Post-"Noir" live-action

I had a couple of DVDs in from Netflix, figuring for certain that I wouldn't be in the mood for anime for a little while after finishing another round of "Noir".

Amusingly enough, the first disc was "La Femme Nikita", Luc Besson's girl-with-gun post-noir action drama that played a big role in the inspiration of shows like "Noir". I had seen it in it's original French when it first made an appearance at the local art-house, and I really don't remember if I gave it much thought. I probably rented it again, dubbed, and again, it didn't leave much of a lasting impression beyond "yeah, that was cool".

And really, after seeing it again after all this time, I don't think I've gotten much further than "yeah, that was cool". I paid much closer attention to the details and performances and techniques (and, unavoidably, compared in my mind with those in "Noir"), and everything was, well... "cool". And that's about all I got out of it.

Finally, next up was "Frida", starring Salma Hayeck as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. I never really knew much about her, and her style was never really the sort of thing that attracted me in general. And I don't expect that I've really learned any real details or experienced any breadth of her life and work. Instead, it was more a character-study and performance-driven period piece. A fine establishment of moods and attitudes, with a lot of little details in the settings and surroundings that really brought you into the piece. But beyond that, there wasn't much more to get out of it for me beyond the atmosphere and the details. Which is fine, I like that sort of thing now and then.