Category Archives: Foreign
Foreign
Flash Movie Review: The Emperor and the Assassin
The incredible Great Wall of China, the buried Terra Cotta Army near Mount Li, the massive national road system of China all have something in common. They came out of the monarchy of Qin Shi Huang (Ying Zheng), who became the first emperor of a unified China. This dramatic movie was massive on several levels. The historical factor was fascinating to me and the drama in the king’s life played out like a Shakespeare tragedy. He was the man who conquered the several kingdoms of China to create one unified country, going from a king to an emperor. The underlying story in this overwhelming production was about a plan the king formed with his concubine, where he would send her to hire an assassin to kill him. The goal was to use the attempted assassination as a catalyst to attack one of the kingdoms. While the concubine Lady Zhao, played by the incredible Li Gong as Gong Li (Raise the Red Lantern, Memoirs of a Geisha) was away, she discovered the king’s compassion was a facade. Playing the king was Xuejian Li (The Blue Kite, Happy Times), who brought a dramatic flair to his role. There were many aspects to this period film that were enormous. From the sets to the amount of extras, the film portrayed what I imagined the royal court must have been like back in those days. My attention was completely captured by this film with its huge battles, royal secrets, political backstabbing and historical significance. There were some scenes with blood. Chinese with English subtitles.
3 1/2 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Lorna’s Silence
The way the world works these days, there usually is an alternative solution that will get you the same results, albeit not legally. I may believe I have some street smarts, but I would be fooling myself if I did not think there are a lot of undocumented things happening around me. At present one of the hot political topics has to do with immigration. I had a crash course in the legalities of the issue when my niece became engaged to a wonderful man from France. Lorna, played by Arta Dobroshi (Late Bloomers, Magic Eye), worked at a cleaners, but hoped to open a snack shop one day. To get to her goal, she agreed to enter into a sham marriage arranged by local, small time mobster Fabio, played by Fabrizio Rongione (The Kid with a Bike, The Child). Besides the financial gain, Lorna would more importantly obtain Belgian citizenship. Everything was going smoothly until her husband, a junkie, asked for her help in getting clean. At the beginning of this dramatic film, I was not sure where the story was going; I felt out of synch with it. However, I soon realized that is what the directors had in mind. Lorna and her husband were not so dissimilar after all. The range of feelings they displayed felt like I was watching a tennis match; going from dominance to weakness to manipulation. This film did not take a page out of the Hollywood handbook; it was a bare bones story that fully used its actors’ abilities. A raw tense movie, this Cannes and Lumiere winning film gave a glimpse into what I am sure has been a real occurence in life. French, Albanian, Russian with English subtitles.
3 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: The Intouchables
One of the best movies I have seen this year. I was taken by surprise with the amount of humor in this exceptional film from France. Who knew that putting a wealthy quadriplegic man and a poor individual from the projects together in one story would be so funny? In addition this was all based on a true story. What really captured me from the start was the affirmation of my belief that a person should be judged by what is inside of them, not on the outside. The story was about two men who discovered something about themselves through the eyes of the other. Philippe, played incredibly well by Francois Cluzet (Tell No One, French Kiss) was the rich man who got injured in a paragliding accident that left him a quadriplegic. Omar Sy (Micmacs, Those Happy Days) was outstanding as Driss; a poor man from the projects who was simply looking to get a signature for his unemployment form. To his surprise he was hired to be the caretaker for Philippe. This dramatic comedy was never slow to me and I had no issue reading the subtitles. Along with the audience I laughed out loud during multiple scenes. The message I got from this movie re-enforced my thinking that what was inside of a person truly made up one of the most important factors of what gives each of us our humanity. I had such a good time watching this movie that I left the theater feeling great. French with English subtitles.
3 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Headhunters
Nothing like walking into an unfamiliar movie and being taken on a wild ride of surprising thrills. I needed a seat belt due to my squirming from the tension that was built up in this action movie. Based on the best-selling mystery novel by Jo Nesbo, the screenplay had a mixture of fear, disgust, intrigue and humor rolled up into it, forming a tightly paced film. Roger Brown, played by Aksel Hennie (Buddy, Max Manus: Man of War) was a successful executive recruiter. He lived in an incredible house, had a beautiful wife, drove a nice car; yet, it wasn’t enough. To supplement his income, he moonlighted as an art thief. Tipped off by his wife, who happened to own an art gallery, about his recent client’s priceless painting; Roger set out to steal the masterpiece. The client was Clas Greve, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (At World’s End, Game of Thrones-TV), a former mercenary. With excellent acting and some utterly crazy scenes; this was an exciting movie to watch, even though I found it hard to mix tense action with immediate humor. Also, some of the scenes were extremely violent and bloody. By the end of the film, I was tired but satisfied that my money was well spent by seeing this movie. Norwegian with English subtitles.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: We Have a Pope
Have you ever wondered what took place when the conclave of cardinals met behind closed doors, to elect the next pope? I bet it was not a howling scream followed by running out of the room. That was exactly the reaction of Cardinal Melville, upon learning he was chosen to become Il Papa. The performance by Michel Piccoli (Boxes, Restless) was worthy of the role in this satire. With the dumbfounded cardinals at a loss on how to proceed, pressure was being added by the eager spectators waiting outside to see the newly elected pope. Just to be clear, the movie really did not focus on the Catholic church as much as it delved into Cardinal Melville’s fears about the responsibilities being placed on him. Though the scene of the cardinals playing volleyball to pass the time was amusing to me. But I think that was the problem with this film; it did not know whether to be a comedy or more of a drama. I felt the scenes were dragged out and found myself being bored more than a few times. The concept was a good idea; however, it was not executed well. As anxious as the mass of onlookers were to see the new pope, I was just as anxious waiting for the end of this film. Italian with English subtitles.
2 1/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Priceless
A funny movie that captured the screwball comedy genre of the 1930’s and 40’s, I got a big kick from watching this DVD. The setting was the French Riviera where seated at the hotel bar was Irene, played by Audrey Tautou (The Da Vinci Code, Coco Before Chanel), celebrating her birthday. Her companion, a much older wealthy gentleman, had fallen asleep in their hotel room. You see, beautiful Irene was a gold digger. Spotting the well groomed Jean, played by Gad Elmaleh (Midnight in Paris, The Round Up), she believed she found a younger replacement for her aging boyfriend. Plus it did not hurt that Jean, a bartender at the hotel, brought her up to one of the swanky suites, pretending it was his place. From this point on, the movie took off on a madcap game with Irene and Jean as the contestants. I thought the chemistry between the two stars was flawless, along with Gad’s impressive comedic timing. There was something about his demeanor and facial expressions that reminded me of Buster Keaton. The film kept a steady level of zaniness and the reading of the subtitles was not an issue for me. It was a wonderful surprise to experience that old time Hollywood fun via France. French with English subtitles.
3 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Children of Heaven
With this being their first feature film, the two children that played brother and sister were like a slice of heaven. A former Oscar nominated movie, the beauty of this film was in its simplicity. There were no special effects, no big Hollywood type budget, only the sweetness of a brother’s love for his younger sister. Amir Farrokh Hashemian and Bahare Seddiqi were brother and sister Ali and Zahra. What I found incredible was the fact that this being the child actors’ first major role and they were unbelievable. Wait to you see the innocence they brought to their characters; I was stunned at the emotion they conveyed in their roles. The base story had to do with Ali losing his sister Zahra’s shoes. Afraid to tell their parents, knowing they would be upset, Ali came up with a plan where they would share one pair of shoes. There was much more to this heartfelt film; I was moved by the honest portrayals. To see the pureness of a family’s love for each other throughout this excellent film was refreshing for me. Being bombarded with so many dysfunctional people on reality television, I was grateful to this dramatic movie for reminding me what being real was all about. Persian with English subtitles.
3 1/2 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: The White Ribbon
For a small German village there seemed to be an ever increasing amount of mysterious incidents. It began when the doctor, played by Rainer Bock (War Horse, My Best Enemy), was thrown from his horse by a thin wire strung across the path. We learned of these events from the school teacher, played by Christian Friedel (Chicken with Plums), who played a sympathetic character in this film. The cinematography was exquisite, with almost each frame worthy enough to be hung in an art museum. And this was why the movie worked so well; amongst such beautiful visuals there was an underlying uneasiness as a menacing evil was taking hold. In the beginning of this amazing film, the pacing was kept to a slow pace as we were being introduced to the villagers. With some of the incidents having violent overtones, the villagers became afraid and suspicious that the person or persons responsible could easily be a neighbor. I would classify this former Oscar nominee as a dramatic mystery. For those who are uncomfortable with the sight of blood, there is only one quick scene and I would gladly share with you where it took place in this movie. German with English subtitles.
3 1/2 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Mongol
As time goes on, historical figures can take on mythical proportions. For me, one of those figures would be Genghis Khan. In my mind he has grown to this brutal, larger than life figure. How else could I have looked at him for what he had achieved back in the early years of the 1200’s? So with that mindset, I was taken aback by this massive undertaking of a movie that focused on his early years, when he was simply known as Temudjin. At the age of 10 he had promised his future bride he would return to her and he kept that promise. It really said something about his character for keeping that promise while becoming orphaned, pursued and enslaved. Considering this background, it only fueled my fascination for the man who was to become known as Genghis Khan. Played masterfully by Tadanobu Asano (Thor, Ichi the Killer) as the adult Genghis, one can say this film was also part love story. With his wife Borte, played by newcomer Khulan Chuluun, they formed a bond that would be the foundation to his formable drive in taking what he felt he deserved. Visually the movie was beautifully filmed with massive panoramic scenes and huge battles. There was violence and several bloody parts. I do not know how much of this story was true, but I did not care. As far as I was concerned I was seeing how a man of below modest means started on his path in life, to become one of the most famous people in history. Mongolian with English subtitles.
3 1/3 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: The Raid: Redemption
During one point of the movie I felt I was watching an extreme episode of the Iron Chef. There was so much slicing and dicing, I almost had to take a motion sickness pill. The story was simple: a small swat team of police officers, on a mission to bring in a ruthless drug lord, got trapped in his compound. Vastly outnumbered, the team had to fight their way through an endless amount of the drug lord’s minions. There was nothing to the story, it only had sparse dialog and practically non-existent acting. The key element here was the action scenes. The main star was Rama, played by Iko Uwais (Merantau). My guess is the studio was hoping to market Iko as the next martial arts superstar. He was a national champion in silat, a traditional Indonesian martial art, which he has been studying since he was 10 years old. The fight scenes were choreographed down to the millisecond. The actors moved so fast I wondered how many real injuries took place while filming. After several battles, they all seemed to be the same to me except for the level of violence. If you play violent video games, you would be okay with this movie. Though I could appreciate the intricate fight scenes, I did not enjoy viewing this movie. Ginzu knives missed a great marketing opportunity here. Warning: extreme violence. Indonesian with English subtitles.
1 3/4 stars
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