Random Places

First Impression: I’ve wanted to watch this after Matthew Macfadyen’s wonderful performance in Pride & Prejudice but it’s not an easy film to find as it was never officially released in North America. I had the fortunate opportunity to catch it on YouTube.

Afterthoughts: As I said on the shoutbox awhile ago, I never realized what sort of movies I liked to watch (”Anything that’s good” was my standard answer to anyone who asked) until I watched this movie. It’s easy to write a tragedy, but tragedy that makes you feel at peace after you watch it is gold. This movie, though presented in a twisty way for mystery sake, was heartbreaking yet so beautiful at the same time. I thought Matthew was great in P&P, but after watching this movie, I knew why I like him so much. His acting is so effortless you probably can’t even call it acting. Aside from Katee Sackhoff’s Starbuck in that scene where she confess to Adama that she was responsible for his son’s death, I’ve never wanted to hug another fictional character in my life. I don’t know why anyone would want to read my movie reviews, but if you’re reading this now, you’d know I dissed more movies than I have praised. If by any chance, you are able to find this online (still), in a rental store, or even in theatre, you MUST watch it.

First Impression: Pretty boring movie. Nothing urged me to see it whatsoever.

Afterthoughts: Too long, too implausible, sometimes too complicated. I don’t know why they portrayed the law enforcement as clueless. It was nice to hear Nicole Kidman speaking “Ku”, though I guess I’d have no idea if her pronunciation’s right. Don’t see it unless you’re a major fan of Kidman or Sean Penn (who had a disappointing performance) or need some help to fall asleep. The useless police plot created complications that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. And the Sean Penn Nicole Kidman “lil’ moment of affectionate feelings” just cheapened the main plot (um…if not abit icky). The whole relationship between them was so contrived and predictable. I don’t have anything against the cultural/political story…it’s not my place to criticize that.

First Impression: Abha wanted to see it…I didn’t want to study…and Clive Owen’s in it, so why the hell not?

Afterthoughts: LOOONG…too long. The plot was ok, it wasn’t keeping you guessing but more of keeping you waiting for that One Final Reveal – the ultimate plan that Clive Owen’s robbing team had that will allow them to get out of the bank unfazed. Not much of an intro, climax, or anti-climax…just a small ‘ah HA!’ at the end. The dressing hostages as the robbers scheme reminded me of V for Vendetta, which I just watched days before. Clever, but the difference is, V never let the cops know his voice beforehand. Jodie Foster didn’t annoy me this time, but she was playing a smarmy bitch. Denzel Washington, same old smart mouth black cop routine. Clive Owen, couldn’t see his face much, but his voice was enough.