‘Mulan’ Download and Reviews
“Mulan” Movie Details
Mulan tagline: The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.
 Mulan DVD Cover |
Actors:
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Chien-Po |
“Mulan” Movie Review
“Mulan” Plot Summary
To save her father from death in the army, a Chinese maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China’s greatest heroes in the process. add synopsis
Delightful Animated Girl Hero who Breaks with Disney Traditions
‘Mulan’ is not quite a chick flick and it’s much better than ‘Pochantas.’ It has terrific animation and I forgot I was even watching animation. The script has some funny lines. The music is not great (the writers didn’t ring any bells with me as to their past work) but good lyrics. I was disappointed that the music wasn’t as Asianish as ‘Lion King’ is Africanish. And the final rap is a bit off-putting, though the segue into the Stevie Wonder song was fun
Eddie Murray isn’t Robin Williams but he’s fun. At least they do use quite a few Asian actors’ voices – Wing Na Wen (‘E.R.’), George Takei (‘Star Trek’), B.D. Wong (‘Oz’) Pat Morita (‘Karate Kid’). I think ‘Mulan’ is the first Disney animation post-Katzenberg and there’s a couple of digs at him and responses to the criticisms of how he did the girl stars. There was a lot of criticism of how Katzenberg personally insisted on Jasmine in ‘Aladdin’s impossible Barbie shape and ‘Mulan’ takes that on with a line about how stupid it is to want such a narrow waist. Definitely a much more positive body image movie than under the Katzenberg regime. There’s no dead mother syndrome here, well for Mulan anyway. The Captain’s mother isn’t mentioned. Not only is there a mom, but even a grandmom. The father is still Freudian – he’s wounded. All the Disney dads of daughters have some incapacity or other or tragic flaw
Refreshingly, there’s no wedding at the end with birds chirping as a canopy. The courting is assumed and the grandmom invites the captain to live there forever–but Mulan shuts her up. (originally written 7/23/1998)
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‘Duplex’ Download and Reviews
“Duplex” Movie Details
Duplex tagline: Alex and Nancy finally found their dream home…And then they moved in.
 Duplex DVD Cover |
Actors:
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Mr. Dzerzhinsky |
“Duplex” Movie Review
“Our House (Duplex)” Plot Summary
A young couple has a chance to move into a gorgeous duplex in the perfect New York neighborhood. All they have to do is bump off the current tenant, a cute little old lady. add synopsis
DeVito does it again
From the twisted mind of Danny DeVito comes this story in the style of ‘War of the Roses’. Here, a nice NY couple finally find their dream home only to discover that they have a built in tenant. Not exactly what they were looking for but it really can’t be that bad can it? The little old lady that lives upstairs turns out to be a nightmare and a half. In a variety of scenarios, most comical and some just plain, outright strange, the nice couple turn into psycho landlords and the nice old lady turns into the crazy bat upstairs. In the end, the twist comes as a true surprise. A hilarious, laugh out loud movie, this was really enjoyable and a must watch. DeVito has done it again and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next!!!8/10
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‘Independence Day’ Download and Reviews
“Independence Day” Movie Details
Independence Day tagline: We’ve always believed we weren’t alone. Pretty soon, we’ll wish we were.
 Independence Day DVD Cover |
Actors:
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Alicia Casse |
“Independence Day” Movie Review
“ID4″ Plot Summary
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy. Fighting superior technology, Man’s best weapon is the will to survive.
Great sci-fi movie
Since it’s release in theaters 11 years ago, Independence Day has taken a lot heat. While I personally disagree that this movie is so horrible, it is easy to beat up the film seeing that its directed by one of the most boring directors of our time, Roland Emmerich
However, I believe this is his finest work. The first act is all about the build-up of the alien invasion and the attacks. This takes about fifty minutes, which also develops many (too many) characters and their places in the apocalypse
The attacks are good, but it is not unexpected. The special effects give it its credibility, and the second act begins the day after
In the wake of the devastation, mankind is limping on to survive, all main characters personally affected in someway by the attacks. While everybody does a good job bringing out the emotional side of the attacks, Will Smith is the only one that degrades this. After battling the aliens and failing, he has a close encounter with an alien and reacts unrealistically, punching it and sarcastically greeting it. Then he’s dragging it through the desert, screaming at it because he is missing a barbecue. HELLO?!? This is an alien race far superior to our own and it has single handedly brought mankind to its knees, and all he can do is yell at it for ruining his day? His performance is plausible but not his role. Thank God this is the only thing that I did not like in the second act
After Will Smith brings the alien to a secret alien research facility in Area 51, the doctors decide to perform an autopsy. The autopsy scene is a classic. It is probably the best sci-fi scene I have EVER seen. It could fit into a 50’s classic, and makes the movie so great
At the end of the second act, they finally figure out how to take down the alien’s shields and destroy their monster-sized spacecraft. This is where the lousy third act begins
July 4 is the opening of the third act, in which they round up as many pilots as possible. One is my least favorite character, a guy named Russell who claims he had been kidnapped by aliens 10 years earlier. The guy is lackadaisical cornball. He has one good line (Hello, boys. I’m back!!!!). All pilots around the world, including Russell will be in the ultimate battle. They will fight the alien ships while Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum plant a virus inside the mother ship. This is sadly the only interesting part of the third act, the rest of it from before being a cornball of cliches
The interior of the mother ship is so breathtaking, I actually found myself wishing somehow their ship would malfunction and they’d be stuck inside, forcing them to venture through the space frigate for about an hour in a style reminiscent to ‘Alien’. But seeing that the movie is already 2 1/2 hours, I guess they decided to not to
Jeff Goldblum’s and Will Smith’s chemistry work wonders while they’re in the mother ship, and every moment inside it is really good
The movie shortly ends after their departure from the mother ship, so it pretty much comes to a screeching halt. The world is still in ruins, and Emmerich leaves us to ponder how humanity will get back up
All in all, the movie manages perfectly for 81% of the movie. I would’ve given it a 9.0 if it weren’t for Will Smith’s comic relief in the second act, Russell, and mainly cliched third act. 8.1/10.
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