A Serious Man (2009)

A Serious Man (2009) Trailer

This is the movie of Coen brothers. Similar to Burn After Reading, the movie doesn't lead to anything.

Is it about the life of a man in the 60's. He almost lost his wife, his promotion and he moved to the Jolly Rogers. Life hit the rock bottom. And then all of a sudden, everything seemed fine. His love enemy died, he got promoted and everything returned normal.

Then the twist comes. His doctor called him for a serious discussion of his body check.

The message is brought by the Rabbis: I don't know. Who cares?

Everyone asked him to consult the Rabbi. They know everything and can answer his questions of life. But it turned out that the conversation with the most junior Rabbi is the most spiritual. While the 2nd Rabbi told the story of the teeth, but with no point of direction. And the most senior Rabbi talked about the pop song with the son. It's very ironic.

To be honest, I don't understand the ending of the movie. What is the meaning of the tornando?

The Ghost Writer (2010)

The Ghost Writer (2010) Trailer

The cinema is full when I watched this movie. I chose this movie over Legion. The whole plot is simple. Ewan, the main character is hired as a ghost writer for the ex-prime minister. He was sent to an isolated island in East side of America to finish the work.

I didn't fall asleep for the whole movie. Instead, I was intrigued by the investigative nature of the story. The audience are guided to explore the truth as the ghost does.

By the way, Ewan's character doesn't have a name! And then I realized that during the whole movie, he introduced himself as "the Ghost" only.

Compared with A Serious Man which I watched recently, the Ghost Writer is much more intriguing. It has a kind of Hitchcock mystery atmosphere.

I can only guess that the wife is a CIA agent at the end of the movie when the director use montage during Ewan discovering the meaning of "in the beginnings" and the toasting by the wife.

The movie has a good structure: beginning, development, climax, twist and conclusion.
The ending is a bit rush. I thought that the passing of paper slip from the back to the wife is a good idea. And then the Ghost died in a sudden car crash. Is it a conspiracy or just an accident? It left the audience in wonder when they leave the cinema. I wouldn't prefer the movie to end it that way. However, if the ending is that the Ghost exposing the truth to the press, it would be too long.

Overall, it is a very good movie.

The Oscar

Why are the presenters kept saying, "and the winner is..." instead of what it used to be, "and the Oscar goes to..."?

Noticed that there are Oscars for short animation, and short films. I can target these categories as a stepping stone.

The first female oscar-winning director, quite inspiring.

Oscar, the Red Carpet, Hollywood, I'm on my way!

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Alice in Wonderland (2010) Trailer

This 3D movie is made a different way as Avatar. It is only turned to 3D in post-production. I think that the 3D effect of this movie is not as stunning as Avatar.

The acting of Johnny Depp is not that flattering. He should have made the character more interesting. Yet the make-up is subperb. The costumes are carefully designed.

I think I'm going to make a movie called the Imaginarium of Dr. Bimnassaus, based on the Imaginarium of Dr. Panassaus and Alice in Wonderland.

Should be a great catch. Stay tuned.

The Princess and the Frog (2009)

The Princess and the Frog (2009) Trailer

When the Princess kissed the frog...no, she isn't a real princess at all. So, when the girl kissed the frog,...she turns to a frog herself!

What a surprising twist! But then the story starts to get boring. After the long jungle adventure, they fall in love with each other.

The prince frog gave up proposing to the girl frog for the sake of "her dream". She wants to open her own restaurant after turning back human. Wait! Can't he just propose right after they become human again? But the story seems like once kissing the rich girl, whose father is the "king of parade", (which makes her the "princess"), they have to get married!

Kids are scared of some of the scenes. They yelled. And there's a supporting character died. It's rare in fairy tale story. Usually they don't die.

The songs and lyrics are very good.

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Sherlock Holmes (2009) Trailer

The traditional Sherlock Holmes is a gentleman; in this movie version of Sherlock Holmes, he is more like a street fighter. While Dr. Watson portrayed by Jude Law seems very thoughtful, and a bit cunning (don't know why).

I like the BGM a lot. It adds a lot of tension to the fighting scene. Recommend to listen to the soundtrack.

And the character Blackwood is made up by the movie-makers. It's good that in the end of the movie, Sherlock Holmes explained all the mysteries. And there are clues on the way of the story which shows Sherlock found the answer.

Looking forward to the sequel.

Avatar (2009)

Avatar (2009) Trailer

Knowing that the movie is filmed for IMAX version, we chose to watch it at IMAX. It's a eyes-widening experience of 3D and HD. The characters and the subtitles pop out.

At first, I thought the avatars look ugly, however, the more I watch, the more I accept them. Seems like they are cleverer and more environmental-friendly than humans.

There are huge discussion on the technology used by this movie and the message behind the plot. I thought that Navi shouldn't have got engaged in the war and killed humans. However, I was told that they're just fighting for their homeland. It was the humans who started the war. Is that justifiable to enter a war? I don't know.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) Trailer

It's a mouth-watering 3D movie. We actually ate meatball spaghetti after we watched the movie. There are sushi rolls, pizza, hot dogs, corns, watermelons, hamburgers, ice-cream, jello, pie, meatball spaghetti tornado...

The character I like most is Flint's father. He is hilarious in a subtle way. He doesn't know how to use the computer, how to drag and drop files on the desktop. This scene contrasts with the scene where Flint's undergoing an emergency situation inside the machine's "belly". It's montage which I have just learnt.

I noticed that the audience are mainly family. Small children are scared by the scene inside the machine in the sky and the scene where Baby Brent being eaten by the headless chicken. But I know that this is a cartoon. Cartoon always have a happy ending.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and the Shop Around the Corner (1940)

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Clip


These two movies are leaded by James Stewart. They're both black and white movies.

It's a Wonderful Life is about a man who had been stuck in life because he had to oversee his dad's organization. He wanted to go out and see the world. But he couldn't. He then faced a huge problem in life that he wanted to kill himself by jumping off the bridge. Luckily, an angel was sent to help him. As for how the story ends, you'd better watch it yourself!


The Shop Around the Corner (1940) Trailer


The Shop Around the Corner was reproduced in a modern version staring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan know as You've Got Mail. It's really an interesting story. In You've Got Mail, Meg Ryan's book shop is called the Shop Around the Corner, a tribute to the old movie.

Both movies are highly recommended.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) Trailer

A rather boring sequal. We are joking that if I were the werewolf, I would kill the girl for good. And if I were Edward the vampire, I would bite the girl for good too.
Such a cliche plot.