I ticked the wrong box

What a strange movie. With my job I have recently been on a cross-cultural training course, the objective of which was to enable you to understand drivers of behaviour in different cultures. What was particularly interesting about this to me was the way that the foreigners learnt the strange new culture, and how the changes stuck with them. And i guess trying to understand (as an observer) what is going thru the foreigners heads. Perhaps it would have been more clear to me if I lived in the USSR (as it was known) in the 1980’s…

Anyway, very good movie, Russian language so there’s a bit of reading for non-russian speakers like me, well worth it.

Koo!

I didn’t enjoy this at all. I found it quite boring, I felt no suspense, or thrill from it. It wasn’t scary. I’m quite disappointed. There were some very odd shots in the movie, my guess is that they are probably reminiscent of the original. The reason I say that is that some of the shots felt very hitchcock-esque, and I find often old murder/mystery/thrillers have that sort of feeling. I will try to watch the original, see if I enjoy that more.

I love the empty feeling that space movies often have. This movie seemed very similar to 2001 in that respect. Good stuff. And, of course I love the clean, minimalist, stark interior design of the future.

Good movie, now I want to see the original.

I knew of Jacqueline du Pré from her music, I’m a big fan of the cello. I did not however know of the tragic story of her life. I don’t know how much of the movie has been dramatised, but she was a brilliant cellist who was cut down way too early.

I really recommend this movie. I thought it was fantastic.

This movie is amazing. Brilliant soundtrack by RZA of Wu-Tang fame, some beautiful camera shots, and a compelling story. I love how Jarmusch has crossed over Samurai code to mafia hit men, and how he shows the dedication that Ghost Dog has for his art, belief structure and warrior code.

I really enjoyed it.

I saw this – I don’t remember if I added it, or if Jenna added it. Anyway, this was one of the most beautiful movies I’ve seen. Absolutely stunning. Visual masterpiece – my eyes were hardly worthy. The soundtrack is perfect as well.

It appears that it was pretty windy in China 2000 years ago – their hair is always blowing around whilst they are fighting

I thought the story was actually a bit weak, and in some places I found it a bit difficult to follow. The concept for the story was OK I guess, but the execution was a little poor IMHO. However, the stunning camera and scene work more than made up for it.

Based on the visuals and soundtrack alone I recommend it.

Ah, the Japanese. Great electronics, crazy english translation, even crazier movies – well, that’s not usually true, but Battle Royale is certainly one of the crazier Japanese movies I’ve seen. It has more blood that Zatoichi, and it certainly more Japanese (although that’s an odd comment, given Zatoichi was about a Samurai – hmmm), Anyway, I enjoyed this movie – it’s certainly action packed. The only part which annoyed me a bit is some of the dialogue – it’s very stereotypical of what I would expect Japanese early teen conversation to be – but I guess the movie is about Japanese teens. Maybe I was expecting too much in the dialogue front – or perhaps it was a case of engrish on the translation. Anyway, I liked it.

And now there’s only 46 left on the list.

Good movie. Yet again, I got to go to a preview before official release in New Zealand through a guy at work (his partner is the Marketing Manager [or something] for Village Roadshow – so I often get free tix to sneak previews). I really did enjoy this. It’s got some cool special effects, I like the concept of the story (deep down I’m sure there’s a conspiracy theorist/activist in me somewhere), and of course, it’s got Natalie Portman in it.

I watched Last Days and The Dinner Game (aka Le Dîner de cons).

Last Days was the most boring movie I’ve ever watched. Most boring EVER. Boring. I was so bored.

The Dinner Game was much better. I watched the french with english subtitles version. It was a bit of a cheesy comedy, but clever cheesy. I really enjoyed it actually.

Jenna claims that she didn’t add Last Days to the list, that it was an addition from me. Perhaps that’s right. I can’t blame her for wasting 97 minutes of my life.

Very clever movie. I enjoyed it, but only for the concept of the movie, and the cleverness that was used in unfolding what the movie was actually about.