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[05 Mar 2011|04:33am] This journal is mostly for me posting movies that I've seen and enjoyed, and that are independent, or foreign movies; which are public entries. The Friends Only is for the entries that I post about my life, etc. 13 comments   ||   comment

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA [07 Jun 2006|10:48am] A young nine year old girl, Chiyo, lives in a rather poor fishing village, Yoroido, on Japan's coast. Along with her older sister, Satsu, she is sent to the geisha (Japanese for artisan) district called Gion. Split from the only family she has left Chiyo is sent to the Nitta Okiya while her sister is transported else where and becomes less of a role. And Okiya is a house (sort of a compound) where a geisha lives and is taken care of. Here at the Nitta Okiya Chiyo meets another girl about her age nicknamed Pumpkin. Together Pumpkin and Chiyo struggle through the daily life of being treated as nothing more than slaves to the resident geisha, Hatsumomo. Hatsumomo, the story's resident villain, tries her hardest to make Chiyo's life as miserable as possible. On one particular occasion Chiyo feeling so depressed collapses on a bridge in tears over her life's woes. Much to her surprise a high society passer by stops to question why she is so sad. Here little Chiyo meets The Chairman for the first time. He shows her kindness in a world which has been naught but cruel to her and from that point on Chiyo makes it her goal to break free from the social class she was born into and become a geisha worthy of The Chairman. After much work and hardship Chiyo is allowed to attend school where young girls are taught all the important practices associated with the life of a geisha. She learns tea ceremony, how to play the shamisen (like a little banjo or acoustic guitar), as well as quite possibly the most important act, how to dance. The word geisha in Japanese is derived from a term referring to art so a geisha is like an artisan, or an artist. After some more altercations with Hatsumomo, Chiyo is taken under the wing of one of Gion's most popular geisha, Mameha. Mameha also happens to be Hatsumomo's arch-rival as a geisha. Mameha takes a long time to introduce Chiyo as her apprentice however once she does she is already blessed with fame for being associated with someone of Mameha's class. Here is the part of the story where Chiyo's name changes to Sayuri (her geisha name). Mameha introduces Sayuri is many numerous figures in Gion life and it come to a point where men are fighting for the highest bid on Sayuri's mizuage. All this time Sayuri is struggling with the common life lessons learned when one is growing up into a young woman. It is very much a coming of age story. Through all trials of adversity Sayuri faces her one goal is always to see The Chairman again. Finally the day comes when she is invited, along with Mameha, to a party at a teahouse at which The Chairman is attending. For the next couple of weeks she attends multiple parties which the chairman attend all the while seemingly coming closer to achieving her goal. Tension has been growing concerning World War II and the society in Gion is beginning to feel the effects of war. Rations are set up and many part of the giesha district have begun to close. Geisha are fleeing to other parts of the country hoping to avoid getting caught in an attack. Sayuri and all of her friends are split apart until after the war and once everyone returns to Gion it is realized the effects of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All geisha who fled to these cities obviously died and it is a loss greatly felt by the community. Sayuri desperately attempts to attain the love of the Chairman and the climax of the story is whether or not she does meet her goal. IMDB comment

TROY [25 May 2006|10:58am] It is the year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age. Two emerging nations begin to clash after Paris, the Trojan Prince convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemmnom to help him get her back. Agamemmnon sees this as an opportunity for power. So they set off with 1000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy. With the help of Achilles, the Greeks are able to fight the never before defeated Trojans. But they come to a stop by Hector, Prince of Troy. Thw whole movie shows their battle struggles, and the foreshadowing of fate in this remake by Wolfgang Peterson of Homer's "The Iliad." IMDB comment

MANIC [24 May 2006|02:00am] Lyle Jensen is subject to sudden and violent outbursts, and he is committed to the juvenile wing of the Northwood Mental Institution. Several other youths are there with a variety of serious problems. Lyle interacts with other patients and staff on a human, and sometimes not so human level. The psychological problems of the patients also forms the fabric by which we see what's right with them, and what's wrong with the society that affects them. IMDB comment

SAD MOVIE [14 May 2006|07:46pm] Many tears will flow in the aptly titled Sad Movie! Both at home and abroad, Korean cinema and television have become widely renowned for their compelling, tenderhearted romantic melodramas, and in late 2005, delighted moviegoers got to see the latest twist on that genre. Contemporary K-Drama gets anthologized in Sad Movie, a star-studded cinematic omnibus of tales that revolve around fragile matters of the heart, touching human relationships, and the way in which several ordinary couples try to cope with the rigors of love, life, and bittersweet romance! Stepping into the director's chair for this multi-storied motion picture is writer/director Kwon Jong-Gwan, fresh off of his 2004 directorial debut film S Diary. This time around, however, Kwon helms a picture featuring a huge, all-star cast including such impressive actors as Jung Woo-Sung (from A Moment to Remember), Im Su-Jeong (from A Tale Of Two Sisters), Cha Tae-Hyeon (from My Sassy Girl), Yeom Jeong-Ah (from The Big Swindle), Shin Min-A (from A Bittersweet Life), Son Tae-Yeong (from Ghost House) and Lee Ki-Woo (from The Classic). Filled with such an amazingly diverse and rarified cast, Kwon Jong-Gwan's Sad Movie effortlessly weaves a poignant anthology about life, loss, and above all, love! IMDB 1 comment   ||   comment

GOONG [11 May 2006|10:17pm] It's a different Korea, where a royal family rules and a beautiful palace sits in the heart of modern-day Seoul. It's where a normal girl and a celebrated prince will discover their fate, tying them together for as long as their love-hate relationship will allow. Chae Gyung, art student one day, crown princess the next, must find a way to survive the extravagance of palace life while falling faster and faster in love with her husband, the lonely and reluctant prince. Once upon a time, there was far from enough warmth between them to build the fairy tale relationship, but in this modern Cinderella story, scandals, love triangles, and royal jealousy can all fit in the shoe. SOOMPI comment

VANITY FAIR [15 Apr 2006|03:08am] The British Empire flowers; exotic India colors English imaginations. Becky Sharp, the orphaned daughter of a painter and a singer, leaves a home for girls to be a governess, armed with pluck, a keen wit, good looks, fluent French, and an eye for social advancement. Society tries its best to keep her from climbing. An episodic narrative follows her for 20 years, through marriage, Napoleonic wars, a child, loyalty to a school friend, the vicissitudes of the family whose daughters she instructed, and attention from a bored marquess who collected her father's paintings. Honesty tempers her schemes. No aristocrat she, nor bourgeois, just spirited, intelligent, and irrepressible. IMDB comment

HERCULES [08 Apr 2006|07:41pm] Hercules is the enjoyable, full-length version of a truncated television miniseries starring Scots actor Paul Telfer in a revisionist telling of the mythical Greek hero's life. Reputed to be the son of Zeus and Hera-worshipping priestess Alcmene (Elizabeth Perkins), Hercules is born a fraternal twin but half-brother to Iphicles (Luke Ford), son of Amphitryon (Timothy Dalton). Though he is raised under the latter's protection and counsel, Hercules has an unrelenting streak of bad luck that finds him accused of murder, rape, and the killing of his own children. With such a black cloud hanging over him, Hercules seeks redemption through his famous Labors. Sean Astin, Leelee Sobieski, and Leeanna Walsman co-star in a complex story of intrigue, revenge, and hope, full of gleaming swords and fairly good special effects, including a passable centaur and multi-headed hydra. IMBD comment

ALEXANDER [03 Apr 2006|11:05pm] Conquering 90% of the known world by the age of 25, Alexander the Great (Farrell) led his armies through 22,000 miles of sieges and conquests in just eight years. Coming out of tiny Macedonia, Alexander led his armies against the mighty Persian Empire, drove west to Egypt, and finally made his way east to India. This film will concentrate on those eight years of battles, as well as his relationship with his boyhood friend and battle mate, Hephaestion. Alexander died young, of illness, at 33. Alexander's conquests paved the way for the spread of Greek culture (facilitating the spread of Christianity centuries later), and removed many of the obstacles that might have prevented the expansion of the Roman Empire. In other words, the world we know today might never have been if not for Alexander's bloody, yet unifying, conquest. IMDB comment

CRASH [03 Apr 2006|07:16am] For two days in Los Angeles, a racially and economically diverse group of people pursue lives that collide with one another in unexpected ways. These interactions are always interesting, and sometimes quite unsettling. The film explores and challenges your ability to judge books by their covers. IMBD comment

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