hamtun

A haunting depressing but fascinating film. I used to believe (naively) in the melting pot theory but the melting pot does not exist. Some cultures are so far removed from what we have been brought up to believe in that is is almost impossible to connect with in any shape or form.

I have always believed that each culture should be looked at on its own merits and the Western Christian/Judeao civilisation is not necessarily the answer to it all. But how can anybody find any merit in a society run by someone like the Taliban. Everybody is opressed, the women more than any, but everybody lives a miserable life. There is no compassion, no respect for divergent views. The poverty is so all pervading that survival at the most basic level is all that matters.

The film is not really a coherent narrative, more a series of vignettes showing what life was like under the Taliban. Despite the amateur acting it is a powerful film. A number of powerful images, the most powerful, to me, is the scene depicting how female patients are dealt with by a "doctor". Horrifying. Western society has many many faults but by god I'm glad I live in it.

I enjoyed Spy Kids 1 & 2 but this one was a waste of time. The 3D gimmick was unnecessary and not that effective. I found it very blurry for a lot of the time and took the glasses off.

Daryl Sabara is not improving as he gets older, he gets more irritating. In fact most of the kids were irritating. ( With the exception of Alexa Vega and Courtney Jines). It had some funny lines but not as witty as the first two. The noir style opening would have gone completely over the heads of the main target audience. Sylvester Stallone was good as were the cameo appearances by George Clooney, Elijah Wood, Bill Paxton and Steve Buscemi.

The computer generated sets looked tacky. And the bald wig on one of the Stallone characters looked like a prop from a small town repertory theatre. I was looking forward to this but I was very disappointed. It was made by the bean counters not the creative people.

A very satisfying end to the best fantasy film ever. Reading through other reviews here and elsewhere I get annoyed with the little purists screaming "it's not the same as the book". Why the hell should it be.

The book was magnificent. I've read it several times. This is Peter Jacksons and his teams interpretation of the book and it is excellent. The opposite comments were made of the Harry Potter movies, that they remained too close to the books. So obviously the directors can't win which ever way they go.

Back to Middle Earth - I don't think you can say one episode was better than the other. As another reviewer said elsewhere, by being planned as one film in three parts it avoided the pitfalls of sequelitis. The CG images while superb did not takeover from the characters and the story. That's why it is so successful. The Story remained the strongest element. Performances were all good but if Sean Astin does not get best supporting actor there is no justice in the world. I even liked the multiple endings, I know many critics have carped on those. But not me, I enjoyed all the ends being tied up. Come on Peter - Please make "The Hobbitt".