Leglessbird Movie Guide

Zatoichi /Sonatine Double Bill (buy from Amazon)
Type: Drama Thriller, Japan 2003

Director: Takeshi Kitano

My rating: 4

Key actors/actresses:
Takeshi Kitano .... Zatoichi/Ichi (as Beat Takeshi)
Tadanobu Asano .... Hattori Genosuke
Michiyo Ookusu .... Aunt O-Ume
Gadarukanaru Taka .... Shinkichi

Posted by Dominic
Story:
Zatoichi is a blind swordsman who earns his living by giving massages and gambling. In this movie, Zatoichi is up against a gang which runs the town and has a very able swordsman in the gang. Zatoichi is helping a brother and sister whose parents were killed by the gangsters many years ago.

My review:
Very good performance by Takeshi as you would expect. The blind swordsman is a very well known story in Japan, this is yet another blind swordsman story played by a fine actor.

A Very Long Engagement (buy from Amazon)
Type: Drama Romantic, France 2004

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

My rating: 4

Key actors/actresses:
Audrey Tautou .... Mathilde
Gaspard Ulliel .... Manech
Jean-Pierre Becker .... Lieutenant Esperanza
Dominique Bettenfeld .... Ange Bassignano
Clovis Cornillac .... Beno?t Notre-Dame
Marion Cotillard .... Tina Lombardi

Posted by Dominic
Story:
During War war I, 5 French soliders were sentenced to death for self-inflicting wounds in the hope of early release from the army. Instead, they got caught and were sent to the front line, a no-man land between the German and French battlefield, unarmed and constantly in the cross-fire, they were going to die for sure. One of the 5 soliders was a young man by the name Manech who had a fianc?¦called Mathilde. After the war ended, Mathilde was determined that Manech survived and she embarked on a journey to find out what really happened and to search for Manech.

My review:
I am a big fan of Am?lie and this film was made by the same team that brought us Am?lie. The story is fairly complicated and it can be hard to follow, you really need to pay attention in order to understand it. The film has done a great job in bring back the 1910s/20s feel of France. The war scene pretty impressive.

All in all it is a good film with a complicated storyline. I won't spoil it by telling you the ending.

Posted by Doris

The Legend of 1900 (buy from Amazon)

Type: Drama, USA 1998

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore

My rating: 5

Tim Roth as "1900"
Pruitt Taylor Vince as "Max Tooney"

Story:
After World War II, Max, an unhappy american goes to a pawn shop to sell his trimpet. The shopkeeper puzzles the tune Max plays is also one as found in an unreleased record. Max tells him this record is made on the Virginian cruise ship, where he has spent several years, the happiest time in his life with the great jazz band and its pianist, also his best friend '1900'. Max starts to tell story....
A baby boy was abandoned by his first class parents on Virginian. He was named as '1900' for the year he borne.
He grew up on the ship & learnt piano by himself.
Everybody likes him for his gifted talents of piano skill, great music inspiration and good character.
He has never thought about leaving the ship till he falls in love with a young pretty gal.....
From here, Max realised 1900 might be still staying in Virginian soon to be demolished, he decides to find 1900....

My review:
Very touching, can't stop crying at the ending.
It's a good movie by director Giuseppe Tornatore beside "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso".
Tim Roth, the piano scene, the pace of this movie are all excellent!!

Cinema Paradiso (buy from Amazon)
Type: Drama, Italy 1988

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore

My rating: 5
Key actors/actresses:
Antonella Attili .... Maria (Young)
Enzo Cannavale .... Spaccafico
Isa Danieli .... Anna

Posted by Dominic
Story:
A man receives news from his aging mother in a little town that someone he once knew has passed away. A beautiful story unfolds about the man's childhood friendship with an old man who was the projectionist at the local theater. Their bond was one that contained many highlights and tragedies, and shaped the way for a young boy to grow and move out of his rundown village to pursue a dream.

My review:
Cinema Paradiso is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is a very touching movie. I was deeply moved. The whole movie is about the relationship between a kid and the old man who is a film projector controller. The kid's passion towards movie had been developing since he first met with the old man. At the beginning of the movie, this relationship was presented in a very natural, interesting, and humourous way. The kid grew up and the old man continued to be his best friend. The small town had gone through many changes and the kid eventually left for the big city and made his own fame and fortune. He returned to the small town, now an old man himself, to attend the funeral of his life-time best friend and witnessed the demolition of the cinema/church where his relationship with the old man started. The ending was a particularly moving scene, I shan't spoil it by telling you what happened there. Highly highly recommended, don't miss this movie.

Don't Move (buy from Amazon)
Type: Drama, Italy 2004

Director: Sergio Castellitto

My rating: 3
Key actors/actresses:

Pen?lope Cruz .... Italia
Sergio Castellitto .... Timoteo
Claudia Gerini .... Elsa
Lina Bernardi .... Nora (Elsa's mother)

Posted by Dominic
Story:
Timoteo is a surgent, his daughter Elsa had a traffic accident and is fighting for her life in the hospital, while waiting and praying for his daughter next to the operating thearter, Timnoteo thinks of the time before Elsa was born, in particular, a woman whom he loved called Italia. Their relationship started with Timoteo raping Italia...

My review:
"Don't move" describes a mid-life surgent torned between his present and past, life and death situation, family and adultary affairs. Well scripted, directed and act by Sergio Castellitto who played "Timoteo".

Type: Comedy Drama Suspense, Japan 2000

Director: K?ji Makita

My rating: 3
Key actors/actresses:
Yukie Nakama .... Naoko Yamada
Hiroshi Abe .... Jiro Ueda
Katsuhisa Namase .... Kenz? Yabe

Posted by Dominic
Story:
Yukie is a bad magician, no one watches her show. Her father was a magician too. One day she was asked by a couple from a very strange village to go to their village and pretend to be god. She is so down and out of luck that she decided to take this assignment. Her friend Hiroshi who is a professor who is also going to the same village trying to unearth some hidden treasure. The villagers believe that the village is cursed and every 300 years there will be a big disaster and this is the year. Yukie and Hiroshi are going to meet with some strange people, some of the them like Yukie are here to pretend that they are god...

My review:
A funny black comedy, quite entertaining. There is a TV drama of the same name. This is the movie edition.

The Dinner Game (buy from Amazon)
Type: Comedy, France 1998

Director: Francis Veber

My rating: 4

Key actors/actresses:
Thierry Lhermitte .... Pierre Brochant
Jacques Villeret .... Fran?ois Pignon
Francis Huster .... Just Leblanc
Daniel Pr?vost .... Cheval
Alexandra Vandernoot .... Christine Brochant

Story:
A bunch of friends play a dinner game every Wednesday, each one brings a guest and whoever's guest is the most stupid idiot wins. So they all look out for idiots. With a little help from a friend, Pierre finds at the last minute an idoit called Pignon, Pierre thinks he has a winner! Pignon arrives at Pierre's place and they are going to leave for the dinner party, the problem is Pierre hurt his back and he is going to miss the dinner. Pierre soon realises his nightmare has just begun from the moment he invites Pignon

My review:
A very funny storyline and carefully crafted script, highly entertaining!

The Russia House (buy from Amazon)

Posted by Sigrid

Type: Drama, USA 1990

Director: Fred Schpisi

My rating: 3

Key actors/actresses:
Sean Connery... Barley Blair
Michelle Pfeiffer .... Katya

Story:
Barley (Connery), a hard-drunking, middle-aged London publisher, became friends with a dissident Soviet physicist on a drunken evening. He soon found himself being drawn into the espionage business. During his mission, Barley came to know Katya (Pfeiffer), the physicist's former girlfriend, whom he had to save from the Russian military intelligence.

My review:
Based on a spy novel by John Le Carre, this movie set out to capture the age of glasnost in the former Soviet Union. It was filmed mostly in Moscow and Leningrad, with some beautiful scenes shot in Lisbon.

The plot itself is intriguing and Connery turned out a masterful peformance as a hard-drunking, middle-aged, book publisher who managed to outwit both the British secret service and the CIA. One memorable scene showed Connery playing the saxophone at a Moscow book fair.

Unfortunately, the subtlety of the spy novel did not play well on the movie screen. Perhaps the editing could have been done better as well. I would think that most moviegoers got lost initially towards the end. As a result, some time had to be spent to recapture what happened -- and the entire effect was dumbed-down.

While some would call this a thriller, the movie was strongly reminiscient of "mini-series" produced by the major (American) TV networks in the late-1980s.

See also:
http://www.allstarz.org/~seanconnery/russia.htm
http://members.tripod.com/rossiya_david/id170.htm

Belphegor: Le Phantom Du Louvre (buy from Amazon)
Belph?gor - Le Fant?me Du Louvre (Widescreen - Original French with subtitles) (buy from Amazon)
Type: Drama Suspense, France 2001

Director: Jean-Paul Salom?

My rating: 2
Key actors/actresses:
Sophie Marceau .... Lisa/Belph?gor
Michel Serrault .... Verlac
Fr?d?ric Diefenthal .... Martin
Julie Christie .... Glenda Spender

Posted by Dominic
Story:
In 1935 a French archaeologist brought back an unnamed mummy from Egypt to France and stored it in Louvre, little did he know that this mummy has been condemmed and shall be stuck in the in-between worlds. The mummy becomes known as the phantom of the Louvre and has killed many guides and it is trying desparately to get to the next world...

My review:
I must say the initial story line looks quite interesting but the actual movie was not that exciting.

Himalaya (buy from Amazon)Type: Drama, Nepal 1999

Director: Eric Valli

My rating: 3
Buy it now:
Barnes And Noble online
Key actors/actresses:
Thilen Lhondup .... Tinle
Gurgon Kyap .... Karma
Lhakpa Tsamchoe .... Pema
Karma Wangel .... Passang
Karma Tensing .... Norbou/Urgien

Other similar movies: more
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Country: Nepal
Type(s): Drama

Posted by Dominic
Story:
Tinle, an aging chief of one of the tribes on the Himalaya mountain just lost his eldest son in an accident, reluctant to give up his position to a young man who is strong and with leadership skill named Karma, because Tinle accused Karma of causing his son's death. The tribe is divided and they set off at different times to do the important trade on the other side of the mountain. The old and young, the tradition and modern are in conflict, soon they find they have a lot to learn from each other and they have a lot of respect to each other.

My review:
An interesting movie that shows off some of the beautiful scenary of the Himalaya and also give the viewers some ideas of the life and tradition of the tribes in Himalaya. Nicely firmed.