What happened to the Weekend Preview?
What happened to the Weekend Preview?
Quite simply, I went to the movies yesterday for the first time since early March when I saw V FOR VENDETTA. I saw a double feature of sorts; two films and two screens and two venues. The second film ended at 6:00 PM and I was in Costa Mesa. It took me an hour to get home and by the time I finished with my dinner it was just after 8:00 PM. I didn’t feel like starting the Weekend Preview then.
For those of you that are interested, I saw two really great films that I would highly recommend that you strongly consider seeing.
The first film was Zhang Yimou’s CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER. The film is rated R, primarily for violence. This is Chinese historical epic drama and there has to be the requisite battle scenes and assassinations. Zhang also directed HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS.
The film has elements of King Lear and Oedipus Rex if you want to look for literary references.
The King Lear aspect comes from the aging warrior emperor, played by Chow Yun Fat, as he decides who will succeed him to the throne. The eldest son doesn’t want the job; the second son is the most capable but not really interested in succeeding dad; and the youngest son is sort of the family joke that everyone ignores.
Oedipus Rex, interesting connection in a Chinese film, arises from the Empress’s three year long affair with her step son who is the Crown Prince and eldest son. It gets better with more of the typical Greek tragedy interfamily relationships but I won’t spoil it for you by telling you.
Telling you would be so wrong.
The film revolves around the Empress who is played by Gong Li. If you saw her in MIAMI VICE or MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, I think you will enjoy her performance in this film. I think she is more at home playing this sort of role as opposed to being a Columbian drug lord’s girl friend.
Most all of the women in the film are shown in somewhat skimpy costumes with their breasts about to pop out as it were. I think this severely stretches historical accuracy. While I will never claim to be an expert on Chinese dress, I do not believe that the film accurately portrays the women’s style of dress in the late 10th Century.
I don’t think I could have lived in the palace in ancient China. The film showed servants who went through palace banging gongs and chanting slogans while announcing the time. I think the noise would wake me from a sound sleep.
That would be so uncool.
The second film was Pedro Almodovar’s VOLVER that stars Penelope Cruz. If nothing else, this film will help you forget her horrible role in SAHARA from a couple of years ago. This film is also rated R for language and sexual content.
VOLVER is a much smaller film about a mother and her two daughters and their reconcilement. It has a number of humorous and interesting plot points and twists. It is a film that should be seen.
I think Penelope Cruz works better with European directors, especially Almodovar. Almodovar brought out of her ability as actress in this film. She seemed to play a wide range of emotions, from cynical to desperate, very well.
I would love to write more about the film but I am afraid that I might say too much and then spoil the film for you.
These are two films that you can go see and enjoy. Doug really liked VOLVER and had been urging me to go see the film. I would do the same.
Weather
I see where Denver, Colorado is getting more snow this weekend. I wonder if my Brother will be able to get out of Denver and home this weekend. For that matter, I wonder about the rest of his family getting out of Denver and heading home this weekend.
Our weather in Southern California has generally been very nice. The storm that is dumping snow in Colorado only left us with a small amount of rain and a lot of wind. I could feel the wind pushing the Pathfinder to the side when I was driving on the freeway yesterday.
There are a lot of the really tall palm trees in Redondo Beach where I live. The winds were blowing the dead palm fronds off of the trees and into the streets and onto rooftops. It was a mess trying to drive in the debris on the roads.
I was looking into the park this morning and noticed that a tree limb had been blown off of its trunk. The limb looked like it was eight or nice inches / twenty or twenty three centimeters in diameter. That seemed like wind gusts were very high that day
But, I was luckier than 150,000 electrical utility customers who lost power when the winds knocked over power lines or had tree limbs fall on them. While I do have a very nice UPS system in the house, it would have only been able to provide power to the laptop and not much else.
Woman of the Moment
I did see two potential Women of the Moment in the films. I think that maybe Li Man and Yohana Cobo could end up as future WOTMs; but I will first have to wait until there are more than two images of them posted on the Internet to work with.
Until then, we will have Kyoko Hasegawa as the current Woman of the Moment.
Very nice bird of paradise flower
Dancing on a table, perfect.
Programming Notes
There will be a Weekend Bonus Feature, probably posted on Saturday.
I am uncertain when I will write my Weekend Update and Year End blog posting. Right now, I am leaning towards posting on Sunday since Monday will be full of opportunities to watch American football on television.
I hope you all have a wonderful and happy New Year’s Eve.
Be well and stay happy.
Quite simply, I went to the movies yesterday for the first time since early March when I saw V FOR VENDETTA. I saw a double feature of sorts; two films and two screens and two venues. The second film ended at 6:00 PM and I was in Costa Mesa. It took me an hour to get home and by the time I finished with my dinner it was just after 8:00 PM. I didn’t feel like starting the Weekend Preview then.
For those of you that are interested, I saw two really great films that I would highly recommend that you strongly consider seeing.
The first film was Zhang Yimou’s CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER. The film is rated R, primarily for violence. This is Chinese historical epic drama and there has to be the requisite battle scenes and assassinations. Zhang also directed HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS.
The film has elements of King Lear and Oedipus Rex if you want to look for literary references.
The King Lear aspect comes from the aging warrior emperor, played by Chow Yun Fat, as he decides who will succeed him to the throne. The eldest son doesn’t want the job; the second son is the most capable but not really interested in succeeding dad; and the youngest son is sort of the family joke that everyone ignores.
Oedipus Rex, interesting connection in a Chinese film, arises from the Empress’s three year long affair with her step son who is the Crown Prince and eldest son. It gets better with more of the typical Greek tragedy interfamily relationships but I won’t spoil it for you by telling you.
Telling you would be so wrong.
The film revolves around the Empress who is played by Gong Li. If you saw her in MIAMI VICE or MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, I think you will enjoy her performance in this film. I think she is more at home playing this sort of role as opposed to being a Columbian drug lord’s girl friend.
Most all of the women in the film are shown in somewhat skimpy costumes with their breasts about to pop out as it were. I think this severely stretches historical accuracy. While I will never claim to be an expert on Chinese dress, I do not believe that the film accurately portrays the women’s style of dress in the late 10th Century.
I don’t think I could have lived in the palace in ancient China. The film showed servants who went through palace banging gongs and chanting slogans while announcing the time. I think the noise would wake me from a sound sleep.
That would be so uncool.
The second film was Pedro Almodovar’s VOLVER that stars Penelope Cruz. If nothing else, this film will help you forget her horrible role in SAHARA from a couple of years ago. This film is also rated R for language and sexual content.
VOLVER is a much smaller film about a mother and her two daughters and their reconcilement. It has a number of humorous and interesting plot points and twists. It is a film that should be seen.
I think Penelope Cruz works better with European directors, especially Almodovar. Almodovar brought out of her ability as actress in this film. She seemed to play a wide range of emotions, from cynical to desperate, very well.
I would love to write more about the film but I am afraid that I might say too much and then spoil the film for you.
These are two films that you can go see and enjoy. Doug really liked VOLVER and had been urging me to go see the film. I would do the same.
Weather
I see where Denver, Colorado is getting more snow this weekend. I wonder if my Brother will be able to get out of Denver and home this weekend. For that matter, I wonder about the rest of his family getting out of Denver and heading home this weekend.
Our weather in Southern California has generally been very nice. The storm that is dumping snow in Colorado only left us with a small amount of rain and a lot of wind. I could feel the wind pushing the Pathfinder to the side when I was driving on the freeway yesterday.
There are a lot of the really tall palm trees in Redondo Beach where I live. The winds were blowing the dead palm fronds off of the trees and into the streets and onto rooftops. It was a mess trying to drive in the debris on the roads.
I was looking into the park this morning and noticed that a tree limb had been blown off of its trunk. The limb looked like it was eight or nice inches / twenty or twenty three centimeters in diameter. That seemed like wind gusts were very high that day
But, I was luckier than 150,000 electrical utility customers who lost power when the winds knocked over power lines or had tree limbs fall on them. While I do have a very nice UPS system in the house, it would have only been able to provide power to the laptop and not much else.
Woman of the Moment
I did see two potential Women of the Moment in the films. I think that maybe Li Man and Yohana Cobo could end up as future WOTMs; but I will first have to wait until there are more than two images of them posted on the Internet to work with.
Until then, we will have Kyoko Hasegawa as the current Woman of the Moment.
Very nice bird of paradise flower
Dancing on a table, perfect.
Programming Notes
There will be a Weekend Bonus Feature, probably posted on Saturday.
I am uncertain when I will write my Weekend Update and Year End blog posting. Right now, I am leaning towards posting on Sunday since Monday will be full of opportunities to watch American football on television.
I hope you all have a wonderful and happy New Year’s Eve.
Be well and stay happy.
posted by Chuck Reinhardt at 10:44 AM
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