Movies Wot I Have Seen (in the past three days)

[tahariel]

Non-spoilery, I promise :)

ETA: tarayith made a spoiler-ish comment, so please bear in mind, don't read the comments if you don't want spoilers.

In the last few days I've watched quite a few films. (Six, in fact.) Five on DVD, and PotC2 in the cinema. I wanted to talk a little bit about what I thought of each here. This is the list of what I've seen, so you can decide if you want to read on:

Spiderman
Spiderman 2
Goodnight and Good Luck
Howl's Moving Castle
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Spiderman (and Spiderman 2, because I'm too lazy to do them separately.)

I'd forgotten how much I loved these (and how much I'm looking forward to the third film, later this year.) Toby Maguire was an inspired choice. I love the way that he helps people because he feels he has to, the way he doesn't even question it. The relationship between him and MJ is wonderful - the play of emotions between them. (I remember reading that the woman producer insisted it be based around a love story, and that it wasn't going to be originally. Good for her.) It sort of reminds me of the whole thing with Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane - how she's in love with Superman but not with Clark, and how much that hurts Clark. Except, obviously, Spiderman's story is kinder than that. (In the entirety of Superman's existence as a character, the only time he ever got together with Lois Lane as Clark was in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the show from the early nineties which I was watching the first season of a little while ago.)

I love the way, in the second film (and a little bit from the first, on the bridge) that the filmmakers portray the New Yorkers - as caring people who pull together in adversity to try and help Spiderman when he needs their help instead of the other way around. (Whether or not I believe this portrayal is a different matter, but I like it just the same.) Also, that scene where the Green Goblin has Spidey drugged and at his mercy on the abandoned rooftop? Totally sexual. Was sitting there going, 'oh my God, eurgh, but can't stop thinking it...

Goodnight, and Good Luck

What a wonderful film! It got nominated for lots of things at the Oscars, and I'd been meaning to watch it for a while, but only just got around to it. It's all in black and white, which turned out really classy and really fitted the period, and the way it was presented - explaining the McCarthy era through the journalists who fought to end his reign of terror - was really moving. The feel for the time in which it was set was perfect, I got really absorbed. And it was really interesting, too, as an era I didn't know much about. I'd heard the term 'McCarthyism' before but never really got it. Now I do. Also, George Clooney! Yay!

Howl's Moving Castle

I can't believe this got the slating it did when it came out. I suspect the critics were expecting another Spirited Away, which of course was wonderfully Japanese. This was based on a Western story, so, y'know, not going to be the same?

I spent the whole film squeeing and laughing and loving it. It was wonderful. The italics are to differentiate it from films which get a 'wonderful' but aren't as good as this. Howl is so funny! And I love the shifts they do with the transformation spells and the way they handled it all. I really want to read the original book now. As always from Miyazaki, beautiful, beautiful animation. If you haven't seen it, please, please do.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

OHGODITWASFANTASTIC. Dad asked me what I thought when I got back last night and I said, 'Multiply all the things you loved about the first one by two or three times. Then add to that all the things you wanted to see in the first one but didn't.' The action scenes! The CGI! The CHARACTER DYNAMICS! (God knows Amy loves character dynamics.) They made both Will and Elizabeth so much deeper, they were an absolute joy to watch. And JACK! And the Jamaican scary woman! And the Kraken! If this was an eBay review for a seller, the one line you get to type in would read A+++++++++++++++++++ (most people on eBay are too lazy to write proper reviews, so tend to write stuff like this.) I'm going to see it again as soon as I can and I'm going to squee inside my head the whole time, all over again. I'd write more but I'm being non-spoilery, and anyway whenever we all see each other again we'll all natter about it forever anyway.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

This was... well, it was a Miyazaki, which means it was beautiful. I liked it a lot, but still, I've read the books, and the books are just so... the books are so far beyond the film, which I know is because of time constraints, but the books are one of the very few things ever that I finished and just had to sit for half an hour doing nothing and thinking about them because they moved me so deeply. I watched this (and, in fact, Howl) in the English dub because I was too tired to fuss with subtitles, but the dub is very good, as I'm sure Disney paid a lot of money for a good dub.

(I decided to watch the previews for some other Studio Ghibli movies I haven't seen yet, and there was this annoying patronising American voice nattering over the top of them, and she pronounced Ghibli 'Gibli' as in 'giblets'. Urgh. Just urgh.)


Next week I will report on Superman Returns, if I remember that I said I'd do it XD)

Comments

[tarayith.livejournal.com]

I've just seen PotC2 and I agree it's great! So funny, and there's something really freaky about a Jack with multiple pairs of eyes. But I don't feel it really ended, just sort of stopped in the middle of a story. If it had ended five minutes earlier, before they went back to whatshername, it would have been perfect (except, of course, for not knowing if Jack was going to be okay)

[tahariel.livejournal.com]

I couldn't tell where he was looking, I kept losing track of where his eyes were!

But I liked where it ended. It felt more satisfying than if it had ended five minutes before.

[orcses.livejournal.com]

I don't know about feeling satisfied - it doesn't bother me either way. But it felt like the film should have finished earlier - before the frame with the boatseys. Seemed to be a natural pause. But I guess in order to pull in the crowds for the next one they had to tag a little on the end. Anyhoo, my praise for it isn't that high. The first half was diabolically poor. Muchly looking forward to Superman Returns though!!!!!!!!!

[tahariel.livejournal.com]

Don't be mean about Pirates, that makes me sad and today I am in paaaaain so you have to be nice to me!

I had a dream with the guy who plays Superman in it, though, which was nice :) He had floppy hair in it.

[tarayith.livejournal.com]

I was really looking forward to Superman until the only review I could find said it was crap :( Now, I'm all upset, but I'm still going to see it. The special effects alone should be worth it :)

[orcses.livejournal.com]

No no! Don't be disheartened! Empire give it a whopping 5 stars!

[tahariel.livejournal.com]

Mmm, Brandon Routh...

[tarayith.livejournal.com]

Hee, Superman was really good!! Don't listen to reviews that diss it. Brandon Routh is great (and so like Christopher Reeve sometimes, that it's eerie). There are a couple of plot inconsistencies, but nothing that can't be overlooked. And the special effects are great!! Go forth and marvel :)

[davesideswide.livejournal.com]

I can't agree with this either. I thought the whole thing was very good, but suffered from Matrix Syndrome.

Part three has been announced, Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End. Filmed right here in Bucks, perchance, at World's End Nursery? I doubt it. Thing was, Matrix 2 got bad reviews because it was a two-part film. Same for Matrix 3. You have to watch them both together to get the full effect, I think. Only difference there is, Pirates 2 got rave reviews.

[tahariel.livejournal.com]

Actually, the reviewer for the Sunday Times didn't like PotC2 very much, but when I read his review I realised that he had the same problem they all seem to have in that paper - they try to review the movies as though all that's important is the intellectual and art side, not whether it was fun to watch. The guy just didn't get what Pirates is all about, and I feel sorry for him, because Pirates rocks.

[tarayith.livejournal.com]

I agree totally. A film can be as artsy-fartsy as it likes, have a really intelligent plotline, blah, blah, blah...but I rate the films I see on how much I enjoyed them, if I'd be willing to pay an outrageous price to see them again. Sure, things like special effects and cool action helps, but I'm just as happy with a hand stuffed in a green sock waving around pretending to be a tentacle, as long as it's fun