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kemmellie
Reviews
Ren zai Niu Yue (1989)
Three Chinese women find friendship in America
Stanley Kwan's film, "Full Moon in New York," is a great film about Chinese immigration to America. It looks at three women, from Taiwan (Sylvia Chang), mainland China (Gaowa Siqin), and Hong Kong (Maggie Cheung), respectively, and how they overcome socio-cultural differences to forge a friendship based on mutual suffering and understanding in surviving life in "the Big Apple." While issues involving Chinese labor, Chinatowns, stereotypes of Asian American actors, and politics are touched on, they are not explored in depth. Still, Kwan provides an interesting character study of three women's struggle to make a name for themselves and find happiness and love in a society where racial prejudice and stereotypes, as well as cultural differences isolate them. Yet they find solace in each other's experiences and become friends despite old territorial grievances and lack of a common language.
The Pretenders: Greatest Hits (2000)
Great collection of the Pretenders hits from 1979 to 1999 and documentary
Cool, funny, strange, interesting, entertaining, and strong music just like the Pretenders. A non-chronological collection of the Pretenders greatest hits videos for 20 years. It begins with "Brass in Pocket" and ends with "I'll Stand By You," including videos for "Talk of the Town," "Message of Love," "Human," "Kid," and the ultra-I'm a cool rock star video, "Night In My Veins." The 45-minute documentary, "No Turn Left Unstoned" is as irreverent and interesting as the band and the title. It's a bit confusing and disjointed at times but always cool and colorful, metaphorically speaking. U2's Bono interviews Chrissie Hynde at short moments throughout the documentary, and their conversation seems a bit awkward but we can forgive them that because they're Bono and Chrissie Hynde. If you've seen the videos aired over the years and the documentary on television, it is still a great rock collection to own or watch. I've worn my copy out!
Pretenders Loose in L.A. (2003)
Chrissie Hynde still rocks out in 2003!
She complains that she got "a shot of cortisone in her f-ing ass" just so she could perform, and apologizes for her voice, but boy does she ever sound great! Vocals maybe, were not as on as in The Isle of View, but she sings "I'll Stand By You," "Brass in Pocket," "Don't Get Me Wrong," "Kid," and other hits beautifully. She rocks out with "Middle of the Road," "Night in My Veins," "My City Was Gone," and others like the rock star that she is! There's a great guitar solo in "Fools Must Die," and a charming screw-up at the beginning of "Nothing Breaks Like A Heart," but it's great, really. It does take her a few songs to warm up and get comfortable with the crowd, and it could do with some more talk (also the director seems to forget that there is a bass player in the band because Andy Hobson doesn't get much camera time), but the music, vocals, and entertainment is very good. Martin Chambers is "entertaining" during a couple numbers, and if you like Chrissie Hynde, you'll love the DVD.
Tom & Viv (1994)
A tragic tale of creative power, love, and societal conformity in the mid-1900s.
Tom and Viv is a powerful story centered on one woman's fight to be an individual in mid-nineteenth century British society. Miranda Richardson does an excellent job of portraying the emotional depth of an intelligent, carefree woman forced into living a conventional, traditional life while her doctors, husband (acclaimed American poet T.S. Eliot), and family believe her to be suffering from mental illness. Richardson captures the rage, quirkiness, and strength of a woman trying to make a difference in the world when nearly everyone she meets tries to keep her in her place. William Dafoe, as Tom, brilliantly shows the effects of Viv's upstarts on a man seeking to maintain traditional societal values and blend into a conventional, though artistic and intellectual, world. While the movie does not delve too deeply into Eliot's poetry, it centers on his life and the life of the woman he claimed to love; perhaps, making a statement on how life blends into art. Ultimately, Tom and Viv is a tragic story about the inadequate health system offered to women in the 1930s and how societal conformity put a wrench in the love and marriage of two brilliant people. It enrages the feminist, humanitarian, and author in me, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in a deep and compelling story of both a poet and a woman's fall.