2000 film that I watched only now. Unrated. Contains heavy language, drug use & nudity.

This is a psychologically disturbing film revolving around the lives of 4 individuals loosely related (2 being mother and son), based on the novel of the same title. The central theme is drug addiction, and it shows how the lives of these 4 people are slowly being destroyed the further they sink into the abyss. Each of them has a dream, a dream too far to fulfill before they drown in desperation. The ending wasn’t pretty, so don’t do drugs. It is an insurmountable sense of despair and hopelessness right there when the curtains are drawn.

By the way, what I found refreshing in this show was the repetitions of some of the scenes and sound playback. It kind of feels right in there with the state of mind that the characters are supposed to be in. And it also kind of made it disturbing (in the uneasy way).

The overall package is impressive. Never a wonder why it was such a success, albeit not very mainstream.

Randomly saw this in Mio, so I took the liberty to watch it while having lunch one random afternoon. If I’m not wrong, this should be the first Thai movie that I watched.

Plot wise, it is kind of common. Hero belongs to a noble family. Everyone else in his family were killed in a betrayal. Hero started learning martial arts from a master and returns for revenge. Well, there are subtle twists here and there but those elements are still used in plenty of stories. In any case, some things are really left hanging in the air, but apparently there will be a sequel coming up.

The cream of this show is the martial arts sequences obviously. Never watched Ong Bak 1 so I cannot compare, but the ones in this part is absolutely good. The hero basically learnt many forms of martial arts and fused them all together, including certain Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian and Thai styles. His versatility and proficiency in the use of almost all kinds of weapon almost made him into a one man army in his quest for vengeance. (However I dunno if it would be realistic in real life…)

Despite his impressive skills, the hero is unfortunately beaten soundly by a mysterious black crow warrior, which is stated to be one of the antagonist in the sequel. And the hero’s limb will apparently be broken from torture, so there should be some looking forward to exotic martial arts.

Yet another end of the world type of movie. There was quite abit of hype over this because it is based upon the end of a Mayan long count calendar ending sometime in 2012. Well, I don’t know if it is true, it better not be, but some thoughts must be given to how massively advanced the Mayans were as an ancient civilization. Could they really have the power of foresight? Hah… why the significance of having their calendar ending at this time then?

Well in the show one main cause of the catastrophe happens to be solar flare, which is the basis for causing unprecedented heating of the Earth’s surface, causing massive crust displacement, tremors, floods, quakes, volcanic activities and more, which plunge the world into chaos. While the degree of the disasters shown could be said to be too exaggerating, I think solar flares, or at the very least, heating, is becoming a very real issue.

Plot wise, I would say it is very typical. The upper echelons of the world know what is coming up, and prepare to deal with it, or rather to escape from it without being able to save everyone. So what goes, only the capable (read rich, smart or political clout) will be able to eventually gain access to one of 4 humongous arks. The construction of the arks was a secret operation aimed to relieve the upper echelons from impending doom. Where is the love for the common public ohhh… (If you don’t have 1 billion euros, prepare to emigrate to the Cape of Good Hope) An interesting thing to note is the reference of China being the production workhouse (this is my own interpretation and not stated by the film) depicted by the fact that the construction of the arks are basically outsourced to them

Story mainly follows 2 main group of people. First of all is a scientist who was alerted to the coming doomsday by his friend. Planning was then done under the veil of secrecy with the U.S. top leaders. The second follows the story of an estranged family of 4. This is more interesting and it actually shows ample development or rather rediscovery of bonds between them. The father, who is just any normal guy, unknowingly stumbled upon the secret. Thus begins the extraordinary race with time in an epic struggle to save his family.

I would say some stuffs can be foreseen, and the visuals are impressive indeed. It has got a heartwarming story too (believe me the strongest thing on Earth is the human spirit), but otherwise not too special as with all these end of the world shows. Given the massive marketing and the intriguity of the concept itself, most people should be edging to watch this. It’s not a must, but it will be well worth your time

This was quite a hit when it first screened, and highly hyped too. I would say yea it was pretty good, and some really artistic presentation of it too. But otherwise I didn’t it was anything special. Other than Takeshi, the rest of the cast didn’t feel like they have much development. They seemed 2D. The second gripe I have is they revealed too much at the start, so there wasn’t the oomph factor when you tried to play detective alongside. Basically, no suspense for viewer, the only thing left is to wait and observe how the in-show characters uncover the truth.

As the title suggests, pain. It isn’t going to move towards a happy ending anyday, so if you are the sort to cringe at a sombre theme, maybe avoid this, but I supposed I’m such a laggard that everyone else who wanted to probably watched it already hurhurhur… Yea I didn’t know what else to say, don’t have much wow factor with me.

(p.s. oh nos I’m starting to indulge in lots of relaxation before my exam is over)

This is the 2007 adaptation of a short story penned by Elmore Leonard. Well apparently there was an older movie adaptation back in 1957, but obviously I didn’t watch that. So no way to compare, but this version in itself is pretty decent.

Christian Bale (as Dan Evans) and Russell Crowe (as Ben Wade) gave magnetic performances in this movie. Bale plays a small time rancher who had lost one of his leg, struggling to meet ends and feed his family. His big chance for wealth comes with an unlikely encounter with Ben Wade. Wade is the boss of an outlaw gang who starts to be disillusioned with his life. While he seeks a peaceful life down south, authorities clamp down on him and successfully nabbed him with Dan’s help. Wade is scheduled to be sent to Yuma prison with the 3:10 pm train from town of Contention. Thus begin the journey of a small escort group with Wade’s gang in pursuit. Dan, in need of money, offered to be part of the escort on terms of reward on successful delivery.

Throughout the journey, we discover more about Dan’s and Wade’s character, and the subtle ways in which they are similar. Wade also unsuccessfully psychoed Dan to leave and free him. At the town of Contention, with time ticking, the outlaw gang surrounded the building Dan and Wade is in. The rest of the escort had either died, or gave up. Against all odds, Dan insisted on completing the job no one else dared to. Someone has to deliver Ben Wade to the train station, and time waits for one man…

It was all great until that point, but there are some rather ridiculous stuffs afterwards. Like how Dan can move with such alacrity with a wooden leg when earlier in the show he seemed to have a little trouble. The more shocking stuff is Wade’s reaction to the whole incident, in which he probably see a mirror of himself. What happened towards the final scene brought many audiences to a state of disbelief. Just a moment before THAT happened, you can figure out that it is coming, but it just doesn’t make too much sense. But all in all, the overall package is an impressive film that deserves to be watched.

Let’s see what do we have here. Another cop show, yes, but a much fresher perspective. The focus over here is on covert operations, as suggested by the title, specifically audio spying or whatever you call that.

This whole show is a blast, epic might I say. I really enjoyed it. To be fair it didn’t have the kind of action sequences like gunfire fights or close combat awesomeness, but the cream lies in the plot. Very often you feel a kind of heavy tension between characters, and you sense the dark brooding feeling, never knowing what to expect next.

Also, the question of how moral the cops are in handling what they need to, and what they want to, is raised through specific incidents along the show. I kind of like this. It is human, it is realistic. Shouldn’t reveal too much for people who had not watched this. Please do catch this, it is friggin’ cool.

Watched this randomly without knowing whether it is good. But I guess its pretty decent, with some learning points to pick up. The only thing is that it is really not flashy, little action and is really just story. I kind of like the personality of the main lead, (well at least eventually) I think it is truly remarkable of the sense of love for the entire society when you belong to this mega rich banking family.

For an idea of how rich they are, I think their banking business expands even out of China into Russia, Mongolia, Japan and parts of South East Asia. It is literally their empire of silver. But towards the end, when the Western Allied Forces started to carve up China, this empire starts to crumble. And the main lead which never was looked well upon by his father, had to step out and make big decisions.

Another thing about this show is the portrayal of a not too pleasant relationship in the family, particularly father and son – and the woman stuck in the middle. In my own opinion, I do disapprove of many of the father’s action. The son is more a gentleman and worthy businessman.

p.s. (I ran out of drafts again! Actually I had watched 1 more movie but had not have the mood and time to sit down and draft the entry properly)