Sense and Sensibility

Three sisters of the Dashwood family, introverted Elinor (Emma Thompson), outward and outspoken Marianne (Kate Winslet), and the precocious juvenile Margaret, along with their mother are dispossessed of their family's estate when it passes to their brother upon their father's death, but not before the eldest falls for her charming and reserved brother-in-law. Taken in by obnoxious landlords, Marianne falls for a dashing, disingenuous gentleman and the women acquaint a compassionate, mysterious colonel (Alan Rickman). Ang Lee's Jane Austen adaptation stands with the best period pieces of its like, with its brilliantly lit cinematography and an exceptional cast, especially Thompson who also won an Oscar for writing the screenplay.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Ride with the Devil

In Missouri territory during the Civil War, a Bushwacker (Tobey Maguire) and the rest of his band of Southern loyalists engage in brutal guerilla warfare against the Union hopeful Kansas Jayhawkers. He eventually joins forces with a black soldier (Jeffrey Wright), in the curious position of fighting for the same Rebel cause, and gradually learns of the man's predicament as the two share stories and ride out the war together. Ang Lee's Ride with the Devil is gorgeously filmed and has a unique point of view for a war picture but is ultimately hurt by overlength, redundancy, and unconvincing acting, Maguire being the biggest culprit. Wright turns in an nuanced performance in an underdeveloped role.

Life of Pi

A reporter (Rafe Spall) learns of a fantastical story and meets with Pi Patel (Irrfan Khan) to hear his version of events. Born in a zoo in French India and named after a Paris pool ("piscine") beloved by his champion swimmer uncle, young Pi (Ayush Tandon) found himself fascinated with and began adopting the ways of several religions ("I was a Catholic Hindu meaning I got to feel guilty before thousands of gods"). As a teen (now played by Suraj Sharma) when his father is forced to sell the zoo and travel to Canada by cargo ship with its inhabitants in tow, a devastating storm sweeps away his family and leaves him marooned on a lifeboat with a full grown Bengal tiger.  "Life of Pi" is a wondrous and moving film from master filmmaker Ang Lee, who applies his deeply felt and sensitive abilities to a novel (written by Yann Martel) thought unfilmable by many and a 3D process deemed largely unpalatable. The result is a sumptuous feast, a visual wonder whose human story has moved me in a way that very few had done before.

side note: I read that Richard Parker, the tiger in the picture was almost entirely the result of computer generated imagery. While this conceit should have probably been obvious to me, it speaks to my feelings of the CGI process in that when it's done badly I don't want to see it, and when it's done splendidly I don't care to know how.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

12/19/12 I watched this film again and while it does require patience and is not immediately accessible,  it is a beautiful and poetic film about longing, which contains exciting action pieces as well as wonderful character development. Ang Lee's direction is marvelous and stunning and the three leads, Yun-Fat Chow, Michelle Yeoh, and Ziyi Zhang are truly excellent in their roles. *** 1/2

6/30/10 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an Academy Award winning film from a versatile director that contains beautiful scenery and wonderful choreography, and it is a movie that I can never seem to get into. It is basically the story of two women, one arranged to be married into nobility but who strives for a life of crime, and one who has settled for a warrior's life, lived by its code, and regrets not expressing her love to her warrior partner. As the former steals an all powerful sword from the latter a deadly battle ensues where both will have to make unforeseeable choices. Director Ang Lee, who seems at home in any genre, strives to make a classic martial arts movie while blending in Matrix like choreographed fight scenes. Although I said this is a hard film to get into, I am recommending it because its scenery is too beautiful and its weightless fight scenes are too awesome not too. ***