REVIEWS NEWS INTERVIEWS OTHER

(1 - 28) of 28 OFCS Rating: 67% Fresh Page   1   2.5/5 "its natural impulse towards regal spectacle overwhelms practically every other element of the story"   Filmcritic.com   Chris Barsanti "The physical battles are stirring here, but the heart really beats in décor and costuming and in serpentine plotting out of Renaissance 'Blood Theater.'"   ReelTalk Movie Reviews   Donald J. Levit 2/5 "Mucho brillo y color y poca sustancia dramática en esta tragedia épica que emula tanto a Shakespeare como a Kurosawa. Vale la pena sólo por su aspecto visual y, sobre todo, por la siempre intensa Gong Li."   Uruguay Total   Enrique Buchichio B- "If the overwrought dramatics are like an opera drained of its music, that's a price you may be willing to pay for the purely sensual pleasure the images afford."   One Guy's Opinion   Frank Swietek 4/5 "A visually sumptuous action drama by Zhang Yimou, who proves himself to be the Busby Berkeley of our times."   Spirituality and Practice   Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat "Spectacular production designs and giant CGI battles can't really disguise a soap opera plot and often hammy acting."   iAfrica.com   James O'Ehley 10/10 "Demonstrates unflinchingly that, when it comes to a proud, powerful government, what's beautiful on the outside is squirmingly ugly within."   Window to the Movies   Jeffrey Chen "Everything about it is gorgeously over the top, much like the family melodrama that occasions it."   Pajiba   Jeremy C. Fox 2.5/4 "While the film looks beautiful and the cinematography and staging by Xiaoding Zhao is as magnificent as ever, Curse of the Golden Flower is the weakest of the class (like being the worst student at Yale)."   Bangitout.com   Jordan Hiller 2.5/4 "Zhang Yimou moves ever closer to grand opera with Curse of the Golden Flower, though this garish familial melodrama-cum-action extravaganza plays better in retrospect than it does in the moment."   Slant Magazine   Keith Uhlich 5/10 "It is an overwrought melodrama set on a background of impressive beauty.This is a beautiful film, but the characters are weak and disappointing from Zhang."   rec.arts.movies.reviews   Mark R. Leeper "[Y]es to opulence, yes to passion, yes to political murder and courtly intrigue and illicit sex and all that. But no... to histrionics overblown on a nuclear scale and ludicrousness that blots out the sun..."   Flick Filosopher   MaryAnn Johanson 3.5/4 "Curse of the Golden Flower is dramatic and exotic, a feast for the eyes with themes that are as hypnotic as the film's physical look."   Aisle Seat   Mike McGranaghan B "Li...prov[es] so over-the-top imperial that she almost singlehandedly elevates the film's heightened drama into something epic."   Lessons of Darkness   Nick Schager 4/5 "Um épico que não apenas se encaixa no clima mítico e fantástico do gênero wuxia pian como ainda traz toques claramente shakespeareanos em sua trama repleta de traições e lutas sangrentas por um trono real (ou, neste caso, imperial)."   Cinema em Cena   Pablo Villaca 1.5/5 "Zhang Yimou seems to be confusing the Tang Dynasty with Aaron Spelling's Dynasty."   Film Threat   Phil Hall 3.5/5 "These characters have enough conflicting relational issues to fill about a year on a daily soap; it's messy and passionate, murderous and lusty."   Shadows on the Wall   Rich Cline 3/5 "Curse of the Golden Flower is, as usual, ravishing to look at, but it seems to be put together solely so that Zhang can assemble hundreds of people in stately rows."   eFilmCritic.com   Rob Gonsalves B+ "...a fascinating tale of palace intrigue and themachinations of power play."   Reeling Reviews   Robin Clifford 5/10 "Golden mums by the millions spell incest and death as Yimou Zhang tests the American market for saturation with the martial arts. Our cup may be running over."   Monsters and Critics   Ron Wilkinson B "... plays like an Asian take on Shakespearean royal tragedy executed with Hong Kong action scenes and Chinese art-house pageantry."   Seattle Post-Intelligencer   Sean Axmaker 2/4 "The eye-catching splendor dresses up a bland soap opera that Shakespeare mastered centuries ago."   Charlotte Weekly   Sean O'Connell 7/10 "Lurid, lavish eye-candy"   www.susangranger.com   Susan Granger 2.5/4 "Possibly the first mainstream Chinese representation of the massacre at Tiannamen Square."   Film Freak Central   Walter Chaw "Click here to see review"   Wolf Entertainment Guide   William Wolf 3/4 Read review   ReelViews   James Berardinelli 2.5/4 Read review   Big Picture Big Sound   Joe Lozito Read review   3BlackChicks Review   Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel  (1 - 28) of 28 OFCS Rating: 67% Fresh Page   1