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The White Countess, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:The White Countess
Year: 2005
Director: James Ivory
Rating: PG-13
Length: 138 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
Ralph Fiennes
Natasha Richardson
Vanessa Redgrave
Hiroyuki Sanada
Lynn Redgrave

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Featurettes


Had another one of those hectic weeks and it took me most of it to watch this movie... partly because I only could find 15 or 20 minute snippets of time to sit and watch TV and partly because the movie was largely a bore.

It was a time piece set in 30's China during risings tensions with Japan. That premise piqued my interest before I started watching it but that aspect of the film didn't manifest until it was almost over. The focus was of a blind American whose dream was to own and run a nightclub with the help of an exiled Russian countess.

Ralph Fiennes, whom I admire as an actor, played said blind man but he somewhat overplayed the role, often looking like a child fumbling about while pretending to be blind. With all due respect to the late Natasha Richardson, I have never thought of her as a leading lady and this movie did not change that opinion.

This could have had potential but the storytelling was delivered with about as much panache as reading the instructions for my dishwasher.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on July 11th, 2010)

Black Hawk Down, a review by Silence_of_Lambs

Summary:
123 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Mogadishu (Somalia) to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis.

My Thoughts:
One of the very few films with Jerry Bruckheimer involved that actually need some brains, possibly that happened because Ridley Scott was involved too.
I watch this film frequently about once a year, simply because I really like it.
Put the Hollywood-bullshit about bravery aside and you get a quite realistic movie on how a military operation can go horribly wrong.
Ridley Scott did it almost all correct again. The characters are well introduced and have a sufficiently lighted background. The photography puts you in the middle of the scenery and more than once you get the feeling that you're actually participating and not just observing. The actors are all giving their very best to give life to the characters. The sound is simply amazing.
In this movie you can see what happens if stupidity rules because of hierarchy. It's not the obvious kind of stupidity, but the one that results from underestimating the enemy's capabilities, overestimating the own capabilities and the pressure to succeed.
Great script, great directing, great acting, great post-production = great movie!
A gripping movie that will keep your mind working for hours.

My Rating: (out of possible 5)

(From Michael's random reviews on November 21st, 2010)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

JAG



What's the show about?
The JAG ist the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Navy. They are charged with the defense and prosecution of military law as provided in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We follow the cases of Lt. Harmon Rabb jr., a former fighter pilot and his partner Maj. Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie all around the world.

"Pilot"
The CAG of the aircraft carrier USS Seahawk and his female Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) shoot down two MIGs over the Adriatic Sea. In the night after that the RIO is being thrown overboard and killed. Lt Rabb and Lt. jg. Pike take over the investigation of the missing RIO...

My Opinion
This show had its highs and its lows. Being not an US-american the patriotism was sometimes a bit to much for my taste, especially when it came to the Iraq war. Also that "we are the best of the best of the best"-attitude was an overdose at times. But in the big picture I liked the show.

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on January 5th, 2008)