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Positive Experience/Entertaining? It was definitely a positive experience, but a bit on the vague-side when it comes to connecting the theme up with the events of the movie. The plot was fine, but beyond the river flowing by I didn’t get any idea of where the title comes from (yes, water washes away sins, but why didn’t it for these women?). The movie was probably a bit longer than it needed to be, or just slightly less interesting that it should have been, in my opinion. I wasn’t expecting explosions or chase scenes, but something about this movie just felt a little slow.

Technically any good? The story was very interesting and very important. The script was pretty solid as was most of the acting. I wish I could have seen a bit more from the lead child, range-wise, but giving that she wasn’t speaking her native language, I have to say she did a good job. The rest of the casting was generally spot-on, but the prostitute character was WAY too hot. She did a good job with the acting, but I just didn’t buy that someone that hot and that white-looking would end up in what was essentially a prison for widows (the actress is apparently known as the Angelina Jolie of India!). I had only one other real problem with the movie aside from its pacing and that was a moment where a character behaved in a way that seemed dictated by the plot and not the character. Still, this movie was beautiful and stunning to watch. I just wish the pace was a bit quicker or that there was more to look at while I was waiting for the next plot point to occur.

How did it leave me feeling? Pretty satisfied, over all. I knew nothing about the issue of widows in India or how many are ostracized from society. While the movie takes place during Gandhi’s time, it is apparently still a problem. Seems that humanity, in general, is good at oppressing women–even when the oppressors are women, themselves. Makes no sense.

Final Rating? GSN - Go See Now - India is a fascinating culture and while I wouldn’t rank this film up among my absolute favorites, I think it’s a pretty good movie and a very good introduction to Indian culture (despite it being a negative aspect of Indian culture).

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Positive Experience/Entertaining? HELL yeah. This is my all time favorite silent movie (though Metropolis is a very close second favorite).

Technically any good? The story follows the events in a small European village after Dr. Caligari and his cabinet arrives. He charges people to see “Cesare the Somnambulist” who spends his entire life sleeping in Caligari’s cabinet to be woken only by the doctor, himself. But when people in the village start dying, who is to blame?

One of the most characteristic things about this movie is how they didn’t try to do anything with lighting–instead, they literally paint the shadows onto the sets. The effect is that the actors literally pop off the screen and the sets look creepy and surreal.

The acting in this 1920 silent film is perfectly reasonable for the time period, though if you’ve never seen a silent before you may have trouble accepting their behavior. The story is wonderful and invented a premise that would be used often in the scifi and horror genres over the following century. So far, I’m not sick of the premise yet.

How did it leave me feeling? Creeped-out, as always. I’ve seen this movie a bunch of times (most recently projected with live music and SFX–the best way to see it!) and it never fails to entertain me. I also see new things I’ve missed before with each viewing.

Final Rating? GSN - Go See Now - if you can find it on the big screen, that’s the best way to really appreciate it, but really it’s good on small screens, too.

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Positive Experience/Entertaining? Yes! It was a blast, actually.

Technically any good? Personally, I’ve never found the character of the Hulk to be terribly deep, so to me, Ang Lee’s take on him was a waste of time (read my Pocket Review for Lee’s Hulk). He’s not some dark, brooding character, he’s a guy doing his best to stay calm–ALL THE TIME. This movie is all about that struggle and I think it handles it very well, script and story-wise. Acting-wise it’s very spot-on with Edward Norton’s perfect performance as Bruce Banner being the highlight. It’s also a comic-fan’s dream as a LOT of references, which were missing from Ang Lee’s movie, show up in this one. I’m very interested to see a sequel to this as they’ve started a few interesting balls rolling by creating characters we know from the comic. My one gripe was the simplistic way the script handles Tim Roth’s character. I love him as an actor, but he was just too deep to play this one character. Everything else, as I said, is a blast.

How did it leave me feeling? Very entertained. Finally, someone gets the idea that big dumb action movies don’t have to completely insult the audience (Michael Bay, I’m lookin’ at you, buddy!). Also liked the zinger at the end (though I don’t get why it shows up before the credits and not after).

Final Rating? SIYL - See If You Like - obviously, not everyone likes big dumb actioners, but if you do, I would think this movie would be for you. Also, if you’re a comic book purist (like me) this movie is for you since it got a lot right.