Shi mian mai fu
A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful member of a rebel army out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.
I watched the House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu) tonight. Wow. That was an intense movie. It is basically a love story with all the twists and turns those can take. It has the classic gravity-defying martial arts, but that doesn't usually bother me. I enjoy seeing what they come up with. And compared to some other movies I've caught moments of, this didn't seem that out there.
The music was beautiful, the acting was good, although I don't watch a lot of Asian movies, so I am not an expert. What is the most striking thing in the movie? The use of color. You will notice it almost right away. Pretty much after the first 15 minutes (maybe less) everything is filmed outside. But even in those first few minutes colors are so vivid. There's blues and purples, organges, greens that look painfully beautiful (e.g. when they're fighting among the bamboo). Yes, colors are amazing in this movie.
There isn't much blood in the movie, though you do see a little. No gore. No all-out sex scenes, although there are a few quick instances and one I'd fast forward a few seconds. Discernment.
I really enjoyed the movie. Like I said, it was intense. And beautiful.
Wrong will be right...
Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, p. 75
C.S. Lewis
Going to see it tonight after Christa's 8th grade girls' basketball game.
UPDATE:
Wow, the movie was great. There were changes. What can be expected though, not some horrendous nightmare of one. I liked the music, I liked the acting (Lucy was fantastic.), and the CGI Aslan was very well done. Even Liam Neeson as his voice seemed to fit, in my opinion. The battle was neatly done and fit very much what was written, though expanded upon of course.
I love the book. And it is different than the movie. The intrusive author is one of the things you might miss in the movie. But over all I think they did a good job. It gave me a great deal of satisfaction and enjoyment. And the Christian themes seem to resound right off the pages of the book. And some added words from Aslan..."It is finished," when the battle is over. A little bit of double meaning there. Someone cheered in the theatre when he said that.
If you've been on the fence whether or not to see it, I would say go. I don't think you will be disappointed.
Dynamite
So I saw Napoleon Dynamite. Well...that's 95 minutes I won't be able to get back.
Visiting Narnia
Looks like Narnia might be a nice place to visit after all.
continuity: alias
Did anyone notice the mistake with the picture in Alias tonight? You know that picture of Irina and the baby? When everyone held it the baby's head was on the right side of the picture. But when Jack held the picture at the end of the episode (when he told Nadia who he thought the baby was) the picture was reversed. It had the baby's head on the left side. I can't figure out how that happened. Were there two pictures? Or did they reverse the frame? Anyway. Funny. Reminds me of that Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where the guest star held a tricorder right-side up, up-side down, then right-side up all in the same scene.
Farscape is over...
Well, Farscape is now over...Alas...it was a good ending. I'll miss it. Fond memories of Moya and the crew.
On to other things.
The Village
I just got back from seeing M. Night Shyamalan's The Village. It was very good.
Better than Signs and Unbreakable, and I'm leaning towards better than The Sixth Sense too, but I haven't decided about that one.
Okay. That's enough. Not saying another word. Unless you e-mail me.
a wrinkle with Disney's Wrinkle
I finally saw the ABC/Disney movie version of A Wrinkle in Time. Although, there was some resemblance to the book, it was strategically reinterpreted. It was even more strange than the book was.
Oh well. I guess they couldn't just make a movie from a book and not change anything.
Our Mutal Friend
I had the pleasure of watching the movie retelling of Our Mutal Friend last night. It was long, but well worth it, in my estimation. I have not read the Dickens book, but now after seeing the movie, hopefully the book will be better and not worse. Here is my revised list of movies and the post that provides explanation.
Movies to Watch
Our Mutal Friend.Charles Dickens.ROTK.J.R.R. Tolkien; and Second Hand Lions- Powaqqatsi
Unbreakable- Shadowlands
- LOTR extended verserions:
Fellowship;Two Towers; Return of the King.The Recruit - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- The Pianist
suggested by Hillary
suggested by Joy
suggested by Kammer
suggested by apelles
suggested by Christa
suggested by Cruv
suggested by JRC
suggested by Valien
walden...the white witch? maybe
from WORLD on the Web
WORLD April 26, 2003: Digging Holes
I found this article today, and I found it interesting. I haven't read all of it. I know, tragic. But I mean to read it. Here are some interesting points, follow the link for the complete article.
Then came reports that a new company, Walden Media, had a big-budget, live-action Narnia movie in the works, and new questions arose: Will the movie be faithful to the books? Will it include C.S. Lewis's Christianity and his evangelistic symbolism? Or will it water down the theology and turn Lewis's allegory of redemption into just another fuzzy children's tale about talking animals?
So far, the message from Walden Media is positive. "We will do a faithful adaptation," Walden President Michael Flaherty promised WORLD. He says he even distributed WORLD's article on the betrayal of Lewis's vision [link inserted] to everyone working on the project, with the HarperCollins plans as an example of what not to do.
narnians: the white witch
from imdb.com
Kidman Signs for Narnia Movie?
Hollywood superstar Nicole Kidman has been signed to star in a new movie version of CS Lewis' classic children's novel The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe. Studio bosses at Disney - who are backing the project - were desperate for Kidman to play the White Witch, and her two kids with ex-husband Tom Cruise, Isabella, 11, and Connor, nine, convinced her to say yes.
The article continues to say that this is going to be an "ambitious project," and filmed...yes, you guessed it...in New Zealand.
to all Narnians, watch out
from yahoo! News
Disney Co-Financing 'Narnia' Adaptation
Tue Mar 2, 1:56 PM ET
By The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Fresh off the Academy Awards (news - web sites) success of "The Lord of the Rings," another fantasy epic is making its way from the page to the screen.
Walt Disney Studios and Walden Media announced Monday they are co-financing "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," adapted from the second installment of C.S. Lewis' seven-book fantasy series.
Directed by Andrew Adamson ("Shrek," "Shrek 2"), the live-action "Narnia" adaptation is scheduled for release around Christmas 2005. Future films in the series could follow.
"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" follows the adventures of four children transported to a magical land called Narnia.
"`The Chronicles of Narnia' were an important part of my childhood just as they are to millions of fans around the world," Adamson said. "I hope to bring to the screen a movie that is as real to the audience as Narnia was to me as a child."
Master and Commander
I saw Master and Commander tonight with friends. I liked it. It was very good. Yes, the "but" is coming.
But it is not what I expected at all. There is much more story and characteresque drama than swashbucklingness. I'm not giving anything away though. Go see it for yourself.
One really important thing that I loved was the music. In fact, "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" (composed by Vaughan Williams and performed by The New Queen's Hall Orchestra) was played twice (not in its entirety of course). It was so beautiful with the scenes from the movie and very emotional.
Alias notes
I am not only a MI-5 fan, but also an Alias fan. I got this idea that I was going to take silly notes on Alias. So...I did. So here you go, Alias in real time. May contain spoilers. Read with care.
9:00 -- Let's Review
9:01 -- weirdness, Sydney in the hospital? Is this going to be one of those non-linear episodes? Oh just a dream.
That's just gross! I could have lived without seeing that. That's probably one of the most disgusting things they've done. Worse than the torture.
9:03 -- They say that amnesia is the most common illness used by TV writers.
9:05 -- Oh, I knew I hated that guy (Perez).
9:08 -- Ron Rifkin (Sloan) says "Covenant" funny.
9:15 -- Marshall has grown on me. But his proposal last week (played for Vaughn) was 60 seconds of pure uncomfortable-ness.
9:16 -- Take my arm indeed.
9:22 -- The slap looked real; I've always wondered if Vaughn speaks as many languages as Sydney. Vaughn seems like he needs more field training, falling for the dead boy on the side of the road trick. I guess that's why Sydney is the best (although, she did get knocked out twice! last week by Freaky-Francie-Freplica Alyson).
9:33 -- Jack's reply to Vaughn is so interesting, hmmm. I think he learned to be evil at SD-6.
Perhaps you understand now the moral compromises you will make when someone you love is in danger.
9:43 -- Oh my word, Lauren already reported Sydney! Oh my word, Vaughn is helping Sydney!
9:46 -- Yeah, they almost kissed. Um, yeah...Vaughn can't lose Sydney...Vaughn aren't you married now?
9:51 -- Lindsey is evil! He's been working all this to get Dixon fired.
9:58 -- Why is it going off this early? And why is the next episode in two weeks!?