February 1, 2007

• movies i've seen recently...

  
  Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)  A

  Going into "Letters from Iwo Jima," I heard that the movie is really great, but I didn't expect it to be as good as it ended up becoming. Director Clint Eastwood and writers Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis, did a splendid job in creating one of the more personal movies about people who have to fight a war. In this case, you have a group of Japanese soldiers who are at the losing side of a war against the Americans. Despite the usual cliche that the Japanese are "the enemy" at this period in time, "Letters from Iwo Jima" helps us understand that it isn't that black and white. In fact, it's very easy to actually end up rooting for these Japanese soldiers, even though we already know the outcome of the battle. Through the use of memorable and poignant flashbacks and conversation scenes, we get to see the many different perspectives of who these soldiers are, and what they believe in. The main point of view we follow are of Ken Watanabe's "General Kuribayashi" and Kazunari Ninomiya's soldier "Saigo," and it's through their eyes that we experience the grim days in the small island of Iwo Jima.

  
  The Illusionist (2006)  B

  "The Illusionist" is a rather straightforward movie about a magician of a lower class status (Edward Norton) who is forbidden to be with a woman who is of a higher class (Jessica Biel), who happens to be engaged to be wed to a not so nice man that is a crown prince (Rufus Sewell). The person that grounds the movie is the police inspector (Paul Giamatti), who is caught in the middle of this love triangle. He plays the neutral character, who sees the problems that will come about from the rivalry of the magician and the prince. The magic acts shown in "The Illusionist" are quite remarkable to watch, however for the time period that the story takes place in, the illusions seem unbelievable and act more like a macguffin to further move the story. Despite my criticisms, I did find this movie quite enjoyable. The stubborn lengths that Edward Norton's character will go to prove his love for Jessica Biel's character gives a lot of heart to the story, and makes you want to see the movie through the end.

  
  The Devil Wears Prada (2006)  B+

  People have said that it's worth watching "The Devil Wears Prada" just for Meryl Streep's Oscar worthy performance. While that is true for the most part, the rest of the cast and the story itself is much better than your average "chick flick." Anne Hathaway is the typical "outsider" character that gets sucked into a job that is much more than she expected, and in turn changes her life and the people around her. That's the gist of the story and while it doesn't sound like anything too original, the movie is a lot more engaging than it appears. The Devil Wears Prada is both humorous and dramatic, and it's also a good look at the fashion world and how it's become such a high stake industry. It's got to be said again though, Meryl Streep, awesome work here.

  • 11:04 am
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