Sunday, March 30, 2008

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street


If you couldn't stand gruesome, bloody scenes, then either close your eyes during such scenes, or just stay away from the entire movie. Johnny Depp's "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" was a great movie to watch. It's not that I love bloody scenes, but the way it was made and played was able to compensate for its gruesome scenes. I've never been a fan of musical features films, but aside from Moulin Rouge & Chicago, I've made an exception for Sweeney Todd. The plot was pretty good. The twist in the end made it somewhat memorable. The acting was not super, but hey, it's musical. From my standpoint, the directing was great (8), the plot was also very good (8), the acting, well, quite good (7). I think it wasn't the acting that made it great, but the directing and the plot that made this movie great.

According to wikipedia, there are other adaptations of Sweeney Todd. I guess, I'll go and look for them, especially the one with Ben Kingsley on it.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)


A few months ago I watched "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford". I was actually expecting an action movie, but instead the movie was a drama. I fell asleep though, watching the early half of the movie, but after that it became very interesting. No, not in terms of the plot. The plot was not that extraordinary, however. It was Brad Pitt's performance that was so impressive. You can feel that sense of fearsome impression behind the calm, cold look of Jesse.
On the other side, I could feel the disgust with Robert Ford. It was also a great performance by Casey Affleck. The film indeed painted a heroic impression in the character Jesse James. I don't know, perhaps it was because of the plot, or was it because of Brad Pitt's performance? Maybe both. In the end, I give the score of 10 in acting, a 7 in plot, also 7 in directing. Overall, it is a highly recommendable movie, but if you want an action movie, just forget it. The only action in this movie was silent one. It was all about expression.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

A new start

Another "restart" after a long time of absence. I intend to rant more about movies that I've seen. I actually planned to start a new blog, but I don't think that would be practical for now.

I've seen lots of movies since my last posts. Some were good, some were awful, but hey, good movies are harder to come by these days.

I may not be posting today. Got a flu right now. So, maybe tomorrow I'll write.

See ya.