Doin' the birthday dance

And a very merry unbirthday to mishamish!

As Tears Go By

Kind of like a Hong Kong version of Mean Streets, except I ended up liking this one. And the hot-head loose cannon, kind-of-crazy best friend Fly doesn't make me want to light him on fire. Unlike..fuck..who was it in Mean Streets? DeNiro? Pesci? I forget. I'm going to say DeNiro, because I think Keitel was the older, wiser gangster. Sadly, the last ten minutes on the disc are all fucked up, in that its taken twenty minutes for it to advance five, so I'm not sure how it all ends. Still, liked it better than Mean Streets. And the romance plot feels less tacked on even...

ETA: Ok, cleaned the disc and got the last bit to work. Better ending I think then Mean Streets. Though I have to ask, does no one in Hong Kong know how to use a long rifle? Its always pistols and knives and shit...

Joyeaux Noel

An '05 movie about the Christmas Truce of 1914. When the entire European war effort almost broke down as various Scottish, French and German units engaged in fraternization. Lucky for the cause of killing lots and lots of people, the high command of both sides managed to put a stop to that right quick...

There isn't really anything NEW about showing how the rank and file have more in common with their counterparts in the opposition than they do with the rear echelon officers who give out the orders. I'm pretty sure this even has even been made into a movie before. Still, its a well-made film with a general high quality of acting, if nothing that truly stands out. And at nearly two hours its a bit overly long...