"Artistic" rant

Jan 29, 2011 04:26

I dislike Zhang Ziyi's acting (the one who played the main character in "Memoirs of a Geisha"--a book I also dislike because I think it's boring and even though is fiction it has so many misconceptions ( Read more... )

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Gong Li ext_409130 January 29 2011, 12:46:25 UTC
Love Gong Li who is an amazing actress.
Hate Ziyi Zhang, who isn't.

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Re: Gong Li vicchonn January 29 2011, 15:48:34 UTC
Gong Li has improved a lot--well, she also has had many many years of acting. I've seen most of her movies (since her very beginnings as an actress) for a Chinese cinema class and to me, she wasn't that great at all. I prefer her acting today than, let's say, twenty years ago--when she kept that annoying signature smirk and basically did it for every take. Having said that, it's my opinion. Other people can diverge and I respect that.

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manekikoneko January 29 2011, 13:56:49 UTC
Honestly, I can only remember seeing Zhang Ziyi in 2046, and she seemed fine BUT her part was relatively small and she was well directed/edited (get enough takes and choose the right ones, a director can make almost actor adequate. Emma Watson is not a great actor, but apparently later directors just started making her do a hundred takes until she stopped forcing it).

As for Taylor Swift... novelty. I think people like what she represents - unfortunately: her chaste, Christian, gorgeous faux-outcast routine - than her actual talent.

Pop music has never focused on talent so much as market though. You should read Nathan Rabin's "Then That's What They Called Music" feature on AV Club, where he reviews the NOW! That's What I Call Music collections of recent popular songs. You won't feel much better about society (I once went to a birthday party for a 12 year old at which she received about 10 copies of assorted NOW! discs), but it should make you laugh.

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vicchonn January 29 2011, 15:43:55 UTC
Ziyi has been in several "historic" movies. She always seems decent but she doesn't change face expressions. Happy, it's the same. Sexy, it's the same. Angry, it.is.the.same. It frustrates me to no end. And yes, Emma Watson cannot act well either. She was simply lucky someone had her chosen for HP. For all the years she's been doing that franchise and all the accolades she apparently receives, I would have expected better improvements. She's supposedly acting in a new movie where people we'll see her in a different light... let's see how that goes.

And yes, pop music is basically market. Not necessarily good music. I play guilty by saying that I can enjoy some of it sometimes--mostly based on who's singing and what type of lyrics they present... but yeah. Got the point.

Thanks for the link! Will check it out and see how much fun I can make! :)

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vicchonn January 30 2011, 15:46:37 UTC
Yup (about Yimou's bit of info)... and that's probably why I started disliking Gong Li at the beginning. Because I was taking that movie class Lenore was teaching and oh my, Gong Li was in every one of them. We were studying directors of the fifth generation in Chinese cinema and Yimou's basically one of the "founders"of that movement so we watched many of his movies. By the third film, I wanted to cry.

Gong Li very pretty--gorgeous--and has a lot of presence. But I really didn't enjoy her first years as an actress, regardless of whether or not I watched too much of her. She just had a smirk that showed every time and to me, it was annoying. Now she doesn't do it because she's def. grown as an artist.

As for Ziyi, I suppose her choice in roles play a huge part. She's stuck in characters with no evolution/development whatsoever. You can't see her improve--just make the same face expressions.*sigh*

Sorry for the tirade. It just gets me, haha. :P Thanks for commenting though!

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