one up, two down

So I got sick this week, my customary winter cold, and seeing as I was immobile I was blessed with movie night three days straight - or so I thought.
-First on the menu was Jean-Pierre Jeunet's latest film, "A Very Long Engagement." As some of you may remember Jeunet's previous film, "Amelie," was nominated for 5 Academy Awards and should have brought home more than the 0 it did.
Well Jeunet does not disappoint in the slightest with "A Very Long Engagement;" his art direction, his cinematography, and his lighting were absolutely perfect. Nothing about this film was mediocre.
Gaspard Ulliel (Manech) and "Amelie" star Audrey Tautou (Mathilde) shine in this World War I epic search for lost love. This film is not to be missed, an absolute treasure.
-The second day of my sickness was made just a bit worse when "Batman Begins" was popped into the DVD player. I normally don't fall into the whole Hollywood blockbuster hype, but this one was supposed to be better than the normal riff-raff, plus Christian Bale,Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, and Cillian Murphy. Come on, it's got to be good right...Wrong.
Granted this was the best Batman film since Tim Burton got behind the camera, but that still doesn't make it good. The plot was horrible, the acting was suspect at best, and Katie Holmes was the love interest- I'm done.
This was, flat out, a bad movie.
-The third viewing was none other than Ridley Scott's newest film, "Kingdom of Heaven." And frankly I've got a bit of a sour taste in my mouth after watching this film. It was made in the "Gladiator" mold that brought Scott such great success, but it failed to captivate the viewer the same way. And the not-so central theme of 'living according to one's conscience' was but a mere backdrop to the bloody fights; so much so in fact that in a pivotal scene Balian Baron of Ibelin (Orlando Bloom) makes what seems to be the worst decision in the history of the world because of his conscience. But it is readily apparent to the viewer that a decision the other way would have stopped the movie and hour short of it's eventual end.
From my perception it seems that the conscience part of the movie only serves as a 'passing point' to further the movie along; without it Scott has no movie. Normally I wouldn't have such a problem with this except that theme of conscience in the movie only seemed to be in the distance until it was called for to further the plot.
Add that to so-so acting and decent fight scenes and you have a decent movie that I will never see again.
- A Very Long Engagement - 9.0
- Batman Begins - 4.5
- Kingdom of Heaven - 6.5