Millennium Mambo

Rating:
Summary: A Void of a Film
Review: An absolute yawner of a film. 100% style, 2% substance. This film is so in love with itself that it forgets that it must court the viewer before any such egotistical fanfare. Many applaud this film for its depiction of what it's really like to experience a misspent youth in Taipei. I won't argue there--it certainly *seems* realistic, but it's monstrously boring. Qi Shu may be beautiful, but there isn't much for her to do. Same goes for the film as a whole...it is wonderfully lit and shot, but looks can only get you so far. If you're interested in something like "Mambo" but with a pulse, check out anything by Wong Kar Wai.

I give this film two stars and not one, because it serves as a style-buffet for cinematography students. Be vultures, kids. Shred this artistic-flotsom to pieces and make something more human with it.

Rating:
Summary: Millennium Boredom
Review: An extremely poor movie from Taiwan
There is no shortage of cigarettes there.
All bar scenes are extremely inept.

Rating:
Summary: the cure for insomnia
Review: I gave it 3 stars because the cinematography is beautiful as photography.

Also if you suffer from insomnia, get this. I tried to watch it 3 times 3 evenings in a row and had to go to bed before I finally finished it the 4th afternoon.

The slowest paced movie I have EVER seen.

It makes "Lost in Translation" seem Action-Packed.

The score is similar to "Lost in Translation." Could switch them and not tell the difference. But "Lost in Translation" has a lot more going on.

I don't know exactly what happened in this movie. The girl, Vicki, is very beautiful. She has a boyfriend who is mean to her. She leaves him and Jack, a Yakuza type, takes care of her. What happens, I'm just not sure.

I watched the extended scene that was availabe in the Special Features and that didn't help clarify much.

Everybody is beautiful to look at and nothing shocking happens. The snow landscapes are lovely.

Rating:
Summary: mesmerizing
Review: i think this is one of the most beautiful films i've ever seen. i was absolutely hypnotized by shu qi's performance, her authenticity, her emotion, etc. the scenes have this "real-time" cadence, lending the story yet more authenticity by making the viewer feel as if they are witnessing a 'real' argument, real sex, real healing. each scene seems to pull some of its energy or emotion out of the coloring and lighting of the setting...very deliberate, very beautiful. i don't claim to be a film expert...but i loved what i saw.

Rating:
Summary: Guh Ma La! Worst movie ever!
Review: The movie is described as a beautiful and honest look at young people living in Taipei around the year 2000. Well, with that said, I was expecting an interesting movie about young people living in Taipei around the year 2000. I guess I was expecting too much. The movie actually started out pretty well. The first few scenes I thought were fascinating, but after that the movie really just falls apart. Seriously. This really is the worst movie ever. It has to be. Was this movie even taking place in Taipei? The entire film takes place in something like three clubs and three apartments. No one was ever outside or in the streets. This film could easily have been taking place in Irvine or even Idaho! We can't tell!

The pace of the movie is excruciatingly slow. The fact that the story progresses in fragments doesn't help much either. The story is flat and the characters are empty. They are just drug abusers you really don't care about. What I hated most was when the narrator would tell us what happened in the past, and then the film does a flashback to show us exactly what the narrator just told us. If you are going to tell us what happens, why do you have to show us? Skip it and move on to the next scene, please! And what is with everyone saying this movie is beautiful? This movie was so extremely difficult to watch I couldn't even finish it! It wasn't going anywhere. The girl, Shu Qi has a boyfriend who does drugs and abuses her but she can't leave him. That's it. That's the whole movie. Oh no! Did I spoil it for you?

Along with being extremely dull and slow, the camera work was a ridiculously pathetic attempt at who knows what! The girl and her boyfriend would be in their apartment and the ONE camera would just stay in place. If they were in another room, well the audience wouldn't be with them because the camera would be stuck staring at the kitchen counter. The camera would move sometimes, but when it did, it looks like the director woke up and said, "hey everybody, we're filming! wake up!" I think the director should have rented Hitchcock's "The Rope" for technical reference. Heck, even Kevin Smith's "Clerks" would have helped. I don't know how much money this movie cost to make, but it is pretty clear that everyone involved got robbed-- Especially me. Stay clear of this horrible mess.

Rating:
Summary: dreading
Review: This movie was going nowhere, movie was like a mute, the characters sat around alot at home smoking and drinking alcohol. Vicky is always smoking or lighting up a cigerette. It was dreadful to see them do the same thing over and over again.