I went to this movie not really knowing what to expect or what the story was about. Sometimes, that is the best way to be pleasantly surprised or disappointed. In this case, I was pleasantly surprised. I can't believe how little this movie cost to make. The story is solid, with elements of comedy, drama, and love that just plain work. Kevin Tsai has directed a cohesive story that never gets dull, encompassing themes of self-worth, family-ties, fantasy, and love. The pacing is even and just long enough to pull you into the story and its characters without boring you. Dee Hsu does an excellent job as the main lead and definitely has great comedic timing. When it's time for the dramatic scenes, she really knows how to switch gears into the serious moments of the film. There were sci-fi elements of the film that were definitely dreamlike. The cinematography for the non-sci-fi scenes were very grounded and palatable. This is easily one of the most enjoyable foreign movies I've seen this year and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the end of the film.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Disappointment (Spoilers for those who care)
11 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Adam Sandler has hit or miss movies and this one was a big MISS for me. Just so you get a feel for the ones I liked or tolerated (Punchdrunk Love, Spanglish, The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates, Big Daddy, Click). Ones I disliked (Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Waterboy, Chuck & Larry, Little Nicky).
If you're into potty jokes and unsophisticated sexual humor, this might be your kind of movie, because there's plenty of it. I'm surprised this is probably getting a PG-13 rating. Some of the jokes in the movie worked and were genuinely funny, but for the most part, Zohan was raunchy with low-brow sexual jokes galore. If you take out the vulgar sexual jokes, you don't have much of a movie and probably lose about 30-45 minutes of footage, which would scale this movie down to about 45 minutes and could be shown as an hour long TV special with 15 minutes of ads.
I saw several people walk out during the screening of this movie and I personally felt inclined to follow their lead but only stayed in my seat in hopes that the movie would redeem itself with a better outcome. Man, what a letdown. I went with 3 other friends. 3 of us hated it and 1 of my friends just thought it was tolerable.
**SPOILERS** He's an Israeli anti terrorist who is the best at what he does, on a super human level. The movie opens with a hacky sack sequence where he uses his bare ass to catch the sack and the camera shows it too. I did not need to see that. A more subtle camera angle that could have implied what happened would have been more tasteful, but then again, there's no accounting for tastes in this movie. You see him banging old women in the hair salon he works in and he even has sex with the mother of his newfound friend. The humor is so over the top that my suspension of disbelief hit a wall. Mariah Carey makes a cameo as herself in the movie, and the scenes with her in it work for the most part, but they could have used a fictitious celebrity and it would not have changed the outcome of the humor. There are ethnic jokes and jokes about racial tension in the Middle East that just don't work very well because of the current situation. Lots of jokes with hummus also don't work. The only one that got a laugh out of me was when Zohan's father dipped his eyeglasses in hummus to eat.
If you're into potty jokes and unsophisticated sexual humor, this might be your kind of movie, because there's plenty of it. I'm surprised this is probably getting a PG-13 rating. Some of the jokes in the movie worked and were genuinely funny, but for the most part, Zohan was raunchy with low-brow sexual jokes galore. If you take out the vulgar sexual jokes, you don't have much of a movie and probably lose about 30-45 minutes of footage, which would scale this movie down to about 45 minutes and could be shown as an hour long TV special with 15 minutes of ads.
I saw several people walk out during the screening of this movie and I personally felt inclined to follow their lead but only stayed in my seat in hopes that the movie would redeem itself with a better outcome. Man, what a letdown. I went with 3 other friends. 3 of us hated it and 1 of my friends just thought it was tolerable.
**SPOILERS** He's an Israeli anti terrorist who is the best at what he does, on a super human level. The movie opens with a hacky sack sequence where he uses his bare ass to catch the sack and the camera shows it too. I did not need to see that. A more subtle camera angle that could have implied what happened would have been more tasteful, but then again, there's no accounting for tastes in this movie. You see him banging old women in the hair salon he works in and he even has sex with the mother of his newfound friend. The humor is so over the top that my suspension of disbelief hit a wall. Mariah Carey makes a cameo as herself in the movie, and the scenes with her in it work for the most part, but they could have used a fictitious celebrity and it would not have changed the outcome of the humor. There are ethnic jokes and jokes about racial tension in the Middle East that just don't work very well because of the current situation. Lots of jokes with hummus also don't work. The only one that got a laugh out of me was when Zohan's father dipped his eyeglasses in hummus to eat.
Lars and the Real Girl
(2007)
Touching story and superb performance by Gosling
8 March 2008
This movie is definitely not for the mainstream crowd and in a way, that's a good thing. I think it takes an intelligent person to sit down and watch this movie and appreciate it for the gem that it truly is. Showing how people interact with each other and how they react to Ryan Gosling's character when they are confronted with his new friend is an absolutely marvelous experience. These people, for the most part, are not hardened and cynical like most of the people in the world have become. Ryan's brother and sister in law are immensely supportive in their roles and as the story unfolds, we are treated to one of the most touching stories of a man who, with the help of the entire community, gradually loosens the chains of his own personal insecurities to become an adult. What a wonderful world this would be if more people reached out to others in the same way that these people did for Gosling's character, Lars.
10,000 BC
(2008)
Roland Emmerich hits a new low
8 March 2008
Well, aside from the historical inaccuracies that everyone has pointed out, this movie had horrid acting, insipid dialog, and a cliché plot line that any moderately skilled elementary school kid could have written. So what are the redeeming qualities of this movie? The scenery, some of the CGI, and that's about it. On a technical level, I found it hilarious that for all the hype about this movie, it was far worse than I could have imagined. Someone made a comment about the lighting of this movie. There were definitely inconsistencies in the lighting, which added to the list of things wrong with this movie and made it feel like perhaps it was a rushed project.
I think if this movie were made without any dialog except for the narrative, it would have been much more enjoyable as a whole.
I think if this movie were made without any dialog except for the narrative, it would have been much more enjoyable as a whole.
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