Half-Year Review Time

Best Two Films I've Seen in the last 6 Months:
Casanova
Going into the movie, I had a confident feeling it would not disappoint the impression it created from the trailer. Happily, I was right to think so and far surpassed what I was expecting. Throughout the movie, the dialogue did not let up for one second. Casanova has a great supporting cast who all contributed to hilarious one-liners. Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller's performances kept the movie going in a satirical race to the finish. All kinds of identities with a great all-around cast and fast-pace dialogues mixed into one film? How can you not love it?

Match Point
Being a first-timer to Woody Allen's films, I realized why he has the reputation that he does. What drove the movie forward was Scarlett Johannson's character development performance turns from being seductive to lust to need/desperation. Woody Allen brought out the desperations a lower class upbringing does to a human who is willing to do anything to maintain a social status. What is it with society forcing the idea to attain riches and stability? Other social issues depicted in the movie involved blocking out the truth in situations, a psychological fight between comfort/status and lust/human hunger, and how much you really fake life.


Worst Two Films I've Seen in the last 6 Months:
Good Night, and Good Luck
Coming from a generation whose main focus is technological advancements and being self-involved, I could not relate to the era this movie is based on. There was too much dialogue for my own taste and wished a bomb could have exploded on-screen to bring some excitement to my movie experience. On the other hand, David Strathairn and Ray Wise both received my attention with their performances. Other than the black and white cinematography, I was almost asleep by the time the movie finished. Unfortunately for the movie, my dad has fallen asleep long before it reached its ending.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Oh where do I start here? How about all the scenes they cut out of the movie from the book? What were they thinking with the whole Yule Tide Ball? And why was there a scene with Harry and Harmione sharing some kind of love-lorn moment in the movie? Walking into the theatre with high hopes of being entertained, I left the theatre extremely disappointed. The cgi was overdone. Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint had horrible hair stylists. The underwater scene was a huge letdown. All in all, I think I am going to be sticking with the books if the movie series continues in this direction.