FroglySpeaking: Arts & Literature

BOOKS

A Free Life: a Novel (2007 Ha Jin)

MOVIES

The Reader (2009 Kate Winslet)

I have to admit the movie is excellent although the subject of a love affair between a 36 years old woman and 15 years old boy made me feel uncomfortable. Moralists and legalists may use this as an example of why there is a law on statutary rape. Artistically, the ending was dramatic with Hana's suicide but shows the power of the creativity by the author and screenplay. If you think a little more, you would agree that it is the most logical conclusion. What else could she possibly do when she finally was able to read? What else is left after you rid of the biggest shame and deepest secret of yours?

Doubt (2008 John Shanley/Meryl Streep/Philip Seymor Hoffman)

Have you ever had doubts? Doubts about your self? your belief? Doubts about others? Doubts about doubt? A great movie written/directed by John Shanley with incredible actings of Maryl Steep and Philip Seymor Hoffman. The movie begins with the sermon on doubt by Father Flynn (Philip Seymor Hoffman) and ends with Sister Aloysius' (Maryl Steep) confessing of having doubts. It explores the darkest human struggle in combating self-righteousness and conviction. The contrast between the progressive Father and traditonal Sister can not be stonger. At the end, audiences are left with the certainty of doubt but well, that is not important any longer, isn't? The movie deserves few 2009 oscars.

Gran Torino (2008 Clint Eastwood)

This time, Clint is not a cool bounty hunter fighting against the Western outlaws and Mexican gansters with his amazing shooting skill. He is not a righteous cop of San Francisco who stares down the worst murders and criminals to "make my day" with his powerful .44 Magnum. This time, he is an old, lonely, disgruntle Korean war veteran and racist who over time bounded with his next door Hmong immigrant teenager Thao, not unlike he did as a trainer with his woman boxer in Million Dollar Baby (2004 Clint Eastwood) .

Slumdog Millionare (2008 Danny Boyle/Dev Patel) By the time I made to the theater to see this movie, it has been getting rave reviews by many film critics, already been nominated for 10 oscars including best director and film, and is receiving a whopping 8.7 out of 10 by over 41,000 votes on IMDB. Unfortunately, it is not nearly as good as those indicators suggest and is a big disappointment for me. The acting of Dev Patel is good, one of few bright spots of the movie. The story telling imbedded through interrogation and flashbacks is effective but hardly innovative or done as well compared to Usual Suspect. The interweaved Bollywood style of exhilirating positive attitudes did not provide the balance deserved of the darkness in a vastly overcrowded fast changing society. The movies came up short in most aspects and failed to transcend the boundaries of culture and nations. This moive is merely a fairy tale and decent entertainment. There is nothing great about it. I would not have bothered to include it here but felt I need to share my opposing view of it.
The Savages (2007 Tamarra Jenkings)
The Kite Runner (2007 Khaled Hosseini)
Leben der Anderen, Das, aka The Lives of Others (2006 Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)

The main character of the movie - an East Germany secret police who uttered probably no more than a dozen or so sentences in this 137 minutes long movie after the initial interrogation class lecturing scene. However you can feel in the air the increasing intensity as he got absorbed into the world of the couple on whom he was eavesdropping. At the end, the fundamental human decency triumphed over quitely the doctrine and cruelty of a distrustful authoritarian communist system.

Brokeback Mountain (2005 Ang Lee 李安)

Paradise Now (2005 Hany Abu-Assad)

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004 Kal Penn)

A World without Thieves 天下無賊 (2004 Xiaogang Feng 馮小剛)

Mou Gaan Dou 無間道 (2002-2003 Andrew Lau 劉德華)

Boys Don't Cry (1999 Hilary Swanks)

The King of Masks 變臉(1999 Tian-Ming Wu)

The English Patient (1996 Sal Zaentz)

The Usual Supect (1995 Kevin Spacey)

Chung King Express 重慶森林(1994 Kar Wai Wong/Tony Leung 王家衛/梁朝偉)

Farewell My Concubine 霸王別姬(1993 Chen Kaige/Lesile Cheung 陳凱歌/張國榮)

Scent of a Woman (1992 Al Pacino)