Count

6/20/2009

4.5 movies on Cathay

First things first, I don't think tweeting should be news. In fact, any "news" that refers to tweeter and facebook should be banned.

Per the blog title, here's a review from the movies I saw on Cathay business class (review) from New York to Hong Kong.
  • Watchmen: well, I wanted to start with something entertaining, so Watchmen it was, and entertaining it was. And... philosphical it was too! The smartest man on Earth had finally thought of a way to bring about world peace among Cold War rivals. Nope, even endless resources wasn't going to stop humans from destroying each other, he reckoned. The only way was to create a common enemy to distract the USA and USSR. So, yes, the Watchmen watch the men, but nobody watches the Watchmen, except among themselves. Well made movie... maybe a bit confusing at the beginning. Recommended.
  • The Wrestler: this movie made me really want to see Sean Penn in Milk. My goodness did Mickey Rourke do a tremendous job in portraying a washed up wrestler. Definitely Oscar worthy. He turned everywhere after he was forced to retire to find meaning in life. Poor man couldn't get any love anywhere... until he turned back to what he wasn't supposed to do - wrestle with a problematic heart and blood pressure. At the end, he had to turn to his fans for love - fans who don't even know him. Very sad. Highly recommended.
  • An Inconvenient Truth: Awesome documentary. I'm officially an Al Gore fan even if he didn't invent the Internet. I'm sorry I made fun of you in class, Al. This is science finally trying to talk to normal people... and via Al Gore no less. You must see this movie if you care about how your grandchildren will live. Like Al said, you must acknowledge the facts do you start establishing the moral responsibility to commit to stopping global warming. What's also fascinating is that you get to know Al Gore the person even though those parts of the documentary appear a bit detached from the overall global warming theme. Nonetheless, I found those parts to be genuine and that all he is about is a relentless pursue of his cause. I hope Obama listened (note: there's a part on how GM and the US auto Industry is falling behind). I really liked the whole thing, except for the solution... Gore suggests that we as individuals can help bring down personal carbon emissions to 1970 levels. I find that hard to believe. What about production? Our very consumption of all the goods we use also contributes to global warming... but there is very little mention of it. Anyway, highly highly highly recommended.
  • Bucket List: I figured I'd watch the Reader and Revolutionary Road when I return from Hong Kong... so Bucket List filled the roster. Pretty standard Hollywood movie. Morgan Freeman continues to amaze me with his leveled performance of a dying man... and of course his voice as a narrator has yet to be paralleled (I'm thinking Sean Connery would come close?). In the end, the most important thing is people (ladies and gentlemen, the Bain kool-aid!) and how much joy you bring to them and vice versa. Recommend despite a cliche topic.
  • The Matrix Revolution: Um... just cus I felt like falling asleep... and I think I did when Neo started talking. Not recommended.

2 comments:

The Pretender said...

The Wrestler was the best movie I'd seen in a long time. Since I grew up a wrestling fan it was even better. As for narrator, I think James Earl Jones is clearly the only rival.

Justin said...

On CX, I just saw...

Gran Tornio - yes
Street Kings - no
Seven Pounds - yes
Dare mo mamotte kurenai - sorta no