Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Jumper


  • Directed by Doug Liman
  • Starring Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Samuel L. Jackson, Diana Lane
  • A hugely disappointing movie. I did not expect much from the plot, and the movie certainly did not deliver on this front. However, the Jumper idea should have lend itself to a much more imaginative and wild action sequences, and its unforgivable that this movie could not even do this right. -Comment written by Dear

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

American Gangster


  • Directed by Ridley Scott
  • Starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe
  • The potentially colossal face-off between Washington and Crowe is burdened by the story's persistent in sticking to the truth. The movie is still entertaining enough, if not memorable. -Comment written by Dear

Friday, February 01, 2008

Enchanted


  • Directed by Kevin Lima
  • Starring Amy Adams, Patrick Demsey, James Marsden
  • Really enchanting and fun to watch for both adults and children.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Cloverfield


  • Directed by Matt reeves
  • Starring Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan
  • A really exciting movie that cleverly places you right in the middle of all the actions. The point is never about explaining where the monster came from, but how a Godzilla class event might affect the average joes. I didn't get nauseous at all from the camera style, but your mileage may vary. Despite the home video look, I strongly recommend seeing this on the biggest screen available. -Comment written by Dear

Friday, January 11, 2008

Across The Universe


  • Directed by Julie Taymor
  • Starring Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson
  • I thought I would be able to sit back, relax and listen to the original Beatles' songs but I was wrong. The film was heavy and the songs were performed by the actors/actresses in the film. Although they were very good, I was kind of disappointed.

Monday, December 24, 2007

National Treasure: Book of Secrets



  • Directed by Jon Turteltaub
  • Starring Nicholas Cage, Diane Kruger, Jon Voight, Ed Harris, Harvey Kietel, Justin Bartha, Helen Mirren
  • As an Indiana Jones-like, I felt this movie delivers on its premise. The movie felt much more confident and at home when it's in the white house than when it's trekking through Indian Architectures. Ideally, most of the actions should have been set in well-known places, and not in made up underground dungeons, not that there are many in the USA. -Comment written by Dear

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Elizabeth: The Golden Age



  • Directed by Shekhar Kapur
  • Starring Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush
  • Cate Blanchett still gives a worthy performance even with a mediocre script, but no amount of wardrobes and English slurs can convince me that this Clive Owen belongs in Old England. At times, the movie feels like a Hallmark movie. You can see the actors trying to add more flavors and expand the movie beyond the misguided guide hand of the director, but as a whole, the movie disappoints. -Comment written by Dear

Sunday, December 16, 2007

I Am Legend



  • Directed Francis Lawrence
  • Starring Will Smith
  • While the design is impressive, ultimately the plot is a serious let-down. Legendary, this movie is not. -Comment written by Dear

Sunday, December 02, 2007

The Love Of Siam (Rak Hang Siam)


  • Directed by Chukiat Sakweerakul
  • Starring Sinjai Hongthai, Mario Maure, Witchwisit Hirunwongkul, Chermal Boonyasak, Songsit Rungnoppakunsri
  • This Thai movie tells a story about different kinds of love; love of parents for their children, love of friends, love between opposite sexes, and love between gays. The film is neatly made and all the actors, old and new, perform very well. The music is also beautiful. However, the film is too long. A lot of scenes can be eliminated or cut short without changing the theme. Why does a good film like this fail at the end? Anyway this is the best Thai film in 2007.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Michael Clayton


  • Directed by Tony Gilroy
  • Starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack
  • A wonderfully complicated and mature tale of morality and corporate evil. Movie succeeds in being simple yet subtle in presenting its ideas, and do not have to use any action, sex or CG to charm the audience. However, back at home, I caught The Peacekeeper (another George Clooney movie) on the cable, and enjoyed it so much more than this movie. Does this say something about me, or does it say something about this movie? Hmm. - Comment written by Dear.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Lions For Lambs


  • Directed by Robert Redford
  • Starring Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise
  • All the actors perform admirably, particularly how Tom Cruise succeeds at making his charming face into a devious politician looking face. However, story is far too preachy and impersonal for us to take seriously at the convincing level. I want moving, convincing and personal arguments in movies, not a lecture. The messages are there, but they just don't get across. - Comment written by Dear.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The Kingdom


  • Directed by Peter Berg
  • Starring Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper
  • Entertaining enough, but at times the movie feels like an overblown TV episode of CSI, which to you, might be good or bad. For me, I'd rather watch a Jack Bauer movie. How would they name a 24 movie, 2? 3? 2 and a half? -Comment written by Dear.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Underdog



  • Directed by Frederik Du Chau
  • Starring Jim Belushi, Alex Neuberger, Jason Lee (Voice)
  • This movie about the superhero beagle is for children and people who love dogs. Do not expect to see the special effects or anything serious and do not compare with "Babe". Watch it just for fun and you will be entertained, at least by the laughter of the children who sit next to you.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

The Brave One


  • Directed by Neil Jordan
  • Starring Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard
  • Once again, Jodie Foster does not let her fans down. She delivers her best performances in this drama-turned action thriller movie. Although the plottings are unbelievable, this film is entertaining, especially in the real world where we desperately want this kind of dark hero.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Little Children


  • Directed by Todd Field
  • Starring Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly
  • The movie tells a story of three people, a disappointed housewife whose husband prefers sex phones to her, a househusband who has to rely on his wife's income, and a former policeman who keeps harassing a convicted sex offender, and the relationship between them. It's an honest film that tells the dark side of human behavior. Excellent scriptwriting and fantastic performance of Kate Winslet.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

The Bourne Ultimatum



  • Directed by Paul Greengrass
  • Starring Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Joan Allen, David Strathairn
  • Matt Damon is back as Jason Bourne. This time he hardly talks, eats, or sleeps and wastes no time with girls. It's a non-stop action movies and the most exciting for the trilogy. The most exciting part is when he fights with another assasin. So sad there is no more Jason Bourne.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix



  • Directed by David Yates
  • Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman
  • The comment of this movies is supposed to be written by Dear, because he is a big fan of the Harry Potter series. However, since he keeps postponing writing the comments, I think it is my responsibility to write some for the time being, although he may not agree. Well, it's more fun than the past four series because Harry is old enough to kiss a girl. How about that?
  • Comment from Dear: I don't consider myself BIG fans of the franchise. For fantasy, I'd recommend George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series or Steven Erikson 'Malazan book of the Fallen' series. Harry Potter sure is fun as a blockbuster book, but is not something that sticks with you. I do think that this is one of the more entertaining movies in the Potter franchise, especially after the disappointing fourth movie. The film is smart in that when it chooses to cut something of the book from the film, they do it in entirety, not leaving plot lines that are undeveloped and premature. Fight at the end is also fun in a kung-fu kind of way.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Die Hard 4.0 (Live Free Or Die Hard)


  • Directed by Len Wiseman
  • Starring Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Maggie Q
  • Before watching the movies, I had thought it would be boring, like the second and the third sequels. It turns out to be the best Die-Hard sequel, or at least as good as the first one. The story is action-packed, no time wasted for love or drama things. Bruce Willis is fantastic. It is so entertaining that I wish there would be Die-Hard Part 5,6,7,... with Bruce Willis as John McClane forever.
  • Dear's Comment: I wish that John McClane and Jack Bauer can team up and pretty much die hard for 24 hours.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Transformers



  • Directed by Michael Bay
  • Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox
  • Great special effects. Fun to watch.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Fracture



  • Directed by Gregory Hoblit
  • Starring Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathairn
  • Anthony Hopkins's role as a successful engineer Ted Crawford is so familiar. It's like watching Dr. Hannibal Lecter playing games with the detective again. Despite solid performances of the casts, I think the twist at the end is not good enough. I had thought it would be more complicated. Had it be, it would be more fun.