Blogging again - Movie Series

In no particular order...

3 Idiots: if you overlook the simple premise and predictable plot, it's a thoroughly enjoyable movie with likable characters. And I added one sentence to arguments at home: All is Well. Recommended.

The Fighter: the pirated DVD has been sitting at home for a while... it's a pretty good movie and I see how Oscar would bless it. Love the Southee accents from both Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. Totally believable. Great inspiring movie overall. Recommended.

One Day: I recognized Edinburgh right away. Then it was all London and all downhill. The book must be much better than the movie. Not recommended.

Transformers 3: Saw this on the plane... and glad I never had to pay to see a 3D version. Just a lot of metal robots messing around with each other. I don't need to fork up HKD150 for it. Anyway, I get to see my old home in Chicago go up in flames... other than that, Transformers 3 was just a lot of metal moving around. Not recommended. Oh, and just to be clear, I prefer Megan Fox.

Fast and Furious 5: dumbass plot with dumbass actors and actresses but with tons of over the top action. Sure, why not? Love the Brazilian bad guy. After checking IMDB, I can confirm his only role in US movies is being a drug lord (Desperado, Clear and Present Danger, and I'm not sure who he was in Behind Enemy Lines, but let's just assume he was a bad drug lord there too). How do you ever top that one!!?? Recommended.

Too Big to Fail: I read the book first, and the movie doesn't miss a beat at all. I wanna get Paulson's take on the movie (apparently he was spoke at Booth this past Monday... too bad I missed that by a day!). Much better than Inside Job, IMHO. And Paul Giamatti's impersonation on Bernanke was awesome. On the flip side, the actor who played Warren Buffet was not. Couldn't you get Buffet to play Buffet!? I'm pretty sure he'd say yes! Highly recommended (and the book is highly highly highly recommended)

Goodfellas: why I haven't seen this classic from start to finish is beyond myself. Highly recommended.

I think there were a few more movies that I saw on my (coach) flight from Hong Kong to New York, but I don't remember already... guess they weren't worth it. And today I'm heading back from Chicago, so looking forward to a few more!

Book, TV, and Movie

In order or preference...

The Help (Book) - this fictional story about black maids and their employers in Mississippi is written by a white person. Perhaps that's why a white lady and a bunch of black maids tried helping each other and only the white lady made a future for herself... anyway, I shouldn't be cynical about fiction, right? The book touches hearts with light and heavy subjects at the same time, and is simply a wonderful read. It's incredibly raw, and you find yourself sucked into the lives of the three main characters, rejoicing and bleeding with them along the way. Highly recommended.

Dexter Seasons 1-3 (TV) - I'm pretty sure this is fictional as well. Just kidding... blood scientist with the Miami police is a serial killer who hunts down people who slip through the cracks of justice. Yeah, okay. Surprisingly good actually, even though outrageous. Recommended.

Harry Potter (Movie) - It's not a bad movie at all... I just don't know what is going on most of the time because I haven't read the book and I rarely remember anything from previous HP movies. Wizard fight scenes suck and the general fight scenes aren't that great either. I suppose it's real good if you are an HP fan, like my wife is. Not recommended.

Movie time!

Oh man, I think I watched quite a few movies but never had time to write what I thought of them... here goes:

Inside Job: My old firm Analysis Group was mentioned several times in this movie (along with the very evil Glenn Hubbard) as part of the evil establishments that protect banks and bankers from being held accountable for what they did. I wish documentaries would not be as one sided and actually seek another angle to try to offer some neutrality to the story. For example, how could you not interview Andrew Ross Sorkin? By the way, Too Big to Fail is a much better way to understand the financial crisis. Inside Job is more for populists. Not recommended (unless, of course, you are a former employee of Analysis Group, defender of the evil empires).

King's Speech: A real movie finally! What a fantastic job by Colin Firth... it's rare nowadays that actors and actresses capture the total essence of the character they are playing. But Colin Firth has done it masterfully. Natalie Portman in Black Swan - reviewed a while ago - might be another... my god that makes TWO worthy Oscar wins! Guy Pierce, on the other hand, is not believable at all... Highly Recommended.

Hangover 2 - please don't have a Hangover 3. The Thai lady boy moment trumped all the moments in the original Hangover, but the rest of the movie couldn't measure up. And what's up with the Asian pre-med kid being a complete dork in the movie not caring that he's missing a finger to becoming a surgeon... oh wait, there wasn't supposed to be a plot, right? Not recommended - you're better off re-watching the first one!

X-men First Class - truth is, I don't even remember what happened in the movie, except that it was slightly better in the sense that there was quite a bit of depth in the discussions of mutants' value in the ecosystem. Overall the mutants abilities were a bit disappointing though (especially the kids... I mean... you can scream so loud that you can fly... err...) Slightly recommended.

Some HK Detective Story: I'll cut to the chase: Not recommended. It has Aaron Kwok so that's the one to avoid.

Movie - Adjustment Bureau

I swear I've seen more movies... but somehow never recorded them.

Adjustment Bureau (IMDB): In a story about fate and free will, I thought the movie was pretty good until the last 5 minutes. Matt Damon runs a lot in this movie, and I kept thinking that he'd turn into Jason Bourne and actually change his fate with fists and guns. Anyway, he didn't. I suppose the message of the movie is that you got to grab the bull by the horns and control it. I'm cool with that message. I can't stand movies that worked so well along and keeps the audience on its toes and screws it up at the last moment (Somewhat like State of Play, but Adjustment Bureau only screws up the last 5 minutes) When Matt Damon stops running, that's when you should leave the theater and call it a night. Slightly recommended without the last 5 minutes.

Inception: I think the last time I watched a movie three times in a year was The Mission (Canto). Well, I did my third Inception and it was better than the first two. And I think I figured out where Leo is physically and also in his dream state. In fact, it kind of reminded me of Momento, another one of my all time favs.

Movies, again.

Yup, apprently I only eat and watch movies.

Middle seat coach on United from SFO to HKG - it doesn't get any worse than this, except that I'm paying a fraction of the price, so I guess I do deserve whatever they give me. Btw, DO NOT get the breakfast option that is Japanese Teriyaki Vegetables and Tofu with Rice: by far the worst ever airplane meal I have ever had.

Even though it was a shared movie screen for the entire coach, I managed to catch 2 pretty good movies. In fact, the flight was overall enjoyable, no doubt because I didn't have to play the elbow game with my neighbors. You see, life is much better if we all stick to our personal space.

Anyway...

Morning glory - Rachel McAdams stars in this girly comedy along with... wait for it... wait for it... Harrison Ford! And I'm not ashamed to say that it was surprisingly good with a lot of funny moments! Harrison's serious face (a.k.a. the Jack Ryan or "I'm the President of the United States of America" face) is still fun to watch. Recommended to watch on an airplane - the couple across the aisle kept LOLing.

Megamind - fun cartoon featuring voices of Will Farrel, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, and the fat kid from Super Bad. haha... just thinking of Super Bad makes Megamind worth it. Fun cartoon from start to finish. Brad Pitt does an awesome job as the voice of one of the heroes. I couldn't really tell that Megamind's voice was Will Farrel's. Recommended.

Flying to US means watching movies

United's business class video on demand system is still one of the best I've seen for all long haul fights. See my review from almost TWO years ago! Oddly, however, the selection seems to be less...

Especially strange was the TV series. I ended up watching 3 episodes of The Wire Season 1... even though it was episode 2, 6 and 11. Yup, those were the only 3 on VOD...

Back to the movies.

Due Date: Robert Downing Jr and the hilarious fat kid from The Hangover (who now seems to be in a lot of movies...) make a funny pair as they road trip back from Atlanta to LA. It's okay funny most of the time and I think it kept me entertained for the most part. Not really recommended.

127 Hours: I really wanted to see this movie for some reason. Something about the story about a man being literally stuck in the wilderness that is fascinating. And the part where he has to saw off his arm. In fact, when I first read the incredible story quite a few years ago, I thought to myself that it would make a really good movie and that the hiker would gain fame and fortune from his unfortunate encounter - else he'd just be another hippie hiker. Anyway, I liked the movie although it isn't for anyone. You have to watch a good 90 minutes of James Franco struggling with hallucinations and reality - there's no real point to the movie other than our hero realized he should have told the ones he loves what he was up to when he goes on solo adventures. Oh, and there's a good 5 minutes of him hacking off his arm. Again, not for anyone. Recommended.

Black Swan: this was a theater in LA, not the flight TV. I think the first word that comes to mind is "disturbing"... then "fantastic"... then "disturbing" again. I think I need to watch the movie again to truly appreciate it. My first thought after the screening was that damn she actually had to go through all that shit to become perfect. It wasn't until the next morning that I thought... hmmm, maybe she did imagine all of it deliberately so that she can grow into the role. Maybe she wasn't crazy. Anyway, I think the point was that perfection can always be achieved if you push hard enough... right? Natalie Portman does a masterful job in the movie and certainly deserves all the credit (she's the favorite for the ultimate prize, an Oscar). Still, a disturbing movie. (Made me think of Tiger moms for a minute actually) Recommended.

Movies on Emirates

It may seem that I am only watching movies on the plane or on pirated DVDs... perhaps true. I did see Harry Potter 7 the other day. I was lost most of the time cus I had no idea what muggles was. Not recommended? (The question mark is intentional)

One thing Emirates got right: movies that can play once you board the flight! How has no airline done this before? You get on the plane, sit down, hit a few bottons (or touch the not-very-reliable screen), and start your movie! I can sit on the tarmac for hours watching a movie without getting jittery because we haven't taken off yet. Which is exactly what happened in Dubai when a passenger had a heart attack on the tarmac and the plane headed back to the terminal. I was watching The Expendables and never made a fuss... anyway, on to the movies:

The Expendables: Watching a bunch of macho old men run around killing people and dismantling buildings is fun. Not really... but if you want to see some ass kicking, I think this movie might do it for you. Okay, I'll admit, I've already forgotten what this movie was about except that there were some gun fires and sticky bombs and kung fu kicks. Not recommended.

Wall Street: The classic one. Now that I've seen the original, I wonder why didn't someone make the sequel to Charlie Sheen's character... like what happens to whistle blowers against high power folks. Anyway, Michael Douglas is masterful and the whole movie just nailed New York perfectly. Also loved the music and sound effects. Highly recommended.

Freakenomics: I remember reading on their blog that there was some documentary thing. Each section of the documentary deals with a chapter in Freakenomics and uses a different director. So you get several interpretations/illustrations of economic research plus a whole lot of background information. In fact, they deal with a lot more of the background than the actual analysis, which is good. I highly recommend the Sumo Wrestling and Incentives chapters. Recommended.

Knight and Day: I knew it was going to be bad. I just didn't know how bad. Cameron Diaz is too old to try to look beautiful. And Tom Cruise... is just old. He didn't even need make up this time to look like the Cruise in Vanilla Sky. Actually, that might be worth the price of admission to see his face - it barely twitches the whole movie and when it does it takes us back to Vanilla Sky Cruise. Good times. Not recommended.

Killers: You know, after watching Knight and Day, I had no choice to watch another "spy" movie... this time with Ashton Kutcher and Catherine Heigl, whom for all we know might easily morph into Cruise and Diaz when all is said and done. Anyway, here are the plot keywords courtesy of IMDB: marriage, neighbor, assassin, birthday, hired killer. They missed "atrocious" and "unbelievable... plot". Not recommended.

Triple Tap: Chinese movie that is a sequel to Double Tap. Decent movie overall but with some fatal flaws, one of which is to try to try to mix in the financial crisis into it. It does nothing for the movie. Can we stick with people with guns trying to outwit each other? Instead, it spirals into some psychological warfare that involves offfices and women. Not recommended.

Grown Ups: Feel good comedy with Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, and David Spade. Individually, each of them have made some pretty funny stuff, and together they string together some funny lines for about an hour and a half. Slightly recommended.

Megamind: well, I didn't exactly watch it. but since it was on like 20 screens for like 50 hours (of flight time), I think I got the gist of it. In fact, this probably happened for Avatar, Inception, The American (presumably, to fall asleep), Toy Story 3... but I want to go see Megaman when I am back in Hong Kong.

More movies - thanks Cathay for the upgrade! (Blast from the past)

Hmmm... found a blog draft saved in November but never posted.... here goes. Not much of a post anyway.

Thankfully, I was upgraded to Cathay's business class (2009 review stands). Flat bed was awesome of course, but the On-Demand movie on 19-inch (I think) TVs are the best long haul invention ever.

(These four movies might have been one of the best 4 on a flight)

I watched Prince of Persia (okay), Cyrus (kind of funny), Inception (2nd time is freaking awesome), and Dinner with Schmucks (horrible).

Shenzhen bi-products

Working in Shenzhen has its bi-products:

• Better reflexes: I fear for my life every time I get on a car... nobody respects a stop sign and no one uses their turning lights. So one tends to develop really good reflexes on the road even though one isn't the driver.
• Stronger abs: suspecting that every single person is trying to cut in line, all people in Shenzhen line up right behind each other. Makes me a bit homophobic sometimes, actually.Anyway, as a result, I constantly swing my backpack to create personal space. If I don't have a backpack, I'll swing my hips. Works like a charm.
• DVDs... at USD$1 a piece, you tend to just resort to pirated DVDs for all your entertainment. Here goes...

Lie to Me: Loved the end of season 1 with an undeniable dark turn. It lost some steam in the middle as every episode started to feel like CSI. Anyway, good TV but I have one big question... if actors can fake all the truth- and lie-telling faces, how can you detect them in real life? Recommended.

True Blood: I swear, my wife made me watch it. So much nudity that sometimes I thought I was watching soft porn... not that I know what soft porn is...

The Town: When the ending credits rolled out, I was shocked to see Ben Affleck directed! Not a bad effort by him. Shadows of The Heat in some of the bank robbery scenes, right down to the demise of each robber. And Ashley Judd's hand slide. It is, however, not The Heat. Affleck can try to be Michael Mann... but he can't try to be De Niro. And the guy from Mad Men is certainly no Al Pacino either. Good action flick that would have been much better if it was the first of its kind. Recommended.

The American: This is Michael Clayton, assassin version, gone bad. I fell asleep twice and finally finished the movie on the 3rd night. The Italian town is beautiful though - always liked those narrow stone paved European small towns where everybody knows everybody. Except for the new killer in town, apparently. Not recommended.

Eat Pray Love: I thought this would be a boring chick flick. Chick flick it is. Boring it is not. Thank god that Julia Roberts is in this movie as she nailed the role of midldle age divorcee unsure of herself. Negative points for making Bali a tourist madhouse (Our October honeymoon coincided with a book club gathering in Ubud). Recommended.

Oh, and happy new year!

Dispicable Me

Well, Despicable Me is a kid's movie. And that's that. Not recommended for adults.

Social Network

Apparently Social Network won some early film award... I'm too lazy to even look that up.

Saw the movie last week and didn't like the whole movie at all. As PNW said, "why did they make all the characters so un-likable in that movie"? Well, perhaps it's because all of them are filthy rich and we are not.

The movie starts with Mark Zuckerberg being dumped by his BU girlfriend and then he runs across the Harvard campus to his dorm room so he can blog his revenge and start Facemash. That 3 minute sequence alone lost me. Why did we need to see him run through the campus? What was that awful techno-like music in the background? Why is he still running?

Aviator, by contrast, is a much better fantasy biography movie. There was a constant struggle to judge Howard Hughs throughout the movie.

The Social Network didn't have any of that struggle. Mark Zuckerberg was obsessed with making himself part of an elite... and nothing else. Maybe he cared about people being able to connect with each other? Help people find long lost friends? No such mention in the movie. It was one man on one mission only...

Ultimately, did I feel that I learned anything about the characters in the movie? No. It lacked depth and I think there will be a much better movie about these Internet founders when everything is said and done. I do believe that Zuckerberg is a douche to his friend Eduardo (who himself is quite a douche too), and that's about it. Just couldn't take any of the other fantasy themes seriously. Anyway, a movie on Jobs, for example, would be sensational since he has done the ups and the downs and his personality is strong (Mark Zucherberg, on the other hand, only has a strong personality... for now).

Not recommended.

Red,Waiting for Superman

Oh, I forgot the best reason for going to theaters in the US of A: 2fers!!!

My only regret for this 2fer is that I paid for Red and didn't contribute to the box office of Waiting for Superman.

RED: As a rule, when Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich (and Helen Mirren!) are in the same movie, you should go see it. I had no idea this was a DC Comic movie. Bruce Willis is still Bruce Willis, doing his squinting routine and "I need to look both surprised and confident at the same time" look. Malkovich is absolutely off the hook funny. Oh, and there's that hot housewife from Weeds (she can't act - but the role she got was perfect for her... in fact, I'm pretty sure she's still playing the drug dealing house mom role in this movie, awed by all the acting talent that has surrounded her). Anyway, a rule is a rule. Recommended.

Waiting for Superman: Thankfully Red was actually funny. Waiting for Superman is a depressing documentary about the education system in the US of A. It is broken, and it doesn't want to fix itself. Thankfully the director offers a glimmer of hope with all the new types of schools that greatly expose the deficiencies of the US public schools. The only problem: there aren't enough of these new schools. Nonetheless, I hope public school administrators and teachers see this movie... they will become obsolete unless they start to address the problem: that education is about the kids and not about the adults.

The Next Three Days

I do miss theaters in the US of A. In Hong Kong, movie watching is complicated - you must first reserve tickets ahead of time. Who plans to watch a movie a week before it is released!?

Anyway, it's a lovely feeling when you can just walk up to the movies and have no idea what might happen in the next 2 hours. When the theater was filled with Wizard dressing Harry Potter fans on its first night of release, I chose to watch The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe.

The story: Russell Crowe, a middle school teacher, insists that his wife is innocent of a murder that has put her behind bars for life. He is on a mission to break her out of prison. That's right, Wentworth Miller is replaced by Russell Crowe in Prison Break.

But it is a surprisingly good Prison Break on the movie screens. Instead of focusing on HOW Crowe is going to break his wife out, the movie follows Crowe's struggle to make ends meet and his commitment to the cause. The first hour is in fact rather slow as you can imagine... but quickly builds amazing tension entering the last half and hour or so. Does he do it? Does he not do it? How far is he willing to go? How is he going to pull this off? Is he going to make it?

Forget how realistic that a middle school teacher can break out his wife from prison. It doesn't matter. I enjoy movies like this one - more on the person and peoples involved and less on actions (See Unstoppable). Highly recommended.

Salt, Blind Side, Unstoppable

Now here is a trio of forgettable movies:

Salt: At the start, you see a naked Jolie being tortured by some North Korean agents. Well, you don't actually see it, cus she's in a very dark room (why does torture always happen in a dark room?). Anyway, she's released and 3 years later she is a Russian spy killing Russian presidents and US presidents and trying to launch nuclear missiles to wipe out the US... or was that Russia, I can't tell. WHAT!? Not recommended.

Blind Side: Arg, I had such hope to see a great Sandra Bulluck performance. I saw an average performance of a role that she should master. Otherwise, it was a simple feel good story that just felt okay with me. At some point, I want to see some real Oscar worthy movies! (Hurt Locker, An Education did not meet expectations). If you like predictable feel good stories, recommended.

Unstoppable: Well, classic Denzel movie. He's a 28 year railroad veteran trying to stop a train with dangerous chemicals running straight towards a populated town. The only thing missing is his drinking problem and family struggles and his angry side. Oh wait, he was asked to retire early at half benefits - yup, that's gotta be his fuel. Actually, forget about this movie. Not recommended.

You know, I really enjoy taking pictures and writing... it's too bad that I haven't done either for such a long time. Let me try to extend this.

Inception; A-Team; Robin Hood

I was a bit disappointed with the highly anticipated Inception. I guess therein lies the problem: highly anticipated always leads to disappointment.

Anyway, the premise is quite simple: Leo is a dream hacker and can plant viruses into one's brain. The planting virus business can be quite dangerous and has led to the death of his late wife... which has in turn, from time to time, interfered with his projects. Leo needs to overcome his own created problem, team with some other hackers, and finish the next big task. My head is spinning already. Maybe I should watch it twice... Slightly recommended.

A-Team: it's so ridiculous it is awesome. Since when did Liam Neeson do movies like this...? The guy from Hangover can now just make any movie, I guess. Recommended.

Robin Hood: Russel Crowe in Gladiator 2! Little John is played by Keamy in Lost. I can never forgive Keamy. Why is Kate Blanchett in this movie? How did the British army just go from one place to another in a blink of the eye? Why would the King be in the front lines? Who are the orphans running around? Arg. Not recommended.

Oh yeah, I got married (twice!) and then went on my honeymoon.... must be back on this blogging business.

I need to blog again

Just because I haven't blogged in a month doesn't mean I didn't do anything... in sequence of the last few months.

An Education: I thought this would be better than The Hurt Locker. It was not. Now I have to turn my attention to Precious to see if there was indeed an Oscar worthy film. An Education is a classic "too much expectation" movie for me. At the core, the movie was a fun but simple depiction of when the poor meet the rich. The poor will always be "too simple, too naive" because they weren't exposed to the life of the rich. On the other hand, the rich will always be taking advantage of its inherent advantage. The girl in the movie is quite refreshing. Recommended.

Iron Man 2: not bad for a robot vs. robot blow it all up movie. Barely recommended.

Lost: I admit, it got a little dusty at home during the finale. It's too bad the series had to end like this... I felt there was still a lot of potential in it and it had a very loyal following. Unfortunately, it wrapped up in a very rushed fashion. Recommended.

Flashforward: I think I said I would boycott the show because the whole story line was just stupid to me. Well, TF convinced me to keep watching it with her. Let's just say I'm glad it is canceled after 1 season. Shouldn't they offer an alternative ending for season 1 when there is only season 1?? Anyway, the acting was horrible for the most part and the story just didn't have any punch to it. Not recommended, although the idea was great.

The Cove: this is what documentaries should be about. Facts and more facts and not opinionated pieces like Michael Moore. Don't get me wrong - I really do enjoy Moore's documentaries - it's just that sometimes his facts seem a bit far fetched to be making a political point. The Cove, on the other hand, is black and white. You may disagree on how dolphins think about being in captive, but you cannot argue with the slaughter. The Cove is a powerful documentary and I prefer it over all the so called OScar films this year. Highly recommended!

Liar Poke: Yeah, I'm about 10 years behind the time line. Awesome book with a strange similarity to the current financial crisis. Can we all agree that capitalism breeds greed and greed breeds financial crisis? And can we also all agree that this is not a bad thing? Highly recommended. And I need to read the Big Short.

Green Zone: Matt Damon is a soldier on a mission to uncover state secrets! Sounds familiar? That's cus it is. Okay, I think we all know now that there were no weapons of mass destruction. Let's just move on. Recommended if you like Matt Damon. Else, not recommended.

Shrek Ever After: Sure, it was fun. Poor Shrek. Sometimes men just need some space to be men. Recommended.


大兵小将： a surprisingly good Jackie Chan feature where he plays a deserting soldier and not his usual general figure. This small potato runs into a bit of luck and takes the opposing general, played by an inspired pretty boy Wong Lee Hom, prisoner. He tries to take his new found luck home to claim the prize of 5 acres of land so he can be a farmer again. Evil forces have other ideas. Recommended... tho don't expect any Jackie Chan stunts.


International: Clive Owens and Naomi Watts in conspiracy theory investigation on a bank that helps bad guys deal arms and fudge with money. Awful premise still mastered by Clive Owen's crunched face and Naomi Watt's partially stare down. Not recommended.


Oh yeah, I'm getting married in 5 days!

There will be Blood (Movie, don't worry)

Watched There will be Blood (IMDB) last night. I remember watching the 2007 Oscars and being totally bored because I didn't see much of the movies. But then the Oscars intrigued a little me so I watched "No Country for Old Men" on a plane ride (See review). I also wanted to watch There will be Blood so I waited three years to do that. haha.

Much less complicated than Old Man, Blood tells of a story of a the self-made man on his way to his fortunes, and the trail of bodies he left behind. On the surface, it's a story of the struggle between money and faith. Dig a bit deeper and I think it's really about the sacrifices one makes in pursuit of one's destiny, as in self made destiny (oxymoron?). The final 5 minutes is a classic must see and I couldn't have enjoyed it more... it was one of those moments where you watch a movie and you think, "ah, the world is right". Yup, now you have to watch it till the end! heh heh.

As usual, money wins over everything else.

Daniel Day-Lewis, by the way, came out of nowhere to give a classic performance as our "hero". Really mastered the role. His voice was especially good... somewhat close to (gasp) Sean Connery.

Dwayne from Little Miss Sunshine was the typical "I remember that face... where did I see him" actor that captures my mind for half the movie until I figured it out. He did okay as a over zealous priest.

Anyway, the movie was pretty good I thought, but for some strange sound editing. It is really odd that a good movie would be shadowed by its sound effects... maybe it was supposed to build some emotion for the audience. I just felt bothered and, frankly, annoyed at the sounds in the movie. Other than that, it is a good movie.

Recommended. Especially the last 5 minutes.

Shutter Island

I'm still confused about Shutter Island (IMDB). So is he crazy or what?

Just kidding. Was a bit disappointed with the whole set up. I love the point where they say that labeling a person crazy is the best way to make sure nobody believes the person, as the vicious cycle will continue with the person vehemently defending himself, further proving that he is crazy.

SPOILER ALERT.

So, Leo, at the end, is crazy... I guess as the audience, you just have to shoulder that suspicion all the way to the end. It's a decent movie, but I personally think there wasn't the need to keep going in circles to mark Leo's route from normal to crazy and back again. And all the "mental patients just need more help" talk during the movie were all categorically thrown out with Leo's execution. Or was that the irony of the movie (that Leo thinks they can't be saved)?

Oh well... not recommended, though I must say Martin Scorsese does a fine job in making thriller movies.

Bad entertainment...

I'm waiting for TFs call to see if she got on the plane to Hong Kong alright (WOOHOO! Finally!)... so I resorted to watching movies on TV to pass time.

Assault on Precinct 13: someone asked me the other day, why do good actors make bad movies? Well, I say cus they really aren't that good. Great actors and actresses look at the script and has the intellect to say no to bad ones. So count Laurence Fishburne, Ethan Hawk, and Gabriel Byrne out of the "good actor" list. How can a movie about 10-20 cops trying to storm an old police station in a snow storm to kill the mob boss who is going to rat them out and are deterred by a "I've made decisions that killed my team members so I'm going to drink and drug myself to oblivion" cop be successful? (Yes, that was all in one sentence)

Nope. Not successful at all. Highly not recommended.

Super Crunchers: say this about Freakenomics - they really pioneered the "let's put some interesting research on a book and dumb it down so people understand what academics/business people do" genre. Now there's a flood of books that say the similar things. Hey guess what? Data can tell you a lot of things! REALLY!? Noooo way. Yeah, really. It can.

And yet I'm still fascinated on how Harrah's comps a person their room when they loose a lot on the tables to keep the customer "happy". Yup, just that part. I'll recommend flipping through the book, finding a few headlines that interest you, and read those sections only.

(Hey, a book review, how about that!?)

Hurt Locker... It's Complicated...

I've always wanted to combine movie names into sentences... Hurt Locker, It's Complicated... actually, it's not. Quite a simple movie

Hurt Locker (IMDB): You know what I really really don't understand? Why is Avatar mentioned in the same sentence as Hurt Locker in Oscar talk? Actually, why is Avatar mentioned at all? Sure, it's a visually stunning movie, but it's really a pretty dumb one (my review).Taking this a step further, why is Hurt Locker mentioned in Oscar talks anyway? I liked the movie overall... much better than Avatar... but it's not Oscar worthy. Not that my opinion matters... didn't Titanic win an Oscar over As Good As it Gets, Good Will Hunting, LA Confidential, AND The Full Monty (I had to look that up: damn, how did he WORST movie win best picture!?).

Anyway, back to our war movie. In a nutshell, our hero's job is to disarm bombs in Iraq and he loves his job and can't get away from it. Yup, what you read will be what you see. To me, the last 10 minutes of the movie is the best part and may have been the make or break between award and not. Some people just love their jobs so much nothing else matters. For others, the priorities are different and they just care about other things more. Sure, loving the military job makes him like a cowboy, but isn't every other job the same? Why do bankers work till 4am every day? Why do consultants endure 5 days of hotel room over a night in his own? Money talks... but there's a passion that keeps people going as well. And our hero just loves the thrill of working in the battlefield over everything else. Nothing wrong with that.

Now I want to watch An Education... still in search of the true Oscar winning.

Oh, recommended movie, even though I was slightly disappointed.

It's Complicated (IMDB): a very fun movie with Meryl Streep leading the way. All around good performances by all - especially Alec Baldwin - and an enjoyable movie. Highly recommended for a good 2 hour laugh.