shadow women

les femmes de l'ombre is a film dedicated to women who fought against nazi barbarity during world war 2. particularly this film is about 5 women who were hired by the french division of special operations created by winston churchill in britain a.k.a. the SOE.

it begins with the recruitement. a french sniper and her brother who were both formerly tortured in the camps, a prostitute convict who had no loyalty to britain nor france, an ex-wife of heindrich who is a nazi fficer hiding in britain in shame of her past connections, an explosives expert who was apparently catholic and very religious, and an italien/jew operative working as a secret agent disguised as a nurse in normandy. their mission was to deliver a geologist out of normandy france and back to england. unfortunately the sniper's brother was captured.

things get a lot more interesting after they were forced to make a side trip to occupied paris for what turns out to be the real mission - to assasinate heindrich who had knowledge of a big plan by the allies and he was trying to convince the third reich of the threat.

i was perhaps quick to judge the ladies as they each were compelled to display rather some unadmirable qualities during the mission as each take turns at valor and cowardice. in the end they were all just being human. when one is faced with the same predicament (torture), i wonder too, what would i do.

one by one each of the ladies played their roles valiantly having to give up their very lives for the mission.

rating 4 out of 5
i love films which depict women of strength, intelligence, skill and guile.

munich

munich is a historical fiction that begins with arab terrorists taking israeli athletes as hostages in the oylmpics in munich, germany. a few years after, the government of israel unofficially hires assassins to hunt down the people responsible. eric bana plays avner kauffman - the leader of the group of assassins.

immediately, i sympathized with israel. the group of assasins, each experts in their individual fields, were in fact very likable. it felt right, what they're doing, that it was justice. im glad the story became impartial turning around towards the end, mentioning the plight of the palestinian people. at the end, nothing seemed to matter except the question of when the killing of each other, is going to stop.

personally i believe it was a mistake for the western (european) powers to put up israel in the middle of the arab region. it does not seem smart to me anyway. there is whole lot of history about this. something i am no expert in. the palestinian people who are now refugees, practically robbed of their lands are understandably doing everything they can to fight back. i believe a futile attempt. there was an interesting political dialogue between avern and one of the arabs. and avern made one very important and objective point. the palestinians have nothing now to bargain with.

Rate ***** 5 out of 5
a powerful film.

the brave one

The Brave One

Jodie Foster plays Erica Bain. Jodie is the best! I adore the roles she plays because she almost always potray women of strength. Not the ones that remain victims to fate but indepedent individuals who are willing to take action despite insurmountable odds and at the same time be accountable for them. This film illustrates that Woman is as capable as any man.

It is a social commentary about how life could be like living in a big and populous city such as New York, with the immense bureaucracy, the apathetic government, and the crimes. Society becomes disensitized and the individual is left to fend for themselves.

It is rather a simple story about revenge for a love lost. Erica and her fiancé takes a walk around the park at night. They were attacked by local thugs. Her fiancé dies. Erica becomes a whole new person. She becomes a stranger as she often describes it in the movie. She recovers but not really. After seeing that noone, even the government, was going to make things right, she decides to buy a gun for protection. But ends up turning vigilante.

The following quotes from the film cracked me up ..

Pimp: What if I don't pay?
Erica: Then this will be the last super cunt you'll ever see.

Rate 3 out of 5
Woman rules!

City of God

imdb page

I heard lots of good things about this movie, mainly for its realistic depiction of crime in the 'City of God', the name of a slum area in Rio de Janeiro.

I was a bit apprehensive, as I was afraid it would be too violent and disturbing to watch. But it didn't turn out as violent as I thought it was. Yes, lots of gang killings and violence takes place, but it doesn't revel in them unlike many of today's unimaginative and horrible torture movies that masquerade themselves under the horror category. City of God does its best to hide the graphic nature of the violence and only uses them to illustrate how dangerous and desperate the area is.

It is filled with many fascinating characters, each with his own storyline. I found myself believing that these were real people and not merely roles played in a movie. The main character is a gang druglord named Li'l Ze. We are introduced to him starting from when he was a little kid hanging out with a bunch of local thugs. At first, it is amusing to see how eager he is to try to fit in with the older guys and show that he will make a good gangster in the future. Then the film fast forwards to the point where he is all grown up and now quite a scary character capable of much violence filled with his desire to control the City of God.

The other main character is a young boy named Rocket, who somehow manages to avoid getting himself involved with the rampant crime and violence. He grows up to be a struggling newspaper errand boy, with a passion for photography. These two characters - Li'l Ze and Rocket frequently bump into each other at critical junctions, and their paths finally cross in the climactic final scene.

The sequencing of scenes are very nicely done and serves to advance the story in a captivating way. Through this method of storytelling, we are introduced to the secondary characters of the City of God - Benny, the popular gang leader and best friend and partner of Li'l Ze. Knockout Ned, the humble unassuming slum resident who is unwillingly drawn into the gang violence. We also get to know Rocket's love interest, Angelica, and Carrot, the rival drug lord to Li'l Ze's empire.

An interesting side note is how big the class differences are in Brazil. You've got the poorest of the poor living in the City of God slums, and we get a small glimpse of the other side in the newspaper scenes, where it seems like a very different country. The income gap between rich and poor is as wide as the differences between first and third world countries.

This was an entertaining and fascinating film to watch which I highly recommend.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
Great characters and realistic story.

I Am Legend

imdb page

I Am Legend is a movie adaptation of Richard Matheson's novelette of the same name. A mysterious virus outbreak has turned all the inhabitants of New York City into degenerate beast-like creatures. Apparently, there are only two survivors: Will Smith's character, who appears to be immune to the virus, and his pet dog who serves as his loyal companion and best friend.

The start of the movie is pretty good. A scientist/doctor played by Emma Thompson appears on a TV news interview with what appears to be a cure for Cancer. The scene then shifts to several years later. New York is deserted and in ruins. An unforeseen disaster of apocalyptic proportions has occurred.

As a fan of the post-apocalyptic movie genre, I was looking forward to this film. But at the same time, very apprehensive as it had all the makings of another disappointing Will Smith sci-fi film in the mold of I, Robot.

While not as bad as I, Robot, this unfortunately didn't turn out well. The human/beast infected creatures didn't look real. They were very CGI-ish. I also got very impatient with the pacing, it felt like everything was moving so slowly and I wanted them to hurry it up.

I also found myself in disbelief at some of the decisions that Will Smith's character made in the movie. I found myself questioning many of his actions, especially in the later parts and the ending. This is one of the movies where I felt many of the situations were contrived.

The only saving grace here is Will Smith's relationship with his dog. It was both very touching and real. These were the only good parts of the movie.

I haven't read the original novelette, but based on what I gathered from those who are familiar with it, this film deviated from much of the original story. And I think it missed on a lot of the main points that the story wanted to impart, replacing it with more action sequences (just like I, Robot).

The sad thing is that I Am Legend hit it big in the box office, which only encourages Hollywood to follow the same formula, which will result in more bad movies like this to be made in the future.

Rating: 2/5 * *
Another Will Smith sci-fi fiasco.

Death Proof

imdb page

Death Proof was originally shown in theaters as one half of the Quentin Tarantino 'Grind House' double bill, the other half being Planet Terror. The two movies were released as separate DVDs, though there is a planned 'Grind House' special edition release coming soon. I wasn't able to catch this during its theatrical run so I had to settle for viewing the DVD.

This film was shot B-movie style, with grainy film quality, skips, and even an occasional blooper thrown in. It's supposed to have the effect of going to a delapidated movie house showing old, low budget films. It reminded me back when I was in high school and college, where I wouldn't be too picky about the types of movies I watched, going to poor quality movie theaters to watch rehashed 70's and 80's movies. Most of them weren't good at all, but it was still fun to watch. Death Proof tries to replicate this effect with mixed results.

You get three different picture styles, as well as two sets of female victims. It starts with a rough, grainy, old film look, complete with audio and video skips. This is part with the group of girls led by Vanessa Ferlito. It then shifts to black and white (presumably as we're now on a separate roll of film) when the second group of girls led by Rosario Dawson are introduced. Then there's a very cool effect when the film shifts to color, and you see that the girls' car is actually yellow.

To get to the good parts, you have to bear with a lot of boring conversation by both groups of girls. I found the dialog between the girls very difficult to sit through and got increasingly irritated and bored with the seemingly endless talking. I think this was the intention of Tarantino, to make us so tired of listening to these characters that it would make the action scenes much more interesting by contrast.

We are spared from having to hang out with these unlikable characters once Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) is introduced. Here is a guy we actually like. An old school stuntman from the 70's and 80's. A loner who gets the attention of the only other likable character in the first segment, Rose McGowan, a sweet girl who feels alienated by the slutty, shallow, drug-using group of girls we had to bear with earlier. McGowan is able to hitch a ride with Stuntman Mike after they leave the bar. And this is where the action starts.

In the second segment, we have to bear with another torturously long chit-chat between the Rosario Dawson group of girls. While not as irritating as the first group, they had their own set of unlikable qualities. At this point, I was actually rooting for Stuntman Mike to finish them off. And I think this was the emotion that Tarantino was going for with his audience. For them to root for the bad guy. After all, if you take away the psychotic murderous serial killer side of Stuntman Mike, he's actually a pretty cool guy who you'd like to hang out with and can relate to.

My main complaint with this film is the overly long, boring conversation that takes place not once, but two times, with two different groups of females. Perhaps Tarantino could have found a way to make these parts shorter, while at the same time getting the same intended 'irritation' effect. Or maybe not.

The dialog also feels somewhat contrived, especially with Tracie Thomas' character, Kim. Just too much girl power. Only two girls were likable, the sweet and innocent Rose McGowan, and Lee, the cheerleader (who has a somewhat interesting side story in the end, when she is abandoned by the Spice Girls).

The best parts were the road action parts. These are not your ordinary chase scenes. Most vehicle action scenes in today's movies are spliced together in a way that they don't have the same cohesion, like watching a bewildering sequence of special effects on the road that leave you dizzy. The Death Proof chase scenes appear very genuine, like they were actually taking place, and they tell a good story, with emotional pacing. This is oen of the reasons why Quentin Tarantino is one of my favorite directors. You can feel the love, care, and attention to detail that he has for his movies in something as ubiquitous as a high speed car chase scene.

Overall, a very entertaining movie. And I'm eagerly awaiting Planet Terror, the other half of Grind House, when it comes out.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
A little action with lots of annoying dialog.

Braveheart

imdb page

I consider Braveheart to be the precursor to modern era epic battle movies such as Gladiator, Troy, Alexander, and Lord of the Rings. It was filmed and shown before CGI, or computer-generated imagery became common in movie production.

Due to this, I had tempered my expectations for this film, as I knew the battle scenes were developed without the aid of computers or graphics. Whatever limitations it would have in terms of special effects, I expect it to be made up by a much better story and character development. But it ultimately let me down.

Mel Gibson stars and directs in this movie, which in 1996, won Best Picture and a Best Director award for Gibson. I guess it must have been a very weak year for movies at the time, as I don't get how this won. It's mildly entertaining, and at times even fun to watch, but horribly overrated.

Gibson portrays William Wallace, a thirteenth century Scottish bandit/rebel who fights to free his people from the evil English. This is the film's fatal flaw as I don't find Mel Gibson at all convincing in this role. Wallace is supposed to be this fearsome brute of a man, savage and courageous at the same time. And I just never see these qualities in his acting.

Another complaint of mine is how this movie appears to advertise itself as being based on historical events, yet is terribly inaccurate. I understand that the storytelling needs to be exaggerated and some new parts made up to add entertainment value. But in this case, Braveheart went too far off course.

Even while watching this, I couldn't believe how saintly Wallace was portrayed, I'm pretty sure the real-life figure wasn't at all like this. I'm not even sure if his wife existed, or if the Scots were the good guys, or if King Edward Longshanks was that ruthless. Once you start to doubt whether these events actually happened or not, that's when things start slipping.

Despite these complaints, I confess I found it entertaining at times. Particularly all the scenes with King Edward (Longshanks). I enjoyed the tough guy, kick-ass King character. You can feel his power and ruthlessness. To illustrate just how bad ass this elderly king is, in one of the scenes, he throws his son's male lover out a tower window, and effortlessly beats up his son when he tries to fight back.

The battle scenes were ok but lacked emotion. At times it felt like these were actors going through the motions of fighting. There were also some moments which felt too contrived, such as when the Irish and Scots changed sides. The ending where Wallace seemed to get the upperhand of the King even in defeat was just too precious and made me groan out loud.

This would have been a pretty good lighthearted action flick. It just took itself too seriously.

Rating: 2/5 * *
Overrated Best Picture

Hot Fuzz

imdb: Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is a brilliant and funny film from the makers of Shaun of the Dead. If Shaun of the Dead was a movie about all other zombie films, then Hot Fuzz is a tribute to every cop film made. It has the same director, writers, and two lead actors as Shaun of the Dead.

The plot revolves around a London supercop named Nicholas Angel, played by Simon Pegg, who's so good that he makes his superiors and colleagues look bad in comparison. So he gets assigned to the small, quiet town of Sandford. Here he meets his new partner, Danny, played by Nick Frost, who is Simon Pegg's real life best friend. They also played the part of best buddies in Shaun of the Dead. A couple of people get killed, which is chalked up as 'accidents' by the police chief. Everyone in this town seems so dumb, but things are not what they seem to be.

The first two thirds of the movie contains lots of references to cop movies. There's a scene where Angel visits his partner Danny's apartment and sees his huge DVD collection. They watch some scenes from Point Break and Bad Boys II, and Danny mimics his favorite scene from Point Break, which will be revisited in a later point in the movie. He also pesters Angel about whether he was able to do some of the cop stuff that he has seen from those classic cop films. To which Angel replies that he hasn't done any of those, and dismisses them. Again, this will be revisited in a later point.

The first two thirds is essentially a setup for the climactic last third. A lot of buddy cop movie cliches are thrown in - the amiable police chief, the rival cop team, the good-looking villain, and many others. If you watch a lot of action movies, you'll recognize them all. Then in the last part, all hell breaks lose and all the cliches come to life unexpectedly.

This was an extremely well made film, with great attention to detail. You'll need to watch this closely, or like what I did, watch it twice. As every scene turns out to have some important meaning later on. On my second viewing, I watched this with the commentary on in the DVD, where the director and Simon Pegg reveal a lot of the hidden gems. There's bits of humor sprinkled throughout that will only become apparent on second viewing. For me, the funniest part was the 'Point Break' reenactment near the end.

As you may have heard, this is a British film, but it was made to parody hollywood movie cliches, so the comedy feels very American. The spoofing is also very subtle, unlike what you're used to seeing in movies such as in the Naked Gun, Hotshots, and Scary Movie franchises. This will satisfy all action movie enthusiasts. I would love to see a sequel.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
Everything you liked in cop movies.

V for Vendetta

imdb: V for Vendetta

This was an odd movie. Somehow I couldn’t put my finger on it. Is it about revenge? Or social revolution? Or a political statement based on current events? I’ve read that the original graphic novel was a reaction to the Thatcher administration. And that the Wachowski brothers (who made The Matrix) wrote the screenplay for this, and simplified and revised the story for the benefit of the viewing audience.

It occurs in the distant future, with the entire story taking place in the UK. The United States has fallen into civil war and is in ruins. A fascist, repressive government has taken over, led by Chancellor Sutler. The government has removed all civil liberties and is bent on enforcing its will on the people through propaganda, government enforcers who goes by the name ‘Fingermen’, and through spying on its own citizens.

The two protagonists is a masked character named ‘V’ and a young female, ‘Evey’ played by Natalie Portman. V is hell bent on revenge and justice as he has been disfigured as a result of being incarcerated by the government. Evey has her own back story, starting out as an innocent citizen, but slowly being drawn into V’s world, eventually playing a major role in his plans.

There is a lot of social commentary in the dialogue, mostly from V. The idea that is repeated throughout the film is that ‘ideas are bulletproof’, and are more powerful than men. He also said a lot of other lines that I thought were interesting, maybe a bit idealistic, a little weird, funny even, but it fits in with his overall character and accomplishes its purpose.

I had the subtitles turned on while watching the DVD as I didn’t want to miss any of the quotes. My favorite is the one when Evey asked V whether he was certain of his plans, and he replied “There is no certainty, only opportunity.” Of all the bits of dialog, this was the one I could relate to the most.

I didn’t exactly agree with how V went about with his plans for overthrowing the government. I felt it was a bit too reckless, a bit too idealistic, and self-serving. He also came across as this goofy character, particular in this one scene where Evey wanted to leave, and he kept saying something like, ‘oh before you go’, and ‘could you do me one favor?’, which came out really weird (I kept thinking, uh oh, I think V wants to have sex with Natalie Portman). I’m not sure if the humor was intended, probably not.

There were also some boring and ridiculous parts, such as the one where the TV host spoofs the Chancellor and plays the Benny Hill music. It felt unfunny and out of place. The priest's acting in the scene with Portman was totally dumb and unrealistic. There was also this part where the lead detective kicks a garbage can in a fit of frustration that felt out of character. Many scenes didn't work at all for me.

The Wachowski brothers are brilliant writers and filmmakers, but when left uncontrolled to their own devices, they occasionally turn out some weird crap such as in Matrix Revolutions and some of the scenes in this film.

Natalie Portman was great in her role, and I think she saved this movie from going over the edge. My friend remarked that he avoided watching V for Vendetta because he didn’t want to see a bald Natalie Portman. But she still looked great with her head shaved! And I think the character fit her perfectly.

There were a couple of plot holes which I can’t list without giving away spoilers. I had some trouble believing what happened in the Evey interrogation/torture segment, and how V had rebuilt the subway train all by himself.

This is not horrible. Maybe even an entertaining movie. And it has some good ideas. It felt very preachy, but I believe this was the intent anyway. It will make you think, which is the important part. It’s the ideal movie to watch with your friends and talk about over starbucks afterwards.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
+1 * for Natalie Portman

(Note: This article describes the differences between the movie and the graphic novel. After reading it, I understood why the movie felt so flawed, at least to me. Contains spoilers. -rob)

Point Break

Point Break is exactly what a fun movie should be like. You've got the good cops and the bad surfers, throw in some social commentary, add cheesy lines and good action, have best friends become archenemies, and the result is a cult classic.

The basic story starts with a series of bank robberies being perpetuated by criminals wearing former Presidents' masks. Then the good cops are assigned to investigate, namely Keanu Reeves aka FBI Special Agent 'Johnny Utah' (what a great cop name) and Gary Busey. The villain is a mythical surfer dude named 'Bodhi' (a great villain name) played by Patrick Swayze. All three characters are larger than life - you actually believe they're real. And I'll go out on a limb to say that these are still the best roles that Reeves, Swayze, and Busey had ever played.

The chemistry between Utah and Busey's character is funny and intense. They gave Gary Busey all the funny lines, my favorite being "Utah, get me two!". Johnny Utah and Bodhi also have a special relationship, as friends and archenemy, sort of like Superman and Lex Luthor. Utah starts out as this Type A Mr. Stress personality, until he meets and befriends Bodhi, who teaches him a lot about his philosophy towards life.

Bodhi has a couple of great quotes in this film. He talks about people who "are inching their way on the freeways in their metal coffins". Before you know it, Utah realizes that his experiences with Bodhi has made him a different person. Bodhi just might be the best movie villain of all time. I both hated and liked him at the same time.

Since Keanu Reeves is in this one, there's the obligatory corny stuff and corny acting. But it works! Everything just feels right. In fact, this might be Keanu's best role to date (better than Neo even). Busey's character and Swayze's over the top persona makes sure you don't take the story too seriously.

The action scenes are real fun too. There's a Johnny Utah - Bodhi chase scene which ends in some of the worst Keanu Reeves overacting (but trust me, it's good). There's a botched FBI raid which ends with a naked woman beating up an agent. And topped with the kamikaze skydiving scene.

It's one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen. My only regret is not having watched this back in 1991.

Rating: 5/5 * * * * *
"Simple masses inching along the freeway"

Shadow Man

I decided to rent this 2006 Steven Seagal movie partly because I enjoyed all his old movies (Hard to Kill, Above the Law, Out for Justice, etc.) back when I was in college. There is a certain nostalgia factor in seeing an old school Seagal movie released just last year.

The film opens with Seagal teaching his Dojo students how to fight. He says something about the force power coming from the core of the body, or something like that. He then proceeds to beat up his students one by one. Ordinarily I like mindless fight scenes, but this just made no sense whatsoever. I was left thinking, Huh?

There's this plot element where various people - high level criminals, the CIA, are all after this priceless item in the hands of Steven Seagal. His daughter gets kidnapped, I don't know why. And it even appears the female kidnapper might be a good person after all, indirectly helping out Seagal. Why that is, I don't know.

In fact a lot of elements in this movie didn't make sense at all. The car chase scene was scattered and hard to follow. The action scenes were shallow and unsatisfying. I found myself not caring what happens the rest of the story.

The most disappointing is that I actually liked Seagal's old movies, but not this one. I'm puzzled as to why there's so much user feedback on imdb who said they enjoyed this. What I should do is borrow one of his older movies (maybe Marked for Death which I remembered as particularly fun to watch), just to convince myself that the older films are still good, and that Shadow Man was just an off day.

Rating: 1/5 *
Huh?

Van Helsing

I didn't have high expectations for this movie, yet I found it oddly amusing. It could be partly due to the nice scenery, or Kate Beckinsale's cute Romanian accent (she's one of those rare types who gets more attractive with age). She fits the role perfectly and could have easily played the lead role. It's visually a very attractive film, and while I'm not usually a fan of eye candy effects, its looks made me stand up and notice.

The story is cartoonishly simplistic, but in a nice way. It doesn't take itself very seriously, stays very relaxed while guiding the viewer to a tour of different monsters. It has vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein, everything you expect. The main protagonist, Van Helsing , comes off as a sort of superhero expert on these beasts. There are some good action scenes which it gets a little repetitive near the end.

No need to fool ourselves, the main reason to watch this is for Kate Beckinsale's character. She is particularly hot in this one.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
All about looks.

The Matrix Revolutions

Ahhh, I finally get to watch The Matrix Revolutions, the thrilling conclusion to one of the best trilogies of all time. The first Matrix was ground-breaking, the second had some bad parts, but was still good (my previous review of Reloaded is here). And now, with baited breath, I get to watch how it all ends. Will Zion be preserved? Is Neo the one? Will The Architect and The Oracle reveal the true nature of reality as it actually exists?

It turns out that none of these will be answered. Or maybe they were, I just stopped caring.

First off, I hated, hated the whole military hierarchy of the Zion defense force. The commanders came off too much like arrogant pricks that I actually wanted to root for the machines. Morpheus seems to have a very limited role in this one, which is too bad, because he was the only one that was cool.

The whole Trinity - Neo relationship is ho-hum. Neo goes off with Trinity on their own ship with a separate mission... but at this point I lost track of what was happening, and got bored. There's this big CGI fight between the machine squid-like creatures and the giant defense robots. It felt like watching a cartoon.

Then the ending. What the?! Did anything happen at all? Did I miss something? I can't believe how the Wachowski brother could mess up what started as such a good thing.

I hated this movie. And I tried hard to think why I disliked it so much. Perhaps it's because the supporting human characters were so unlikeable. Perhaps it's because of the melodramatic feel from start to finish, where everyone took themselves too seriously, including Neo. Even previously cool characters such as Morpheus, Agent Smith, and Persephone couldn't save this one.

I guess I just didn't get the whole thing. If anyone knows what happened here, please explain it to me.

Rating: 1/5 *
Horrible ending to a once great franchise.

Ong-bak: The Thai Warrior

Ong-bak is a Thai action/martial arts film with some of the best fighting scenes I've ever watched. Its main star, Tony Jaa, appears to perform all his own stunts, and every punch and kick is delivered with full impact. I have a feeling that many of the actors and stunt men had sore bodies after filming. If you're a fan of old school 80's fight movies, you've gotta see this one.

The best part is when all the bad guys chase the hero through the crowded streets. Our hero jumps through barbed wire, leaps over walls, and steps over the shoulders of the henchmen in order to evade them. And yes, there's lots of good fighting here. In fact, the movie is more than two-thirds fighting and action. Another good part is the fight club scene at the bar where Tony Jaa is forced to beat up colorful characters named 'Pearl Harbor' and 'Big Bear', reminiscent of Jean Claude Van Damme's Bloodsport.

The only shortcoming of this movie is that the fights get somewhat repetitive in the end. You see the same moves over and over again. The final battle scene is anticlimactic. When you get to it, you're so exhausted from all the action that you want to take a break.

Yes, there's a story here too. The protagonist, a lowly villager named Ting who has been trained in the art of Muay Thai fighting is tasked to recover the head of the Buddha which has been stolen from his village. Along the way he meets a scam artist named Dirty Balls and his sister Muay, who take advantage of his fighting abilities to make some extra money, as well as help him in the end against the bad guys. Muay, portrayed by a young Thai actress named Pumwaree Yodkamol, is one good-looking woman. Though she is portrayed here as a short-haired college-age tomboy with a somewhat irritating voice, she's the second best reason to watch this movie.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
You want fights? This movie has it.

Rocky Balboa

I was a bit of an action movie fan while I was growing up. As a kid I eagerly awaited and watched every new movie of my favorite action heroes - Steven Seagal, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, among others. I also watched a lot of martial arts films, everything I could get hold of. I especially liked the training montage and fight scenes, and would pattern my workouts with some of the training scenes I've seen in the movies, although I couldn't even get close to the type of physique that my favorite protagonists would have.

Because of all those fond memories from the 80's and early 90's fight movies, I was eagerly looking forward to watching Rocky Balboa yesterday. This is the latest and probably the last of the Rocky sequels. After it was over, I was a bit disappointed. The training montage didn't compare to the training scenes of the previous Rocky movies. Of which in my opinion 'Rocky IV' had the best training montage. Imagine a bearded Rocky doing grueling exercises in Siberia, climbing a mountain and lifting heavy farm equipment, in sharp contrast to the Russian Drago's state of the art gym facilities. 'Rocky Balboa' had a short, uninspiring training scene without much of the emotion or dramatics of the earlier sequels.

The fight scene against Mason Dixon was also very different from the previous Rocky movies. It was shot in a realistic manner, made to resemble a modern day HBO Pay Per View fight. In a sense, it was like Rocky had left the 'Rocky' universe and entered the present-day world. Which is not entirely bad, I thought the effect was interesting. But I still would have preferred if we it resembled the older movies. In fact this one, didn't even show scenes from the ending boxing/fight scene of the previous sequel, and naming it 'Rocky Balboa' instead of 'Rocky VI' was I guess Stallone's way of telling the viewers that this would be different.

I was not too fond of the Marie character because she felt too much like a quick throw-in replacement for Rocky's dead wife, Adrian. Actually while watching, I was concerned that they might form some sort of romantic relationship which would have been a disaster as no one can replace Adrian. I would have also liked to see more scenes with Duke, Rocky's (and Apollo's) old trainer. Rocky's son as well as Paulie were ok, I think they filled their roles well.

I enjoyed the first half of the movie a lot. It showed how affected Rocky was by the death of his wife, and how he constantly lived in the past, where he remembered that things were much better. It also showed how much of a caricature he became, entertaining patrons in his restaurant with old stories from his past. Rocky clearly only lived for the past and didn't like how his old neighborhood had changed so much since then. I can kind of relate to that a bit, and wish that they had explored that storyline in greater depth.

You would have guessed by now that I like Rocky III and IV more than Rocky I and II, although I like them all. Even Rocky V was ok but suffered from not having a training montage and actual boxing match in the end. I enjoyed the colorful characters and simple storylines of III and IV, and thought that Rocky IV was absolutely fantastic as an action movie.

All in all, I thought this was an OK way to end the series. I can understand why Stallone would want to end the series in the style of the first two Rocky movies but I still would have liked a more satisfying training and fight scene to wrap it up.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
A 'realistic' and current timeline Rocky with a different feel from the older sequels.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Conquest is probably the best Planet of the Apes movie among the ones I've seen so far.

(Warning: Contains minor spoilers on the series. If you haven't watched any of the Planet of the Apes movie before I suggest watching them first before reading this review.)


First, a brief backgrounder on the Apes movies. Each one starts out with some form of time travel, that is, going back or forward in time. Each one contains some thinly veiled social commentary on the nature of man or human relations. There is the requisite tragic ending - murder of the protagonists, discovery of the fate of the human race, and even the end of the world (yes, really). The best thing I like is the feeling that anything can happen in an Apes movie, no one is spared.

Conquest starts in a semi-futuristic earth, a couple of years after the death and murder of Cornelius and Zira, the talking apes from the far future. Their son, Caesar (as he will be named later on) and only descendant is now the property of a kind and very understanding circus owner played by Ricardo Montalban, who treats the ape like his own son and strives to protect him from the harsh reality of the world outside. Caesar is now the only talking ape in existence, having descended from Cornelius.

As the story goes, people started having these lovable apes as pets to replace their dogs and cats that perished in a plague. But the humans quickly discovered that the apes were intelligent and could quickly be trained to do various menial duties. The result is that the apes were made into slaves, meant to serve man. Many of them are cruelly treated and oppressed by sadistic owners, and frequently whipped into submission. Caesar sees all this and is profoundly affected. And you see his character develop throughout the film. He starts out as a naive, scared creature, and turns into a strong courageous leader of the ape slaves.

This is a great movie. Fun to watch from beginning to end. The transformation of Caesar is astonishing. The theme of the movie is pretty dark with none of the silliness or overacting of the earlier apes movies.

My only complaint is with the character MacDonald, one of the humans who sympathizes with the apes. I thought he went slightly over the top in doing too much to help Caesar escape, certainly a treasonous act which felt to me like he betrayed the human race, and he's supposed to be a good guy? His rationale for letting Caesar escape, that of being descended from slaves, was kind of lame. They could have redid the plot to make the MacDonald character, as well as the over the top villainous city governor more realistic.

The ending is pretty good, with a great speech by Caesar in the end. I read that they redid the ending slightly and added some parts to his speech because test audiences found the original ending too harsh. This was certainly a mistake. I liked the original speech as is. This isn't a feel good movie, so there is no need to make the events lighter to watch. The movie should have ended after Caesar mouths the words "And that day is upon you now.", no need to add anything else after that. But I'll just consider this a minor re-touch to make it more hollywood friendly and sell more tickets, so I can forgive them for that. Still, an excellent movie, highly recommended. Battle for the Planet of the Apes is next.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
A classic.

Firewall

The trailer advertises this movie as a high-tech thriller, with Harrison Ford playing the role of a computer security guy who discovers that his family is kidnapped and is forced to use his skills to steal from a large bank under the threat that his family will be killed.

The film turned out to be a big letdown, even lower than my low expectations. This is easily one of the the most inconsistent, illogical, inaccurate, boring movies I have watched in a long time. There were just too many plot holes, childish contrived scenarios, and unimaginative action scenes.

How did the bad guys get into the gated security? Why did the wife act surprised when Paul Bettany wasn't the pizza man she thought he was. Did the family actually order pizza? Do the pizza delivery guys have a free key to the gate?

Why use Harrison Ford in the first place when you already have his identity? Was the whole kidnapping really necessary? What the hell was the 'gambling thefts via identity theft' for in the initial scene?

Why waste time having the family try to escape the kidnappers? Oh I get it, it's to keep the audience in suspence for a few minutes.

Why do what 99% of all action/suspence movies do by having the good guy fight the bad guy in hand to hand combat in the end.

Why is there free wifi in isolated city streets and remote countryside regions? Man, I would love to have Harrison Ford's laptop, the one with the free internet connection everywhere he goes.

Why waste Virginia Madsen with such a useless role?

Why waste the audience's time with the all too common practice of having the handsome and gentlemanly villain?

Why does computer security expert Harrison Ford have such a lame easily breakable four character password?

Why were the bad guys too nice?

Why was Harrison Ford so lucky that the kidnappers decided to bring along the dog, which ultimately allowed them to be traced to their "secret" hideout. It still bothers me that Paul Bettany would have gotten away if not for the dog.

Why give the only two interesting characters in the movie, Ford's secretary, and the X-Files guy, such limited roles?

Why start with such an interesting premise, then stoop down to the lowest common denominator by using contrived, overused plot devices?

Why didn't I stay home instead of watching this crap?

Rating: 1/5 *
Watch CNN instead.

lord of war

le seigneur de guerre. BASED ON ACTUAL EVENTS .. nicholas cage plays yuri the arms dealer, his wife ava fontaine played by bridgette moynahan, and jared leto plays vitaly the brother. and finally the government agent played by ethan hawke.

it is about an arms dealer living off the transgressions / wars between countries, dictators and the people he oppresses, and regular folks who have reason to buy a gun and use it. exploitation, corruption, oppression are explicitly shown in the film. almost everyone is corruptible. it is an ethical question. are arms dealers responsible? when they dont actually kill people. they just sell the means that people kill themselves or defend themselves. but is it not the same as selling drugs, alcohol, and to a largely remote degree fastfood?

i like the relationship between yuri and vitaly. where the brothers show solid confidence and loyalty, honesty to each other. it protays that yuri despite his business dealings of selling arms is still a human being. with the same desires and needs as any.

it touches briefly on the issue of arms in the states. where citizens have the right to bear arms. so that it might appear to be an anti-gun campaign film. but more importantly, it urges us to examine what kind of society we will be if citizens are allowed to have weapons. the arms dealer leads a rather complicated life. a double / triple / quadruple life. the story builds up into a judgement against him but overturns right at the end where he is eventually caught and gives out his biggest defense. i wont say here what hehehe.

rating 5 out of 5 *****
"evil prevails .."

Batman Begins

This is a do-over of the previous Batman movie series that had gotten stale. Batman Begins is not bad. It's actually pretty good.

The first forty minutes of the movie is well-made. In fact, it's my favorite part. Essentially it provides the background story of how and why Bruce Wayne became The Batman. How he trained hard under a mysterious ninja organization that had Liam Neeson as one of its leaders. How his parents were murdered and how he dealt with it as a young heir. Great effort is made to make the reasons for his transformation believable to the viewer, as if it could actually happen. I liked the lines about fear, and how Wayne eventually learns to unleash it for his own purposes. A very entertaining extended opening sequence.

Such a fine intro, but the rest of the movie was kind of subdued. It felt a little bit uninspired, as if all the good ideas were used up in the opening scenes. Don't get me wrong, relatively this is still quite a movie. It was like the rest of the film was stuck in slow motion. The good parts were few and far in between. For instance, I liked the contrast between billionaire Bruce Wayne and The Batman, and the realization by Katie Holmes that he no longer is Wayne, he has become Batman. The Scarecrow is a fascinating villain as he enables victims to visualize their greatest fears.

I think this movie's main purpose is to set up the rest of the series. It introduces several key characters, sets up how Lieutenant Gordon develops into Commissioner one day, establishes Arkham Asylum as a future breeding ground for villains. And it reveals exactly which bad guy Batman will face in the sequel.

All in all, not bad. Just got boring and uninteresting in some parts. But hardcore fans will love this.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
Good intro. Promising setup for future sequels.

king kong

what i hate about this movie. it didnt explain why these animals evolved into those giants. how did the inhabitants survive all that? who put the ruins there. they could not have made them with all the dinosaurs and insects running around. kingkongs fate was sealed even before he went to NYC. he was bound to die alone back in the island. that scene on the ice was the worst. how were they able to trasport a N foot giant with a tug boat. insects are known to travel oceans (see monarch butterflies). those giant insect would have found its way off the island. notice how the fog was conveniently done away with once they entered the island. it was almost impossible getting in. which slightly explains the mystery, how it would have stayed hidden from everyone all the way up to the 20th century. and suddenly theyre able to get out without a cinch with a giant primate tugging along.

the movie should have at least tried to explain its own physics. otherwise, then its all just kind of a mess .. isnt it. i slept thru half of the movie. there was not much in it except for the cool graphics. 5 years ago maybe before jurasic park i would have been impressed .. it takes more than a bunch of fireworks to impressed THIS audience ..

rate 1 out of 5
dum movie