#89- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Quick recap: Two warriors go in search of a stolen sword, only to find out the skilled master they pursued is really a nobleman’s daughter who totes doesn’t want an arranged marriage. Her parents are so uncool, probably not allowing her to get on Snapchat or Instagram. She was right to pursue a life of crime, in my opinion.

Fun (?) fact: ‘Crouching tiger, hidden dragon’ is a Chinese phrase, basically meaning to hide your strength from others. I’ll file this phrase away to remember the next time I become entangled in a duel.

My thoughts: I vaguely remember watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when it was in theaters . This occurred during my sophomore year of high school, when I went out of town to an academic meet. The truth is, everyone else was old enough to watch the new Morgan Freeman film, Along Came a Spider, and I was stuck watching something ‘cultural’ and ‘sophisticated’. So that explains why I remember the experience and not much of the movie itself, because all I really wanted was a good murder mystery.

Watching the movie again as an adult was much more satisfying, I’m glad to say. 15 year old me was much more focused on the subtitles and not so much the detail, and so I missed out on how beautiful the film is. It’s one of the reasons I enjoyed Brokeback Mountain so much- because the scenery and setting is as vital to the story as the characters and plot. Several points in the movie I had to remind myself that this was shot in modern times and I wasn’t actually watching footage from ancient China. After the movie ended I found myself with a sudden urge to visit China and see all the places Ang Lee showcased.

One of the most surprising parts of the film was the theme of strong women. So much so that in the years since watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I had completely forgotten that there was any romance. The young girl, Jen , is the secret warrior and far more advanced than most adults who have been studying this form of martial arts their entire life. The argument she has about not wanting to marry comes partly from her love of a another man, but also because she recognizes that marriage will end most freedoms she currently enjoys. When her former love, Lo, comes back and tries to take her away, she refuses. It isn’t until the end of the movie that she accepts her feelings and goes to him. The other female character, Yu Shu Lien, is in the same boat. She has strong feelings for Mu Bai, a famed warrior, but has never mentioned anything because kicking ass for a living is kind of fun. So although romance is involved, it is not a driving force in the movie. Also worth mentioning, the main enemy,Jade Star, is also a woman.

The one part of the movie that didn’t work for me were the scenes that involved flying. I get the idea that fighting is really a dance and when the characters were in combat with one another, I was interested. But the scenes where the warrior flew over buildings in a single leap or ran up the wall felt sort of silly. It was easy to see that everyone had been hooked up to wires which had been edited out, instead of trying to convey that this was a magical part of the story. I enjoyed the fight scene in the trees because even though they were in battle, it was peaceful.

Final review: 5/5. The soundtrack was as beautiful as the rest of the movie. I would definitely watch this one again

Up next: Seven Samurai

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#87- Rebel Without a Cause

Quick recap: Jim Stark is a troubled youth who moves into a new town to escape his troubled past. This lasts about 10 seconds before someone calls him chicken and then he’s ready to do anything to prove himself. And he TOTALLY has a cause, you guys.

Fun (?) fact: All of the main characters in this film met some horrible fate. James Dean was in a car accident, Natalie Wood ‘drowned’ and Sal Mineo was stabbed to death. Looking back, I guess that wasn’t such a fun fact.

Stop it, Bieber.

My thoughts: As I approach the ripe old age of 30, I am reminded more and more that I am no longer a youth. I’d like to think I’m more hip than others (notice my use of the word ‘hip’), but my mentality is alas that of an adult. So, although I can rightly say that Rebel Without a Cause was an enjoyable movie, its effect was mostly lost on me. I think if these teens had just played by the rules by turning that music down and getting off of those lawns, everything would’ve been ok.

This was such a movie made for teens. James Dean was certainly an icon and he played the role of Stark better than anyone else could’ve. At the same time, 3/4 of the movie (my rough estimate) was spent leaning against something or posing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. Maybe leaning against stuff was the fad back then. Or maybe it’s what teen stars do. Back in my day, the teens were into Leonardo DiCaprio and Freddie Prinze Jr., who may or may not have leaned on stuff. But what they didn’t have that Dean did, was passion. Dean was a true teen. I also loved Natalie Wood, but I’d love her in whatever role she played.

At the same time teens could relate to this movie, so could parents. Stark’s life was messed up because of his parents, according to the movie. I really didn’t see the big deal, compared to, say, Judy, who’s father refused to show any sort of affection. In the end, it was the adults who were the true villains and these poor innocent teens were just misunderstood. Take Plato’s (played by Mineo) role. His story begins in the police station, when he is brought in for SHOOTING PUPPIES. But he only shoots puppies because his father abandoned him. So, if anything, this movie was one long PSA to adults to start paying attention to your kid or they will start shooting puppies.

or they will try to get high off of raisins.

Final review: 4/5. This is true American cinema, and so I really enjoyed the historical context. The plot was kind of silly and melodramatic, but what teen drama isn’t?

Up next: Salt of the Earth

#86- The Apartment

Quick recap: C.C. Baxter works for an insurance company and figures out the best way to move up in the business: by renting out his apartment to all the men in his office who are having flings. It’s like Mad Men, but told from the perspective of the lonely bachelor watching everyone else get lucky.

Fun (?) fact: During the scene where Baxter has to sleep outside in the cold, director Billy Wilder had to spray him with anti-freeze so that he wouldn’t get sick. I actually have no idea if this was true, but the trivia for The Apartment was rather dull and this is the best of the bunch.

I developed quite a crush on Jack Lemmon, except for his voice which grated on my every nerve

My thoughts: This past February 28th, I had the BEST.IDEA. EVER. to watch all Best Picture Winners that were also on my list and then try to decide if they were worth the Oscar. On March 1st, I promptly gave it up because there were only 4 movies that matched both lists on Netflix Instant. Not wanting to completely waste the month, however, I ended up watching the movies anyways. I’m sort of surprised The Apartment won Best Picture because it’s rather lighthearted and sentimental instead of pretentious and stuffy.

As mentioned above, watching The Apartment is like watching a very long episode of Mad Men. Except more depressing, if that is even possible. It seems as if every married man in the movie is having an affair and some of them, more than one. I’m pretty liberal when it comes to this sort of thing but even for a movie made in 1960, the way women were portrayed was atrocious. Every single woman gleefully let these men treat them horribly and didn’t think twice about hopping into bed with them. The one woman who had any sort of character development was Fran, and she ended up trying to kill herself over a serial cheater. Baxter wasn’t involved in any cheating but he didn’t do much to stop it either, until he could get the position he wanted. He felt little to no guilt until Fran took all the sleeping pills and at the end of the movie refused to hand over his key ,not out of some white knight complex, but because he had fallen for her. Sure, Fran ultimately left her relationship with Jeff Sheldrake, the cheater, but then moves on to someone else.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the movie. There were several legitimately funny scenes, especially between Baxter and his neighbor, who thinks he has several girls over every night. I’m not much for the romance genre but I felt The Apartment had heart. Baxter was so sweet to Fran as she recovered from her overdose and I think I may have swooned when he refused to take advantage of her and instead play a game of Gin Rummy. The ending where he confesses his love for her was a little hokey, but I loved her line, ‘Shut up and deal’ in response. As a side note, I had NO idea Fran was played by Shirley MacLaine until the end of the movie. She was so adorable and made me briefly consider getting a pixie hair cut (not going to happen, Andy).

Final review: 4/5. Sexism abounds but it was the 60s, so not unexpected.

Up next: Rebel Without a Cause or Salt of the Earth

#83- West Side Story

Quick recap: Romeo and Juliet, but with more dancing

We’re fierce!

Fun (?) fact: Natalie Wood, who played Maria, was led to believe her voice would be used for at least some of the songs in the film. Instead, the producers went with Marnie Nixon and kept the truth from Wood. Nixon was not paid any direct royalties from the film or credited.

poor Marnie Nixon 😦

My thoughts: My non-existent attorney has requested that, in an effort to retain what little integrity I have left since watching The Tin Drum, disclose my disdain for Romeo and Juliet. Sure, I could blame it on my cynical nature of love or the fact that I find Shakespeare overrated or because it’s the one play everyone names as a favorite because they know no others. But mostly, I just think two 13 year olds getting married and then killing themselves is kind of crazy.

Plot aside, I really enjoyed the dancing and orchestral arrangement. It was kind of hard to buy into rival gangs dancing it out, but I eventually got into it. Everyone was flawless in their moves, of course. My favorite number was probably the Quintet and my least favorite was ‘I Feel Pretty’. In general, the lyrics left a lot to be desired, but that’s not something I can fault the movie. Or actually, the lyrics are very insightful and romantic, until I remembered that Maria and Tony had only met a few hours ago. Maybe it is my cynical nature after all.

The scenes where the gangs were together talking about the rumble and the rumble itself were exciting and made me desperately want to see a live show. The scenes between Tony and Maria bored me to tears and I felt like the pacing was entirely too slow for much of the film. They seemed genuinely in love though, so I’ll give them that. The death scene (Come on, do I really need a spoiler alert for this?) was moving and gave me pause as to whether I hated Romeo and Juliet as much as I thought I did.

I think that, as a musical, West Side Story holds up rather well. The depiction of Puerto Ricans, though…….that was a little embarrassing. The accents were awful, like, in doing research for this movie, the actors were required to sit through hours of I Love Lucy reruns and try to imitate Desi Arnez (who was Cuban, but still).

Final review: 3/5, almost a 4. I’m very curious about the live show and how it stacks up against the film. Or, the other way around, since the Broadway musical came first.

Up next: I had a last minute idea to only watch Oscar winners this month, but seeing as how there are only 4 on Netflix Instant, I’ll supplement with my regular list. Terms of Endearment is next.

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1001 Movie Nights

Tag Archives: romance

#89- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

#87- Rebel Without a Cause

#86- The Apartment

#83- West Side Story

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