This afternoon I'm watching Red Cliff, directed by the Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo, an outstanding director of action melodramas who was never wholly successful at translating his grand style into the idiom of present-day Hollywood. Red Cliff is Woo's first HK film since 1992's masterful Hard Boiled, and is being hailed as a return to form.
Last night I watched the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' 1994 collection of linked short stories The Informers. Like most of Ellis' work (American Psycho being a notable exception), this book made a not-so-good film. With the exception of relatively small roles by Mickey Rourke and the late Brad Renfro, it's a pretty lifeless film.
