Movies

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

At  the age of 72  Martin Scorsese is on fire! and The Wolf of Wall Street is one of the Scorsese's best!!! This movie is filled with Prep talks, drugs, dwarf, naked women, orgies and more drugs and of course CASH !! for 179 minutes with no judgment giving by Martin and wonderful performance by Hill and DiCaprio.  The wolf of Wall street is Goodfellas combined with  Scarface on Speed with turgid and variably paced edited by Thelma Schoonmaker, a Story about the raise and Fall of  a young Stockbroker Jordan Belford  who earns his name "The Wolf or Wall street " in the 80's.

Many people say this film has no story, no message, no plot but as you know of Martin's background as a documentary director, he once again successfully shown you what it's "like" to be in a different world, a world you don't usually see, just like Taxi Driver or Raging Bull or After Hour. He is showing you "How and what happened " with out lecture and moral, rather  you like it or not, you'll be your own judge.  If you have to find one thing in common in Martin's movie  is that  he is trying to tell us  that we can not escape who we are  (as least the characters in his film can't)  their fate is decided by their own character, no matter if he is Henry from Good fellas "As far as I remember, I always wanted to be a Gangster", Frank Costello in the Departed, "I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me." Rupert Pupkin in The king of comedy "Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime",  Teddy Daniel in Shutter Island "You know, this place makes me wonder. Which would be worse - to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?", even Jesus Christ in The last temptation of Christ "Today and tomorrow I cast out demons and work cures. On the third day, I will be perfected". No one can survive form their fate and  they were born this way and that's how they live .. and happened to be The wolf of Wall Street is talking about Jordan being the Alpha male the wolf pack, being a leader to his pack to hunt and play,  even the FBI gave him a chance to give up and walk away, he just can't do it because afterall , no one tells a wolf what to do !! We human are only here to observe.  The wolf of Wall Street is the Discovery channel trying to show us how "werewolf " behaves with lots of addiction, addiction of  drugs, sex, money, power and love and addiction of being Animal.

The Wolf of Wall Street is insanely fun hilarious horror about losing control, some see it as a comedy, some see it as a serious drama, you won't believe what you saw actually happened but that's what Martin wants you to see, just like the Ferrari, its not red but white.  The acting is phenomenal. I think DiCaprio deserves an Oscar this time just for the lemons overdose scene, he is amazing in this awesome 3 hours film.








MAN OF STEEL

In this over long 143 Minutes of Man of Steel.  The first 10 minutes reminds me of Avatar, the last 30 minutes reminds me of Avenger and then you have a little bit of Martix, a little bit of Transformer , little bit of Star Wars, The war of the world and Independent day , mixed with the dark world of Batman Begins and you got this new superman. To be honest. I was really excited to see this movie, I am a fan and superman was my first " superhero" but I almost fall asleep during the movie and i can't believe myself wanted to leave in the mid of this supermess. I have to say, this movie is really boring.
I thought they will do something new and exciting but sadly this is just another Alien-want- to- take over- the world- movie, I have seen it all but this is suppose to be a superman movie? right?

This movie does not do justice to Superman, Not even for a person who doesn't know anything about Superman and if you are a die hard fan then this movie is going to be a disappointment. The biggest problem of this film is because it doesn't make sense, unlike Avatar, Matrix or even Iron Man  they created a universe that have their own logic therefore the audience can get into the film.

To me what's make superman good is his care for human but in man of Steel , he didn't seems to care that much. In many fight scenes, he throws a bad guy through buildings? I don't think so , superman will never do such thing,  superman will lure the bad guys far away from the city , fight over a mountain or ocean, even if the fight have to take place in the city, superman will always save the people 1st , and also you really don't know why he will like people so much? he spent all his life being called  freak or weirdo and it seems like no one ever like him at least that's this story suggested, same thing is you don't know why all of the sudden without real interaction, Clark and Lois falls in love , how did it happen? one key element of Superman is the romance and how Clark try to hide that he is superman, now Lois know who he is then the film become less interesting and it disconnected with the Audience., the only secret and the bond between us and superman is no more. now we are just people who is watching how SUPERMAN flying and destroy every building, the good old fun that he will try his best not to damage anything and protect people part is gone and superman now is just become a "HOT" guy who can fly.

Sure, it looks great and the special effects are generally well done. But some people need their movies to at least make some sense. Maybe all superhero now days need a dark side even superman.

One of the best movies this year... They say and i don't see it.

Is Bradley Cooper a Best Actor? I think he is not.

If the critics call this movie just a usual romantic comedy - drama, I will take it, but once they are trying to push it to be an Oscar Best Picture or call it the best movie of the year then right away it becomes a major turn off to me, I don't know why this movie and Bradley will get the nomination,  when this film is not as good as "When Harry met Sally", "Garden State" or  "As good as it gets"?..

Maybe I am a bit bipolar right now because I don't understand why everyone thinks this movie is so amazing? Are those people being paid to say that? Or they have watched the uncut version? I don't understand why this movie to be nominated for 8, yes you are right ...  8 Oscars! The only nomination I agree with is best supporting actor and beside that, the other reason I can think of is that the Oscar  are trying to build a movie up to be the Oscar best picture, so they need something weaker to do it, so the Silver Linings is just that. Or maybe they don't have any other choice? Who  are the judges anyway? Bradley Cooper doesn't act very well and almost like he wasn't there for the whole film, he is not convincing as a bipolar patient. Oh wait, maybe that's the method acting, he actually was on Effexor.

From experiences,  I happened to know a few people have OCD or BPD and I can tell you, no one can really feel better just by themselves and drugs can only do little help with their mood swing but it will never fix anyone,  they can try their best to control it tho, but in the end it is not as easy as it seems in this movie, obviously Bradley or the director hasn't done much research, somehow I think he didn't even read about bi-polar disorder. Yes, they can shout and panic under stress, but the truth is mostly they will just shut down and don't want to interact with anyone, they are living in their own world, they will cry and depress with no reason, but when they panic and stress is because some kind of emotion triggers them so they will be filled with emotion – there is a scene where Bradley is screaming but you can't see him with any emotion at all, comparing to Robert De Niro with his great supporting character here, his role as a father who has OCD is just brilliant and he really seems to do it just right. This is De Niro's best performance in quite a while and I think he is now in other level of Acting.

He is famous to lead and act in a way that will make every actor around him come alive because he just knows the method and how, he understands acting and how the camera works, he can make someone acting without their knowing, just like in Ragging Bull, De Niro asks Pesci "Did you fuck my wife?" both him and Scorsese did not tell Pesci that the script called for him to be attacked. So, if you think Bradley doing well with De Niro together, I think is because De Niro knows how to make Bradley to act with him. I really hope to see more of the relationship of De Niro and Jakie Waver, I think it could be more interesting movie to watch and they are much better Actors than both Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Copper. 

Oh, Jennifer Lawrence also nominated? Whats wrong with you Oscar? She is doing a good job but not really a Oscar worthy performance but then again, she is much better than Bradley. I don't want to make this to be a Bradley hate mail, so i better stop now.

Overall, Sliver Linings Playbook is a OK film, forget about the flaws, It has some good comedy moments, some great performances and is a fairly good film to watch  but I don't see it should get any Oscars – but then you never know because this could be the sliver lining film.

Django is a black slave who is separated with his wife and gets his chance to save her  from the hands of a plantation owner Calvin Candie with the help of a German bounty hunter Dr King Schultz.

This is Quentin Tarantino's movie and I can say QT movies are all gangsters, from his debut Reservoir Dogs to Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds and now Django Unchained, no doubt it's funny and bloody and is the most entertaining movie this year for the Oscar anyway.

Like many spaghetti western before Django, espeically compared to Sergio Leone's classic like Once upon a Time in the West, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, QT makes his western gangster movie with a modern touch of James Brown music and plays with the humor like Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, “I watched my wife working all day to get 30 bags for you ungrateful sons-of-bitches and all I can hear is criticise, criticise, criticise”, you will never look at the Ku Klux Klan the same way again.

Surly the violence in this movie is a bit overdone but also well choreographed, it reminds me the gun battle shoot out ending of  John Woo's Hard Boiled and A Better Tomorrow II, also the relationship between Dr Schultz and Django are quite similar to Mark and Sung Tse-Ho (played by Chow Yun-fat and Lung Ti ), we all know that QT is the big fan of Woo, so I am sure when he wrote the script, he  thought about the movie like A Better Tomorrow, Hard Boiled, The Killing and Bullet in the Head more or less.  I remember in True Romance, a script written by QT, even tho it has been changed a lot by Tony Scott but if we look closer then you will see Clarence and Alabama are the past life of Django and Broomhilda.

I can't say this is the best movie of Quentin Tarantino, I think Inglourious Basterds was much more fun, or should I say Django is like a twin movie but set in different time zone? I think QT has been looking for a perfect representative for him in his movie and Christoph Waltz maybe just the guy, every director has a reflection of himself in his own film, Martin Scorsese has DeNiro and DiCaprio, Hitchcock has Jimmy Stewart, John Woo has Chow yun-fat and Wong Kai-Wai has Tony Leung.  An actor and director are like body and soul, and Waltz served QT writing  better than anyone,  he is like Quentin in a much gentle manner and funnier.

When you watch Django or any QT movie, you have to think like him and understand his moral. In QT 's world, you can not take everything so serious, you have to understand you are not watching Lincoin or Les Miserables, you are here for fun, to be thrilled. Don't ask any questions like why there was Australian Bounty Hunter and why QT has to play a part? Don't ask why the movie is so long and it should end 20 mins earlier? why there is so much blood? and why Django can shoot so well. 

     

This is a QT BBQ Western chili sauce movie with rap and James Brown mix of Ennio Morricone's music blood porn with Uncle Tom on Acid, a real live Japanese Manga inspired by Playstation TV game. Why some people like to go to Strip club? because they like it!! Some people think this movie doesn't look realistic but I think this is far more realistic than Sliver Lining Playbook. Why I think QT movie is fun because it is.  I will not even talk about the N word? at least the N word he used in this film is much more reasonable than in Pulp Fiction, one thing will make the second half of the film more suspenseful is to make Samuel Jackson character's more quiet. It will make "motherfucker" more powerful and the dinner more scary.

Django is a summary of QT's movies, self indulge exercise. I wonder what he will do next? He did crime, war, kind of kung-fu, western movie. So, maybe a film noir like Hitchcock?

Anna Karenina

All I can say is, Anna Karenina is a disappointment and a fail attempt to make a movie out of a great classical novel. I am very confused about what is the director Joe Wright want to show us, I can only see this movie is a mess. I was looking forward to this film, when I said film, I expected this film to be like "The Last Emperor", "Elizabeth",  "Gandhi" etc, but instead the director gave us a "Moulin Rouge on Absinthe MTV", it is totally out of control and led me to think they do the film like a theater just because they don't have the budget for locations. They keep changing the sets, I can't even focus on where and who they are, they show you a toy train turned into a backstage, then suddenly everybody are dancing and no, its not the ball room yet ... everything in this film looks fake and so is the emotions of the characters, all the actors acted like toys under the director's command, I assume. Jude Law is doing his best but since the whole setting of this movie is distracting, I can't see his experssion very well and for Keira Knightly as Anna is seriously a miscast, I see Keira acting her self and dress up like a Imperial Russian girl, but I don't see her as Anna at all. Yes, I  know she is not Meryl Steep but can she try to speak with Russian accent in the movie? actually not just her but everyone in this film.  I know they said don't ever compare the movie to the novel, but this is just way out of line. If they call this movie other name it could be better.  

Many people said the visual part is great in this film and I disagree,  the whole film is over done and lame, I can see the director is trying to experiment a new approach to Tolstoy but making a non musical dancing movie surely not a good idea. Maybe the director wants to show us how fake the Russian society was in that time and that's what Anna has to deal with? or maybe the director doesn't want us to compare this film to "The Age of Innocence"  that's why he has a stage play on film with moving back ground. I don't know how the Russian people will react to this film. Yes, the dress might look good but are they matching the time period? Wait I cant really tell because the restaurant now has turned into a bed room.

Anna Karenina is a story about jealousy and heartbreak but this movie makes me so jealous that Joe can have an opportunity to direct this film but I am sure I can do a better job than him breaking my heart. 

Anne Hathaway

A few days ago, on December 10th, while attending the premier of Les Miserable, Hathaway stepped out of a limo and accidently exposed more than her legs. A reporter Lauer was address the incident “You had a little wardrobe malfunction. What is the lesson learnt from something like that?” he asked. She acknowledged the incident, offered a short observation about it, Anne Hathaway: “It was obviously an unfortunate incident. It kind of made me sad that we live in an age when someone takes a picture of another person in a vulnerable moment and, rather than delete it, sells it. I’m sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies sexuality upon unwilling participants. Which brings us back to Les Mis because that’s who my character is. She is someone who is forced to sell sex to benefit her child because she has nothing. So let’s get back to Les Mis.”

Hathaway gave the perfect response.

                                                      She has the same name as William Shakespeare's wife, with the blood of Irish, French, German to native American, a daughter of a stage actress. Anne Hathaway got a unique look, a perfect DNA  led  her the first movie role as a princess in a fairy tale. She was young and her acting was like a comic cartoon with a pair of  incredibly big eyes. No skills required only need to be cute. Critics thought it was it for her, just like many family film stars. And then 5 years later, she was topless in Havoc, a film about affluent suburban girls who clash with the Latino gang. Many people think it was a miscast, but I do think it was necessary otherwise she couldn’t  give us the remarkable performance in  Brokeback  Mountain, she tried her best to distance herself from her princess image by choosing a role where she was sexual as often as possible, what else a princess surly won’t do? 

After playing  against  Meryl Streep and  attempt to becoming Jane Austen, she surprised us all again with a  Best actress Oscar nominated as Kym in Rachel Got Married, an unlikeable almost self destructive character,  even tougher role than the cowboy’s wife Lureen. We are convinced, Anne is not just a pretty princess with big eyes, she is a hard working Actress and always taking risk.

Garry Marshall, the director of The Princess Diaries said "The multi-talented Hathaway is a combination Julia Roberts, Audrey Hepburn and Judy Garland."  For the last 20 years, we witness her improvement and involvement with different things, she hosted the 83rd Academy Awards, she voice –over for The Simpsons, Family Guy and Rio.  
On 2009 Oscar Award night, Shirley McClaine said to Anne “I think you’re an amazing example for young actress in this business.  Because you’re not afraid, you’re not afraid to show both your dark and your bright side.  This is your first nomination I feel there will be many more after this.” Pausing briefly again she said “and by the way, I think you have an extraordinary voice.  Keep singing too”. Again Hathaway gave a perfect response 3 years later  singing  I Dreamed a Dream as a  tragic heroine Fantine in  Les Miserables. This Cat woman is full of surprises and  knows how to “ meow”.

Martin Scorsese

The fast talking, thick eye brows, black horn-rimmed glasses Martin Scorsese loves movies, he likes them so much he dedicated his life making them, to name a few: Mean Street, Good Fallers, After Hours,  Ragging Bull, The Temptation of Christ, The Age of Innocence, The Departed, Shutter Island and of course – Taxi Driver.

Everything about Martin involves film, from music short film with Michael  Jackson to overseen the restoration of  Peeping Tom, The Red Shoes, Rashomon and The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp. Martin is obsessed with films  and  the character in his  films like Boxcar Bertha, Jake LaMotta, Newland Archer,  Rupert Pupkin,  Henry Hill, Travis Travis Bickle, Howard Hughes are filled with personal struggle and obsession, as Martin is calling them all “God’s lonely man”. Almost every film is a confession of sin and insanity, and you are the witness. Weather the role is played by Robert de Niro or Leonardo DiCaprio or  Ellen Burstyn, they have the same soul, they are disturbed lunatic in need of redemption,  a lost child in search for salvation.

The relationship between man and woman in Martin’s film is always  destructive, as you can see in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, New York, New York, Casino.

In March 1976 a Roger Ebert interview with Scorsese and Paul Schrader the writer of Taxi driver -

Ebert: In a lot of your movies, there's this ambivalent attitude toward women. The men are fascinated by women, but they don't quite know how to relate to them . . .

Scorsese: The goddess-whore complex. You're raised to worship women, but you don't know how to approach them on a human level, on a sexual level. That's the thing with Travis, the DeNiro character - the taxi driver. The girl he falls for, the Cybill Shepherd character - it's really important that she's blond, a blue-eyed goddess.

Schrader: He goes from a goddess to a child godsdess. The 12 year-old prostitute he's trying to rescue - she's unapproachable, too, for him.

Scorsese: She has the candles burning in her bedroom, she's like a saint to him. He can't imagine these pimps treating her the way they do. Before he goes to avenge her, it's almost like he cleanses himself…

In 1977, a film almost finished Scorsese, New York, New York with De Niro and Minnelli, as the critics called" maddeningly uneven 'coke movie" leaving the director in a spiral of drugs and depression because of the failing to cover its $14m production. This film, which I still think was a personal note of Martin, a letter of his sadness and lost of his marriage with Isabella Rossellini.

There are many articles about Scorsese, we know he was born in little Italy in New York and wanted to be a priest then turned his love to movies and music, we know that he produced a successful  TV series Boardwalk  Empire, and his best friend and favourite actor is Robert de Niro, like Hitchcock he likes to have a cameo in his own film, but to understand him you can’t read about him but to watch his film, his struggle and his passion, his film is personal, full of emotion and guilt, love and nightmare.

  “When you make a film... there are times in your life when you're burning with a passion and it's very, very strong. It's almost like a pathology of cinema where you want to possess the people on film. You want to live through them. You want to possess their spirits, their souls, in a way. And ultimately you can't stop. It has to be done until you get to the bitter end.” ----- Scorsese.

Maybe he is insane, maybe  John Ford,  Capra, Welles, Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Coppola are all insane. But Scorsese is always my favourite.

“Which would be worse - to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?” ----- Teddy, Shutter Island.

The life of Pi

Do you know which movie is the mixture of Cast Away + Slumdog Millionaire + Planet Earth? But much more.

The answer is The Life of Pi. 
A film by Ang Lee, based on a popular novel of the same name. 

A story about an Indian boy who survives a shipwreck with a tiger.

Lee, has directed many classic movies such as Eat Drink Man Woman, Sense and Sensibility, Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but also the disappointing- Hulk.

Visually The Life of Pi is stunning. Beautiful 3D images and awesome cinematography, the acting is believable but somehow I didn’t get into the story, maybe because I knew Pi will survive, or at least the tiger will not eat him. The shipwreck scene is well executed, but again I don’t have much feeling toward anyone of the crew or Gerard Depardieu (yes, he is one of the crew and his screen time is about 2 minutes) but i think Lee have his reason, why he want to use Depardieu in such a small part? The monkey and the zebra on the boat ? will bananas float?

The major problem of this film is, we have all grown up Pi telling the story right from the start. As a survival movie it's a dead give away. On the other hand this movie is a soulful treat, full of metaphor of coexistence, calm and turbulent, peace and violence, Catholic and Hindu. If God exists in the form of the nature, the Tiger is the trouble we are facing, and the ocean is Life, the life boat represents living and what we own? and what about the island? is that mean something more? this island is the life that we all wanted? all your can eat and comfortable? but it will toxicated us if we stay there to long? like bank loan? credit? sooner or later. we have to get off it and back on the life boat otherwise we will have nothing left.

The main theme of the Life of Pi is to choose what you believe, no matter religion or science, fiction or nonfiction, to have faith or not. Sooner or later we need to take side, do you want to believe a 16 years old boy spent 227 days on a life boat with a tiger in the middle of the ocean and survived? Pi wanted to be baptized and Pi is being baptized by the ocean and storm, an old me is dead and the new me is born. Can anyone prove God is real. what do you believe? will you believe if anyone tell you their experience? if we look the other way, if Pi told you is the real truth without the tiger, then it will be a very terrible turth and it will meant that his mom been killed by the chef and he have killed the chef and he will have to eat the flesh of everything left on the boat to stay alive. The turth about the real world is a cruel one, religion might be the way to make us all feel better, so what do you want to choose? 

This story is about faith and I want to love this movie, but something is missing. I can’t pinpoint it! The timing seems off, it almost boring. The CGI is magical like the BBC documentary Planet Earth, the problem is that you know this is not real but a computer work and like someone playing a magic trick you can’t look too close, like the part in the film, when the tiger grabs a goat through the metal bars, what just happened there?Lee is trying to tell us something and main parts of the " story " we know theres something missing, the story is not 100%, something is hidden but what is it ? because this is not a fairy tell but in fact a very brutal story.

Many times now I got disappointed after I went to cinema, I can’t help but ask myself, why they don’t make movies like they used to? Movies like The Shaw Shank Redemption, Forest Gump? The Life of Pi is something else, this movie is more than what you see, behide all the 3D and beautiful image there is something darker,  just like in the opening, you see all the animals. your first impression will be amaze on how beautiful the all are? but this story is telling you. if you think something is beautiful. you've already make a choice on what to beleive. 

 I like Ang Lee’s movies and I love movies and I will never give them up.  Like Pi said “Above all... it is important not to lose hope".

The Life of Pi, is more than a movie, every sence have it own meaning and Lee want us to see beyond this movie, he want us to see the world differently, maybe we are just like those japanese insurance officer and the writer, now you know the story, it's now our choice to make it our own but doesnt change the fact that we are living today. This is Lee's version of Pi , Same story but with different Soul.
 

The Life of Pi could be the best film of 2012

End of Watch

Quite a few documentary style movies in recent years such as Project X and Chronicle, End of Watch is one of them. 

A first person narrative with a cop making a film about his job. Writer-director David Ayers‘s fast-paced editing and shaky hand held camera took audience to witness the front-line police officers caught in a gang conflict in a hostile situation, between hot boiled shootout and street corpse in LA South Central. 

The screen filled with real sense of Drama. A plot full of racial hatred in the community, a task that our hero has to deal with. Gyllenhaal and Pena have fantastic chemistry and have a terrific rapport, it creates the perfect environment for the film, Many characters are believably realistic and the Mexican drug cartel event creates a dark hellish atmosphere for the movie. 

Gyllenhaal delivers an intense, hard-edged character, he manages to capture and hold the audience's attention right from the beginning of the film. Michael Pena played a very complicated character and this maybe his breakthrough from a supporting actor role and finally to become a lead actor in Hollywood. 

No doubt, End of Watch is entertaining but if you look into it, You will find there is no story, only incident. That explains the “documentary style”, because once you use this kind of filming you don’t have to show much of the story because it is “real”. 
The audience should accept this is in fact the point of view as a “police”, therefore, they have to make you think like a police, right from the opening of the film, don’t think , just listen and watch -

 ” I am the police, and I'm here to arrest you. You've broken the law. I did not write the law. I may disagree with the law but I will enforce it. No matter how you plead, condole, beg or attempt to stir my sympathy. Nothing you do will stop me from placing you in a steel cage with gray bars. If you run away I will chase you. If you fight me I will fight back. If you shoot at me I will shoot back. By law I am unable to walk away. I am a consequence. I am the unpaid bill. I am fate with a badge and a gun. Behind my badge is a heart like yours. I bleed, I think, I love, and yes I can be killed. And although I am but one man, I have thousands of brothers and sisters who are the same as me. They will lay down their lives for me and I them. We stand watch together. The thin-blue-line, protecting the prey from the predators, the good from the bad. We are the police.”

Sounds familiar? The same kind of statement we heard over the years on the news, 
“if you not with us you are against us?” there are always both sides of story and I am sure LA South Central is a complex world, but we as a viewer have to understand that when we are watching this kind of movies, we are also receiving some kind of negative message toward certain images and ideas, we are being manipulated. 

Sometimes it made me wonder if a policeman doesn’t agreed with the law and this law is to ask him to hurt people what should he do? More than half of the century ago there was a party in Europe had executed such law. Should the police follow such order? or make his own judgment? 

Anyway if you can ignore the aspect of police state propaganda and just enjoy it as a pure cop action-drama, then End of Watch is an outstanding movie, otherwise this film could be a little threatening.

Bruce Lee

November  27 was Bruce Lee’s birthday, if he didn’t pass away he would be 72 years old this year.

Bruce Lee, an international super star, a method actor, a master of martial art, a film maker, a writer, a teacher, a philosopher, even a Cha Cha dance champion. 

Time Magazine named Lee one of the most influential person of the 20th century, somewhere in between Einstein and Gandhi. He was an mixture of poise, charisma and intellect and he can surely kick some asses. Bruce Lee had a concern for the oriental poor, knowing martial arts as one way to restore the dignity, maybe because Bruce lee studied philosophy, therefore he always used his film to expressed his “emotional point of view”. His film was more than just kung fu movie but a demonstration on how “Chinese” should fight back, but his philosophy wasn’t only for Chinese but a universal one. 

In movies such as “The Big Boss” or “Enter The Dragon", he tried to use many symbols to show us what kind of world we are living in and how we should be united and fight back. Bruce Lee wants us to challenge ourselves, he wants us to know we are living in one world and we all can learn from each other and help and respect each other. He was a fighter not just on film, he was a fighter for life and the one who was against the system and believed we are all creative individuals.  

Maybe no one knows a real reason for his death, but we all know what he has done when he was alive.

                      “The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering “  - Bruce Lee

Hitchcock

 

In his 60, Hitchcock forced to gamble his Bel-Air home to make “Psycho", a film which he believed in and willing to take a risk . A film that the studio excecutive and his agent in that time called “ A cheap horror movie” but his wife Alma, supported him all the way. If you are going to see the new film “ Hitchcock” then you will know about this story.

Alfred Hitchcock. One of the greatest film director. Every film fan will agreed with it. He pioneered many film making techniques – the dolly zoom – you can see this camera movement in a a few classic Hitchcock movies like Vertigo and many Steven Spielberg's and Brian de Palma’s films. He also been called the master of suspense, he was a talented director of psychological thriller genres. If you are Hitchcock fan then you will know about his interview with François Truffaut, and you will know his  obession for blondes and his film is almost always about an innocent person gets involved with trouble. There are so many things I want to write about Him and because I want  to make a thriller , so I am trying to understand what drove him, what is his visions and how he works with actors?  Hitchcock once said:

I never said all actors are cattle; what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.

When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But what's my motivation?, ' I say, 'Your salary.'

There are many Actors out there, they think they are good actors, I have no doubt about it  but I think the best actors are the actors who can do what ever the director need, they can cry and laugh or be angry or sad or all at the same time and let the director to choose the one expression he wants. 

Actors are like a emotion supermarket and the best actor is the one that accepted by the audience. Being film director is a difficult  job,  one must deal with everything about the film and also has to worry about his own sanity. Will the audience like my movie? what to do to stay on the budget ? how to make a cheap horror movie into a classic thriller? I think we should go back to watch all Hitchcock movies, either you are the actors or the directors, we should learn a thing or two. To me I think the best thing that Hitchcock really did well is his timing, when it should be slow he made it slow and intimate, when it needed to be exciting he edited the film tight enough to captured all your attention. Unlike most movie these days, the director always thinks quick editing means excitement but audience saw nothing but flash. I think we should blame it on Music Video. 

Hitchcock: If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.

If you like a Hitchcock movie, you will also fall in love with "The Third man".
The director is Carol Reed, shot in 1949 - And this is a must see for Black and white lover, the photography staggered light and shadow , influenced the history of cinema, and the director also boldly used only one  musical instrumentent  "Zither" for the entire film. 

Directors need to be bold and Actors need to listen to directors and beleive in him  and  most importantly we all need a family like Alma.

In his 60 . Hitchcock forced to gamble his Bel-Air home to make “ Psycho”, a film which he believed in and willing to take a risk . a film that the excecutive in that time called “ a Cheap horror movie” but his wife Alma , supported him all the way, If you are going to see the new film “ Hitchcock” then you will know about this Story.

Hitchcock. One of the greatest film director. Every film fan will agreed with it. He pioneered many techniques – the dolly zoom – you can see this camera movement in a classic Hitchcock movie like Vertigo and many Steven Spielberg's and Brian de Palma’s films, He also been called the master of suspense, he was a talented director of psychological thriller genres. If you are Hitchcock fan then you will know about his interview with François Truffaut, and you will know his  love  for blonde and his film is almost always  about a innocent person get involved with trouble. There are so many things want to write about Him and I want  to make a thriller so I am trying to understand what drove him, what is his vision and how he work with actors? Hitchcock once said:

I never said all actors are cattle; what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.

When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But what's my motivation?, ' I say, 'Your salary.'

There are many Actors out there, they think they are good actors, I have no doubt about it  but I think the best actors are the actor who can do what ever the director need, they can cry and laugh or being angry or sad or all at the same time and let the director to choose the one expression he want. 

Actors are like emotion supermarket and the best actors are the one that accept by the audience. Being film director is a hard job, have to deal with everything about the film and also have to worry about his own sanity, will the audience like my movie? what to do to stay on the budget ? how to make a cheap horror movie into a classic thriller? I think we should  going back to watch all Hitchcock movies, to learn something either you are the actors or the directors, to me I think the best thing that Hitchcock really did well is his timing, when it should be slow he make it slow and intimate, when it need to be exciting he will edit the film tight enough to capture all your attention,

Not like most movie these days. Always think quick editing mean excitement but audience see nothing but flash. I think we can blame it on Music Video. 

Hitchcock: If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.

If you like a Hitchcock movie, you will also fall in love with "The Third man", The, Director is Carol Reed, shot in 1949 - And this is a must see for Black and white lover, the photography staggered light and shadow , influenced the history of cinema, and the director also boldly used only one  musical instrumentent  "Zither" for the entire film. 

Director need to be bold and Actors need to listen to direct and a support from friends and family.

The Impossible – a film captures the story of a family caught in Thailand during the devastating 2004 tsunami. This movie has the most edge of your seat and emotional disaster sequence in year, unlike many disaster movies such as 2012 or The Day After Tomorrow, this movie didn’t just depend on the special effects, the sequence looks and feels real and new 3D sound technology was truly gripping. The new wave of Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona did a great job to recreat the event. 

This is a good movie and it makes us realize we are all human beings and we need each other. The disaster is just part of the mother nature. But the real disaster is when something happens to us and we are turning our back and ignore it. This film made me feel that I am very fortunate and reminded me to appreciate the people in my life and learn to give. A kind gesture seems so small but it can mean a lot to someone else. You can see in this film the husband and wife are both “good“ people, they are helpful to those least fortunate even if they are in trouble themselves. Maybe because of that, the impossible happened to them. When you do good for others you will be blessed. Maybe that’s the hidden message of this film, we are all saved by grace.

Naomi Watt and Tom Holland did a wonderful job to play the mother and son, but Ewan McGregor is outstanding. He is a powerful actor and a universal one.  From Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge to Big Fish and now in The Impossible, you can see the acting skill of Ewan has grown, he has disappeared into his role so believably that we no longer see him but an ordinary father, a father who doing his best to seek his family. This is a very challenging role as if he just a little over acts then the movie won’t work, especially the big part of the film is focusing on Naomi Watt and her son. He truly became one the greatest actors of our generation, like De Niro did.  

Comparing to many nonsense and waste of time movies of this year such as Total Recall, That’sr My Boy and Battleship, The Impossible brought tears to my eyes and one of the year’s best.

  
Bond Another Day - Skyfall
 

Skyfall, the latest James Bond movie. I haven’t seen it, not because I am not a fan of Daniel Craig, nor I think that he looks more like a Russian than a British spy, I haven’t seen Skyfall because I think Casino Royale wasn’t a good James Bond movie and Quantum of Solace was even worst.

I love James Bond movies since I was 6 or 7 years old the first time on TV. I saw Sean Connery doing his thing flying with a jet-pack and because of Sean, I always thought women love chest hair. And then, we have Roger Moore, ’til today I still think Octopussy have the best pre-title opening where Bond flies a little plane through an open hangar. Real stunt, no computer, this James Bond of the late 70’s and 80’s have all the gadgets to play with, a car that dives into the water like a submarine and even saved the day up on a space station just like Luke Skywalker. He also taught me to move my eyebrows when talking to women. Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan were both great and I actually think Dalton was a very “real” James Bond, watch “the living daylight” you will see what I mean.  what about the Aussie James bond? he looked so dumb, I thought I was watching The Naked Gun, lucky for us he was only been in one Bond film. Thanks to Brosnan wanting more money the studio had to drop him and picked Daniel Craig after years of searching, they said they have found the new 007. To be honest compared to all Bonds Daniel does have the best body and the director makes sure we see the point so they gave Daniel a whole walking out of water at the beach scene. I don’t know what do you think but I thought I was watching a wrong movie but then again maybe I did .. women audience might love the new James Bond and Yes he is not a good looker, look at that body well at least the producer Barbara Broccoli think he is hot, but there are quite a few actor can play James who have a good body with a better face, I just don’t understand why it had to be Daniel? 

James Bond movie should be lavish, romantic and a bit of fun with cheeky dialogue –

Bad guy: You seem to have this nasty habit of surviving.

James Bond: You know what they say about the fittest.

Today our hero got his clothes taken off, his balls sack got hit by a villain,

Bond: I've got a little itch, down there. Would you mind? …

Was that the only way to turned the tortured around? because you are enjoying your balls being attack? When you think about it maybe that was a hidden message. We have your balls James and you can’t do anything about it. I know it’s painful to watch but you have to like it. 

Yes our new Bond can’t play poker, loses all the money in the first round and ended up he needs the help from the American Spy. The director didn’t show the audience much about the poker game maybe he thinks no one will understand it? and the casino? i know they really don’t have budget but did they really have to be that cheap? It was like taken a ride with a bad tour guide to a wrong hotel, I guess. If they call their movie Casino Royale they will at least to make the casino scene more interesting? Where is our smart cool Bond? Please watch The Cincinnati Kid, see how Steve does it. And where are the Bond girls? oh James.. 

When a Bond doesn’t act like a 007 but a Bourne wannabe? Who knows maybe someday they will even name the film "James Bond in Bourne another taken?  James Bond actually Jason Bourne in disguise and he has a daughter, wife and the queen to save. Sorry M since you are man again you can do it yourself. Our new Bond drinks beer and in tight suit. Bond falls in love and Bond can kick ass like Jackie Chan and doesn’t care about martini, don’t you see he is busy fighting bad guy and many of them even though they are mostly faceless .Yes, they’ve killed Blofeld/the wheelchair guy with a white cat in “For your eyes only” due the copyright issue 

So you will think after all these years now, is about time for them to introduce a real bad villain again in Skyfall but disappointedly they have a fake blonde ex agent as a baddy who has stole the agents list and he does not even have a hat or a jaw. Is this a Bond film or Mission Impossible, Die Hard?? I don’t like the last two Bond films I think they were forgettable! I don’t think I will watch Skyfall because I am still waiting for the real Bond film.

Movies are not real, they are dreams and Bond movies used to be boy’s fun dream filled with beautiful women, exotic locations, car chase, exciting battle sequences, gadgets, suspense, terrific music, and a memorable villain. 

“So do you like sky fall?”  I asked my friend,  

“Yes I love it! What a good movie” he replied  

“Better than Casino Royale?"

“No way! Casino Royale is much better ...“

Well, you get my point? I rather watch Indiana Jones chasing alien, at least Jone is still Jone. And now I need a drink,

"A dry martini," Bond said.

"Oui, monsieur"

"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Lillet blanc.         Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"