Archive for the 'Epic' Category

Nightwatch

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 25, 2008
in Abortion, Action, Based on a book, Based on a novel, Comedy, Epic, Fantasy, Horror, Narrated, Russia, Sci-fi, Thriller, Trilogy, Vampires and War
. 2 Comments

Nightwatch is a vampire movie I heard about a few years ago from a buddy of mine. I’ve been meaning to watch it for quite some time and wouldn’t you know, it’s available on-demand from Netflix. Set in Russia, there’s an ongoing, epic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. In this context they are the Forces of Light and Forces of Darkness and they are called Others. At one point during this epic, immortal battle, a truce was formed. Humans now had to choose their own side. They could no longer be forced into serving the Light or the Dark.

There was an ancient prophecy about a virgin that would pretty much bring about the apocalypse. There was also an Other that would join the battle and have to choose which side they would fight for. This choice would turn the tide for whichever side he/she chose.

This brings us to modern-day Russia where the Others walk amongst the humans pretending to be mortal. The Light are called Nightwatchers and the Dark are called Daywatchers. Both sides monitor each other to ensure the truce is held. That truce is eventually broken and all hell, literally, is about to break loose. The apocalypse is upon them and both sides are trying to find “the one” in order to bring them to their side.

Based on a book, this story is being put into a trilogy. In fact, the second film, Daywatch is mentioned in the end credits. Unlike some vampire-esque movies this one isn’t filled with gore or pointless sex and nudity to cover up the slow and weaker parts of the plot and script. I’m really interested in seeing the second installment now. They’ve got me hooked. I’d definitely recommend this to any fan of the vampire genre.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Curse of the Golden Flower

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 7, 2007
in Action, Adventure, Based on a play, Drama, Epic, Martial Arts, Romance, Suicide and Tragedy
. 0 Comments

Once again, I was awed by yet another action movie from director Yimou Zhang. You may seen some of his other movies like House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, Raise the Red Lantern, etc. This guy puts out good stuff.

This film centers around the royal family of China during the Tang dynasty. Like most Greek tragedies, this film doesn’t end on a much happier note. Through lies, betrayal, plots and secrecy, the royal family collapses on itself leaving very few alive when everything’s said and done. The emperor alone seems to be the only one who is untouchable. I think that’s how it’s supposed to be though. Even though he is the most powerful man in the empire, he is the loneliest because he can’t let anyone get too close to him. I’m not going to go much deeper into the plot for fear of ruining this for anyone.

I’m sure some people will/were disappointed with this film because they were expecting something action-packed from the trailer. You do get plenty of action, but not all the way through. I found the movie quite interesting and, as usual with Yimou Zhang, quite beautiful. I don’t know if he is always behind the color schemes, artwork, scenery and costuming, but they are all breath-taking in the films of his I’ve watched.

One thing I found out in the “extras” was they actually built the entire palace set. I assumed it was mostly green-screened due to its size and grandeur, but it was actually built. There was one part where Li Gong is talking about foreign tourists seeing the set and thinking they were crazy for building something of that magnitude. Speaking of which, you might recognize her from Memoirs of a Geisha. Hopefully you’ll also recognize Yun-Fat Chow from movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Bulletproof Monk, Anna and the King, Replacement Killers, etc.

One other thing that caught my eye were the weapons of some elite ninja fighters. I’m not expert on martial arts movies, but I feel like I’ve seen a few. These guys has scythe like swords with ropes attached. They would swing them around like grappling hooks and slice up their opponents. The epic-battle scene in the end was pretty amazing too. I was also pretty impressed with the immediately clean-up and how everything was “back to normal” afterwards. Hopefully I haven’t spoiled anything for you. I highly suggest you check this one out.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 31, 2006
in Adventure, Based on a novel, Cold War, Epic, Future, Sci-fi and Technology
. 0 Comments

Sometimes I really like Kubrick films and other times not so much. This was one I hadn’t seen yet, and I would have to rate it as mediocre. Much of the film was comprised of long, agonizing shots that made you want to grab the remote and hit the “FWD >>” button. The ending was also a bit confusing which doesn’t surprise me.

On a more positive note, I think Kubrick did a lot with this film that shaped the way science fiction films, TV shows and video games were/are made. For instance, a computer that talks and has a personality. Who can forget HAL 9000? Another thing I noticed was ships in space. They weren’t all sleek and aerodynamic. There’s also something to be said for how they portrayed the vacuum of space and how the “astronauts” lived. I would say this is another movie to count as a notch in your belt and be able to better understand pop culture references. However, it probably won’t leave you salivating for more.

Michael Collins

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 24, 2006
in Assassination, Based on a true story, Biography, Drama, Epic, History, Politics, Thriller and War
. 0 Comments

If you know much about the Irish fight for independance, you’ve probably heard of a man by the name of Michael Collins. Well, this is the topic of this film. Collins is played by the great Liam Neeson (Excalibur, Schindler’s List, Batman Begins) who does a wonderful job in this role as expected. Alan Rickman, Aidan Quinn and Julia Roberts also help to round out the cast in this historical film.

Some parts in this might be a bit too much for some. The violence isn’t too bad, but maybe not suitable for some children. If you’re at all interested in Irish history this seemed to be a good one. I’m not sure on how factual everything was, but it seemed to give a good impression on how things were.

Hero

Published
by
Chalupa
on December 9, 2004
in Action, Adventure, Chinese, Drama, Epic, Foreign, History and Martial Arts
. 1 Comment

Finally saw Hero tonight…and I loved it. It reminded me a lot of Basic except the twists in this plot were meaningful. It really seemed like Basic kept twisting just for the sake of it. This movie was similar to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in the style of fighting were it’s fanciful/dreamlike and they fly around. I know some people don’t like it, but I enjoy it. There was also a lot of philosophy involved which I love trying to understand. I know I don’t grasp everything but it’s always refreshing to see a movie where people fight each other yet there are very strong elements of honor and respect present. I’d have to say I’m also a sucker for martial arts.

Besides Jet Li, I also got to see Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang and Donnie Yen. Great performances by all. You would probably recognize Ziyi Zhang from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon if you’ve seen that movie. We also watched the movie subtitled. This is another thing I enjoy doing - just hearing other languages. I think you can get more out of the movie just by hearing the original language spoken. You usually lose some of the acting when listening to voice overs. If you don’t believe me, pop in one of your movies at home and switch the spoken language to French or Spanish and you’ll see what I mean.

There were also some very cool things going on with colors throughout the movie. There were great contrasts and very vivid colors. At one point two of the actors are fighting in a wooded area where it is obviously ‘fall’ because all the leaves have turned yellow and are falling from the trees. Then at the end of the fight when one of the actors defeats their foe, everything turns a deep red. There are also other scenes in the movie where predominant colors are blue, green, yellow, white, etc. I wasn’t exactly sure if all the colors are supposed to mean some deep meaning or not, but they were obviously supposed to mean something.

I’d have to say my favorite part about this film is when it is revealed that the King isn’t just a tyrannical psychopath, but a man with a noble mission in mind. He wants to unite all of China and defend its borders from those who would wish to conquer it. Only a few people even realize this and they are the ones you would least expect. I don’t think you would say this move has a “traditional western” happy ending, but I was happy with the ending.

Neville, it sounded like you weren’t too impressed with this. Maybe I’m just weird or maybe this was one of those movies where it’s better viewed at home than on the big screen or something. What exactly did you think of it?