปีที่ผ่านมา ซึ่งในคลิปนี้ก็มีฉากต่อสู้กับโรเบิร์ตด้วย

ว่ากันถึงการแจ้งเกิดบอจอภาพยนตร์ ช่วงสี่ห้าปีที่ผ่านมานี้ มีอีกหนึ่งนักแสดงที่ดวงดีมีโอกาสกลับมามีงานแสดงเข้าตากรรมการอีกครั้ง ในวัยที่ไม่ใช่เด็กๆเลยแม้แต่น้อย Jackie Earle Haley คือใครคนนั้น เพราะในปี 2oO6 เขาได้มีโอกาสร่วมแสดงในหนัง Little Children รับบทเป็นคนโรคจิตประจำหมู่บ้านที่พยายามจะไถ่บาป และขอโอกาสกลับมามีส่วนร่วมในสังคมอีกครั้ง บทนี้ที่ถึงจะน่ารังเกียจแต่เขาก็ให้การแสดงที่น่าเห็นใจและทรงพลังยิ่งนัก ส่งผลให้การชิงออสการ์ครั้งแรกจากเรื่องนี้เป็นหนทางกลับมาเกิดอีกครั้งในวงการ ซึ่งต่อมาก็มีหนังใหม่ตามมาหลายเรื่อง อย่างไม่นานมานี้ก็มี Watchmen กับการเล่นเป็น Rorschach ฮีโร่ผู้รักอุดมการณ์ยิ่งชีพที่ต้องใส่หน้ากากอยู่ตลอดเวลา แต่ก็ยังให้การแสดงสุดเข้มข้น น่าติดตามและแสดงอารมณ์ได้อย่างครบเครื่อง ผ่านการเคลื่อนไหวและเสียงแหบๆอันเป็นเอกลักษณ์ ซึ่งสองตัวละครนี้คงมีผลไม่น้อยที่ทำให้ทีมงาน A Nightmare on Elm Street เวอร์ชั้นล่าสุดนี้ไว้วางใจเลือกเขาให้มารับบทตัวละครสำคัญอย่าง Freddy Krueger ได้ ตัวละครอันตรายที่อยู่ในใจคอหนังสยองมาตลอดหลายปีนี้ได้ปรับเปลี่ยนจากเวอร์ชั่นเก่าเล็กน้อย ตรงที่ทีมงานเลือกที่จะใส่รายละเอียดที่มาของตัวละครสำคัญนี้ลงไปด้วย โดยให้ตัวเฟรดดี้เป็นผู้ล่วงละเมิดทางเพศเด็กไม่ใช่แค่ฆาตกรเด็กเท่านั้น ซึ่งนี่เป็นแนวคิดแรกของเวส คราเว่นเลย

จากข้อมูลเบื้องต้นที่เรารู้น่าสนใจว่านี่จะเป็นหนึ่งในหนังรีเมคช่วงหลังๆที่มีคุณสมบัติเป็นหนังดีได้ ท่ามกลางกระแสแห่กันบ้ารีเมคหนังเก่าจนออกมาก่อยและเกร่อกันไปหมด หนังเอาจริงเอาจังในการเลือกนักแสดงนำมารับบทนำ และเปลี่ยนรายละเอียดเล็กๆน้อยๆที่ช่วยเพิ่มความสมจริงขึ้นมา มากกว่าจะเป็นแค่หนังสยองขวัญที่ฉากฆ่าในหนังดูบ้าบอและมีไว้เอาใจคอหนังเลือดสาดแค่นั่น จากเดิมเฟรดดี้จับเด็กมาขังและฆ่า จนกรรมตามทันโดนเผาให้ตายทั้งเป็นจากบรรดาผู้ปกครองผู้โกรธแค้นทั้งหลาย แต่มันก็ยังตามมาหลอกหลอนเช่นฆ่าเด็กๆกันในฝัน มาในภาคนี้เฟรดดี้กลายเป็นพวกบ้ากามแต่ยังฆ่าไม่เลือดหน้าเหมือนเดิม แต่จะมีอะไรมากกว่านั้นต้องตามดูกันเอง

ส่วนใครที่ยังนึกไม่ออกว่า…ส่วนผสมใหม่นี้จะมีรสชาติน่าสะพรึงกลัวแค่ไหน ไม่ต้องเสียเวลาคิดให้มากความ แต่ไปดูตัวอย่างแรกกันเลยดีกว่า!

ปิดท้ายด้วยคลิปใหม่จากหนัง Inception ที่ถ่ายโดยแฟนๆหนังในขณะนั้น รับรองได้ว่าน่าสนใจสุดๆ เพราะภาพในคลิปนั้นก็คือขบวนรถไฟนึงที่ไหลมาตามท้องถนนอย่างผิดที่ผิดทาง และคงจะเป็นภาพที่น่าตื่นตาตื่นใจไม่น้อยถ้าได้เห็นช็อตนี้ในโรงหนัง เหมือนๆที่ผกก. Christopher Nolan เคยบ้าพลังยกรถแล้วคว่ำมันกลางถนนใน The Dark Knight มาแล้ว

สิ่งที่ได้เห็นหรืออะไรก็ตามที่หนังปล่อยออกมา ทั้งคลิปเบื้องหลังและตัวอย่างต่างก็ไม่ช่วยให้เราเข้าใจตัวหนังขึ้นมาสักนิด แต่ความอยากดูกลับไม่ได้ลดน้อยลงไปเลย ในทางกลับกัน ความลึกลับที่เพิ่มพูนขึ้นทุกครั้งๆที่หนังเปิดเผยข้อมูลออกมานั้น ทำให้เราเดากันไปต่างๆนานาว่าเนื้อหาในหนังจะออกมาอีท่าไหน เพราะแค่นิยามที่หนังบอกมาตั้งแต่ต้นว่า ” มันเป็นหนังไซไฟที่พูดถึงสถาปัตยกรรมทางจิตใจ ” ก็ช่วยให้งงหนักเข้าไปใหญ่ ทั้งตัวอย่างที่ดูล้ำสมัยจนน่ากลัว บวกกับทุนสร้างที่พุ่งทะยานไปกว่าสองร้อยล้านแล้ว อะไรก็ตามที่ช่วยให้เราเข้าใจมันมากขึ้น พวกเราล้วนอยากรู้หมด

ล่าสุดผกก.โนแลนกลับมาทำหนังที่ทำให้คนดูต้องปวดกบาลอีกครั้ง และเดาได้ว่ามันน่าจะเล่นกับจิตใจคนอย่างที่เคยทำมาใน Memento หรือ Insomnia และนี่ก็ยังเรียกได้ว่าเป็นหนังคั่นกลางแบทแมนของผกก.โนแลนอีกเรื่องนึงด้วย เหมือนที่ The Prestige เป็นงานคั่นเวลาก่อนที่เจ้าตัวจะกลับมาทำ The Dark Knight แต่แค่เรื่องนี้ทุนสร้างต่างกันแค่ห้าเท่าเท่านั้นเอง!!

หลังจากพุ่งสู่จุดสูงมากๆ ( เราคิดว่าเขายังไปได้ไกลกว่านี้อีก ) ใน The Dark Knight ด้วยทุนสร้างเกือบสองร้ายล้าน แต่ได้กำไรกลับมาบานเบอะอย่างที่ทราบกัน หนังประสบความสำเร็จชนิดข้ามปี ทำลายทุกสถิติ แต่ก็ยังไม่ได้ชิงออสการ์ในสาขาที่คาดไว้ มาถึงงานเรื่องล่าสุดนี้ ผกก.โนแลนมาพร้อมทุนสร้างสองร้ายล้านเต็มๆและทีมนักแสดงขายฝีมือ Leonardo DiCaprio,Ken Watanabe,Joseph Gordon-Levitt,Marion Cotillard,Ellen Page,Tom Hardy,Talulah Riley,Cillian Murphy,Tom Berenger,Michael Caine อย่างที่เห็น และไม่ลืมที่จะมีไมเคิล เคนมาร่วมงานกันด้วยเหมือนทุกครั้งเสมือนเป็นตัวนำโชค…ฮา ทีนี้หนังจะประสบความสำเร็จด้วยทุนสร้างที่สูงลิบ และจากเนื้อเรื่องที่ชวนงงไม่คุ้นเคยเช่นนี้หรือไม่นั้น น่าติดตามไม่แพ้ภาคต่อ The Dark Knight เลยทีเดียว

Spectacular trailers are the ultimate double-edged swords. They get you incredibly hyped for the movie, but also set expectations far too high. At first I had no clue what Cirque Du Freak was, but after seeing the trailer I was hooked. Everything about it from the music to the fades to black as the main characters ride their bikes to the theater, make my spine tingle. Even after seeing the movie, the trailer still gives me chills. Sadly, the film didn’t have the same effect. My love of Cirque du Freak fell, but fell much harder as a result of my high hopes.

Darren (Chris Massoglia) is every parent’s dream. He’s polite, gets great grades and even does his chores. The part of Darren’s life that mom and dad don’t approve of is his friendship with Steve (Josh Hutcherson), a troublemaker with an unstable family. When they find out about a mysterious freak show called the Cirque Du Freak, both boys are psyched to go check it out. Naturally, Darren’s parents don’t approve of the idea and refuse to let him go. Well, that’s nothing a bedroom window can’t fix. Darren sneaks out of the house to see the show.

A one-night event turns into a life changing experience after Darren meets an actual vampire, Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly). Unlike Steve, Darren doesn’t care much for vampires and finds himself in a sticky situation after stealing one of Crepsley’s prized possessions. Darren winds up making a deal with Crepsley in order to save Steve’s life and agrees to be turned into a half-vampire. He fakes his own death and goes to live at the Cirque’s camp where he befriends Evra the Snake Boy (Patrick Fugit) and Rebecca the Monkey Girl (Jessica Carlson). Meanwhile, Steve is busy getting caught up with the evil vampire faction called the Vampaneze. Vampires like Crepsley make a small incision in their victims and just get a quick sip, but the Vampaneze ruthlessly kill their victims taking as much blood as they’d like. These two warring groups are currently at peace, but that tranquility is about to break down with Darren and Steve right in the middle of it.

Cirque Du Freak is a lot of fun, but far too childish to be taken seriously. The danger is there, but never feels real enough to make you uneasy. Even when Darren is in danger, it’s implicitly implied that he’s going to be okay. Yes, in most films we know the protagonist is going to make it out alive, but there’s never even a hint of peril. The fight scenes are so packed with a campy CGI ‘swish’ trail the speedy vampires leave behind, you can barely even see the battles.

Not that you’ll even care if Darren is injured in the fights; he’s a terrible hero. The fault is mainly Massoglia’s. He’s unengaging and frequently manages to fade into the background even when he’s the primary character on screen. Even when he becomes half-vampire and sheds his nerdy image for his ‘cool’ look consisting of slicked back hair and a red leather jacket, he’s still a bore. I’d rather have seen more of Hutcherson. Yes, his role is packed with typical good-friend-gone-evil clichés, but at least he brings him to life. I was more concerned for Steve than Darren. Crepsley isn’t anything great either. His wittiest lines don’t pack enough of a punch and, overall, he’s far too unlikeable. He’s meant to be hard on Darren, but mocks him to excess. You never get the sense that Crepsley is wise enough to be Darren’s mentor making him hard to respect. Even with that fiery orange hair Reilly doesn’t pop onscreen as he usually does.

Picking apart Cirque Du Freak and examining each element makes the film look like an utter failure, but considering the film as a whole, sheds a better light upon it. The concept is intriguing. It’s got some of the same vampire junk we’ve been bombarded with, but throwing in the Cirque, sets the film far apart from the rest. The Cirque Du Freak is the best part of the film. The characters are fascinating and the camp they live in is vivid and captivating. It’s a blast meeting all of the characters and getting a look at their wacky abilities. Did you ever think you’d see Salma Hayek with a beard?

If only Cirque Du Freak could stay afloat on its general appeal alone. It lacks the depth and sincerity of others of its kind like the Harry Potter and Twilight series. Cirque Du Freak is far too juvenile. The Harry Potter and Twilight books are meant for young adults yet still have a dark side; there’s no reason Weitz and co-writer Brian Helgeland couldn’t have done the same with this film. In fact, that’s exactly what Cirque Du Freak needs in order to be considered a good film; mature dialogue. Realistically the story is ridiculous, but you’re not supposed to be thinking about that while you’re watching the movie. A more serious undertone would get audiences to take the film sincerely. As it is, I expect many to just brush it off as a mere children’s film.

Cirque Du Freak is based on the first of four trilogies making up Darren Shan’s The Saga of Darren Shan collection. There’s no doubt Universal Pictures has hopes to turn the film into a series, I just don’t know if it’s going to happen. The potential of a second film completely rides on the success of the first, which is going to be a toss up. It may be on the childish side, but Cirque Du Freak is entertaining and deserves a second go-around.

A round up of news, rumors and opinions at the edge of the fall season.

September’s pretty much over, and the whole industry greets the coming of autumn and winter not with cooler temperatures but with meatballs. Lots and lots and meatballs. Once again a CGI spectacle rules over adult-oriented films like The Informant! and Surrogates, even while the rest of the Top 10 looks like a scrap heap. The coming months at least bring a few intriguing films: the Gerard Butler-Jamie Foxx ne0 noir Law Abiding Citizen, the perfect storm of hipsterness Where The Wilid Things Are, the Coen Brother’s A Serious Man, and dozens of others. So there’s light at the end of the tunnel, even as the days grow shorter.

The following few news items are a miscellany of observations and opinions we’ve built up over the last month. The opinions are our own, though you’re welcome to discuss.

Does it still happen if no one's watching?

1. As far as box office goes, September was notable not for what made money but for what didn’t: Jennifer’s Body, the double flash-in-the-pan teaming of Megan Fox and Diablo Cody, was dead on arrival despite a saturating media campaign. Meanwhile the Jennifer Aniston romantic drama Love Happens (which we like to call Pointless In Seattle) also went nowhere, even in a year in which other romances like The Proposal and (500) Days of Summer have exceeded box office expectations.

We think the lesson to be learned is pretty simple: people are bored, and ready for something new and fresh. Aniston and Fox are both overexposed, though Proposal star Sandra Bullock isn’t. The public won’t pay money to see faces they see too much already, for free, on magazine covers.

2. We bitched some about the season premiere of Mad Men, but the show has gotten substantially better with each episode, and the last couple especially can stand with the best of the series. Watching the Sterling-Cooper ad agency unravel from within is a suprisingly gut-wrenching process, even as Don and Betty Draper (Jon Hamm and January Jones) seem to prepare themselves to finally go their separate ways. Cheers also for bringing back Draper’s nemesis Duck Philips, played so well by Mark Moses.

As last night’s episode, “Seven Twenty Three,” was the halfway point of the seasons, we’ll risk predicting that by season’s end both Peggy Olson (Elizabeth Moss) and Don Draper have left Sterling Cooper, either by choice or through firing. We also hope there’s some resolution to Joan Halloway’s flailing marriage, though we can’t help but see domestic violence on the horizon.

Jon and Kate plus hate.

3. Has reality television finally, at long last, neared its tipping point? Scandals such as the murder mystery surrounding VH1’s Megan Wants A Millionaire and the ongoing tabloid marketing scheme that is the Gosselin’s marriage seem to be the kind of negative-buzz generating backlash events that signal the end of a trend. We hope so. In roughly a decade the advent of “reality” based television has rearranged the television landscape, and largely for the worse. As the major networks grow increasingly desperate, quality programming has fled to some cable networks, while other cable channels, such as VH1 and especially TLC, cater to a lower denominator than was even thought to exist ten years ago. Television does not have to be a vast wasteland, the efforts of most reality programming to the contrary. Enough already.

4. One potential bright light for network scripted drama arrived last week in the form of Flash Forward, the ABC sci-fi drama adapted from Robert J. Sawyer’s novel by David Goyer (The Dark Knight) and Brannon Braga (Star Trek: Enterprise). The Goyer-directed pilot was a long way from perfect, lacking as it did the confidence and effortlessness that accompanied previous landmark debuts such as ER and Lost to the screen. We’re also not sure about star Joseph Fiennes’ ability to center the somewhat expansive cast, which includes Courtney B. Vance, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Dominic Monaghan, and Gabrielle Union.

Still, the premise – everyone on Earth gets a 137-second glimpse of their near future, six months hence - is intriguing enough to earn our loyalty for two or three episodes, by which time the show will have probably found its sea legs or not. Ratings for the debut were solid, meaning the show’s fortunes now depend on word of mouth. If not, hpefully ABC will show the series more patience than it extended to other sci-fi fare like Invasion and Life On Mars, neither of which we imagine carried Flash Forward’ s hefty payroll.

Yo ho, yo ho hum: Depp

5. In what must be the answer to a question nobody asked, Disney is moving forward with a fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, this time with or without Johnny Depp’s involvement. Depp is reportedly aware the second and third Pirates movies lacked quite a bit in quality, and wants script approval after former Disney studio chief Dick Cook resigned last week.

Just so this doesn’t go unsaid, Depp’s post-Jack Sparrow career is nothing to crow about: Secret Window, Public Enemies, and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory are nobody’s idea of classic cinema, and the upcoming Alice In Wonderland looks like standard Tim Burton weirdness. Depp might do well to get out the eyeliner once again.

Gong Li in Shanghai

6. A rare highlight of the last Pirates film was Chow Yun-Fat’s appearance as pirate warlord Sao Feng. The long delayed Shanghai, in which Chow co-stars with John Cusack and Gong Li, has been delayed yet again, this time looking at a release sometime next year. Directed by Mikael Hafstrom (1408) and featuring Ken Watanabe and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the saga of an ill-fated romance in the months leading to the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor seems a treat for older film audiences, offering the kind of film spectacle Hollywood rarely attempts anymore. So why the delay?

7. Finally, we forgot to mention While The City Sleeps in our recent list of movies watched while under the influence of DVR-enabled cinematic insomnia. If you’re a fan of classic cinema, Fritz Lang, movies about newspapers, Ida Lupino, and/or lurid trash, this film has something for you. Basically, its sprawling plot follows the staff of a major newspaper as its department heads race to outdo each other pursuing “the Lipstick Killer,” a freudian nightmare of a serial killer preying on women who live alone.

Lang directs the 1956 film with a kind of dreamlike detachment, keeping the characters in close proximity to one another even as they never really establish meaningful contact, even when intimate. The always-underrated Dana Andrews plays the television commentator leading the hunt for the killer, with Vincent Price, film noir siren Rhonda Fleming, and John Drew Barrymore also swirling around the tangle of events. Part film noir, part melodrama, and part Hollywood ensemble piece, it’s a weird mixture that doesn’t come off as well as it should, yet still remains completely, if cheaply, entertaining.

UPDATE: We’ll be back Monday. Thanks for reading.

- Michael Kabel
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หลังจากภาพยนตร์เรื่อง “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” ได้เปิดฉายแก่สาธารณะชนครั้งแรกในโลกที่งาน Fantastic Fest ที่จัดขึ้นที่รัฐแท็กซัสแล้วเมื่อ 2 วันที่ผ่านมา ก็ดูเหมือนว่าจะได้รับเสียงตอบรับที่ดีจากผู้ชม ทำให้เราเริ่มได้ยินข่าวของการสร้างภาคต่อของหนังเรื่องนี้แล้ว

หนังเรื่องนี้สร้างจากหนังสือซึ่งมีถึง 12 เล่ม และ Universal ก็ยังหวังอย่างยิ่งที่จะมีภาคต่อออกมา  ซึ่งทางฝากของนักแสดงนำของเรื่องอย่าง Chris Massoglia กับ Josh Hutcherson ได้ยืนยันแล้วว่าเขาจะกลับมาเซ็นสัญญาในภาค 2 แน่นอน ซึ่งพวกเขาหวังว่าเรื่องนี้จะมีภาคต่อถ้ามันประสบความสำเร็จและพวกเขาก็พร้อมที่จะกลับมาแสดงนำต่อในภาค 2 อย่างแน่นอน

แม้ว่าจะมีข่าวออกมาอย่างนี้ก็ก็ยังไม่สามารถไว้วางใจได้ครับ เพราะดูกระแสจากคนที่ดูตัวอย่างหนังนั้นพบว่ามีหลายคนที่ผิดหวัง โดยเฉพาะแฟนๆหนังสือ ส่วนคนดูทั่วไปนั้นเห็นว่าเป็นหนังแฟนตาซีเด็กๆน่าเบื่อทั่วไปครับ แต่เมื่อมีกระแสคำวิจารณ์แย้มๆออกมาในทางบวกนิดๆแล้วก็ต้องคอยดูกันต่อไปล่ะครับว่าจะประสบความสำเร็จด้านรายได้และสามารถที่จะมีภาคต่อได้รึเปล่า

สามารถดูคลิป ถาม-ตอบ นักแสดงในเรื่องในงาน Fantastic Fest ได้ ที่นี่

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant มีกำหนดการฉายในสหรัฐฯในวันที่ 23 ตุลาคม ส่วนในไทยวันที่ 3 ธันวาคมนี้

ที่มา : Cinemablend,  Pronetworks

ตัวอย่างซับไทย

Entertainer. Companion. Confidant. Courtesan. Prostitute.

Quick quiz: If I mention the word “Geisha,” which of the above words pop into the mind first?

The makers of “Memoirs of a Geisha” would wish that you ignore the sex part of the job as it is only briefly touched on in the movie. No, these geisha are not sex slaves, but entertainment slaves. Big difference. Though, I guess that’s why “Memoirs of a Tramp” and “Syphilis: The Movie” didn’t quite have the image that producers wanted to convey.

Since most of the audience probably aren’t well-read on the geisha subject, most of their knowledge probably comes from a similarly titled book. We’ll have to assume that the movie presents things factually, like a documentary, but interesting. As the movie taught us, women don’t attend geisha school as they are captured, enslaved and sent to it or your parents are hard up for yen and the way to make ends meet is to sell you into indentured servitude. Oh, and I also learned if you’re the headmistress, the proper way to correct your students when they make a mistake is to shout at them in a booming voice “You are GEEEIIII-SHAAAA.” It doesn’t count unless the second syllable is drawn out as long as possible.

We see the apprentice geisha from childhood, through battles with geisha rivals, and her attempts to court a powerful, but kind man who she has known since childhood. That man, called the Chairman, played by Ken Watanabe, ironically one of the few Japanese actors playing a major role. What exactly he is a Chairman of is not explained, but I suspect it has something to do with wearing a top hat. It’s another unwritten movie rule that you cannot be a chairman of anything unless you wear a top hat at least once. Three of the principal actresses are of Chinese decent, and while this bothered me at first, I realize that you need recognizable faces if you’re going to make a period movie that has a shot at an Academy Award.

The movie, like any good period epic, unfolds across a number of era, including the Second World War. In another unwritten movie rule, if you are going to show World War II, you must include a shot of planes flying overhead with the characters looking up at them. Look, it’s in every movie.

During this time, the main character befriends an American colonel that looks suspiciously like the Buffalo Bill serial killer in “Silence of the Lambs.” Probably what they teach in geisha school is not to be a coat, much less take them, but I digress. Buried somewhere is a more compelling movie along those lines. I’m sure the makers of a movie called “Robo-Geisha” felt the same way.

Movies based on a popular book like this one often run into a trap then they make the jump from the page. No doubt “Geisha” the book is layered with rich, developed, characters. But the makers of “Geisha” the movie took extraordinary care in duplicating the look and feel of lat 19th, early 20th century Japan. Certainly they succeed, the movie is nice to look at, but what separates this from other movies like it that tend to do well during Oscar season is having that compelling story and interesting characters.

Having never read the book, it would be a bit pretentious, if accurate, to say that it is no replacement for the movie. Though the book probably leaves out the long annunciations of the subject, it’s hard to imagine any sort of words conjuring the sequence in the movie where the geisha must do their well-choreographed performance. Then again, I’m sure “Robo-Geisha” has a similar scene, too.

A juzgar por el tráiler una de dos: O estamos ante una rallada de coco o ante una jodida obra maestra. Se ha publicado online el tráiler de ‘Inception’, la nueva película del realizador Christopher Nolan (‘El Caballero Oscuro’) que está protagonizada por Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy y Michael Caine -ahí es nada-.

Con llegada a las salas el 16 de julio de 2010 -En España será en septiembre de ese mismo año-, la cinta es descrita por Warner Bros. Pictures como un mundo contemporáneo de ciencia ficción dentro de la arquitectura de la mente. El propio Nolan ha sido el autor del guión original.

El tráiler como siempre, Haciendo Click en la Imagen.

Fuente:Elseptimoarte.net /  Comingsoon