Saturday, December 27, 2003

movie: Return of the King. After the liberties that Peter Jackson took with the Two Towers story line, I had my expectations set fairly low. Return of the King met my low expectations. I guess as a fantasy movie it wasn't bad. As someone who generally dislikes good books that are made into movies and as a fan of the Lord of the Rings books, it is hard for me to be objective. Still, considering some of the abominations that have the title Lord of the Rings attached to them, I guess this was pretty good. 3 stars.
movie: Driving Miss Daisy. Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd. The film opens with Miss Daisy Werthan (Jessica Tandy) proving herself no longer competent to drive. Hoke (Morgan Freeman) is hired, against Miss Daisy's will, by Boolie Worthan (Dan Aykroyd) to chauffer Miss Daisy around. Needless to say, Hoke becomes a great friend to Miss Daisy. 4 stars.
movie: Romeo Must Die. Jet Li kung-fu action flick that takes place mostly in Oakland California. Some of The Matrix special effects and choreography folks worked on this film. Jet Li is very charming (a la Jackie Chan but in his own way) and the fight choreography is very humorous. It is fun seeing a film shot on a familiar location. If you are into kung fu action flicks give this one a try. I'm ready to check out another Jet Li film some time. 3 stars.
movie: Kundun. Scorsese's flick about the Dalai Lama and China's invasion of Tibet. Great photography. 4 stars
movie: A Better Tomorrow. 1986 John Woo Hong Kong action flick. Apparently this film was really big in asia. In '86 Chow Yun Fat is a young rising star. Fun in a retrocamp sort of way. Two stars.
movie: The Deer Hunter. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania mountains, Vietnam. Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken. Three hours, three bullets, three vietnam veterans. Russian roulette. Wow, they're all so young! 3 stars.