Syriana, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Producers, Narnia- Comments

Dear Wife and I have done quite a bit of movie going lately. Here are some movie comments. I am using the 1-4 star(* is a star) scale.

Syriana- *1/2 stars. The movie is beautifully filmed and well acted by most of the cast. Yes the plot is complicated and murky. Politics, Oil, money, power and how this rules the Middle east. Some have said this is a simplified view of geopolitics. I don't think so. Power and money go together and Oil is money in this region and therefore power.

That said the characters in the film with the exception of Matt Damon's and his wife and maybe George Clooney's are singularly unsympathetic. There is also the problem of the myriad of plot lines, we really don't get to know any of these characters beneath the surface. Attempts to make the characters look human fail for the most part, like the scene between Clooney and his son.

If this film was meant to be a realistic portrayal, that premise is blown away by part of the film's ending. I won't spoil it by telling you what.

Syriana is not a good movie, go see something else instead.

The Producers- ***1/2. This film is a screen adaptation of the Broadway musical which was based on the 1968 Mel Brooks movie.

I've always been a fan of The Producers going back to the original film. Dear Wife for years would hear me humming the tune 'Springtime for Hitler' and wonder what it was all about. After I bought the CD of the musical some years ago, the wife fell in love with the show. It's played on a regular basis at our house.

The film is good but I have a few problems with it. Two tunes, "The King of Old Broadway" and "How did we go right" are missing from the film and this hurts it. Particularly the former's abscence. Lane and Broderick over-act but are still delightful. The cast is good with Will Ferrell being an exception. The actor who did it on Broadway was a classic.

The Producers is a romp. It's not politically correct, be forewarned. A few people at yesterday's showing didn't like some of the humor. The premise of The Producers is well known, why come see it if you don't like this type of humor? I guess there are some people who can't be satisfied.

I liked the muscial better than the film version but The Producers is still worth your time and money.

Memoirs of a Geisha- ***. Some of you know my wife is a Filipina and I'm a follower and maybe an admirer of Asian culture. So this film was an obvious to go see.

I've never read Memoirs of a Geisha. But from viewing the film and its subject matter, I would conclude its probably one of those books that don't transfer to the screen well. The film comes off quirky, spooky, and sometimes unsettling. Like the main character's relationship with The Chairman.

Then the characters seem to be one-dimensional. Like the evil Hatsumomo(Played by the lovely Li Gong) she is just so predictable. The Chairman is wise etc. Memoirs is beautifully filmed and conveys the mysticism most westerners think of when they think of Asian culture. But the plot is also unnerving at times in the attitudes it conveys.

Other than the cinematography, two things stand out. Suzaka Oghu who plays the young Sayuri and Michelle Yeoh as Mameha are both excellent and both help to carry Memoirs when the film falls short otherwise. Either of these actresses are worthy of Academy award nominations in the Best Supporting Actress category.

Memoirs is an ok to good movie. Worth seeing but the book is probably more worth reading.

Chronicles of Narnia- ***1/2. The wife saw it, I didn't. Captain Ed was also impressed with this movie.

Open Post- Basil's Blog, Choose Life,