Movie review 2

Saturday I went and saw three movies. No, I do not have a life.

The first one was The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. Great acting, great costumes, great historical setting. I wasn't too familiar with the Shakespeare play from before, but the story didn't seem to have been unnecessarily modernised (read: fucked up beyond all recognition) by its makers. This may be due to the film being British made. Pacino in particular is great as Shylock, and I think the movie manages to balance the politically sensitive elements of Elizabethean era anti-semitism with a more universal story of desire, humiliation and revenge.

The second movie I saw was Miss Congeniality 2. I saw the first one in the US four years ago, and thought it was ok - nothing special but decent enough for killing time. To my surprise I actually liked this one better. Bullock is very good in this type of play, and I found myself chuckling throughout.

The third movie was Assault on Precinct 13, starring Laurence Fishburn, Ethan Hawke and Gabriel Byrne. The story was somewhat unlikely, but the action was good and I guess that's what matters for a movie watched around midnight...