I am thankful that in this land where non Italian movies, comedies, you-name-it are dubbed into Italian, I have a whole stash of UNdubbed English movies at home. Thank heavens for that! 😛 Actually, I’ve to thank my other half for that. He has had the foresight to borrow some DVDs from friends and to buy them from Malaysia where DVDs are cheaper. Ahem. 😛
To date, we’ve watched about three to four seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond, the Band of Brothers miniseries, Season One of Six Feet Under, Season One of Dexter and a few movies too. Everybody Loves Raymond is my ultimate favourite. I have watched some episodes more than twice, and it still never fails to crack me up.
Band of Brothers, although not of my favourite genre, was surprisingly good. The miniseries is mainly about the experience of Easy Company of the parachute regiment of the U.S. Army during World War 2. Many scenes were gruesome; limbs being blown off, soldiers getting killed. But I must say the producers developed the main character’s role very well. In a war movie, they still managed to reach out and touch the emotions of the viewers. I think I was most touched by the special feature right at the very end. The characters of each actor were based on a real life soldier, and they interviewed the surviving Easy Company veterans. Very touching.
The first few times we watched Six Feet Under, I cried. It is a depressing way to start a series, with the patriarch of the family killed in a tragic hearse accident. It had a few, rather graphic homosexual acts which was a little tummy churning too, but soon, the plot did thicken, and I daresay I quite like the series now, morbidity and all. I hope to get the rest of the available seasons when we get back to Malaysia, the land of pirated cheap DVDs 😛
And then there’s Dexter. Man, this Michael Hall must like playing weird roles. First, he plays the uptight, gay David in the abovementioned Six Feet Under. Then he plays Dexter, a serial killer who works for the Miami Police Department as a blood spatter analyst. He is quite a sociopath and kills people “who deserve it”. Gory is an understated word to describe this series. Although the plot is admittedly good, I’m not sure whether I want to continue watching the other seasons. Maybe I would; I think I’m getting used to all this gory stuff 😛
On Saturday, HB and I watched The Kite Runner.
I’ve bought the book, but have yet to read it. A few people have said that it’s better to watch the movie first, and then read the book, and that’s what I did. And WOW.
It is a tale of friendship and loyalty. The scenes were shot very well, the actors were good, and I was especially taken by the child actor Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada who played the role of Hassan. He was especially adorable and childlike in his manners. Wikipedia revealed that due to the nature of the movie (the Taliban etc), the boys had threats to their lives. Paramount Pictures relocated four of these child actors to the UAE accompanied by a relative and accepted responsibility for the boys’ living expenses until they reach adulthood. I hope it’s not an empty promise.
Yesterday, we watched The Shawshank Redemption. Yes, I know I am 14 years late, but as they say, better late than never. I would say that this movie is one of the greatest of all time. It was undoubtedly poignant, and you never forget that oppression is the main ingredient of this movie. And yet, “hope” can be found in many scenes. A beer on a hot sunny day, Italian opera that literally petrifies all inmates, the talk of Zihuatanejo. At the end of the movie, it makes you rethink how perseverance does pay off.
I love watching movies like these. Must get more good ones to watch. Do you have any to recommend?
😉
I haven’t get a chance to watch the movie of The Kite Runner, the book is indeed very touching and wonderful though..wait till you read the book and tell us which one is better 🙂
Have you watched the movie The Usual Suspects? It has also a little similar twist in the end and it’s a absolutely good movie with Kevin Spacey.
WJ: I’m sure the book will be better. The book versions always are, e.g.: Memoirs of a Geisha, The Devil Wears Prada, Great Expectations, Runaway Jury, just to name a few.
The Usual Suspects, nope, never watched that one. Will keep it in mind. Thank you! 😉