You nailed it perfectly, JR.
Anyone who's a fan of martial arts films from the 70's would recognize
pretty much every scene as "been there done that". Sure they looked great
and were beautifully photgraphed, but was it worth all the hoopla?
Give me 5 Deadly Venoms any day of the week.
Cheers,
Erik
----- Original Message -----
From: "JR" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 12:42 PM
Subject: [MOPO] Crouching Tiger, Hidden Meaning?
Ang Lee always says something in his films? Like what? While I Ioved some
of the
visual imagery in CROUCHING TIGER, I failed to understand what all the
hyper-praise for it was about. The plot was incredibly simplistic and full
of
logic holes. The whole impossibly gravity-defying flying-warrior thing may
look
cool on film, and I understand it has become such a "tradition" in the
martial
arts films that it is virtually mandatory to include such shots, but after
a
while it becomes silly, and there was way too much of in the film for my
taste.
The only thing the film "said" as far as I can tell was "don't mess with
powers
you haven't been trained to handle" and "if want to get rid of your a
dangerous
magic sword, do the job yourself and make sure it can't found and used for
ill,
or else be prepared to sacrifice your own life in penitence... what you
thinking, anyway... next time sink it in a deep loch like you're supposed
to."
This kind of wisdom I can get from the Harry Potter films, or most any
Disney
fantasy.
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON struck me as one of those films that got
hailed
as wonderful simply because it contained characters and imagery most
people in
the west are not that exposed to, but I couldn't call it a "great" film,
just a
good one.
I think I'll go change into my asbestos zoot suit now...
-- JR
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kirby McDaniel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 10:00
Subject: Re: [MOPO] ANG LEE
I would agree with you about Tarantino, but not about Lee.
I have not seen THE HULK although I probably will. I loved
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, however, I loved THE ICE STORM.
There is a difference between evaluating a film and evaluating the
direction
of a film. In my opinion Lee is a very deft director. He
understands the
language of film in a very thorough way. Whether his canon is as
important
as Spielberg's, Welles' or Roy Del Ruth's, for that matter, is
another question altogether.
But watching his films is a pleasure for me because the way he says
something in film
is amazing. That is the mark of a good director for me. Not what
his films are about, etc.
Kirby McDaniel
www.movieart.net
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