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Reviews
You've Got Mail (1998)
I didn't love it, but I don't know why I don't (totally) hate it
I quite liked some bits and some characters but other bits were cringy, which made it hard to watch. I particularly hated the "clownish" faces from Hanks and Ryan; everyone else acted in a fairly believable way, but the acting and scenarios between the two main characters were just too hard to believe, especially in a fairly 'real-world" context. OK, it's a light comedy probably not aimed at me, and I've never been so keen on US romantic comedy. The email / bookshop approach worked I thought, but it left me with too many questions, and all Hanks' character's evilness and trickery made it hard for it to work with him as the romantic "winner" (is that a spoiler, or is it totally obvious?). All very two dimensional, but maybe that's what light romantic comedies are supposed to be.
Jiu xian shi ba die (1979)
Sweet Premium Wine!!
What a awfully wonderful film - I bought the DVD very cheap and have seen it several times with friends, drinking the sweet premium and practicing the Drunken Style afterwards, and using the dialogue wherever possible. It's probably a lot more classy than I imagine, but it's very dated and let down by the dialogue. But it goes on and on, with lots of fighting, and the DVD has an excellent trailer (complete with spelling mistake). Lots of fighting, nothing too horrible; it should be a poignant and touching tale, but I'm usually too drunk to really care! Watch it, but all in good fun!
Titan A.E. (2000)
OK, it's for kids really...
The story might be a bit tacky, with blatant "comedy moments" and lots of "suspension of disbelief" required, but the funny bits ARE funny (sometimes at least - I love the little alien character), and the whole sci fi idea is a good one. It's a blatant 2 dimentional "holywood" style "coming of age" story, with trust and betrayal and "love interest" stuff - horrible horrible, but we all had good fun watching it, and there are some great moments and a few quotable quotes. But while all this is going on, the imagery is gorgeous in places - pause your DVD a few times and appreciate it!
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Seasick!
I had such high expectations and dragged a friend along, but I confess to only having managed to watch half the film; I'm sure the to-and-fro "documentary style" camera work is very innovative and relevant, but it made me feel physically sick! Leaving the film was a positive relief because I found I didn't really like or care about any of the characters, and it was fairly obvious that they were all going to have a horrible time, which is what I later heard that they did. I had a much nicer time looking around the art gallery and listening to traditional Indian music! The fantasy dance scenes were fun however, but you have to ask yourself whether you'd take seriously a song with the lyrics "Crash! Bang!" from anyone other than Björk.
Kôkaku kidôtai (1995)
Wow!
I always say that I love Manga films, but sometimes I wonder... Ghost in the Shell has confirmed that I DO love Manga - I'll start with the few complaints: OK - Japanese women always have to have those giant eyes, but is the gratuitous "lara croft" look necessary? They're just TOO big, and the opening scene makes a bit too much of them! And, as a rule, I recommend English-speakers to choose the Japanese soundtrack with subtitles... ideally learn Japanese! Somehow the US voice actors don't quite sound right to me.
So what was good about it? A great story that, unlike Akira, I can almost follow, and some GORGEOUS "mood" sections - very Bladerunner as the rain falls down, and nice touches like the dustbin-man's basset hound appearing in odd places, a wonderful big crowd scene (not often seen in animation), great action, the significant tree of life in the warehouse... in the "making of", they even fired guns as part of the research and made sure the ricochets only sparked at the right times!
I think my favourite shot is where the ghost-hacked gunman is walking along the alleyway with a jumbo flying overhead.
In summary, a good action film, clever touches, good story and characters, some engaging and moving scenes... just try to ignore the gratuitous close-ups!
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)
Oh dear!
Thought it'd be fun, but a bit disappointed. It displayed some skilled technical stuff and Eddie Murphy's abilities as a character actor, but (for a UK audience) the unintelligible dialogue and crude humour all got a bit much for us thirty-somethings; my two friends fell asleep, but explaining the bit they missed didn't exactly take long.
I guess it's aimed at a younger audience, and I enjoyed the star wars parody, but it's one of those films I'll try to avoid seeing again!