*Ray

What a beautiful story and amazing acting job by Jamie Foxx. This story of Ray Charles, his triumphs and struggles blew me away granted I did not know a thing about him and honestly do not know if I have ever intentionally sought out his music. Even as he is a musical genius, Ray is more impressive for his ability to overcome both racial prejudice and physical handicap. When he refused to perform at a concert in Georgia because the concert hall discriminated against African-Americans, he executes his greatest performance.

At the same time, I am particularly disgusted at his behaviors as a husband as Ray fathered 12 children by nine different women! Even if you are blind to the world, the world is not blind to your actions. This is not a judgment his promiscuity but on his infidelity during marriage. On a positive note, having 11 other siblings would make for a colorful childhood. Either way you feel about him, this movie is a must-see not only to learn about this tremendous musician but also to hear his tremendous music.

*Eat, Pray, Love

I have a difficult time appreciating books that are made into movies. Not sure if it's because when I read a book, I am actively engaged and my imagination creates vividly the cast of characters, scenery, etc. If I already have a vision for what the visual interpretation should look like, the actual movie would then conflict with the movie in my imagination and then I don't like it. Also, I think part of it too is that the movies don't have enough time to tell the full story so pieces, ones that I may have really liked, are cut out so the movie is not a faithful true adaptation of the book. This goes for EPL and for the Twilight movies.

Overall, I thought EPL (the book) was entertaining because when I picked it up, I was unemployed, thinking about my next move (stay in NYC, move to Asia or SF), etc. I found it inspiring - shouldn't we all take an introspective journey and develop ourselves in different aspects of our lives? She took it to an extreme but it was entertaining.

Quote: Tis' better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly.

It's a Wonderful Life

You might be asking yourself, why did you watch this classic American Christmas film in the late summer/early fall? Well, quite honestly - it was the next movie in the queue but this movie couldn't come at a better time for me - just like James Stewart's character, George Bailey, I too have been thinking about finances and dreaming about traveling the world. In this movie, Stewart's character, George Bailey, desires to travel the world but is tied down to his hometown to run the family business. After one particularly stressful Christmas Eve, George is driven to kill himself. A guardian angel who helps George see the true richness of his life and all ends well.

The following points struck me about this movie:
1) Even though this movie did not do well when it was first released, it has since been well received. The plot and theme of this movie has been copied in modern day movies - ie. Family Man.
2) The raven, Billy's pet in the movie, is in many of Frank Capra's other movies!
3) Many of Frank Capra's other movies follow a similar and sentimental theme of championing the common man.

Definitely a Christmas movie and definitely a must-see.

Memorable line: [In book inscription] Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.

On the Waterfront

In this black and white film, an ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman, Marlon Brando, struggles with his conscience after he witnesses the murder of another longshoreman, a murder that was ordered by his mob leader boss. As this movie was filmed in 1954, I wondered why the director decided to film this movie in black and white. I think part of the reason why this movie is filmed in b&w is to enhance the gritty and dark nature of the story. The working and living conditions appear bleak when the sun does not sparkle as it is reflected off the water or the flowers and lush vegetation appear monotone in front of the apartment complex. Depicting the rough living conditions of the longshoremen is a key element of the story; this helps explain why the longshoremen comply with the D&D (dumb and deaf) rule – they have to keep their jobs to survive and feed themselves and they turn a blind eye to the corruption of the mob union leaders.

Overall, a powerful movie with a few dramatic shots (the one where Brando and the girls are running down the alley and the truck comes around the corner!).

Quote on repeat in my head: I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley.

The General

Again, I am impressed with silent films and their ability to keep me engaged (See post on City Lights). With all the special effects of modern day movies, how could a movie in which no one speaks and the only special effect is the music played by the orchestra compare?

In this movie, Busty Keaton, actor and director, plays Confederate locomotive engineer who attempts to recover his two loves stolen/kidnapped by Union spies. His two loves are his train, The General, and Annabelle Lee. His lonely pursuit of these two across enemy lines is hilarious! Actually Buster Keaton’s sense of humor originally reminded me of Charlie Chaplin. I thought, “Who is this copycat character and what makes him so special?” Quoting from Entertainment Weekly’s website:

Charlie Chaplin was perhaps the most famous person on the planet for the first half of the 20th century; since then, Buster Keaton has slowly risen in esteem, to the point where he's now regarded as Chaplin's superior in filmmaking (true) and in comic genius (endlessly arguable). What's undeniable is that Charlie's sentimental sensibility was rooted in the music hall and vaudeville of the past, while Buster was a poker-faced modernist who pointed to the future.

Watching the movie, I saw that the two are very different and I prefer Buster Keaton. The humor is more developed and sophisticated in nature (not just dropping anvils on people’s heads). The scenes that I thought were funny required some choreography and I think that it's important to a modern day audience that is accustomed to movies with tons of special effects and drama, ie Transformers, Avatar, Titanic. Let me know what you think when you see it.

Vertigo

I don't usually like Hitchcock movies because they are super suspenseful and psychologically too thrilling. I can't handle suspense - I often times have a pretty good sense of what is going to happen in the movie and I really dislike it when I don't. But that's just me... this movie was so shocking to me but I thought everything about it was so well done. Just like the movie Chinatown, the last scene in this movie sold it for me.

In short, this movie is about an old San Francisco detective, suffering from acrophobia, who investigates the strange behavior of an old friend's wife. During his investigations, he finds himself dangerously obsessed with her. The second time Kim Novak appears in this movie, I thought either I was going mad or the producers were too cheap to hire another actress. Simple-minded me. It was this twist that blew my mind.

Memorable quote: And if you lose me, then you'll know I, I loved you. And I wanted to go on loving you.

*Lust Caution

I was so blown away by the music in this film – there is something so powerful, restrained but beautiful about this original score by Alexandre Desplat. Something I’ve noticed in my movie watching - when I remember the music from a movie, it is usually because the same music is played over and over during certain key scenes throughout the course of the movie. I think this technique of associating the audio and visual really heightens the viewer’s experience. For me, it brought to the current scene, emotions and thoughts I had about the prior scene with this same score. The movie, Vertigo, uses this same technique.

The risque scenes in this movie are a bit too graphic for me. Call me a grandma, but it was really uncomfortable for me to watch. I know actors are professionals but seriously, how did Mr. Yee and Mak Tai Tai film these explicit sex scenes? I imagine the average Chinese audience was pretty appalled by seeing the two butt-naked going at it several times throughout the movie. While these scenes certainly added to the drama of the movie and the development of the characters, I am not sure if they were necessary. In one of the scenes, the audience sees for the first time, Mr. Yee’s vulnerability but this same characteristic is brought out in Mr. Yee in the Japanese geisha scene. Sex for story-telling purposes or for controversy and PR?

This movie was incredibly powerful and I really liked it. I am biased though - I tend to think more favorably of Chinese language films when I can understand what they are saying.