Looking for some martial arts movie to watch, I cam across “Shi mian mai fu” (aka “House of Flying Daggers”). It was made in China and had both a good title and a covering picture, so I fell for it.
Directed by: Yimou Zhang
Genres: Action, Drama, Romance
Cast: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Ziyi Zhang, Dandan Song
IMDB raintg: 7.6
My rating: 7.0 [rate 7.0]
Continue reading Shi mian mai fu
Watched an amazing drama “Closer” on DVD.
IMDB rating: 7.2
My rating: 9.0 [rate 9.0]
Celebrity highlights: four people out of four people in the movie were played by Jude Law, Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, and Natalie Portman.
“Bird on a Wire” was on TV and I just couldn’t miss it. I had to watch it because it was one of my favourite movies back in 90s, and also because I very often confuse and cross-reference episodes of this movie with “Overboard“. That is probably because both of them are good movies of approximately the same years, both of them feature Goldie Hawn as a one of the main characters. Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell are also two of my favourite action actors, and they even were together in a movie called “Tequila Sunrise“.
Anyway, the movie is a good old action. Some corrupted governent agents, who used to use Vietnam war veterans to transport drugs, are trying to get rid off one of these veterans who could send them all to jail. Car chases, gun fights, fist fights, some romance, some cool talk, few jokes, and good amount of explosives all make for a good action movie. Even now, 15 years later it still impresses and keeps one glued to the screen.
7 out of 10. Favourite quote: “She: … I need rest, I need a bath, I need a bed, I need a pedicure … He: And I need a beer.”. ;)
Watched yet another oldie on DVD – “Tequila Sunrise“. While it is a pretty good film, it could have been a billion times better. Just imagine Mel Gibson playing a drug lord, but a lonely father who tries to quit the business, being the best friends with Kurt Russell who is a sneaky narcotics detective trying to bust Mel’s boss. Both of them are in love with Michelle Pfeiffer, who doesn’t even think about choosing one. Ok, she does, but very much closer to the end of the movie. If that was not enough, Mel’s boss is his other best friend, played by Raul Julia, who tries to pull this huge deal with drugs and lots of money. And, of course, there is a crooked policemen played by J.T. Walsh, who is working together with Russell.
With all these plot twisting and complicated relationships, this movie is best described as romance. No suspense what-so-ever. No action. There are about 3 dead people in the whole film with under 20 pistol shots. The only explanation I can find to this is that all the budget went for salaries. No special effects, no S.W.A.T. teams, no car chases, no gun fights, no martial arts, nothing. That’s a disappointment.
I wish there were more to this movie except for the ancient theme of the love triangle between two best friends and a hot babe. 5 out of 10.
Watched “Steel Magnolias” on DVD. I’ve seen it before, but for some reason my memory kept no record of this film.
IMDB suggests a “Comedy/Romance/Drama” categorization for this movie. I do disagree a lot with this. This as pure drama as it can get. I mean there are, of course, ways to laugh at diabetics woman who, despite all doctors’ advice, gives birth to the baby, than needs a kidney, which than provided by her mother, and than dies anyway… But this movie is not about laughing at these things. It is about how life can be tough sometimes. There are a few jokes, sure. But those are only used to help people to get through difficult times. There is no comedy in that.
I liked this movie a lot. It has nice character development and attention to details. Everything and everyone look so real that I got glued to the movie from the first few minutes until the closing titles. There is plenty of good acting too. And the story is good. Not very original, but good.
I think that a 7 out of 10 would do this movie justice.