Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4946410
Passion Fish - (1992)
If you'd told me that a 135-minute drama that moves at a glacial pace would have been the best movie I'd watch yesterday I'd say, "Well...that must be the only movie I watch." But it's not the case.
Passion Fish has a lot of heart. John Sayles developed his idea for the film from observing the way wheelchair-bound patients in hospital would interact with people they were forced to be in the same proximity with - fighting boredom while at the same time having personalities that clashed. Here's what I jotted down on Letterboxd immediately after watching it - "I was too young to notice this heartfelt, winsome film about recovery when I was young - but now can see that it really deserved it's two Oscar nominations. One for Mary McDonnell's strong performance (only a couple of years on from her Dances With Wolves success) and John Sayles' writing - his career also peaking. It is slow - but that's the whole point, as so is recovery. Alcoholism, injury-related, psychological or drug-related - two steps forward, one step back - in lush Louisiana, the fiercely unruly soap-star May-Alice (McDonnell) and Chantelle (Alfre Woodard) forge an uneasy nurse/patient alliance which slowly blossoms into friendship. Don't expect a lot of action - this film soaks into you, and is about inner journeys. David Strathairn and Vondie Curtis-Hall feature as two able love interests. It's quality drama, and demands patient contemplation."
7.5/10
By IMDb, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3210355
Memoirs of a Geisha - (2005)
Technically well-made, I really thought
Memoirs of a Geisha would be better than what I got. Narrowing it down to the flat-footed screenplay, I see that Robin Swicord wrote the scripts for many films I don't like all that much. A bit more depth and intelligence and this would have been unstoppable - it's really a beautiful film to look at, but Chiyo's (Ziyi Zhang/Suzuka Ohgo/Shizuko Hoshi) journey as a Geisha is full of dumb metaphors, cliched lines and predictable story beats. If you're interested, then read the book. The film was generally hated in Asia, and had a mixed reception in the English-speaking world. For me, it was one of those films that just made me feel empty throughout - a complete lack of emotional or intellectual engagement. A shame, because of its stunning cinematography, costumes, art direction, sound and score.
5/10
By http://www.impawards.com/2018/skyscraper_ver2.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56478846
Skyscraper - (2018)
I kinda liked
Skyscraper the first time I saw it, but this second watch has me lowering the rating a little. The film's high points action-wise show that Rawson Marshall Thurber knew how to build suspense and really draw out those edge-of-your-seat moments. As to why some action scenes are kind of rushed and fumbled - I can only think that Thurber thought too much of a good thing would wear an audience out. I was also a little perplexed as to why it takes 40 minutes for any skyscraper-related fun to start - that one is beyond me, and even when we get some, we spend a lot of action-related time on the ground. This film tries hard to be
Die Hard 2018, but I think we'd have got more value if more set-pieces from
The Towering Inferno had of made it in. Anyway, Dwayne Johnson is a bone fide good action star - I just wish we'd had more vertigo-inducing fun with the fact that this is set in the tallest skyscraper imaginable - there's a lot of wasted time elsewhere with scenes you'd find in the most mediocre of action films.
5/10