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senatorh
Reviews
Shimotsuma monogatari (2004)
the most fun flick i've seen all year !
wow. what a riot ! this is what the 'spice world' movie should have been, a visual treat of beautiful girls living overly effusive lives, struggling with how to be true to themselves in the face of commercialism, peer pressure, inept parents and the fashion police. the 2 leads are *HOT*, the music is AWESOME, and the costumes were totally FAB. this was the most fun i've had at a movie all year.
went online tonight afterwards and ordered a copy of the soundtrack (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=DFCL-1205) from japan and would also have ordered a copy of the DVD, except that i don't think that i can play region 2 DVD's on my pc.
Waydowntown (2000)
claustrophobic office environment drains sanity in calgary
if you've ever worked in an office tower, you can sympathize with these characters. trapped in an inhumane and unnatural setting all day can be excruciating, but these 4 genXers try to take on this mantle 24 hours a day.
the writers have tried to make an analogy between the hostile environment of the modern corporate world to young minds and the closeted world of calgary's plus-15 network of above-ground enclosed walkways between downtown towers. the surrealism of office kowtowing is matched with the narrator flying thru colour-saturated mall displays.
the director and co-writer sat for a question and answer session after the screening at calgary's (first) international film festival and they made a valid point that the +15 network has decimated the downtown pedestrian life that is the core of other larger cities. personally, i like the +15 network, especially when the temperature outside is in the -40 degree range.
the fault for the lack of pedestrian life in most downtown cities should instead be laid at the choice of acquiescing quietly to the ascendance of car culture. when people are presented with the option of dodging traffic or walking safely high above, the result is predictable. the film does have a very funny scene showing how accidents can still take place even in the +15.
if you've seen and enjoyed mike judge's 'office space', you will enjoy watching this film. look for it in wider release at a theatre near you in late 2000.
Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 (1998)
well done and worth seeing if you can relate to small-town life
I agree with one of the other writers about not having to be from small-town west Texas to enjoy this film. It did help that I grew up in rural Saskatchewan which is pretty close in atmosphere to west Texas (it's called the 'gap' between Ontario and the rockies where you can watch your dog walk away for days)
I saw this film in Houston at one of the huge suburban multiplexes with 3 other people from Saskatchewan and maybe 10 people in the entire room so it kind of felt like the wide open spaces portrayed in the movie.
The scenes of sitting on the road for hours waiting for traffic, joyriding and the feeling of anticipation for the time when you finally get to LEAVE the confines of the small-town almost made me nostalgic. Sure the dialogue got hokey and the pace was kind of stifling at times, but have you visited a small town lately ?
In an age where people are becoming more tied to technology (you're reading this, aren't you ?) for basic living, it's always nice to have someone present a perspective about a different kind of life, one which not that long ago, used to be the norm.
I won't ever go back to living in a small town, but if I can bring a little bit of small-town attitude to my corner of the city, maybe all the stress and heartache of modern urban life would be easier to put in proper focus.
The Matrix (1999)
Hollywood science fiction with great special effects
I really enjoyed this film, not because it did anything outstanding, but just because it presented a decent story with exhilarating special effects and Keanu Reeves (!) martial arts action.
The film presents us with a scenario which forces us to ask what reality consists of and how we know that what we see, feel and sense are true representations of the world.
The fuzzy line between solid reality and the human-centered perceptions of dreamtime or virtual reality get twisted into a grim future scenario where the slaves enjoy the bounties and the 'free' subsist on whatever they can scavenge.
The film glorifies the hackers, those who believe in freedom on principle, believing that individuals have the power to change their realities and good old fashioned chop-socky (albeit, with quite a few nods to the mortal kombat ilk of arcade games)
I was thoroughly entertained and plan on seeing it again real soon!
Bat sin fan dim: Yan yuk cha siu bau (1993)
gruesome but gripping depiction of amoral killer
i'm glad i saw this on video. on a big screen, this movie might have been too much - if you're squeamish about parts of hollywood movies, DON'T attempt to watch this at home.
the portrayal of the killer still sends shivers down my back even 2 years after watching this movie. you have second thoughts about eating those wonderful smelling BBQ pork buns on dim sum weekends. you remember how chopsticks can be used for violence. this is a very intense film, but one which has a strong message about how bad some people can get and how you should never take the good things in your life for granted.
Tian shi xing dong (1987)
good HK action flick with strong female leads
i'd have given this movie a higher rating, but i prefer subtitles to dubbing. that said, the action scenes were aces and the subplots were, as usual for HK flicks, cringe-inducing enough that you were ecstatic when they got back to the martial arts. a neat trick with concrete stands out.
also, i found myself mooning for moon lee - don't want to mess with that angel. the set-up did seem like a take-off on that old fave charlie's angels, but with a co-ed cast. it was nice to see that the women could handle themselves as well or better than the men.