Wake me up when there's a fight.

I don't have much to say about Curse of the Golden Flower, the latest Chinese movie to be widely released (inflicted?) upon American moviegoers. It's directed by Yimou Zhang, the same guy who helmed Hero (good) and House of Flying Daggers (or as I like to call it, House of Flying Melodrama), so I wasn't expecting much from it. I probably could have written my six word review without even seeing it: Pretty colors; cool fights; lame script. Maybe thirty minutes of the nearly two hours are worth seeing. Most of that is a few fights; the rest is mere soap operatic filler. Meh.

I fully admit to not knowing much about Chinese cinema, and I don't have much of a desire to learn more. But I do wonder what the bad movies over there are like considering that the "good ones" like this are what gets imported. Perhaps something gets lost in the translated subtitles, because the lines in most all Chinese movies seem rather cheesy. Perhaps there are vast cultural differences in how China and the USA produce and/or approach movies. Maybe one needs a better understanding of Chinese history to appreciate them. Whatever it may be, the imported films always seem to be pounding on the grand themes they possess, but rarely do they actually deliver. Even Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon wasn't that great; it just rode a well-timed wave of momentum to four Oscars.

Bottom Line: I wasn't expecting much, and that's what I got. 4 of 10.

On a more positive note, I'm juiced that Clint Eastwood's Golden Globe-winning Letters from Iwo Jima comes to town this weekend. BUT THERE'S NO LATE SHOW. Topeka blows.