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To aru hikuushi e no tsuioku (2011)
Disappointing (with very slight spoiler regarding prop design, but not the plot, as if there is one that's worth spoiling)
This film is about a long journey that a pilot and a princess take during a fictional war, in some fictional aircraft.
Being a screenplay by Satoko Okudera of "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" and "Summer Wars" fame, I expected this one to be an equal success. Sadly it is not the case here.
From a normal movie viewer's standpoint, To Aru Hikushi e no Tsuioku is unsubstantial and clichéd at best. The plot is quite flat without any twist: you can pretty much imagine what is going to happen in such a story setting after the first 15 minutes of viewing, and the movie will go on to prove your forecast. The characters could've used much more development than what is shown on screen: the princess's behavior and actions feels awkward and forced. A lot of time is wasted on unnecessary dialogues and unimportant incidents and characters while not enough is given to the main characters and their journey, to the point that it feels draggy from time to time while unsatisfactory in the end.
The music and theme song is forgettable, especially compared with classics like the Macross series. Image wise, while it serves some good background scenery of the sky, the clouds and the sea, and some of the air battle scenes are amazing, I couldn't help but feel that occasionally they cheapped out on 3D FX: a lot of the objects and scenes are purely hand drawn with dubious perspective and accuracy, resulting in a half-finished feeling. To be honest the whole movie feels more like an episode of a TV series than a feature film.
And then another big issue for me is the aircraft design and tactics they employ in the battle scenes. Being an aviation/war themed film I expect something of "Porco Rosso" or "Macross Zero" level of research and depiction of the aircraft and air combat, only to be deeply disappointed in this regard. Things are against basic physic principles when it comes to aircraft design (those floats are just way too small on the "Santa Cruz") and air maneuvers (they act like UFOs instead of real airframes), and the use of the planes are unimaginative to say the least(I have some good ideas for those retractable floats). I'm not going into detail as to spoil it, but you will know what I'm talking about if you are also an aviation geek like me. They could've hired some real consultants if they don't possess Hayao Miyazaki's level of knowledge of aviation.
I kept feeling that a lot could've been done in this film but none is achieved in reality. This movie is about love and aviation, both of them extremely romantic topics, but it delivers neither. What a waste.
I give it 5 stars for their effort and some of the beautiful and exciting scenes.
My Blueberry Nights (2007)
This is a good film and Norah Jones' role suits her, really!
Well, first of all I have to say that I watched the Chinese dubbed version(I don't think we have the original version showing here, at least not in my city, too bad), so I have missed out on the actors' dialogue and my comment will only be based on their facial and body languages combined with some not-so-good dubbing(in the beginning it actually sounds VERY strange with the dubbing actor's accents and all, but is watchable and you'll get used to it) and a very beautiful soundtrack, not to mention the good cinematography. So here is my RMB¥ 0.02:
Generally I think this is a fine little film. It may not be Wang Karwai's best, but it's good and well worth my time and money, and above all, did live up to my expectations. I would recommend it to any serious film viewer.
The story is good and simple, and was told in a relaxed yet lively rhythm, which is the usual Wang Karwai style. I do feel however that maybe they could insert another little story into the current two of them (the one with Rachel/David and the one with Natalie), but that may lead to a film too long. I hope there's more material in the movie's DVD.
Now onto the actors: I have read in the IMDb forum that a lot of people were not impressed by Norah Jones' performance. However I want to say she's very good for her movie debut, especially in this role, it suits her very well. See, the role is MADE for an inexperienced actor. I'm saying this because the movie already has a very strong cast, and the majority of the story is performed by them. And the story itself also requires some rookie watching and learning from the pros (there is actually quite a lot of shots with Norah's character watching the big stars' from the corner). Norah's role is merely a thread that interweaves through the stories, and through which her role would grow and develop and become more mature and confident in the end. It doesn't NEED to be performed too well. So, on that basis the "childish" performance, the "empty" looks and all: Norah did it adorably, whether it's out of her inexperience in acting or she did it on purpose under the direction of Wang, it worked out fine. It almost feels like two parallel stories going inside and out of the movie, and the character and actress herself are both going through a course developing themselves. I don't know if this is Wang's original idea, but if it's like what I said, I would say this is a very good concept executed wonderfully. The whole thing just goes out and comes around and be "complete" -- it's an Eastern thing, don't know if you American or European guys know what I mean. I think both Wang Karwai and Norah Jones made a very good decision in choosing the actor/her first movie. Bra-Vo.
Rachel Weisz did a marvelous job portraying her character. Two thumbs up. Some may say she overacted, I say a little drama won't hurt, plus she makes the whole movie more vibrant and colorful. Two thumbs up again, now that makes four: )
David Strathairn is also VERY good. There's good chemistry between him and Rachel. I didn't recognize him in the beginning, but his performance stroke me as a nice surprise, and when I realized he was Edward Murrow in Good Night n Good Luck it all makes sense. Man what a good actor he is!
Natalie Portman was not bad either, again like the other actors she chose the right film to shoot. It's not her usual character, and that's exactly what she needs. But I have to admit Rachel and David were the star of this movie.
Jude Law did his average, it could be better, but again it's not important. His job is to contribute his British accent and kiss the actress and make us all feel warm and fuzzy, nothing more is required!: D Though I have to point out that the Chinese actor that gave voice to Jude was a bad Mandarin speaker and couldn't blend in with the others. Failure Mr. Wang, Failure.
So, that's it. I really enjoyed this movie and I recommend you go and see it when it's released in your country, better yet, do bring your BF/GF/Husband/wife: )