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Reviews
I Sell the Dead (2008)
I Sell The Dead Stole The Show
I went to see Glenn McQuaid's "I Sell The Dead" in it's North American premiere at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Seeing as this is the second showing worldwide I didn't quite know what to expect of this film, especially having not seen the short film that inspired this big screen adaptation.
I'll start off with a slightly more elaborate plot synopsis, without giving away any spoilers.
This movie is about Arthur Blake, how he became a grave robber and the interesting and supernatural discoveries that both he and his mentor discovered.
The costume and set design in this film were excellent. I was amazed to hear that the entire film was shot in and around New York. The costumes were very accurate to the time, really bringing you as a viewer into the mindset of the time. This movie works just as well as a period-piece as it does a horror-comedy.
The interaction between the two leads was very fluid. They played off each others acting with ease. The dialogue between the two was very well written, with Glenn adding his comedic touch even in tense situations.
The story is very encompassing and the ball gets rolling from the very start. I'd compare it to a visual page turner, always wondering just what will happen next. The characters themselves are all very vivid and unique adding different emotional layers to the film itself.
All in all, I recommend this film for anyone in the mood for some dark humour, with a bit of horror mixed in.
9/10
Miami Vice (2006)
Appropriate title...
I realize I am going to be criticized for what I say, but Miami Vice was a terrible movie. The key word here is "movie". I'll break everything down as best as I can to validate this.
The Acting - Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx. Let's start there. Jamie Foxx is a wonderful actor. I have nothing but respect for the guy. Colin Farrell, however, I feel to be type-casted into these kind of roles. Both of these actors, no matter how good they may have been in the past, brought nothing to these roles. After numerous attempts, Colin Farrell still cannot bring out his American accent. This is known as he has to stop talking every sentence, to regain the accent. This means all of his dialogue has to be short and quick, nothing flows. Jamie Foxx wasn't used to his potential. In fact, he had hardly any screen time - at least compared to Farrell. Together, they didn't have very good chemistry, for the main fact, that they hardly talked to each other. The other actors weren't bad (and I'm not saying Farrell and Foxx were bad, I am saying they weren't fit for these roles - which isn't entirely their fault). Gong Li was very hard to understand from time to time, as were some of the other characters - something that needed to be worked on.
The Script - This is where I feel the movie went astray. I found the script to be terrible. It jumped around from pointless scene to pointless scene without establishing anything that happened. We are brought into the beginning of the movie (which is actually like half way through a bust). There is nothing wrong with this, except that they don't break to establish character. Without establishing the character, one cannot empathize with them in their struggles against the opposing forces. While watching, I wasn't terribly involved in these characters, who kind of, just appeared from no where. I do understand the characters are from the TV Show, but even in the movie, some separate character development needs to happen. I also found the dialogue to be very forced and cliché. There were scenes that almost seemed like they were trying to top previous scenes with the number of cliché sentences said. I actually stopped watching after a certain line (to which I cannot remember at this time) and turned to a friend to comment "Who the hell says that anymore?". My forgetting of this line just proves how things like this wouldn't come up in regular conversation. Also, the scenes seemed to jump around for no reason, showing shots of this and that, or with these characters, which had no use. I'd be a little more specific but I don't want to contain any spoilers. Overall, the script was very rushed and haphazard. It didn't follow suite with the previous portions of the movie and was very monosyllabic (as far as sentences go - "How fast does that boat go?" "Very fast")
The Directing/Cinematography - This is where my opinion of the movie differs. I really enjoyed how Michael Mann captured this movie. I loved the DV effects, and the smooth blend of film with the DV. The camera styles worked (although sometimes the shaky cam got a bit over-used) but generally, it all fit. He definitely knows his way around a camera. I am proud of this movie for this one fact. I actually give kudos to Mr. Mann for making it so aesthetically pleasing.
But sadly, beautiful visuals don't make up for average acting and a flimsy script. This movie has very enjoyable action scenes and beautiful cinematography, but as an overall movie, it was quite flawed. Overall, I'd give this movie 3/10. It never lived up to the potential, and that, I found, to be quite disappointing.
Ying xiong (2002)
Stunning
I saw this movie last night when it first opened up in Canada, and I must say that throughout the duration of this film I was mesmerized. The use of colour to show different perspectives (although not an original idea) is used to perfection as it gives the scene more depth and meaning. I walked into the theatre knowing that the cinematography was supposed to be good, so I had high expectations. By the end of the film, i was practically speechless. And this is just the cinematography. The martial arts (although perceived as somewhat slow) is amazing. All of the actors fight almost flawlessly, with such grace and poise. It is amazing as to how each fight scene was made, as it goes to incredibly fast at times (at least in my opinion). Now I am a huge Tarantino fan (but in no way will I compare the 2 directors) and I can see where he has adopted a lot of his visual styles from.
A forewarning to anyone going to see the movie: There are subtitles, so if you do not like reading what everyone is saying, this may be a little tough to watch.
Lastly, I will comment on the storyline. The story starts out fairly simple. But it gradually gets harder to grasp. Now I believe that I understood what they were trying to say (although I could be wrong) but I will admit that it can be a little hard to understand. But then again, anyone in doubt can just read the many topics on the forums.
Overall I would have to give Ying xiong (Hero) a 9.5/10.