Ninja Assassin - 4/10: This is the new James McTeigue film (director of V for Vendetta, which is a film I love) about, well, a ninja played by some guy named Rain, who is, apparently, a big pop star over in Asia. I think this movie was supposed to be an homage to the old ninja movies from the 80's (I used to love those and was excited to see Shô Kosugi in this) but I just could not get into this at all. The crowd watching it loved it and applauded and cheered throughout the film, but maybe that was partially because of Rain fans and the fact the director was in attendance at the screening, I don't know. There are some cool fight scenes, but the acting is absolutely terrible (aside from Shô Kosugi who is actually decent) and the plot/script is laughable. I did not expect a cinematic masterpiece, but I would have liked something to sink my teeth into aside from some bllod guts, and a bit of nostalgia.
Letters to Father Jacob (Postia pappi Jaakobille) - 7/10: A very simple, Finnish film, about a woman (Leila) that receives a pardon from prison and ends up working for a blind priest (reading/writing letters for him). This was quite well done and I enjoyed the story and the acting, my only complaint is the length of the film, it is too short. I think another 10 minutes added to the 75 minute length, to further develop the relationship between Leila and Father Jacob, would have been ideal. Otherwise, a nice little film.
KT
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