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Mrhu
Reviews
World on Fire (2019)
Bloated and not particularly engaging, except for the Polish resistance fighter
This show's strength and weakness is its epic scope. There are too many characters and almost everything feels like a subplot.
The only strand of the multiple stories that I found engaging is the young woman who gives up her marriage and family life to fight for the Polish resistance. Everything else is - meh.
We have Helen Hunt as a feisty journalist in an age when there were few or any female radio journalists, and so far, the subject of that sexism has not even come up. Her existence in this series just seems to be to satisfy a target audience demographic. They don't even mix the audio so that her voice sounds like it's coming out of a radio, and she speaks like NO 1940s journalist I've ever heard, and I've heard plenty.
Similarly, our one window into the Nazi occupation of Paris looks like it's going to be inexplicably through the eyes of a gay American doctor. His story is so slight, he didn't even appear in the third episode.
I was disappointed in the wasted potential, and gave up after episode 3.
Jin ling shi san chai (2011)
A worthy but flawed film
This review contains what I consider to be minor spoilers - references to two scenes that do not go into details.
First I must say that although this film has its drawbacks, Qigang Chen's extraordinary score does not, and is worthy of Oscar nomination. I guess that will never happen, since so few Academy members will have seen this movie. The music is achingly beautiful, and daringly against type.
This is a powerful movie, expertly crafted by Zhang Yimou and his team. There are moments of extreme horror and tragedy, and moments of great humanity within the horror.
The major flaws for me were story beats, basically. Halfway through the movie, there is an extremely on-the-nose scene between Christian Bale's character and another Westerner (Paul Schneider, I guess). It was jarringly contrived and obvious, compared to the rest of the movie.
The other nonsensical scene involved a woman escaping the church's sanctuary simply to retrieve a pair of ear rings. With almost guaranteed death outside, this was also very contrived, and somewhat mystifying, considering that the Japanese are making sure no one goes in or out of the church.
But that aside, it is definitely a film worth seeing. Cinematography and editing were excellent.
Superman Returns (2006)
Earnest, devoted and boring
I really wanted to like this movie, and I give Bryan Singer full marks for his devotion to Superman, Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve. I also commend him for injecting a lot of human story into what could have been yet another bland, non-stop action summer movie.
But alas, all his earnestness has resulted in a movie that is too self-important, too serious and too long.
Brandon Routh does a reasonable job at invoking Christopher Reeve, but Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane is too young and can't hold a candle to Margot Kidder's sassy, love-struck super sleuth.
The plot has so many holes, it's like watching a movie built on styrofoam. Lex Luthor creates a continent so uninhabitable that he thinks he's going to control the world? And just who, pray tell, gave him the title deed to this hideous island anyway? How does he intend to persuade the rest of the world that he "owns" it?
In another moment of silliness, Superman's super-suit can withstand bullets, but it's literally ripped off him with ease in a later scene. I could go on, but don't want to get into spoiler territory.
I don't mean to be cruel, because as I said, you can see the love that Bryan Singer and his cast and crew put into it. It's immaculately made, but ultimately bloated and dreary. A super shame.
Serenity (2005)
Brilliant and brave
"Firefly" was an excellent TV show that was not able to find its audience. Could its continuation in "Serenity" suffer the same fate? Don't be one of the poor souls that miss this gem on the big screen. It's fun, intriguing, exciting, and the best two hours I've spent in a cinema since "Crash." The writing is top notch, as one would expect from Joss Whedon, and he bravely injects some daring plot developments into the movie. Sure the FX aren't up there with the $100 million films, but what do you expect for $40 million? The good thing is - it doesn't matter. Because "Serenity" is all about story, and characters that you care about, which is worth more than a hundred summer tent-pole flicks put together. See it!