Recent movies Mom asked me to recommend some movies. So I thought: what have I seen lately? I have actually seen quite a few in the past little while, as the rainy season seems very suitable for movie watching. Here's a brief summary of my recent movie going career:
Brokeback Mountain: Widely known as the "Gay cowboy" movie, this is essentially a love story well told. Ang Lee is just an amazing director, who never fails to surprise (by the wide range of genres he tries his hands on) and none of his movies ever disappoints. Excellent acting, too. I used to really dislike the actor Jake Gyllenhaal, and this movie changed my mind.
A History of Violence: I was initially reluctant to see this movie based on two facts: 1. The title word "violence"; 2. The director is Canadian David Cronenberg. Frankly, I am not a fan of either violence or Canadian movies. But this movie is surprisingly good. Contrary to what the name might suggest, the depiction of violence is not an essential part of the movie, and the movie lacks the generous amount of pretension and weirdness that I often find Canadian directors like to produce. It is actually, for the lack of a better description, pretty cool.
The Family Stone: This one is a pretty typical Hollywood comedy --a holiday comedy at that, about a hippie family meeting an uptight outsider. I find this movie pretty funny. Sure the plot was silly and predictable, but what do you expect from a holiday comedy? As long as it makes me laugh... Sarah Jessica Parker of Carrie Bradshaw fame plays the uptight stranger to the family.
King Kong: If Ang Lee had not directed Brokeback Mountain, there might still be a slight chance that I would go see it anyway, depending on the reviews. But I went to see King Kong solely based on the fact that Peter Jackson had done it. Even so I was doubtful, because I found it extremely hard to imagine that any movie (a remake, no less) about a fictitious, gigantic primate could be that interesting. Well, I have to say that Peter Jackson had almost done an excellent job to prove me wrong -- if only he had cut the movie by at least half an hour! The middle section was just too long and a little too Jurassic Park for my taste. Otherwise it's a pretty good movie.
Match Point: I have never been a Woody Allen fan, though I don't particularly dislike his movies either. This one, however, is different from his other movies. For one thing, it is set in London, not the usual New York. The set of charactors are also more interesting -- no usual neurotic lead male charactor here, and none of the charactors are, well, "nice people". Interesting plot, dialogue, and if you will, moral of story.
Munich: I've heard some bad reviews of this movie. And after just seeing the very stupid and pointless War of the Worlds on DVD, I had very low expectations for Steven Spielberg, which may explain why I find this movie... OK. I almost thought this could be a good movie except for the ending that I really didn't like... Soon after seeing this I saw a documentory about the events in Munich, One day in September, which was actually very good, and very shocking to me. I'll recommend that to anyone who's interested in the story of Munich.
New World: If you liked A Thin Red Line, and /or Days of Heaven, you may find yourself liking this one as well. Terrence Malick has his very distinct style. Like his other movies, there are the beautiful imageries, the monologues, the poetic, somewhat hypnotic qualities. His movies seems to be not about plot or charactor development, or even story telling, but feels more like an experience.
Syriana: Oil, American politics, the Middle East, the CIA... this movie wants to include everything. There are at least three plot lines interweaving, and I'm not sure if anyone can actually follow the whole thing, but I don't feel hopelessly lost either. Overall I can't say I really like it, but nevertheless it's an interesting movie to see.
