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The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (2005) 2007-08-16 01:45:47 I love the Douglas Adams’s book (the 5-part trilogy). It was not easy to read, but it was hilarious. The twisted logic, the irony and the wild imagination in every story of the book - so funny. And yes, Earth does get destroyed (Don’t Panic!) by the Vogon demolition fleet - to make way for a new hyperspace [...] Read more:Galaxy
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Brokeback Mountain (2005) 2007-08-15 23:03:54 It’s been two years this the “Gay cowboys” movie came out in theatres, and the subject has been bread and butter of movie critics, stand-up comedians and late night TV show hosts. And, to be honest, I was trying to avoid this movie, just like I was trying to avoid the “Million Dollar Baby”. The [...] Read more:Brokeback
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Rush Hour 3 (2007) 2007-08-12 02:59:01 Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are back for the third installment of the cop buddy comedy (hasn’t this summer been good for all sorts of threequels?) and they are after Chinese triads this time - in Paris! And, on top of everything, they have to save the life of a mysterious nightclub performer Genevieve (Noemie Lenior) [...] Read more:Rush Hour
Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) 2007-08-10 17:29:01 Clint Eastwood directed this Oscar-winning war movie, which in many respects is a sequel to “The Flags Of Our Fathers”, or to be more precise, the look at the same events from the other side of the battlefield. It was released in January of 2007 - a time when vast majority of Oscar-nomination hopefuls are [...] Read more:Iwo Jima
, Letters
Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple (1984-2007) 2007-08-08 09:25:48 I was a big fan of these BBC series when they were broadcast on TV in the 80s. When I was a kid I was hungry for all sorts of detective stories, especially of AgathaChristie
’s books. I’ve seen TV version of Miss Marple produced in other countries, by who’s to play a little old [...]
The Fountain (2006) 2007-08-07 13:12:18 The Fountain
is a very strange and moody movie, with weird visuals that reminded me of “The Night Watch” introductory sequence, Peter Gabriel’s “Growing Up” tour visuals, Andrei Tarkovsky’s original 1972 “Solaris” and a more recent “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. More of “Solaris” then anything else.In “Solaris” the people on board the spaceship have [...]
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) 2007-08-05 04:04:13 We tried to get into the theater for an 8PM show, but it was sold out so we had a dinner and went for a 10PM show, which already was forming a line outside the theater. After waiting anxiously through almost half an hour of commercials and previews, the movie began.
The plot: In this third [...] Read more:Bourne
Tae Guk Gi (2005) 2007-08-03 23:02:14 The movie was released in United States under the title “The Brotherhood of War“.
The plot: This is a story of two brothers, Jin-Tae (Jang Dong-Gun) and Jin-Seok (Won Bin). Jin-Tae shines shoes and tries to save money for his younger brother’s education. They live with their mute mother, who runs a noodle shop. The family is [...]
Saint Ralph (2004) 2007-08-02 00:38:13 1954. 14-year old Ralph
is about to become an orphan: he doesn’t have a father and his mother is seriously ill. As a penance for sinful behavior at his Ontario Roman Catholic school’s pool he is assigned to a cross-country running team. He is desperate to save his - nothing would help but a miracle. [...] Read more:Saint
Saints and Soldiers (2003) 2007-07-31 22:49:42 The movie is based on actual historic events.
The plot: Middle of December, 1994. A unit of American soldiers is captured in Ardennes forest in Belgium. When one of the American soldiers tries to wrestle out a weapon from a German soldier, the Germans open fire on the prisoners. This event has later become known as the Malmedy massacre. [...] Read more:Saints
, Soldiers
Battleship Potemkin (1925/2005) 2007-07-25 17:55:49 I got the latest (or one of the most recent ones) Pet Shop Boys album, “Battleship
Potemkin“. I was interested because I am a big fan of the movie. Sergei Eisenstein directed this silent movie in 1925 - just a few months after Stalin came to power. Since he was a Jew he didn’t get to [...]
Bridge To Terabithia (2007) 2007-07-25 01:31:51 Warning: this is Disney. This is a good sweet movie, but it’s a fairy tale for kids.
The plot: a 10-year old boy Jess from a poor family wants to be the fastest runner in his class, but he is outran by a new girl, Leslie, in Jess’ school, although the race was called a “boys only” race by [...] Read more:Terabithia
Mandela and de Klerk (1997) 2007-07-23 13:00:57 In 1964, Nelson Mandela
, along with several other members of his party and political detainees, were convicted for treason (technically they were charged with capital crimes of sabotage, which Mandela admitted - the charges were easier for the government to prove then treason) against South Africa, and sentenced to life in prison. They were to be held [...]
Knocked Up (2006) 2007-07-23 10:52:51 This is the only movie in the past 10 years that I came back to the theater to watch again a week after the first viewing. And both times I laughted so hard my face hurt. Best movie of the summer!
The plot is simple: Ben, an unemployed pot-head who lives on money he was awarded after [...]
The Sentinel (2006) 2007-08-21 02:09:24 Michael Douglas is playing a Secret Service agent who was credited with saving president Raegan’s life, and the beautiful Kim Basinger is playing president’s wife. Michael Douglas (don’t remember the name of his character, Pete I think it was) is to protect the First lady. And they have an affair that probably began since before [...] Read more:Sentinel
Zubeidaa (2001) 2007-08-25 14:08:24 Bollywood’s Shyam Benegal directed this low budget, but beautiful film. Although the film flopped on the big screen, mostly due to low profile of Shyam Benegal, it gained quite a cult when it was released on video.1951 (around the time of decolonization?). The movie begins with a Zubeidaa’s (Karisma Kapoor) funeral. The rest of the movie is about a boy becoming a man trying to find truth about his mother. Zubeidaa was an aspiring actress, very energetic and very young and free-spirited. Her The very strict, if not despotic, father Suleiman (Amrish Puri) was Muslim and owned of a movie studio. He married her off to his Pakistani friend’s son when she was still a teen. But her in-law forces her husband to leave to Karachi almost immediately after their son is born. After the divorce her husband left her with the child on her hands. But alas, several years later, she was still a very young woman and she fell in love with the [Hindu] Maharaja of one of the provin
The Time Machine (2002) 2007-08-25 01:07:16
This adaptation of H.G. Wells’s classic is a big departure from the novel. Here an inventor living in New York is trying to go back in time using his invention to save the life of his girlfriend - because he’s in love and he has a guilt complex about her death.
This movie did not work for me. The acting was so over the top! They’ve got the technology to make time travel into a descent digital special effect, but this adaptation of the story is terrible, and combined with the poor acting and badly designed costumes it looks like “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory”.
The Eloi structures were a lot like ones in the Waterworld. The Morlocks had descent prosthetics and mostly look like Orcs from LOTR, but in the Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes” monkeys were way better.
How is it that Elois can speak English so well 800,000 years into the future? I am not saying the book was not flawed with inconsistencies, but why add more? How did the New Read more:Machine
The Lost City (2005) 2007-08-24 23:31:37
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
A film by Andy Garcia starring himself, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray and Elizabeth Peña - quite a constellation of stars. It begins in 1958 in one of pre-revolution Havana’s (though film is shot in Dominican Republic) club’s room. We are witnessing a typical “fathers and sons” conflict. The family is torn by conflicting feelings: on one hand they are a wealthy family that owns the club, and the father is basically talking about how family like theirs will be ruling the country, while youngest, most hot-blooded son is talking about revolution, getting rid of Batista and building a fair society where workers are the ruling class. Yet even the father is not happy with Batista, but he believes the dictator can be removed in a non-violent way. Then the youngest son gets arrested and prosecuted for publishing an anti-regime newspaper article. Another brother gets killed during an attempted assassination of Batista. Fol
Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix (2007) 2007-07-13 17:17:46 We saw it on Saturday.
Highlights:
Cho Chang (Elena calls her Chow Ming for some reason) was cute when she was 11 in the “H.P. and the Saucerer’s Stone” (intentionally misspelled), but now she’s just “third world ugly” (borrowed that phrase from Chris Tucker from “Rush Hour” - 3rd installment coming soon!).
Hermione Granger was not that cute when she was 11-year old 1st-year student at Hogwarts, and now she looks like a tri-breasted mutant from “Total Recall”. Not at all attractive.Dolores Umbridge in her all-pink outfit and annoying giggles looks like Laura Bush.This book is much longer the other ones, and they tried to squeeze it into what already is a 2 hours 20 minutes movie, and a lot of spicy episodes from the book were dropped. Sirius Black’s head appears in the fireplace only once, and grumpy Kreacher only appears in two scenes. Most, if not all dialogs from the book were cut down to essential phrases. T Read more:Harry
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Downfall (2004) 2007-09-25 03:12:06
“Der Untergang” is a very realistic Oscar-nominated drama directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel about last days of Hitler told by his stenographer Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara). The details are pretty amazing: from Hitler’s appearance, manner of speech and behavior, to external details like destruction of archives, Hitler Jugend (brainwashed children 12-15 y.o.) still fighting or hoping to fight, chaos of retreat and refugees. Berlin is about to lose clean water, electricity, transportation, food. Army is demoralized entirely: some units executed old men for treason because they were no bearing arms. There’s no more police or law enforcement. Eva Braun writes last letter to her sister. In fact most of the movie is happening inside Hitler’s bunker. We only leave it to walk Blondi, Hitler’s dog, or see Berlin being taken over by the Red army.
Hitler is brilliantly played by Bruno Ganz. Hitler’s mood on his birthday was pretty grim: he was fru Read more:Downfall
Eastern Promises (2007) R 100 min 2007-09-24 02:12:16 Finally someone had made an honest movie about modern mafia and human trafficking, Ukrainian mafia in London in this case. David Cronenberg, famous for directing “The History Of Violence”, directed this film and starred his favorite actor Viggo Mortensen once again in the main role. Technically, Viggo’s character is a supporting role, but his performance is so strong and vivid he is perceived as a main character.
The plot: Anna (Naomi Watts) is a nurse at the hospital in London, where a bleeding pregnant teenage girl is delivered. Her baby is saved, but the girl does not survive. Anna discovers her diary in her bag. Anna tries to consult with her Russian immigrant uncle Stepan to get the diary translated to English so she can find the dead girl’s family and send her daughter to them. The diary leads her to a Russian “Trans-Siberian” restaurant, which is a cover for a nest of Ukrainian mafia, but before she realized it, Anna put herself, the lit Read more:Eastern
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