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pHo
i also hate dubs, mainly of eastern movies/anime. can't read subtitles? go back to your charlies angels 2.
Reviews
Mean Girls (2004)
pointless clueless wannabe
another one of those films that truly makes me wonder, are there any original films coming out of hollywood these days? maybe a bit unfair, as the only other flick i've had time to watch this week was the masterpiece that is Eternal Sunshine, so maybe its harsh to watch Mean Girls on the back of something that is obviously going to beat it hands down in every department. but who cares.
so what is Mean Girls then? simply a clone of Clueless with less to say , and pulled off with about half the talent. every joke seemed either forced (such as Reginas younger sister, which reoccured a good 3 times, each time as "funny" as the last) or cliched to hell and back (wow the math geek talks slang? how original and side aching!). the fact its gotten good reviews everywhere else (30% of imdb marks gave it 10/10, and rottentomatoes had a 86% fresh rating) just scares me as to how the infiltration of such bad films has brainwashed people into thinking this is the only choice anymore.
containing the current crop of "it" talent (from the soundtrack to the actors) the film says nothing of any important whatsoever, offers nothing new and has very little to keep the viewer occupied. lindsay lohan is pretty, but it sure isn't enough to carry a film anymore. given her past (freaky friday.. hmm you mean the remake of the "its been done a million times" idea of bodyswapping? yawn) she's going to have to make a massive rolereversal soon before she's typcast into these boring predictable roles.
as for the film itself? the story seems to be, you can be an a**hole and screw over everyone, yet you'll still be popular enough to win prom queen, and even more so if you give a 10 sec half assed apology saying how wrong you were and how you've changed. such a strong moral message for the nations youth im sure.
and so on to the good points. well, neil flynn (known mainly for the janitor in scrubs) is the father, and gets a good 3 lines. oh and they played orbitals Halcyon On and On at the end. yep, a good 2mins that didn't totally bore me.
crap? you betcha. mean girls is shoddily put together, and seems a waste of money and also 90mins. there's zero redeeming features and i think i might've smiled about 3 times during the whole film. predictable and tiresome, yet popular amongst todays movie going youth.
their loss i think. 4/10.
...ing (2003)
Just wonderful.
I sat down tonight, in order to watch Christmas in August. It's at the top of some peoples Korean film list, and is supposed to be, quite simply brilliant. But instead, another film on the pile (yes, the infamous pile of everlasting movies is still with me) caught my attention, and I decided to watch just the first 5mins.
5 mins turned into the first 10.
10mins turned into the first half.
The first half turned into the whole movie.
A simple storyline, but as they so often are, so wonderfully told. A girl with a terminal disease falls for the boy who lives downstairs from her. Nothing more, nothing less. But the acting ability, and the brilliant writing keep this movie moving along with joy, even tho deep deep down, you know its going to end in tragedy.
The cinematography, is beautiful. Some of the scenes are so lovingly shot, and the subtlety as to which the girl's (Mina) disease is dealt with far surpasses virtually any documentary about someone in ill health. The characters writing for each part is done so well, and even tho there's literally only a handful of people in the film (which is great for newbies to asian cinema!) each one is crafted so well, especially the male and female lead.
Its a funny film, with plenty of laugh out loud moments, as it always is with asian movies. Maybe I'm one of only a few, but the humour in some of the smallest jokes sometimes makes the experience for me, and luckily these translate really well (an example, in one of the scenes the word "sacks" is misheard for "sex" causing embarrassment) and overall the subtitles are pretty well done with few, if any, errors.
I tend to watch as many films as I possibly can, and so far this year I've not really been enticed by anything "new" to watch, and have settled for rewatching some favorites, and older films I've missed out on. Therefore, "...ing" has risen very quickly to the top of the pile of movies i've enjoyed so far this year. If in theory you're attracted to a romantic comedy but the western efforts seem so tacky and lifeless, then this might be the film for you. A great film for anyone who wants to try asian cinema without getting into something either too complex or badly translated, a great film for those already submersed into the world, a great film for those who enjoy rom-com's with "that little bit extra"... a great film.
The sad thing is, it's been out (in cinema, and from a few days ago, on dvd) for several months, and I was the 8th person on iMDB to give it a mark. If you're sick of films like National Security or Haunted Mansion even GETTING marks in the first place, then its time to ignore Western commercial cinema, and give something else a try. You can start here.
9/10
Scary Movie 3 (2003)
One of the Worst Movies Ever Made
Scary Movie 3 is such a stinkfest its hard to put it in words. It makes movies like Malibu's Most Wanted look like Oscar material, lets just say that.
The original Scary Movie was great fun, one of the better 90s spoof movies, coming from a great team who previously rocked our world with Dont Be A Menace to South Central Whilst Drinking Your Juice in the Hood. But what the hell happened?! After the tragedy that was Scary Movie 2, i thought the cast and crew change would help matters, but its even worse.
Within 20mins i'd smiled twice. Not one laugh, the jokes were recycled and originality was obviously no factor. The fact that at this point in writing, the majority of people on this site have voted it 10/10 has made me feel physically ill. When there's great flicks like School of Rock out, which actually have jokes that are *gasp* funny, anyone wasting their money on tripe like this needs their head examined.
no stars/****