When there's a great hockey movie, it usually gets momentary interest then fades into living in the hearts of hockey fans (*cough* Slap Shot *cough*), much like hockey itself. However 2011's Goon hasn't really gotten any attention (at least in the US, can't speak for Canada). Starring Seann William Scott (American Pie, Role Models) as Doug Glatt, a bouncer who's alienated by his over achieving family, and Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, How To Train Your Dragon) as his foul mouthed best friend Ryan.
When Doug gets down on his luck, Ryan takes him to a local hockey game in some low level league in an effort to cheer him up. Through a whacky series of events Doug ends up in a fight with one of the players and a couple days later, lands himself an opportunity to try-out for the team. He becomes the teams enforcer, or goon if you will, challenging anybody who threatens his team to drop their gloves and fight. He becomes an league sensation and eventually gets offered a contract to play in the second best league in the area, as long as he can look out for his soon to be roommate and up and coming NHL star, Xavier Laflamme (Marc-Andre Grondin, C.R.A.Z.Y.). He gets to his team and, through standing up for them multiple times, eventually gains the trust of his team. He also meets Eva (Alison Pill, Scott Pilgrim versus The World), a self proclaimed slut for hockey players with a boyfriend. Doug quickly falls head over heels for Eva, and their relationship blossoms (awkwardly sorta) as the movie goes on. As Doug's popularity rises, tension is built because of infamous bad boy goon Ross Rhea (Levi Schreiber, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Defiance), being in the same league as Doug and the fans and media salivating at the thought of them squaring off. They eventually do in a game to decide who goes to the playoffs or not at the movie's climax.
All in all, the acting was pretty good. I wouldn't say they need awards or anything, but I also don't think a bad thing can be said about the acting. It's the center ice of acting, and by that I mean you don't pay any attention to it until somebody brings it up.
The script is well written. Interestingly being written by Jay Baruchel, the same one who acts in it, and Evan Goldberg, one of the writers on 2007's Superbad and 2011's The Green Hornet.
On the down side, the film does use an excess of profanity. Hockey is a violent sport, and even more so at the lower levels that this film takes place in. The film clearly depicts this aspect, but I fear it also paints the sport as a vulgar sport. We all know athletes and coaches cuss. Do we really need to see it used so much in a movie though?
Goon was a good movie that I enjoyed a lot, but it is not for the faint of heart or a non-hockey fan. It's a true(ish) bloody, vulgar, and at times crude story. If you can't handle the blood, the fighting, the cursing, and handful of dirty jokes, just skate back to your own bench and stick to watching Miracle (a phenomenal film that makes my eyes well up every time).
Final Score: 6/10
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Super Mario Brothers (1993) Review
So did anybody else grow up playing video games? What was your favorite? Ever wanna see it shown on the big screen as a movie? In the early '90s, fans of the Mario Brothers got their wish... kind of. In 1993, directors Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton, took Mario and his brother Luigi and brought them to life in the aptly named, Super Mario Brothers.
The story starts in Brooklyn, 65 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Then a meteor came crashing to earth, but it didn't wipe the dinosaurs out. Instead, it created an alternate universe where the dinosaurs evolved into intelligent life forms, similar to humans (which evolved in the other universe). That brings us to 20 years ago Brooklyn where we see a woman leave an egg at a nunnery, and once inside, the egg hatches a humanoid baby. And now to modern times (as of '93 of course), where we meet our narrator through the first bit, Mario Mario (Bob Hoskins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Hook) and his business partner and brother, Luigi Mario (John Leguizamo, Ice Age, The Lincoln Lawyer). They're a pair of struggling plumbers who work from their apartment taking whatever jobs they can get their stereotyped American Italian hands on. On their way back home after losing a job to their competitor, their van over heats. Mario goes inside a convenient store to get some water, and Luigi meets a pretty and distressed young paleontologist named Daisy (Samantha Mathis, Little Women, American Psycho). Shortly after Luigi asks her on a date, and the two of them go on a double date with Mario and is girlfriend. As the dinner date ends, we're introduced to two rather bizarre looking (and acting) characters named Iggy (Fisher Stevens, Short Circuit) and Spike (Richard Edson, Ferris Bueller's Day Off), who kidnap Mario's girlfriend mistaking her for Daisy. Before they are able to drag her back to their world, they run into Luigi and Daisy at her dig site, which happens to be where the portal between worlds is. Suddenly a set of burst pipes forces Mario and Luigi to spring into plumber action. While stopping the leak, Iggy and Spike kidnap Daisy and run away to their world with her. Mario and Luigi quickly follow after and find themselves in world covered in a fungus. Shortly after they learn they're in the alternate universe where the people are evolved from dinosaurs, and about the evil ruler, King Koopa (Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider, Speed).
That's about all the plot and it only covers a third of the movie. The rest of the film is filled with extended sequences that try to make connections to the game series, but just look silly when acted out in live action. Bob-ombs are possibly the best connection to the games, but are brought up once then forgotten till the very end.
The writing is painfully cheesy and made up of mostly one liners. It also doesn't allow for any character development. In fact, the only character that goes through any change is Daisy, but even that is a stretch. Furthermore the acting, mostly because of the poorly written script, is remarkably unbelievable, and not in a good way. It was the right actors and actresses for the most parts, however without the games the movie was based on having dynamic characters, the writers didn't improve much on that.
I will give them credit for trying, but that's about all I can say on the positive. From start to finish, the movie is everything Mario fans were hoping it wouldn't be, and it serves as a reminder to Zelda fans why Nintendo hasn't tried another movie.
Final Score: 2.5/10
The story starts in Brooklyn, 65 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Then a meteor came crashing to earth, but it didn't wipe the dinosaurs out. Instead, it created an alternate universe where the dinosaurs evolved into intelligent life forms, similar to humans (which evolved in the other universe). That brings us to 20 years ago Brooklyn where we see a woman leave an egg at a nunnery, and once inside, the egg hatches a humanoid baby. And now to modern times (as of '93 of course), where we meet our narrator through the first bit, Mario Mario (Bob Hoskins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Hook) and his business partner and brother, Luigi Mario (John Leguizamo, Ice Age, The Lincoln Lawyer). They're a pair of struggling plumbers who work from their apartment taking whatever jobs they can get their stereotyped American Italian hands on. On their way back home after losing a job to their competitor, their van over heats. Mario goes inside a convenient store to get some water, and Luigi meets a pretty and distressed young paleontologist named Daisy (Samantha Mathis, Little Women, American Psycho). Shortly after Luigi asks her on a date, and the two of them go on a double date with Mario and is girlfriend. As the dinner date ends, we're introduced to two rather bizarre looking (and acting) characters named Iggy (Fisher Stevens, Short Circuit) and Spike (Richard Edson, Ferris Bueller's Day Off), who kidnap Mario's girlfriend mistaking her for Daisy. Before they are able to drag her back to their world, they run into Luigi and Daisy at her dig site, which happens to be where the portal between worlds is. Suddenly a set of burst pipes forces Mario and Luigi to spring into plumber action. While stopping the leak, Iggy and Spike kidnap Daisy and run away to their world with her. Mario and Luigi quickly follow after and find themselves in world covered in a fungus. Shortly after they learn they're in the alternate universe where the people are evolved from dinosaurs, and about the evil ruler, King Koopa (Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider, Speed).
That's about all the plot and it only covers a third of the movie. The rest of the film is filled with extended sequences that try to make connections to the game series, but just look silly when acted out in live action. Bob-ombs are possibly the best connection to the games, but are brought up once then forgotten till the very end.
The writing is painfully cheesy and made up of mostly one liners. It also doesn't allow for any character development. In fact, the only character that goes through any change is Daisy, but even that is a stretch. Furthermore the acting, mostly because of the poorly written script, is remarkably unbelievable, and not in a good way. It was the right actors and actresses for the most parts, however without the games the movie was based on having dynamic characters, the writers didn't improve much on that.
I will give them credit for trying, but that's about all I can say on the positive. From start to finish, the movie is everything Mario fans were hoping it wouldn't be, and it serves as a reminder to Zelda fans why Nintendo hasn't tried another movie.
Final Score: 2.5/10
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
A Knight's Tale Review
Amid all the extreme sports in the world, none hit harder than jousting, and that's probably why the sport died out except in dinner theatre and Renaissance festivals. However in 2001, director Brian Helgeland gave jousting, and knights in general, an electric guitar powered reboot in A Knight's Tale, starring Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight, The Patriot), Mark Addy (tv's Still Standing), and Rufus Sewell (The Illusionist, Amazing Grace).
The movie centers around a peasant squire, named William (Ledger), who takes up his masters lance in a match after his death. William then gets the bright idea to continue jousting, despite the fact that only royalty are allowed to participate. With the aid of his fellow squires, Roland (Addy) and Wat (Alan Tudyk), a writer named Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany), and a female blacksmith, Kate (Laura Fraser), William begins entering jousting tournaments. He quickly meets the romantic interest who refuses to tell him her name (SPOILERish, it's Jocelyn, played by Shannyn Sossamon). Then, of course, enter the "black knight" if you will, Count Adhemar (Sewell), who just hates William from the start. Perhaps it's because of William's affections towards Jocelyn, or maybe Adhemar just sat on a lance wrong cause he's never a nice guy. Anyways, Adhemar and William joust once early in the film and William loses. This then makes William angry and he becomes determined to unhorse the count. As the film goes on, one thing or another keeps William and Adhemar from facing off till the end, where (again SPOILER) William does indeed unhorse Adhemar, win the World Championship, and of course win the girl as well.
Whoever casted this movie deserves a standing ovation and the Academy Award, because every person in the cast is a strong and believable player, right down to the small parts. Ledger in one of his earlier roles in life, played the part to perfection. If I didn't love his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight, I'd say it's his best.
The soundtrack is likely to be the most memorable part of the film though. From the opening credits playing "We Will Rock You" by Queen, and actually showing hundreds of peasants stomping and clapping to the song, to the climatic end of AC/DC's "Shook Me All Night Long", it's unlike anything I've ever seen, but it works.
And it works primarily because of the writing of the script in general. There are some scenes that when watching, I had to set my beer down to keep from spilling it, such as the moment in Paris (you'll know it when you see it). Then a couple moments where I really felt for the characters, specifically two great scenes with William and his father.
On the contrasting side however, it seemed a bit geared towards the "think-rather-than-do" generation. Despite the tagline of "any man can change his stars", I at times felt a disconnect between that and a real urge to do something. That may have just been because of it being a totally different time era (which was quite skewed itself).
Overall though, I loved this movie. It was funny, had a cute love story, great action, and above all else, phenomenal acting. It'd be a nice movie to watch as a family or on a date night.
Final Score: 9/10
The movie centers around a peasant squire, named William (Ledger), who takes up his masters lance in a match after his death. William then gets the bright idea to continue jousting, despite the fact that only royalty are allowed to participate. With the aid of his fellow squires, Roland (Addy) and Wat (Alan Tudyk), a writer named Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany), and a female blacksmith, Kate (Laura Fraser), William begins entering jousting tournaments. He quickly meets the romantic interest who refuses to tell him her name (SPOILERish, it's Jocelyn, played by Shannyn Sossamon). Then, of course, enter the "black knight" if you will, Count Adhemar (Sewell), who just hates William from the start. Perhaps it's because of William's affections towards Jocelyn, or maybe Adhemar just sat on a lance wrong cause he's never a nice guy. Anyways, Adhemar and William joust once early in the film and William loses. This then makes William angry and he becomes determined to unhorse the count. As the film goes on, one thing or another keeps William and Adhemar from facing off till the end, where (again SPOILER) William does indeed unhorse Adhemar, win the World Championship, and of course win the girl as well.
Whoever casted this movie deserves a standing ovation and the Academy Award, because every person in the cast is a strong and believable player, right down to the small parts. Ledger in one of his earlier roles in life, played the part to perfection. If I didn't love his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight, I'd say it's his best.
The soundtrack is likely to be the most memorable part of the film though. From the opening credits playing "We Will Rock You" by Queen, and actually showing hundreds of peasants stomping and clapping to the song, to the climatic end of AC/DC's "Shook Me All Night Long", it's unlike anything I've ever seen, but it works.
And it works primarily because of the writing of the script in general. There are some scenes that when watching, I had to set my beer down to keep from spilling it, such as the moment in Paris (you'll know it when you see it). Then a couple moments where I really felt for the characters, specifically two great scenes with William and his father.
On the contrasting side however, it seemed a bit geared towards the "think-rather-than-do" generation. Despite the tagline of "any man can change his stars", I at times felt a disconnect between that and a real urge to do something. That may have just been because of it being a totally different time era (which was quite skewed itself).
Overall though, I loved this movie. It was funny, had a cute love story, great action, and above all else, phenomenal acting. It'd be a nice movie to watch as a family or on a date night.
Final Score: 9/10
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The Bride of Frankenstein Review
It’s alive!! The famous quote from the first movie Frankenstein for when the monster was awaken for the first time, is yet used again for the monster to be awaken from the fire at the beginning of the movie, The Bride of Frankenstein. The storyline is simply just a man made monster played by (Boris Karloff) who is misunderstood and when anyone near sees the monster’s face the over dramatic reactions causes the monster to instantly either hurt or kill them with the weakness of not understanding his own strength.
There is an over dramatic tone but with humorous acting between the main characters in the film. For example, the maid named Minnie (Una O’Conner) tries to warn those of the monster at varies times throughout the film as well when she also sees Hans (Reginald Barlow) who was a soon to be husband to (Mary Gordon) was shown in one of the first scenes that he had appeared at first to have been killed by the monster. The reactions of Minnie screaming would have been humorous when the movie was first released but since we are more educated with the culture of film that it became an annoyance for someone to scream throughout the entire film.
The interaction between the blind man who goes by Hermit (O.P Heggie) and the monster is somewhat instead of a friendship in which Hermit claims but rather a very short father son type of relationship. The scenes of interaction between the monster and Hermit, presents a short comical vibe before Hermit is taken away. The monster learns some humanistic values such as talking and the feeling of being care for, therefore when Hermit is taken away a reaction of the monster blowing up with anger is because the most important thing was taken away by those who judge and hurt him.
The Bride of Frankenstein is not clearly identified, which should be easy but for those who give it a deeper thought; Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson) is the bride of the doctor who is Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and then there is the man made female monster who is meant to be someone’s bride (Elsa Lanchester) who was created by Dr. Frankenstein and Doctor Pretorius. The film hints that there are many unspoken feelings and confusion of who is the Bride of Frankenstein that may be linked into the unspoken topic of same sex relationships, which is an aspect of this that has been reviewed by critics. An example of the hint to homosexual feelings would be when the Monster walked into Hermit’s house and they seem to grow extremely close in a short timeframe, such as the Monster staying the night, and the two of them sharing cigars, wine, and bread.
For the age of this film, the photographic effects are pretty simple and clear, for insistence the close up shot that shows Doctor Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), standing next to his experiments of miniature people that are in glass jars shows that the scene is advance for its time. There is a display of harsh shadows on the actor’s faces that use lighting flicker effects in the overall setting. There are a few great silhouette shots in this film. For example, when the monster sets out into the graveyard it becomes a good transition scene. The sound effects that are used to show the actions of the machines that work with the experiments go along smoothly with the photo effects that are displayed, such as lighting and electricity voltages. One issue to notice with this scene is that through all the smoke and lighting aspects, at the end of the experiment it wasn’t clear enough to see the monster chasing a man who was carrying a fire torch up the stairs.
This film may be viewed as overdramatic and somewhat stupid to some but each movie always seems to provide a deep hidden message to the audience. Many may overpass the underlining message that a film provides but there may be more then just one underlining message. A message that a viewer may pick up in this film is that nobody wants to be or should be alone; hence the idea of a woman friend for the man made monster. Love seems to be a desired objective throughout the movie rather it be humanistic or of the supernatural, nobody wants to be alone. Another message that this film sends to the audience is the one of the golden rules that we all learn in school, treat others the way you want to be treated and not to judge a book by its cover. The monster is judged before it’s given a chance, just because he may look horrible he could actually be a kind hearted if not misunderstood throughout the entire movie.
There is an over dramatic tone but with humorous acting between the main characters in the film. For example, the maid named Minnie (Una O’Conner) tries to warn those of the monster at varies times throughout the film as well when she also sees Hans (Reginald Barlow) who was a soon to be husband to (Mary Gordon) was shown in one of the first scenes that he had appeared at first to have been killed by the monster. The reactions of Minnie screaming would have been humorous when the movie was first released but since we are more educated with the culture of film that it became an annoyance for someone to scream throughout the entire film.
The interaction between the blind man who goes by Hermit (O.P Heggie) and the monster is somewhat instead of a friendship in which Hermit claims but rather a very short father son type of relationship. The scenes of interaction between the monster and Hermit, presents a short comical vibe before Hermit is taken away. The monster learns some humanistic values such as talking and the feeling of being care for, therefore when Hermit is taken away a reaction of the monster blowing up with anger is because the most important thing was taken away by those who judge and hurt him.
The Bride of Frankenstein is not clearly identified, which should be easy but for those who give it a deeper thought; Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson) is the bride of the doctor who is Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and then there is the man made female monster who is meant to be someone’s bride (Elsa Lanchester) who was created by Dr. Frankenstein and Doctor Pretorius. The film hints that there are many unspoken feelings and confusion of who is the Bride of Frankenstein that may be linked into the unspoken topic of same sex relationships, which is an aspect of this that has been reviewed by critics. An example of the hint to homosexual feelings would be when the Monster walked into Hermit’s house and they seem to grow extremely close in a short timeframe, such as the Monster staying the night, and the two of them sharing cigars, wine, and bread.
For the age of this film, the photographic effects are pretty simple and clear, for insistence the close up shot that shows Doctor Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), standing next to his experiments of miniature people that are in glass jars shows that the scene is advance for its time. There is a display of harsh shadows on the actor’s faces that use lighting flicker effects in the overall setting. There are a few great silhouette shots in this film. For example, when the monster sets out into the graveyard it becomes a good transition scene. The sound effects that are used to show the actions of the machines that work with the experiments go along smoothly with the photo effects that are displayed, such as lighting and electricity voltages. One issue to notice with this scene is that through all the smoke and lighting aspects, at the end of the experiment it wasn’t clear enough to see the monster chasing a man who was carrying a fire torch up the stairs.
This film may be viewed as overdramatic and somewhat stupid to some but each movie always seems to provide a deep hidden message to the audience. Many may overpass the underlining message that a film provides but there may be more then just one underlining message. A message that a viewer may pick up in this film is that nobody wants to be or should be alone; hence the idea of a woman friend for the man made monster. Love seems to be a desired objective throughout the movie rather it be humanistic or of the supernatural, nobody wants to be alone. Another message that this film sends to the audience is the one of the golden rules that we all learn in school, treat others the way you want to be treated and not to judge a book by its cover. The monster is judged before it’s given a chance, just because he may look horrible he could actually be a kind hearted if not misunderstood throughout the entire movie.
Fight Club Review
The first rule of this movie is, do not talk about it. Of course reviewing it means talking about it, so I guess I can't be in the 1999 drama Fight Club, starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. Directed by David Finchner (Se7en, The Social Network), the film is one of those that just grabs you by your shoulders and shakes you all up while cackling maniacally.
The movie begins with a Narrator (Norton) holding a gun in his mouth, then flashes back six months, and explains that he is suffering from severe insomnia. Under advisement from his doctor, the Narrator begins attending a testicular cancer victims' support group. From here, the narrator becomes addicted to support groups of all kinds, until another "tourist" shows up, Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter). On a business trip, he meets a colorful soap salesman, Tyler Durden (Pitt). They swap information, and end up getting a beer together after the Narrator's neatly Ikea furnished apartment blows up. Needing a place to stay, the narrator moves in with Durden at his large but destroyed house near a treatment plant of some sort. The eventually begin blowing off some steam by fighting in the parking lot of a bar, but it quickly gains interest from others, and blossoms into a sort of support group of its own for men who want to channel their aggression. The club grows in numbers every week and eventually new chapters begin in cities all over. Eventually, a faction of the "fight club" takes it to the next level, led by Durden. They start off as tasks handed out after every meeting, but escalates to the bombing of several credit card companies in an attempt to erase credit card debt. During this event being set up, however, we discover that Durden is a figment of the Narrator's sleep deprived imagination. This leads back to the opening scene of the Narrator holding the gun in his mouth, which is an attempt by the Narrator to get rid of Durden.
The way Norton and Pitt play off each other the whole time is great. Both characters are so vastly different, despite being the same mind, that any other two actors could not have pulled it off. And Carter plays a wonderful go-between that interacts with both characters though out the film. Furthermore, the rest of the supporting cast, such as Meat Loaf and Jared Leto, were darkly hilarious. The cinematography was also superb, casting everything in the film with a sort of grungy and dirty feel. Scenes that take place in normally sterile environments, such as an office, feel as if somebody's smeared dirt over everything and that the lights have been coated in thin mud. It's fantastic.
To be honest though, going into a film titled Fight Club, I expected to see more fighting instead of being taken on philosophical hurricane ride. Not that it's a bad title, it just seems a bit misleading. While the movie does depict fighting, and a fair amount of it if you include Norton beating himself up near the end, the drive of the story comes from something beyond the club itself.
Fight Club takes its viewers to the brink of insanity and back, then blows them out of a 30 story building just for fun. A strong cast, beautifully dirty cinematography, and brilliant writing brings the film far above the average. Not to take away from one of the films quotes, but not talking about Fight Club is a horrible idea.
Final Score: 10/10
The movie begins with a Narrator (Norton) holding a gun in his mouth, then flashes back six months, and explains that he is suffering from severe insomnia. Under advisement from his doctor, the Narrator begins attending a testicular cancer victims' support group. From here, the narrator becomes addicted to support groups of all kinds, until another "tourist" shows up, Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter). On a business trip, he meets a colorful soap salesman, Tyler Durden (Pitt). They swap information, and end up getting a beer together after the Narrator's neatly Ikea furnished apartment blows up. Needing a place to stay, the narrator moves in with Durden at his large but destroyed house near a treatment plant of some sort. The eventually begin blowing off some steam by fighting in the parking lot of a bar, but it quickly gains interest from others, and blossoms into a sort of support group of its own for men who want to channel their aggression. The club grows in numbers every week and eventually new chapters begin in cities all over. Eventually, a faction of the "fight club" takes it to the next level, led by Durden. They start off as tasks handed out after every meeting, but escalates to the bombing of several credit card companies in an attempt to erase credit card debt. During this event being set up, however, we discover that Durden is a figment of the Narrator's sleep deprived imagination. This leads back to the opening scene of the Narrator holding the gun in his mouth, which is an attempt by the Narrator to get rid of Durden.
The way Norton and Pitt play off each other the whole time is great. Both characters are so vastly different, despite being the same mind, that any other two actors could not have pulled it off. And Carter plays a wonderful go-between that interacts with both characters though out the film. Furthermore, the rest of the supporting cast, such as Meat Loaf and Jared Leto, were darkly hilarious. The cinematography was also superb, casting everything in the film with a sort of grungy and dirty feel. Scenes that take place in normally sterile environments, such as an office, feel as if somebody's smeared dirt over everything and that the lights have been coated in thin mud. It's fantastic.
To be honest though, going into a film titled Fight Club, I expected to see more fighting instead of being taken on philosophical hurricane ride. Not that it's a bad title, it just seems a bit misleading. While the movie does depict fighting, and a fair amount of it if you include Norton beating himself up near the end, the drive of the story comes from something beyond the club itself.
Fight Club takes its viewers to the brink of insanity and back, then blows them out of a 30 story building just for fun. A strong cast, beautifully dirty cinematography, and brilliant writing brings the film far above the average. Not to take away from one of the films quotes, but not talking about Fight Club is a horrible idea.
Final Score: 10/10
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Rashomon Review
From the opening scene of flooded land and the never resting rain, Rashomon has a feel of something being off, and it keeps you hooked, wanting to know why the man keeps saying "it just doesn't make sense." In 1950, director Akira Kurosawa took his audience into the Japanese wilderness and shocked them with four stories, only one of which was true.
The movie begins in an old temple where a monk, a woodcutter, and a passerby discuss the recent events of a horrible crime. Through a series of flashbacks, the incident the main characters is played out. The only facts known about said incident are that a man had died, it happened in the forest, and that they all played a part in what happened. The colorful cast regales the judge and jury (interestingly set up as the viewer of the film by having the actors talk directly at the camera). All the stories, once told, have a handful of similarities, but have glaring differences.
It's a beautiful and imaginative way that Kurosawa paints this jumbled mess. By the end of the movie all you can focus in on are the opening phrases of, "it just doesn't make sense." But you feel the urge to watch it again. The way it brings you in with the first version of the story, then you're shocked when you hear a contradictory version, and then it happens thrice more?! No two people will watch it and feel the same way for the same reasons. And that's where it's beauty lays. You want to watch it again, so you can find similarities in each story, so you can see obvious lies, and yet the overall moral of the film is never missed. People lie, but my review doesn't.
Final Score: 9.5/10
The movie begins in an old temple where a monk, a woodcutter, and a passerby discuss the recent events of a horrible crime. Through a series of flashbacks, the incident the main characters is played out. The only facts known about said incident are that a man had died, it happened in the forest, and that they all played a part in what happened. The colorful cast regales the judge and jury (interestingly set up as the viewer of the film by having the actors talk directly at the camera). All the stories, once told, have a handful of similarities, but have glaring differences.
It's a beautiful and imaginative way that Kurosawa paints this jumbled mess. By the end of the movie all you can focus in on are the opening phrases of, "it just doesn't make sense." But you feel the urge to watch it again. The way it brings you in with the first version of the story, then you're shocked when you hear a contradictory version, and then it happens thrice more?! No two people will watch it and feel the same way for the same reasons. And that's where it's beauty lays. You want to watch it again, so you can find similarities in each story, so you can see obvious lies, and yet the overall moral of the film is never missed. People lie, but my review doesn't.
Final Score: 9.5/10
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Movie Reviews Coming Soon!
Yes yes, I'm the sports guy. But I'm also a movie guy, and it's here that in the next few months, I'll be posting movie reviews! For years now, after I've watched a movie, I've given it a rating out of 10 on facebook/Twitter, now I'm taking that a step further and writing full reviews for a few of the films I've seen. So check back in and feel free to comment.
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