fogbraider has written 8 reviews.
Commanding presence and superb action scenes with medieval weapons in *Musa the Warrior*.
Posted may 25, 2007 6:20 am pt
Beautiful, elegaic, poignant, poetic - what can I say about this film version of James Joyce's short story? All is transient. Human being alone are capable of knowing this, and so all our joys are tinged with sorrow, while great sorrow can also...
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Beautiful, elegaic, poignant, poetic - what can I say about this film version of James Joyce's short story? All is transient. Human being alone are capable of knowing this, and so all our joys are tinged with sorrow, while great sorrow can also bring a sense of transcendence that is almost like joy. Longing is the purest human emotion. This film is a miracle, because it does the impossible and captures that.
Posted may 21, 2007 7:16 am pt
The plot is a simple quest (for fire, yes). The fascination is watching the actors meet the extraordinary challenge of playing very early humans (body language by Desmond Morris). One tribe is more advanced in the development of human qualities...
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The plot is a simple quest (for fire, yes). The fascination is watching the actors meet the extraordinary challenge of playing very early humans (body language by Desmond Morris). One tribe is more advanced in the development of human qualities than the other. We're invited to observe the contrast, and the story is the humanisation of one lot by the other.
Posted may 21, 2007 7:08 am pt
This film really divides people, doesn't it? It's one of my favourites, but I think you have to accept that the real love story at the heart of it is between Enola, the young girl, and the Mariner. As I said about The City of Lost Children, this...
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This film really divides people, doesn't it? It's one of my favourites, but I think you have to accept that the real love story at the heart of it is between Enola, the young girl, and the Mariner. As I said about The City of Lost Children, this is a place where our culture is afraid to go, which is sad, because the adoration of a pre-pubescent girl for a hero figure is a natural and innocent emotion on her part, and a real test of the hero's human qualities, for that matter. Enola has a magnificent speech (delivered to the bad guy when she's in his power) where her hero worship is given expression - and the Mariner lives up to her expectations, wildly exaggerated as they seem, when he does his knight in shining armour bit. It's just a shame that the film cops out of putting this pair centre stage, and instead gives us a rather sleazy affair between the Mariner and Enola's guardian. The oddly tongue-in-cheek quality of Dennis Hopper's villain is also determined by his scenes with Enola - can't have the child heroine seriously threatened by a psychopath - it would be a different kind of film.
Posted may 21, 2007 7:01 am pt
I suspect that the critics missed the heart of this film in the same way that they misinterpreted Waterworld. Both are stories of innocent love between a pre-pubescent girl and a male hero figure. It's a place that our culture is now thoroughly...
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I suspect that the critics missed the heart of this film in the same way that they misinterpreted Waterworld. Both are stories of innocent love between a pre-pubescent girl and a male hero figure. It's a place that our culture is now thoroughly afraid to go. But little girls do get almighty crushes on adult men, and this is natural and innocent on their part. The hero of this film handles the situation with great delicacy and plays the knight in shining armour to his plucky leading lady. There are echoes of Charlie Chaplin and the gamine in Modern Times, and the film actually references another Chaplin film, City Lights, with the unravelling of the hero's jersey (sweater to any Americans out there) - in this case to provide a clue through a labyrinth. Ron Perlman as the hero is a delight to watch. I could look at those craggy features all day.
Posted may 21, 2007 6:48 am pt
Also known as 'Mama, there's a man in your bed'. Not available at present, but we live in hope. Daniel Auteuil is a CEO who is rescued from a corporate plot by the cleaning lady - who hears all as she passes unregarded around the building. Firmine...
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Also known as 'Mama, there's a man in your bed'. Not available at present, but we live in hope. Daniel Auteuil is a CEO who is rescued from a corporate plot by the cleaning lady - who hears all as she passes unregarded around the building. Firmine Richard is a most unlikely love object for Auteuil's character - she's black, the mother of six children (by different fathers), and built like a brick outhouse. But she is just a wonderful mother and a wonderful person, and it's a joy to bask in the warm glow of her character and this film.
Posted may 21, 2007 6:36 am pt
Emphatically not one of those sick Japanese slasher films that I keep getting by mistake. This is gory, yes, but in a grand Shakespearian manner. Similar in that respect to Kurosawa's historical films. A lovingly rendered slice of history (the...
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Emphatically not one of those sick Japanese slasher films that I keep getting by mistake. This is gory, yes, but in a grand Shakespearian manner. Similar in that respect to Kurosawa's historical films. A lovingly rendered slice of history (the late 19th century **** end of the samurai era), poetic images, gritty realistic action. Also a very moving, even sentimental, story. The finale heads full tilt into melodrama. For me, Takita pulls it off - I cried. But then I'm looking for this kind of traditional storytelling and emotional fullness, which I'm just not finding in western films. Kiichi Nakai as the down-at-heel samurai at the centre of the story is a wonderful actor, combining physical agility and swordsmanship with great emotional depth and range.
Posted may 21, 2007 6:26 am pt
Like some of the other female contributors here, I was surprised to find such a muscular man so attractive. Can't help trying to analyse the Rock's appeal. The way he moves is definitely part of it - not at all muscle-bound, really graceful. And...
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Like some of the other female contributors here, I was surprised to find such a muscular man so attractive. Can't help trying to analyse the Rock's appeal. The way he moves is definitely part of it - not at all muscle-bound, really graceful. And he also exudes intelligence and humour. And has a soft, gentle voice. He comes over as a family man (which of course he is in real life) who just happens to have the body of a god - not as an alpha male (of dubious long-term reliability). I didn't like seeing him using guns in *Welcome to the Jungle* (UK title of *The Rundown*). I hope he doesn't go down that route as an action actor. The upcoming Disney sports film where he again has a kid as a comic foil (as in *The Scorpion King*) looks promising. I'd love to see him in more sword and sandal stuff like *The Scorpion King* - a) he looks good swishing long hair around - like well draped clothes, long hair accentuates graceful movement - maybe we could see him in a kilt someday?! b) in a heroic setting with hand-to-hand combat, a good guy can be seen kicking ass and also getting the girl. And I would like to see the Rock in another romance. Hey - a samurai film - they wear kilts (nearly)! Or how about, it's the 15th century, the Chinese have sent a fleet to circumnavigate the globe, they bring home a Somoan prince, he becomes the bodyguard of Zhang Zi-Yi and loves her hopelessly from afar (remix *The Bodyguard* and the Korean film, *The Warrior* - not to be confused with the Indian one of the same title). Or get out the Henry Treece Viking stories - encounters with Irish giants, male camaraderie and hardihood, enslavement on a galley (rippling muscular back pulling oars), intrinsic worth recognised, the Viking band become the elite palace guard of Byzantium. But I must see this man in a kilt. And with long hair.
Posted may 20, 2007 9:03 am pt
