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Elizabeth: The Golden Age, a review by goodguy

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (UK 2007) Written by: William Nicholson, Michael Hirst Directed by: Shekhar Kapur Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish, Samantha Morton DVD: R2-DE Universal (2008) My rating:

For the most part, the sequel has the same visual splendor as the first movie, but it is less balanced in both storytelling and direction. Too much melodrama, too Braveheart-y battlefield speeches, some superfluous action scenes. But even when Kapur missteps, he still manages to dazzle, as in the underwater shots of the burning Spanish Armada.

Cate Blanchett was a promising talent when the first movie was made and an established star at the time of the second one, which actually is befitting for her role. Clive Owen as Raleigh is solid as always and Abbie Cornish adorable. And kudos to Samantha Morton, who as Maria Stuart has only a few scenes, but what a powerful performance.

Bottom line: While not as great the first one, this is still a very enjoyable movie, well worth watching.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on July 3rd, 2010)

Dom za vesanje, a review by goodguy

Dom za vesanje (Yugoslavia 1988, AKA Time of the Gypsies) Written by: Gordan Mihic & Emir Kusturica Directed by: Emir Kusturica Starring: Davor Dujmovic, Bora Todorovic, Ljubica Adzovic, Husnija Hasimovic, Sinolicka Trpkova, Elvira Sali DVD: R2-FR Carlotta (2007) My rating:

I decided to re-watch (and review) this before getting into the opera adaptation I recently bought.

Time of the Gypsies is a film entirely in Romani, the Gypsy language. The literal translation of the original title is "house for hanging".

The film tells the story of Perhan, a Gypsy orphan who lives with his grandmother, his crippled younger sister and his womanizing uncle in a Gypsy village on the outskirts of Skopje (Macedonia). Perhans days are filled with caring for his sister, working a small lime oven, practicing his telekinetic skills and adopting a turkey. A blossoming first love between him and Azra, a neighbor's girl, is strongly opposed by Azra's mother due to Perhan's lack of wealth. As the grandmother heals the son of the Gypsy king Ahmed, she wants him to take Perhan's sister to a hospital in Ljubljana. Perhan insists on accompanying her.

In Ljubljana, Ahmed persuades Perhan to follow him to Italy and slowly draws him into his shady business, which consists of child trafficking and running a small gang of burglars, beggars and prostitutes from a camp outside of Milan. The promise of making a fortune to provide for his sister and grandmother, to build a house and to put up the dowry for Azra causes him to departure more and more from values and beliefs he was raised upon by his grandmother.

When Ahmed has a heart attack, he sets up Perhan as the new boss. That however results in a fallout between Ahmed and his brothers and he sends Perhan back to Yugoslavia to acquire new members for the gang. But upon return to his home village Perhan finds that nothing is as he has hoped.

Kusturica weaves his tale of love, family, lost innocence and revenge in wondrous and magical images, with a rich symbolism deeply rooted in Gypsy mythology, while at the same time maintaining a gritty and unjudging realism in depicting the Gypsy life. Humor and comedy, sometimes venturing into the grotesque, are balanced seemingly effortless with touching tragedy and moments of uninhibited joy.

As in Kusturica's mesmerizing images, deep sadness and extreme exaltation, melancholia and euphoria, not as opposites, but synthesized are also the key elements of Goran Bregovic's magnificent score. To a large part it is based on a few Gypsy traditionals, but developed with great variety.

More superlatives are needed to describe the actors. Almost all of them are not only amateurs, but also actual Gypsies. Wonderful fresh and captivating performances throughout, even in minor roles.

Time of the Gypsies is such a poetic and beautiful film; it is a film not to be watched, but to be experienced, to be completely immersed in its images, music and sound. To me it is, ever since I've first seen it and without the shadow of a doubt, the greatest film ever made.

DVD Notes

The French release of 2007 is the first DVD release of the film in the western hemisphere. The film has been remastered and both a single and a 2-disc special edition are available, but sadly with French subtitles only.

The only English friendly version I know of is the VHS released in the US in 1995, although I've also heard of (but never seen) a Laserdisc. While searching for the trailer and a clip from the film on YouTube, I also found out that the entire film seems to be available there in 10min pieces. Hardly the proper way to watch it, but still...

Aside from the theatrical version I talked about here and which runs about 02:20h, there is also a 5h TV version. I've seen it once in the mid-90s, and a few years ago it became available on a Russian DVD (with Russian subtitles).

Trailer and Clip from the Film

Below is the international theatrical trailer and a clip from the film, showing the famous sequence of the St. George's Day celebration (Ederlezi).







(From goodguy's Watch Log on December 29th, 2009)

Tom's TV Finales marathon, a review by Tom

Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy: Season Two (2006/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia FUNimation Productions (United States) Length: 600 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
The song may say "Thank heaven for little girls" - but who is college student Keiichi Morisato supposed to thank when three honest to goodness living Goddesses move in and take over his life? And should he really be all that grateful?

After all, in most mythologies, close relationships between mortals and immortals usually lead to mortifying complications, so we're already talking about an extremely mixed blessing! And when a FOURTH Goddess suddenly appears, that blessing becomes more like a curse! They may just be trying to help, but sometimes it seems that Belldandy, Skuld, Urd and Peorth might be less concerned with Keiichi's safety than they are with establishing a pecking order and ownership rights!

The delicate celestial balance that exists between human and goddess is thrown into complete and utter chaos in Ah! My Goddess 2 - The Complete Collection!


Ah! My Goddess
Season 2.24 Ah! The Song of Love That Shakes the Heart!
Writer: Kosuke Fujishima (Original Material By), Akira Watanabe (Screenwriter)
Director: Hiroaki Goda
Cast: Eileen Stevens (Belldandy), Drew Aaron (Keiichi Morisato), Vibe Jones (Urd), Annice Moriarty (Skuld), Juliet Cesario (Peorth), Veronica Taylor (Chihiro Fujimi), , Kikuko Inoue (Belldandy), Masami Kikuchi (Keiichi Morisato), Yumi Toma (Urd), Aya Hisakawa (Skuld), Rei Sakuma (Peorth), Yuka Imai (Chihiro Fujimi)

I decided to watch this episode as finale, even though it is a bonus episode produced for the DVD release coming after the finale. It is a nice episode provided some emotional closure.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Finales marathon on November 27th, 2012)