Slay's Reviews

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It was beauty killed the beast.
Ludivine Sagnier is in this? Awesome! Kong loves her.

Kong will probably see this sometime this week; he didn't think it looked to good, but now that it's gotten fairly mixed reviews he figures there's about a 50/50 chance he'll enjoy himself.
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Kong's Reviews:
Stuck On You
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I doubt you'll like it Kong. You're to cynical.
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It was beauty killed the beast.
Originally Posted by LordSlaytan
I doubt you'll like it Kong. You're to cynical.
But Ludivine is so cute!



I agree, she really played the part of Tink perfectly. She doesn't speak in the movie, only pantomimes her intentions, and makes Julia Roberts attempt look pathetic in comparison.



Great Peter Pan review Slay… I was undecided if I wanted to see it or not but now I think I will check it out…
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Mother! Oh, God! Mother! Blood!
I'm not sure I'd give it as many popcorn bags as Slay did, but it was highly entertaining, and I thought the child actors did a fine job, contrary to a review posted in my local paper.

I was surprised that there were only about 20 people in the theater (opening holiday weekend; Sunday matinee).
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It was beauty killed the beast.
Originally Posted by The Silver Bullet
Ludivine Sagnier is easily the worst thing about Peter Pan.
Just saw it and thought that Sagnier's "Tink" could've been a bit stronger, but at least she had the spritely look. Kong must disagree with you on the count that she's the worst thing in the film, however, the worst thing is most certainly the completely uninspired, generic, cornball "humor" that is only effective at distracting (of which Sagnier is guilty of adding to). To be fair, there were two or three jokes that worked.

Other than that though, it was a pretty entertaining picture.



Hmm...I laughed more than a few times. Oh well. It is, after all, made primarily for children (which I kinda am). Shame on them for not challenging you more. *wink-wink*



Put me in your pocket...
Originally Posted by LordSlaytan
TO LIVE ****
To Live is an astonishing tale of a family living in China during the communist revolution and beyond. It really isn’t centered on what these changes of politics does to a family, but rather what strengths people who love each other have, and what they can endure.

As far as I’m concerned, this is a must-see film. It is an epic from beginning to end with exceptional direction, beautiful cinematography, and wonderful performances.

Fugui and Jiazhen show that life is the same regardless of what type of world you live in. One only hopes to live happily and with love. Even when there is loss there is hope. I love this movie.
I just saw To Live and wanted to thank you for recommending it and your review and comments were right on target. I absolutely loved it...my eyes are still red and puffy. I just took a few quotes from your review to emphasize to anyone that "this is a must see film." Talk about a movie having a heart...this movie makes you feel period.

Thanks again Bri.



It was beauty killed the beast.
Originally Posted by LordSlaytan
Hmm...I laughed more than a few times. Oh well. It is, after all, made primarily for children (which I kinda am). Shame on them for not challenging you more. *wink-wink*
Kong isn't really mad that the humor is aimed at a young audience, but do they really have to throw them the same old jokes? It was so uninspired, like they just watched an old Nickelodeon TV show and wrote down the gags and then tossed them in. Pixar has been successful at making things funny for adults and kids, and if they can do it, others can too.



COLD MOUNTAIN ***˝



Cold Mountain begins with an epic battle in St. Petersburg where the Union Army commits one of the most tragic blunders ever know in military history. Within the Confederate ranks is Inman (Jude Law) who receives a near fatal wound, while trying to save the life of a friend from home. After the battle, Inman starts his long recovery in a military hospital where he gets a letter from his love back home. A volunteer reads it for him and he hears that his love is dealing with her own tragedy and only wants him to come home. After hearing this, Inman decides that after he recovers, he is going to desert and walk home. Seeing that his home at Cold Mountain is hundreds of miles away, it’s obvious that it is going to be a very long and arduous journey.

The love back home at Cold Mountain, South Carolina is Ada (Nicole Kidman), a preachers (Donald Sutherland) daughter who has been brought to the country after leading a socialites life back in Charleston. Seen through a series of flashbacks is the budding romance between Ada and Inman and the power of their love at first sight developing between them. After that, the movie splits off to tell two different tales. One is the journey of Inman and the other is Ada’s journey of independence.

Inman’s tale is somewhat like Homers Odyssey. His journey is long and full of interesting characters played by highly recognizable stars. Most notable are Philip Seymour Hoffman and Natalie Portman. Hoffman plays a reverend with the morals of an imp and Portman plays a war widow with a newborn struggling to survive the elements, starvation, and rouge units of both armies who come to claim anything they want from her in the name of the Union or Confederate Armies. Portman’s short time on the screen is what I consider to be the films most powerful performance. I thought that Law did an excellent job as a man that is psychologically worn and often exhausted or grievously wounded. Only a couple of times did his real accent come through, most often he did just fine.

Ada’s tale is equally compelling. After her Father dies, she finds that she is ill equipped to run a farm and quickly finds herself in poverty. Through the compassion of a neighbor friend (Kathy Bates), Ruby (Renée Zellweger) is sent to teach Ada how to live on her own. Ruby is a tougher than nails type of woman who talks like a sailor and works like a lumberjack. As far as I’m concerned, Zellweger owned this movie in all respects. Every scene she was in centered around her whether or not it was even about her. She certainly deserves at least the nomination for Best Supporting Actress this year. I don’t want to spill the beans too much about either segment because the joy is in the discovery.

Cold Mountain was directed by Anthony Minghella, based on the book by Charles Frazier. I recently read the book so as to compare the two, and found that it is indeed faithful to Frazier’s vision. Though this is a period piece about the civil war, don’t expect a lot of battles to be played out. This is more of a human-interest study than it is a war movie, though the opening sequence is one of the best battle sequences I have ever seen belonging to this genre. The scenery is beautiful to look at and the score is enriched but not overdone.

I can easily recommend this movie even though there are moments during it that are fairly predictable, and a couple of the characters (the villainous Ray Winstone most of all) appear to be from the same cut-out as many others. I can forgive it these things because it is so well acted and thought provoking throughout. I really enjoyed this film.



Originally Posted by Aniko
I just saw To Live and wanted to thank you for recommending it and your review and comments were right on target. I absolutely loved it...my eyes are still red and puffy. I just took a few quotes from your review to emphasize to anyone that "this is a must see film." Talk about a movie having a heart...this movie makes you feel period.

Thanks again Bri.
I'm really happy that you liked it sweetheart.



I just saw Cold Mountain and I absolutely loved it. Although I had to stay in line for a while (which I don't mind), It was worth it. Your review is top notch.... an excellent addition to your review thread.



I'd have to say that Cold Mountain is probably one of my favourite movies of the year. It's got its flaws, of course [it's very glossy], but most films this year have had, and it's also got some really redeeming factors that make it stand out for me personally.

Aside from the picture's general technical excellence and wonderful performances, I also thought that the character arcs [especially that of Ada] were extremely clear, and wonderfully executed by Minghella's script and actors. Towards the end of the film, when Ada goes out to kill a turkey, I suddenly realised how far she had come personally, a transformation that stands on its own as much as it does as part of the film's major plot and subplots. It was a nice moment.

I also really liked the more complex [though not overly complex] ideas that littered the film. How does war change a person? How can you go back to the life you once had after something like war, which impacts upon you in such an extreme way? I found the film's presentation of wartime quite interesting, especially considering the number of war films this year that failed to present war as anything deeper than a matter of "good vs. evil". As much as I enjoyed The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [and I did enjoy it], I must admit to having been really refreshed when Cold Mountain took a more complex and sophisticated route.

And I really loved its structure. It reminded me of The Good, the Bad and Ugly a lot of the time. And for that reason I consider it more of an Anthony Minghella Western than I do an Anthony Minghella Civil War movie.



Peter Pan

I loved it. As a one time visual artist, this film blew me away. From this perspective, I saw a use of strong complementary colors (particularly oranges and blues), analagous patterns and artistry (the Parrish-like scenery) that provided a visual K.O. and I'm not even taking into account the story yet.

Back to Parrish... his most famous works were done in the early 1900's, about the same time that the world saw the Cottingley Fairies and the time of the original publication of Barrie's novel Peter Pan. I suspect the inclusion of these elements was an intentional 'hat's off' to the dawn of the 20th century.

Tinkerbell's antics and the obligatory farting sequence that grace all movies aimed at kids today (Hollywood thinks we still laugh at that crap) couldn't ruin the film for me (though it tried).

Nice review Slay, as always!



The Mad Prophet of the Movie Forums
Originally Posted by The Silver Bullet
Ludivine Sagnier is easily the worst thing about Peter Pan.
I agree. She seemed...I dunno...either trying too hard, or more juvenile than the rest of the movie. But that may just be me. I really loved the movie though. I've seen it twice now.

As for Cold Mountain, I really liked this as well. The performaces were great, as was the look of the film. It felt a lot like The Odyssey to me (which I liked a lot). I LOVED the sub-plots in the movie.

WARNING: "Cold Mountain" spoilers below
The only thing that keeps this film, (in my mind) from being a definite four star movie is that Jude Law's death at the end seemed very tacked on. I didn't think he really needed to die, and, despite the foreshadowing, I felt it to be out of place.


Sidenote: Did anyone notice that Jack White from the White Stripes was in this movie?

Does anyone know the name of the actor that played the albino henchman of Ray Winstone?

Great reviews Slay!
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Silver, your comments are right on the mark. Ada's story about personal growth was exceptional, and it really wasn't a war movie at all.

Originally Posted by Sir Toose
Peter Pan

I loved it. As a one time visual artist, this film blew me away. From this perspective, I saw a use of strong complementary colors (particularly oranges and blues), analagous patterns and artistry (the Parrish-like scenery) that provided a visual K.O. and I'm not even taking into account the story yet.

Back to Parrish... his most famous works were done in the early 1900's, about the same time that the world saw the Cottingley Fairies and the time of the original publication of Barrie's novel Peter Pan. I suspect the inclusion of these elements was an intentional 'hat's off' to the dawn of the 20th century.

Tinkerbell's antics and the obligatory farting sequence that grace all movies aimed at kids today (Hollywood thinks we still laugh at that crap) couldn't ruin the film for me (though it tried).

Nice review Slay, as always!
I'm really glad you enjoyed it Toose. The books ending is considerably different:

WARNING: "Peter Pan" spoilers below
Peter promises Wendy that he'll come back every year to pick her up so she can do a spring cleaning of his home, she was after all his Mother figure, but he forgets things often and only shows up sporadicaly. When Wendy is a mother herself, it has been years since her last visit. Then one night she walks into her daughters room to see Peter in there. To make a long story short, she allows him to take her daughter to Neverland as often as Peter remembers to come get her. He never grows up, ever.


Originally Posted by Beale the Rippe
I agree. She seemed...I dunno...either trying too hard, or more juvenile than the rest of the movie. But that may just be me. I really loved the movie though. I've seen it twice now.

As for Cold Mountain, I really liked this as well. The performaces were great, as was the look of the film. It felt a lot like The Odyssey to me (which I liked a lot). I LOVED the sub-plots in the movie.

WARNING: "Cold Mountain" spoilers below
The only thing that keeps this film, (in my mind) from being a definite four star movie is that Jude Law's death at the end seemed very tacked on. I didn't think he really needed to die, and, despite the foreshadowing, I felt it to be out of place.


Sidenote: Did anyone notice that Jack White from the White Stripes was in this movie?

Does anyone know the name of the actor that played the albino henchman of Ray Winstone?

Great reviews Slay!

I read the book Peter Pan after I saw the movie, as well as Cold Mountain. In Peter Pan, the way Tink was portrayed was spot on. With the exception that in the book she kept yelling out (in tinkle noises that only Peter could decipher) "You Ass!!!". I thought this version of Tink was adorable, especially the scene where she sprouts the little horns.

I did notice Jack White as Goergia, he did a good job, though his part was rather small. Charlie Hunnam played the evil albino, Boise. As far as the ending of Cold Mountain, they were only following the book and the movie shouldn't be panned for it,
WARNING: "Cold Mountain" spoilers below
plus the ending was forshadowed from her vision in the well, that's why she freaked out when she saw the vision. She saw him fall.



The Mad Prophet of the Movie Forums
Originally Posted by LordSlaytan
I read the book Peter Pan after I saw the movie, as well as Cold Mountain. In Peter Pan, the way Tink was portrayed was spot on. With the exception that in the book she kept yelling out (in tinkle noises that only Peter could decipher) "You Ass!!!". I thought this version of Tink was adorable, especially the scene where she sprouts the little horns.

I did notice Jack White as Goergia, he did a good job, though his part was rather small. Charlie Hunnam played the evil albino, Boise. As far as the ending of Cold Mountain, they were only following the book and the movie shouldn't be panned for it,
WARNING: "Cold Mountain" spoilers below
plus the ending was forshadowed from her vision in the well, that's why she freaked out when she saw the vision. She saw him fall.
I caught the foreshadowing. It's just a personal preference thing.

I won't fault the film for following the source material (in either case), but it takes off of my personal liking of the movie. Not a whole bunch though, especially in the case of Peter Pan. Tink's portrayal didn't really turn me off to the movie, it was just my least favorite part of it. I should also like to mention that Jason Isaacs scored BIG points with me on both of his well played rolls.

And thanks for the info about the albino!



It was beauty killed the beast.
Nice Cold Mountain review; Kong gives it the same rating.

The one thing that turned Kong off from the movie most was the characters that Renee Zellweger, and Philip Seymour Hoffman played. They were so obviously written as comedic relief exacters that it created a very calculating tone to the overall story. Zellweger at least overcame this to a great degree with the delivery of a superlative performance but Hoffman was obviously struggling under the weight of a character manifestly designed to create some level of levity. This is probably more a fault of the book than anything else, but having not read it, Kong can't say for sure.

At any rate, it was a very good movie.