Infernal Affairs Versus The Departed December 9, 2007

I am a fan of Infernal Affairs. Good cop in black sheep’s clothing versus bad cop in plain ol’ sheep’s clothing – Tony Leung – the Triad- all the makings of a good movie.

I was hesitant to see Scorcese’s version of this. Perhaps even a bit bitter that he just re-did the Hong Kong classic. So, I had no intentiion of seeing this- BUT – well it just happened to be playing on cable one night-

All I can say is- the Departed is a fine movie as well. And they really had me when they started playing ‘Comfortably Numb” during one of the scenes. Pink Floyd = good taste.
The film kept the original premise and story line of most of Infernal Affairs but I think Scorcese also did a good job of personalizing it- so watching this film did not seem redundant at all.
Sunshine.

The City Of Lost Children August 8, 2007

Tonight we watched “The City of Lost Children”. I’ve never seen it before. The bf is a fan. He recently had me watch “Delicatessen”- directed by the same directors Jeunet & Caro.

I liked “Delicatessen”. I REALLY liked “The City of Lost Children”.

Both movies are very fairytale-esque but in a dark, dark way. Perhaps the way the Grimm Brothers first intended their tales to be before Disney princessized and sugar-coated fairytales. But “The City of Lost Children” is no Grimm fairytale.

This story is full of crazy gadgets, cloned idiots, flea warfare, an evil dream thief, toddler kidnappers, and etc.

The heroine of this story is a plucky young girl. More clever than most adults and brave too- she sets off to help a lug of a simpleton man rescue his little brother from the evil dream thief.

Good times.

The Host Movie Review August 7, 2007

We watched “The Host” tonight. I loved it. It’s like “Little Miss Sunshine” meets “Godzilla” on crack. It’s full of surprises and reversals. And the acting is fantastic. It’s co-written and directed by Bong Joon-Ho who also directed “Memories of Murder”.

This is the story of a quirky and dysfunctional family (imagine a Korean version of the Tenenbaums) that comes together to rescue the youngest member of the family from a monster. Yes, a monster. The monster is a mutated squid like creature.

The opening scene of the movie shows an American military man ordering his Korean assistant to pour out hundreds of old formaldehyde bottles down the drain. The Korean assistant questions this- formaldehyde is toxic and the drains go directly into the Han River. But the brute American is insistent. Qwazy Americans. And thus, we have a mutated something that begins to terrorize South Korea.

This mutated thingamijig carries off a preteen girl for dinner. Her grandfather and his kids (including her simpleton dad) are off to rescue her. The other dysfunctional members of the family include her genius uncle and her professional archer but choker of an aunt.

Go rent “The Host”!