Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: 4 stars
The reason that Roger Ebert picked "Dark City" to be the best film of 1998 is mainly because of, and I quote, "a great visionary achievement". He compared its visual to such classic as "Metropolis" and "2001: A Space Odyssey". While I agreed that the visual was exceptionally stunning, it was the concept of how the human memory might be the key to the survival of the alien-kind that fascinated me.
There are other films in recent years that use our memory (loss) as the backbone of the plots. Sometimes it's a comedy like "50 First Dates" and sometimes, it's a serious human behavior study such as "Memento".
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is by far, one of the most inventive films dealing with human memory. It's not a memory loss story line per se. Instead, it's a story of a man wanting a portion of his memory (of his girlfriend) erased. Right in the middle of the procedure, he changed his mind and decided to keep the good memory of her. The only problem is that the man himself (Joel, played by Jim Carrey) stuck in his own memory, unable to stop the procedure and therefore, starting a game of cat and mouse in his memory maze.
Normally, seeing a movie is a film study for me in that I'd notice all aspects of film making such as camera angles, music score, or mis-en-scene. "Eternal Sunshine" is the exception because of how brilliant the plot is. It's much more fun and interesting just to watch and absorb than making a mental note on the production. Sometimes, the difference between a good film and a great film is that you "watch" a good film but you "experience" a great film. Being stuck in Joel's memory maze and attempting not to get erased is something to be experienced.
Why is memory so important? Let's go back to "Dark City"; the aliens may have it right after all. Our memory is one of the keys to our survival. It’s the memory of your parents, your first date, or your first born child that makes you who you are. Without it, we are reduced to just another insignificant life form with nothing to cherish from the past and not much to look forward to in the future.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Two for the price of one (Martial Arts vs. Drama)
Ong-bak: Don't call yourself a martial-arts flick fan if you haven't seen "Ong-bak". Its plot was nonexistent, the acting was terrible, and the production was below average but I swear I've never seen Muay Thai being portrayed as exhilarating and as elegance on the big screen.
Tony Jaa (Ting, the hero of the film) has collaborated some of the kung fu style into his martial art (after all, he grew up idolizing Bruce Lee) but if you ever wonder what Muay Thai is all about then "Ong-bak" is the movie to put on your must see list.
Some of the stunts in the film should be simply described as insane. This Tony Jaa dude has given a new definition of the word "Badass Buddhist". I'm not worthy! 3 ½ stars
P.S.: I'll admit that the only reason I rented "P.S." was because of Laura Linney. I've been a big fan since I saw her in "Primal Fear", opposite Richard Gere and Edward Norton. My expectation of this film was based on the plot I heard a little bit about and I thought - hey, how bad could it be with my favorite actress and the interesting storyline of a rebirth of a main character.
What "P.S." turns out to be, however, is anything but what I described above. "P.S." isn't a plot-driven but a dialogue-driven film from the beginning to the end. There are only a few films out of hundreds I've seen in the past years that its dialogue is this engaging, "Before Sunset" is another one that comes to mind.
I was pleasantly surprised by how smart, complex, and truthful the dialogues are. It's smart because you feel how the conversations grab you and you have no choice but be involved. It's complex because it's coming out of the complex characters that experience the internal struggle and try to express their feelings. And it's truthful because the characters are believable and you can relate with their problems and THAT makes you chuckle and sob along with them.
I already know that Linney is an excellent actress but Topher Grace (Eric from "That '70s Show") more than held his own - acting with the veterans like Linney, Gabriel Byrne, and Marcia Gay Harden.
Dylan Kidd, who also directed another dialogue-driven film "Roger Dodger", did a wonderful job in making a 97 minutes film fly by like a lazy Saturday afternoon with a good book. 3½ stars
Tony Jaa (Ting, the hero of the film) has collaborated some of the kung fu style into his martial art (after all, he grew up idolizing Bruce Lee) but if you ever wonder what Muay Thai is all about then "Ong-bak" is the movie to put on your must see list.
Some of the stunts in the film should be simply described as insane. This Tony Jaa dude has given a new definition of the word "Badass Buddhist". I'm not worthy! 3 ½ stars
P.S.: I'll admit that the only reason I rented "P.S." was because of Laura Linney. I've been a big fan since I saw her in "Primal Fear", opposite Richard Gere and Edward Norton. My expectation of this film was based on the plot I heard a little bit about and I thought - hey, how bad could it be with my favorite actress and the interesting storyline of a rebirth of a main character.
What "P.S." turns out to be, however, is anything but what I described above. "P.S." isn't a plot-driven but a dialogue-driven film from the beginning to the end. There are only a few films out of hundreds I've seen in the past years that its dialogue is this engaging, "Before Sunset" is another one that comes to mind.
I was pleasantly surprised by how smart, complex, and truthful the dialogues are. It's smart because you feel how the conversations grab you and you have no choice but be involved. It's complex because it's coming out of the complex characters that experience the internal struggle and try to express their feelings. And it's truthful because the characters are believable and you can relate with their problems and THAT makes you chuckle and sob along with them.
I already know that Linney is an excellent actress but Topher Grace (Eric from "That '70s Show") more than held his own - acting with the veterans like Linney, Gabriel Byrne, and Marcia Gay Harden.
Dylan Kidd, who also directed another dialogue-driven film "Roger Dodger", did a wonderful job in making a 97 minutes film fly by like a lazy Saturday afternoon with a good book. 3½ stars
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