Reviews

I wanted to see this film based on a trailer for it on a kung-fu DVD. This film looked very different from anything else Jackie Chan has done and from everything else that I've seen of Chinese films. It took some time to track the DVD down.

Black Dragon is based on Frank Capra's Pocketfull of Miracles (1961). From the way Black Dragon has been made it is apparent that Jackie Chan intended it only for Chinese audiences. On the DVD the language choices are Cantonese or Mandarin. The characterizations, plot situations, conflicts and resolutions do not use western story structure.

The male characters tend to fill several types for this kind of film while the female roles seem to break from those traditions. This comment is based on commentaries to several other Chinese films, where these types are described.

I found that the film lacked depth and the plot fell short of being cohesive.

Analysis aside, this film is very entertaining. It is upbeat, zippy and likable. One of the high points, for me came with the singing of the title song by Anita Mui early in the film. The song involves a montage of developmental incidents along with several costume and setting changes for the singer and chorus, which deftly indicated passage of time.

The fight sequences, while entertaining, really do not advance the story in any way and are more of a show case for Jackie Chan's acrobatic and martial arts talent. Beyond that they don't really add to the film. What I'm trying to say here is with or without the fight scenes what you have here is a pretty good film.

I recommend that you see this film if you get the chance and I would say that it would be suitable for children from around seven years and up.

I haven't seen Bruce Almighty. Unlike just about everyone else who went to this movie I had nothing to compare it with and no expectations based on the earlier movie.

I have a feeling what people were expecting was a frenetic, high strung, giddy, laugh a nano-second experience. If that is what you are expecting, then you will be disappointed.

What I was expecting was based on what I saw in the trailers for this movie - ordinary guy is visited by God, God tells him to build an Ark, the guy's beard and hair grow and animals show up. I was also expecting some funny stuff.

The film delivers on story, on character, on relationships. It has an element of menace and anticipation. It has funny stuff and it has heart. It is also a movie you can take your kids to, which is kind of rare these days.

I really enjoyed this movie. Set aside your Jim Carrey expectations and you may enjoy it, too.

Danny Kaye is funny in this as he always is. The plot is mediocre, even trite. The relationship between Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo is pretty much what we have seen before.

What makes this movie a ten is that it has some of the best ever big band/jazz musicians of its era. Every musical number is unique and entertaining. For that alone this film is well worth your time.

This may be a spoiler. Usually the practice for musical movies is to prerecord the musical numbers and then synchronize the action to the movie when filming. I think with this movie the performances were filmed and recorded at the same time. How could you keep Louis Armstrong from improvising? If you like big band/jazz you will want to see this film.

This is basically part 2 of Leni Riefenstahl's coverage of the 1936 Olympic Games. It has a very different feel and approach in comparison to the first film and very easily stands on its own apart from that film.

For one thing the propaganda in this film is very much less than in the first film. I spotted one swastika and I was looking for them. The political figures of the Third Reich, who make their presence obvious in the first film are absent in this one.

Where the first film covered many of the traditional track and field events in the stadium of the Olympics, this one covers gymnastics and many non track and field events.

Events covered include yacht races, rowing, a bicycle race, field hockey, soccer, the decathlon, some specifically military events, and men and women's diving. Additionally there are some equestrian events that I found particularly interesting.

Most of the events are accompanied with on the scene commentary and followed by announcing or presenting the medal winners. The exception to this comes near the end with the men's diving competition. This is presented to music and edited so that it looks more like aerial ballet than a sporting event.

I highly recommend this film.

The opening of this film surprised me. It takes about twenty minutes to get from the credits to the scene of the Olympic Games. There are scenes of Greek ruins dissolving into scenes of more Greek ruins. These flow to a long shot of the Acropolis.

This is followed with Greek statues, that eventually make the transition into living men and women. Though they are naked, Riefenstahl presents them in the same aesthetic sense as the statues. First there are men doing some of the traditional track and field events: discus throwing, shot put, and so on. Then there are women dancing.

The dancing women transform into flames, which lights a torch. A runner carries the torch away from the Greek ruins and from there the film follows the relay of torches to the stadium in Berlin.

The opening sequence alone makes this film worth your time.

There are some opening ceremonies where the athletes march onto the field. Adolph Hitler opens the games. The torch is lit.

From that point on the film becomes a documentary of the major track and field events of the 1936 Olympic games.

However this is not a by-the-numbers presentation of the games. Leni Riefenstahl presents the events through the lens of her aesthetic vision. She even pushes the suspense of the outcome of the sporting event with reaction shots, and other cinematic devices.

There is propaganda in this film, but I believe Riefenstahl downplayed that aspect of the games.

Everything I've read on this film mentions Jesse Owens. Hitler and by extension the Third Reich looked upon black people as inferior. However from the way Jesse Owens and other black athletes are photographed and presented in this film it is very obvious that Leni Riefenstahl had a fond appreciation for them.

As a film fan I am very glad I was able to see this film. As well as being instructive it is also very enjoyable.

I liked Ghost Rider. This was a competently made by the numbers action movie. It could have been much better, but what was on the screen was enjoyable.

For me, the antagonists, Mephistopheles, Blackheart and Blackheart's minions, did not come off as being as evil, menacing or scary as they could have been. This was probably because more reliance was put on the costumes, make up and CG for these characters than their acting skills.

The creative people on this certainly got the look and feel of the Ghost Rider and his flaming mount. Of all the menacing minions of Hell in this movie, the Ghost Rider, to me, was actually the scariest one. Nicolas Cage came very close to putting across the personal dilemma and conflict within this character. To me, he was a very inspired choice for this role.

Probably the most memorable part of the film came from one of the lesser characters. Rebel Wilson, the 'Girl in the Ally,' delivered an extremely comic news interview. A few more little touches like this one could have helped this film.

When I first saw the trailer for this film and saw Peter Fonda in it I thought that this was an appropriate choice using him because of Easy Rider and the other biker films he was in as well as films like Dirty Mary Crazy Larry and Race with the Devil.

So I thought cool, this film will also be an homage to many of the B biker movies. Alas this was not the case. I half expected to see Dennis Hopper in a cameo, and possible even a cameo from the American Chopper cast. Don't look for those people in the film because they aren't there.

Another disappointment was the introduction of the 'bad guys' in the biker bar. This was certainly creepy enough, but I found it to be on the static and flat side. It would have had more action if the 'bad guys' had hijacked a motorcycle club ride in progress on the road.

One other little detail that could have been used in this film was Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider tattoo, which was covered up with makeup for this film. As tattoos are an integral part of biker culture I think it would have been appropriate for the devil to mark Johnny Blaze with the tattoo as a symbol of his ownership of him. That way the tattoo could have become a nice touch in the film. The tattoo could have also shown up as a scrimshaw etching on the bones of the Ghost Rider.

The movie was enjoyable, but I think that I won't be adding it to my DVD collection for some time after that gets issued.

This had some of the feel of Super Fly but with a bigger budget. Unfortunately no Curtis Mayfield on the sound track. That would have been a really cool homage. I think the Jefferson Airplane piece at the beginning was out of place, but the other songs on the soundtrack all fit the bill appropriately.

The film did not deliver the promise of the trailer, which had a much tighter feel and, to my view, a much higher emotional tenseness.

Everyone in this was good and the writing and direction was competent. (Saying someone in the movie business is competent is not a complement I'm afraid.) If the two main antagonists in this had been creepier, scarier and more menacing I think the film would have been much more memorable.

Overall I liked this film. I think it is worthwhile viewing and I recommend it.

"Lord of the Rings Light."

That was my response to this when I first saw the trailer. The other thing that went through my mind at the time was, "all the actors are phoning it in, including the dragon." Then I found out this was based on a book written by a fifteen year old. OK. He's set for life, if he manages his money or becomes prolific or both.

Then the third thought that came to mind was, "film industry making a cash grab." But a flaming sword, a dragon spewing fire, an evil king played by John Malkovich, a pretty maiden warrior princess, CG up the wazoo; well I'm going anyway.

I set aside all my expectations and had a good time. You're allowed to have a good time with a movie like this. Yes, it has its flaws. No, it isn't up to the standards set by Peter Jackson with Lord of the Rings.

The one place where I think this movie fell short was in its opening. It starts with a narrator telling the back story. I hate narrators in movies. Can't you get the information across with the action on screen? You know, show it, don't tell it.

In addition to that the film could have benefited with another fifteen to twenty minutes to put some flesh on the bones, as it were. Oh and the producers could have thrown a few more bucks at the creature effects.

I found that I liked the good guys in this and was entertained by the bad guys. I went along with the action of the film. I overlooked the flaws and I enjoyed the film. I am looking forward to seeing the second one.

It's not the best fantasy movie ever made, but it is pretty good.