Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category
Quantum of Solace
I saw Quantum of Solace Friday morning at 11 A.M. Much to my surprise, in a theater auditorium seating about 600 people, only 25 or so people showed up for the matinee screening. I was thinking at the time that the negative critic reviews might have hurt the turnout, but preliminary numbers point to a very large opening weekend gross. Regardless, I was delighted that nobody showed up to my screening because in general I hate theater crowds, plus I was late leaving my house and was expecting the theater to be jammed full when I got there.
Spoilers follow
The definitive guide to dating
Chances are you’ve seen the very popular video called The Japanese Tradition – Sushi, which is a satirical instructional video on the etiquette involved in ordering and eating sushi. The actors in that video, a comedy duo named the Rahmens, have another stellar film called Kijou No Kuron – Japanese Tradition. The subtitled short film has been posted on Youtube, and I found out that it’s actually part of a compilation DVD called Jam Films 2. The movie is so awesome that I’m thinking about ordering the DVD just so that I can watch this in good quality.
Kijou No Kuron – Japanese Tradition (alternative name: Armchair Theory) describes the quintessential guidelines that a man must follow to achieve success in the dating world. The Youtube poster split up the film into four volumes, and I highly recommend setting aside half an hour of your time and watching 1-4 in order. The first two volumes have a narrator introducing the rules in the style of an instructional video while the last two show the rules being carried out in the real world and have the production values of an actual movie. Absolutely give this a try, you won’t regret it.
300
I’m not very fond of the movie-going experience, thanks to annoying audiences and expensive tickets, but I went to see 300 the other day because of positive word of mouth. Luckily, even though I sat in front of a group of girls who were chattering away during the trailers, they stopped talking once the actual movie started.
I knew practically nothing about 300 going into the theater, but I found out afterwards that it’s an adaptation of a graphic novel by Frank Miller, which itself was based on the historic Battle of Thermopylae. It was amusing because when I heard the name Xerxes and King Leonidas mentioned, I was perplexed since I thought I had heard those names before and started searching the back of my mind to find out where. About twenty minutes into the movie, I abruptly found the answer: I had re-enacted this battle in high school for a Development of Western Civilization class! For the rest of the movie, I couldn’t help smirking as I drew parallels between our mock battle with rubber bands and paper swords and the amazingly beautiful representation of the battle onscreen.
300 isn’t very deep, and the attempts at political intrigue or character development fall flat. However, the action scenes are absolutely gorgeous with great visual style and fluid camera work. It is eyecandy at its finest. I estimated about 60% of the film was composed of slow motion effects, but that allowed the audience a crystal clear view of every blow to soak in every moment of the battle. And even though I found myself checking my watch a few times during the movie, those points were never during any of the battles, which are infused with pure energy.
This is a true man’s movie, with gratuitous violence, seductive women, and muscled Spartans bellowing out every single line in the movie with great intensity. After watching it, I had an irresistable desire to hit the gym and to growl every time I talk. 300 is lots of fun, and I especially can’t wait to see it at home in HD. The film was quite grainy; isn’t it about time theaters all started going digital?
God of War II for PS2 coincidentally released this week as well. This is a great time to experience life as a manly man, for those of you who don’t live the life of one already.
