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Les Misérables (1998)
An Objective Critique -- 8 stars
This review contains spoilers Les Misérables is Victor Hugo's classic tale of nobility and self-sacrifice that will have one questioning what man owes society and what society owes man, especially in terms of justice, and finally, what men owe each other. This film is from 1998 and was directed by Billie August. It stars Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, and Uma Thurman. With source material of this nature one expects a lot and this doesn't disappoint in any way. Les Misérables is a large film that tells a large, decades -long story.
Let's just break this film down by the numbers and let the chips fall where they may: A) Plot -- the story of Jean Valjean and his struggle to live free is a timeless classic -- 10 B) Characters -- the Characters are fully realized, well-motivate and very believable -- 10 C) Acting -- Liam Neeson and Uma Thurman give excellent performances and none are lacking -- 8 D) Script -- a very good adaptation which moves the story forward well while providing plenty of detail and background -- 8 E) Direction -- interesting and epic shot selection helped convey the scope of the story -- 8 F) Cinematography -- beautifully and artistically shot -- 9 G) Editing -- conventional editing techniques aided the narrative and cinematography/shot selection -- 8 H) Production Design -- Seemed very much like the period with lots of attention to detail -- 8 I) Costume Design -- Realistic but boring, it might have been preferable to have stylized costumes with a little more to look at -- 6 J) Stunts -- Could have done a little more -- 6 K) Special & Visual Effects -- The armed fighting was too short and featured a lack of intensity that additional special effects could have aided -- 5 L) Music -- sweeping in scope, like the film --8 M) Sound -- strong and clear -- 8 N) Entertainment Value -- 9 Average 7.928, call it an 8. Pop some corn, melt some butter and enjoy.
This film features violence from civil unrest with the deaths of many including a child, violence against a woman and adult themes. It is rated PG-13.
Bombs Over Burma (1942)
An Objective Critique -- 5 Stars
This review contains spoilers
This film is a propaganda piece to highlight China's efforts to fight the Japanese. It focuses on a small group of strange companions traveling by bus to Chung King (Chongqing) in Southwest China. Anna May Wong stars as Lin Ying, an agent for the Chinese government travel under the guise of a school inspector. The group arrive at a monastery that serves as a bed a breakfast. While there the driver discovers that someone has stole the distributor from the bus. When a shady passenger who witnessed the act ends up with a knife in his back while no one sees anything is a convenient plot hole.
Now it's up to Lin Ying and the Head Monk with assistance from the bus driver to foil the Japanese spy among them save an important convoy coming into the interior of China from Burma.
Let's just break this film down by the numbers and let the chips fall where they may: A) Plot -- At least one plot hole too large to ignore -- 3 B) Characters -- Stereotypical portrayals of Chinese and an Arab character, additionally the good guys are brave and bold while the bad guys prove craven in the end -- 3 C) Acting -- Anna May Wong is charming and Nedrick Young as Slim Jenkins, the bus driver seems like a character one might know -- 6 D) Script -- The dialog is just a little too pumped-up with propaganda 1942 style -- 4 E) Direction -- A conventional job -- 5 F) Cinematography -- Many of the faces seem over lit in a number of scenes (My copy is not restored) -- 3 G) Editing -- Conventional but interesting when the agent was revealed to be a coward, used footage from actual combat which is near Ed Wood like in its continuity failure -- 4 H) Production Design -- B reel quality and quantity -- 4 I) Costume Design -- a pretty good effort, convincing -- 6 J) Stunts -- N/A K) Special & Visual Effects -- N/A L) Music -- a good score which helped set and sustain mood very well -- 7 M) Sound -- The sound on my copy was fairly bad with a lot of obvious damage, seems like it would be fine in 1942 or restored -- 5 N) Entertainment Value -- 4 Average 4.500. Call it 5. Pop some corn and enjoy what it offers.
This film features combat violence and three total killings and is not rated by the MPPA
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
An Objective Critique - 8 Stars
This review contains spoilers Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003) is a genre-spanning feast for the eyes, ears, and sensibilities of film buffs as well as fans of many specific genres. At its heart it is a tale of cold revenge taken in a cause than is not really just. Killing killers who tried to kill you because you didn't want to kill people anymore doesn't exactly compare to being Robin Hood. The charm of this film is seeing how Tarantino creatively, lovingly, and nearly expertly handles his tributes to Italian westerns, Chinese martial arts films, Japanese samurai films, Brian De Palma and more. This film features all the violence that Quentin Tarantino has become associated with but in this film it is so over the top that it becomes surrealistic, easy to detach from, a simple guilty pleasure. Once you drag yourself past the notion that there could be an elite squad of female assassins all highly trained in martial arts you never again consider that fact that martial arts training would be useless to real assassins in this day and age.
Let's just break this film down by the numbers and let the chips fall where they may: A) Plot -- a strong revenge driven story with great character back stories succeeds well -- 9 B) Characters -- forceful, fully realized, if fanciful characters -- 9 C) Acting -- Superb and believable characterization, great action acting -- 9 D) Script -- an action driven piece rich with the now famous Tarantino dialogue. -- 9 E) Direction -- a excellent job showing mastery of western, martial arts, samurai, anime, and Brian De Palma -- 9 F) Cinematography -- stunningly captures each genre to create an artistic whole and organic feeling -- 9 G) Editing -- concise and efficient while conveying the action in a perfectly understandable manner -- 9 H) Production Design -- strong design elements lend touchstones to the various genres and give the film a natural look within highly stylized designs -- 8 I) Costume Design -- distinctive costumes enhance the characterizations in this film and a very well done despite being unobtrusive -- 8 J) Stunts -- Wire-Fu abounds as does sword and knife play; all masterfully handled -- 10 K) Special & Visual Effects -- The special effects achieved on camera are impressive when considering how many limbs must be removed and how much blood made to flow; a good job, if gruesome -- 7 L) Music -- Original music by The RZA and songs by The 5, 6, 7, 8s as well as other little known compositions work brilliantly to create and sustain moods -- 8 M) Sound -- Good level sound with no too subtle effects, balanced and clean -- 7 N) Entertainment Value -- 7 Average 8.384, call it 8 stars out of ten. Pop an extra tub of corn and make it a double feature with Vol. 2 queued up next.
This film features strong bloody violence, language, and some sexual content.
Sudden Impact (1983)
Objective Critique -- Seven Stars
This review contains spoilers
Sudden Impact (1983) is the fourth film in the Dirty Harry franchise made famous by the film's director/star Clint Eastwood who portrays S.F. Police Inspector Harry Callahan. Callahan is a policeman motivated more by justice than the law, as such, he routinely resorts to extreme violence and is the target of retribution attempts. The combination causes great mayhem and friction between Inspector Callahan and his superiors.
When a murder victim is traced back to small San Paulo, CA, Inspector Callahan is send to do background research on the victim to get him away from the city for a while. There he crosses paths with Jennifer Spencer, a troubled artist, and discovers that murders of the same MO are now occurring in San Paulo.
This is overall a pretty good film and delivers on all the basic action film promises. However on one level, the themes and level of violence taken on by the film demand that it be seen as more than just popcorn fare. When I began to take this film too seriously I began to have problems. The violence becomes too personal and the story quite painful to view.
Let's just break this film down by the numbers and let the chips fall where they may: A) Plot -- a tight and solid story free from apparent, first-viewing holes, and a believable arc -- 8 B) Characters -- not fully developed in any instance, archetypes abound and the portrayal of the black and lesbian characters was stereotypical -- 4 C) Acting -- Clint Eastwood and Sandra Locke deliver good performances and round out the script as much as possible -- 7 D) Script -- the original screenplay for this film is typical Dirty Harry fare, but satisfying -- 6 E) Direction -- Eastwood proves the sharpness of his eye and delivers another well directed film here. The carousel sequence, near the conclusion, proves the case, this could have easily fallen over into surrealistic parody, but is handled by a master working with his cinematographer and editor to achieve a great effect -- 7 F) Cinematography -- Artfully shot when desired, gritty when called for, a good job -- 7 G) Editing -- A good job of standard editing wherein the shot are neither too long, too short, or cut together jarringly except for effect. When effects are desired for mood the editing complements it quite well - 7 H) Production Design -- A good effort in a simple task -- 7 I) Costume Design -- Off the rack look, no memorable hero costuming, even for villains -- 5 J) Stunts -- Driving the burning car was impressive -- 8 K) Special & Visual Effects -- not much too see: N/A L) Music -- 6 M) Sound -- 7 N) Entertainment Value -- 7 Average 6.587 -- call it 7 of ten stars, pop lots of corn and try not to take it too seriously.
This film features adult situations, adult language, alcohol and drug use, graphic violence including execution-style killings, violence against women including rape.