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Reviews
My Sassy Girl (2008)
Not My Sassy Girl and not a good romantic comedy
I came to see my Sassy Girl through a round about way. I first watched Ugly Aur Pagli, an Indian adaptation of this film which was mediocre but reminded me to watch the very good Korean film. Then I decided I should watch the American remake.
This remake is not My Sassy Girl. I understand that film adaptations can change plot details but it must replace them with something. This removed the one sided ambiguous relationship found in the original and instead substituted Elisha Cuthbert's annoying and not very charming girl for Jun Ji-hyun's portrayal of someone struggling with inner feelings and them manifesting in outwardly through her 'sassy'-ness. The American remake appends a tragedy onto the end but it does very little to actually justify the character's behavior. By trying to Americanism the traits and the relationship it loses a lot--and I don't mean solely because it is American, but because they decide to follow use the trite style of so many American romantic comedies (the roommate, the behavior in their relationship) rather than try to think about a more coherent purpose for the film.
It doesn't stand up as a remake because its main purpose is very different from the original but it adds nothing which makes it stand on its own as a good romantic comedy with a deeper story. Even the mediocre Indian remake at least grasped the point of the original story and made it interesting. I had to struggle to finish this film... (okay, I _still_ have a few minutes left).
Fitna (2008)
Rehashes old territory----bores
I am not particularly squeamish. I don't get insulted when people feel the need to define someone else's religion and then insult it. But, for the love of God if that's the business you're in be creative. Take Theo Van Gogh's submission. I don't agree with the message but it was aesthetically well done and it had a gimmick. It told a story, had good art and music direction, and conveyed its point. I would rate it a 7 or 8. This film is rehashing the same political point but with no creativity. It takes random images which you could find in Obsession and random Qur'an quotes. The only slightly new detail is the clippings from Dutch newspaper. I feel that Geert Wilders is grasping for something--for the notoriety of Theo Van Gogh if not the bullet. But all he comes up with is a hack of a hack film. Whether you agree with the political message or not it seems hard to find any redeeming quality in the direction or writing of this film and it makes me ashamed that the media paid it such heed before its release just because it was "shocking".