Lost in Beijing

Yes, I have been watching a lot of foreign films lately. I like most of them. They don't have the big Hollywood budgets or famous movie stars, so the directors tend to be more creative. Lost in Beijing has been out for awhile, but it just became available on the immediate play in the netflix streaming movies.
Honestly, the previews did not look that interesting, but it does take place in Beijing and sometimes for me being able to see movies in these different locations is a plus. Kind of being able to travel on film without going to the tourist traps.
From Netflix:

From one of China's most celebrated female directors, Yu Li's provocative drama, set against the hustle and bustle of the country's booming capital, explores the complicated relationship between three women and two men, all entangled in a web of sex, desire, jealousy and revenge. Distinguished by stellar performances, the darkly comic film stars Tony Leung Ka Fai, Bingbing Fan, Elaine Jin and Dawei Tong.

I am not sure, but I think this movie was banned in China. This is definitely an "adult" oriented film that has profanity and nudity. As for the storyline, it involves adultery, revenge, promiscuity, and other things that happen in real life.




This movie was a bit on the long side for me, but overall I would recommend seeing it. I think it captures the differences and similarities that exist in both our cultures.

Man, Woman and the Wall

Yes, another foreign movie that I watched on netflix streaming. Quite honestly, the availability of foreign movies is getting better on netflix for its on demand feature. This next movie Man, Woman and the Wall was a surprise. Be forewarned that this movie does contain adult material involving sex and nudity, but if you are beyond being a prude, you might enjoy it for what it is.

The plot is strange but it does come together. It is about a neighbor (Ryu) who becomes a sound voyeur of a girl who lives next door. The girl has a boyfriend who seems nice but is actually a pervert and makes harrassing phone calls to her using modern technology. For some reason, his threats to her turns him on. The girl winds up calling the boyfriend on his other cell phone, where she requests for him to come over and he comes over as the hero and they sleep together.

The neighbor imagines what is going on based on what he hears and the movie shows images of what he thinks they (neighbor and boyfriend) look like as well as what her apartment looks like. Eventually, Ryu becomes more of just a voyeur but a full blown stalker. He becomes very obsessed with this girl and his whole life starts to revolve learning everything about her.



The story takes a twist when he learns that the harassing phone caller is one and the same as the boyfriend. This is not your normal story, but does have a Hollywood happy ending.

Netflix describes the movie:

After moving into a new apartment, geeky reporter Ryo (Keita Ohno) quickly develops an obsession with his sexy next-door neighbor Satsuki (Aoi Sola). Ryo's eavesdropping and explicit fantasies surprisingly lead to a potential relationship with his dream girl. Meanwhile, throughout the course of this highly provocative Japanese movie, Satsuki becomes increasingly panic-stricken over obscene phone calls she's receiving from an unknown pervert.

Lila Says "Lila dit ca" good foreign movie to watch

This was a French movie that I really enjoyed. The subject matter is more of a young love or first love story set in a lower class part of the city. There is also the subject of racism and shows how a person deals with it among his friends and peers.

From Netflix:

Based on a controversial French novel, Lila Says tells the story of a quiet young poet named Chimo (Mohammed Khouas) who develops a crush on the pretty, blond Lila (Vahina Giocante), a girl who recently moved into his Arab ghetto with her aunt. When the leader of a rival gang also falls for Lila, the ensuing love triangle initiates a journey of sexual discovery -- and sets off a chain of devastating events.

Lila Says

stardotstar™ | MySpace Music Videos


I used this particular video because it has the subtitles in English below. All the other ones on youtube seemed to lack them. Of course this doesn't matter if you speak French, but unfortunately I don't. I really wish I could have used a different clip, but beggars can't be choosey.

Bottom line, I enjoyed the film and would recommend it if you enjoy a good French romantic movie that doesn't have a typical Hollywood ending.

Julie & Julia gets an A+

I had low expectations of this movie based on the preview. I know it had some big talent such as Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, and Stanley Tucci. They are all great actors. However, there are many movies with great talent that end up disappointing. This movie did not only deliver but surprised me.

This is the netflix summary:

Amy Adams stars in this truth-inspired tale as Julie Powell, a disenchanted government secretary who decides to enliven her uneventful life by cooking all 524 recipes outlined in Julia Child's culinary classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Based on Powell's book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, director Nora Ephron's heartwarming dramedy also stars Meryl Streep as legendary chef Child.

It is very accurate in its description, but the execution of the movie was great. The characters are well developed and likable. The storyline has the time frames switching back and forth from the 1940s to the 2000s (after the 9/11 tragedy) which kept the pace of the movie at a good rate and engaging.

The images of France are beautiful and learning about Julia Child was actually quite interesting. I have never seen her cooking shows and knew very little about her. I do like the historic reference to the McCarthyism days in America where everyone was being accused of being a communist.

The images of New York are more closer to reality of present day America. I think it even provides a glimpse of the daily struggles most Americans are experiencing today. This is based on a true story of a new blogger becoming successful at writing.

Overall, I recommend watching this movie. I hope you like it as much as I did.

Both trailers are the same below, but the first one loads up slow. The second one loads up faster but doesn't play outside of America for some reason.

Cheers!

More about this movie

"The Class" gets a D minus

The Class (Entre les murs) is a foreign French movie that had many great raving reviews on Netflix. I watched this movie with high expectations and when I finished I have to be honest and say it was stupid. I know those are harsh words but really it was very annoying.



The school is suppose to be one of those poor ghetto areas where everyone lives a hard life. They used real students and the real teacher this was based on. Well, you don't like the students and the teacher is even worse. No one is likable in this movie. That's a problem.

Then there is the storyline. The teacher character as a teacher sucks. From what they show in the movie, he kind of just rambles on most of the time. He has no structure in the class, and the students are all portrayed as idiots. The teacher offers no motivation to learn, no structure to follow, and constantly belittles the kids as well as call some of them as "skanks" in the movie.

Seriously, for the people who liked this movie, you must have seen something I didn't see. The premise sounded good, but execution and storyline were miserable. I would not recommend this movie even to fall asleep to. That is how bad it is. Yes, I have seen worse movies, but this had potential.

If you want to see a similar movie that is better made, then I recommend you watch the old "Stand and Deliver" with Edward James Olmos and Lou Diamond Phillips. It is based on a true story and very inspiring.

Dracula 2000

I love vampire movies even if most of them are bad. I am glad they are more popular now than ever before. This oldie but goodie had many stars that have become big names now. Dracula was played by Gerard Butler of 300 fame. I must say he looked extremely young and at first I don't think I would recognize him right away.

The rest of the cast included Christopher Plummer, Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Jennifer Esposito, and Omar Epps. I have seen many of these actors in other movies.





Now, I can't say there are a lot of good old vampire movies. I am a fan of True Blood, Interview with a Vampire, and Twilight, but I don't expect the older stuff to be as entertaining. This movie was a bit more original in its explanation of silver, crosses, holy water, etc and why Dracula dislikes them. You learn about that at the end of the movie. If you are Christian, you might be offended by the movie and bible tie ins, but I thought it was original and well done.

Anyways, I don't summarize the plot of the movie and give it away. I just want you to know it was enjoyable to watch and would recommend you seeing it. This is definitely worth renting and eating a bucket of popcorn with it.

Run Fatboy Run

I wasn't actually looking for this movie and it wasn't in my netflix queue. I actually had seen the commercials a long time ago, and just thought it would be corny. In fact it was corny, but surprisingly enjoyable.

This is a predictable comedy with some actors I recognized like Simon Pegg of Hot Fuzz fame, Thandie Newton, and Hank Azaria who play the voices of many Simpsons characters.









Like I said, it is corny but funny. I caught it on cable and liked it. Hope you like it too. Cheers!

District 9

I have been waiting to watch this movie for awhile. The previews looked good and all the reviews were coming in positive. Peter Jackson was the producer.


District 9 Trailer (HD) - Watch more amazing videos here

I didn't recognize any of the actors, but the acting was overall good. The CG was well done and all the special effects were too.

The ending was a nice Hollywood ending where the human redeems himself in the end. Personally, I think the preview sells the movie easily. If you like science fiction movies, this one won't disappoint.

Drag Me to Hell

This is another horror movie set in modern times. Like I said before, you have to lower your expectations in most of the movies in this genre because they are simply horror movies. LOL.

This had some well known actors Alison Lohman and Justin Long (the Mac guy). The plot was actually very good and has some good twists. Of course the standard scare scenes with the sound effects to make you jump are here. Overall, this was a very good horror flick. My wife guessed the ending that I didn't see coming.

Drag Me to Hell - Trailer
Uploaded by dreadcentral. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Usually, most previews give away all the scary scenes. This movie has a lot of potential and it reaches them. Again, this is on the horror movie scale of lowered expectations. I definitely recommend watching this movie.

The Taking of Pelham 123

This is a remake of a movie but I never saw the first one nor did I read the book. The preview always looked pretty good to me. It has two great actors and looked to be a fun action thriller type of movie.

Even though both Denzel Washington and John Travolta have been around along time, I still like watching most of their movies. It's funny how Luis Guzmán seems to be an extra or peripheral character in tons of movies. He is like another Kevin Bacon.


THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123: Movie Trailer - The best free videos are right here

The movie didn't disappoint. It was fast paced, suspenseful, and thrilling all at the same time. The characters were believable and the ending was done in Hollywood fashion. I would recommend watching this movie.

The old one looks pretty good too. Maybe worth watching and comparing the classic one.

Wrong Turn 3

I love to watch horror movies, but I always lower my expectations because I know most of them are just bad. This movie is no exception. However, they are always entertaining. I don't recognize any of the actors so I won't plug them here.

Wrong Turn 3 - Trailer
Uploaded by dreadcentral. - Check out other Film & TV videos.

There are some scary scenes and some just gruesome. If you like horror movies in general, then you will enjoy this. I think the first one is the best of this series.

The Ugly Truth, Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler

I had very low expectations of this movie even though I like the 2 main stars. Gerard Butler from 300 and Katherine Heigl from Grey's Anatomy fame. I saw the preview and based on that I thought OK anther stinky romantic comedy with 2 currently popular stars. I had seen 27 dresses and some other lame movie Heigl was in and I think that may have influenced my expectations.

Nevertheless, it is a new movie and you can't judge it without watching it. I really thought Butler did a good job playing his character and Heigl was not the annoying Lizzy from G.A. The movie was put together well and got me to laugh a few times.

It was definitely predictable as most romantic comedies are, but the characters, actors, and storyline delivered. I would recommend watching it if you are on the fence.


The Ugly Truth Restricted Clip - The best bloopers are here

A Girl Cut In Two

This movie seemed to have a lot of potential. The description looked good, the reviews were better than decent, and the trailer was interesting. On top of that, it was a French movie and I just love listening to that language.

What can I say, I watched the movie and it was awful. The actors were good but the characters they played were people you just didn't care for. I hated the characters, the storyline, and the pace of the movie was just a bit faster than a snail. Anyways, don't watch it unless you need a movie to put you to sleep.

A Girl Cut in Two Official Trailer
by ifcfilms

Yes Man with Jim Carrey, Bradley Cooper, and Zooey Deschanel

I saw this movie that stars Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel and Bradley Cooper. I liked the premise of the story about a guy who usually doesn't take chances and winds up going to a meeting where he learns the power of "yes". It was one of those positive motivation seminars.

Jim Carrey is sometimes annoying and he doesn't disappoint in this movie. But if you can get pass his craziness, the movie itself is very enjoyable. It wasn't hilarious but it was funny throughout the movie.



Yes Man Trailer

Rogue with Michael Vartan

For as many movies as I watch, I am surprised that I keep forgetting to post them here. I blog on my main post about everything multiple times a day and for some reason I have a mental block posting on this blog.

So the latest movie I saw was Rogue which came out in 2007. It is just one of those low budget horror flicks about a giant crocodile in the outback of Australia. OK, maybe not the outback but some river area with rising tides.



The movie did have one star I recognized which was Michael Vartan of Alias fame. It was a fun movie and I did like it. I am just not sure if I enjoyed it enough to recommend. Lol.

Cheers!

The Lucky Ones

OK, this movie was much better than I expected. It has great acting from the 3 main characters and the storyline is very good. More or less it is just about 3 soldiers coming home for 30 days from Iraq and how they deal with the civilians, adapting back to regular life, and their own situations of why they joined the US Army.



The 3 soldiers are played by: Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams, and Michael Peña.


Overall, a good movie to watch and I would recommend it. Check out the preview and tell me what you think.

My own phone video of Bellagio water show

Just experimenting on how to post home videos from my phone to my blog. It seems to work here but not on my main blog. Hmmm.

Quantum of Solace

I love action movies and this one had some good previews. That gave me higher expectations of this movie and the previous James Bond movie seemed very good to me. I like this actor Daniel Craig playing the James Bond character.

This movie was pretty good but not as good as Casino Royale. I really was expecting it to be even better than that, so in that sense it didn't live up to my expectations. But by itself, the movie was interesting. I like the technology they showed and the action was never lacking. I also liked the way the movie portrayed governments. I suspect the government is somewhat like the ones portrayed in the movie doing secret projects and always trying to do power plays to obtain more power or steal resources from other countries.

There was some twist and turns in the movie. Overall, the movie is worth watching and I would recommend it.

Defintely, Maybe

I have watched a ton of movies since my last post, but just never seem to have enough time to get in this blog to write my opinions. This last movie I watched today was a surprise. A pleasant surprise to boot.
I think it was a nice romantic movie. A chick flick or whatever you want to call it. It did make me shed a tear or two somewhere in there.

The movie stars Ryan Reynolds and Abigail Breslin as his daughter. Ryans's character tells of his relationships he experienced during his career through the Bill Clinton years to his daughter. The daughter tries to figure out who her mother is in his story of previous girlfriends. The 3 girlfriends are played by Elizabeth Banks (his college sweetheart), Rachel Weisz (his career girlfriend), and Isla Fisher (his soul-mate).

I think one of the reasons why I liked this movie is because the characters are well developed and the story is told well. The acting was excellent by all the actors and actresses. I even think the happy ending tied it altogether and wasn't completely expected.

This wasn't a box office hit. I didn't have any expectations on this movie so it was that much more satisfying to watch. Check it out and enjoy.

4 movies yesterday

Obviously, I haven't been posting everyday like I would have liked, but trust me I am watching movies everyday. Yesterday, I watched some horror and science fiction movies.

The first movie was called War Games 2 with no major actors that I recognized. It was very predictable, but still a good fun film. I watched the first one from the late 80s with Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy. It's funny how far computers have advanced since then. Basically, most desktop computers are more powerful than the supercomputers from back then.

The second movie I watched was called Karla with Laura Preppon. It was suppose to be about a serial killer couple but it was so slow and boring, that my wife and I decided to stop watching after 30 minutes. Too much talking and some bad camera work at times.

The third movie I watched was Species 3 which was just OK. When you watch these types of movies you can't set your standards too high, otherwise you would never ever watch them. I like science fiction/action/thriller type of movies so this held my attention. It wasn't a great movie but worth watching once.

The last movie I watched was Resident Evil Extinction. This was actually a great zombie sci fi action movie. Never boring and fast paced. I seen the previous 2 movies, though I admit I don't really remember the details. Bottom line this is a good entertaining movie and I would recommend watching it with a bucket of popcorn.

Control-Joy Division-Ian Curtis

This movie was a documentary about a lead singer of a band called Joy Division. The film was filmed in black and white and that seem to capture the times which was England in the 1970's.

IMDB Control summary:

Ian Curtis is a quiet and rather sad lad who works for an employment agency and sings in a band called Warsaw. He meets a girl named Debbie whom he promptly marries and his band, of which the name in the meantime has been changed to Joy Division, gets more and more successful. Even though Debbie and he become parents, their relationship is going downhill rapidly and Ian starts an affair with Belgium Annik whom he met after one of the gigs and he's almost never at home. Ian also suffers from epilepsy and has no-good medication for it. He doesn't know how to handle the feelings he has for Debbie and Annik and the pressure the popularity of Joy Division and the energy performing costs him.

The main actors were Sam Riley and Samantha Morton. They played their parts well and really got into character.



Personally, the way they depicted Ian Curtis made him an unlikable person (because of his affair) who had some personal medical issues. On a musical level, all the songs they played in the movie were very good. I liked all of them which sounded like early KROQ songs. I went to youtube and saw the actual band. They still sound excellent!

I would definitely recommend watching this movie because it explores the life of a talented musician going through some personal issues. In the end, he ends up committing suicide.

Batman the Dark Knight

I recently watched the latest Batman movie and must say I am very impressed with the Darknight series. This is nothing like the old Batman TV series or even the old Batman movies.

The new series has a nice dark element with well developed characters. The story line is simple yet intriguing and has a good fluidity. It kept my interest from start to finish.

Christian Bale is my favorite Batman actor so far. He has done a great job in portraying this comic book character and gives him that "dark" personality.

Heath Ledger also played a great joker. I have seen him in other movies and never saw his acting range until this movie. I wouldn't surprise if he wins an Oscar.

If you haven't seen these Batman movies: Batman Begins (2005) and
The Dark Knight (2008), I would highly recommend watching both of them with a big bucket of popcorn. Makes a great double feature and both are available on netflix.

Ghost Town movie

This was actually a fun and quirky movie to watch. I have been meaning to watch this since I saw that actor Ricky Gervais doing the interview circuits on late night shows. I think his British attitude made it a bit more funny.

Basically, you have Ricky as the main character working as a dentist who is very antisocial. He avoids people at all costs and in the process is just kind of a jerk. He has some bowel problems, goes into the hospital to get a colonoscopy and dies for 7 minutes. After he comes back to life, he is able to see ghosts who have unfinished business on earth. Greg Kinnear plays the main ghost who needs Ricky to get his widowed wife to break up with her new boyfriend.

Overall, the plot is predictable with Ricky falling in love with Greg's wife played by Téa Leoni. It does have a nice happy Hollywood ending and is enjoyable to watch.

The Grocer's Son

OK, I am back to this great blog. Sorry, it hasn't been as often as I like. Trust me, I am still watching a ton of movies. A movie I literally just finished watching on Netflix instant play is titled The Grocer's Son. It is a french foreign movie and has a good cast. I am not familiar with any of the actors but they all seem to play their parts well.

This independent movie is just about a family that has problems and upon the father having a heart attack, the son comes back and they basically come to terms and get closer. I recommend it if you are in the mood for a slow paced but realistic portrayal of the french countryside. Cheers!

From Netflix:

When his father suffers a stroke, Antoine (Nicolas Cazale) reluctantly returns home from the big city to his small mountain village to help out with the family business, a grocery that makes daily rounds to the town's elderly inhabitants. But when Antoine's poor manners rub the villagers the wrong way, can the lovely young Claire (Clotilde Hesme) help smooth things over? French director Eric Guirado helms this charmingly low-key film.