Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Released Year: 2011
Directed by Rob Marshall

Casted by:
Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow
Penélope Cruz as Angelica
Ian McShane as Edward "Blackbeard" Teach
Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa
Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs
Sam Claflin as Philip Swift
Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey as Syrena
Story:

Captain Jack Sparrow travels to London to locate a person who has been impersonating him. The imposter has been recruiting a crew to search for the legendary Fountain of Youth. First Sparrow rescues his former first mate, Joshamee Gibbs, who is about to be hanged, though the two are captured. Jack is brought before King George II, who wants him to guide an expedition to the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish find it. Heading the expedition is Jack's old nemesis, Captain Hector Barbossa, now a privateer in service to the British Navy after having lost Jack's ship, the Black Pearl, as well as his leg.

Jack escapes, and is found by his father, Captain Teague, who warns Jack about the Fountain's tests. Jack's imposter is Angelica, his former lover and daughter of the ruthless pirate Blackbeard, who possesses supernatural powers and practices voodoo magic. Jack is forced to join Blackbeard's crew and to lead them to the Fountain. Meanwhile, Gibbs, who memorized, then destroyed Sparrow's map, barters with Barbossa to lead him and his crew to the Fountain.

Aboard Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, Jack learns that the Fountain's water must be drunk from silver chalices once belonging to Juan Ponce de León, and that one chalice must contain a mermaid's tear. The person drinking from the chalice with the tear will have their life extended, while the one drinking from the other cup will die. Blackbeard intends to use the Fountain's power to circumvent his fated fatal encounter with a one-legged man, and sets a course for Whitecap Bay. There he traps a mermaid that a captive missionary, Philip Swift , later names Syrena. Blackbeard then sends Sparrow to retrieve the chalices from de León's grounded ship. Sparrow arrives finding only Barbossa: the Spanish have already taken the chalices.

Barbossa admits to Jack that his only motive is revenge against Blackbeard for having captured the Black Pearl, forcing Barbossa to amputate his own leg to escape. He and Jack devise a plan to defeat Blackbeard, then steal the chalices from the nearby Spanish camp. Meanwhile, Syrena, who returns Philip's love, is tricked into shedding a tear, which Blackbeard collects, then leaves her to die while forcing Philip to go with him. Sparrow returns with the chalices and Gibbs, who he had reunited with while helping Barbossa. Jack negotiates with Blackbeard to return his confiscated magical compass and to free Gibbs in exchange for the chalices and his leading them to the Fountain. Blackbeard agrees, and Gibbs is freed, departing with Jack's compass.

At the Fountain, Blackbeard and his crew are attacked by Barbossa and also the Spanish, sent by their king to destroy the Fountain, believing its power is an abomination against God. After a lengthy fight, Barbossa stabs Blackbeard with a poison-laced sword, but Angelica is also wounded by it. Barbossa claims Blackbeard's magical sword and leaves with Blackbeard's former crew. Philip, mortally wounded, escapes and returns to free Syrena. After finding the chalices that the Spaniards tossed into deep water, Syrena gives them to Sparrow, then retrieves the dying Phillip, taking him underwater to heal him.

Angelica intends to sacrifice herself for her father, but Sparrow fools them, and Angelica unknowingly drinks from the chalice containing Syrena's tear, thus killing Blackbeard and saving her. Although they declare their love, Jack, knowing she may avenge her father's death, strands her on an island, intending for a passing ship to pick her up. Jack then finds Gibbs, who used Sparrow's compass to locate the Revenge and retrieve all the captured ships that Blackbeard had magically shrunk and bottled, including the Black Pearl. The two head off, hoping to find a way to return the Pearl to its original size.

In a post-credits scene, Angelica, still on the island, finds Blackbeard's voodoo doll of Sparrow, which has washed ashore.

L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

Well, i've always been a fans of this Pirates series but this one is really not as great as the 1st three one. Its a bit too normal as nothing special happen; if the producer thinking of using the mermaids killing scene to win the applause, that will be so wrong.

But the only best thing will be getting Sam Claflin in the show~ he's so damn hot :)

The Karate Kid 2010

Released Year: 2010
Directed by Harald Zwart

Casted by:
成龙 Jackie Chan as 韩先生 Mr. Han
Jaden Smith as Dre Parker
Taraji P. Henson as Sherry Parker
韩雯雯 Wenwen Han as Mei Ying
Zhenwei Wang as Cheng
于荣光 Yu Rongguang as Master Li,
Story:

12-year-old Dre Parker and his mother, Sherry move to Beijing from West Detroit after she gets a transfer in her car factory job. Dre develops a crush on a young violinist, Mei Ying, who reciprocates his attention, but Cheng, a kung fu prodigy whose family is close to Mei Ying's, attempts to keep them apart by beating Dre, and later proceeds to bully him in and around school. After a field trip to the Forbidden City, Dre encounters Cheng and his friends hanging out close to his apartment. Dre tries to pass by without them seeing him. When he finds a bucket of polluted water, Dre gets revenge by splashing the water around Cheng and his friends. Cheng and the others pursue and catch Dre, beating him. During the brutal attack, the enigmatic maintenance man of Dre's building, Mr. Han, comes to Dre's aid, revealing himself as a kung fu master who dispatches Dre's tormentors.

After Han mends Dre's injuries using fire cupping, Dre asks if Mr. Han could teach him Kung-Fu. Han refuses, but decides to meet Cheng's teacher, Master Li, to make peace. Li, who teaches his students to show no mercy to their enemies, challenges Dre to a fight with Cheng. When Han declines, Li says they will not be allowed to leave his school unless Dre or Han fights. Han acquiesces, but insists the fight take place at an upcoming tournament, and that Li's students leave Dre alone until the tournament. Li agrees, but tells Han that if Dre does not show up during the tournament he will personally bring pain to Han and Dre.

Dre is shocked when Han tells him that he will fight in a kung fu tournament. Han promises to teach Dre real kung fu. Han begins training Dre, but Dre is frustrated that Han merely has Dre spend hours taking off his jacket, hanging it up, dropping it, and then putting it back on again. After days of this, Dre refuses to continue until Han demonstrates that the repetitive arm movements were Han's method of teaching Dre martial arts techniques, which Dre displays instinctively when prompted by Han's mock attacks. Han emphasizes that the movements Dre is learning apply to life in general, and that serenity and maturity, not punches and power, are the true keys to mastering the martial arts. During one lesson in the Wudang Mountains, Dre notices a female kung fu practitioner apparently copying the movements of a cobra before her, but Han informs him that it was the cobra that was imitating the woman, as in a mirror reflection. Dre wants Han to teach him this technique, which includes linking Han's hand and feet to Dre's via bamboo shafts while practicing their forms, but Dre's subsequent attempt to use this reflection technique on his Mom is unsuccessful.

As Dre's friendship with Mei Ying continues, Dre persuades Mei Ying to cut school for a day of fun, but when she is nearly late for her violin recital her parents deem him a bad influence and forbid her from spending more time with him. When Dre finds Han drunk,despondent and breaking the car he had in his living room, Dre learns that it is the anniversary of Han's wife and son's deaths, which occurred when he lost control of the car due to anger caused from an argument he was having with his wife. Dre reminds Han that one of his lessons was in perseverance, and that Han needs to heal from his loss. Han assists Dre in reading a note of apology to Mei Ying's father in Chinese; he accepts and promises that he and Mei will attend the tournament to support Dre.

At the tournament, the under-confident Dre is slow to achieve parity with his opponents, but soon begins beating them and advances to the semifinals, as does Cheng, who violently finishes off his opponents. Dre comes up against Liang, another of Li's students, who is instructed by Li to injure Dre's leg. When Liang insists that he can beat Dre, Li sternly tells him that he does not want him beaten, but broken. Although Liang is disqualified for his illegal strikes, Dre is incapacitated.

Despite Han's insistence that he has earned respect for his performance in the tournament, Dre convinces Han to mend his leg by using fire cupping in order to continue the tournament. Dre returns to the arena, facing Cheng. Dre delivers impressive blows, but Cheng counters with a strike to Dre's injured leg. Dre struggles to get up, and attempts the reflection technique to manipulate Cheng's movements. Cheng charges Dre, but Dre flips and catches Cheng with a kick to his head, winning the tournament along with the respect of Cheng and his classmates. After this, Cheng awards Dre the trophy, instead of the presenter, with a smile which signifies to Dre that he need not be scared anymore.The movie ends with Dre and Han doing the handshake. While Dre is on Mr Han they slowly walk out of the ring.

L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

Love this movie so much, love the way they bring in our Chinese martial arts into the US once again, even though a lot of movies do so. Jackie Chan will be the suitable one to do so coz he's the bling bling spotlight from Asia entertainment industry which he also has earn his fame in hollywood before.

Good job

Grave Of The Fireflies 火垂るの墓

Released Year: 1988
Directed by 高畑勳 Takahata Isao
& 宫崎駿 Miyazaki Hayao

Vocal by:
辰巳努 as 清太 Seita
白石綾乃 as 節子 Setsuko
Story:

Taking place toward the end of World War II in Japan, Grave of the Fireflies is the tale of the relationship between two orphaned children, pre-teen Seita and his young sister Setsuko . The movie begins in Sannomiya Station and portrays Seita, in rags and dying of starvation. A janitor comes and digs through his possessions, and finds a candy tin containing ashes and bones. He throws it out, and from it springs the spirit of Setsuko, Seita, and a cloud of fireflies. The spirit of Seita continues to narrate their story, which is, in effect, an extended flashback to Japan near the end of World War II, during the Kobe firebombings.

The flashback begins with American B-29s, a symbol of the power of the American war machine let loose by Japan, flying overhead. Setsuko and Seita, the two siblings, are left to secure the house and their belongings, allowing their mother, who suffers from a heart condition, to move to a bomb shelter. They are caught off-guard by firebombs dropped in their neighborhood, and although they survive unscathed, their mother is caught in the air raid. She is taken to a hospital and later dies from her burns. Having nowhere else to go, Setsuko and Seita move in with a distant aunt, who allows them to stay but convinces Seita to sell his mother's kimonos for rice. While living with their relatives, Seita goes out to retrieve leftover supplies he had buried in the ground before the bombing. He gives all of it to his aunt, but hides a small tin of fruit drops, which becomes a recurrent icon throughout the film. Their aunt continues to shelter them but as they gradually begin to run out of food, she becomes increasingly resentful. She openly remarks on how they do nothing to earn the food she cooks.

Seita and Setsuko finally decide to leave and move into an abandoned bomb shelter. They fill it with fireflies for light, but Setsuko is horrified to find that the next day they are all dead. She digs them a grave and buries them all, asking why they have to die, and why her mother had to die. What begins as an new lease on life grows grim as they run out of rice, and Seita is forced to steal from local farmers and loot homes during air raids. When he is caught, he realizes his desperation and takes an increasingly ill Setsuko to a doctor, who informs him that Setsuko is suffering from malnutrition but offers no help. In a panic, Seita withdraws all the money remaining in their mother's bank account, but while at the bank he learns of Japan's unconditional surrender to the Allies and the probable death of his father, who was a sailor in the Imperial Navy. He returns to the shelter with large quantities of food, only to find a dying Setsuko hallucinating, sucking ohajiki as if they were fruit drops. Setsuko offers Seita mud 'rice balls'. Seita gives her a bite of watermelon and hurries to cook, but she dies of starvation. Seita uses supplies donated to him by a farmer to cremate her, and puts her ashes in the fruit tin which he carries with his father's photograph until his own death in September 1945.

At the end, the spirits of Seita and Setsuko are seen, healthy and well-dressed, sitting side-by-side as they look down on the modern city of Kobe.

L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

This should be the most touching animation i have ever watch in my life. Though i have watch it so many times, but it never fail to make my eyes wet with tears. Just imagine how horrible it is when wars happen, anything worse than this might happen.

Love each other and let us stop wars from happening again~ peace.

Priest 2011

Released Year: 2011
Directed by Scott Stewart

Casted by:
Paul Bettany as Priest
Karl Urban as Black Hat
Cam Gigandet as Hicks
Maggie Q as Priestess
Lily Collins as Lucy Pace
Stephen Moyer as Owen Pace
Story:

In the future, the war between humans and vampires has devastated the world. The Church, the future incarnation of the Roman Catholic Church, created an elite spiritual warrior organization, dubbed "Priests", who were capable of slaying vampires. The majority of the vampires were killed while the remainder were placed in reservations. To protect the humans, The Church created isolated, heavily guarded cities. No longer needing the Priests' services, the Church disbanded them.

One day an unnamed Priest, is approached by Hicks, the sheriff of a nearby town. Hicks tells him that his brother Owen was mortally wounded, sister-in-law (and ex girlfriend, Shannon) were killed by vampires and Priest's niece Lucy was kidnapped. Hicks asks for Priests assistance in tracking down Lucy. Priest goes against the wishes of Monsignor Orelas, the Church's leader, to do so. Monsignor Orelas then sends a group of four Priests led by Priestess to capture him and bring him back, dead or alive.

After saying goodbye to his dying brother, Priest and Hicks arrive at a vampire reservation, where they discover that the vampires have taken shelter in Mira Sola. Mira Sola is a vampire hive where Priest lost several of his comrade Priests in a botched mission. There, they are joined by Priestess, who decides to help him because she is in love with him. The group discover that the vampires are using trains to travel, slowly amassing a new army and intending to attack the Priest's city, killing the survivors and destroying the Church. They also discover that the inhabitants of Mira Sola had tunneled to the city of Jericho, where the other three Priests had been dispatched by Priestess.

Once in Jericho, the other three Priests are soon confronted by Black Hat, who was one of the Priests who was thought to have been killed in the botched mission at Mira Sola. Black Hat asks the three Priests to become one with the vampire family, but crucifies them when they refuse leaving their bodies to hang on crosses. Black Hat and his army of vampires then proceed to slaughter the entire town. After Priest, Priestess, and Hicks find the corpses of the three Priests, they discover Black Hat's trail and follow him, eventually catching up to his train along with the other vampires.

While Priestess plants a bomb on the railroad tracks in order to stop the train, Priest and Hicks board the train and confront Black Hat and the vampires and familiars (people infected with a pathogen that makes them subservient to the vampires). Black Hat overpowers both Priest and Hicks. Black Hat reveals that the vampire Queen gave him her blood, turning him into the first vampire-human hybrid. He asks Priest to join him. Priest refuses and fights Black Hat, who reveals the truth of Lucy's parentage to the girl. After the explosives are damaged in a fight with the familiars, Priestess straps the bomb to her motorcycle and crashes it into the train. The explosion kills the vampires and incinerates Black Hat, but Hicks, Priest, and Lucy are able to escape.

Priest returns to the city and confronts Monsignor Orelas, telling him of the burnt train containing the vampires bodies, which he proves by throwing a vampire head onto the floor. Monsignor Orelas believes that the war is over and Priest's proof is trickery; Priest tells him that its just beginning. Monsignor Orelas and Priest are at odds with each other when Priest leaves, Priest refusing to even listen to Monsignor Orelas as he walks out. Once he leaves the city and meets with Priestess, she reveals that the other Priests have been notified and will meet them at a rendezvous. Priest sets off with Priestess to meet the other Priests.

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

Love this very much and finally i have the chance to watch it on the big screen last night. Paul Bettany is definitely a hottie and Cam Gigandet is no doubt a hot stud at all~ Maggie Q definitely took my breath away with her hot look and fit clothes on her.

The story is nice and the ending is the best, it left for us to think whether the production team is gonna shoot the next sequel or not, well... i hope they do... :)

Irréversible

Released Year: 2002
Directed by Gaspar Noe

Casted by:
Monica Bellucci as Alex
Vincent Cassel as Marcus
Albert Dupontel as Pierre
Jo Prestia as Le Tenia
Story:

The beginning of the film (that is, the chronological end of the story) features two men talking in a small apartment suite. One of them is the "Butcher", the protagonist of Noé's previous film, I Stand Alone. In a drunken monologue, the Butcher reveals that he was arrested for having sex with his daughter, which happens in I Stand Alone. Their philosophical musings shift to the subject of a commotion in the streets outside, which is derisively attributed to the patrons of a nearby homosexual S&M nightclub called The Rectum.

Minutes earlier, two men named Marcus and Pierre are escorted out of that nightclub by the police. Marcus is on a stretcher, apparently injured, and Pierre is in handcuffs. Men on the streets shout homophobic insults at them. Earlier that evening, Marcus and Pierre arrived at the club in a frantic search for somebody nicknamed le Tenia — "the Tapeworm". Marcus finds the man believed to be le Tenia and attacks him. The man pins Marcus down, then breaks his arm and attempts to rape him. Pierre rescues Marcus by bludgeoning the attacker's face using a fire extinguisher, fatally crushing the man's skull after repeated blows. During the onslaught, the real le Tenia is seen to be amused by the situation.

Before entering the club, it is learned that Marcus and Pierre went in search of le Tenia after questioning several prostitutes. Apparently their goal is retribution for someone's rape. They track down a transsexual prostitute named Concha who identifies the rapist as le Tenia after Marcus threatens to slash her with a piece of broken glass. Concha also reveals that the rapist is likely to be found at a nightclub called The Rectum.

Marcus and Pierre were aided in their search by a street thug named Mourad and his friend Layde. Mourad promised to help them find le Tenia for money so that Marcus could have his revenge, rather than leave the matter to the police. It is revealed that le Tenia raped Marcus's girlfriend Alex, and beat her so severely that she fell into a coma.

The rape takes place after Alex encounters le Tenia beating Concha in a pedestrian underpass. Le Tenia then turns his attention on Alex and threatens her with a knife to her throat. He then proceeds to rape Alex, pinning her down on her stomach and threatening her. After raping Alex, le Tenia brutally beats her. From this scene, it becomes clear that Pierre and Marcus attack the wrong man later in the story (earlier in the film). Le Tenia was in fact standing right next to the man Pierre killed in Club Rectum.

In the next scene, we see Alex, Marcus, and Pierre at a party. Alex is annoyed by Marcus' unrestrained use of drugs and alcohol and his flirtatious behavior with other women, and consequently decides to leave the party. The next scene shows the trio discussing sex in a metro station and in the train. It is revealed Pierre used to be Alex's lover.

The penultimate scene shows Marcus and Alex lying in bed after sex. Alex reveals she might be pregnant, and Marcus is pleased with the possibility. To prepare for the party, Marcus leaves to buy wine and Alex has a shower. Alone, Alex uses a home pregnancy test that confirms she is now carrying a child, for which she is elated. She is shown sitting on the bed clothed, with her hand on her belly: a poster for Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, with the tagline "The Ultimate Trip", is above the headboard.

The final colorful scene shows Alex reading An Experiment with Time by John William Dunne in a park, surrounded by playing children. Beethoven's 7th Symphony is heard in the background. The camera spins around faster and faster until it blacks out into a strobe effect, accompanied by a pulsing, roaring sound. A rapidly-spinning image of a water spray can be dimly perceived. The final title card reads: LE TEMPS DETRUIT TOUT ("Time Destroys Everything") — a phrase uttered in the film's first scene by one of the men in the apartment.

L² Scored: 5/10

L² Comment:

Love Vincent Cassel, especially his big dick hanging around his belly~ lol. The whole movie was in the "reverse" motion which let you know what's happen in the end while slowly claw out the previous scene which cause the ending.

Kinda special in this kind of filming, but not a very good story i should say.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Released Year: 1979
Directed by Robert Wise

Casted by:
William Shatner as James T. Kirk
Stephen Collins as Willard Decker
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
Persis Khambatta as Ilia
Story:

A Starfleet monitoring station detects an alien force, hidden in a massive cloud of energy, moving through space towards Earth. The cloud destroys three Klingon warships and the monitoring station en route. On Earth, the starship Enterprise is undergoing a major refit; its former commander, James T. Kirk, has been promoted to Admiral and works in San Francisco as Chief of Starfleet Operations. Starfleet dispatches Enterprise to investigate the cloud entity as the ship is the only one in intercept range, requiring its new systems to be tested in transit.

Kirk takes command of the ship citing his experience, angering Captain Willard Decker, who had been overseeing the refit as its new commanding officer. Testing of Enterprise's new systems goes poorly; two officers, including the science officer, are killed by a malfunctioning transporter, and improperly calibrated engines almost destroy the ship. The tension between Kirk and Decker increases when the admiral demonstrates his unfamiliarity with Enterprise. Spock arrives as replacement science officer, explaining that while on his home world undergoing a ritual to purge all emotion, he felt a consciousness that he believes emanates from the cloud.

The Enterprise intercepts the energy cloud and is attacked by an alien vessel within. A probe appears on the bridge, attacks Spock and abducts the navigator, Ilia. She is replaced by a robotic doppelgänger, a probe sent by "V'Ger" to study the crew. Decker is distraught over the loss of Ilia, with whom he had a romantic history. He becomes troubled as he attempts to extract information from the doppelgänger, which has Ilia's memories and feelings buried within. Spock takes a spacewalk to the alien vessel's surface and attempts a telepathic mind meld with it. In doing so, he learns that the vessel is V'Ger itself, a living machine.

At the heart of the massive ship, V'Ger is revealed to be Voyager 6, a 20th-century Earth space probe believed lost. The damaged probe was found by an alien race of living machines that interpreted its programming as instructions to learn all that can be learned, and return that information to its creator. The machines upgraded the probe to fulfill its mission, and on its journey the probe gathered so much knowledge that it achieved consciousness. Spock realizes that V'Ger lacks the ability to give itself a focus other than its original mission; having learned what it could on its journey home, it finds its existence empty and without purpose. Before transmitting all its information, V'Ger insists that the Creator come in person to finish the sequence.

Realizing that the machine wants to merge with its creator, Decker offers himself to V'Ger; he merges with the Ilia probe and V'Ger, creating a new form of life that disappears into another dimension. With Earth saved, Kirk directs Enterprise out to space for future missions

L² Scored: 2/10

L² Comment:

I really don't know how to comment this, but seriously, i never been a fans of Star Trek series until i watch the 2009 movie. Thought it was quite good then so i decided to dig out all these old movies for a watch. But yawn, it was not easy to watch the whole movie without feeling bored.

Well, the graphic is good back at that time coz its 1979 anyway. But beside that, the pace is slow and their expression is kinda stiff :P lol~

House of Flying Daggers 十面埋伏

Released Year: 2004
Directed by 张艺谋 Yi-Mou Zhang

Casted by:
劉德華 Andy Lau as 劉捕头 Leo
金城武 Takeshi Kaneshiro as 金捕头 Jin
章子怡 Zi-Yi Zhang as 小妹 Mei
Story:

The film is set in 859 AD. The once great Tang Dynasty is now in decline. Numerous rebel groups have formed, the largest of which is the House of Flying Daggers, based in Feng Tian county. The Flying Daggers steal from the rich and give to the poor, gaining the support of the locals. The local deputies have managed to kill the leader of the Flying Daggers, but the rebel group only becomes stronger, due to a mysterious new leader. Jin and Leo, two police captains, are ordered to kill the new leader within ten days.

In order to accomplish this, they arrest Mei, a blind dancer who is suspected of being the daughter of the old leader of the Flying Daggers. While Mei is incarcerated, Jin and Leo decide to let her go to track the mastermind; Jin will pretend to be a lone warrior called Wind, and break her out of prison. This will gain her trust, and hopefully, Jin will be led to the headquarters of Flying Daggers. The plan works, but Mei and Jin fall in love on the way. They are followed at a distance by Leo; Jin and Leo meet secretly to discuss their plans. Jin jokes about his seduction of the girl; Leo warns him sternly against getting involved.

To add authenticity to the deception, Leo and his men ambush the pair: the fight is, however, a fake. Further on, they are attacked again, but this time their assailants are apparently for real: Jin and Mei battle for their lives, being saved only by the intervention of an unseen knife-thrower. Furious, Jin confronts Leo: Leo explains that he has reported the matter up the chain of command and his general has taken over the pursuit. Jin realizes that he is now expendable.

Once again, Jin and Mei are attacked by the General's men. They are hopelessly outnumbered; at the last minute they are saved when the House of Flying Daggers reveal themselves. Jin and Leo are captured and taken to their headquarters. At this point, a number of surprising revelations are made. Mei is not blind, nor is she the old leader's daughter - she was merely pretending to be. Leo is in fact an undercover agent for the House of Flying Daggers, which has engineered the whole chain of events in order to draw the General into a decisive battle. Furthermore, Leo is in love with Mei: he has waited for three years for her whilst working undercover.

Mei, however, cannot bring herself to love Leo: over the last few days she has fallen for Jin. But as Jin is now a liability, she is ordered by Nia, the leader of the House of Flying Daggers, to kill him. Instead Mei takes him away then frees him from his bonds before they make love in the field. Jin then begs Mei to flee with him, but she is torn between her love and her duty to the House, as well as guilt over Leo; Jin leaves alone. In the final scenes, Mei decides to ride after Jin, but is ambushed by Leo who is embittered by her rejection and consumed by jealousy for Jin. Leo throws a dagger at her. Mei, not realizing that two daggers were stuck together, only managed to ward off one knife, while the other strikes her in the chest. As Mei lies dying, Jin returns to find Leo, and an epic battle of honor begins, in which they fight from autumn to winter.

The last scene sees Mei, regaining consciousness, grabbing the dagger in her chest and threatening to pull it out and to throw it in order to kill Leo if Leo kills Jin with his throwing dagger; this would kill Mei, as it would enable the blood to flow and cause her to bleed to death. Jin begs her not to do it, willing to die rather than let her be killed, but she continues to threaten to sacrifice her own life for Jin. Infuriated, Leo throws his arm out as if to throw a knife at Jin, and Mei rips the dagger out of her own heart to deflect it; she opted to try to deflect Leo's attack and save Jin rather than throw it at Leo and kill him in revenge. However, all her dagger does is deflect a droplet of blood, as Leo never threw his dagger. In the final scene, Leo walks off into the blizzard as Jin holds Mei's lifeless body, singing the song originally sung by Mei at the beginning of the film in the Peony Pavilion.

L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

Love this film, no matter how many times i watch it. Love the simplicity of this film of the characters. Not much characters involve like other martial arts film and the kungfu is simply marvelous. The only thing i disagree is, the film shot too "beautiful"~ i mean... its kinda pretty in all the background and its a bit fake on this...

But nevertheless, this is still a good film which you guys can consider to buy its original DVD.

Something Borrowed

Released Year: 2011
Directed by Luke Greenfield

Casted by:
Ginnifer Goodwin as Rachel White
Kate Hudson as Darcy Rhone
Colin Egglesfield as Dex Thaler
John Krasinski as Ethan
Steve Howey as Marcus
Ashley Williams as Claire
Story:

Rachel White is a single, talented attorney working in a New York law firm. After too many drinks on her 30th birthday, Rachel grabs a cab with Dex and playfully reveals she has had a crush on him since law school. The problem is, Dex is also her best friend Darcy's fiancé. They wake up in bed together the next morning to Darcy calling both of their phones. Dex sneaks out and they do not have time to speak about what happened between them. What Rachel thinks is a one night stand, is actually the beginning of an emotional roller coaster once Dex tells Rachel he is in love with her too.

Ethan has been friends with Darcy & Rachel since childhood. He is the only one who knows what has happened between Rachel & Dex, which he has vowed to keep secret. Meanwhile, Dex’s mother has been suffering from depression for some time and Dex & Darcy’s wedding is the only thing keeping her sane and happy. When Dex skips out on 4th of July weekend in the Hamptons to stay in the City and spend time with Rachel, they run into his parents. His father suspects something is going on between the two of them and he tells Dex to end it as soon as possible. Considering his mother & father’s feelings, Dex gives Rachel the cold shoulder and leaves her to go back to Darcy (who has been partying the Hamptons all weekend with Dex’s best friend, Marcus).

As the wedding nears, Dex & Rachel are speaking less and less. Ethan moves to London for work after he becomes angry at Rachel for not standing up for herself & her feelings. Rachel flies to London to visit Ethan who then reveals that he has been in love with her the entire time and just wants to see her happy. Rachel returns to New York to find Dex sitting on her door step. He reveals he ended things with Darcy and called off the wedding. Rachel is ecstatic until Darcy ends up at her door begging to come in to talk. Dex hides and Darcy enters her apartment. She tells Rachel that she ended things with Dex and has been cheating on him with his best friend Marcus. She is also pregnant with Marcus’ child and they are very happy. Rachel gives her her blessing and Darcy proceeds to leave but only to return and ask what Dex’s jacket is doing in her apartment. Dex then comes out and Darcy figures out Rachel is the other woman. She becomes infuriated and storms out of the apartment.

Two months later, Rachel & Darcy run in to each other on the street, they have not spoken since the incident and Darcy says she is extremely happy. Rachel is happy for her. As they leave, Rachel walks around the corner to Dex sitting on a bench. They walk down the street hand in hand.

L² Scored: 6/10

L² Comment:

Novel from Emily Griffin was produced by Hilary Swank and her gang of production team. Romance + Comedy always never fail to attract a lot of audience, but too much of this kind of film in the market already which make nothing much special for this film.

I wonder whether Kate Hudson will ever acted in other kind of film which will make her career a bit better than this. hmmm....

Like Water For Chocolate - Como Agua Para Chocolate

Released Year: 1992
Directed by Alfonso Arau

Casted by:
Lumi Cavazos as Tita
Marco Leonardi as Pedro Muzquiz
Regina Torné as Mamá Elena
Mario Iván Martínez as Doctor John Brown
Ada Carrasco as Nacha
Yareli Arizmendi as Rosaura
Claudette Maillé as Gertrudis
Pilar Aranda as Chencha
Story:

Like Water For Chocolate is a love story that takes place in Mexico in the era of the Mexican Revolution. The main characters are Tita de la Garza, the protagonist, and Pedro, her love. They fall in love at first sight. Pedro and his father come to ask for Tita’s hand in marriage. Tita's mother, Mama Elena, refuses. The de la Garza family tradition demands the youngest daughter must remain unmarried and take care of her mother until death. However, Mama Elena offers Rosaura’s hand instead, and Pedro accepts to be closer to Tita.

Mama Elena keeps a close watch on Tita and Pedro. When Tita finds an excuse to not attend Rosaura's engagement party, Mama Elena forces Tita to prepare the wedding banquet as punishment. Tita's desire for Pedro is put into her cooking, and as a result, the wedding guests are overcome by "Intoxication" and a longing for their true love. The wedding ends with all the guests crying and vomiting by the river. Even Mama Elena unlocks a box and holds a photograph of a man who is thought to be her true love. One year passes and Pedro gives a bouquet of roses to Tita "in honor of being head chef". Mama Elena commands Tita to throw the roses out, but Tita decides to cook Quail with the rose petals instead. Even though Pedro, Tita, Mama Elena and Gertrudis (Tita's other sister) feel incredible passion throughout the meal, Rosaura find it inedible. After dinner Gertrudis runs to cool her body with a shower and Gertrudis's body heat literally sets fire to the outdoor shower building. She leaves the ranch naked with a revolutionary soldier (though she returns as the head of a revolutionary army).

One night, Pedro goes to Tita. When Tita awakens to use the rest room, Pedro waits in the shadows nearby for her return. Pedro pulls her aside with great passion and kisses her. Suddenly, Mama Elena wakes up looking and calling for Tita. Mama Elena asks Tita where she was. Mama Elena does not believe Tita's answer and the next day Elena sends Rosaura, Pedro and their baby boy to Texas. Soon, they receive news that the baby died on the way to Texas. In an act of rebellion, Tita blames her mother; Mama Elena responds by smacks Tita across the face with a wooden spoon and breaks her nose. Tita secludes herself in a dovecote after the incident. Mama Elena states there is no place for "lunatics" on the farm, and wants her to be institutionalized. However, Dr. John Brown (who had been summoned for the birth of Rosaura's now deceased child) decides to take care of Tita at his home instead. While caring for Tita, Dr. Brown tells Tita a story from his Native American grandmother. The story says that all humans are born with enough matches to burn like a candle. But to set off this fire, every person must find their own trigger. They must also be careful to not set off all their internal matches at once, or risk immolation. Tita eventually enters into a relationship with Dr. Brown, even planning to marry him at one point, but she cannot shake her feelings for Pedro.

Things seemed to be going great for Tita and Dr. Brown, however bad news from the ranch came. The ranch had been running as usual until rebels attacked the ranch and seriously hurt Mama Elena. Tita rushed to her mother's side and discovered that her mother had a secret lover who was the true father of Gertrudis. Soon after, Mama Elena dies. Rosaura and Pedro return for the funeral, which causes sexual tension between Tita and Pedro. Rosaura soon gives birth to a second child, a girl, and is told that due to complications she will never be able to have another child. Rosaura declares that her daughter Esperanza will never marry because she will have to take care of her mother.

Dr. Brown is called away and Tita and Pedro's desire for one another sparks once more. After dinner one night, Pedro once again confronts Tita. Without any words, he takes her to a bed and makes love to her, taking her virginity. Though Rosaura and Chencha see "phosphorescent plumes" and a strange glow coming from the room, they refuse to go near, fearing that the commotion is the ghost of Mama Elena. After that night, Tita fears that she is pregnant. Rosaura feels that Tita isn't a threat to her marriage and asks for her help to win back Pedro's affection. Rosaura asked if Tita would place her on a special diet so that she could lose weight and cure bad breath. Rosaura left the kitchen and Mama Elena's spirit enters. She scolds Tita for her relationship with Pedro and curses the baby growing in Tita's stomach. Chencha enters unexpectedly, forcing Mama Elena's ghost to flee.

That night, Gertrudis returns to the ranch alongside the man who swept her away on his horse. Now a general in the revolutionary army, Gertrudis is a veteran of many battles, and the ranch spends the rest of the night listening to her improbable stories. Gertrudis tells Tita that she needs to accept her relationship with Pedro and get an abortion by bathing in vinegar. Mama Elena's ghost returns and asks Tita to leave the ranch. Tita stands up to her mother and declares her autonomy. As a result, the ghost shrinks into a tiny light. After, Tita feels relieved of the pregnancy symptoms. The fiery light of Mama Elena's ghost falls on Pedro, setting him on fire. Tita rescues him, cares for him and helps him in recovering. While Tita nurses Pedro back to health, Dr. Brown returns. After his return, Tita tells Dr. Brown that she can not marry him because she gave her virginity to another. Dr. Brown vows that it does not matter to him because he loves her and still wants to marry her, but will respect her wishes.

Time moves forward by 20 years to 1934. The audience learns each person's fate through conversations at the wedding of Rosaura's daughter Esperanza to the son of Dr. Brown. Rosaura suspiciously died of a gastronimical disease three days after an argument between Rosaura and Tita about Esperanza's future. At the wedding reception, Pedro confesses to Tita that he still loves her, wants to marry her and has dreamed of their wedding day. Tita's cooking causes the guests to leave rapidly with passion and love.

The movie ends with Tita and Pedro making love in a candle-lit barn. As Dr. Brown had warned years before, Tita and Pedro's passions ignite too quickly, and Pedro dies just as he has a sensuous orgasm. Tita swallows matches to self-immolate, lighting the entire ranch on fire in the process. Esperanza returns to ranch and finds only Tita’s cookbook, which held her recipes and told of her and Pedro’s love story. Esperanza names her daughter Tita in honor of Tita's love and protection.

In the final scene, Esparanza's daughter Tita ends by saying, "My Mother, how I miss her cooking. The smell of her kitchen. Her talking while she prepared the meals. Her Christmas rolls. Mine never come out like hers. For some reason I can't make myself stop crying when I make them. It must be that I am as sensitive to onions as Tita, my great aunt. She'll continue to live as long as someone continues to cook her recipes."

L² Scored: 3.5/10

L² Comment:

Although this film won the best movie for Ariel Award in Mexican Movie Award, but its quite a yawn yawn film for me instead. The pace is quite slow for me, or maybe i'm watching the english version, therefore i dont really feel the passion of this movie.

No doubt that Leonardi & Martinez are both hotties in this movie but Cavazos seems a bit too mature to pair with both of these 2 good looking guys. lol~

Oseam 오세암

Released Year: 2003
Directed by Baek-Yeop Sung

Vocal by:
Shim Jae Rim as Gilson
Kim Hye Soo as Gami
Story:

Ga-mi and her younger brother Gil-son lives alone after their mother passed away in a fire accident. Ga-mi is a gentle and reserved blind girl, while Gil-son is hyperactive and often gets into mischief.

The two seek refuge at a Mahayana Buddhist temple, helping with the chores, as they cope with the loss of their mother and home several years ago due to a fire accident, which is also where Ga-mi lost her sight. Gil-son, too young to understand, still believes they will find their mother someday as Ga-mi has never told him she died in the fire.

Soon later Gil-Son accompanies a monk to go meditate in the mountains and find a cure for his sister's blindness, but ends up sacrificing his life for Ga-mi's sight.

L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

Oseam is a small buddhist temple which located at the South Korea. This movie is a very touching animation from Korea production, which you guys should never miss. But it might be a bit too much for kids.