Hard Brockovich

Our third contest had Steven Soderbergh (known for passionate complicated dramas) vs. John Woo (famous for his Hong Kong action films). For Soderbergh we watched Erin Brockovich and Traffic and for John Woo we had some trouble finding his top works on Netflicks. Ideally we would have watched some from the For A Better Tomorrow series but instead we watched Hard Boiled and To Catch a Theif.

Traffic - 40/50
Genre- Ensemble Drama 9/10 The fact that Soderbergh is able to weave together so many plots and performances in which the actors don't interacte in many scenes is pretty amazing.
Characters- 8/10 Catherine Zeta Jones as the house wife married to a murderous drug dealer, and Benicio Del Torro as a Mexican law officer stand out amoungst many.
Mood, Theme, Ambience- 7/10 Confusion and fear on all sides eventually gives way to a calming peace.
Invetivness- 8/10 - One of the first films to use the color tinting that is so popular in films today. The way they use yellow tinting to highten the opressive heat in Mexico is very effective.
Film Quality- 8/10 The many sided picture of the drug trade in America works well from all angles.

Hard Boiled - 30/50
Genre - Action 6/10 extreemly violent for an action film and while inventive tends to drag in some of the less interesting action scenes.
Characters- 6/10 some of the most interesting work is done by the characters with less screen time. Such as the honorable villian who won't kill innocents.
Mood, Theme, Ambience - 4/10 Pretty much everything is blatently explained on screen in violent blood rippig detail. Some interesting work done in the realm of what makes a cop and villian.
Inventiveness - 8/10 This is where Woo does his best work. The long continuous action sequence that goes into and out of an elevtaor in one shot. The scene where the two opponents in the hospital end up on opposite sides of a group patients in a hospital.
Film Quality - 6/10 Too needlessly violent and obvious with the plot lines but pretty inventive in the action sequences and some of the characters.

Erin Brockovich - 38/50
Genre- Courtroom Drama - 8/10 This film changed the way the courtroom drama is done without ever being in a courtroom.
Characters - 8/10 fresh bold characters all over but lead clearly by Julia Roberts in the lead role of the woman who won't take no for an answer.
Mood, Ambience, Theme - 7/10 Stories of a woman in a man's world had been pretty typical by the late 90's but the way in which this film exploits stereotypes felt fresh and honest the entire way through.
Inventiveness - 7/10 The story felt a little too classic to truely feel inventive but the ways in which the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways without feeling unrealistic was pretty well done.
Film Quality- 8/10Classic story, pitch perfect script, and characters that by the end you were nearly cheering for.

To Catch a Thief- 30/50
Genre - Action Comedy 6/10 Action scenes too unrealistic and some of the Comedy too slapstick.
Characters- 5/10 Chow Young Fat showed range into comedy that I had never seen before in a cast that otherwise didn't stand out.
Mood Ambience Theme - 5/10 Introspection into what it was too be a friend/family and to be in love as well as the duality in most people between right and wrong. Pretty much what you would expect.
Inventivness - 8/10 Again Woo's best stuff is in the action sequences. You see things here such as the dance around red alarm wires and halting above the floor best sceen in Mission Impossible later.
Film Quality- 6/10 Some interesting stuff in the action sequences the comedy was only so-so maybe it didn't translate well.