Alexander's Talk

Avatar

You have probably already heard that this is a groundbreaking film and will revolutionize the way future films are made, this is not an exaggeration. This creates a world that is so unique and interesting that you actually want to take a class into it.
Almost everything can be accredited to James Cameron's directing talent from the superb acting to the exhilarating action and war scenes. The acting by the entire cast was very good, Zoe Saldana gives an emotionally spectacular performance ever though you never see her in person.
The story is a pastiche of every film depicting colonialism from Dances with Wolves to Last Samurai but the setting and characters gives a completely new experience. I think the fact that the story isn't very complex didn't distract from the films amazing effects giving a more incredible viewing experience. And even though the messages of anti globalism can be very ham-fisted and some dialogue was just off ("preemptive strike", "Acts of Terror"), this is a very exciting experience.
James Cameron produces yet another masterpiece; Terminator in the 80s, Titanic in the 90s, and now Avatar in 00s. he is the most consistent and talented directors of our time.
This is simply amazing I'm going to see it again in 3D.

Ip Man (Yip Man)

Wilson Yip's previous films have all been pretty average. I can say that this film is beyond average and it is definitely his greatest movie. Yip has really good material to work with, and he's still got Donnie Yen to be the lead actor. However, instead of Donnie choreographing the martial arts sequences, it's Sammo Hung who will be choreographing these fights.

The film is set in the 1930s in Foshan. Foshan is famous for it's kung fu and has recently opened three dojos. Wing Chun master Ip Man (Donnie Yen) is the most skilled fighter in Foshan, but he keeps a low profile. His friend Qing Quan (Simon Yam) is Ip Man's best friend and plans to open a cotton business. Ip Man loans him some money and tells him to take his time to pay him back. One day, a martial artist from the North called Jin Shanzhao (Fan Siu Wong) arrives in Foshan and challenges all three of the dojo masters to a fight. He defeats them all and claims himself as the best. But when he finds out that Ip Man is the best in Foshan, he fights with him. Ip Man easily defeats him, and the whole town thinks of him as a hero. However, in 1937, the Japanese invaded China. Everyone in Foshan is affected and Ip Man's house is taken away from him by the Japanese, and they use it as their Foshan headquarters. He loses his wealth and his forced to live in a shabby little house. He gets a job as a coolie at a coal mine. The Japanese go over to the coal mine one day with an offer. The Japanese general Miura (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi) will give a bag of rice to a Chinese martial artist to defeats one of his Japanese trainees in a fight. Ip Man refuses, but he accepts the second time they come back. He witnesses the killing of one of the Chinese, and then is chooses to fight ten Japanese. He defeats them, which grabs the attention of Miura. Wilson Yip doesn't usually get good plots to use. The scripts he wrote himself aren't that good. I liked this script though. I don't even know if this is what happened to the real Ip Man back then in the 30s, but it's still a really well written script. The characters are what makes it special. There's no way you can not like Ip Man because he is such a likeable character. He is so kind and he respects people so much. Other characters including Miura were very interesing. The dialogue was pretty epic, some of the lines were really epic.

Donnie Yen is such a good actor, and he throws himself into the role of Ip Man with gusto. Hiroyuki Ikeuchi was badass as Miura. Simon Yam was also good. Lynn Hung was a bit over the top as Ip Man's wife Wing Cheng.

The film has some wonderful visuals. The cinematography works really well in this because they use different lighting and colours to reflect on the mood of the film. They used a lot of dark and pale colours when the Japanese were killing Chinese, and a lot of bright lighting during a happy moment. The music was used well. i loved some of the songs in this, so EPIC.

We can't forget the martial arts in this. Sammo Hung may not work as an actor for me, but I love his choreography. He's choreographed these fight scenes fantastically, and they are filmed very well by Wilson Yip. Not only that, they've got great martial artists to work with. Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi and Fan Siu Wong were all great fighters in this. The epic finale at the end is one of the best fight scenes I've ever seen.

Wilson Yip's best! It's about Bruce Lee's master, and it's great to see what he was like in this film. I think it's been really nicely done. I look forward to the sequel. Hope it's as good as this one. Highly Recommended.

Malena

I'm in love. In love with Malena and all of her charms, the looks, the walk, the body. Only Tornatore could make you fall in love with a movie character. He directs her with such an excellence that you love, pitty, dream about her and even dispise her at the same time. He shows us Malena thru the eyes of a teenager who also has fallen in love with her, spies on her, curse the ones who speak bad about her. The charme of Malena makes me blind for all the fails and goofs in the movie that might have been. Never before did i look at a female movie character with such a longing, with such a passion and understanding, never before did i escape so much into a world of film.

The Proposal

romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson and Betty White. directed by Anne Fletcher.

when shrewd New York book editor, Margaret Tate (Bullock), is threatened with deportation, she forces her assistant, Andrew Paxton (Reynolds), to marry her. however, before they can tie the knot, she has to go home with him and meet his family... in Alaska.

I love Sandy B. and would watch her in anything... I watched Speed 2 for goodness sakes!... and despite the fact that this is a very predictable film that follows the good ol' rom com formula to the letter, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Betty White once again steals all of the scenes that she is in, as the silly, yet very frank, Gammie. I love her! just wanna pick her up and put her in my pocket! another happy little find for me was The Office's Oscar Nunez, as Ramone, the town's go to man for everything... including the town's exotic dancer. he made me giggle several times.

oh! almost forgot about the soundtrack... Katy Perry, Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, Lil' Jon... good stuff!

sweet, funny little rom com. ♥

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is 2009 American drama film written and directed by Rebecca Miller (daughter of playwright Arthur Miller). The screenplay is based on her novel of the same title. Pippa Lee is a loving wife and mother but behind her charmed exterior is a past plagued with demons. Because of her mother who suffers from a serious drug addiction left her house and seeks refuge at her Aunt Trish?s place in New York City, but there, she finds herself amidst even more unusual behaviour when she?s introduced to Trish?s roommate?s hobby of sadomasochistic photography. Eventually Pippa falls into the arms of Herb Lee, a publisher 30 years older than she. Pippa becomes his loyal wife and goes with him when he decides it?s time to relocate to a retirement community. The film gives you just about everything; it?s funny, dramatic and romantic and uses just the right degree of each to create an ideal emotional sensation. That mixture of genres is what makes the film so powerful. It goes straight from making you laugh to making you cringe. The supporting cast is incredible here, with Julianne Moore (as a lesbian fetish photographer), Winona Ryder (as Pippa?s confident), Monica Bellucci (playing Herb?s frightening first wife), Bello (capturing insanity wonderfully), and Reeves (playing a stoic angel of orgasmic deliverance) but Wright is the burning flame in this movie is the star with her amazing performance as Pippa Lee?.Great

Avatar

Visually.... impressive. Music... James Horner needs no introduction. James Cameron? Excellent director.

All that plus then-some do combine to make this visual masterpiece. But honestly, the 3D was bullshit. I would have been happier with a normal 2D viewing.

Though it is great story telling, Haven't we heard all this before? Pocahontas? Africa? Corporate greed? Wherever great nations invades, local people and cultures are destroyed? Well, this time the invaders get their asses kicked. And whats the thinly veiled hint at climate change destroying our world? Meh, the world is destroying us, and something that I always stress is that nature will overcome whatever advanced technology or society can do. It was great to watch and see nature take on and destroy man and its technology.

Anyways.... I give it 4 stars for the good experience and the quality, but 5 stars? This was seriously hyped up and it doesnt quite deliver the whole goods. There was something missing, that crucial element that makes a movie great. Titanic had the iceberg and the ship. The Dark Knight had the Joker and its first 5 mins. Terminator had Arnie. Aliens had aliens. King Kong had Kong. The Godfather had Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Lord of the Rings had New Zealand. The Last Samurai had Samurai and Ninja.

Avatar has.... Pandora? Perhaps.But honestly, CGI and 3D effects perhaps is the future, but movies like the Dark Knight who didn't use it that much, still prove that good old movie making is still what we want.

When Titanic was over, the entire cinema stood up and applauded. The Dark Knight, they all applauded. Even in Transformers (1) the entire crowd went nuts. And this was the same cinema, and people were sitting on the floor for the opening weekend.

Avatar? not so. I think people were slightly confused and disappointed - all I heard was good, but whats with the hype? Hmm... I just think people weren't ready for the amount of special effect, which was the entire film pretty much. Acting wasn't really a strong point, the only notable mentions is Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang for their very colorful and expressive characters.

It was interesting to see a whole alien culture, language and customs and traditions. But honestly, it was like seeing native African tribes, everything was nearly all too similar. Except for the animals...

which leads me to say, even though they looked great, all the beasts were just real animal bodies and heads and parts interposed on other bodies and parts. Like Hammerhead sharks' heads on Rhinoceros. Or giant moths with heads of a dinosaur. Or wild dobermans with their skin turned inside out. Interesting to look out, nothing special or new. And of course... they are big. But hell, Lord of the Rings was so much better - even the giant mammoths were unique in their own way.

Mechanicized infantry from Mech Warrior. Hover copters from computer games. You know, this would really make for an awesome computer game. But probably it would suck, like most games from movies adaptations.

This movie was... over hyped. It just wasn't special... nothing really new. Even the 3D and special effects were not new... just overused?

Special Effects and 3D cannot carry a movie, sorry to say. A love story, a war story, a clash of worlds.... somehow it was a bit o everything and it didn't meld properly. There was no real cohesion, nothing connected well together. It did move at a good pace, but it was choppy at times, like as if James Cameron chopped it with axe - very blunt.

I guess the final battle was climactic... but honestly, it was also.... pretty average. Ive had more climatic battles in Call of Duty Modern Warfare than this. Intriguing, but pretty forgettable.

And thats the final thing. Unless you've fallen for the hype, I'll remember this movie for being hyped and honestly trying to advocate 3D special effects... but I'll probably never watch it again. Like Titanic. Ive only seen Titanic from beginning to end only once.

I will watch the Godfather over and over again. I will watch The Dark Knight over and over again. Hell, I will watch Transformers (1) over and over again.

But this.... is forgettable. It made its big hoorah and I enjoyed my time watching it, but all it did was leave me feeling like I've been suckered to spend more on a giant screen and 3D. I just didn't care for the movie at the end. It was like any other big movie.

My FINAL PROGNOSIS? Cameron blew out the budget, on technology and such, so everything else became secondary. In the end, the accountants were running this movie, not the creative minds and it shows in everything that lacked.

4 Stars for some of the hype - one star off for being all the above. This is no big Oscar winner, except for Special Effects. And thats about it.

Total Recall

I've seen TOTAL RECALL many times over the years and I'm never failed to be impressed with it . Some people dislike it and I feel I must defend the movie

" Confused plot " - Sorry but I managed to understand the complex plot first time I saw the movie and was impressed that Hollywood had merged a high concept plot with a FX laden extravaganza , such a pity this didn't lead to more thoughtful action adventures . If you want to see a confused plot try watching a James Bond movie from the 1980s

" The violence " - Yeah this is a violent movie for sure but I do wish people would educate themselves to the work of directors before they criticize . Paul Verhoeven had previously made FLESH AND BLOOD and ROBOCOP so a futuristic adventure by Verhoeven that was awarded an 18 certificate isn't going to be confused with an episode of the teletubbies

What I liked from Verhoeven's directing is that he's made everything so recognizable , nothing is ridiculously futuristic looking and we see the characters wearing clothes that wouldn't look out of place in the 1980s . Verhoeven also brings little satirical stabs to the proceedings as he did with ROBOCOP and it's a great shame we see less and less of this European director working for Hollywood

Verhoeven even gets a good performance from Big Arnie , okay this body builder was never in danger of winning an Oscar but Arnie doesn't send himself up and nor do his wise cracks like in his other blockbusters but he does make for an affable - Though violent - hero . Michael Ironside gives the most memorable performance which considering he spends most of the movie running around with a gun is no small achievement .

One interesting thing I noticed about TOTAL RECALL after seeing it again last night is that it's unapologetic on being on the side of the rebels who are waging a war against the greedy Mars company . Anyone believe that if it was made today the rebels/terrorists would be the bad guys?

Anyway this is along with the original TERMINATOR the best movie starring Arnie though most of the credit for this movie belongs to the screenwriters and director and it's a great pity Hollywood is reluctant to mix a high concept SF plot with a crowd pleasing action adventure.

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love

Its probably hard to take a subject like the Kama Sutra and distill it into a good movie that's not rated X. That being said, this movie does a good job at creating a plot around a tale of forbidden love that is set in an India of ages past.

The staging and art direction are all well done-- and one certainly gets a sense of the opulence of India, simply through the luxuriant costume design that pops up in every scene. Where the movie has problems is that the protagonists are attractive, but not compelling as actors. We feel pity for their plight as part of a caste, but the villains are so equally cardboard that its hard to feel much empathy for anyone in this movie. The other curious aspect of this movie is the ending-- which isn't happy... and seems more a statement on the caste system itself. The feminism of the main character in the final scenes seems quite absurd, but perhaps that is just the nature of this difficult to adapt material.

The Princess and the Frog

This will go down as the latest "Disney Classic".A perfect fairy tale.I loved it.

Castaway on the Moon (Kimssi pyoryugi)

trippy rom-com from the always great korean..,the film,while highly unbelievable (and rather silly plot), but it at least always makes me smile. the tone of the film feels very Gondry-an,maybe thats why i love this film

Wanted

The action sceans are absolutely amazing, the perspective and the effects are pretty great! the cast selection was really good!

Crank

In Bruges

the story is sort of complex but a bit weird! the combination is great
two assasins send to bruges since one of them made a mistake in their last job!

Hauru no ugoku shiro (Howl's Moving Castle)

the story is really good, origianal, and very sweet, romantic!

Avatar

James Cameron returns with Avatar, the long awaited, largely heralded 3D sci-fi fantasy epic. Well its here, and it will suffice. In terms of visual spectacle, it's at times quite marvelous. Cameron makes wise use of the 3D (or real D as they've been calling it). It's never in your face with flying bullets whizzing past your head. It's restrained and tasteful. Will it revolutionize filmmaking as the ads would have you believe? Not even close. There's no justification for movies to really switch over, especially with the cost of 3D. It does look good, though at times it's distracting and makes things a little muddy.
Bottom line: it's a great looking movie. Cameron and his crew use beautiful colour palettes in creating Pandora. Its a splendor to look at. In terms of story, its only just barely above mediocre. It's a pretty good movie thanks to its visuals. It's no where even close to one of the best of the year, but it's one of the ones you'll want to see just to say you've seen it

Iron Man 2

Trade

Trade was a brutal movie, with good and strong performances about a delicate matter, the sex traffic of children and teens across the world, in this movie it was in Mexico.I found the movie brutal due to the rape scenes, the kidnappers forced the girls to drugs and abuse them sexually and emotionally as well.
Kevin Kline had a great role, and the other actors and actresses all did a fine job of making the movie feel real.But I had to say the story had some strange twists and a forced happy ending. That had ruin the whole suspense for me.