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Reviews
Band Camp (2005)
Awful
This was, by far, the worst out of the American Pie series. Band Camp didn't live up to the potential of its title. Instead, the movie follows around the most annoying lead character I have ever come across in any movie. At least the old Stiffler was funny.
Story was boring and predictable. None of the characters were likable, even Arielle Kebbel's. And it was not funny.
And I really don't understand why the guidelines require me to write at least 10 lines.
This movie does not merit ten lines of my writing.
I guess IMDb is looking for quantity and not quality in reviews.
Musa (2001)
I like it
A lot of previous commenter's who look down on the film seem to have no idea what the significance of the story is about. The story and characters seem to be be fleeting, changing from one position to the other. But the movie does this to portray the turmoil the envoy goes through.
Faced with a decision to either run for their lives or save a princess, the envoy decides to do what they believe is honorable. But while doing so, they face many hardships. By showing how the characters faced and developed through these hardships is very realistic in my opinion. After having half your envoy decimated by others, wouldn't you falter a bit in your decision to follow the dangerous path. It would have been so easy to just give up the princess and run away. But through it all, they decided to go for honor. And that's what the story is all about.
The acting was well-done in general. I was most disappointed with Zhang ZiYi's and the general of the Korean envoy's performance, and I most enjoyed Yu Rong Guang's and several of the "lesser" Korean actors' performances. The general of the Yuan army showed a lot of mixed emotions as the Mongols went through much turmoil as well. And the lower soldiers of the Korean envoy were great at displaying their emotions. Historically, the costumes and weapons were accurate.
And this is a Korean movie, not a Chinese movie as some believe. It is a movie about a Korean envoy sent to China on diplomatic relations back in the 14th century.
The cinematography was wonderful. The beginning scenes when the envoy is in the desert is truly awesome. It really felt like the desert was vast, and thoughts of crossing it were ludicrous.
I don't think this movie is really comparable to Kurosawa's samurai films. They are different. Kurosawa's samurai films always had a central character who basically never changed throughout the movie. I think Musa did not have as strong a centralized character. And the characters all went through transformations. But, like I said, I believe that characters wavering and faltering are more realistic than the thought of a superhero who never changes from his ways. These people were not comic book characters. They were realistic.
But it doesn't mean one film is any greater than another just because of that.
Musa was enjoyable. I thought it was very well done. I honestly don't think Braveheart or Gladiator were any better than this movie. Braveheart and Gladiator had the similar strong centralized lead character while Musa didn't. But like I said, it doesn't mean they were any better. 8/10
Maljukgeori janhoksa (2004)
English title is misnomer
"The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do" is a misnomer for the title of this movie. When I saw that and watched the movie, I was expecting to see a martial arts movie all about Jeet Kune Do.
The actual translation of the title, I later learned, is "Maljuk Street's High School." And that's what this movie is all about actually. It's about a high school student's experiences at a high school. It's not a military school, by the way.
I thought the movie had a good story line and great acting. I especially enjoyed the lead's and "Hamburger's" acting, very well done. The cinematography was good as well, and the fight scenes were realistic and well choreographed.
People not experienced with Korean movies and dramas will note the "weak" ending in this movie. But I've come to find that almost all Korean movies and dramas do not have as impactful an ending as American movie-goers are used to seeing. Perhaps it's a cultural thing.
Either way, I really enjoyed this movie. It's also a great periodic film, in my opinion. If you want a look into what Korean high schools were like from WWII up until recently in the late eighties, then this movie will give you an insightful look. Non-Koreans may be believe that this movie exaggerates many aspects of high school life, but it doesn't at all. My father (born and graduated high school from Korea) loves the movie, and thinks it portrayed some high school experiences very accurately.