Johnny English

 Released Year: 2003

Directed by Peter Howitt

Casted by:

Rowan Atkinson as MI7 agent, Johnny English

Ben Miller as MI7 agent, Angus Bough

John Malkovich as Pascal Edward Sauvage

Natalie Imbruglia as Interpol Agent Lorna Campbell

Oliver Ford Davies as the Archbishop of Canterbury

Tim Pigott-Smith as Pegasus

 Story: 

Johnny English is an inept MI7 agent with dreams of being their most trusted employee. After Agent One dies in a submarine accident (courtesy of English making a mistake on checking the submarine hatch code), the remaining agents are assassinated via a bombing at Agent One’s funeral (again courtesy of English's incompetence at security), leaving English as the lone survivor. English is assigned to follow a plot to steal the Crown Jewels, which are on display at the Tower of London.

At the display, English is head of security, and meets the mysterious Lorna Campbell. The power is cut, and the jewels are stolen. During the chaos, English knocks out the head security guard in the process and pretends to fight the assailant (in reality fighting himself).

He later makes up a false description of the assailant to Pegasus. English and his assistant Bough find the jewels were removed via a hole dug beneath their display case. The two follow a tunnel, confronting the two thieves Carlos Vendetta and Dieter Klein. The two escape in a hearse, with English trying to pursue them, but mistakes another hearse for the escape vehicle, crashing a funeral until Bough comes to his aid.

English connects the thieves to Pascal Sauvage, a French prison entrepreneur who helped restore the Crown Jewels. Pegasus, head of MI7, finds the claims of his involvement absurd and warns English not to involve Sauvage. In the car park, English and Bough are attacked by Vendetta, but are unharmed beyond Bough getting a nose bleed (courtesy of English mistaking him for Vendetta and covering up for himself by saying that there could have been other thieves and adamantly insisting that Bough drop the issue and move on).

English again encounters Lorna Campbell in a sushi restaurant as he recognized her motorcycle. During their meeting English is suspicious of her since he has seen her at two of their crime scenes and her records cannot be found on any government computer. English and Bough decide to break into Sauvage’s headquarters via parachutes, but English lands on the other twin tower containing the City Hospital by mistake taking hospital employees hostage until he sees the "SAUVAGE" sign from the building with Bough inside.

He then covers for himself by telling the employees that the holdup was just a test of their emergency response systems while telling Bough that he merely did a precautionary sweep of the immediate environment. Going to the correct building, the two learn Sauvage, who is a descendant of Bonnie Prince Charlie, plans on making himself king, using an impostor to impersonate the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lorna arrives, revealed to be an Interpol agent tracking Sauvage. With evidence of Sauvage’s involvement, English crashes a reception hosted by Sauvage but he is suspended from work by Pegasus for breaking into Sauvage's office, assaulting his staff and insulting the foreign secretary.

With English knowing their plans, Sauvage scraps the fake Archbishop and instead sends his minions to force Queen Elizabeth II to abdicate by threatening her corgis, causing the entire line of succession to be swept clean for Sauvage to become king. Lorna, now in charge of the assignment by Pegasus, visits the depressed English and convinces him to travel with her to Sauvage’s French chateau to spy on him.

Eavesdropping on Sauvage’s meeting with renowned criminals, English and Lorna learn Sauvage plans to turn the United Kingdom into the world’s biggest prison when he becomes king. English and Lorna are exposed when the former accidentally activates a microphone, and they are taken prisoners. English tries to steal the DVD of Sauvage’s plan, but accidentally drops it onto a tray of identical discs and takes the wrong one. Bough rescues the two and they race to stop Sauvage’s coronation.

English crashes the coronation and discovers the Archbishop is the genuine article. Undeterred, English orders Bough to play the DVD, only to find it is camera footage of himself dancing in his bathroom in his underclothes to “Does Your Mother Know” by ABBA, Sauvage having bugged English’s flat beforehand, much to Pegasus' disgust. English sneaks away but swings in on a wire to steal St. Edward’s Crown from Sauvage. Sauvage angrily shoots at English with a pistol, causing him to drop the crown. Moments before Sauvage is crowned king, English drops from the wire after being shot, lands on the throne, and is crowned instead. In his singular act as king, English has Sauvage arrested and restores the Queen to the throne, requesting a knighthood as a reward.

In the final scene, English and Lorna drive to southern France for a romantic holiday, only for English to accidentally launch Lorna out the car by pressing the ejection seat button. Lorna lands in a hotel swimming pool, where Bough happens to be vacationing as well as a man identical to the assailant that English described to Pegasus earlier in the film.

 L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

Lately i have felt a lot of negative influence/mood from my company & i need some happy & cheerful things to make myself feel better. Of course Rowan Atkinson aka "Mr Bean" is the first one who pop in my mind. Well, I should just watch Johnny English then, since it has been siting quite some time in my external hardisc, why not?

I never know my idol Natalie Imbruglia was in this movie :) The whole movie not bad but not funny enough to cheer me up yet...

Underworld 2003

 Released Year: 2003

Directed by Len Wiseman

Casted by:

Kate Beckinsale as Selene

Scott Speedman as Michael Corvin

Shane Brolly as Kraven

Bill Nighy as Viktor

Michael Sheen as Lucian

Erwin Leder as Singe

Sophia Myles as Erika

 Story: 

For generations, a secret war has been waged between vampires and Lycans, an ancient species of werewolf. Selene, a Death Dealer, a vampire specialized in assassinating Lycans, tracks two Lycans. Selene's motivation goes beyond duty; she also wants revenge because, 600 years ago when she was a child, Lycans slaughtered her family. The vampires believe they defeated the werewolves many centuries ago and killed their leader, Lucian, and that they must kill the surviving Lycans. Selene locates the Lycans' den and learns they have developed a new kind of bullet capable of killing the vampires.

Later, Selene arrives at the mansion of her vampire coven and, recounting these events, urges an attack on the Lycans; but the vampire regent, Kraven, dismisses her proposal. Selene determines that the pair of Lycans may have been following a human, Michael Corvin, and continues her investigation. In a Lycan lair, a scientist named Singe tests blood from kidnapped descendants of the ancient Corvinus family, trying to find a pure source of the ancient and powerful Corvinus bloodline. Soon after Selene finds Michael, the pair is attacked by Lycans, including their leader, who is revealed to be Lucian. Lucian bites Michael, but Selene helps Michael escape and the two become attracted to each other.

Selene discovers that Kraven was the only witness to Lucian's supposed death. Sensing a conspiracy, she awakens a dormant powerful vampire elder, Viktor, who has been hibernating. Viktor is angered by his early awakening, as it was Marcus' turn to rule the coven. Viktor believes Kraven and orders Selene to acquiesce to the vampire hierarchy. Kraven meanwhile has secretly planned to kill the third vampire elder, Amelia, and her companions, with Lucian's help.

Selene informs Michael about the feud and her past. She then binds him, fearing that he will kill innocent people after he changes into his Lycan form at the coming night's full moon. Selene captures Singe while Michael is captured by Lycans. Selene returns to the mansion with Singe, who admits to Viktor that the Lycans are trying to combine the bloodlines of the two species with the Corvinus Strain to create a powerful hybrid. After Kraven flees the mansion because Singe has revealed his cooperation with Lucian, news arrives that Amelia, who was coming to awaken Marcus, has been killed by Lycans. Viktor kills Singe and tasks Selene to kill Michael.

While Michael is being held captive, he learns from Lucian that Viktor's daughter, Sonja, and Lucian were lovers. Lucian tells Michael that the Lycans were slaves to the vampires. When Viktor learned that his daughter had been impregnated by a Lycan, he killed her to prevent any crossing of the two species, which led to the war. According to Lucian, such a crossing would create a hybrid creature that would be more powerful than both the vampires and Lycans.

Selene arrives with a group of Death Dealers to kill the Lycans and Kraven for his treachery. Kraven shoots Lucian with a newly designed bullet intended to kill by poisoning a Lycan's bloodstream with silver nitrate. Selene rescues Michael, who is shot by Kraven. Kraven tells Selene it was Viktor who killed her family. Lucian stabs Kraven in the leg and convinces Selene to bite Michael, transmitting the vampire virus into his bloodstream. Selene complies, and Kraven flees after killing Lucian. Viktor arrives and admits that he killed Selene's family. He reveals the truth of his love for Sonja - that his choice to have her killed was to protect the vampires and that he must also kill Michael to protect the vampires. Selene eventually kills Viktor with the assistance of Michael, who is now a hybrid. Selene and Michael leave the Lycan lair, now enemies of both species. At the mansion, blood from Singe's corpse seeps into the sarcophagus of the remaining Elder, Marcus, a carrier of the original Corvinus Strain.

 L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

If this is the first time I watch this movie, definitely I will give it a 10 out of 10. But rewatching this film after so many years, a few scenes are kinda boring actually. Even though i'm a big fans of vampire & warewolf, it still bored me out a bit... Kate Becksinsale always look hot to me and of coz hmm hmm Scott Speedman ::) Well, here comes another whole series of movie that I wanna rewatch before the new Underworld 5 coming out in 2016~

In the Cut

 Released Year: 2003

Directed by Jane Campion

Casted by:

Meg Ryan as Frannie Avery

Mark Ruffalo as Detective Giovanni A. Malloy

Jennifer Jason Leigh as Pauline

Nick Damici as Detective Richard Rodriguez

 Story:

High school teacher and writer Frannie Avery meets a student at a local bar, and when she heads to the bathroom sees a woman performing oral sex on a man. A few days later, Detective Giovanni Malloy questions her as he investigates the gruesome murder of a young woman, whose severed limb was found in her garden. They flirt despite the grisly nature of their introduction, and meet at the same bar later. Frannie is alternately thrilled and frightened by the detective's sexual aggressiveness, even as she grows more disillusioned with the attitudes and crude behavior of other men, including the detective's partner, Richard Rodriguez. Even as Malloy defends his partner, who can no longer carry a gun because he threatened his unfaithful wife, he promises he will do anything she wants except hit her. She leaves abruptly and is assaulted walking home, but calls Malloy and their affair begins that night.

Frannie recognizes the detective's tattoo, from the man in the basement of the bar, and asks her sister Pauline if she would trust a man who got a blow job in a bar. Pauline says yes, but Frannie is still suspicious. After Malloy tells her that she and the first victim were in the same bar the night of the murder, and she might have seen the murderer, she begins to suspect that Malloy may actually be the killer, especially after a second victim is found. But later she goes with him to a woodsy spot by the water, where he scares her by shooting at garbage bags floating on the surface, then tells her she should learn how to shoot. She surprises herself by taking aim and shooting well, before they head back to the city.

She finds her old boyfriend in her bed when she gets home, and goes back to her sister's apartment, where she finds the door open and Pauline's dismembered body. She is now more frightened of Malloy than ever, but goes home and gets drunk, and almost stumbles into bed with her student before throwing him out. Malloy's partner is outside watching as the young man runs out, and Frannie shouts out the window that Malloy should stay away from her. But he comes over and helps her clean herself up, and she can't decide if she should trust him. So she cuffs him to a pipe and makes love to him, and as soon as she is done he starts rattling the cuffs, demanding to be set free. She is fishing in his jacket for the keys when she finds the missing charms from her bracelet, which he claims he found and was planning to return to her. She suddenly becomes very suspicious of him, and he gets scared and yells at her. She finally tells Malloy she saw his tattoo in the basement of the bar when he was getting a blow job, and she runs out, stumbling right into his partner's arms. Frannie tells Rodriguez what she saw, and he says they need to sit down and talk, so she gets in his car. Malloy's screams from the window are ignored.

Rodriguez drives her out to the GW bridge, telling her this is the place he goes to fish, and she says, "I teach that book, To the Lighthouse." But as soon as he locks the gate behind them she knows she is in trouble, and he shows her the tattoo on his arm, the twin of Malloy's. She realizes Malloy is innocent, then she slips on his jacket before Rodriguez takes her in his arms. She shoots him once with Malloy's gun but he tries to strangle her before she can shoot him again; they fall, and he dies. She walks, bloodied, back to her apartment and lies down in the arms of the exhausted Malloy, still cuffed to the pipe where she left him. 

 L² Scored: 8/10 

L² Comment:

This is based on Susanna Moore's same name novel and Nicole Kidman was actually one of the producer of this film. I never see Meg Ryan this wild, but its a good one, Mark Ruffalo is not that good looking but something in him is really attractive thou...The whole movie is not bad and not even predictable and u can't even guess who's the killer...

Girl with a Pearl Earring 2003

 Released Year: 2003

Directed by Peter Webber

 

Casted by:

Scarlett Johansson as Griet
 Colin Firth as Johannes Vermeer
 Tom Wilkinson as Pieter van Ruijven
 Cillian Murphy as Pieter
 Judy Parfitt as Maria Thins
 Essie Davis as Catharina Bolnes

 Story:

Griet is a shy girl living in the Dutch Republic in 1665. Her father, a Delftware painter, has recently gone blind, rendering him unable to work and putting his family in a precarious financial situation. Consequently, Griet is sent to work as a maid in the unhappy household of the painter Johannes Vermeer. Griet works hard, almost wordlessly, in the lowest position in a harsh hierarchy, where even one of the Vermeer's children treats her spitefully. On a routine shopping trip outside the house, a butcher's son, Pieter, is quickly taken with Griet, though she is slow to return his affections.

As Griet cleans Vermeer's studio, which his wife Catharina never enters, they become casually acquainted and he encourages her appreciation of painting, light and color. Vermeer gives her lessons in mixing paints and other tasks, taking care to keep this secret from his thin-lipped wife, who would react very jealously if she found out that her husband was spending time with Griet. In contrast, Vermeer's pragmatic mother-in-law, Maria Thins, sees Griet as useful to Vermeer's career. Vermeer's rich patron Van Ruijven notices Griet on a visit to the Vermeer household and asks the painter if he will give her up to him to work in his own house, a situation which ruined a previous girl. Vermeer refuses, but accepts a commission to paint a portrait of Griet for Van Ruijven.

As Vermeer secretly works on the eponymous painting, Catharina's growing jealousy of Griet becomes apparent. While Griet suffers through her fascination with Vermeer and his paintings, she also has to fend off Van Ruijven's attempt to rape her. Soon afterwards, Catharina's mother summons Griet, hands over her daughter's pearl earrings and instructs Griet to finish the painting while Catharina is away for the day. At the final painting session Vermeer pierces Griet's earlobe so she can wear one of the pearl earrings for the portrait; she then runs to Pieter to be consoled. They caress in a barn. In the aftermath, Pieter proposes marriage, but she shakes her head and leaves. She then returns the earrings to Catharina's mother.

Catharina discovers that Griet used her earrings, accusing her mother of complicity and orders Vermeer to show her the painting he and Griet have been working on. Heartbroken that Vermeer does not consider her worthy of being painted because she "doesn't understand," Catharina tries but fails to destroy the painting, then banishes Griet from the house forever. Vermeer does not object, and Griet leaves the house in shock. Later, Griet is visited by the cook from the house, who comes bearing a gift: a sealed packet containing the blue headscarf she wore in the painting, which is wrapped around Catharina's pearl earrings.

 L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

Nominated in multiple awards, this movie is based on the same name novel by Tracy Chevalier. I don't know issit my perception or what, i found that Scarlett is so plum in this movie, gosh... can't she slim down a bit before filming this?

Young Adam

Released Year: 2003
Directed by David Mackenzie

Casted by:
Ewan McGregor as Joe Taylor
Tilda Swinton as Ella Gault
Peter Mullan as Les Gault
Emily Mortimer as Cathie Dimly
Story:

The film is set in Scotland in the early 1950s. Shiftless young drifter Joe Taylor works on a barge that operates along the River Clyde between Glasgow and Edinburgh. He shares the cramped on-board living quarters with its operators, Les and Ella Gault, and their young son Jim. One day Joe and Les pull the body of a young woman, naked except for a petticoat, from the water. Via flashbacks, we learn Joe knew her, and scenes involving his relationship with office worker Cathie Dimly are juxtaposed with those set in the present time.

After finding Cathie's body, Joe and Les go to a local pub to play darts. Joe leaves Les behind and returns to the barge, where Ella succumbs to his advances. Not wanting to disturb the sleeping Jim, the two engage in sex on the towpath. It proves to be the first of many such encounters they enjoy whenever they can find a few moments away from Les.

In the past, Joe meets Cathie on a beach and the two soon are living together. He aspires to be a writer and spends his days banging on a battered typewriter while she works to support them. Joe begins to suffer from chronic writer's block and Cathie, unhappy with his lack of productivity, accuses him of taking advantage of her. He packs his meager belongings and moves out. After tossing his typewriter in a canal, he meets Les, who offers him a job on the barge.

Les eventually becomes aware of Ella and Joe's affair and moves out of the barge, which belongs to her, and Ella and Joe drift into a more serious relationship. When she receives word her brother-in-law has died, she and Joe visit her sister Gwen and invite her to spend a couple of weeks with them. One evening, on the pretext Gwen would like to see a movie, she and Joe leave the barge and go to a pub. After a few drinks, the two have sex in a deserted alley.

Eventually, Ella's desire to settle in the suburbs and her no-nonsense supervision of the barge's daily commercial activities put a damper on the once-unbridled passion in her relationship with Joe, and he packs and leaves. In the past, Joe and Cathie reunite on the waterfront and have sex beneath a parked truck. She reveals she is pregnant with his child, and when Joe nonchalantly begins to walk away, she runs after him, trips, and falls into the water while dressed only in her petticoat. Joe makes no move to rescue her and, when she fails to surface, he panics and runs away.

Past and present converge. Daniel Gordon, a plumber who Cathie was casually seeing, is arrested and tried for her murder, and Joe spends a few days in the courtroom listening to testimony. Guilt-stricken, he writes an anonymous note absolving Daniel of the crime and leaves it where a courthouse guard can find it. It has no effect on the proceedings, and Daniel is found guilty and sentenced to hang. Unwilling to risk his life, Joe opts not to confess how Cathie really died and sets off for parts unknown.

L² Scored: 4.5/10

L² Comment:

Basically the whole movie is sucks, the 4.5 marks contributed from the multiple sex scenes & Ewan McGregor's huge dick~ beside this, nothing else is good enough~