Movies

Tonight we watched Brokeback Mountain (2005,R) (Screen It! Review). From Wikipedia:

Brokeback Mountain is an acclaimed and controversial Academy Award-winning 2005 film that depicts a complex emotional, sexual, and romantic relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1983.

I give it 4 out of 5.

Tonight we watched Walk the Line, the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. I've been a fan of Reese Witherspoon for a decade and half, and the film's music was of course enjoyable. It's a familiar story. I couldn't help but think of Ray. I give it 4 out of 5.

Here are a couple reviews of The Nativity Story (in theaters this week): ChristianityToday.com Slate.com Neither seems to have too much praise or criticism for the film.

Last Wednesday I finished watching this documentary. From the film's page on HBO's web site:

Daniel Pearl and Omar Sheikh were both highly educated individuals from privileged backgrounds who saw the world very differently. Pearl was a humanist who became an accomplished journalist and spent most of his career reporting from the Muslim world as part of a quest to promote cross-cultural understanding. Sheikh was radicalized by events that he regarded as the global persecution of Muslims, and became an Islamic militant who chose a deeply violent method to achieve what he believed in. After 9/11, their paths crossed in Pakistan, with tragic consequences.

I remember hearing about Daniel Pearl at the time of his kidnapping and murder. I didn't realize that he was purchased from his original kidnappers by another group that filmed his murder and left his body for the original kidnappers to dispose of. Of course, this is a very sad story. I give the film 4 out of 5.

On Saturday I finished watching Kagemusha (1980,PG). From Wikipedia:

Kagemusha is a film by Akira Kurosawa. The title means "the impersonator" in Japanese, or, more literally, "the shadow warrior". It is the story of a lower-class criminal who is taught to impersonate a dying warlord in order to dissuade opposing lords from attacking the newly vulnerable clan. The film is set in the Warring States period of Japanese history. The warlord whom the kagemusha impersonates is based on Daimyo Takeda Shingen and the climactic battle on the Battle of Nagashino which took place in 1573. Kagemusha was released in 1980 and is generally considered a great recreation of feudal Japan as well as a story of a man with a divided personality, or more generally that of an actor who falls too deeply into his role.

It was OK. I'm not a big fan of the genre. I give it 3 out of 5.