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Spoilers Michelle Yeoh & S31 (Re-)Watch Theead
- Thread starter Lord Garth
- Start date
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005)
I watched this movie when it first came out but didn't remember it that well. For this re-watch, when I saw the runtime, I thought it might be a slog to get through, especially since it was getting late and I was getting tired. But no. I barely noticed the as the two-and-a-half hours flew by and I was glued to the film, watching it on the projector in my living room.
This film is based on a 1997 novel written by Arthur Golden and directed by Rob Marshall. Zhang Yihi plays the Geisha -- her name is Chiyo -- and it also stars Ken Watanabe and, of course, Michelle Yeoh. The story spans from 1929 until the mid-1940s, just after World War II. Chiyo is initially a servant, who's discovered by Ken Watanabe's character and arranges for Michelle Yeoh's character to take her under her wing.
Geishas are entertainers, performers, and go through great pains to achieve their beauty. Their lives are completely private. They're also virgins. Untouched. This becomes a problem when one man sexually assaults Chiyo and, later on, another actually has intercourse with her.
Michelle Yeoh's role as a mentor is a supporting role but she's extremely effective at being both a maternal figure and someone who can mold Chiyo from a servant to a geisha. This is a purely dramatic role for Michelle Yeoh, no action, no martial arts, or anything of the sort.
The recreation of Japan in the '20s, '30s, and '40s looks nothing short of amazing. From the houses to the buildings, to the general locales, and the general landscapes. Seeing drawn carriages in the beginning, with only a few cars, and then cars becoming more prominent. It's shown how Chiyo and everyone else copes with World War II, and then -- when she re-locates -- we see Post-War America, which also very well put together and gives the end of the film a visually distinct look from the beginning.
Even though this movie held my attention throughout and captivated me, a warning that this movie is a slow-burn. But if you don't mind slow-burn period pieces depicting a woman as she grows up into becoming an entertainer and the pitfalls it entails, then I recommend it. You're in for a treat. I'll re-watch this again at some point, just for the Hell of it, and much sooner than 20 years' this time.
Next up is Sunshine!
I watched this movie when it first came out but didn't remember it that well. For this re-watch, when I saw the runtime, I thought it might be a slog to get through, especially since it was getting late and I was getting tired. But no. I barely noticed the as the two-and-a-half hours flew by and I was glued to the film, watching it on the projector in my living room.
This film is based on a 1997 novel written by Arthur Golden and directed by Rob Marshall. Zhang Yihi plays the Geisha -- her name is Chiyo -- and it also stars Ken Watanabe and, of course, Michelle Yeoh. The story spans from 1929 until the mid-1940s, just after World War II. Chiyo is initially a servant, who's discovered by Ken Watanabe's character and arranges for Michelle Yeoh's character to take her under her wing.
Geishas are entertainers, performers, and go through great pains to achieve their beauty. Their lives are completely private. They're also virgins. Untouched. This becomes a problem when one man sexually assaults Chiyo and, later on, another actually has intercourse with her.
Michelle Yeoh's role as a mentor is a supporting role but she's extremely effective at being both a maternal figure and someone who can mold Chiyo from a servant to a geisha. This is a purely dramatic role for Michelle Yeoh, no action, no martial arts, or anything of the sort.
The recreation of Japan in the '20s, '30s, and '40s looks nothing short of amazing. From the houses to the buildings, to the general locales, and the general landscapes. Seeing drawn carriages in the beginning, with only a few cars, and then cars becoming more prominent. It's shown how Chiyo and everyone else copes with World War II, and then -- when she re-locates -- we see Post-War America, which also very well put together and gives the end of the film a visually distinct look from the beginning.
Even though this movie held my attention throughout and captivated me, a warning that this movie is a slow-burn. But if you don't mind slow-burn period pieces depicting a woman as she grows up into becoming an entertainer and the pitfalls it entails, then I recommend it. You're in for a treat. I'll re-watch this again at some point, just for the Hell of it, and much sooner than 20 years' this time.
Next up is Sunshine!
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There's a reason the woman won the Oscar. -.-
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"Sunshine" (2007)
Making progress. I'm up to the teal-and-orange film era. This was the first movie I ever saw on Blu-Ray, when I got a Blu-Ray player in 2008. Up until now, I'd only seen this movie once. And now I remember why. Sunshine is a movie I wanted to like more than I did.
It's about a ship, the Icarus 2, that's supposed to create a star within our Sun to reignite it and save life on Earth. Doesn't sound very sound, but I'll go with it. But it's not enough for this to be a space movie. It has to be a space horror movie, and suffers from the same problem as Event Horizon. Both films go off the rails once they descend into horror. The Alien movies are the only ones I've seen that can pull it off. Sunshine sure can't.
The Icarus 2 encounters the Icarus 1, where the crew died and the ship was lost seven years earlier. The Icarus 2 crew stupidly vote to go to Icarus 1 and double their chances of being able to create a star within the Sun by using Icarus 1 as a backup if they have to. Except something goes wrong and now they have to use Icarus 1. But there's a survivor on Icarus 1 who went insane and thinks he's doing God's work by killing everyone and letting the Sun die. From there, it goes into a bunch of craziness that I can't make sense of but, in the end, the star is created within the Sun, reigniting the Sun and giving hope for the future of life on Earth. The End.
Michelle Yeoh's character is a crewmember of the Icarus 2. She doesn't get to do that much, but this is the first time, chronologically, I've seen her in a space movie. So she probably leaped at the chance to do Star Trek: Discovery a decade later because either version of Georgiou is a far meatier role than the role she plays here. Speaking strictly within the space-genre, just to be clear. But nice to see her as a scientist here, nonetheless.
Jason Isaacs was in Event Horizon and Michelle Yeoh was in Sunshine, so that means both Captains of the first season of Discovery were in a space movie prior to Disco. Interesting piece of trivia.
Unlike with Memoirs of a Geisha, I don't think I'll watch Sunshine again.
NEXT UP: Back to Discovery, with "Terra Firma"!
Only because of the name of the movie, I have to play this song from 1983 by Katrina & the Waves... I'm Walking on Sunshine!
Making progress. I'm up to the teal-and-orange film era. This was the first movie I ever saw on Blu-Ray, when I got a Blu-Ray player in 2008. Up until now, I'd only seen this movie once. And now I remember why. Sunshine is a movie I wanted to like more than I did.
It's about a ship, the Icarus 2, that's supposed to create a star within our Sun to reignite it and save life on Earth. Doesn't sound very sound, but I'll go with it. But it's not enough for this to be a space movie. It has to be a space horror movie, and suffers from the same problem as Event Horizon. Both films go off the rails once they descend into horror. The Alien movies are the only ones I've seen that can pull it off. Sunshine sure can't.
The Icarus 2 encounters the Icarus 1, where the crew died and the ship was lost seven years earlier. The Icarus 2 crew stupidly vote to go to Icarus 1 and double their chances of being able to create a star within the Sun by using Icarus 1 as a backup if they have to. Except something goes wrong and now they have to use Icarus 1. But there's a survivor on Icarus 1 who went insane and thinks he's doing God's work by killing everyone and letting the Sun die. From there, it goes into a bunch of craziness that I can't make sense of but, in the end, the star is created within the Sun, reigniting the Sun and giving hope for the future of life on Earth. The End.
Michelle Yeoh's character is a crewmember of the Icarus 2. She doesn't get to do that much, but this is the first time, chronologically, I've seen her in a space movie. So she probably leaped at the chance to do Star Trek: Discovery a decade later because either version of Georgiou is a far meatier role than the role she plays here. Speaking strictly within the space-genre, just to be clear. But nice to see her as a scientist here, nonetheless.
Jason Isaacs was in Event Horizon and Michelle Yeoh was in Sunshine, so that means both Captains of the first season of Discovery were in a space movie prior to Disco. Interesting piece of trivia.
Unlike with Memoirs of a Geisha, I don't think I'll watch Sunshine again.
NEXT UP: Back to Discovery, with "Terra Firma"!
Only because of the name of the movie, I have to play this song from 1983 by Katrina & the Waves... I'm Walking on Sunshine!
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Yeah. This re-watch of mine is the ultimate "it's more about the journey than the destination" because I was extremely disappointed by the destination. It hit me harder than a lot of other people here, being such a Discovery Fan.
But, like @Ray Hardgrit said, I used a bad movie as an excuse to watch good movies. So, luckily, I don't consider it time wasted. It's kind of like making lemonade from a lemon.
Almost three months later, I'm wrapping this thing up once and for all this week. I re-watched "Terra Firma" at some point during the last three months, but I can't remember when.
"Terra Firma" (DSC) -- Parts I & II
Interesting to see Georgiou trying to find a way to save Mirror Burnham and to try to make her become better. Emphasis on try. This Burnham only understood violence. Georgiou's time in the Prime Universe showed her what Burnham could be, and to see Mirror Burnham here made Georgiou see wasted potential.
When everyone picks up on Georgiou not wanting to eat Kelpian, it felt kind of like watching a vegan go into a steakhouse and looking at everyone react to her.
She can't live in the Mirror Universe again and she can't stay in Future Disco Time, so Carl a.k.a. The Guardian of Forever sends her back to the early-24th Century where we see her in Section 31.
Carl reminds me of someone who would've fit right in on Doctor Who. Granted, I've only seen the first seven modern seasons and a handful of episodes from Tom Baker's time in the '70s, but he gives a Doctor vibe.
Before Georgiou departs for the Lost Era, she briefly mentions San, so that was a seed that was planted to be picked up in Section 31. Before Georgiou leaves, I like her seeing potential in Prime Burnham that even she hasn't realized and, unlike Mirror Burnham, Prime Burnham will actually listen. Georgiou tells Burnham that she can be a Captain as well and should aim for that. Foreshadowing the end of the season.
Great to finally see Killy in the flesh. The Mirror Disco Crew are always fun to watch. At least for me. And that's all I have to say.
EDITED TO ADD: Except that in the second season of DSC, very few people knew Georgiou was from the Mirror Universe. In the third season, everyone seemed to know. Either the writing staff forgot, the characters learned off-screen after the jump to The Future, or a little from Column A and a little from Column B.
Other Michelle Yeoh stuff I intended to watch:
"The Lady" (2011) --> It's on Tubi, but I couldn't get through the first half-hour. Not a good sign. Michelle Yeoh's character is both a mother and a hero (no, not a superhero), it moves slow, there's some family drama that bored me, and all of that combined made me drag my feet watching it with even the first half hour! Forget about the rest. So, I shut it off.
"Crazy Rich Asians" (2018) --> I haven't seen it yet. I'll watch it this week.
"Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" (2022) --> I saw this movie about two years ago. I'll give it a re-watch this week. I thought it was extremely quirky. I liked the reality-bending. I won't lie, though, it was cornier than I would've expected. Weird is the best way I'd describe it. Shout out to Jamie Lee Curtis!
I'll stitch together my thoughts about Section 31 from the S31 Forum (now that it's been over six months), maybe add some additional thoughts and then that'll be it. I'll call it a wrap.
"Terra Firma" (DSC) -- Parts I & II
Interesting to see Georgiou trying to find a way to save Mirror Burnham and to try to make her become better. Emphasis on try. This Burnham only understood violence. Georgiou's time in the Prime Universe showed her what Burnham could be, and to see Mirror Burnham here made Georgiou see wasted potential.
When everyone picks up on Georgiou not wanting to eat Kelpian, it felt kind of like watching a vegan go into a steakhouse and looking at everyone react to her.
She can't live in the Mirror Universe again and she can't stay in Future Disco Time, so Carl a.k.a. The Guardian of Forever sends her back to the early-24th Century where we see her in Section 31.
Carl reminds me of someone who would've fit right in on Doctor Who. Granted, I've only seen the first seven modern seasons and a handful of episodes from Tom Baker's time in the '70s, but he gives a Doctor vibe.
Before Georgiou departs for the Lost Era, she briefly mentions San, so that was a seed that was planted to be picked up in Section 31. Before Georgiou leaves, I like her seeing potential in Prime Burnham that even she hasn't realized and, unlike Mirror Burnham, Prime Burnham will actually listen. Georgiou tells Burnham that she can be a Captain as well and should aim for that. Foreshadowing the end of the season.
Great to finally see Killy in the flesh. The Mirror Disco Crew are always fun to watch. At least for me. And that's all I have to say.
EDITED TO ADD: Except that in the second season of DSC, very few people knew Georgiou was from the Mirror Universe. In the third season, everyone seemed to know. Either the writing staff forgot, the characters learned off-screen after the jump to The Future, or a little from Column A and a little from Column B.
Other Michelle Yeoh stuff I intended to watch:
"The Lady" (2011) --> It's on Tubi, but I couldn't get through the first half-hour. Not a good sign. Michelle Yeoh's character is both a mother and a hero (no, not a superhero), it moves slow, there's some family drama that bored me, and all of that combined made me drag my feet watching it with even the first half hour! Forget about the rest. So, I shut it off.
"Crazy Rich Asians" (2018) --> I haven't seen it yet. I'll watch it this week.
"Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" (2022) --> I saw this movie about two years ago. I'll give it a re-watch this week. I thought it was extremely quirky. I liked the reality-bending. I won't lie, though, it was cornier than I would've expected. Weird is the best way I'd describe it. Shout out to Jamie Lee Curtis!
I'll stitch together my thoughts about Section 31 from the S31 Forum (now that it's been over six months), maybe add some additional thoughts and then that'll be it. I'll call it a wrap.
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