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Reviews
Pootie Tang (2001)
More like Black Ishtar
I would give it a zero if IMDB allowed it. Not classic enough to be the worst movie ever, but certainly, might be one of the most unforgettable. It's hard to imagine that Chris Rock could stoop so low. A pure piece of trash, it's not even good for the novelty or cult value. It's an overly produced piece of garbage that is not even a quarter as good as what it tries to spoof. The "irony" of black humour is not even bad, it's just terrible. I could never imagine that I would not laugh to urban humour, but this was so whiteboy, it was sick. Chris Rock is not black. He is a Uncle Tom cashing in on laughing at black people. But hello! Chris Rock, most black exploitation movies are patronized by black people. No, you will not get rich tricking the white trash alone. Pathetic imitations of Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers, this does not even come within three thousand light years from those two SNL alum. What was probably pitched as a "black Austin Powers", this insult to retarded school IQ is about as down wit da ghetto as Christopher Reeves in "Street Smarts". Watch it at your own peril.
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Simply Spectacular!
It's been almost a week since I've seen this film, and I still cannot get over how stunning the experience was. No doubt, I will see it again this weekend, and it's funny to me that as much of a ride the film was, there are many parts that I do not remember. Perhaps that was part the joy, of being taken for such a wild rush that everything becomes a blur. From when the curtains lifted (people who have seen the film will know what I mean) to the very end, I was absolutely transfixed. The director here did a flawless job of transporting the audience to another time and place, that despite its surrealness and displacement of time and culture, felt very real. Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman and the entire cast was brilliant, but the real star here are the images that the director delivers to us. A seamless stich of computer animation and sound stages, Technicolor and grainy B&W, the visual pyrotechnics need to be seen and experienced to be believed. Echoing a statement from another IMDB user, I would feel very sorry for you if you do not enjoy this film.
Shu shan zheng zhuan (2001)
What a stinker!
It's hard to describe how disappointed I felt coming out of this film. With so much hype regarding the cast, director and special effects before it's release, this film was a monumental let-down. Let's start with the basic points. First of all, there was no plot or storyline, whatsoever. From the start, it seemed director Tsui Hark had no interest in establishing his characters or setting up the plot. We are given a weak narration in the beginning about the myth of Zu, and then the pointless special effects begin. They don't let up for a full half-hour, before a weak story of the impending monster, Insomnia, and his evil plot to destroy the Zu Mountain clan is introduced. There isn't a second in the film where there are no special effects, which wouldn't be such a bad thing if the effects weren't so amateurishly done. A friend commented that it was like watching two hours of actors in front of bluescreen, and he's not far off the mark. A sub-plot involving Zhang Zhi-yi is never developed, which makes you wonder if her involvement in the film was a last-minute ploy to put more bums in the cinema seats. Even the lone "real" fighting scene in the movie without weapons or S/FX (a la Crouching Tiger) featuring Zhang's character is so obviously done with a male stunt double that I just could not help but to feel totally ripped off. It wasn't even until the film was over before I figured out which character Sammo Hung played 'cause his face was completely covered as Insomnia, and he did no martial arts whatsoever. His involvement in the film could be accurately summed up as being in a ridiculous costume, standing in front of bluescreen, and acting as if he was floating in the clouds. Truly any novice actor off the street could have pulled this off; don't know why they needed a martial arts legend like Sammo in the film, other than as a nod to his role in the original "Zu Warriors". Even Charleston Heston's cameo in the recent remake of "Planet of the Apes" was more inspiring.
Overall, this film is a remarkable failure. I didn't like Stormriders too much either, but at least that film had a plot, and a genuine attempt to portray the motivations of its characters. This film had none of that, and some of the parts were so horrendously miscast, such as the ever grinning Golden Sword guy, whose annoyance level approached that of Jar Jar Binks in the "Phantom Menace". The normally wonderful Cecilia Cheung is given nothing to work with, and Ekin Cheng delivers the same stale, stoic performance he did in "Stormriders" and "A Man Called Hero".
With so much at stake after the success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", I'm hoping that local filmmakers aren't mistaking bigger budgets for special effects as a suitable replacement for true cinematic artistry and captivating performances. Let's just hope that Zhang Yimou's upcoming Chinese mystic martial arts piece crouches more like "Tiger" than implodes like "Legend".
The Follow (2001)
Best in the BMW Films series
By far the best short in the BMW Films series, this piece by director Wong Kar-wei pays homage to the Los Angeles noir films of past, with a mesmerizing soundtrack by Silvio Rodriguez Dominguez that makes you wish this was 120 minute feature. With a welcome cameo by Forrest Whittaker and a luscious, mesmerizing monologue by Clive Owen as the reluctant hired-gun, "The Follow" indeed follows the noir mantra that all is not what they appear to be.
Wo hu cang long (2000)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Blends Action with Art
Perhaps the best movie of 2000 so far, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" sees Chow Yun-fat (Li Mu Bai) and Michelle Yeoh (Yu Shu Lien) return to glory in this action-packed period piece based on Du Lu Wang's "Giang Hu" novels. With dazzling special effects and Yuen Wo Ping's (The Matrix) virtuoso martial arts choreography, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" leaves recent kung-fu flicks "Shanghai Noon" and "Romeo Must Die" in the dust. But the real star of the movie may be Zhang Ziyi (Jen), who starred in last year's "The Road Home" directed by Zhang Yimou (no relation). Not coincidentally, perhaps, Zhang looks very much like a youthful Gong Li. Matching Yeoh's athletic prowess with her balletic grace, Zhang plays Jen as an on-screen contradiction of innocence and sensuality. At one point in the film, Zhang asks Chow Yun-fat, "Is it the sword that you want, or is it me?" echoing the inner-thoughts of the males in the audience. With a balanced script, the breathless cinematography of China by Peter Pau (The Killer), the star-power of Zhang, Chow and Yeoh, and the perfect mix of action and drama by director Ang Lee, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" seamlessly combines the genres of action and "art", raising the ante of martial arts films for years to come.