Format: Blueray
IMDB entry: here
An interesting film about the relationship between two couples – a writer, a photgrapher, a dermatoligist and a stripper. The story revolves around their relationships and breakups, with some minor twists. Nothing earth-shatteringly dramatic about it, but entertaining enough.
Format: Blueray
IMDB Link: here
A re-make of Les Liasons Dangereuses with a pathetic Hollywood gloss. The core story could have been quite amusing if they had had the sense to portray the characters as properly dissipated young people. The characters in Cruel Intentions are schoolchildren which makes their actions somewhat unbelievable. This is not the fault of the actors; simply the age of the characters. The original story portrays a level of dissipation far beyond what is revealed here; making the theme of redemption through love considerably less powerful.
Don’t waste your time; try one of the film adaptations closer to the original.
Format: Blueray
IMDB Entry: here
Now this one is a treat I have seen several times. The story itself is somewhat simplistic (although I believe that owes something to the studios wanting to exorcise the anarchist themes of the original comic book) being the old story of an attempt to overthrow a repressive regime. But as we learn more about the history of this regime, we begin to see parallels with what is happening in our current society.
Now being thwacked around the head with a serious political message is not usually considered to be an entertaining experience, which is why films like V need to gloss up the message in a story. And the story whilst simplistic does have enough twists to keep one interested.
The main message is that we need to be wary of sacrificing our civil liberties in the name of security.
Format: avi
IMDB entry: here
Take a coming of age film (the ones in this film are in their 20’s but seem younger), a horror film, a road trip film, and a hack and slash fantasy film, throw into a blender and mix. The result will give you this film. Any interesting aspects in this film are glossed over, and the film concentrates on areas that are not just mindless entertainment, but boring mindless entertainment.
The characters are two-dimensional and exhibit behaviour that a brick would be ashamed to being dumb enough to try.
You’ll feel the time watching this film could have been better spent banging your head against the wall.
It is not unknown for me to watch subtitled films, and to enjoy them (assuming the film appeals to me of course!). For some reason there are plenty of people who will not watch such films and they really do not know what they are missing. Sure it is a little bit of extra work to watch one, so watching a mindless entertainment film (which I am not snobbish enough to refuse to watch … nothing wrong with a bit of mindless entertainment) with subtitles probably is not worth it.
But they are tons of absolutely great films out there that are more than worth the extra investment in time … “Hero”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Jamon, Jamon”, and countless others. Not only are there great film makers who make films in languages other than English, but every film offers a small window into the culture of the country it comes from.
The strange thing is that I once sat down with a friend to watch “Crouching Tiger” and it accidentally started playing the dubbed in English version. Neither of us could stand it and had to restart the film in Mandarin with English subtitles. Something about the actors moving their lips in a pattern totally unrelated to the dialogue was deeply off putting.