Video Review for X-men: Days of the Future

This is our first video review of a movie for our blog. Thus we will express our opinions regarding the movie X-men Days of the Future through this video. Hope you guys like it and find it useful in deciding whether to watch this movie or not. Cheers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvY5FI-RLUA&feature=youtube_gdata

Forrest Gump (1994)

Forrest Gump is a movie heart-breaker of eccentric fun and startling style. Lead actor Tom Hanks brings a touching severity to the role of an idiot expert from the South who finds strength in God, country, his childhood pal, Jenny (Robin Wright), and his good mama (Sally Field). When Forrest falls a few IQ points short of minimal school requirements, Mama ties other ways to admit his son to school. Soon she realizes that her son has a gift. As Forrest makes his pilgrim's progress from the '50s to the '80s, he becomes a college football star, a Vietnam War hero, a shrimp tycoon and even a father.

The effects dazzle, though never at the expense of the story. It's Hanks who brings comedy and unforced humanity to the literary conceit of Forrest, though the slim actor scarcely resembles the 6-foot-6-inch, 240-pound bruiser of the book. In the Army, Forrest saves his captain (Gary Sinise), whose legs are later amputated, and the captain resents him. Forrest is everything we admire in the American character, honest, brave, loyal, and the film's fierce irony is that nobody can stay around him for long. He knows the limits of a holy fool who can't understand the hypocrisy of postwar America that this mischievous epic so powerfully reveals. The peace-love pretensions of the '60s are impaled as neatly as the greed decades that follow.

Overall it is an excellent movie that demonstrates the life of a determined personnel that leaves important lessons for audiences of all ages. What I liked about this movie is the deep concept and moral teachings that the movie has for the audience.

Source: Youtube, IMDB

We're the Millers

David, a drug dealer, is incapable to repay his boss what he owes him. So his boss put forward him a scheme; go to Mexico and get some marijuana for him. Knowing it's going to be hard to get it across the border, he comes up with a plan; to fake as a family man. Now all he needs is a family so he asks Kenny, his neighbor, to be his son. He then asks Rose, a stripper he knows to be his wife. And Kenny recommends they ask Casey, a teen living on her own, to be the daughter. They call themselves the Millers and rent an RV then go into Mexico and learn that the amount of drugs is way more than David's boss implied it would be. So they put it in the RV and make their way back to the U.S. But it turns out that David's boss is trying to pull a fast one. The drugs belong to someone else and he sets out to get them back.

This is a very hilarious movie with brilliant comic timings. I just loved the way the story proceeds and how it is not at all predictable. You will be surprised and amused every five minutes. Overall this is a great movie to watch with friends during weekends and will surely cheer you up
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Source: Youtube, IMDB

Curse of the Golden Flower

During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.

Just saw this film at a cinema near to my home. I rated it very high because it is the first film in the last three years which can tell a story so smoothly.
After the first Hollywood movie The Fugitive (lead actor Harrison Ford) was admitted in my country, the Chinese films changed forever by the affections of Hollywood movies. But the Chinese film makers did not know how to tell a story in the Hollywood way. Especially the film makers wanted to make BIG movie (the movie making cost high) to gain the high profit in the market, but in the same time they seemed like they forget how to tell a good story. But Chinese audience is very tolerable, they watch they comment and they despise. After all these years' BIG films' bombing, I watched a good story telling film, why should I not be satisfied?
Discussing this film in the technique way is not the important thing. All this years the BIG films all packed by the advanced techniques, but no story.

Somebody (maybe a lot of foreign people) may want to watch more KongFu in Chinese films. But what I want to say is KongFu is not the only part of Chinese Culture, in fact it never was the major part of Chinese Culture in the past three thousand years. I can say it because I know our country and her history.
The relationship and interaction of characters is the major part of film. This film is based on a novel Thunder Storm by Chao Yu in 40s of 20th century, and the background is changed to about 9th century. For the solid story by Chao Yu, the film is brilliant. And the success of this film is also a victory of Chinese writers. It proved that the real good novel can live all the time.

Farewell My Concubine

The story of two men, who met as apprentices in the Peking Opera, and stayed friends for over 50 years.
"Farewell, My Concubine" is a movie with two parallel, intertwined stories. It is the story of two performers in the Beijing Opera, stage brothers, and the woman who comes between them. At the same time, it attempts to do no less than squeeze the entire political history of China in the twentieth century into a three-hour time-frame.

What rather wonderful about this story is that Georgiana Spencer (Keira Knightley) discovers a way to exult in victory over things and to get back some kind of power in a time where, really, women had very little… Being someone of great vitality and liveliness, she was very much a dreamer and an idealist, a woman who loved being the center of attention, who loved the fact at some point that her picture was in the paper, that the clothes were always talked of, that her every move was commented on.
We are impressed by the storyline, presence, and performance of the actors.  A great movie to watch!

The Promise

The Promise directed by Chen Kaige, who directed the excellent but depressing Farewell My Concubine, is pretty much being hated by people everywhere.
Most comments for "The Promise", or "Wu Ji", on the IMDb forum are mainly negative. While it's obvious a film that could have been better, it still offers a stunning look that Chen Kaige has given it.

It helps he was working with an excellent cinematographer, Peter Pau, who photographed this film with lovingly care. The result are exquisite images that might not mean a lot to the fans of films of this genre, but will delight others, like this viewer, who is not into this type of fantasy film. The music of Klaus Badelt plays well in the context of the movie. The film has some of the fabulous costumes of any film in recent memory.


It's easy to dismiss the film as a total failure. Other, more recent fare is cited as being much better, which could be true. But actually to experience the film as a gorgeous fantasy out of the talented director Chen Kaige's mind is worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, judging by the screening we attended recently, this film has not found an audience.

Dong-Kun-Jang is impressive as Kunlun. Hiroyuki Sanada also does good work as the General Quianming. The gorgeous Cecilia Cheung lends her beauty to her character, Princess Qingcheng.
The director will surely recover from this experience and concentrate on a more worthwhile story for his next venture. Chen Kaige deserves better and he will surely rise from the ashes like the magnificent phoenix he is.

Titanic

Titanic, the unsinkable ship was on its departure on April 10th, 1912. And on its epic journey, a poor artist named Jack Dawson and a rich girl Rose DeWitt Bukater fall in love, until one night, their fairy tale love for one another turns into a battle for survival on a ship about to sink to the bottom of the North Atlantic. Rose leaves her fiancé Caledon Hockley for this poor artist, but when the Titanic collides with the iceberg on April 14th, 1912, and then when the ship sinks on April 15th, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning, Jack dies and Rose survives and 84 years later Rose tells the story about her life on Titanic to her granddaughter and friends on the Keldysh and explains the first sight of Jack that falls into love, then into a fight for survival. When Rose gets saved by one lifeboat that comes back, they take her to the Carpathia with the six saved with Rose and the 700 people saved in the lifeboats. The Carpathia immigration officer asks Rose what her name is and she loved Jack so much she says her name is not Rose DeWitt Bukater, but her name is Rose Dawson. She seen Cal looking for her, but he does not see her, and they never ended up together, her mother, Cal and friends of the family has no choice but to think that she died on the Titanic. So Rose is an actress in the 1920s, and now 84 years later Rose Calvert is 100 years old and tells her granddaughter the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its first and last voyage, and then to Rose all Titanic and the real love of her life Jack Dawson is all an existence inside of her memory, and Titanic is to rest in peace at the bottom of the North Atlantic from 1912 until the end of time.

With great performances from the actors, strong storyline and plot make the Titanic a movie of a lifetime. This is one movie that everyone should watch and will 100% appreciate. I simply love the movie and can watch over and over again and not get enough!

Source: Youtube, IMDB

Bad Neighbors

Mac Radner (Seth Rogen) and his wife Kelly (Rose Byrne) are a happy couple with a newborn baby - happy, that is, until a college fraternity led by its President Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron) shifts into the house next door and destroys the peace. Efforts to discipline the students grow in amount and the competition gets fierce as the new parents fight against the odds.

Bad Neighbours is different. It is about the conflicts between the young and the just a little bit older. The film merges Animal House-style humour with thoughtful observation about the changeover to adulthood. Sharply directed and with effective comic performances from Seth Rogen and Zac Efron, it has a humour and even an intermittent tenderness that contradict its relentless vulgarity and will be a good watch.

Source: IMDB ( image), Youtube (trailer)

Blood Diamond

“Blood Diamond,” an exceptionally foolish thriller starring the extraordinary Leonardo DiCaprio, involves the story of illicitly mined diamond that have been used to fund some of the most venomous wars in Africa. Mr. DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a Rhodesian-born diamond smuggler who, having been orphaned during his native country’s violent struggles in the 1970s, has spent most of his 30-some years traversing the continent as a soldier of fortune. Tousled and tanned, with a long, slicing style and a killer smile, This being an Edward Zwick film, it’s no surprise that redemption is on the menu. Danny is initially on the side of the evils, and when we first meet him in 1999 he is trying to cross the border of a perilously unstable Sierra Leone with a pile of diamonds pushed into some goats. Busted by a patrol from Sierra Leone, he lands in jail, where he soon hears of a precious pink diamond unearthed by a fisherman turned unwilling miner, Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou). Solomon hopes to reunite with his wife and three children, from whom he has been violently separated; Danny just wants a score big enough to pay his way permanently out of Africa. But Blood Diamond falls annoyingly short of greatness in its final hour, partly because of an abundance of subplots. Alongside Solomon and Archer, Zwick introduces journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an uncompromising war reporter just in from Afghanistan, who looks to Archer to help her find the professional criminals in the diamond trade. Though her acting is faultless, Connelly’s presence leads to a romance that, however discreet, simply stocks up trouble for later, requiring redemption and emotional closure on an already boiled climax. On top of that, add an unnecessary political framing device, and what begins as a tough, risk-taking thriller winds down to become a familiar Hollywood triumph-over-adversity story. It’s a heartbreaker. After feeling so much danger, it’s a shame to leave the cinema on a note so safe.
Overall, Leonardo DiCaprio, perhaps because he knows that much of the audience crawls into his pocket, and perfectly plays the character of the smuggler, given his extraordinary reputation in such roles from films such as ‘ catch me if you can.’ Moreover, if films were evaluated merely by their good intentions, this one would be best in show. Instead, gilded in money and dripping with sanctimony, confused and mindlessly inconsistent, the film is a textbook example of how easily commercialism can undermine a humanitarian cause, particularly in Hollywood.

Source: Youtube, IMDB

House of Flying Daggers

House of Flying Daggers is a 2004 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhang Ziyi. It differs from other wuxia films in that it is more of a love story than a straight martial arts film.
The use of strong colours is again a signature of Zhang Yimou's work. Several scenes in a bamboo forest completely fill the screen with green. Near the end of the film, a fight scene is set in a blizzard. The actors and blood are greatly highlighted on a whiteout background. Another scene uses bright yellow as a colour theme. The costumes, props, and decorations were taken almost entirely from Chinese paintings of the period, adding authenticity to the look of the film 

The film opened in limited release within the United States on December 3, 2004, in New York City and Los Angeles, and opened on additional screens throughout the country two weeks later.

The film was chosen as China's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for the year 2004; but was not nominated in that category though it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Hero

Hero is a 2002 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li as the nameless protagonist, the film is based on the story of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 BC.
Hero was first released in China on October 24, 2002. At that time, it was the most expensive project[2] and the highest-grossing motion picture in Chinese film history.[citation needed] Miramax Films owned the American market distribution rights, but delayed the release of the film for nearly two years. It was finally presented by Quentin Tarantino to American theaters on August 27, 2004.





Hero was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 2003 Academy Awards but lost to Nowhere in Africa (Germany).
Zhang Yimou won the Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2003 for his work in Hero.
The National Society of Film Critics awarded Zhang Yimou their Best Director award.
The New York Film Critics Circle recognized cinematographer Christopher Doyle with its award for Best Cinematography.
The Chicago Film Critics Association awarded Hero Best Cinematography, alongside Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.
The Online Film Critics Society awarded Hero Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Language Film.
Hero received seven Hong Kong Film Awards in 2003, including Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound. The movie was also nominated for seven other awards, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Song, and Best Director.
Hero won joint Best Film at the Hundred Flowers Awards in 2003.

Rush Hour

Cultures clash and tempers flares as the two cops named Detective Inspector Lee a Hong Kong Detective and Detective James Carter FBI, a big-mouthed work-alone Los Angeles cop who are from different worlds discovers one thing in common: they can't stand each other. With time running out, they must join forces to catch the criminals and save the eleven-year-old Chinese girl of the Chinese consul named Soo Yung.

This movie is pure comedy from the beginning to the end. You will have a good laugh thanks to Chris Tucker in his role of Carter, a clumsy LA cop. The city of Los Angeles is spectacular and is a great scenario for this entertaining movie. Jackie Chan at its best kicking asses everywhere with an outstanding humble attitude. I think Americans love Jackie Chan because he's so nice and great person.

The main reason why I like this movie is the wonderful duo they play, constantly arguing, while walking around exciting California, USA, about everything, but in the meantime they are loyal partners. The great diversity there is in America singles out in a city like Los Angeles when we go through Chinatown. And fortunately, the movie brings us out there. Interesting cultures melt into a huge variety of ethnicities that make anything possible to happen. This is why America is so interesting and wonderful and we from abroad love her as a beautiful land.

All in all, this is a worth-seeing Hollywood movie and probably you would like to watch it several times!

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically skilled, adolescent nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.

Impression of View
Oh man I love this movie so much. The first time I saw this, which unfortunately was not at the movies, it took my breath away. I was actually expecting something different to what I saw but I got something better.

This got me more interested in Chinese films as well and opened my viewing experiences. It is good to see the west embrace Asian cinema as well, and for Western audiences to not always see Hollywood junk all the time. Some of the best movies are the ones you probably wouldn't watch.


I think this movie can be interpreted in a lot of ways. A lot of my friends didn't really understand the ending, but I did. It was extremely powerful and moving, because I understood the meaning of it and how it is an act of releasing your torment and soul from the physical world.

 
                     
 

Captain America: The winter Soldier

After the catastrophic incidents in New York with The Avengers, Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier locates Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, residing peacefully in Washington, D.C. and seeking to adapt to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. associate gets attacked, Steve becomes entangled in a conspiracy that threatens to put the world at jeopardy. Uniting forces with the Black Widow, Captain America fights to unmask the ever- expanding plot while combating off professional assassins sent to suppress him at every time. When the heinous scheme is exposed, Captain America and the Black Widow count on the support of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they shortly find themselves up against an unforeseen and intimidating enemy—the Winter Soldier.

This movie is solid with fast and furious action. And even when it slackens, the performance and storyline fill all the spaces between. There are a lot of plot ideas, characters, and stars. All of them have plots. And there is a lot of action. Every plot seems to have one or two twists. When you link together, a group of manipulating lines that to form a tangle . In all, the movie has a lot of action sequence and would be a great treat to the eye.

sources: image from imdb, video from youtube              

The Conjuring- Review and Synopsis

In 1971, Carolyn and Roger Perron shift their family into a wrecked farm house and they soon notice strange things occurring around it with intensifying dreadful horror. In fear, Carolyn contacts the well-known paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, to investigate the house. What the Warrens uncover is a whole area immersed in a satanic haunting that is now aiming at the Perron family wherever they go. To bring to an end to this evil, the Warrens will have to bring upon all their skills and spiritual power to defeat this supernatural menace at its source that hovers to destroy everyone involved.

That surely seems like an amazing plot with interesting and horrifying twists and turns. In my opinion, ‘The Conjuring’ has got all the elements of a ‘scared to death’ movie. Its well-developed story and logical reasoning along with a powerful climax will surely keep the audiences pinned to their seats and scared till the last minute. A must watch for those who love horror film.




Sources used:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/
http://www.youtube.com

Layout for our ISYS100 blog!

So our group decided to choose movies as our topic for the blog. The blog will consist of reviews and synopsis of latest movies from around the world. There will be trailers and images for people to watch to help them decide which movies to watch.  Here's the rough sketch of our blog which focuses on how our blog should appear. A dark colored background and a good contrast between the text and background is what we initially have on mind so that it is easier to read through. So keep an eye on the blog for upcoming movie reviews!