Films: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

"I was born under unusual circumstances."

My View
Grab your handkerchiefs people because this surprisingly moving story touches your heart in the most unusual way. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a wonderful adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story of the same name with the script written by Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Munich), and tells the story of Benjamin, who was born a man aging backwards. This movie is directed by David Fincher (Fight Club).

The story starts much like Forrest Gump did with one of the main characters telling a story, in this case, a daughter reading from a diary. I found the movie a bit surprising and thankfully, not full of heavy drama, if you know what I mean. It simply tells the story of how Benjamin tried to cope up with his “curious case” with rather interesting results. Benjamin also meets an assortment of characters who teach him about life, love, and death. Curiously, this film is not about death, but about life and how one has to live it to the fullest.

The story however, emphasizes on Benjamin’s relationship with Daisy, a grand daughter of one of the elders living in the home run by his “mother”, Queenie. This begins a very curious friendship between the two. It is in this relationship that Benjamin struggles with his “disease” and his love for Daisy, and their family.

I see this movie as an absorbing and touching film with great dialogue. On the theatrical side of things, the make-up was superb, with Pitt looking like a realistic ninety-something year old man. I love the way they did the progression of their ages – as Benjamin grew younger and as Daisy grew older. Both Pitt and Blanchet delivered in this film. I wasn’t disappointed.

I give this movie five stars.

Films: Hero

I remember a friend who once told me that "if it's a Chinese movie, expect the main characters dying in the end;" he was right! Talk about tragedy!

I have been incarcerated to our house for the past few days because of this blasted flu and so I have been amusing (?) myself with watching movies, Chinese movies. An ode to my heritage, if you will. Even with my weak Chinoy background, I can still appreciate good Chinese movies when they come my way; especially if it's available in English audio! Ah, the invention of the DVD...

Anyway, I was amusing myself with two Chinese films, coincidentally directed by Zhang Yimou and also starring Zhang Ziyi! I'm not a huge fan of them particularly but I am so loving Yimou's stuff! Talk about romance and action PLUS drama in one go! You haven't seen that in American films, right? I guess the Chinese have their wuxia films and Japan their horror films.

Hero
Hero (Chinese: 英雄; pinyin: Yīngxióng) is a 2002 Chinese martial arts film, directed by Zhang Yimou with music by Tan Dun. Starring Jet Li as the nameless protagonist, the movie is loosely based on the legendary Jing Ke.

A group of assassins: Flying Snow (飛雪) (Maggie Cheung), Broken Sword (殘劍) (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), and Long Sky (長空) (Donnie Yen), have sworn to kill the King of Qin (秦王) (Chen Daoming), and Nameless (無名) (Jet Li) comes to the royal capital to claim the reward offered for their defeat. The movie tells the story of his conversation with the King of Qin, and through a series of flashbacks depicts the journey he took to earn the honor of sitting before the emperor. Zhang Ziyi stars as Broken Sword's servant Moon (如月).

My View
I loved it! I was quite surprised about how the story went because I didn't actually know what it was about at first. I had heard great reviews about it before but I didn't see it on the big screen. As it was a typical Chinese film, all the main characters die in the end which I thought was fitting for what they went through.

The film actually narrates different versions of fights and confrontations between a nameless man (Jet Li) and the three assassins, told to the Emperor Qin. In all the scenarios, only one was the truth. This was all a ploy to finally assassinate the Emperor so he could not unite China as one whole nation.

I can remember the colors of the film, visually depicting the mood of the fight. The best scene would have to be the fight between Nameless and Broken Sword in the lake. The reflections where awesome and the view was breathtaking plus the fight was astonishing! I know many people think that it is impossible but I think that it was actually made to portray a deeper understanding of the arts.

The film's climax was when Nameless understood what the Emperor meant by uniting China. With the Emperor saying that it took an outlaw to make him understand what was meant by Our Land. It ends with the deaths of Nameless who was buried as a Hero; Broken Sword who was killed by his lover Flying Snow because they argued about the assassination of the Emperor with Broken Sword refusing to kill Qin.


I give the movie five stars.

Image: Google
Info: Wikipedia

Films: Twilight

With the recent release of Twilight in the movies last Friday, it was quite appropriate that I was hightailing it to the theaters at the earliest possible moment. In fact, my head is still stuck in twilight. There is good news to all Twilight fans out there since Summit Entertainment has already announced that New Moon is in the works. I don't know about you guys but I am quite interested to see how they will show the film since it is quite...Edward-less most of the time with Bella acting like the world has ended...but that is another story. Twilight has already raked in $70.6 billion in sales surpassing Quantum of Solace who is already in its second week.

The film stars Kristen Stewart (she's the kid in Panic Room...yeah I was surprise, too!) and Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory in the HP GOF & HP OOTH) as both Bella and Edward respectively.

My View
It is quite tricky how to adapt a book into screen and in most cases, the film usually ends up as a disappointment. However, with that in mind, I was prepared to leave my book knowledge and view Twilight without any preconceived notions.

I found it quite hard to separate the film and the movie. I'm not saying that the movie wasn't good but it just lacked a few details that I thought where integral to the whole movie so that it would tie in with the book. I also saw a few modifications of the story and some that weren't included that I felt should have been included.

For instance, Bella was unnaturally clumsy but in the film, there was only a subtle reference in that. I thought it was important to show it because it was one of the things that Edward was drawn to. You see, in Midnight Sun (Meyer's unfinished book), Edward was in a dilemma: was he a predator or a protector? So adding this element in the film would have added a whole new dimension which would tie it in with the book. I did ask someone who hasn't read the book and she did mention to me that she didn't see Bella as clumsy as all.

The was also the "asking to the dance" thing which was not included in the film. I thought it would have been nice to see Bella's expression and add another thing that Bella would be suspicious about. This would include the searches she did on the Internet and walking alone in the woods to think about how the new knowledge she found out about the Cullen's would affect her feelings for Edward.

I know it's hard to fit a book into a two hour movie so I can let the modifications and the parts that were not included in the movie slide. I'll probably wait for the DVD release and check out the deleted scenes to see what they cut out of the whole film.

All in all it was a surprisingly good film and I loved it! I guess you could say ALL the male vampires where GORGEOUS! hahaha yup, I've got my head stuck in the clouds this time! Oh, let us not forget my favorite character Jacob, he was gorgeous, too! I do recommend, however that you read Twilight then Midnight Sun, in that order, first before seeing the movie. Why? Because I think that reading them first would make your brain fill in the cut out parts and make you appreciate the movie more. I think this movie was made with that in mind: people have read the book first.

So while I give it three point five stars, I still loved the movie immensely and will definitely buy the DVD.

Films: Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

...is a bloody musical (pardon my pun)! That's right ladies and gents, the film adaptation is actually based on Stephen Sondheim's musical of the same name. I was quite surprised when I heard the first strains of the musical because it wasn't advertised as a musical at all. Seeing as "curiosity killed the cat" (pardon my pun...again), I was quite hesitant to look up details about Sweeney Todd but eventually, I found the courage to.

Plot
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 2007 musical-thriller and the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's award-winning 1979 stage musical. It re-tells the Victorian melodramatic tale of Sweeney Todd, a fictitious English barber who, driven insane by the loss of his wife and daughter, murders his customers with a cut-throat razor, and with the help of his accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, turns their remains into meat pies.

My View/Summary
Again, I was quite surprised when I found out that it was a musical. I hadn't read any article pertaining to the 2007 adaptation of the movie so I didn't know the particulars. Being a fan of Johnny Depp and loving his "out of character" roles, I immediately wanted to see the film. It wasn't shown back in Dumaguete though, so I had to wait until I rented out the DVD. As luck would have it, the Burbank Public Library had it and I immediately borrowed it.

It was a week ago, I think, that I saw Cities of the Underworld on the History Channel where I heard about Sweeney Todd again and was reminded about the film. It is quite interesting that Sweeney Todd was considered a contemporary of Jack the Ripper; both of them not proved to be real people; and both movies starred Johnny Depp! Freaky, huh? But I guess only Johnny D had the talent and the air to portray someone this weird.

After my initial "shock" of the musical, I found the movie quite entertaining. The constant singing actually lessened the freakiness of the film that is why I wasn't as creeped out as I should be. I did find the cutting and the slashing to be very visual indeed; which earned it a "Restricted" rating for its "graphic bloody violence." Well, I mean, Sweeney Todd was rumored to slit throats using a straight razor while shaving his customers which had to be very bloody, indeed.

The movie actually shows Todd as someone out for revenge because he was falsely accused by Judge Turpin who was after his wife Lucy. Todd was sent to Australia for fifteen years and when he came back, he was "back to business," working as a barber on top of Mrs. Lovett's (Helena Bonham Carter) Meat Pie Shop. Mrs. Lovett and Todd reached in an agreement and while Todd slit his customers throats, she would grind them and make them into pies which were quite popular. I also loved the song that went with this scene.

In this version of the story, Todd also found out that Judge Turpin adopted his daughter and was also planning to marry her. Judge Turpin was almost killed by Depp only to be aborted by a sailor who had seen Joannah (Todd's daughter) and was planning to run away with her. The movie takes off from there are Todd goes on a killing rampage but his eye was still on Turpin and Turpin's assistant Beadle.

Todd's first victim was a faux-Italian barber Adolfo Pirelli who had a boy servant with him. The duo, Todd and Mrs. Lovett, kept the boy, Toby, as Mrs. Lovett's servant. Later, Toby found out about what Todd was doing and warned Mrs. Lovett about it. Naturally, the duo planned to kill the boy for knowing too much. On that night however, things changed. It was then that Beadle came to investigate Mrs. Lovett's bakehouse because neighbors where complaining of the stench coming out of her chimney, especially at night. Todd disposed of him and then went looking for Toby who had run away. Anthony, the sailor, and Joannah arrive at the Barber Shop but it was empty so Joannah, dressed as a boy, was left there to wait for Anthony while he found them a passage to wherever it was they where going. An old mad woman came up to the room and Joannah hid in a trunk in the shop. While there, Todd finds the woman who seemed to recognize him but he slashes her throat using the straight razor. Judge Turpin then arrives telling him that Anthony has Joannah and Todd convinces him to have a shave while reassuring him that Joannah was with Mrs. Lovett. Todd quickly kills Turpin and sees Joannah, dressed as a boy peeking from inside the trunk. Before Todd could kill her, he hears a scream from the bakehouse and goes to investigate; it was Mrs. Lovette who screamed. Secrets where then revealed and Todd recognizes the old mad woman to actually be his wife, Lucy who was locked up on Bedlam when she wouldn't give in to Turpin. Mrs. Lovett swears that she kept the truth from him for his own good but Todd throws her into the oven. The movie ends with Todd holding his wife in his hands, and Toby slitting Todd's throat with his razor as revenge for killing Mrs. Lovett who was like a mother to him.

Whew, that was quite a mouthful. I did enjoy the film but I had to cringe at the "bloody visual killings" that I saw; although I thought that it was in keeping with the theme. I was quite tickled however, when I saw who played Turpin and Beadle! They were none other than Snape and Wormtail! I mean, Alan Rickman (Judge Turpin) and Timothy Spall (Beadle Bamford) who play Severus Snape and Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter films. I just couldn't hold my laughter when I saw both of them together, yeah I know, I'm weird that way. Plus, Helena Bonham Carter also played Bellatrix LeStrange in the HP film OOTP, although I just couldn't picture her as LeStrange while watching the movie unlike what I did with Snape and Wormtail hehehehehe.

All in all, I give this musical-thriller four stars for extremely surprising me and giving me a few chuckles to boot.

Info: Wikipedia
Image: Google Images

Films: The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film, written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the Stephen King novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

The film stars Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding. The film portrays Andy spending nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison, a fictional penitentiary in Maine, and his friendship with Red, a fellow inmate.

My View
It's quite fascinating how great movies move you. Sometimes, the most meaningful movies are the unexpected ones. Who would have thought there were great tearjerker parts in a virtually all male cast? No? As a matter of fact, I didn't think so. I was terribly wrong.

Of course, I heard about The Shawshank Redemption back when I was still in grade school and didn't care much about "serious" movies. I heard my late grandfather (a movie buff) rave about it at one time but I didn't pay it any mind at all. This time however, I braved my "boring impression" and saw it for the first time. Amazing isn't it? It is a movie unlike anything I've ever seen.

What captivated me was their dialog. Everything seemed to have a meaning, a purpose, if you will; to how the movie turned out in the end. The plot twists that I didn't expect were a great surprise, and to me, were the most memorable.

Since the movie was practically an all male cast, I never expected to shed a few tears; but as a matter of fact, I did. It was simple really; just an old man leaving the penitentiary for the first time in fifty years, and never fitting into the outside world; he couldn't take it and hanged himself. The progression to the old man Brooks' death was vital to the movie and I think it was at that point that I empathized with him.

Andy Dufresne was also an amazing character in that he was actually innocent. A line in the movie that struck me as appropriate: "...I came into the prison and became a crook;" because it seemed that the guards, most especially the Warden, were the crooks instead of the prisoners. It was funny how Andy created a library by writing one letter a week for the past six years and then writing two letters a week until the state allocated funds for their library aptly named after Brooks (their previous librarian).

I found the movie quite entertaining, with a few hillarious scenes all throughout the film. If you listen to the conversations and the narration, you would appreciate the film more. It's one of those movies that you don't mind showing the subtitles to.

With its great screenplay, wonderful cinematography, and outstanding actors; I give this film five stars.






Image: Google Images
Info: Wikipedia

Films: High School Musical 3

As seniors in high school ,Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.

I saw High School Musical a few hours ago and I've got to tell you, it's the best HSM ever. I'm not going to go ahead and spoil the movie for you and I am not going to give a summary of the film at all. I'll just give you a few things that I noted.

Of course, it is apparent that this HSM had a bigger budget than the previous ones. For one, their musical scenes were more elaborate than before and their costumes where amazing. HSM 2 also had pretty costumes but this one beats the rest. As for music and choreography, I thought this HSM had more songs and gave the other characters the opportunity to strut their stuff.

The storyline was okay but it wasn't really that amazing. There weren't any tearjerker moments for me but in spite of that, I enjoyed it immensely. The movie started with the last game of the season with he Wildcats on the verge of losing the game. Naturally, they bounced back and won the championships. Oh and before I forget, this time there was a High School Musical! I didn't expect this twist in the story, though.

HSM 3 did have a few rather intimate [but not that intimate] moments with Garbriella and Troy and I thought their romance had developed into a more serious one. I understand that the romantic tones of the movie were kept at a minimum because a lot of younger kids would be watching it. However, I still thought their moments together were really sweet.

The movie also added a few characters to the mix like Sharpay's new PA [I didn't catch her name] who turned out to be the villain (?) of the whole show. I guess HSM always wanted Sharpay to be the good/bad villain. Personally, I liked her new PA's accent. Quite an interesting touch to it.

The highlight of the movie was perhaps the scene on the roof. If we revisit the first High School Musical, you could connect their "roof" interlude to their romantic dance on the roof. I thought it was the best part and I loved the song Can I have this Dance? It's even better than Breaking Free! Well, at least I thought so.

I thought the movie ended giving us all a hint that this would indeed be the last HSM movie that will have all the original characters. There have been rumors about an HSM 4 but I think HSM College Years would sound crazy. Really.

I'm leaving you with a video clip of their dance in the roof. Seriously, I thought the rain added a little sizzle to it! Enjoy!



I give it four out of five stars.

Images: Google Images
Info: IMDb

Films: The Fellowship of the Ring

...one ring to rule them all...

I know it's an old movie but it's showing on TNT tonight. They are having an LOTR marathon and tomorrow they will be showing The Two Towers. I don't need to tell you what this movie is all about right? I know most of you have seen it and enjoyed it as well.

I started reading the book by J.R.R. Tolkien and thought that it would be even better than the movie as many LOTR fanatics have said. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the Prologue so I stopped reading it. However, I have been enticed to read the book and read The Hobbit as well.

Image: Google Images

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Films: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is the third installment of The Mummy series. The movie stars Brendan Fraser (Rick O'Connel), Jet Li (Emperor Han), John Hannah (Jonathan Carnahan), Maria Bello (Evelyn O'Connel), Michelle Yeoh (Zi Juan), Luke Ford (Alex O'Connel), and Isabella Leong (Lin).

The movie starts, like all the other Mummy movies start, with a little bit of history about the said mummy. Fast forward to a few centuries, Rick O'Connel and Evie O'Connel seem to be bored with their lives and are thirsting for adventure when a request to bring a certain artifact back to Shanghai, come their way. Their son, Alex, is now grown up and seems to be following in his family's footsteps; grave digging, treasure hunting, and even a love for guns.

This time, they awaken the first emperor of Qin who was cursed by a Wizard. As with the other Mummy movies, there was a lot of action and laughs, albeit a few, all throughout the movie.

Admittedly, the movie was pretty good, although I still love the first Mummy as the best among the three. Rachel Weisz didn't reprise her role as Evie (which I believe ruined it for me because I thought she was perfect for the part; no offense to Miss Bello). I was also quite puzzled at Evie's expertise about Ancient Chinese writing because it was clear in the first two films that she was an expert in Ancient Egyptian and expressed interest in Egyptian Civilization.

There was a surprising twist when the movie reached its climax, which I thought was what made this movie different from the rest.

I would rate this movie a 3 out of 5 and would suggest you to wait for the DVD release, if you haven't seen it in theaters.

Coincidentally, the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California is exhibiting the Terra Cotta Warriors from May 18, 2008 - October 12, 2008. I've been dragging my feet on this one but now, I am definitely going to see them in the flesh clay! Hehehe

Has anyone seen the movie? What do you think?

Images: Google Images
Info: IMDb

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Films: The Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince trailer is out! It's been all over the blogosphere and on YouTube and is supposed to debut this Friday in the movie The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I couldn't wait to see it as a trailer for the movie (incidentally, I am going to see The Mummy this Friday) so I hopped over to YouTube and saw it.

The trailer sent chills down my spine! I hope that they would live up to my expectations following my disappointment with the past three Harry Potter films. The teaser trailer is indeed a teaser and hints at what we would expect in the movie which will be out sometime this November. I am definitely going to save the date and see the premiere; I haven't been on a single Red Carpet Event ever and I am practically living in Hollywood. Yeah, I know I'm being melodramatic but that's just the drama queen in me talking.

Are you excited to see The Half-Blood Prince?

Image: Movieweb
Trailer: YouTube

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Films: Mamma Mia!

Mamma mia, here I go again

My my, how can I resist you?

This is perhaps the most popular line in the movie, and perhaps one of the most popular songs by ABBA. Mamma Mia! is also the film adaptation of the Broadway show of the same name.
I saw this movie a few hours ago and it was really fun! Oh, it wasn't really Oscar material but it was a lighthearted movie. There were laughs all throughout the movie owing to the characters' antics and dilemmas.
In this movie, Meryl Streep is amazing! She portrayed Donna to a T; a hippie, single mom, who doesn't need anybody. The most surprising part of the movie was Pierce Brosnan, who I always see as 007; singing, dancing, and wearing a 70s get-up!
Amanda Seyfried, who plays Sophie, is so cute! I could still see her as a dumb blond in the movie, Mean Girls. I never knew that she could sing and dance! This is perhaps one of her best films to date and will undoubtedly put her on the map.
The movie had a nice twist in the end and I was really surprised at how Sophie ended. I can't wait to see Mamma Mia on Broadway! There were a few songs that weren't included in the movie which is in the Broadway version.
Not surprisingly, the theater was packed because a lot of people where lining up to see The Dark Knight. I wanted to see The Dark Knight first but my mom just had to see Mamma Mia so we went. There was an old couple sitting in the row in front of us who were enjoying the movie. I know, ABBA is an old group and I'm sure some of you, actually, you can include me in that group, are not that familiar with ABBA songs. I could even count in one hand their songs that I do know! Hehehe...

Want to see Mamma Mia? Check out your local theaters for show times and dates. But seriously, I would advice you to see The Dark Knight first!

Images: Google Images
Trailer: YouTube.com

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Experiments: Real D 3D

When I found out that there was going to be a remake? of the movie A Journey to the Center of the Earth with a modern twist, I thought that it would be an okay movie to watch. I mean, I absolutely love books written by Jules Verne and A Journey... is one of my faves. When I found out that it would also be shown in Real D 3D, I was ecstatic! I haven't seen a movie in 3D before (ignorant, much)! So there I was, waiting for the movie to be released on the big screen until it finally came out last Friday.

We watched the movie last Sunday. However, the movie wasn't really that good. It was just okay. Brendan Frasier wasn't funny this time, unlike his antics in The Mummy. I did love the 3D part of the movie! There were a few eewww parts in the movie where the 3D effect really amplified the experience; e.g. when Trevor (Brendan Frasier's character) spat after he brushed his teeth and the camera was angled in a way where he looked like he spat on the camera; in 3D, it looked like he spat on us! Ewww! There were also other neat amplified 3D effects in the movie where I swear I could smell lava or something; I know it's just my overactive imagination but the 3D did it.


This was a better experience than watching movies on IMAX. I mean, IMAX is just a big screen but the 3D really added an ooopphh where IMAX could not.



Movie Poster: Google Images
Trailer: YouTube

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Movies: The Incredible Hulk

Hulk. The Incredible Hulk. Both movies are quite different but they are about the same big green superhero. The difference? Hulk was the 2003 film directed by Ang Lee starring Eric Bana and Jennifer Connelly while The Incredible Hulk is the 2008 film by Louis Leterrier starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler. I'm not posting spoilers here but I will just give my comments about the two movies.

The 2003 film Hulk was a total bomb. I didn't love the movie and I thought it was pretty boring. This film mainly showed how Bruce Banner became the Hulk. The fight scenes were not really that good, too. The 2008 film The Incredible Hulk was really good. It didn't show how Bruce Banner became the hulk but it showed a different side of the green guy. I thought their love story was sweet with a few unexpected laughs here and there. The movie also showed another side of Bruce Banner as the Hulk. I especially loved the fight scenes in the movie and I thought the first appearance of the Hulk was artfully done.
I would give this movie a 7 out of 10 stars. It was pretty exciting and typical of all action hero movies, hinted a sequel in the end.

By the way, this is me with the Hulk at Universal Studios in California. He looks pretty tough but I know he's a softy!