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A Very Long Engagement, a review by GSyren

A Very Long Engagement (7-321900-389723)

France 2004 | Released 2005-06-13 on DVD

123 minutes | Aspect ratio Anamorphic 2.40:1 | Audio: French Dolby Digital EX 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1), German Dolby Digital EX 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1), Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Jean-Pierre Becker, Dominique Bettenfeld, Clovis Cornillac

My thoughts about A Very Long Engagement

Un long dimanche de film... Well, I don't know if that's proper French, but I just wanted to say that the film was a little too long for my taste. I would have preferred a few less subplots. That would have made it easier  for me to keep my interest up throughout the movie. There certainly are movies over 2 hours that never feel too long for me, but this didn't quite make the grade. That said, I thought the cinematography was fantastic. I like Audrey Tautou quiet a lot. It was quite a bit gorier than I had expected, given that it was on Yves' grandchildren's top lists. The story was fine, but I'm not really fond of that many flashbacks. I prefer a somewhat more linear storytelling. Still, not a bad movie at all. Well worth the time put in to watch it, as Pete likes to say.

I rate this title: 4/5

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on October 27th, 2016)

One Night with the King, a review by Hal

Title: One Night with the King
Year: 2006
Director: Michael O. Sajbel
Rating: PG
Length: 122 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Tiffany Dupont
Luke Goss
John Rhys-Davies
John Noble
Tommy 'Tiny' Lister

Plot:
With lush cinematography, a mesmerizing score, and an all-star cast that includes Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif and John Rhys-Davies, 'One Night With The King' is a sweeping epic about Hadassah, the young Jewish orphan who becomes the biblical Esther, Queen of Persia.

Born into poverty, Hadassah (Tiffany DuPont) grows up to become a beauty who catches the eye of the powerful King Xerxes -- and ultimately becomes his bride. But despite her position, Hadassah's life is in danger, as the state has decreed all Jews will be put to death. Defying warnings to remain silent, however, Hadassah struggles to save her people, even as she attempts to hide her heritage, in this exciting and inspiring story about courage, faith and destiny.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned

Reminiscent of the lavish studio productions of the 1950s, this film was beautifully photographed, elegantly costumed and given a majestic musical score.  Tiffany Dupont, Luke Goss and James Callis give moving performances as they deal individually with revenge, duty, honor, love, loyalty and betrayal.  Since I have a soft spot for historical novels and have a particular interest in the history of Judaism, I was thoroughly satisfied with this one.  While Joan Collins and Richard Egan did a credible job in the 1960 version, Esther and the King, I enjoyed this version much more.

Rating:


(From One Night with the King on July 22nd, 2010)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Clark saves a man who was about to be hit by a car. Soon after this man - Graham - kills a key witness in an important trial. Then he tries to thank Clark for saving his life by giving him expensive gifts. Clark - who has now idea what Graham has done - can't accept these gift but Graham wants to repay his debt and he believes that killing Lex would achieve exactly that.

My Opinion: This was a good episode to set Clark's moral compass straight. Ok, there was nothing wrong about it, but it ensured the viewer about the things Clark would or wouldn't do. And I liked the comparison to medical personnel or firefighters. Clark wouldn't be Clark if he let someone die just because he might turn out to be a bad person. That's reassuring.

Synopsis: Jonathan appears to Clark and demands of him to kill Lionel because Lionel puts the entire planet at risk. Meanwhile Lex has managed to create the most powerful vaccine in the world. With it the human body can withstand practically everything. But he has underestimated Milton Fine, who has double-crossed him. Lex created the vaccine without the knowledge of Fine - or at least he thought so. He did exactly what Milton wanted.

My Opinion: Great opening to the season finale. Lex was played perfectly by Fine just as Clark was earlier this season. Fine is truly worthy of the name Brainiac (=Brain InterActive Construct).

Synopsis: "Zod is coming!" When Fine was impersonating Jonathan he demanded that Clark would kill Lionel. But now Jor-El (the real one) is demanding that Clark would have to kill the "Vessel of Zod" and that vessel is Lex. But does Clark really have the guts to kill anyone? If not, the world as we know it will come to an end.

My Opinion: Great finale. Lionel said that sometimes a price has to be paid to achieve a greater good, but I say it again, then it wouldn't be Clark if he would pay that price. But one also has to admit, that everytime he defies his father, a lot of people get hurt in the process. One day it has to boil down to a choice of idealism versus pragmatism. Of course I have to continue watching at once.

The Season - My Opinion: For the characters this might have been a bad season, with Jonathan's death, Lana's and Clark's break-up and so on. From a story-telling POV I liked it much better than the previous one. The preparation for Zod's arrival over the course of the season was much more believable than that entire witch arc and Brainiac was an interesting opponent. And while I might not like the road Lana is going down, I still like it that her character has finally left the "helpless girl phase". Of course there will always be opportunities for Clark to save her, but he saves everybody once in a while.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 15th, 2008)