Entries Tagged 'Movie Reviews' ↓

GO SEE IT! Danny Boyle just gets better as he gets older. You may remember some of his early work such as Trainspotting, 28 days later, and Sunshine. Slumdog Millionaire is one of the most amazing movies I never knew I’d be interested in. Its inspiring to see strong ability still exist in this capitalistic industry. He paints a portrait of India that I have never seen before. A heartwarming, “real” story that has strong themes and serious realities in a world that is very influenced by the west. Anyways, I know I only review the movies I like, but like they say in the industry, word of mouth is still the best marketing tool that there is. And although I have no stake in this project, I am just compelled to help spread the word.

Wow. Its nice to see an honest movie like this. Where has Jean Claude Van Damme been? Remember Blood Sport? Remember Double Impact? or how about Time cop? This movie reveals an innocence about a simple man that has truly reaped the benefits and the disadvantages of being an international action superhero. Van Damme plays Van Damme in his native country of Belgium in his declining years of a bmovie action hero. In a time when indie movies are very few and far apart, its inspiring to see a movie with such original perspectives find its way in our theaters. I know this movie may not be playing in a lot of cities, but if you’ve watched more than three Van Damme movies, this one is a must.

This movie looks interesting. Clint Eastwood is the definition of an icon. Yet he continues to create and explore issues and worlds that we most people in the “industry” shy away from. I’m excited to see a movie like this and I hope the rest of America will be too.

Spike Lee’s film career can be described as honorable, original, and revolutionary.  His subject matter has almost always been controversial, but has never been over used as a gimmick.  His command of the craft is truly one of an true auteur. Miracle at St. Anna’s is the culmination of craft, ability, and great epic storytelling.  I know a lot of people will not be seeing this movie in theaters, but it is a movie that truly deserves an audience.  I won’t break the movie down into structure, I will only tell you that the passion that was behind this movie is felt deeply throughout every aspect of this cinematic experience.

I don’t know if any of you have seen the Youtube Screening Room, but they’ve just started showing their first feature length film on the site. The quality definitely better than other youtube videos, but it’s still a little lacking if you watch it in the full screen mode. Apparently, they release four new films every two weeks. Hopefully they’ll keep the old ones up as well to build up a nice little library of films to watch. It may just be a coincidence, but the first set of films all seem to have an Asian theme to them. The feature that they are showing is “The Princess of Nebraska” (directed by Wayne Wang). The other three shorts that they’re screening are The Chestnut Tree (South Korea), Scab (Japan), and The Tired City (Hong Kong). I haven’t had the time to watch any of them, but maybe some of you can chime in with some reviews on them.

All these records that “The Dark Knight” is breaking reminded me of one of Christopher Nolan’s earlier movies; Memento. Memento truly was an amazing and unique movie. The plot revolves around Leonard (Guy Pearce) who is avenging his wife’s murder. The problem of amnesia also came during the attack, thus Leonard is forced to find ways to remind himself of everything thats going on. The unique aspect of this movie is Nolan’s method for narrating the story. Two simultaneous stories are told throughout the movie, one going forward and one going backwards chronologically. Its definitely a movie that you need to pay attention to watch, but in doing so, you’ll see that Nolan really does have a gift for storytelling. And now, The Dark Knight simply validates Nolan’s skills.

If there’s one kind of movie I love, it’s a good ol fashioned western.  I found this trailer for this new Korean movie on youtube, and it looks awesome!

It looks like an update of Good Bad and the Ugly!  They showed it at Cannes this year and hopefully it comes over here soon!

Oldboy is a korean movie that has already become a classic in the 5 years since its been released. I’m sure many of you that follow korean movies have already seen it, but its definitely movie worth watching. Park Chan-wook is an amazing director who totally draws you into his world. Now this movie isn’t for the faint of heart, but no matter how much you are enjoying this movie, you won’t be able to turn it off. You’re taken on an exciting journey alongside Oh Dae-su, while he tries to piece together what has happened to him for the last 15 years.

I think some of the most under appreciated films are those that starred the much-scrutinized Gary Coleman. My dad sent me a box of my things when I was a boy and I had an old VHS tape of my favorite movies.

The San Diego Padres are at the bottom of the standing and owner Fred Walker is considering selling the team. However when the team is begins to win like never before they’re convinced it’s because of their newly hired batboy, JR Cooper. The Padres now have the World Series in their sights but an interfering social worker tries to put an end to JR’s job as batboy…and the Padres winning streak, this is a feel good sports film. Kind of has some tear jerking moments that get me every time. This is my suggestion to really appreciate Coleman’s work. Funny thing is I ran in to Gary Coleman around the time he had the whole Beverly Center mall security fiasco. I’ve never been star struck before, but I had to say hi. I told him how he made me smile every time I saw him on TV as a kid. He just looked and me and told me that’s what TV is for. I gave him a big hug and he gave me a buzz off look. Oh well I’m still a fan.

One of my friends Danny Huang exec produced this documentary - Planet B-Boy. They’ve got some amazing footage and Benson Lee does a great job as a storyteller. He could have just thrown together an hour and a half of fantastic break dancing, and that probably would have been enough. But Benson takes you on a journey of the human spirit. Go support and go watch it!