I rented
The Patriot DVD last week, because I havn't seen it in a while and wanted to hear the music.
A few points I made to myself:
I always thought that the image of Gibson running with his tomahawk (I have no idea about the spelling) looked just like 'The last of the Mohicans' cover. I've never seen it, but I always seem to pass it at the video store.
It stars two men who I believe are among the best British actors around today: Jason Isaacs and Tom Wilkenson.
Isaacs is simply a great actor, especialy good at playing guys with a negative side to them (like here and Black Hawk Down), but also showed his ability to play an egghead in his breif but memorable (for me at least) performance in Armagedon.
His Tavington is so perfectly and believably evil, that he steals the show in every single scene he's in. His character is portrayed best in one of the deleted scenes:
Rollins: "Do your worst!"
Tavington: "I always do"
The best way to describe Tom Wilkenson is a chamilion- he plays a lot of different parts very convincingly.
He showed his comic ability in Shakespeare in Love and the Full Monty (Which I didn't really like).
He showed the potential for cruelty in the begining of SIL and, to a far lesser extent, in Rush hour.
He showed a blend of those, in addition to a degree of royalty in The Patriot.
And, from what I understand, he played an American father very convincingly in In the Bed Room.
This movie is one of the best examples of a movie in which the bad guys are so much more likable than the good guys- like Dustin Hoffman in Hook or Saruman and the Nazgul in FoTR. Although in FoTR it's not fair, as they have awful actors in the main roles.
The more I think of it, the more I despise Elija Wood and Peter Jackson for ruining the main character your suppose to connect with.
The dynamics of his character in the movie are very interesting, since really, he's not a bad guy. He was just manipulated by his officer to agreing to those brutaql tactics.
The movie followes a very familiar route which exists mainly in criminal movies- the good guys have a run of good luck, a bunch of good jobs, than it gets messed up, but in the end they have a big fight/ heist in which they turn out victorious. See Entrapment, Ordinary Decent Criminal, The general (I know I'm cheating here), Gladiator.
I liked the comedy in the movie. Not because it was funny, (which it wasn't), but because it made the characters more human.
I loved in the scene when the ship blows up in the background of the party. The civilized and calm music really make it much funnier.
I also saw
I am Sam.
Nothing special really, except for some really convincing acting by Penn.
You do forget that he's an actor acting and really believe he's retarded.
I really resent the terrible Beatles covers they have in the movie.
Richard Schiff was really good, as usual. He's much better now than when he icked all these roles of losers. I guess The West Win changed that.
The only really quotable line was: ' You're telling me that neither of you want custody of your child?'
I also saw 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' and 'Interview with the Vampire' (the latter for the first time).
