Movie Craze
Ed and I have been going bonkers over movies after movies these couple of days... Well, it has always been him renting the DVDs and I will just sit and watch with him, satisfying my desire for watching movies... but then, recently I have this sudden urge to watch "The Joy Luck Club" again~ I know it is a fantastic movie, and I loved it. Watched it a couple of times in Literature class when I was in sec. 4, and then another time on TV... but then, now I missed it, and I wanted to re-watch it. Thanks to DVD rental, we got to watch it again. Both Ed and I did "The Joy Luck Club" for 'O' level literature (though different schools), and we love that book, and know the story by heart. It was great watching it again...
Jing-Mei "June" Woo has just lost her mother, Suyuan. She is asked by her mother's three friends to take Suyuan's place in their Mah-Jong foursome and their "Joy Luck Club". In the novel unfolds with interspersed chapters by each of the three remaining members of the Club and their American-born daughters. Lindo and Waverly Jong began their war over Waverly's childhood chess stardom and the effects it has on every aspect of Waverly's adult life. An-Mei Hsu recounts the tragedy that gave her strength, and worries that her daughter, Rose, lacks the same determination. Lena St. Clair tries to care for her eccentric mother, while her mother recounts a secret history that has allowed her to see more deeply than her daughter imagines. Through it all, June Woo tries to piece together the stories that her own mother can no longer tell, and to be faithful to her mother's memory despite their sometimes rocky relationship.
Rating: 5/5
I watched this on DVD twice this time. Both times, I cried. Both times, I felt the pain of the mothers and the misunderstandings between them and their daughters. I can still feel the love for this book and remember every single detail of it when I was doing Literature. That explains why Literature was my favorite subject, and I aced it.
Then, I saw another of my favorites - "Little Women" - a classic by Louisa May Aloctt that I've read and loved when I was young, but haven't got to see the film. It's by Winona Ryder, Claire Danes and Kirsten Dunst.
Josephine March and her three sisters Margaret, Amy, and Beth grow up with their mother's guidance while their father fights in the American Civil War. The vivacious quartet are very close and happy despite limited means. Laurie Laurence, the well off boy next door, takes a liking to Jo, and his tutor John Brooke eyes older sister Margaret during a party. Margaret marries Mr. Brooke but Jo rejects Laurie's proposal and moves to New York for new adventures. When Beth starts to lose her battle with Scarlet Fever Jo returns to her deathbed. Sister Amy returns married to Jo's one true love, Laurie, and we wonder if she will ever find someone to replace him.
Rating: 5/5
Also HK film "大佬爱美丽" by Eason Chan, Daniel Wu, Karen Mok and Stephen Fung (who is also the director - and his debut piece of work too!). It was hilarious, kinda lame, but entertaining. Not the kind of movie I'd say "Ooooh... quality stuff! Thumbs up!" but it did manage to kill our time.
Georgie Hung is the gay son of Hung, a powerful Hong Kong triad boss. His father sends Georgie to the US, insisting that he only return after Hung himself has died. Georgie's flat-mate, Sam, is a down-at-heel youngster who dreams of becoming a big time gangster. When Hung finally dies, his right hand man, Cheung travels to the US with his son, Cheung Kin intending to bring Georgie back to Hong Kong They plan to teach Georgie how to act like a real gangster, but find Sam by mistake. Sam sees this as the chance he has been waiting for. Georgie, who has no interest in being a Triad boss, plays along. On the day of Hung's father's funeral, the various members of the different criminal organizations arrive. Among them is Chow Siu, a rival for leadership of the Triad group. Sam falls in love with Cheung's daughter, Julie, even though she hates her family's business. The day before Julie is supposed to marry Sam, she tells Georgie that she loves him, thereby creating an unlikely love triangle. When he learns Georgie's secret, Stephen plans to reveal it to the rest of the Triad, clearing the way for himself to become godfather!
Rating: 3/5
Ed is a sci-fi freak, so he got all these Star Wars series which I did not all follow with him... However, I did watch "Planet of the Apes" with him, by Mark Wahlberg, but it totally bore me out... (I fell asleep somewhere in the middle - or maybe I'm just not too much of a Sci-fi freak)... But honestly, the movie did not impress me much.
It is the year 2029: Astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) boards a pod cruiser on a Space Station for a "routine" reconnaissance mission. But an aburupt detour through a space time wormhole lands him on a strange planet where talking apes rule over the human race. With the help of a sympathetic chimpanzee activist named Ari (Helena Bonham-Carter) and a small band of human rebels, Leo leads the effort to evade the advancing Gorilla Army led by General Thade (Tim Roth) and his most trusted warrior Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan). Now the race is on to reach a sacred temple within the planet's Forbidden Zone to discover the shocking secrets of mankind's past - and the key to its future.
Rating: 1.5/5
Another fantastic movie called "Becoming Jane" - a Jane Austen classic. I liked the movie, despite some people found it boring because it is pretty slow-paced. I guess unless you like the classics, you will appreciate this film, or else you might fall asleep. Also, this movie has my favorite actress Anne Hathaway is in it, as well as a pretty handsome James McAvoy too...
The year is 1795 and young Jane Austen is a feisty 20-year-old and emerging writer who already sees a world beyond class and commerce, beyond pride and prejudice, and dreams of doing what was then nearly unthinkable - marrying for love. Naturally, her parents are searching for a wealthy, well-appointed husband to assure their daughter's future social standing. They are eyeing Mr. Wisley, nephew to the very formidable, not to mention very rich, local aristocrat Lady Gresham, as a prospective match. But when Jane meets the roguish and decidedly non-aristocratic Tom Lefroy, sparks soon fly along with the sharp repartee. His intellect and arrogance raise her ire - then knock her head over heels. Now, the couple, whose flirtation flies in the face of the sense and sensibility of the age, is faced with a terrible dilemma. If they attempt to marry, they will risk everything that matters - family, friends and fortune.
Rating: 4.5/5
After the movie I did some research on Jane Austen to read on her background. She was never married, and neither was her sister who was so close to her. Lefroy really do existed in her life, and they fell in love briefly, but then, they did not end up being together. She died of illness at age 42.
I've just got a new HK-series transferred to my hard disk called "凤凰四重奏" by 佘诗曼 and 马德钟, but though I seriously do not like 佘诗曼, I focused on the storyline instead. So far, I am 10 episodes out of 30, but I think I like it. Also serves as an opportunity to brush up my Cantonese, since I am always made fun of when I tried to speak it (sobs!)
《凤凰四重奏》主要写中国四代女人不同的婚姻故事，刻划了四个不同年代的男女关系，佘诗曼、马德钟两人分别一人分饰四角，由清朝、民初、上世纪六十年代演至现代，演绎了不同年代两人相爱却遭遇到的种种困境……
Sorry that it's in Chinese, but then, I am lazy to translate.
Haven't finished the series so I can't rate, but so far, I think it deserves a good rating.
Life is much better looking at other fictional lives.... Especially so when I am not getting lots of shifts at work, and am fretting about sitting around doing nothing. Watching movies gotta to be one of my favorite hobbies ever~ =)
*All plot synopses credits to: IMDB, HKMDB, Sina.com.cn and Wikipedia
Jing-Mei "June" Woo has just lost her mother, Suyuan. She is asked by her mother's three friends to take Suyuan's place in their Mah-Jong foursome and their "Joy Luck Club". In the novel unfolds with interspersed chapters by each of the three remaining members of the Club and their American-born daughters. Lindo and Waverly Jong began their war over Waverly's childhood chess stardom and the effects it has on every aspect of Waverly's adult life. An-Mei Hsu recounts the tragedy that gave her strength, and worries that her daughter, Rose, lacks the same determination. Lena St. Clair tries to care for her eccentric mother, while her mother recounts a secret history that has allowed her to see more deeply than her daughter imagines. Through it all, June Woo tries to piece together the stories that her own mother can no longer tell, and to be faithful to her mother's memory despite their sometimes rocky relationship.
Rating: 5/5
I watched this on DVD twice this time. Both times, I cried. Both times, I felt the pain of the mothers and the misunderstandings between them and their daughters. I can still feel the love for this book and remember every single detail of it when I was doing Literature. That explains why Literature was my favorite subject, and I aced it.
Then, I saw another of my favorites - "Little Women" - a classic by Louisa May Aloctt that I've read and loved when I was young, but haven't got to see the film. It's by Winona Ryder, Claire Danes and Kirsten Dunst.
Josephine March and her three sisters Margaret, Amy, and Beth grow up with their mother's guidance while their father fights in the American Civil War. The vivacious quartet are very close and happy despite limited means. Laurie Laurence, the well off boy next door, takes a liking to Jo, and his tutor John Brooke eyes older sister Margaret during a party. Margaret marries Mr. Brooke but Jo rejects Laurie's proposal and moves to New York for new adventures. When Beth starts to lose her battle with Scarlet Fever Jo returns to her deathbed. Sister Amy returns married to Jo's one true love, Laurie, and we wonder if she will ever find someone to replace him.
Rating: 5/5
Also HK film "大佬爱美丽" by Eason Chan, Daniel Wu, Karen Mok and Stephen Fung (who is also the director - and his debut piece of work too!). It was hilarious, kinda lame, but entertaining. Not the kind of movie I'd say "Ooooh... quality stuff! Thumbs up!" but it did manage to kill our time.
Georgie Hung is the gay son of Hung, a powerful Hong Kong triad boss. His father sends Georgie to the US, insisting that he only return after Hung himself has died. Georgie's flat-mate, Sam, is a down-at-heel youngster who dreams of becoming a big time gangster. When Hung finally dies, his right hand man, Cheung travels to the US with his son, Cheung Kin intending to bring Georgie back to Hong Kong They plan to teach Georgie how to act like a real gangster, but find Sam by mistake. Sam sees this as the chance he has been waiting for. Georgie, who has no interest in being a Triad boss, plays along. On the day of Hung's father's funeral, the various members of the different criminal organizations arrive. Among them is Chow Siu, a rival for leadership of the Triad group. Sam falls in love with Cheung's daughter, Julie, even though she hates her family's business. The day before Julie is supposed to marry Sam, she tells Georgie that she loves him, thereby creating an unlikely love triangle. When he learns Georgie's secret, Stephen plans to reveal it to the rest of the Triad, clearing the way for himself to become godfather!
Rating: 3/5
Ed is a sci-fi freak, so he got all these Star Wars series which I did not all follow with him... However, I did watch "Planet of the Apes" with him, by Mark Wahlberg, but it totally bore me out... (I fell asleep somewhere in the middle - or maybe I'm just not too much of a Sci-fi freak)... But honestly, the movie did not impress me much.
It is the year 2029: Astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) boards a pod cruiser on a Space Station for a "routine" reconnaissance mission. But an aburupt detour through a space time wormhole lands him on a strange planet where talking apes rule over the human race. With the help of a sympathetic chimpanzee activist named Ari (Helena Bonham-Carter) and a small band of human rebels, Leo leads the effort to evade the advancing Gorilla Army led by General Thade (Tim Roth) and his most trusted warrior Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan). Now the race is on to reach a sacred temple within the planet's Forbidden Zone to discover the shocking secrets of mankind's past - and the key to its future.
Rating: 1.5/5
Another fantastic movie called "Becoming Jane" - a Jane Austen classic. I liked the movie, despite some people found it boring because it is pretty slow-paced. I guess unless you like the classics, you will appreciate this film, or else you might fall asleep. Also, this movie has my favorite actress Anne Hathaway is in it, as well as a pretty handsome James McAvoy too...
The year is 1795 and young Jane Austen is a feisty 20-year-old and emerging writer who already sees a world beyond class and commerce, beyond pride and prejudice, and dreams of doing what was then nearly unthinkable - marrying for love. Naturally, her parents are searching for a wealthy, well-appointed husband to assure their daughter's future social standing. They are eyeing Mr. Wisley, nephew to the very formidable, not to mention very rich, local aristocrat Lady Gresham, as a prospective match. But when Jane meets the roguish and decidedly non-aristocratic Tom Lefroy, sparks soon fly along with the sharp repartee. His intellect and arrogance raise her ire - then knock her head over heels. Now, the couple, whose flirtation flies in the face of the sense and sensibility of the age, is faced with a terrible dilemma. If they attempt to marry, they will risk everything that matters - family, friends and fortune.
Rating: 4.5/5
After the movie I did some research on Jane Austen to read on her background. She was never married, and neither was her sister who was so close to her. Lefroy really do existed in her life, and they fell in love briefly, but then, they did not end up being together. She died of illness at age 42.
I've just got a new HK-series transferred to my hard disk called "凤凰四重奏" by 佘诗曼 and 马德钟, but though I seriously do not like 佘诗曼, I focused on the storyline instead. So far, I am 10 episodes out of 30, but I think I like it. Also serves as an opportunity to brush up my Cantonese, since I am always made fun of when I tried to speak it (sobs!)
《凤凰四重奏》主要写中国四代女人不同的婚姻故事，刻划了四个不同年代的男女关系，佘诗曼、马德钟两人分别一人分饰四角，由清朝、民初、上世纪六十年代演至现代，演绎了不同年代两人相爱却遭遇到的种种困境……
Sorry that it's in Chinese, but then, I am lazy to translate.
Haven't finished the series so I can't rate, but so far, I think it deserves a good rating.
Life is much better looking at other fictional lives.... Especially so when I am not getting lots of shifts at work, and am fretting about sitting around doing nothing. Watching movies gotta to be one of my favorite hobbies ever~ =)
*All plot synopses credits to: IMDB, HKMDB, Sina.com.cn and Wikipedia
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