Some movie reviews ⇒

Saw some movies recently...time to write about them. Movies reviewed: Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, Gangs of New York, Minority Reports and Atanarjuat.

First up, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Having read the books and seen the first movie I knew what coming up, so there were only a few (pleasant) surprises. For those that haven't seen it; go now! Seeing the second movie has re-enforced my belief that the casting is perfect. Each actor has totally "become" their character. This movie follows two parallel stories: the travels of Frodo and Sam (and Gollum) and the remains of the Fellowship trying to find Merry and Pippin. I won't bore you with the plot as you should read the book!. Things I loved...how funny Gimli is (best lines in the movie!)...how absolutely cool Legolas is (watch him get on the horse and later slide down the stairs!)...the Ents...the battle at Helms Deep...the destruction of Isengard...the realism of Gollum. Things I didn't like...nothing!! Great fun!

Next up Gangs of New York: Go see this if only to see the Oscar winner for Best Actor, Daniel Day-Lewis. He absolutely owns this role and makes everyone dissappear when he is in the scene! Can't say enough about his performance! DiCaprio was very good in his role of Amsterdam Vallon. Let's just face it, Cameron Diaz cannot do serious roles...I thought she was useless in this...might as well just paid a no-name much less to get the same performance. This movie was very graphical and very violent (well, what did you expect from Martin Scorcese?). The fight scenes are brutal...they use axes and brass knuckles to fight...not clean and not pretty...but very effective visually. That really helped you get into the "mood" of the era and environment. It is nice to see Leo in a "real" movie that forces him to actually act. The more movies I see like that, the more I respect his acting ability.

Minority Report is a movie based on a Philip K. Dick short story. The combination of Spielberg, and Tom Cruise works very well. This is a fast-paced movie with a story that makes for a great discussion topic. Although about a third of the way into the movie I found I wasn't enjoying it at all! In fact I told Christine that I didn't like this movie too much. I felt that the special effects were overpowering the then weak story. But, I am glad I persisted. Once the story picked and the special effect blended a little better it was an excellent movie. Well worth renting.

And last we have Atanarjuat. This movie is very, very different than any movie I have ever seen. First of all, it is all in Inuktitut with English subtitles (once you figure out how to turn them on in the DVD!!). Secondly it is written by, filmed by and acted by Inuit people. This was the first movie for most of the Inuit actors and describes an Inuit legend. This movie is slo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-w...it clocks in at about 3 hours!! Waaay too long! But, the story is excellent and worth the viewing. It gives a great picture of the Inuit way of life and all the hardships they encounter. They are a culture that are big on mythology and spirits. They are generous and funny and seem to enjoy the life they have. This movie is great for the Inuit people...it has injected money into their emerging film industry and provided work for many people. I hope that more movies come out like this so we can discover more about our own people.

Whew...sore fingers...

-critic-boy