jz02 Reviews

Lady Vengeance (2005)

Park Chan Wook is a genius

[10/10 · 29 October 2006]

Wow, what a fitting end to the vengeance trilogy. The movie starts out kind of slow, I actually watched this in 2 sittings. But the ending was just so wow. Mr. Baek's line, "There is no such thing as a perfect human being" sums up the theme of this movie, and the trilogy as a whole.

On the theme of atonement, "small atonement for small sins, big atonement for big sins". We will never be perfect, but we can learn from and correct our mistakes.

One thing I've noticed, there's a theme of kidnapping as the starting point plot device that is used throughout all 3 movies.

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003– )

The Goof comment is wrong

[22 January 2006]

Just for the record, the goof comment about episode #4 is wrong. Ed being able to perform transmutations without a circle is explained later in the series. He obtained the power through the human transmutation experiment at the beginning of the series. His teacher was also able to do it because she too attempted human transmutation.

What enables Ed to perform transmutations without the circle is not the watch, he has the ability to form the circle with his hands. It was his ability to perform alchemy without a circle that got him qualified as a Kokka Renkinjutsushi (Nationally Certified Alchemist) in the first place. And you only get the pocket watch after qualifying as a Nationally Certified Alchemist.

Supai Zoruge (2003)

Good history, bad acting

[16 June 2004]

As the previous reviewer noted, the history is quite interesting. Especially concerning the political intrigues within the Japanese government and the context that lead to things like the 2.26 incident. However the acting in many parts was horrible bad. I don't know if this is because many actors aren't native English speakers so they can't act right when speaking in English or something, but I felt that many parts were just over done and had the feeling that the actors were amateurs. Plus there were way too many pointless scenes mixed in (the still scene of Nijubashi was put in there for countless times). Maybe in a Manga you'd put in those scenes to provide context, but certainly not in film.

Some people might say that this movie white washes Japan's role/behavior in WWII, but I that's not the point of the film. WWII and the 30s were just the backdrop to the story of Sorge and Ozaki, people whose sympathy for the poor had mislead them to risk their own lives and the wellbeing of their families to serve an ultimately futile cause.

The moral I got from this story is, don't give in to temptations to serve some greater cause and throw away the truly important things in life like love and family. Richard Sorge wanted to change the world, all he managed to accomplish was to ruin himself and the lives of the women who loved him, along with Ozaki who trusted him.

Personally I felt really bad for Katya, Hanako, Yoshiko, and Mrs. Ozaki. They really didn't deserve it.

Bridge of Dragons (1999)

What was that?

[29 June 2002]

The confusing array of uniforms and weapons made no sense. There were WWII German uniforms/weapons, AK47s, M14s, M1s, MP40s, and why was the rebel leader guy shooting upclose with a Dragunov? It made no sense.

Mansfield Park (1999)

I loved it

[15 September 2001]

I read some of the other comments prior to mine and got the impression that the movie bears little resemblence to the novel. That doesn't matter though, because I've never read the book, and from what I've read here, it seems that the book would put me to sleep if I had tried to read it. I remember having to read Pride and Prejudice for English class in 9th grade, it bored me to sleep. Everytime I picked up the book to read, I would scan through the lines which I can't seem to comprehend as they're denser than uranium, then after a few pages I would not remember anything I just read and get very sleepy. I never finished the book, and decided never to touch anything by Austen again. A few days ago, I came across Mansfield Park on the shelves at my local video rental store, since I was just browsing and happened to have my membership card and a few bucks in my pocket, I decided why not, so I rented it. When I popped it in my VCR, I was pleasantly surprised. While I'd agree that the bit about slavery is extraneous, there's no need to dwell on minor points, as they occupy a tiny fraction of screen time. I loved O'Conner's portrayal of Fanny, and for the longest time I thought she's going to marry Henry Crawford and live happily ever after. I completely missed the bit about his flirtation with Mariah and I guess it was so minor that I just automatically dismissed it as not being central to the plot. I'd have never thought the Crawfords to be such as they really are. I really enjoyed the incorporation of the bits of stories that Fanny wrote, "...their intimicy grew to such a pitch that they no longer kick each other out of the window at the slightest provocation", "...but lived beyond their means and eventually was jailed where she was partially eaten by her two young sons, but she plans to stab the prison guards..." I loved these tidbits as they really give an insight to the creative and imaginative mind of Fanny Price. What made the whole movie work is O'Conner's portrayal of Fanny, if they have made Fanny timid and shy and submissive as had been suggested, I think the movie would've been boring and turned me off Austen forever (now I'm going to find P&P and S&S to watch). This Fanny is actually exciting, to quote Edmund, [her] "entire person is entirely agreeable". There are lots of movies with hot actresses, and there's lots of movies with sappy teen romances, what set this movie apart is that it's romantic without being sappy, it's fun without being frivolous, and the heroine isn't some boy crazy school girl or butt kicking action junkie, she actually possesses wit and humor, with capabilities for invention and creativity. In other words, she actually has a brain [and a heart of course :-) ]. (and I don't mean brain as in Legally Blonde)

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Blew me away

[10/10 · 10 June 2001]

Seeing as how this film has already been so heavily reviewed, I'll just keep this to being about my own reactions. I perfectly agree with whoever it was that said that it does not do the movie justice to describe it in words. You really have to see it to experience it. Aside form the phenomenal animation (equal if not better than Tarzan), amazing action sequences, the plot is just so amazing. I didn't even try to analyze it, I just absorbed the movie's message instinctively, and I cried during the scene where San fed Ashitaka (I almost never cry during movies). In many ways this is one of the best movies I've ever seen, certainly the best anime film I've ever seen. I seriously wish I knew Japanese, because I also got a feeling that they tuned down the dialog in the English version. The music was also great, especially the theme, very haunting but peaceful score. For me the movie was just incredibly emotional, I cried during the movie, and I cried after the movie. The ending was bittersweet.

Dungeons & Dragons (2000)

Could've been great

[7 June 2001]

I just watched this movie on DVD with my best friend and we loved it. Yes the story line seems like it was lifted off of Star Wars, and yes the movie does seem choppy and the story seems undeveloped, but this is a small budget film, what do you expect? For those of you who bothered to take a look at the other goodies on the DVD, you will undoubted find a delightful collection of deleted scenes. It is truly a pity that they left these scene out, because it would've made the movie so much better. All those deleted scenes could've explained so much and developed the plot and characters. The director's consistent excuse throughout the deleted scenes commentary section was, we did it for the pace, or the movie would be too long and slow. Hello? Have you ever played D&D, D&D games ARE long and slow, but things get developed. I think this movie would be great if they just added those deleted scenes and changed it to the alternate ending (not the award ceremony cheesy Star Wars one they alluded to in the commentary, but the good one they showed).

My advice to Newline, fire the director, he's obviously some newbie. Get Somebody good, preferably Lucas (seeing as how it IS so similar to Star Wars).

Pay It Forward (2000)

Great movie, but the concept is not original

[24 May 2001]

This is overall a good movie, the acting is believable and it is sometimes quite emotional. Especially regarding Kevin Spacey's character. Although Pay it forward seems like a novel phrase, the concept is by far not original. In fact, the concept of pay it forward as been in practice in my school for as long as anyone can remember (it goes back to the civil war days). Each year the incoming freshmen gets hazed by the upperclassmen, and they pay it forward when they're upperclassmen to the new incoming freshmen class.

Mon père, ce héros. (1991)

Absolutely amazing

[19 May 2001]

I actually saw this two summers ago in China, I saw a chinese dubbed version, but it was good nonetheless. The first thing to love about this movie is the theme soundtrack that it starts with. I've been trying to get a hold of it ever since. If anyone can help me, please email. Anyway, I loved the movie. Even though a lot of jokes probably got lost in the translation, I still enjoyed the movie very much. It's a very charming film, one of the best foreign films I've ever watched (and I watched a lot of good foreign language films, from Stalingrad to Au revoir les enfants) The dad is truely great in this movie, he puts up with so much, my dad would kick my ass for 1/100 of that. Veronique is great too, not many people have the guts to pull somethign liek that off.

Enemy at the Gates (2001)

A great epic!

[10/10 · 16 March 2001]

Enemy at the Gates is full of blood chilling moments of suspense, I was utterly speechless at the end of the movie. Two hunters track each other amid the battle of Stalingrad, and in the ruins, one good shot is all it takes. The sound track is also very appropriate and haunting which goes nicely with the hunter hunted atmosphere. The ending was a little disappointing and unrealistic, but otherwise, the movie is very believable (I could actually feel my blood turn cold during some of the more suspenseful scenes). For some reason, my favorite character is actually Major Konig (Ed Harris), there's a certain nobility about him that just isn't present in the other characters.

Motocrossed (2001 TV Movie)

teen movie with a feminist message

[18 February 2001]

I just saw this film and the plot is somewhat predictable. This of course is a disney movie so that is to be expected. It's very typical of disney movies, the underdog wins the race. This movie is about a girl (Alana Austin) who disguises herself as a boy to take her brother's place in a motocross race (sounds a lot like Mulan). In the end, she manages to win the race and get the guy (wait, this IS Mulan)

Head Over Heels (2001)

A solid and entertaining film

[7/10 · 2 February 2001]

Although this is a chick flick, I have to say I enjoyed it immensely because of the hilarious moments of gross out humor put into the film. I can't remember ever watching any other romantic comedy that have sewage spraying out of a toilet and other funny bathroom humor. This could be the start of a trend, maybe romantic comedies can actually be funny. I wasn't the only one to laugh out loud during the movie either, most of the audience laughed. This movie deserves 7 out of 10 for being a first for me, a romantic comedy that is actually funny and entertaining.

Stalingrad (1993)

Mindblowing!

[10/10 · 2 February 2001]

This is one of the best war movies I've ever seen! Perfect as a sequel to Das Boot, Stalingrad depicts the titanic clash between the third reich and the soviet union at Stalingrad from the perspective of the men fighting. While the vast Russian steppes is a great contrast to Das Boot's claustrophobic settings, the outcome is no less tragic, which I guess would be the central theme to this movie. That war has no winners, as the supercomputer learned in Wargames. Now if they'd only make one about the Luftwaffe, it'll be a trilogy.