JOHN CARTER

"JOHN CARTER"(2012/U.S.A.)
Synopsis
John Carter, a Civil War veteran who in 1868 was trying to live a normal life, is "asked" by the Army to join. But he refuses so he is locked up. He escapes and is pursued. Eventually they run into some Indians and there's a gunfight. Carter seeks refuge in a cave. While there he encounters someone who is holding some kind of medallion. When Carter touches it, he finds himself in a place where he can leap incredible heights, among other things. He later encounters beings he has never seen before. Later he meets a woman who helps him to discover that he is on Mars. And he learns there's some kind of unrest going on.

The original novel of this movie is a masterpiece of Edgar Rice Burroughs  written 100 years ago.
His amazing novels had a big influence on George Lucas who directed "Star Wars" and James Cameron who directed "Avatar".
Some film companies and directors had been trying to make this movie "John Carter" for many years. But, they don't have any technique to realize the fantastic world of Burroughs' faithfully.
Lucas released  "Star Wars"  series and got many fans all over the world  before "John Carter" was made. Lucas might have an image of Burroughs' world in his own films.
So when I saw the"John Carter"movie,  I can see the image of "Star Wars"-like some characters,  a circumstance of hero's world, and a story itself of course.
 The audience was not able to find fresh discovery and impression by this movie.
I was disappointed by it because I liked the novel of Burroughs.

Burroughs had written "Barsoom series"  more than ten episodes. I really hope that his story will be filmed again, but accoding to Walt Disney films, "John Carter"  did not make it on the box office,  so I don't think that they will make the sequel soon.

And, I think if they will try to make a movie of this series again, they should make an animated version of "John Carter"  for children, because Walt Disney has been given children a dream with their inimitatable aminations!

My rating:　★★

RED RIDING HOOD

"RED RIDING HOOD"(2011/U.S.A)
Synopsis
Valerie is a beautiful young woman torn between two men. She is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter, but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry. Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter are planning to run away together when they learn that Valerie's older sister has been killed by the werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village. For years, the people have maintained an uneasy truce with the beast, offering the creature a monthly animal sacrifice. But under a blood red moon, the wolf has upped the stakes by taking a human life. Hungry for revenge, the people call on famed werewolf hunter, Father Solomon,to help them kill the wolf. But Solomon's arrival brings unintended consequences as he warns that the wolf, who takes human form by day, could be any one of them. As the death toll rises with each moon... 

The several scenes of this movie paid homage to the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood". However this movie had a totally different story. 
The residents of a village were afraid of a werewolf and the werewolf was living among the villagers. I was exicited to find who it was.
This movie was full of fantasy and the soundtrack was so cool. The fans of TWILIGHT must be angry with my opinion, but the story was not that interesting because I think it lacked the element of drama. I'm a fan of Gary Oldman, so I wanted him to be more active! 
This movie's keyword was RED. The person who the werewolf bit in a red moon night would turn into a werewolf. Although all residents had plain clothes, the heroine wore a red hood. The heroine had inherited the blood of the werewolf so it made her apperance very impressive when she wore a red. Red is a very beautiful color but in this movie, this color was cursed.
By the way, I was impressed by her mysterious emerald eyes.


My rating:★★

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS(2009/Canada,France,U.K.)
Synopsis
In London, the sideshow troupe of Doctor Parnassus promises the audience a journey to the "Imaginarium", an imaginary world commanded by the mind of Doctor Parnassus, where dreams come true. In the stories that Doctor Parnassus tells to his daughter Valentina, the midget Percy, and his assistant Anton, he claims to have lived for more than one thousand years; However, when he fell in love with a mortal woman, he made a deal with the devil (Mr. Nick), trading his immortality for youth. As part of the bargain, he promised his son or daughter to Mr. Nick on their sixteenth birthday. Valentina is now almost to the doomed age and Doctor Parnassus makes a new bet with Mr. Nick, whoever seduces five souls in the Imaginarium will have Valentina as a prize. Meanwhile the troupe rescues Tony, a young man that was hanged on a bridge by the Russians. Tony was chased until he finds and joins the group.

I like this movie's director, Terry Gilliam. He is an American, but he is mainly active in the U.K. as an  animator, actor and movie director. He is also famous for being a member of Monty Python.
His image of a movie is artistic, so  the story he creates is beyond our imagination.
I always feel excited to watching his movie. "THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS" also exceeded my expectations.
The imaginary world commanded by the mind of Doctor Parnassus is so amazing.
Terry used his original animation techniques. Although it's a little weird world, it emphasized his individuaily. I am also an animator myself, so I admire him and I wish I could visualize my images like him!
If you see the trailer, you would think that it must be a flashy adventure movie like hollywood movies. In fact it is not. I think it is a love-it-or-hate-it type of movie just like "12 MONKEYS" and "THE BROTHERS GRIMM".
This movie is notable for Heath Ledger's appearance and became his posthumous acting. The filming was interrupted by his death, but his friends, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell helped to play his role and the complete the movie. As a result, the actors were very gorgeous and splendid.
By the way, I found a very interesting video. It was for a children's show in Terry's younger days.  He was showing how to make an animation. He was so young!
I like the video so much. How about you?

My rating：★★★★

SURVIVING LIFE(THEORY AND PRACTICE)

"SURVIVING LIFE(THEORY AND PRACTICE)"(2010/Czech Republic,Slovakia)
Synopsis
This movie is a Czech comedy horror film by Jan Švankmajer. The film uses a mix of cutout animation from photographs and live-action segments, and tells the story of a married man who lives a double life in his dreams, where he is married to another woman. It will premiere out of competition at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.

Have you ever seen a dream? I have always seen colored dreams with scents. 
My dreams come as comedy, tragedy, disaster or  suspence story with dinosaurs coming out to get me.
Sigmund Freud is an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis.
According to Freud, dreams are meant to satisfy human desires and all of our dreams are meaningful ones. And he also said there are two types of dreams. One is when the desires appear cleary. Another is when the potential desire appear and change their shapes as distorted dreams. 
This movie deals with the logic of Freud in a very unique way.
Evzen, a hero of the movie, met a women in his dream and he tried to manipulate his dream to see her again. But the women was not his clear desire. So what is meaning of her appearance?  As the story progresses, you will find her true identity. The end of the movie is complicated mixture of reality and dreams.
I like Švankmajer's movies and I am always impressed by the production of his movies and his techniques. Generally his movies are difficult to understand.
But I think this movie is easy to watch even if you're a beginner fan of his.

My rating:★★★★

MR. NOBODY

"MR. NOBODY"(2009/Belgium.Canada.France.Germany)
Synopsis
The main character, who calls himself Nemo Nobody, is a 118-year-old man, the last mortal man on earth. The days leading up to his death become the object of a reality show and are broadcast to the immortal world's population. Nemo himself says that he remembers nothing about his past and a psychiatrist tries to make him recall memories through hypnosis; other memories are told to a journalist. The whole movie is random scraps of memories of Mr. Nobody, which make up conflicting stories of his life. It is unclear which of the memories are real and which are just potential developments of Nemo's life that have not happened.
The film has a tree structure: from the birth of the protagonist, the viewer sees all the possible options for the development of his life, which generally form several "branches".

If I had a different choice at that time, I would like to get a better result for the ending. Anyone would think so.
In this movie, Nemo had experienced having several choices. He met three women and his life changed in choosing a partner. Curiously, we can see three patterns of his choices. Actually, who did he choose? I think he should have choosen HER for him to be happy. But....
I felt as if I had experienced his life through the story.
And also in this movie, nobody died a natural death in the future. But is it good for us? I think life is beautiful because there is a limit to it. That's why we can try to do whatever we can and cherish our day to day lives.
Anyway, I enjoyed the movie very much.
I just want to add one thing. Toby Regbo, who acted as the 15-year-old Nemo, is so cute and he struck my heart. Whew! :D

My rating:★★★