No Man's Land

No Man’s Land was a fairly interesting movie.

First off, I appreciated that it was a shorter movie. It kept my attention and it made me laugh in a couple of parts. I liked when the Bosnian and Serb soldiers were in the trench and they kept switching their dominance because of who had the gun.

I thought it was very smooth how the UN French guy and the reporter switched back and forth between French and English. I would not realize that they had switched languages because of how fluid it was.

The secretary-like figure from the UN confused me a little. She did the whole “Look at my breasts!” body language when she was in the office and then they brought her out to no man’s land. That was not very smart. She seemed very ditzy and out of place.

I liked the little detail that almost every character in the movie had a picture of someone special to them in their wallet, whether it is a girlfriend or a large naked man. To each his own, I guess.

The ending was only half of what I expected. I had a feeling they would both get out of the trench alive, but I thought they would stay alive and get to their own respective sides. I friend on the bomb I thought would get out alive as well. When he did not, I have expected him to give up and roll off the bomb and explode.

The characters I felt the most for were Cera and Marchand. Cera obviously because he was laying on a bomb and could not move, but he was also trying to be the mediator for the two other soldiers. I felt for Marchand because he was so torn between following orders and following his own feelings.

Overall, I liked the movie.

"Underground" is where this movie belongs!

I actually did not like the movie Underground at all. It definitely was not my style at all and the spuratic nature of the film bothered me. I understand what the underlying meaning of the film was and that the film was supposed to be a satire, and I respect it for that, but it was not my cup of tea. I feel like people almost have to read a background on the countries and the situations portrayed before actually watching the movie.

I only recall laughing once and the only reason was because it reminded me of an American comedy. When Jovan was running around holding the grenade and screaming, it was almost exactly like Steve Carrell’s character on the movie Anchorman.

As I mentioned in the discussion from class, the ending bothered me. Blacky kept asking people if they had seen his son fifty years after he had last seen him. I highly doubt he would have been looking for him all that time after losing him in a lake. Plus, Blacky was asking people who did not even know who he was if they had seen his son.

I also thought Ivan’s reunion with his monkey Soni was a little farfetched, even for this movie. After fifty years he goes to the Underground and finds his monkey that ran away? I do not think so.

Overall it was one of the longest and most annoying three hours of my life. I do not recommend this movie to anyone else.

"My Sassy Girl" Review

My Sassy Girl was an adorable movie, even if it was a bit long. I think a few scenes could have been cut, and the same point would have been made.

Gwun-woo’s character seemed to be kind of a push over, but I do not think Ji-hyun Jun would have dated someone who was not like that. I got the impression that she liked to be in control of things. (Sarcasm!) It was a very humorous movie also. Ji-hyun Jun’s personality is one that I want to encounter at some point in my life, if only for a minute or two. I really liked how quirky and outspoken she was. I loved the way she and Gwun-woo met when she was completely trashed on the subway. Gwun-woo’s quirky-ness complimented hers exactly.

One of my favorite scenes was when they put on their old high school uniforms and went out drinking and clubbing. I also really liked the scene with his birthday surprise in the park. I thought the difference between what he envisioned and what actually happened with the army was hilarious. The speech she gave the soldier at the end of the situation was cheesy though.

I really liked how Gwun-woo decided that in his and Ji-hyun’s separation period he would try to get better at all the activities that they used to do together.

The ending, for some reason, did not give me a sense of resolve. Perhaps it was because they never kissed throughout the entire movie.