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Showing all reviews beginning with Bi
Big Fish
Director Tim Burton's (Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow) Big Fish tells the story of Edward Bloom, a man who's life is defined by tall tales. Since an early age Will Bloom has heard his father tell his incredible stories, but when he is grown up he realises his father's tales can't be true and feels like he doesn't know the real Edward Bloom. The film follows Will as he tries to find the truth behind his father's stories while at the same time telling some of the tales.
The adventures Edward has told of are numerous and involve such topics as witches, giants and some heroics during the Korean war. As the action moves between the present day and the tales we get a sense of the normal everyday juxtaposed with the fantasy of the make believe. The young Edward Bloom is played very well by Ewan McGregor.
Tim Burton brings us a well written, highly imaginative film with some very immersive stories from Edward's life but at the same time delivers an emotional side with the present day story line. The film is a good length and the different stories help to keep the viewers attention throughout. All in all I'd highly recommend this film to anyone who wants to see something different and who is not put off by the sometimes fairy tale like stories.
中国の鳥人 (The bird people in China)
When Wada is sent to China by his company to investigate a possible Jade seam in the Chinese mountains, he is tailed by Ujiie, a Yakuza who's syndicate is owed money by Wada's company. Together the two are taken deep into the Chinese countryside to a remote mountain village. In this village they encounter a group of villagers who believe it is possible to fly using strap on wings, both Wada and Ujiie become engrossed in the culture of the village.
The Bird People in China is in some ways completely different from other Takashi Miike films, but it still has his stamp all over it with his offbeat and dark comic tones coming through. The film is visually stunning, with the vast, stunning scenery of the Chinese mountains being depicted in vivid colours. The combination of these amazing vistas with the quiet contemplative tone of the film makes for a touching, beautiful movie which still manages to throw in some important social questions just to keep the viewer on their toes.
The Bird People In China has to be one of, if not the most beautiful of Miike Takashi's works and is a stark contrast to some of his other more violence driven movies.
달콤한인생 (A Bittersweet Life)
A Bittersweet Life tells the story of Sun-Woo who works for a hotel as part of a gang with ties with organised crime. When his boss leaves for a business trip to Shanghai he is asked to keep an eye on the boss' young girlfriend who is suspected of being unfaithful. His boss' suspicions are correct but instead of killing both the girlfriend and her lover as instructed he lets them off warning them never to see each other again. This disregard for orders leads to a punishment from his boss which in turn sets the wheels in motion for an act of revenge.
A brutal and bloody tale of revenge, A Bittersweet Life is a classic example of extreme Asian cinema. The large fight scenes are spectacular to watch, with Sun-Woo taking on numerous attackers at once and kicking some serious amount of ass. One to watch for fans of the genre.
Big Trouble in Little China
Kurt Russell stars as Jack, a Trucker who whilst stopped in San Francisco's China Town finds himself thrown into an adventure involving Triads, an old Chinese mystic and a kidnapped girl. He and his friend Wang Chi must team up to rescue the girl and stop the powerful Lo Pan.
Despite hailing from the mid-80's Big Trouble in Little China hasn't aged too badly, the special effects are reasonable and the dodgy haricuts adds a touch of nostalgia to the whole thing. The gags are funny for the most part and the action exciting, it's kind of like a slightly more grown up version of the Goonies.
The acting is shoddy which is to be expected, but again this adds comedy to the movie rather from detracting from it. The standard find the bad guy and stop him plot is a good enough basis to build the film on.
Overall, a decent 80's movies which is still fun today.
Billy the Kid
15 year old Billy Price is a kid who himself professes to be "different", an outcast at school, Billy the Kid is a documentary which follows him in his daily life. Billy has an incredible down to earth and straight talking attitude, he says things as he sees them which is often very profound.
While Billy is undoubtably a very intellegent and entertaining person to watch, I didn't really understand why he would be the subject of a documentary. The film is well made and interesting to watch, but to me, it seemed a bit invasive of his life. A lot of the time, it seemed to me that the audience were laughing at Billy rather than with him.
Overall, interesting and insightful, but something about it didn't sit right with me.
Big Nothing
When Charlie (David Schwimmer) starts work at a call centre to try and support his family while waiting on his book to be published, he meets Gus (Simon Pegg). After losig his job after the first day, Gus lets him in on a plan he has to blackmail the local priest after acquiring some internet logs of his browsing history. Gus and Charlie are joined by Gus' friend Josie, but when the 3 of them go to collect the money things don't go as smoothly as planned.
Big Nothing is full of twists and turns, some feel a little convoluted, but for the most part it is a fun caper as Charlie gets more and more out of his depth and people reveal themselves to be other than what they seem. David Schwimmer plays pretty much the Ross role from Friends, Pegg is good as usual, his comic timing standing out, but his false American accent is hard to get used to. The rest of the cast or ok in their roles with no real stand out performances.
Humorous throughout, with an interesting plot, Big Nothing is by no means Oscar material but there is enough there for 1 hour and 20 minutes of mindless entertainment.
The Big Lebowski
Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is a middle aged, unemployed stoner who calls himself "The Dude" and spends most of his time hanging around the bowling alley with his friends Vietnam veteran Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi).
When a couple of hard men mistake him for another Jeffrey Lebowski and rough him up a little while demanding money, they urinate on his rug, Walter suggests maybe "The Dude" should claim reparations from the "Big" Lebowski which leads "The Dude" into a plot concerning pornographer's, kidnapping and embezzlement.
With a great cast which extends beyond Bridges and Goodman to encompase other big names such as Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Big Lebowski is a highly comedic crime caper which sees the laid back "Dude" thrown into a much more fast paced world.
With some unforgettable scenes and some great lines, The Big Lebowski is a film which is entertaining, funny and memorable.
The Big Boss
Cheng Chao-an (Bruce Lee) moves to live with his cousins who all work at the local Ice factory. He too gets a job there, but when his cousins start disappearing, he is torn between the dilemma to do something about it or to keep a promise he made to his mother not to get into any fights.
And so you have it, a Bruce Lee movie where Lee doesn't do all that much fighting. The dub is pretty dodgy, the film transfer wasn't amazing, the fight sequences were for the most part poor with people jumping 6 feet in the air all over the place and weren't all the spectacularly choreographed.
Having said that, the plot was reasonable and the ending made up for the lack of decent Bruce Lee action in the earlier parts of the film.
Overall, an alright movie, but I would have liked to see Bruce Lee kicking ass a bit more and a bit less dodgy wire work.
Big Fish
Director:
Tim Burton
Year: 2003
Language: English
Country: America
Director Tim Burton's (Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow) Big Fish tells the story of Edward Bloom, a man who's life is defined by tall tales. Since an early age Will Bloom has heard his father tell his incredible stories, but when he is grown up he realises his father's tales can't be true and feels like he doesn't know the real Edward Bloom. The film follows Will as he tries to find the truth behind his father's stories while at the same time telling some of the tales.
The adventures Edward has told of are numerous and involve such topics as witches, giants and some heroics during the Korean war. As the action moves between the present day and the tales we get a sense of the normal everyday juxtaposed with the fantasy of the make believe. The young Edward Bloom is played very well by Ewan McGregor.
Tim Burton brings us a well written, highly imaginative film with some very immersive stories from Edward's life but at the same time delivers an emotional side with the present day story line. The film is a good length and the different stories help to keep the viewers attention throughout. All in all I'd highly recommend this film to anyone who wants to see something different and who is not put off by the sometimes fairy tale like stories.
Dave W - 14th February, 2004 - 14:56
Director:
Miike Takashi
Year: 1998
Language: 日本語 (Japanese) English sub
Country: 日本 (Japan)
When Wada is sent to China by his company to investigate a possible Jade seam in the Chinese mountains, he is tailed by Ujiie, a Yakuza who's syndicate is owed money by Wada's company. Together the two are taken deep into the Chinese countryside to a remote mountain village. In this village they encounter a group of villagers who believe it is possible to fly using strap on wings, both Wada and Ujiie become engrossed in the culture of the village.
The Bird People in China is in some ways completely different from other Takashi Miike films, but it still has his stamp all over it with his offbeat and dark comic tones coming through. The film is visually stunning, with the vast, stunning scenery of the Chinese mountains being depicted in vivid colours. The combination of these amazing vistas with the quiet contemplative tone of the film makes for a touching, beautiful movie which still manages to throw in some important social questions just to keep the viewer on their toes.
The Bird People In China has to be one of, if not the most beautiful of Miike Takashi's works and is a stark contrast to some of his other more violence driven movies.
Dave W - 16th May, 2005 - 21:20
Director:
Ji-Woon Kim
Year: 2005
Language: Korean (English Sub)
Country: South Korea
A Bittersweet Life tells the story of Sun-Woo who works for a hotel as part of a gang with ties with organised crime. When his boss leaves for a business trip to Shanghai he is asked to keep an eye on the boss' young girlfriend who is suspected of being unfaithful. His boss' suspicions are correct but instead of killing both the girlfriend and her lover as instructed he lets them off warning them never to see each other again. This disregard for orders leads to a punishment from his boss which in turn sets the wheels in motion for an act of revenge.
A brutal and bloody tale of revenge, A Bittersweet Life is a classic example of extreme Asian cinema. The large fight scenes are spectacular to watch, with Sun-Woo taking on numerous attackers at once and kicking some serious amount of ass. One to watch for fans of the genre.
Dave W - 22nd August, 2005 - 13:11
Director:
John Carpenter
Year: 1986
Language: English
Country: America
Kurt Russell stars as Jack, a Trucker who whilst stopped in San Francisco's China Town finds himself thrown into an adventure involving Triads, an old Chinese mystic and a kidnapped girl. He and his friend Wang Chi must team up to rescue the girl and stop the powerful Lo Pan.
Despite hailing from the mid-80's Big Trouble in Little China hasn't aged too badly, the special effects are reasonable and the dodgy haricuts adds a touch of nostalgia to the whole thing. The gags are funny for the most part and the action exciting, it's kind of like a slightly more grown up version of the Goonies.
The acting is shoddy which is to be expected, but again this adds comedy to the movie rather from detracting from it. The standard find the bad guy and stop him plot is a good enough basis to build the film on.
Overall, a decent 80's movies which is still fun today.
Dave W - 7th May, 2007 - 15:07
Director:
Jennifer Venditti
Year: 2007
Language: English
Country: America
15 year old Billy Price is a kid who himself professes to be "different", an outcast at school, Billy the Kid is a documentary which follows him in his daily life. Billy has an incredible down to earth and straight talking attitude, he says things as he sees them which is often very profound.
While Billy is undoubtably a very intellegent and entertaining person to watch, I didn't really understand why he would be the subject of a documentary. The film is well made and interesting to watch, but to me, it seemed a bit invasive of his life. A lot of the time, it seemed to me that the audience were laughing at Billy rather than with him.
Overall, interesting and insightful, but something about it didn't sit right with me.
Dave W - 18th August, 2007 - 15:30
Director:
Jean-Baptiste Andrea
Year: 2006
Language: English
Country: America
When Charlie (David Schwimmer) starts work at a call centre to try and support his family while waiting on his book to be published, he meets Gus (Simon Pegg). After losig his job after the first day, Gus lets him in on a plan he has to blackmail the local priest after acquiring some internet logs of his browsing history. Gus and Charlie are joined by Gus' friend Josie, but when the 3 of them go to collect the money things don't go as smoothly as planned.
Big Nothing is full of twists and turns, some feel a little convoluted, but for the most part it is a fun caper as Charlie gets more and more out of his depth and people reveal themselves to be other than what they seem. David Schwimmer plays pretty much the Ross role from Friends, Pegg is good as usual, his comic timing standing out, but his false American accent is hard to get used to. The rest of the cast or ok in their roles with no real stand out performances.
Humorous throughout, with an interesting plot, Big Nothing is by no means Oscar material but there is enough there for 1 hour and 20 minutes of mindless entertainment.
Dave W - 8th January, 2008 - 12:53
Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is a middle aged, unemployed stoner who calls himself "The Dude" and spends most of his time hanging around the bowling alley with his friends Vietnam veteran Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi).
When a couple of hard men mistake him for another Jeffrey Lebowski and rough him up a little while demanding money, they urinate on his rug, Walter suggests maybe "The Dude" should claim reparations from the "Big" Lebowski which leads "The Dude" into a plot concerning pornographer's, kidnapping and embezzlement.
With a great cast which extends beyond Bridges and Goodman to encompase other big names such as Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Big Lebowski is a highly comedic crime caper which sees the laid back "Dude" thrown into a much more fast paced world.
With some unforgettable scenes and some great lines, The Big Lebowski is a film which is entertaining, funny and memorable.
Dave W - 1st February, 2008 - 13:18
Cheng Chao-an (Bruce Lee) moves to live with his cousins who all work at the local Ice factory. He too gets a job there, but when his cousins start disappearing, he is torn between the dilemma to do something about it or to keep a promise he made to his mother not to get into any fights.
And so you have it, a Bruce Lee movie where Lee doesn't do all that much fighting. The dub is pretty dodgy, the film transfer wasn't amazing, the fight sequences were for the most part poor with people jumping 6 feet in the air all over the place and weren't all the spectacularly choreographed.
Having said that, the plot was reasonable and the ending made up for the lack of decent Bruce Lee action in the earlier parts of the film.
Overall, an alright movie, but I would have liked to see Bruce Lee kicking ass a bit more and a bit less dodgy wire work.
Dave W - 19th July, 2008 - 11:04
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