langstar1

Cold Mountain. Miramax's 83 million dollar bet. Harvey Weinstein put alot on the line for the gorgeous epic and ultimately the film just does not deliver. Now i am not saying this to stand against the waves or act differently simply to be noticed. I am being truly honest when I say that the movie is not very good. The scenery is beautiful and the actors look the part , however i could not excuse the ridiculous antics and look of Charlie Hunnam's character. Minghella shows that he has a direct idea in his intentions for the film however he clearly was lost character wise and ultimately his lack of character direction destroys the film. The film follows the implied love connection between a one emotioned Jude Law and an over accented Nicole Kidman. They both give awful performances and they simply show that even the most proven actors can do a bad job with meaningful material. Anyway the film follows Inman (Jude Law) as he makes his journey from the battlefields of the civil war, back to the love of his life, Kidman. Well the "love connection" shared between the two is flacid and poorly dealt with. It amazes me that two actors of such high caliber can do such a poor job despite the scenery that is meant to support their actions. The most valid reasoning behind my hate for Jude Law's performance is the fact that his character does not change or develop anywhere throughout the film. One would think that after the horrors of war, the triumph over such negative events would change a man for the better. However Jude Law maintains the same solemn look throughout the entire film. Its a pathetic and meaningless performance which could have been done better had the original choice of Tom Cruise landed the role. If you doubt me see The Last Samurai and your respect for Tom Cruise will return, he shows his sense of development and intelligence throughout that picture. The most demeaning quality of this film is its time. Now i realize that the runtime is acceptable and not neccesarily unbearable, however how can you watch a movie that is so utterly boring? By the end of the film i had forgotten most of the other supporting characters, with the exception of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Lucas Black, and Natalie Portman. The film is slow and boring ultimately. However slow is not always bad, The Last Samurai was long and slow but I loved it because it held the viewers interest. Hoffman is hilarious and Portam is moving and perhaps the reason i liked them so much is because they were bairly in the dam thing. Now i can be disagreed with by thousands but i maintain, the film sucks and i was very dissapointed, it is 2003's Gangs of New York, it garners respect for no dam reason. 6/10.

The Last Samurai tells the story of a soldier who has turned to a

life at the bottom of a bottle. After finding work training the troops

of Japan he finds himself living among the ranks of the samurai.

The samurai live by a code and their honor and dignity takes

priority over everything else. Algren comes to respect their ways

and soon starts to see their ideals as a more plausible cause

then the side he has been fighting with since the start.

Now I must admit how skeptical I was entering the movie theatre.

Tom Cruise has not been very impressive lately and Zwick had not

been behind the camera since his fiasco with the awful film "The

Siege". However this was familiar ground for Zwick with such

films as Glory and Courage Under Fire. So i gave him the benefit

of the doubt and I sat down.

I must say Mr. Cruise did not dissapoint. He turns in the most

intense and emotional performance he has given since, in my

opinion, Born on the Fourth of July. He molds a character who we

come to respect and understand despite his crude and often

obnoxious actions. He slowly transforms from a drunken and

scarred man, into the powerful and charismatic warrior who can

unite the honorable samurai. The romance between Taka and

Algren is done quite tastefully and we see her slowly come to

realize Algren's remorse for the life he took from her. Prior to his

capture he had been in a conflict with the samurai and had killed

her husband just before his capture.

The Last Samurai does what few epics can do. It stands alone.

The film is intelligent, witty and powerful. It has relationships

worth watching and battles worth seeing. Algren and the

charismatic leader of the samurai, Katsumoto, develop a

friendship of respect and understanding. All i can say about Ken

Watanabe is that hes incredible and he deserves fame near and

far.

Overall the Last Samurai develops a feeling of care and beauty

amidst the gorgeous scenery of Ancient Japan. I loved the film

and almost everything about, besides the miscast Mr. Connoly,

who did fine anyway. 9/10

I was up about 2 in the morning and as I channel surf on iO i

notice a title I recognize, Black cadillac. So i start to watch and

initially some glitches occur and I can tell this is a low budget film.

No matter it hooks me from the begining and next thing I know I'm

enthralled by the story.

The story follows two brothers and their friend as they find

themselves pursued by a mysterious black cadillac, after a series

of unfortunate events occur at a local bar. The story is a familiar

one and it is also full of cliches, the "different" friend and the

shrimpy brother. Its all good though cause the movie is actually

pretty well made. It overcomes the cliches and achieves what it

set out too. entertain. 7/10. good old popcorn fun, well directed

and kudos to the director for using every dollar to his advantage.

Oh and by the way watch the clips of the cars carefully. They use

the same clip segments countless times. Its pretty funny.