Word: melodrama
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...That conflict of disjoined memories of a given event, though a fascinating concept well worthy of theatrical exploration, comes off as a bit heavy handed and contrived in Stevenson's script. The play itself is rather formulaic; it oscillates between high melodrama and situation-comedy. The strength of this production rests in the performers, specifically the three leading ladies. The remarkably strong cast of five has been commonly discussed in the weeks since common casting; the resulting hype may have unreasonably raised the expectations of campus audiences...
...train, Fei-Hong inadvertently takes home a stolen Chinese relic; he attempts to return the relic back while the British bad guys that stole "China's history" spend the rest of the movie in hot pursuit of him gangster style. These intense conflicts are punctuated by moments of melodrama and "emotional climaxes" when the story develops ever so slightly to include the dilemma of bringing honor to his father's family and the nationalistic significance of Chinese culture...
...where did I go wrong? My biggest mistake was grossly underestimating the weight that would be given to any Gore exaggeration. Going in, he had been warned by the press that he had used up his lifetime allowance of melodrama with his sister's deathbed story, with his claim to being the model for Love Story (he was in part, the author confirmed, but Tipper wasn't) and with his boast that he took "the initiative in creating the Internet" (although even Newt Gingrich says Gore did so in the Congress). Gore is assumed to be exaggerating even when...
Dancer premiered in May and won the Palme D'or at Cannes; it unsurprisingly was met with considerable boos and has critics and viewers alike divided on its status as groundbreaking art or inane melodrama. The movie centers around Selma (Bjork), a Czech factory and single mother who is gradually going blind. She endures ordeal after ordeal in an attempt to pay for her son Gene's operation, who we are told will develop the same eye disease as Selma. In order to escape the agony and torment of her own worsening condition, she finds relief in musicals. She goes...
...place Dancer in a genre, one might have to create a new category. A melange of melodrama, pastiche, and musical, the film tries one's patience and pushes viewers to a breaking point, much like Selma. But if we hold on under this mounting tension, then the rewards are almost transcendental. Many people have complained about the shaky shooting of handheld video, the nervous pans and haphazard frames. Also the jump cutting and discontinuity in time also make for an unsettling feeling. But this adds to the experience, the fragility and excitement, as if the film might fall apart...