I love movies.
Not ALL movies, but as a general rule, I love movies. Here are four I
recently watched that I felt like blogging about. Two I've seen before, and two were new views.
“Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon”
I own this film
and have seen it quite a few times, but haven't watched it recently
until last week. Not much to say that hasn't already been said, but
I'd forgotten how beautiful this movie is, mostly in the visual sense. Like “Hero,”
the use of color and different landscapes is absolutely gorgeous,
and the score is fantastic. I think this was also the first martial
arts film I'd ever seen, so it's somewhat nostalgic.
“The
Constant Gardener”
If
you haven't seen this movie, you should. I've read about a third of
the book by John Le Carré
that
the movie is based on, and I have to say this is one of those rare
instances where in many ways, the film adaptation outshines the book (well, the little I've read of the book). In the special features, even Le Carré said something to the effect of, there are not
many scenes in the movie that you can find exactly in the book, yet
this is still one of the best adaptations to film he's seen. Anyway
the film is great. Great story, great acting, and it's another
beautifully shot film. (You may be able to tell the visual aspect is
kinda a big deal to me.) Most of the Kenya footage is shot
documentary style too, which makes the look and feel of “TCG” very
unique to bigger studio movies. I felt like they also did a good job of touching on some of
the humanitarian issues in Africa without being preachy or throwing
the story off track.
“The
Help”
Michael and I
finally saw this one at the Dollar Theater. I finished the book just
before the movie came out, so I've been wanting to see it. I thought
the film was a decent adaptation and generally captured the spirit
of the book. It was also very well cast and well acted. However
unlike "The Constant Gardener," the film didn't really break any new
or creative ground in relation to the book, so my verdict is that
the book is superior to the movie.
“Exporting
Raymond”
I'd seen a
trailer for this little documentary awhile back and it's been on my
list of movies to see. We finally got around to renting it and I was
not disappointed. It's basically the story of Phil Rosenthal's
(creator, writer, and executive producer for Everybody
Loves Raymond) experiences in helping launch the Russian spinoff
Everybody Loves Raymond Kostya. He documents his
journey as he travels to Russia and wrestles with the culture clash
and resulting conflicts with the Russian crew and network that's
trying to get the show off the ground. I don't want to give too much
away because you really should see it, but i'll just say the people
he meets, the experiences he has, and his commentary (verbal and
facial expressions) are all hilarious. I also enjoyed that the story
is tightly woven. The documentary is only an hour and 25 minutes
long, and it's perfect. It also doesn't try to be smarter than
it is. I feel like a similar documentary would do some lame little
Russian history or politics montage as background information slash
filler, but this film is basically, hey I'm in Russia! Here's what I'm doing, meet some of the interesting people I met, and here are some
observations and insights I gained from the experience. Anyway,
definitely one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen this year.
So there you
have it, four movie recommendations. Well, three and a half. You
really should just read The Help.
