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300

300
2007

Director: Zack Snyder

Writer: Frank Miller & Zack Snyder

Genre: Action

Cast:
Gerard Butler - King Leonidas
Lena Headey - Queen Gorgo
Dominic West - Theron
David Wenham - Dilios
Vincent Regan - Captain
Rodrigo Santoro - Xerxes

Tiff Says:

WOW, who knew movies could be made like this? The aesthetic quality of this film is reason enough alone to watch it. The way they filmed 300 is like watching a comic book aka graphic novel come to life.

The battle scenes were done brilliantly. The use of fast, slow, and stop motion was used marvelously. They edited these scenes with the music very well and at every second your eyes were glued to the screen wondering what was going to happen next.

Speaking of music, this soundtrack was brilliant! I remember several times through out the film just nodding my head to the beat during action scenes or almost crying during dramatic scenes as the mournful and touching notes were sang by a breathtaking and wonderful vocalist. I loved this soundtrack so much that I went online the next day and bought it after looking at two stores for it the day I watched it.

I definitely recommend this movie to all action movie lovers or just film fans in general. Everyone will appreciate the new cinematic techniques used, and you will not feel like you’ve wasted your money by watching 300.

The story has been done before, but film has never looked this way before.

Rating: Charmed

Notes on a Scandal

Few movies can make the viewer feel uneasy without entirely isolating its audience. I can think back to when I watched Ming-liang Tsai's "The River" (Tiffed!), which was already a disaster to begin with, and feeling uneasy during the scene at the bath house toward the end of the movie and ultimately being turned off from the movie altogether. However, here director Richard Eyre creates a story born of the suffering of two women, Barbara Covett (Judi Dench) and Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), and the audience is thrust into uncomfortable situations: a love affair between student and teacher, an ill-motivated woman's control over her object of desire, the teacher's attempt to juggle her own personal needs and the needs of her family. Notes on a scandal, indeed.

Sheba Hart joins St. George's, the school at which Barbara Covett is teaching and has been teaching for a very long time, as an art teacher. The school boys want to be with her, the other teachers wanted to be her, and Barbara watched. Barbara comes off as a pathetic, lonely woman, quick to expound on the travesties of life and the shortcomings and sadnesses of those around her, though never acknowledging her own sadness, as she scribbles in her journal each night after getting home from school.

It isn't a surprise that Sheba engages in an illicit affair with one of her pupils -- this would be the scandal on which the notes are based. However, what I found to be the more interesting part of the movie was how Barbara is able to manipulate Sheba, vowing to keep Sheba's affair a secret in order to serve her own, sinister purpose. The extreme emptiness of Barbara's life feeds her own delusion that she and Sheba could share the sort of companionship that Barbara desperately seeks in her life.

There aren't really any innocent characters, save for Sheba's husband and children who, when they find out about the affair, spontaneously unravel in final quarter of the movie. And 'unravel' seems to be an appropriate word as Sheba and Barbara are both unraveling, shedding layer upon layer of their being until at last they are a vulnerable core, naked, at the mercy of their own doings and the consequences they promise. Intriguing story solidified by great acting from Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench.

Rating: Charmed

Curse of the Golden Flower

Curse of the Golden Flower
2006

Director: Zhang Yimou

Writers:
Cao Yu (Play)
Zhang Yimou

Genre: Tragedy, Action, Romance

Cast:
Chou Yun Fat - Emperor Ping
Gong Li - Empress Phoenix
Jay Chou - Prince Jie
Liu Ye - Crown Prince Xiang
Qin Jun Jie - Prince Cheng
Chen Jin - Imperial Physician's Wife
Li Man - Imperial Physician's Daughter

Tiff Says:

Wow, this film does not disappoint anyone who loves the beauty of Zhang Yimou direction, Zhao Xiao Ding's cinematography, and Huo Ting Xiao's production design. Every frame is filled with vibrant colors and exquisitely crafted objects. Even if the plot was excruciating and boring, one could still love a Zhang Yimou film. However, this film's plot is far from boring.

The tragic events which occur in Curse of the Golden Flower put Shakespeare to shame. The story is as vivid and intricate as the set it takes place in. The most interesting aspect of this film, is the fact that the plot is as emphasized. The first third of the film focuses on developing the plot and there are very little action scenes. Zhang Yimou is well known for his impressively choreographed fight scenes. So, for him to spend so much time on the story was a welcome surprise.

There are some Asian drama cliché’s within the film including incest and suicide, but the story's dynamics keep you on a emotional rollercoaster. Chou Yun Fat, Emperor Ping, embraces his character so well, I didn't even realize it was him until the credits were rolling, Gong Li gives a stunning performance, as always, Liu Ye's unique facial features make an impression on you that immediately intrigue, and Jay Chou's subtle portrayal of conflicting passion makes him the character you feel for the most.

This film is marvelously acted, wonderfully written, and made even better. The artistry of Curse of the Golden Flower will captivate you during the first scene and leave you entranced throughout the entire two hours.

Rating: CHARMED