a quick flick review.
saw frank miller’s the spirit. i have to admit i only saw it because of, err, eva mendes. the sin city stylisation made me thought it was an adaptation of some independent comic – but no, it’s based on an american tabloid comic hero. think of the film as an overdone and ham-acted film noir. never mind that, the only saving grace to the film was eva’s xeroxed peachy ass. even samuel L couldn’t save the movie.
on the muat turun front (as i’ve not been to the multiplex much lately) were taken and hostage. now, taken was great as i’ve never seen qui-gon do action more than swinging lightsabres. written by luc besson, it was a gallic john woo-esque flick (hard and fast talk, dodging whizzing bullets whilst shooting albanian baddies in the air) in which you find qui gon looking for his 17-year old daughter (played by a 25-year old actress) in the maze that is paris. yes, again, another paris-based flick (no, i didn’t watch it because of the location).
hostage, on the other hand, had a familiar premise that had that little extra added in. bruce willis played ex-SWAT hostage negotiator jack talley who now works in a quiet californian town after an incident which resulted in a hostage killed. it’s obvious, from the hollywood formula, he’ll face another hostage situation again but this time, the situation involves two different hostage situations that are somewhat intertwined (see it and find out). did i like it? no, as, halfway through the film, you get a maniacal juvie who manages to survive a knife and several gunshot wounds, as well as killing 3-4 professional FBI-types, whilst looking like the crow? tolong lah, woi.
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on the topic of anything french, try catch ne le dis à personne on film4 if you can. i didn’t know kristin scott thomas speaks the language very well (she has lived in france since she was a young lass).
