Catching up on Reviews
Jul. 6th, 2007 02:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akaihyoSince last posting reviews, we have have seen four movies (three on DVD and one in the theatre):
Election, set in a high school during (naturally) the election for class president. Oddly paced and structured, with four separate characters narrating their inner thoughts at various times. Some funny moments but mostly just things happen with only a very loose plot showing the descent of Matthew Broderick's character as his life falls apart. My Grade: C-
Impromptu set in 1830s France and follows the scandalous George Sand and her mostly ill-fated pursuit of Frédéric Chopin with the treachery, drama and foolishness of the artistic class of the period. Lovely customs and scenery, slow plot, some fun scene but overall nothing exceptional. My Grade: C-/C
1408, a hotel room number, not a date as I keep thinking and a supernatural thriller based on one of Steven King's stories. John Cusack plays a burned out writer and professional 'ghost hunter' who comes across the story of Room 1408 in New York's Dolphin hotel (with Samuel L. Jackson playing the hotel manager). It is a slow but increasingly rapid descent into horror and madness. Well paced, good effects but King seems to have developed a rather mawkish streak of sentimentality that weakened the movie for me. Overall a good ride and nice to see Cusak in a movie again. My Grade: C+
55 Days at Peking about the defense of the foreign quarter of Peking against the Boxers (and later the Chinese army) during the Boxer Rebellion. One of the historical drama so popular in the 1960s with Charlton Heston as the Major in charge of the US Marines and David Niven as the head of the British delegation. A bit slow at times but with so truly spectacular scenes. The battles in defense of the foreign quarter are very interesting as are the politics both with the Chinese and foreign camps. A bit long but still worth watching. My Grade: C+
Election, set in a high school during (naturally) the election for class president. Oddly paced and structured, with four separate characters narrating their inner thoughts at various times. Some funny moments but mostly just things happen with only a very loose plot showing the descent of Matthew Broderick's character as his life falls apart. My Grade: C-
Impromptu set in 1830s France and follows the scandalous George Sand and her mostly ill-fated pursuit of Frédéric Chopin with the treachery, drama and foolishness of the artistic class of the period. Lovely customs and scenery, slow plot, some fun scene but overall nothing exceptional. My Grade: C-/C
1408, a hotel room number, not a date as I keep thinking and a supernatural thriller based on one of Steven King's stories. John Cusack plays a burned out writer and professional 'ghost hunter' who comes across the story of Room 1408 in New York's Dolphin hotel (with Samuel L. Jackson playing the hotel manager). It is a slow but increasingly rapid descent into horror and madness. Well paced, good effects but King seems to have developed a rather mawkish streak of sentimentality that weakened the movie for me. Overall a good ride and nice to see Cusak in a movie again. My Grade: C+
55 Days at Peking about the defense of the foreign quarter of Peking against the Boxers (and later the Chinese army) during the Boxer Rebellion. One of the historical drama so popular in the 1960s with Charlton Heston as the Major in charge of the US Marines and David Niven as the head of the British delegation. A bit slow at times but with so truly spectacular scenes. The battles in defense of the foreign quarter are very interesting as are the politics both with the Chinese and foreign camps. A bit long but still worth watching. My Grade: C+