Tuesday, 24 July 2007
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Movies to see and review this week
Apocalypto
Shooter
Casino Royale
Letters to Iwo Jima
Flags of Our Fathers
The Last King of Scotland reviewed below
The DepartedPan's Labyrinthreviewed belowThe Fountainreview here-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pan's Labyrinth
I love the way this film looks. The character design for the mythlogical characters is original and very creative. Some of them are down right creepy. The use of color is very well thought out. It really sets the mood of each scene. Cold, warmth, evil, good, can all be felt with the use of color and light. The story is a great fairy tale...a young girl finds out she's more than she ever thought she could be. Very C.S. Lewis-esque. I did some research on European fairy tales and found that this movie follows that formula: A young child, usually a young princess, does three tasks to receive a prize. What I was most impressed with was the sound design. I'm a sucker for good sound. I loved the sound design in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. This movie has some of the most creative and original sound effects I've ever heard. I was so amazed at the use of reverb throughout the movie. The sounds of the different creatures was excellent. They sounded so real...as if those creatures actually existed, that's how they would sound. I really like this movie. A great fantasy film.
If you don't mind subtitles and a whole lot of violence (which really wasn't as bad as I had heard), I would check this movie out.
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The Last King of Scotland
This is a movie all about a man who starts out with great intentions, but eventually falls away from his purpose. Dr. Nicholas Garrigan has dreams of making a difference and traveling to a place where he is needed most. He travels to Uganda to care for the sick in a small village. After arriving, Idi Amin-just recently coming to power-visits the village. Nicholas is drawn to Amin's charm, unaware of the violence that Amin has already authored. Later, he mends Amin's sprained hand. Amin is so impressed by his skill and courage, he asks Nicholas to become his personal physician. Nicholas agrees.
From this point, Nicholas begins to live a luxurious, sinful life, feeding off of Amin's riches and popularity. After witnessing Amin's treatment of some would-be assassins, Nicholas realizes he has taken the wrong path. The tension and suspense grows as you see Nicholas realize piece-by-piece just how cruel Amin is. Nicholas falls deeper into trouble and sin when he impregnates one of Amin's wives. The tension continues to mount as Amin, not aware of Nicholas, aided by one of Amin's doctors he had once protected, escapes on a plane of released hostages.
This movie is a classic telling of man vs. himself. Nicholas leaves the village where he is needed most and instead works with Amin where his medical service is not used to its full potential. Nicholas realizes he has done wrong and wishes to flee from Amin. He has abandoned his desire to help others and, instead, has to help himself.
The highlight of this movie is Forest Whitaker's portrayal of Idi Amin. His acting is so convincing that some in Uganda, where the film was shot, thought he was the actual Idi Amin.
The downfall of this movie is the boring plot. There's really not too much to it. You don't notice it as much because of the well defined character of Idi Amin, but the story doesn't move hardly at all and there's not much to keep you hooked.
Rent it if you're in need of some good acting or need to see Gillian Anderson in something besides X-Files (yes, she's in it). Other from that, I wouldn't bother.
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