Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) ***

I felt a little bit depressed after seeing Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)." First, it did not live up to my expectations. Second, it's difficult for me to watch the "below-standard" work of the maestro.



Overall, the movie was scatteredly paced. The major roles were not fully developed in terms of their personalities and attitudes towards the war. The intention of the moviemakers was no doubt decent, but the good intention seemed to overshadow the story-telling scheme. It's easy to fall for the dichotomous enemy-friend complex in such a movie. Eastwood did not nail it, unfortunately.

However, it would be unfair to dismiss this movie out of hand. The story carries so much weight that it is not easy to choose a neutral tone when revisiting the history. Eastwood attempted to use "Flag of Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima" to tell the two sides of a story. The war itself is a tragedy. After all, there is no real glory or hero when killings are not about survival or a greater cause.

Surf's Up (2007) ***1/2

Rarely have I seen the audience clapping their hands when an animation film ends in the theater. Surf's Up (2007) totally surprised me.

In the beginning, the pace of this film kind of annoyed me, because this was not what I expected. I guess I was expecting something closer to Finding Nemo or Madagascar in terms of storytelling style and visual effect. The filmmakers blended the documentary film and reality show in "Surf's Up," which might have risked forcing some impatient kids to leave the theater.

Fortunately, the movie was getting better and better as the story unfolded. Despite the attempts to get emotional, the filmmakers have tremendous patience to lead the audience to the glory and shame embedded in the story's theme step by step. I personally think this is the boldest story-telling method that has ever been implemented in the animation film history.

Don't be deceived by the cute and chubby penguins ... this movie was not made for kids who are looking for simple-minded fun in the theme park.