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2009/9/6 Music of Movies at Hollywood Bowl 090509Last night I had a chance to enjoy the lengendary composer John Williams conducting LA Philharmonic at the historic Hollywood Bowl. Already a fan of his movie scores, especially Star Wars, I had to come.
We decided to try our luck at the Hollywood Bowl ticket office buying tickets, and it was pretty much sold out, especially in the last sections where tickets are cheaper. Gladly there were a pair of $36 tickets open in the mid section, and they were relatively good seats with fair visibility and good sound quality, and there was a jumbotron right in front of us.
  After conducting the orchestra on Star-Spangled Banner, John Williams introduced actress Lynn Redgrave, who would narrate the introduction of each Harry Potter scores. As it turned out, the first 45 minutes of the performance were spent on Harry Potter music. I felt kinda bummed out, and thought majority of the audience did too (an OK applause afterwards) ... We don't care about Harry Potter! Let's get on to the serious stuff.
  John Williams and Lynn Redgrave
 In the lower right hand corner, I thought the profile of the guy looks exactly like Harrison Ford in tuxedo from Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom!
After the intermission, John Williams opened with a medley of some of the popular and familiar movie tunes, which was entertaining and a nod to some movie classics. The medley was followed by the suite from Catch Me If You Can, which was directed by Steven Spielberg. John Williams joked that his frequent collaboration with Spielberg was like "a marriage without arguments." It hit home with some of the older audience (and me) when they played "As Time Goes By" from the classic Casablanca, with violin solo by lead violinist Bing Wang. After a couple of theme songs, theme from Superman looked like the piece to close the show.
Just as I thought this was going to be a disappointing way to leave the show, John Williams came back from backstage for the encore, saying "here is a gift to my 800 year old friend," and the audience (incredibly many Star Wars fans) went into thunderous cheer, whipping out their lightsabers and waving in the air. Then the Yoda theme was softly played out in front of us. I had so much goose bumps that you wouldn't believe.
 A sea of lightsabers
When it was finished, John Williams turned around and led the orchestra for a thanks-bow. He saw and acknowledged a large presence of Star Wars fans waving the lightsabers by waving his baton. He left for backstage, and was welcomed back by standing ovation, and then the emotion boiled higher when the opening theme and Imperial March from Star Wars were played. The audience wanted more, but finally he showed a sleeping gesture as it was too late. The encore ran probably 20 more minutes, in addition to the 2 hour show. This is a holy grail for the Star Wars fans, including myself, to see the master conducting his own music that made the movies great. Worth every penny.
Samples of the night from a Youtube source
(More pictures can be found in my blog album) 2009/3/25 La Maison en Petits CubesThis animated short film - La Maison en Petits Cubes (The House of Small Cubes) by Kunio Kato won this year's Oscar in its category. A reflection of a global issue, as well as a deep, moving human factor in it.
Part 1 of 2
Part 2 of 2
2008/7/7 The Nutcracker and the gay paradeThe Imperial Russian Ballet came to town recently, and will perform a number of famous ballets in the month of July, starting off with the Nutcracker. Still impressed by Swan Lake she saw in Czech Republic, Mom got tickets for us to the Nutcracker. So last Saturday (7/5) we went to see it at Compac Gran Via Theater on Gran Via in Madrid.
Eh, no, not this nutcracker.
The bus route 133 goes directly to Gran Via from home. However the ride was cut short when we were about to arrive at our destination near Plaza de Espana. There were police cars blocking a lengthy part of Gran Via. We had to get off the bus and walk to the theater. By talking to a pedestrian, we knew that there was going to be the annual gay parade that evening, taking place on Gran Via. Mom said she ran into this event around the same time last year, not knowingly, said it was a total chaos, and she spent 20 minutes just trying to cross from one side of the road to the other. Oh, that's just great.
Calm before the storm. Such a great photo opportunity at otherwise busy Gran Via
Front of Teatro Compac Gran Via
Left: the chandelier inside the theater. Right: a scene from the Nutcracker, image from internet.
It was probably my second time enjoying a ballet. One of the beauties of ballets is that it goes beyond the language barrier and can be understood without words being spoken; it's like watching a silent film with an orchestra in the background. A beauty that I appreciate - I would have missed out on things if it were spoken in Spanish.
The Nutcracker broke the stereotype of ballets being all serious and melancholy. It was quite joyous and uplifting, and I can imagine why it's popular with children and played often during the Christmas time. The ballet was performed in 2 acts in 2 hours. There are different stage versions and plots of the ballet, but the only constant is Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite that people couldn't be more familiar with. As I watched every ballet dancers dance, I couldn't begin to imagine how many years they put into the work, to achieve the graceful nature of the seemingly difficult postures, and their every movement was in-sync with the music.
When we got out of the theater at 9 PM, it was the height of the gay parade. The rainbow flags were everywhere, and flamboyant gay people were loaded onto container trucks, parading down Gran Via and professing their sexual orientation. Gran Via was crowded with gay groups, tourists, onlookers, what have you (= pickpockets' heaven!), YMCA was being played out loud... man, it was an orgy. I couldn't resist wondering: how many people here were with AIDS?
Luckily, we were able to get out of the chaos quickly and got on the bus towards home.
Hehe... gaydar. In case you were wondeirng, I didn't shoot anything people under 18 shouldn't see.
2008/2/20 Dr. Jones is back!Some of you might have already known about the upcoming Indiana Jones movie - after nearly 20 years! - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull. Yes, Harrison Ford can still kick ass! Another exciting adventure awaits us on May 22nd, and I am as giddy as a school boy. Here is the sneak preview:
To celebrate the occasion, I am decking out my Indy outfit.
2008/1/31 3:10 to YumaI am getting a hang of this small-time movie critic thing...
Last summer during the height of my Western movie-watching, colleague T, a Western aficionado who let me borrow his movie collection, stirred up a conversation about going to see 3:10 to Yuma together. It didn't end up happening, and was put on back burner until a couple of days ago a renewed interest brought me to watch a pirated DVD mpeg... again.
The movie is a remake of the 1957 film of the same title, with a twist at the end. A poor rancher and Civil War veteran Dan Evans (Christian Bale) and sons were out herding, and stumbled upon a stagecoach robbery - led by the infamous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crow). As Evans helped the injured coach guard to the nearest town Bisbee, he found himself inadvertently assisting in the arrest of Ben Wade, who was laying low in the town after the robbery. Frustrated that he could not provide much for his family, Evans agreed to escort Wade for $200 to the train station in Contention, to catch the 3:10 PM train to Yuma next day, where Wade would be hung. The escort of the dangerous outlaw to Contention was hazardous, plus Wade's posse was in pursuit to hunt the escorts down. In the journey, Evans and Wade learned about each other and themselves, and ultimately leading to the showdown in Contention.
This one is definitely going to be in my top ten Westerns of all time, along with Once Upon a Time in the West, Unforgiven, Tombstone, just to name a few. Directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line, 2005), 3:10 to Yuma wasn't a stereotypical shoot 'em-up, but a strong character-driven movie that very much reminded me of High Noon. Russell Crowe acted with his usual intensity, playing an infamous outlaw and a borderline protagonist Ben Wade, whose true personality the audience will learn about as story progresses. Christian Bale, being a first timer in Western, did a great job as a dutiful and righteous Dan Evans. A special nod to Ben Foster, who played Ben Wade's second-in-command Charlie Prince, and portrayed an incredibly evil badass.
3:10 to Yuma was hailed as "best western since Unforgiven," and I gladly agree with it. If you are longing for the mystique of the Westerns, the virtue of righteousness, a battle between good and evil (or inbetween), this is a must-see.
Two thumbs up!
2008/1/30 Lust, CautionThe Academy Award winning director Ang Lee's latest film Lust, Caution (色, 戒) premiered last Fall, but I didn't get to see it until a couple of days ago. It was only shown in select theaters in the US, and being in the Hell Hole, you can basically forget about seeing it in theater, so I had to rely on pirating online. Following the success of Brokeback Mountain - which took a man to see it alone in theater, there was high expectation on my side for Lust, Caution. The movie had mixed reviews, generally well-received, and swept 2007 Golden Horse Awards (or the Oscars of Chinese-speaking countries) and the Golden Lion Award at Venice Film Festival.
Based on the short story by Chinese author Eileen Chang in 1979, the story was set in 1942, in the Japanese-occupied Shanghai. A group of patriotic college students was determined to do what they could to contribute in saving China, and decided that they would assassinate a high ranking officer Mr. Yee (lead actor, played by Tony Leung) of the Japanese collaborationist government of Wang Jingwei - who was regarded as the traitor of China. The film started off in the streets of Shanghai, and an ominous plot was about to take place. It flashbacks to 4 years ago, when the college freshman Wong Chia Chi (lead actress, played by the new comer Tang Wei) was chosen by her drama club peers to infiltrate into the high society of the collaborationist government, and get closer and seduce Mr. Yee by any means necessary.
The most controversial part of the movie was the explicit sex scenes, which we'd find more and more in Ang's works (but I am not complaining). The pirated version I saw was the cut version perhaps from China (not very well edited at times, I might add) and didn't get to see the whole 159 minutes of it. Erotic espionage thriller - three words to describe the genres of Lust, Caution, sounding very exciting, and if done right, it'd be blockbuster guaranteed. Somehow after watching the film, I had some disappointment, and thought there was something they could improve on. Maybe it was me falling off high expectations, and I felt it didn't have as much impact as Brokeback Mountain did. It was a good film nevertheless.
2007/12/31 Jay Chou's world tour concert in LA 12/24/07It's always been enjoying good time and good food when I visit Bro in LA, including the past 5-day Christmas weekend. The highlight of this trip, I must say, was getting to experience the star power and musical talent of Jay Chou 周杰倫 on Christmas Eve.
I had the opportunity to volunteer as a part of the event planning crew for the concert (at the new Galen Center of USC), and of course this came with the perk of 1) access to the concert, and 2) sitting at a basketball court-length away from the stage in the floor section... all for free! I'll spare the details of the volunteer work, but it basically included distributing program booklets to each seat, moving Jay's trademark white piano and things back and forth, and passing by the star of the concert like he was just another guy talking on the cell phone... oh, that last one was coincidental, I am sure a lot of fans would have died... I mean wanted to trade places with me.
The day before Christmas Eve. The stage was being put together.
To be frank, since a long time ago I have been out of touch with any current Chinese pop music (let's say post-1998), and more into all genres of music of the US and the world. You could say it's because of my musical preferences and geographical disconnect. So coming into this concert, I didn't expect much - though I've heard about Jay Chou being a big shot in Asia.
After the concert, I couldn't be more proud of this huge star from my home country. Then, plastic glow sticks rained down on us - due to fans throwing them from upper decks, asking Jay for encore - that was totally uncool and we had to duck for cover.
Majoring in piano and trained in classical music, Jay Chou is not only a musician, but also a singer, producer, actor and director. I found myself searching for his songs in the past 7 years, and enjoyed listening to them. Jay, I think you've got a new fan. On a personal note: with the status quo of Taiwan and the rest of the world, why not capitalize on the star power of Jay "Asia Prince of Pop" Chou to make Taiwan known, just like Chien-Ming "Glory of Taiwan" Wang of NY Yankees? But anyway.
Jay Chou already made himself internationally known by starring in the movie - Curse of the Golden Flower, and rocked out the song for the movie - Golden Armor 黃金甲, to kick off the concert. Accompanied by the mellow, poetically-written ending theme song (also from the movie) Chrysanthemum Terrace 菊花台, Jay gave an example of how wide of the range in music he was capable of.
In fact his music style was so diversified - sometimes fusing eastern with western music style, the term "Chou Style" was used to describe it. Many of his works fall in the categories of pop, rap, and blues, but still he would go out of his way to stay fresh, for examples: Rosemary 迷迭香 in Bossa nova style, and the latest hit - Cowboy on the Run 牛仔很忙, in a playful American country folk music style. His relaxed ennunication in songs is criticized as mumbling, especially when it's a rap song (but then, it's hard to understand anything when you rap), I guess you could say I am more interested in the melody than what's actually being sung? Recent release of some of his songs, such as Faraway 千里之外 - with Taiwan's perennial singing great Fei Yu-Ching 費玉清, adopted a clearer pronunciation to bring out the beauty of poetically written and emotionally rich lyrics.
Jay Chou's songs cover a wide range of subjects, such as drugs and violence, and aim to educate and address the issues in society. One of my favorite songs with catchy tunes - Listen to Mama 聽媽媽的話, emphasizes his high regard in family values. Some of my favorite songs are shown in the following Youtube music videos. Jay Chou rocked this one, and I wish him continued success. And thanks to him, my interest in Chinese music has been woken and reintroduced into the culture.
Two thumbs up, and very 屌!
Faraway 千里之外 (duet with Taiwan's perennial singing great Fei Yu-Ching 費玉清)
Coral Sea 珊瑚海 (love ballad, duet with Lara Veronin 梁心頤)
Listen to Mama 聽媽媽的話 (catchy rap emphasizing the virtue of filial piety)
Cowboy on the Run 牛仔很忙 (little bit of country...and a little of bit of rock n' roll?)
2007/8/19 The Last EmperorI watched the Last Emperor in theater when it came out, and hadn't watched it since - until a few days ago something sparked my interest in the movie. I bought the DVD online (good luck finding it in stores; they should make classics readily available, by the way). The Director's Cut is 3.5 hours long, but I enjoyed every minute of it.
Based on a true story, the movie spans from the last declining years of Ching Dynasty in the early 1900's to 1960's where Culture Revolution was taking place in China. Puyi, who became China's last emperor when he was a toddler, soon found himself a prisoner of the Forbidden City and a ruler of an essentially pseudo empire, in the midst of revolution and transition into the Republic. The film shows the adult Puyi in the prison camp of psychological reform and flashbacks to his adolescence and adulthood where he made deals with the Japanese to resurrect his Manchurian empire; as the term Manchurian signifies, Puyi found himself a puppet of Japan alongside the Japanese invasion of China.
The Last Emperor depicts the tragedy of Puyi: from emperor to being an ordinary citizen, at the mercy of warlords and unprepared for the world of change. Can't blame a man for wanting his empire back after being stripped of power.
The movie grabbed 9 Oscars in 1987, and rightly should. Director Bernardo Bertolucci was excellent in his vision and storytelling, and that made the Last Emperor a phenomenal biopic. The movie stars John Lone who portrayed Puyi wonderfully, Joan Chen as Puyi's wife/empress Wan Jung, and Peter O'Toole who plays Puyi's graceful tutor Reginald Johnston. The music was beautifully done by Ryuichi Sakamoto and was as memorable and haunting as the film itself.
An instant classic, as an adult I got to appreciate more of its beauty, and felt like I was seeing it for the first time, even after 20 years. I wish they'd make more movies like this. The Forbidden City is definitely on my travel wishlist.
2007/8/4 Simpsonize meAfter nearly two decades of the Simpsons and growing up with the cartoon, finally comes the movie. And it came with the most interesting marketing campaigns, including having 7-Eleven's be Kwik-E-Marts for a month, and a tie-in Burger King website Simpsonizeme.com which transforms you into a character in the cartoon.
And I guess I'd look like this in Springfield...
2007/6/13 Looks like a William Hung, sings like a PavarottiThis guy, Paul Potts, became a media sensation on Britain's Got Talent the instant he opened his mouth and sang Nessun Dorma! from Turandot. It sent a chill down my spine and the crowd went roaring. It almost drove me to tears...
Little lump of coal turning into a diamond - ouch... But this kind of performance should be on American Idol. To see how good he is, compare with Pavarotti live in Paris 1998.
Once Upon a Time in The WestNever have I seen a better western than ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. Not even The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (even though it's ranked higher in the IMDB website, it's dull at times... ). This movie essentially blows all others out of water.
One of the spaghetti westerns the master Sergio Leone directed, it reached cult status and influenced a number of filmmakers. It reminds me of the themes and styles Quentin Tarantino used for his films, in terms of revenge that is both stylish and tasteful. For example, without giving it away, a strange man Harmonica's (Charles Bronson) quest that's unknown to anyone becomes very clear at the end of the movie. The central theme isn't just about revenge, but a summary of what Sergio Leone saw in the predecessors, and deliciously added his own ingredients; I can see some of Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With The Wind in the female central character widow Jill McBain. The railroad running through the town signals the start of industrial revolution and also brings an end to the romanticism of the wild west. All of those made it an unique representation of a western.
The fact the movie was partially shot in Monument Valley made me go "I was there!" When Jill McBain arrives at the town's station, enters the town, and the camera slowly rises up to reveal a town that's being built. A homage was paid by Back to the Future part III when Marty enters the 1885 Hill Valley. One of the movie's scores - Jill's theme, is a tune that I have heard all along and am already familiar with, but didn't know what movie it came from. Claudia Cardinale (Jill McBain) basically was made a goddess in the movie, whom every guy can't forget about after watching it. Henry Fonda never played a role of a ruthless villan until this classic, and in which he did perfectly. Can't forget a line he said:
"How can you trust a man that wears both a belt and suspenders, a man that can't even trust his own pants?"
Badass Henry Fonda, and sexual dynamo Claudia Cardinale 2007/1/28 Jesus Christ SuperstarWhen I was a teenager, one day Mom brought home a Sarah Brightman CD (renditions on Broadway hits), songs like Everything's Alright and I Don't Know How To Love Him became very familiar to me ever since. Until tonight, I was fortunate to be able to experience the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, which features these two songs live. I was then able to piece together the songs into the structure of the story.
Lyrics by Tim Rice, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, one of Webber's classics - Jesus Christ Superstar tells the story of final days of Jesus, rock style. In this farewell tour, Ted Neeley reprises his role back in the 1973 movie version, and was still pretty damn good (at the age of 60 something) as Jesus. Corey Glover was electrifying as Judas - I couldn't imagine anyone that could have done it better. In fact, I read from comments from previous audience saying that Glover saved the show. I would probably second that - in a way that Judas could very well be the main character. I especially liked Superstar, where Jesus was met by the spirit of Judas (Judas in his disco get-up, accompanied by the "soul sisters"... hilarious) before crucifixion, and Judas questions if all this sacrifice was part of the divine plan.
Neeley and Glover gave a high-decibel performance that rocked my ears off. Dodson had a wonderful performance as Mary. The cast received a long standing ovation at the end. The two-hour show was worth every penny... what a visual and audio treat for the night!
2007/1/14 Tragic rolesI went and saw two movies this weekend - the Painted Veil, and the Good Shepherd. Two very different stories, two different eras, but one similarity: both of their central characters are tragic roles.
The story of the Painted Veil sets in 1925, a selfish high society girl (Naomi Watts) married an English doctor (central character, played by Edward Norton) just so she could get away from her family. The couple relocated to Hong Kong, where the wife commited adultery. The doctor found out about it, and in anger, decided that both of them would move to a small town in China where there was a Cholera epidemic and where he would volunteer to help. While in China, both of them rediscovered the love and romance that did not exist when they married.
In the Good Shepherd, the central character Wilson (Matt Damon) - an idealistic young blood graduated from Yale, took a career path in intelligence working for OSS (later became CIA) during WWII, and into the Cold War paranoia as he became a veteran operative. As the story goes on, the audience would find it was a path no one could follow nor Wilson himself could get out of.
It was weird how I encountered similar roles in one setting. So why are the central characters tragic? For the Painted Veil, you'd probably have to find out at the end for yourself. It was a beautiful romantic story and I liked how the story was told. There were so many little details in the Good Shepherd, half of the time I didn't understand what was going on (bring your full attention when you watch this almost 3 hour movie). However, it looked clear to anyone that this tragic character Wilson had to isolate himself from his family and from the world because of his job. It sorta reminded me at the end of the Godfather Part II what Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) was going through... go figure, the Good Shepherd was directed by Robert De Niro and co-produced by Francis Ford Coppola (both were veterans in the Godfather movies).
2006/4/16 Howl's Moving CastleEver since I watched My Neighbor Totoro in junior high, I've been reeled into director Miyazaki's creative world of animations. His movies never cease to amaze me. From story to artistic approach, there is no boundries on imaginations. Small details are never spared in his movies, and character depth is always there. It's been a real treat and an escape from reality every time I watch his films. Only till recently have his films been introduced to the English speaking world, which I think should have been done a long time ago. Recent films such as Spirited Away won numerous awards, and so that opened the door in the western market.
Howl's Moving Castle is the latest Studio Ghibli film that followed the success of Spirited Away, maybe followed too closely that some might call it a rehash of his previous work. I think of it as continuing the tradition. The story tells about a young girl named Sophie, who is cast a spell by the Witch of the Waste, becomes a 90 year old women, meets a mysterious wizard named Howl, and embarks on an adventure to break the spell.
The story sets in a beautifully-drawn european villa, and the score involves mainly piano, which makes it a very peaceful and visual piece of work.
4 out of 5 2006/1/8 Brokeback MountainThe title surfaced sometime late last year, and being an indy film, it wasn't open to audience nationwide until a couple of days ago. I heard nothing but good reviews about it, and of course some jokes dubbing it "the gay cowboy movie." Knowing that I will be uncomfortable seeing two guys at it during the movie, I braved up and went to see it anyway. I mean, it can't be all kissing and sex in the movie. Besides, it received many award nominations and Ang Lee directed it, it has to be good. By the way, it turned out that I wasn't the only heterosexual watching it :)
The story is about a love and friendship between two cowboys (played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) that developed during sheep herding on Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming in 1963, during the time when this type of love wasn't allowed by moral (heck, it still isn't allowed in most of the world today, talking about wrong place at the wrong time), and what happened to their lives afterwards. Granted there have been a few mainstream movies made about homosexuality, there isn't one as cut-throat and life-revealing as Brokeback Mountain. No stranger to directing character-driven films (and a vetern in directing homosexual roles such as in Wedding Banquet, I might add), Ang Lee has done another good job of making the characters come out to life so the audience can relate to them, and getting to the point where it's needed to be. Also, some simple guitar notes gave the film a distinctive score, I thought it was really fitting.
4 out of 5 stars
2005/8/3 Hot August NightsSince 1986, Hot August Nights have been held in downtown Reno the first few days every August. The event brings back nostalgia of 50's and 60's, mainly because people that own classic cars from the era will convene in Reno, and show off their customized babies.
That is cool and all. I like looking at them too. But then it's not fun when you live in downtown. Today I had to go an extra mile to get back to my garage because there were road blocks and detours everywhere (on top of that, road closures due to building constructions).
Hopefully this won't get worse in the coming days.
2005/6/27 Frankly my dear, I don't give a damnThe quote, from the beloved American classic film Gone with the Wind, was voted the #1 quote of all time by American Film Institute (AFI) last week. This is when Brett (Clark Gable) lost his love and patience for Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) at the end simply because her mind is still on Ashley, of course losing their only daughter had a lot to do with it, he walks out of the door and never looks back. O, what a drama!
Films nowadays rarely have this quality and calibur anymore. This is what I would call a "worth 4 hours of sitting down and enjoy" type of movie. It depicts American civil war era, the defeat and the destruction of the South, and the reconstruction afterwards. The main character Scarlett, having gone from being rich to totally broke - the only thing she had left was the family estate Tara, regrouped herself in the aftermath of the War. Being selfish and independent, she always got everything she wanted, except man of her dream - Ashley. And she ended up losing the man who truly loves her. Irony of the picture, perhaps. Was the movie foreshadowing how modern American women would be in the near future? (Given that this was made in year 1939)
Maybe I'll open the floor for you readers out there ;)
2005/6/24 Batman BeginsBesides Star Wars Episode III, Batman Begins is the other movie I couldn't wait to see in 2005. Directed by the famed Christopher Nolan (who directed Insomnia in 2002, and Momento in 2000, which I haven't seen), the Batman franchise got fired up again (not that it has anything to do with the other 4 Batman movies). The movie stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman (his American Psycho role left a deep impression on me), Liam Neeson (who's always good in every role), Katie Holmes (from Dawson's Creek, who's in top list of my favorite actresses; damn you Tom for snatching her up!!), and Morgan Freeman. Beyond my expectation, this movie received so many great reviews and praises. In my opinion, the original Batman with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson always remained the best of the series. This one came along, and I don't know which I like best anymore. Set in modern-day Gotham (we all know it's modeled after NYC), this movie has a more realistic approach than other goofy ones - possibly a main reason why it was received so brilliantly. Americans' fascination with super heroes (note that Batman doesn't have super powers!) will always make movies do good in the box office... I imagine there will be sequels after this. Two thumbs up!
2005/6/13 UnforgivenI discover that I like Clint Eastwood's movies a lot - whether they are directed by him or he stars himself in them. They always make you think at the end, though often the intepretations can go many ways. This one happens to be one of his many western movies in his film career, and one of my favorites. Unforgiven won several academy awards in 1992, including Best Picture and Best Director. Reportedly this movie "...sums up what he feels about western." The character William Munny (Eastwood) used to be a killer gunslinger in the old days. For several years he's been clean and free of old habits, much of it accredited to his late wife, and became a farmer raising two children on his own. When he heard of $1000 bounty to avenge for the hooker who got cut up by two cowboys, he decided to pick up his weapons one more time. Teamed up with his old friend Ned (Morgan Freeman) and a young wannabe killer, Munny set out to get the bounty. Things did not go easy in the town of Big Whiskey - run by the local sheriff Little Bill (Gene Hackman), who has his cruel and unusual way of dealing with outlaws. When Little Bill crossed the line and killed Ned, what has been hidden inside Munny broke loose... Two thumbs up! 2005/5/24 The circle is now completeLast Thursday was the premiere of Star Wars's last installment - Episode III Revenge of the Sith. I had a chance to see it after work, and since a Century theater is located next to my apartment, it's only reasonable. Also I was glad there weren't any extreme fanatics around here taking up all the tickets... Lucasfilm did a great finish to the saga. It fulfills what I expected for this film to be. The pace was good. Special effects are fantastic. The only thing the audience would probably nitpick on is how quickly Anakin turned to the darkside. Dark, is what this episode is supposed to be. And it follows through, connecting the prequels to the original trilogy. Special thumbs up to Ewan McGregor playing Obi-Wan Kenobi. He made the transition to the great Alec Guinness's original role seamlessly. Who can forget the line Obi-Wan crying out in despair "you were the chosen one!" to his hopeless apprentice-turned-sith... it was full of emotions on Ewan's part, and it worked out great. Can't wait till the DVD comes out...
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