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Showing posts from September, 2014

Rush (2013)

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http://www.seesawaustin.com/ Cast I watched this movie a total of three times. I felt like I was a part of  their  story too...not just a member of the audience, but it seemed like I was part of their lives. The story was fair to both sides and it was great to  meet  the very philosophical Lauda, his wife Marlene, the people around them, the charismatic (and problematic) James Hunt and the people around him.   Even if James Hunt and Niki Lauda were rivals, there was some kind of verve that connected them to each other and they both knew that very well.  They truly respected each other. Oh, and I agree with the people who have seen this film.  This is Ron Howard's best directorial job ever. Kudos to the writers and the rest of the crew.  Kudos to the cast, most especially to Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde and Alexandra Maria Lara. Congratulations to everyone involved in this film. RUSH: History vs. Hollywood The real Niki Lauda and James Hunt My

Stolen (2012)

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http://www.entertainmentwallpaper.com/ Watch the movie online Stolen, formerly known as Medallion, is a 2012 American action thriller film starring Nicolas Cage, Danny Huston, Malin Åkerman, M.C. Gainey, Sami Gayle, Mark Valley and Josh Lucas.  Wikipedia Stolen, Reviews 2012 Film 5.5/10 IMDb - 30,333 votes 16% Rotten Tomatoes - 19 reviews 43% Metacritic - 4 reviews 2.5/5 Blu-ray News and Reviews - High Def Digest - 1 review Three of my crushes in one film was enough to watch this, but I was out of town(all over the country...almost) when this was shown in the theaters.   You can imagine how shocked I was when I learned that this movie flopped.  Why? Why? Why? When I got the chance to watch this, I tried to understand, but couldn't.  Maybe I'm just biased, because like what I said before, three of my crushes are in this movie: Nicolas Cage, Josh Lucas and Mark Valley. Sigh... When I watched this for the first time, I did no

The Contractor (2007)

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From Wikipedia Emily Day ( Eliza Bennett ) Directed by Josef Rusnak Written by Robert Foster Joshua Michael Stern Story by Robert Katz Andre Farwagi Starring Wesley Snipes Eliza Bennett Lena Headey Ralph Brown Gemma Jones I'm not really a Wesley Snipes fan(Oh yeah?), but I've seen almost all his films because when I'm stumped or couldn't sleep I turn on the TV and more often than not, I usually find one of his movies "on air".  I either watch it or just let it "play" because of the "much needed" noise. There was one movie that I liked that had him as one of the stars.  It's called TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR .  He was so beautiful there. (LOL) Anyways, I've got to stop digressing. This movie, THE CONTRACTOR , is sort of an endearing movie because of the friendship of Emily and James.  I like movies like that.  Clean friendship between a child and an older pe

The Legend of Hercules (2014)

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From Wikpedia: The Legend of Hercules  (formerly known as  Hercules: The Legend Begins  and  Hercules 3D ) is a 2014 American  action   fantasy film  directed by  Renny Harlin  and co-written by Harlin with Daniel Giat, Giulio Steve, and  Sean Hood . The film stars  Kellan Lutz ,  Gaia Weiss ,  Scott Adkins ,  Roxanne McKee , and  Liam Garrigan . The film was widely panned by critics and was a  box office flop . It was one of two Hollywood-studio Hercules films scheduled for 2014, with  Paramount Pictures  and  MGM 's  Hercules . Note: This movie, since they claim it to be a Greek Legend or Myth, should have been called Heracles .   Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek divine hero Heracles, who was the son of Zeus (Roman equivalent Jupiter) and the mortal Alcmene. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The TV series and the movies more often than that call him Hercules, even if he is Greek. (info al

Zodiac 2007

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When movies are based on books, I feel sad for the screenwriter because most of the time the people who read the book would say, "I like the book better."  I myself am very, very guilty of this, but when I put myself in the writer for the screen adaptation's shoes, I understand that not all the elements could be included.  There are a few screenplays that are even better than the book and there's this very rare case when book and the movie are on equal footing. This is one of them. Zodiac is very faithful to the book.  Yes, it is still very impossible to include everything, but all the important elements of the book are included here.  The events were checked by the screenwriter, meaning, it is also as accurate as accurate could be. With a great story, powerhouse cast, great screenplay and magnificent direction, how could this movie go wrong? What am I saying? There are movies with the same elements, but still don't go well with their box office resul

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

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Cage, Bartha and Kruger http://www.dan-dare.org/ Due to the Metro Manila Film Festival, this movie was shown a little bit later in this country and for one reason or another, I was very, very busy that season. I know that I have just written about the "hype" of a certain story about a noted symbologist, but I can't deny the fact that I love movies with the same theme, as long as they are not lambasting my faith or something to that effect. I enjoyed the first installment of National Treasure(2004)  because almost every scene made me laugh or put me to the edge of my seat.  There was definitely no dull moment and it was great to try to analyze the codes and whatever else.  For almost two hours, I believed that the Knights Templar do have lots of buried treasure all over the world.  Anyways, I loved the fact that they did not become greedy, but still had more than enough to keep for themselves. From imdb : Premise:  Benjamin Gates must follow a clue

The Fugitive (1993)

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When I was a little girl in California, mom loved to watch this TV series about Dr. Richard Kimble and it starred David Janssen(I later learned that we were watching reruns because the series ended in 1967 and I wasn't even born yet).  About twenty years later(1993), I was able to watch this movie starring Harrison Ford(one of my Hollywood crushes) and Tommy Lee Jones.  It was nail-gripping, nail-biting, exciting, et cetera.   Twenty-one years later(2014), I got the chance to watch this again, via Cinemax . Directed by Andrew Davis Produced by Anne Kopelson Arnold Kopelson Screenplay by Jeb Stuart David Twohy Story by David Twohy Based on The Fugitive by  Roy Huggins Starring Harrison Ford   as Dr. Richard Kimble Tommy Lee Jones   as Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard Sela Ward  as Helen Kimble Andreas Katsulas   as the one-armed man Fredrick Sykes Jeroen Krabbé   as  Dr. Charles Nichols Julianne Moore   as Dr. Anne Eastman  Jane Lynch   as Dr. Kathy Wahlund

Working Girls (Ishmael Bernal, 1984)- Viva Films

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From video48.blogspot.com Director:   Ishmael Bernal Writer:   Amado Lacuesta  (story) Produced by  Vic del Rosario Jr. ... executive producer Tony Gloria ... supervising producer William C. Leary ... associate producer  Ramon Salvador ... producer Music by  Willy Cruz The first time I've seen this film, I was a very, very impressionable high school student who rarely liked Filipino Films, except for the old ones in gray scale from LVN and Sampaguita Pictures.  I did watch contemporary/modern movies with my friends, family or with our nannies, but there were only a few that made a mark.   When I watched this movie, I was quite impressed with the script and the empowerment of women, but was quite disappointed that Maria Isabel Lopez's character named Rose was not able to rise from the ashes.  Tsk, tsk, tsk! She just had to have that one last job  before getting hitched.  Yes, reality bites, but I wondered why everyone else seemed victorious