Chyp's Movee Mousings

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Good idea. Carry on...

Low budget Italian sci-fi about a Chinese/Italian interpreter called at short notice to provide her translation services for a secret Government entity that is holding a certain Mr. Wang in custody.

The first third of the movie is really rather good as the audience is kept as much in the dark about proceedings as the interpreter - all we know is what she knows and just as she is curious as to the identity of this mysterious Mr. Wang so are we. Events becomes much more transparent after that point once the reveal is made and that's where I'll leave things regarding the storyline as whilst not everyone will react positively it is something that should be experienced with as little foreknowledge as possible.

This is not a fast paced affair, a lot of it taking place inside a single room, and much of the dialogue has to be repeated in both Chinese and Italian which some may find a little laborious though that wasn't particularly a problem for me. The film does utilise flashbacks in places and they didn't really work that well imo as they broke the atmosphere and in one particular case attempted to build a little tension which was rather pointless seeing as the reveal had already taken place. The script is a little patchy in places, events sometimes feel a little drawn out and the acting is variable though passable in the main but where the film really struggles is in the effects department, perhaps not unsurprising considering it's budget but still disappointing nonetheless.

An interesting little curio that certainly won't set the cinematic world alight but worth a watch if you like sci-fi and don't mind it not being action-packed.

Sci-fi/drama that feels like it is primarily aimed at the teen market so no real surprise to subsequently find it is based on a novel written by none other than the author of the 'Twilight' series. With Earth having to all extents and purposes been taken over by a parasitic alien race the story revolves around what happens after one of the few remaining humans (played by Saoirse Ronan) that have not as yet succumbed to the invaders is finally caught.

The opening scenes of this movie did not bode well, an unconvincing action scene, some pretty poor dialogue and a little lame cgi, that belies it's budget, doing nothing to really draw me into it's world. Thankfully though we soon get an insight into what will be the crux of the film and even though the execution is a little off-putting at first the concept of a human being trapped inside their own body and only able to communicate internally is one that will always instil a level of interest for me.

Imdb classifies this partly as an adventure and I guess it is of sorts but those looking for a fast-paced affair or oodles of action scenes won't find either here - at it's heart this is a tale of romance, morality and the human spirit which uses sci-fi as the vehicle by which to tell it.

There were no major problems with the acting but the script/story is a little twee at times while some of the sets aren't really very convincing and the very final scene is just atypically Hollywood and imo unnecessary.

All-in-all it's an ok film that imo could have been much better were it a little more adult but I don't think I was really the target audience.

Good luck with the thread Chyp.

Haven't seen either of those movies but nice reviews Chyp!

Thanks, if nothing else it will be eclectic
Cheers Crick, not sure I'd call anything I write a 'review' though - more like a very brief waffle I think

Biopic of Linda Lovelace that focuses primarily on her first marriage and infamous role in the adult movie Deep Throat. With the subject matter incorporating the adult film industry there is naturally nudity and depiction of sexual acts involved but for those concerned about such things there is nothing overly graphic or titillating to be seen.

The casting of Seyfried in the title role seemed like an odd choice going in but I thought she managed to be fairly convincing and certainly puts in a good performance, as does Saarsgard as her first spouse. The film draws from Lovelace's own autobiographies as it's source which does leave the veracity of events slightly open to question and the manner in which the film opts to relate them not always in a linear fashion is a little irritating and at times briefly confusing.

That for a while she experienced a lifestyle and events that many of us can only imagine is undoubted, sadly though this feels like a sanitised version that ultimately just skims the surface.

A couple of films I have sat around for a couple of years now. Interested in seeing both, so it's nice to read a little something about them .

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Russian drama about an elderly widow, the titular Aleksandra Nikolaevna, from Sevastapol who is granted leave to visit her grandson, Denis - a captain in the Russian army, at his base in Chechnya during the war.

Filmed in desaturated hues this is a film that certainly doesn't glamourise war but paints a pretty bleak picture of not only the surrounding war-ravaged environ but also conditions in the camp itself. Being set in the middle of a war-zone it is rightly listed as both War and Drama on Imdb but don't expect any scenes of violent conflict as there are none, it's just not that type of film.

I loved the portrayal of Aleksandra by Galina Vishnevskaya, fiercely independent as women in her position and age often are, tetchy and often terse and somewhat lacking in tact, yet at her core just as desiring of human interaction as anyone else. The images of her at times aimlessly wandering around the camp are almost surreal, her scenes with the local Chechens poignant yet understated. She really is the heart and soul of this film.

This won't be to everybody's taste, it's a drama without any dramatic happenings, slow moving and contemplative but I quite enjoyed it myself.

I would like to see that film Alexandra, sounds like my kind of film. I saw The Sun by the same director. Very slow, but I found it a fascinating imagination of the days post Hiroshima and Nagasaki when Hirohito had to realise he was not a divine being, he had to come to terms with losing the war.

Nice thread Chyp, i'll keep checking in.

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Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

Early offering from Kitamura (first full-length feature film) and tbh it shows as it's a bit of a mess and ultimately little more than a vehicle for a series of fight scenes (a mix of martial arts, guns and swordplay that vary in quality) and a chance to have a little fun with blood and gore within a rather cliched story of a supernatural nature.

The film is not without it's moments though, mainly within the first hour, there being some reasonably well choreographed fights, a few nicely done special effects and touches of humour that work but as a whole it is far too long and more damningly after a while becomes somewhat monotonous. The script really is nothing to write home about and the introduction of some of the characters is not at all well handled (though the pieces do fit together eventually) but in general the film is designed to be over the top and not taken seriously so those are lesser failings in my book. A bigger failing for me is that it never really manages to establish much of a tone and what it does establish is neither really one thing nor another. It also overuses one particular special effect and for me the camerawork/editing is frustrating at times.

That probably makes it sound like I hate it but actually I don't - I just don't care that much for it and very much see it as a missed opportunity (as I think it had potential to be so much better than it is) and part of a learning curve for an inexperienced director ... but I can also understand it's appeal to a certain type of moviegoer even in it's relatively raw state.

Oh yeah and it has zombies .... I'm a bit of a sucker for zombies

Haven't seen Versus, but that was a surprisingly good review, Chyp.

I like zombies and I like martial arts, but usually it's seperately. I don't know if your review made me interested or just fascinated, but I definitely enjoyed reading it.

I'll make sure to keep checking in here, you are doing some fine work so far.

Thanks MM, appreciate the kind words (as I do from everyone that has replied in this thread) and I hope one day I might be able to put up something truly worthy of being on this site (though that may well be quite some time down the line as I'm still just jotting down thoughts/ramblings really rather than writing reviews).

As far as Versus goes it's supposedly become a bit of a cult film but I still wouldn't really recommend it to anyone tbh.

If you actually sat down and tried to tighten things up a bit more and made things a little more in depth, you would have a great review. Because the one about Versus I thought was good and though it may be short and quick I could see some qualities to it, which would shine even better if you just extended those a bit.

I think your reviews show a lot of potential honestly, keep doing them, Chyp! And don't hold back if you "feel it", you know.

I share your thoughts on Versus Chyp. Was a bit of a mess and for me was quite forgettable.

Dont be so hard on yourself with the reviews, i think they're great and much better than i could ever do.

I saw Versus about the time it came out, maybe a year later, and felt similar, though I remember quite liking it. I thought it was going to be a straight up zombie film (I'd just found Asian zombie movies and had seen Bio Zombie and Junk, both of which I'd really liked) so I feel the mystic and martial arts angle put me off my stride. I've not seen it since, but I do see it around sometimes and wonder about giving it a go to see if I can sit through it.

Might be worth you giving it another go HK as you know it's more of a mix from the outset next time. Whether or not that helps it in your eyes might be another matter though as it's fundamentally not that well put together imo.

I'm not really sure much needs to be said about a Mike Leigh film, if you've seen one and liked it there's a good chance you will like another and likewise conversely if one wasn't to your taste.

Another Year is imo another solid bittersweet slice-of-life offering from the director though I did find the character of son Joe's girlfriend, Katie, was a little too similar to aspects of Poppy from immediate predecessor Happy-Go-Lucky.

Personally I found this by far the hardest of his films thus far to watch as the character Mary (played by the adorable Lesley Manville) is a little too close for comfort to that of a good friend of mine who was eventually sadly lost to this world at far too young an age - but that is to Leigh's credit as while a few of his characters may feel slightly exaggerated sometimes they are all, to one extent or another, generally rooted in reality.

I may never be able to watch this particular film again myself but I certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others that have liked previous films of Mike Leigh.