Sunday, October 29, 2006

Deep Sea 3D

  • Directed by Howard Hall
  • Narrated by Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet
  • This is a 40-minutes 3D movies shown at an IMAX Theatre about the undersea exotic sea creatures. Although the movies doesn't tell anything new, the underwater cinematography, combined with the IMAX 3D-technology, is very impressive and spectacular. Not to mention kids, adults will also feel like scuba-diving undersea without getting wet.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

The Departed



  • Directed by Martin Scorsese
  • Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin
  • This remake of the Hong Kong hit thriller, Infernal Affairs, is one of the best hollywood remakes I've seen. Scorsese didn't merely copy the original movie, but instead tried to infuse it with his own ideas. This mostly came as a benefit to the film. Characters are more fully fleshed out, the mafia gang social interactions juicier and edgier. Nicholson and DiCaprio are spectacular in their roles, and will most likely at least be nominated for the Academy Awards this year. Matt Damon's acting, however, is outclassed by original HK actor Andy Lau. Supporting characters were also given more roles and dialogues in this version, and this gave the movie a more playful and complex tone.
  • However, in the end, these little "twists" made the movie lost much of the original's honest simplicity and brutal irony. Both movies' core is really about the question of identity. What made you a cop? what made you a thug? Are you a good person who's pretending to be bad, or are you a bad person who's pretending to be good? Is there a difference really? The HK version was so memorable because these messages were very direct and very clear. Scorsese's version, however, had so many other little elements that this message became muddier. This is not to say that the movie is horrible by any means, but it's definitely less memorable than the original. - Comment written by Dear.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Death Note



  • Directed by Shusuke Kaneko
  • Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kenichi Matsuyama
  • While the acting and direction quality is mediocre at best, the smart and interesting script made this movie an exciting fun to watch. A concluding sequel is expected to be released later this year, but those who want to see sequel might do themselves a favor by checking out the original manga instead. -Comment written by Dear-