Oh What The Hell

Since I'm actually blogging now, might as well update on the many movies I've watched recently.

Starting with Syriana. Politics. Globalisation. Terrorism. Espionage. Everything you would expect from a socially-conscious movie and very relevant to contemporary times. In fact, the movie draws inspiration from various events that have occurred, recently and otherwise. Take the fuss over CNOOC's bid for Unocal. US support for the Shah in the 70s. Islamic fanaticism. You can see traces of all these in the movie. It's very compelling although many times I found myself struggling to fully grasp everything that was going on. My fault my fault.

Capote. Excellent. Although some may find it lacking any interesting developments. Worth seeing just for Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar winning performance. I felt he did a great job. Although I suppose you could argue that these type of unique, sui generis of a character roles are blatantly Oscar bait. But make no mistake, it does require a great deal of technical acting ability. The murder scenes were rather gruesome, and the hanging scene was downright unsettling. It just got under your skin and stayed there. For me, it was all the more enjoyable because I got to see HARPER LEE. She of To Kill A Mockingbird fame of course. The novel even got several mentions in the movie. I suppose it's because that's the only thing Harper is famous for. So sad.

Munich. Wow. This one was good. It didn't feel like 3 hours. Some rather violent scenes. Especially when they killed that female agent on her boat in Holland. They shot these darts into her body and I thought they were more like tranquilizers because she didn't die immediately and just seemed to be losing conciousness (as opposed to actually dying la). And then she sits down on her sofa quite a distance away from where she is shot, and my gosh, the blood just starts spilling out uncontrollably. It's so vivid. I think how they ended the movie with a close-up on Downtown Manhattan and the newly-completed World Trade Centre was very poignant. Were the Israelis justified in assasinating those responsible for terrorism, whether related to Black September or not? Yes. You know me, when it comes to matters like this, I'm very right-wing, very pro-Bush, hate me all you want, too fucking bad.

And finally, Mrs Henderson Present's. It's very different from the other 3 movies. Mostly light-hearted, with tinges of drama here and there. I loved the first part where she complained about being a widow because "I have to keep smiling. Back in India, there were always people to look down on." And in response to her friend's suggestion that she take up embroidery, "I'd rather drink INK!" LOL. Judi Dench is just lovely, although this role is very tailored for her. It's just the type of role you'd expect her to act well. And she does it brilliantly. The costumes are great and the whole mood of the movie, even during the Blitz, is just very heart-warming.

There you have it. 4 brilliant movies. All Oscar nominated. Two winners. I have yet to see Transamerica though. Sigh. Felicity Huffman rocks and she should have won the Oscar over she with the chin who can cut glass. Hmph