Old Dogs

Released Year: 2009
Directed by Walt Becker

Casted by:
Robin Williams as Dan Rayburn
John Travolta as Charlie Reed
Kelly Preston as Vicki Greer
Seth Green as Craig White
Ella Bleu Travolta as Emily Greer
Conner Rayburn as Zach Greer
Story:

Dan Rayburn and Charlie Reed are best friends and co-owners of a successful sports marketing firm. Seven years prior, Dan, recently divorced, married Vicki after being whisked away by Charlie for a tropical vacation. The wedding, however, is short lived. Seven years later, Vicki resurfaces to tell Dan that their short marriage resulted in something he never suspected: twins Zach and Emily.

Vicki, facing jail time for her work as an environmental activist, asks Dan to take care of the kids while she does her time. Thinking this might be his chance to get back with Vicki, Dan agrees, but only if Charlie will help him since neither have any experience taking care of kids. At the same time, the two must finalize a huge marketing deal with a Japanese company; something they've always dreamed of, but will take all of their talents to clinch.

Because Dan's condo does not allow children, he has to board with Charlie. Whilst this is happening, Charlie and Dan are close to securing the biggest account in the history of their careers with a Japanese corporation. Charlie and Dan's attempts to take care of the kids are well-intentioned, but very misguided. On a trip with the kids to an overnight camp, a hard-nosed camp instructor becomes convinced that Dan and Charlie are homosexual partners. The trip ends with a bang after Dan accidentally sets a beloved statue of the camp's founder on fire. The kids then proceed to spill and replace Charlie and Dan's prescriptions, mixing them up in the process. Dan then must play a game of golf with the Japanese executives while experiencing extreme side effects and Charlie tries to woo Amanda with a face frozen by the pills.

Desperate to help Dan communicate with the children despite his inexperience with children, Charlie recruits his friend Jimmy Lunchbox, a flamboyant children's entertainer, who is famous around the world. Jimmy comes by and straps Dan and Charlie in motion control puppet suits so Charlie can help Dan make all the right moves with his daughter while having a tea party. The suits malfunction, but Dan speaks from the heart, winning over Emily but his speech makes Jimmy emotional. Everything is great with Vicki as she returns home. However, the guys have sealed their Japanese deal, sending junior associate Craig to Tokyo. When Craig goes missing after arriving there, Charlie and Dan must fly to Tokyo themselves to work. Dan must leave the kids and Vicki despite his (and their) desire to be a family.

Once in Tokyo, Dan realizes that what he really wants is to be a good father. He leaves the meeting without sealing the deal, rushing with Charlie to Vermont for the kids' birthday party. They aren't able to get into the Burlington Zoo in time and are forced to break in with the help of Craig. However, they mistakenly wind up in the gorilla enclosure. Though Dan and Charlie escape, Craig is captured by the gorilla (which takes a strong liking to him). Dan then pays a birthday party performer hired by Vicki to use his jet pack and suit, flies into the ceremony and wins his kids back over. When the jet pack stops working in mid-air, he is taken to an ambulance on a stretcher. One year later, Dan and Vicki are together, Charlie has married Amanda, and Craig has become like a new "uncle" to the kids.

L² Scored: 4.5/10

L² Comment:

A film tribute to John Travolta's son who passed away & Bernie Mac who has his final movie before he passed away too. But seriously, the movie can only be consider ok. Nothing special about this and Robin Williams is definitely too old to make us laugh anymore :( I just feel pathetic watching these 2 old man trying to do something which totally not funny at all~

Love Is The Only Answer 人約離婚後

Released Year: 2011
Directed by 葉念琛 Patrick Kong

Casted by:
佘詩曼 Charmaine Sheh as 寶 Bou
方力申 Alex Fong as 強 Ryan
羅仲謙 Him Law as 世傑 Kit
傅嘉莉 Kelly Fu as 曼麗 Lei
陳嘉寶 Anjaylia Chan as 蘇麗珍 Christy
陳智燊 Jason Chan as 威 Jason
Story:

One month before Bou & Ryan's wedding, Bou discovered Ryan's love making film and decided to show it in their wedding and call it off. One year later, Ryan still on and off need Bou's help to get rid off his one night stand lover.

Once, Ryan request Bou to participate the "Changing Partner" function and they met another couple Kit & Lei. Ryan is luring at Lei and have sex with her while Bou storm away from the function. Kit happened to went to Bou's fruit stall and met her, both of them enjoy each company of having desert. But Bou discovered Kit still miss his ex girlfriend instead of Lei. Later on as time goes by, Ryan get jealous of Bou being so close Kit. In the meanwhile, Ryan's staff Christy loss her baby.

Kit asked Bou to attend a function with him, and it seems like its Kit's elder brother's wedding. Bou was shocked when she realize Lei is not Kit's wife but sister instead. They fake as a couple to participate the "changing partner" event earlier on. In the wedding, Jason announce to call off the wedding and said that Ryan has steal Christy away. In the end, they realize this is only a beautiful mistake. In hospital, Ryan and Bou finally make up. Bou broke off with Kit by telling him that he's not bad enough for her to love him.

The story ends as Kit become a bad guy and try to cheat every woman he met...

L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

This is not bad, quite new to me. Though most of the actresses/actors are from tvb, but acting in a drama series and big screen can be quite different. Of course Charmaine has used to it, but surprisingly Him Law is not bad too. Beside showing his good-good-guy image, he was not naked!!! i thought that the production will request him strip to earn more viewing for this movie~ lol... And Alex Fong as a playboy is a new thing on movie (though not in real life :P)

The Smurfs

Released Year: 2011
Directed by Raja Gosnell

Casted by:
Neil Patrick Harris as Patrick Winslow
Jayma Mays as Grace Winslow
Hank Azaria as Gargamel

Voiced by:
Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf
Anton Yelchin as Clumsy Smurf
Katy Perry as Smurfette
Fred Armisen as Brainy Smurf
Alan Cumming as Gutsy Smurf
George Lopez as Grouchy Smurf.
Story:

As Smurfs get ready for the Blue Moon Festival, Papa Smurf sees in his cauldron a vision of Clumsy Smurf reaching for a dragon wand and the Smurfs in cages while Gargamel laughs. Not wanting this vision to come true, Papa Smurf refuses to allow Clumsy to pick Smurf Roots, but Clumsy disobeys Papa Smurf and ends up unintentionally leading Gargamel and Azrael to the village. The Smurfs all flee for their lives while Clumsy unknowingly runs towards the Forbidden Falls, with Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Grouchy, Brainy and Gutsy running after him. They find him at the edge of a cliff, and while trying to help him up, they are sucked into a gigantic vortex that spirits them to present day New York City. To make matters worse, Gargamel and Azrael follow and the Smurfs end up in the apartment of Patrick and Grace Winslow, a married and expectant couple and their Basset Hound Elway. After clarifying things, the Winslows befriend them and allow them to stay in their apartment. The next day, needing to find a "star gazer", the Smurfs follow Patrick to his work place at Anjelou Cosmetics before he calls Grace to pick them up.

However, having extracted "Smurf essence" from a lock of Smurfette's hair, Gargamel also arrives and ends up being treated by Patrick's boss Odile upon using most of his acquired magic to turn her mother young. But Gargamel resumes his search upon recognizing Patrick and following him to the toy store where the Smurfs ran into after finding their star gazer, a telescope. The Winslows manage to save the Smurfs from both the children wanting them and Gargamel, who ends up being sent to jail before he manages to bust out with the aid of house flies. By that time, Papa Smurf manages to calculate the night he and the others can get home. But first, he must figure out the spell to do so. Patrick tells them that there is an old book store in the city near Anjelou Cosmetics as he bonds with the Smurfs after sending what he believed to be his finished advertisement to be published. However, the next day, Patrick learns that Clumsy accidentally attached a blue-moon themed side project and he loses his temper before walking out on both the Smurfs and Grace to save his job.

Forced to search on their own, the Smurfs find the store and find the book L’Histoire de Schtroumpfs by researcher Peyo, containing the spell to turn the moon blue. But learning of their location, Gargamel sneaks into the book store and finds the dragon wand from Papa Smurf's vision, transfering his magic into it as he uses it to capture Papa Smurf as he sends the others to safety. Though the Smurfs promised Papa Smurf that they won't try to save him and return home, Clumsy and Patrick, having saw the error of his actions, convince them to plan a rescue. At Belvedere Castle, after increasing the dragon wand's power with bits of Papa Smurf's beard, Gargamel finds himself facing all the Smurfs that were summoned to New York by Brainy conjuring the blue moon. As the Smurf army battles Gargamel, Smurfette fights Azrael and saves Papa Smurf before they join the fray. Though Gargamel attempts to break the Smurfs by killing off Papa Smurf, Patrick save him while Gutsy knocks the dragon wand out of the wizard's hand. Clumsy tries to catch it, and to Papa Smurf's surprise, manages to catch it and send Gargamel flying into a trash can and being hit by a bus with the advertisement "Blue Moon" with it before Papa Smurf breaks it. Soon after, the Smurfs take their leave as Patrick receives a call from Odile that he still has his job. Later, while Patrick and Grace have a baby boy, whom they name Blue to honor them, the Smurfs rebuild their village in the style of New York, where the Winslows reside. Meanwhile, Gargamel and Azrael are still trapped in New York.

L² Scored: 9/10

L² Comment:

La la la la la la, this is a happy song :) I smurf this movie so much since i was small, i remember i smurf the comic & i smurf the cartoon... there was non stop smurfing smurf smurf until i go into high school. I know i smurf this movie when it was on the big screen, its because i'm so damn smurf, i dont have time to smurf in the cinema that time... When i was smurf, then only i realize the smurf was not smurfing on the cinema anymore!!! How smurfty sad...

Oh well, i don't know what i m smurfing now... do u smurf understand what smurf language i'm smurfing now? :P

Doghouse

Released Year: 2009
Directed by Jake West

Casted by:
Stephen Graham as Vince
Danny Dyer as Neil
Noel Clarke as Mikey Mouse
Lee Ingleby as Matt. Character
Keith-Lee Castle as Patrick
Emil Marwa as Graham
Neil Maskell as Banksy
Terry Stone as Sergeant Gavin Wright
Story:

Vince is depressed over his divorce. Six of his friends, all faced with their own women problems, decide to take him on a trip to a village called Moodley where the women are meant to outnumber the men "4:1" for a "boys' weekend".

Arriving at the town, the boys find that it seems way too quiet and still. An exploration around the town reveals that something is amiss - "Where are the women?". The boys decided to head back to the bus and look for another joint. Along the way, they notice a hooded girl , they reach for change to give to her but she is suddenly tackled by a man in military uniform. They rush to her aid and in the confusion of the moment, the hooded teen takes the soldier's knife and stabs Neil through his hand and the friends begin to realize what is happening. They run for the bus dragging the unconscious soldier with them but Candy, their once-hot bus driver has already become infected and blocks their escape.

More infected women appear and begin to attack them as they retreat to Mikey's nans's house. They conclude that the virus only affects women, Neil puns it must be "bird flu" and airborne since Candy had not even left the bus. The soldier admits that the town has been infected by a biological agent that turns women into man-hating cannibals.

The men make another attempt to get on the bus, the group nominate Neil to lure Candy away since, quoting himself, "women love him". They manage to distract Candy long enough to get on the bus but only to be scared down from it by two more of the infected. They scatter about the village, hiding in a toy store, a clothes shop, and the butcher shop. Patrick gets trapped on a billboard. Neil runs into a house after having outsmarted a couple of women-things, thinking he is safe but is knocked unconscious. He awakes, the prisoner of a morbidly obese woman who cuts off his little finger and eats it, all in the spirit and symbolism of castration.

Eventually our boys are chased into the village's Church and ironically, discover a military command centre. Matt, the resident geek, powers up the computers and they talk briefly to local politician Meg Nut. They realise Meg Nut had been involved somehow in the distribution of the toxin disguised as biological washing powder. The soldier finds a control box and explains it is a sonar device designed to emit a high pitched sound only women can hear and only works on Phase 2 monsters leaving them stunned. The clock chimes and all the infected turn into "Phase 2" monsters which are faster, more intelligent and weirder. Apparently, the device did not work as the soldier is killed by Mikey's nan who wields a pair of gardening shears. Matt bludgeons the monster-nan to death with a golf club as the friends hold back a protesting Mikey. Traumatized by what he has done, Matt walks off to 'cool it off' and is killed by a "Phase 2" monster which had appeared from the basement of the Church.

The boys decide to try the basement as a route of escape only to stumble into the 'Nest' of the infected where the bodies of men had been piled up for food storage. The group is chased out of the basement and onto the Church's roof. Banksy eventually arrive at Moodley. Oblivious to what has been happening, he believes his friends to be high on drugs. They send him to fetch a ladder to help them escape from the church roof. Noticing the infected for the first time, Banksy finally understands the seriousness of the situation. Graham is knocked off the ladder to the ground by the obese woman, who then proceeds to jump off the roof, onto him. Banksy leads the surviving group to his vehicle but the ride turns out to be a buggy or a small Smart car, definitely not big enough for all of them. Tempers flare and Patrick tries to get all of them to see bigger problem. As he speaks he is attacked and dies a messy, bloody death.

Banksy is killed at the minibus. The remaining three Vince, Neil, and Mikey, finally got aboard the minibus. There, Vince has an epiphany and begins a speech. He berates Neil and Mikey who treat their women poorly but get away with it when men like him and their dead friends, behave how women say they want, only to be discarded or killed. He has had enough of it and from then on, his life is going to be "what you see is what you get". As they finally escape the town, the voice of Graham crackles over the walkie-talkie. He had been dragged to a pile of bodies and left for dead in the 'Nest' under the church. The boys are determined to go back for him. As Graham makes his way out from the church he discovers the control box and machine behind the stun device and reconnects the power. With the working stun device the men are able to stop the women in their tracks. Neil plays around with it for a bit and throws the device to give the Vince a turn at it, but he missed and it breaks. The infected are once again unleashed and pushing the injured Graham in a shopping trolley, the four make a run for it, laughing.

L² Scored: 4.5/10

L² Comment:

This is quite a nice UK film to watch, but the reason of these woman become zombie was not told in the movie; the reason why they attacked man was not told; why they get stunned when they heard some frequency tone was not told... For the sake of all these, giving 4.5 for such movie, i felt that i'm kind... :P

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Released Year: 2010
Directed by David Slade

Casted by:
Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan
Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen
Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black
Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria
Xavier Samuel as Riley Biers
Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale
Story:

Riley Biers is attacked and bitten by Victoria, in order to begin creating an army of newborns set to destroy Bella Swan. Back in Forks, Edward Cullen and Bella discuss the complications of becoming an immortal vampire. At 18 years old, one year older than the age Edward was when he became a vampire, Bella expresses her aversion to the idea of marrying so young, though Edward refuses to turn her until they are married and she's had various human experiences she would otherwise miss. While Charlie Swan investigates the disappearance of Riley Biers, Edward suspects his disappearance was caused by the newborn vampires. Furthering his suspicions is the intrusion of Riley into Bella's room.

Although Edward fears for her safety, Bella insists that Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) and the rest of the werewolf pack would never harm her, but Edward is still not convinced. Bella goes to La Push to see Jacob, and returns home unharmed. During one of her visits, Jacob confesses that he is in love with Bella, and forcefully kisses her. Mad, she punches him and breaks her hand, and Edward later threatens to break Jacob's jaw. Bella even revokes the invitations of Jacob and his pack members to her graduation party, but when Jacob apologizes for his behavior, she forgives him.

Meanwhile, Alice sees a vision that the newborn army is attacking Forks led by Riley Biers. Jacob, accompanied by Quil and Embry overhear this, which leads to an alliance between the Cullens and Wolf pack. Later, the Cullens and the wolves agree to a meeting place and time to train and discuss strategy. During the training Jasper explains to Bella that he was created by a vampire named Maria to control a newborn army. He hated his original existence and upon meeting Alice, joined the Cullens with her. Bella sees the true bond between a mated vampire pair and begins to understand Jasper better. Despite her reluctance to marry, Bella realizes that spending eternity with Edward is more important to her than anything else and agrees to marry him. Edward and Bella camp up in the mountains to hide Bella from the bloodthirsty newborns. During the night, Bella overhears a conversation between Edward and Jacob, in which they temporarily put aside their hatred towards each other. In the morning, Jacob overhears Edward and Bella discussing their engagement and becomes very upset. Before he can run off to get himself killed in the fight with the newborns, Bella desperately asks him to kiss her, and she realizes that she has fallen in love with him. Edward finds out about the kiss but is not angry, as Bella says she loves him more than Jacob.

Victoria eventually finds Bella's hiding spot, and Edward kills her while Seth kills Riley. The Cullens and the Quileute wolves, meanwhile, destroy her "army", though Jacob is injured saving Leah Clearwater from a newborn. Several members of the Volturi arrive to deal with the newborn army. They also see that the Cullens are guarding the newborn, Bree Tanner, who had refused to fight and surrendered to Carlisle. Jane tortures Bree to get information, then instructs Felix to kill her, despite the Cullens' efforts to spare her. When Jane notes that Caius will find it interesting that Bella is still human, Bella informs her that the date for her transformation has been set. Bella visits the injured Jacob to tell him that even though she is in love with him, she has chosen to be with Edward. Saddened by her choice, Jacob reluctantly agrees to stop trying to come between her and Edward.

Bella and Edward go to their meadow, where she tells him she has decided to do things his way: get married, make love, then be transformed into a vampire. She also explains that she never has been normal and never will be; she's felt out of place her entire life, but when she is in Edward's world she feels stronger and complete. At the end of the story they decide they need to tell Charlie about their engagement.

L² Scored: 5/10

L² Comment:

Well well, what do we have here? This 3rd movie is worse than the first 2 twilight movie. I know i should have watch it in the cinema as how i promised u guys in 2010, but i didn't coz i really not attracted to Kristen Stewart. For me, her acting is still suck in this movie, expresionless and helpless...

I thought that Dakota Fanning is gonna appear more in this movie, but she did not :( The only exciting part was when the 3 vampires fighting on the snowhill, the rest~ yawn!!!

Flypaper

Released Year: 2011
Directed by Rob Minkoff

Casted by:
Patrick Dempsey as Tripp
Ashley Judd as Kaitlin/ Alexis Black
Tim Blake Nelson as Peanut Butter
Pruitt Taylor Vince as Jelly
Octavia Spencer as Madge Wiggins
Matt Ryan as Gates
Jeffrey Tambor as Gordon Blythe/ Vercallious Drum
Mekhi Phifer as Darrien

Story:

A man named Tripp is caught in the middle of two simultaneous robberies at a bank. One crew is more professional (Gates, Darrien & Weinstein), the other crew consists of two men who call themselves Peanut Butter and Jelly. Tripp desperately tries to protect teller Kaitlin with whom he is secretly in love. When a man is found murdered, the two crews deny any involvement which causes Tripp to believe they are all getting ambushed by a higher power. Both crews, Tripp, and the hostages all try to stay alive on their own terms.

During the robbery, a FBI agent was shot by Weinstein. To find out the truth, Tripp try to solve the reason and lead out a lot of mysteries behind the truth. Seems like Mitchell (the security system advisor) has sold out the upgrading security system time (this time the bank will be out of security system protection) to Weinstein but Peanut Butter & Jelly just happened to come and rob at the same time. Being silly and clueless how to rob a bank professionally, they pissed off Darrien and Weinstein almost killed Jelly (just shot his earlobe). When things get even messy after Weinstein and Mitchell was found to shot each other to death in a room & the swiss miss (a hot lady who work as a swiss bank spy) was killed too. Darrien fed up with this and try to burn down the gold storage but accidentally burn himself to death.

Later on, Tripp & Kaitlin found out a night mask in the gent's toilet and set a trip to catch the Vercallious Drum who they believe will kill all the hostages after he got the money. After switching off the light, the gunshooting started and Gates was killed. The lights on and everyone discovered Gordon (The banker) is actually Vercallious Drum, all the others shot him although he offered money to share with them. After that, they offered Peanut Butter & Jelly the money so that they can left.

The movie ended when the police officers help to send all hostages out, including Kaitlin & her wedding gift. But Kaitlin found Tripp inside her car and discover her deep secret. Seems like Kaitlin is Alexis Black, the criminal of robbery (ranked top 4 in the FBI's side) and all her wedding gifts are full of cash (Alexis put all the money in when the lights are off). Tripp & Kaitlin both fall in love with each other and decided to share the money together.

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

I can't stop myself but give lots of credits to the script writer & producers of this film :) The whole storyline is damn complicated yet i find it so interesting and fun to watch. Of course the acting of Dempsey & Judd is not to be doubt, but i quite like Matt Ryan. He's so cute and his slang is absolutely sexy :) Love this Welsh actor a lot~

The Ghost Must Be Crazy! 鬼也笑

Released Year: 2011
Directed by 李国煌 Mark Lee & Boris Boo 巫培双

Story:

1. 鬼才给你off
The Ghost need a leave

Casted by:
鍾耀南 John Cheng as Nan
王雷 Wang Lei as Lei
周崇庆 Dennis Chew as Chan
蔡恩来 Tsai En Lai as Sarjan

Nan, Lei & Chan are recruited back for the national service for the last time. Nan & Fei use a lot of stupid excuses to get out from the training but was rejected by the Sarjan. But Chan has internal injury and was rejected too. Nan & Lei heard that the Encik who incharge for the dorm was dead in a horrible accident but it was a fake.

During the night training, Encik met ghosts (faked by Nan & Lei) and reported to Sarjan. This scared Chan and he fainted. Encik send Chan to medics and met accident, Encik saw Chan is dead and ran back to report to the Sarjan. While Sarjan is scolding Encik, Chan's spirit return and take revenge on Sarjan who force him to training.

Encik told Nan & Lei about the accident and the three of them dry downhill. They saw the accident, and found out Encik was also passed away in the crucial accident as well.

2.鬼才嫁给你
Ghost only marry you

Casted by:
程旭辉 Henry Thia as Hui
李国煌 Mark Lee as Hai/Juan

Hui was in bad luck, he met Hai and Hai bring him to borrow some luck from the spirit. Hai promise to the spirits that he will burn back something to the spirit if he get rich. On the cemetery, Hui saw an angpow. Being greedy, he picked it up even though Hai warn him not to. Inside the angpow, there's a jade bracelet and together with 2 4d numbers. And Hui say this is fate for him.

Striking the first and second place on 4d, Hui was rich but he spend all his money on woman and gambling. After a gamble, Hui was attacked by the spirit because he did not do what he has promise the spirit. Hui asked Hai to help, Hai told him the jade bracelet he picked actually belongs to a woman ghost name Juan. Hui promise to marry Juan who will help him to strike rich again. But it turn out Juan is a nyonya transexual ghost (it was Hai). Under no help, Hui married Juan and have sex with Juan.

On the street, Hui was knocked off by a car and dead. His spirit has to follow Juan away.

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

For me, this is quite a good black comedy film to enjoy. Though a lot of Singaporean themselves doesn't like the second story, but for me its quite good. "Don't ever make a deal with the devil, you will need to pay off"~ this is so real. Though a lot of people don't believe the exist of spiritual, but we have to pay them respect anyway~ beware :P

Sleeping with the Dead 枕边凶灵

Released Year: 2002
Directed by 郑伟文 Wei-wen Cheng

Casted by:
陈小春 Jordan Chan as David
林熙蕾 Kelly Lin as Cindy
陈敏之 Man Chi Chan as David's wife
雷宇扬 Simon Loui as Detective Cheung
Story:

David is stress out from his work as a doctor and was depress after his beloved mother passed away. He met Cindy in a bad and have sex with her. 2 man fall from tall building, Detective Cheung went for investigating and discover these 2 man is his long lost friends.

Actually, Detective Cheung, David, Cindy and the 4 other man are best friend. The 4 guys rape Cindy in one event and killed her and buried her behind a brick wall. Cindy was back for revenge which include David & Detective Cheung. David and Detective Cheung went back to the scene and discover Cindy's corpse. The spirit came out and explained her reason for revenge.

In the meanwhile, David thought his wife is fooling around with his friend, but actually the wife has already passed away. Her spirit is back just to take care of David.

L² Scored: 0.5/10

L² Comment:

The title of this movie attracted my attention, but the movie is lame. The pace is slow and the scene is not scary/horrible. Just a plain boring horror movie, yawn~

Mr. Deeds

Released Year: 2002
Directed by Steven Brill

Casted by:
Adam Sandler as Longfellow Deeds
Winona Ryder as Babe Bennett alias Pam Dawson
Story:

Preston Blake started out in his career hoping to be a disc jockey as a young man, slowly working his way up through the ranks to found Blake Media, a corporation running hundreds of television and radio stations and with 50 thousand employees. After Blake freezes to death at the summit of Mount Everest with a triumphant smile on his face, a search for his heir begins.

When it is found that he has a living nephew named Longfellow Deeds who runs a pizzeria in New Hampshire, Deeds is contacted and brought to New York City by attorney & businessman Chuck Cedar. Plans are made for Deeds to sell his shares in the company to Cedar and return home $40 billion richer, but he must remain in New York for a few days as all the legal details are worked out.

The story is major news, and reporter Babe Bennett, who works for a tabloid show called Inside Access, has a friend pretend to steal her purse in sight of Deeds, because their research indicated Deeds wanted to meet a girl by saving her, the same way his father had met his mother. Deeds rescues her (as well as mercilessly beating her "robber") and she continues to go out with him under the disguise of Pam Dawson, a school nurse from Winchestertonfieldville, Iowa (a town she made up on the spot when asked where she was from, which later turns out to be a real place (Syosset, New York).

Though Pam initially hopes to just get a good story on the new heir, she eventually falls for the unfailingly kind-hearted Deeds, and decides to tell him that she's not who she says she is, but Inside Access, in concert with Cedar (fed the truth by the "robber", still suffering from the effects of Deeds "saving" Bennett) reveals it to Deeds first. Heartbroken, and upset, Deeds decides to return home to Mandrake Falls after giving $40 Billion of his money he inherits to the United Negro College Fund (much to the surprise of the chairman, who has a heart attack). After returning to Mandrake Falls, he learns from Crazy Eyes that Chuck Cedar intends to sell off the company, which will cause thousands of people to lose their jobs. Babe visits Deeds in Mandrake Falls and tries to win him back. He rejects her saying he doesn't really know who she is.

At a shareholders meeting, Cedar has everyone convinced to sell the company, until Deeds (who has bought a single share) arrives and manages to convince everyone to not sell. But Cedar has control of a majority of the shares and the sale is approved. Babe arrives, and reveals that Blake's butler, Emilio (John Turturro), is Preston Blake's illegitimate son (at one point he had told Deeds that Blake treated him "like a son"), and the true heir.

As a result, Deeds' sale of his shares to Cedar is not legal. Emilio immediately takes control and fires Cedar, as well as the entire top brass at the company, with the exception of Cecil Anderson , a good-hearted executive who had befriended Deeds (when he asks to remain, Emilio leaves the decision to Deeds, who quickly says yes). Babe reveals herself to Deeds and apologizes for tricking him, and they reconcile and Deeds falls in love again. As they're leaving, Emilio thanks Deeds for his support and asks how he can repay him. Deeds says that all he wants is his friendship. Emilio ends up giving Deeds a billion dollars, some of which Deeds spends on Corvettes for the entire town, and he returns to Mandrake Falls with his new wife Babe, where he learns that Hallmark Cards has bought one of his cards, the one he wrote for Babe.

The film includes several references to the novel (or its resultant movie) To Kill a Mockingbird. For example, Pam Dawson invents a story about falling out of old Boo Radley's apple tree and breaking her arm. Dawson also greets a woman as "Mrs. Finch" and her dog as "Atticus"; Atticus Finch was the father of Scout and Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird. Dawson also claims to become sexually excited by fire, which may be a reference to the burning of Ms. Maudie's house in the novel.

L² Scored: 2/10

L² Comment:

Sorry to say that, i don't really like this film. Though Adam Sandler has been always be my favorite comedian, but this movie is so boring and predictable. The funny point is a bit lame and not exaggerate much enough to create any laughter for me. And... Ms Ryder, u look like a mess in this movie :(

Moulin Rouge!

Released Year: 2001
Directed by Baz Luhrmann

Casted by:
Ewan McGregor as Christian
Nicole Kidman as Satine
Jim Broadbent as Harold Zidler
Richard Roxburgh as The Duke of Monroth
Story:

The film opens in the year 1900, where a suffering and depressed writer named Christian is mourning the loss of his true love: Satine. Determined to have her story written, Christian sits at his desk and begins to type it out on a typewriter.

In 1899, one year before, Christian moves to the Montmartre district of Paris to become a writer among the Bohemian culture. He encounters performers led by Toulouse-Lautrec; his writing skills allow them to finish their proposed show, "Spectacular Spectacular", that they wish to sell to Harold Zidler, owner of the Moulin Rouge. The group arrives at the Moulin Rouge as Zidler and his "Diamond Dog Dancers" perform for the audience (Lady Marmalade/Zidler's Rap (Can Can)/Smells Like Teen Spirit). Toulouse-Lautrec arranges for Christian to see Satine, the star courtesan, in her private quarters to present the work, unaware that Zidler is promising Satine to the wealthy and unscrupulous Duke of Monroth, a potential investor in the cabaret ("Sparkling Diamonds" medley).

Satine mistakes Christian for the Duke, and dances with him before retiring to her private chamber with him in order to discuss things "privately" (Rhythm of the Night) but soon learns that he is just a writer; by this time Christian has fallen in love with her ("Your Song"). The Duke interrupts them; Christian and Satine claim they were practicing the lines for the Moulin Rouge's new show, "Spectacular Spectacular". With the help of Zidler, Toulouse-Lautrec and the rest of the troupe pitch the show to the Duke with an improvised plot about an evil maharajah attempting to woo an Indian courtesan who is in love with a poor sitar player ("The Pitch (Spectacular Spectacular)"). The Duke agrees to back the show on the condition that only he is allowed to see Satine. Meanwhile, Satine contemplates on Christian and her longing to leave the Moulin Rouge to become "a real actress" (One Day I'll Fly Away). Christian later goes back to Satine to convince her that she loves him ("Elephant Love Medley"). As the cabaret is converted to a theater, Christian and Satine continue seeing each other under the pretense of rehearsing Satine's lines. The Duke becomes jealous and warns Zidler that he may stop financing the show; Zidler arranges for Satine to dine with the Duke that evening, but during practice she falls ill (Gorecki). That night, Zidler makes excuses to the Duke, claiming that Satine has gone to confession ("Like a Virgin"). Zidler learns that Satine is dying from consumption. Satine tries to convince Christian that their relationship endangers the show, but he counters by writing a secret love song into the show to affirm their love ("Come What May").

As the Duke watches Christian rehearse lines with Satine, Nini, a jealous performer, points out that the play is a metaphor for Christian, Satine and the Duke. Enraged, the Duke demands that the play ending be changed so that the courtesan ends up with the maharajah; Satine offers to spend the night with the Duke to keep the original ending. While at the Duke's quarters, Satine sees Christian on the streets below, and realizes she cannot go through with this ("El Tango de Roxanne"). The Duke tries taking her forcibly, but she is saved by Le Chocolat, one of the cabaret dancers, and reunited with Christian, who recommends they run away together. The Duke tells Zidler that he will have Christian killed if Satine is not his. Zidler reiterates this warning to Satine, but when she refuses to return, he finally informs her that she is dying (The Show Must Go On). Acting on the threat to Christian's life, Satine tells Christian they can no longer see each other as she will be staying with the Duke. Christian tries following her, but is denied entry to the Moulin Rouge, and falls into a state of depression, even though Toulouse-Lautrec insists that Satine loves him.

On the night of the show, Christian sneaks into the Moulin Rouge, ready to pay Satine to return his love just as the Duke has paid for her (Hindi Sad Diamonds). He catches Satine before she steps on stage, and he demands she tells him that she does not love him. Suddenly they find themselves in the spotlight; Zidler convinces the audience that Christian is the disguised sitar player. Christian reviles Satine for her perceived betrayal and walks off the stage. From the rafters, Toulouse-Lautrec, cries out, "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return", spurring Satine to sing the secret love song Christian wrote to express their love. Christian returns to the stage, joining her in the song. The Duke's bodyguard tries killing Christian but is thwarted by Toulouse-Lautrec and Valeria (a dancer in the Moulin Rouge), while the Duke's own attempt is stopped by Zidler. The Duke storms out of the cabaret as Christian and Satine complete their song ("Come What May (Reprise)", "Coup d'État (Finale)").

After the curtain closes, Satine succumbs to her illness. She and Christian affirm their love before she dies. A year later the Moulin Rouge has closed down, and Christian is writing the tale of his love for Satine, a "love that will live forever" (Nature Boy (Reprise)).

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

Oh Lord, if this is the first time i watch this movie, i'll definitely give it a score below 5 because it's quite confuse at the beginning of 20 minutes. Luckily this is my 3rd time watching this movie and i like it a bit better each time i watch it :)

There's really not much acting on the actors/actresses side, though there's a lot of nomination in multiple awards, and though they win some, but not on all the main category anyway... But this is quite new during 2001, that's why a lot of musical style film come out later~ :)

Serenity

Released Year: 2005
Directed by Joss Whedon

Casted by:
Nathan Fillion as Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds
Gina Torres as Zoe Washburne
Alan Tudyk as Hoban "Wash" Washburne
Sean Maher as Simon Tam
Summer Glau as River Tam
Morena Baccarin as Inara Serra
Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb
Jewel Staite as Kaywinnit Lee "Kaylee" Frye
Story:

In 2517, humanity has moved to another star system, due to overpopulation on the Earth. The inner planets are controlled by the Alliance with frontier justice among the outer planets. A young girl, River Tam, is being mentally and physically conditioned by Alliance scientists. She is rescued from them by her brother, Simon and the two seek refuge aboard the Firefly-class transport ship Serenity captained by Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds. An Alliance agent, the Operative, is tasked with eliminating River as she has been observed by Alliance politicians and may have learned certain secrets due to her psychic abilities.

Aboard Serenity, Mal brings River on a bank raid against her brother's wishes. They are attacked by Reavers, animalistic humans who savagely mutilate, rape, and murder their victims. They escape, but Simon decides to leave Serenity at the next port. While Mal meets fences Fanty and Mingo, River becomes entranced by a TV commercial and begins attacking everyone. Before she can attack Mal, Simon arrives and shouts a "safe word" which causes her to fall asleep. Mal then picks River up and carries her back to Serenity. The crew contacts a reclusive hacker known as Mr. Universe who analyzes the commercial and discovers a subliminal message being broadcast across the Alliance designed to trigger River. He notes that River whispered the name "Miranda" before attacking.

Mal receives a call from Inara, a former passenger. Suspecting a trap but realizing that she is in danger, Mal visits Inara and is confronted by the Operative. The Operative offers to let Mal go free if he turns River over, but thanks to Inara's quick thinking she and Mal escape. After another of River's outbursts, the crew learns about Miranda, an outer rim planet thought to have been rendered uninhabitable as the result of a terraforming accident. Serenity travels to Haven, a mining colony and home of Shepherd Book, a former passenger and friend of the crew. They discover the outpost has been destroyed by Alliance forces. The Operative has ordered the deaths of all of Mal's contacts to deny him a safe haven and promises that he will continue to pursue them until River is turned over.

Mal orders Serenity modified to resemble a Reaver ship so they can reach Miranda. After sailing through a fleet of Reaver vessels, the crew discovers a normal planet, with its cities empty and laden with corpses. They discover a log recorded by an Alliance survey team explaining that the Alliance administered a chemical designed to suppress aggression, which killed off the populace. However, one tenth of one percent (0.1%) of the population instead became hyper-aggressive and unstable. The Alliance is responsible for the creation of the Reavers.

Mal contacts Mr. Universe's transmitter to arrange to have the log transmitted throughout the verse, but the Operative is already there. Serenity departs Miranda, but as they leave Reaver territory, they open fire on one of the ships. The Reavers pursue Serenity to Mr. Universe's planet where they engage the waiting Alliance fleet. The Operative's ship is destroyed but he survives in an escape pod. In the confusion, Serenity manages to crash land, but pilot Wash is killed by a pursuing Reaver ship. Finding Mr. Universe dead, Mal learns from a recorded message of a second transmitter. The crew sets up a last stand against the pursuing Reavers, buying Mal the time he needs to send the message. The crew find themselves overwhelmed by the Reavers and retreat behind a set of blast doors, but find they will not close. Zoe and Kaylee are injured, but Simon discovers he has left his medical kit at their prior position. As he rises to retrieve it, he is shot. He apologizes to River for failing her, but she announces that it is her turn to take care of Simon. She charges through the blast doors, triggering the closing mechanism and throws the medical kit to Simon before being dragged away by Reavers.

Mal finds the transmitter, but The Operative reveals himself and the two begin fighting. Mal disables The Operative and restrains him next to a railing, forcing him to watch the recording from Miranda. Mal returns to his crew finding them safe. The blast doors open to reveal River has single-handedly defeated the Reavers. The wall behind her explodes and they are surrounded by Alliance troops. The Operative, realizing he has been lied to by the government, gives the order for Alliance operatives to stand down from executing the Serenity crew.

After the crew buries their dead friends on Haven, they patch up Serenity in a repair yard on Persephone. Kaylee and Simon consummate their relationship. The Operative tells Mal that the Alliance has been weakened and that Mal and his crew are safe for the moment. Serenity returns to space with Mal at the helm and River acting as copilot.

L² Scored: -2/10

L² Comment:

What a bullshit!!! If not for the cute guy there, i've totally score it a -10. What a disaster to watch a horrible movie~ a waste of time.

The Thing 2011

Released Year: 2011
Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Casted by:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Kate Lloyd
Joel Edgerton as Sam Carter
Ulrich Thomsen as Dr. Sander Halvorson
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Derek Jameson
Eric Christian Olsen as Adam Finch
Trond Espen Seim as Edvard Wolner
Story:

In 1982, an extraterrestrial spaceship is discovered beneath the Antarctic ice by a Norwegian research team: Edvard, Jonas, Olav, Karl, Juliette, Lars, Henrik, Colin, and Peder. Paleontologist Kate Lloyd is recruited by Dr. Sander Halvorson and his assistant Adam Finch to investigate the team's discovery. After viewing the ship, Kate, Sander, and Adam are informed that the group has also discovered a survivor of the crashed ship buried in the ice.

The alien is transported to the Norwegian base in a block of ice. Sander orders the retrieval of a tissue sample from the creature against Kate's warnings. That evening while the team celebrate their find, helicopter co-pilot Derek observes the alien burst free from the ice and escape the base. The alerted team search for the creature and discover Lars's dog mutilated. Olav and Henrik find the alien which kills Henrik. The rest of the group arrive and set fire to the alien. An autopsy of the scorched alien corpse reveals that its cells are still alive and are consuming and imitating Henrik's own.

Derek, fellow pilots Carter and Griggs, and Olav prepare to leave the base by helicopter to seek help. In the base Kate discovers bloody, metal, tooth fillings near a blood-soaked shower. Kate runs outside and flags down the helicopter, but when it attempts to land Griggs transforms into the alien and attacks the crew, causing the vehicle to crash land in the mountains; the crew presumed lost. When Kate returns to the shower, she finds the blood has been removed. The base team agree to leave to find help but Kate confronts them with her theory that the "Thing" is capable of imitating them and has likely already done so. The team dismiss her claims, but Juliette confesses that she saw Colin leaving the bloodied shower. Juliette takes Kate to secure the vehicle keys to prevent the others leaving. While Kate searches, Juliette transforms into the Thing and attacks Kate. Kate flees, running by Karl whom the creature consumes instead. Lars arrives with a flamethrower and burns the Thing.

Carter and Derek return to the base, but the team refuse to believe that they could have survived the crash. Kate convinces them that Carter and Derek be isolated until a test can be prepared to check if they are still human. Adam and Sander develop a test, but their lab is destroyed in an apparent act of sabotage when both men momentarily leave. Kate proposes another method of eliminating some of the team as the Thing: Believing it cannot imitate inorganic material she inspects the team and singles out those without metal fillings: Sander, Edvard, Adam, and Colin. Lars and Jonas go to retrieve Carter and Derek, but discover they have broken out of isolation. As Lars leans inside a building in search of the pair, he is grabbed and pulled inside.

Jonas returns to Kate and Peder, begging for help. The group hear Carter and Derek breaking into the building and rush to intercept them. Edvard pressures Peder to burn both of them. Peder takes aim, but Derek shoots him multiple times, killing Peder and rupturing his flamethrower's fuel tank. The fuel ignites causing an explosion that knocks Edvard unconscious. While he is being carried for treatment, Edvard transforms into the Thing, infecting Jonas and killing Derek before assimilating Adam. Kate torches the infected Jonas and Derek before she and Carter pursue the Thing. While the pair search, Sander is found and infected by the Thing. After the pair separate, the Thing corners Carter in the kitchen but Kate arrives and burns it to death before it can attack him. Kate and Carter observe Sander drive off into the blizzard and give pursuit in the remaining vehicle.

They arrive at the now-active spaceship. Kate falls into ship and is confronted by the Sanders-Thing. She destroys it with an explosive grenade with the ensuing damage deactivating the ship. As Kate and Carter return to their vehicle Kate realizes that Carter is a Thing as he is no longer wearing an earring and Carter, when prompted on the issue, indicates the incorrect ear on which it was worn. Kate burns Carter and then retreats to her snowcat; she stares blankly out of the window.

The following morning helicopter pilot Matias arrives at the base. Colin is shown to have retreated into the radio room and committed suicide. Lars appears and shoots at Matias, ordering him to show his fillings to prove he is human. The Thing, in the form of Lars's deceased dog, escapes from the building and runs away. Lars and Matias give chase in the helicopter.

L² Scored: 9/10

L² Comment:

Well baby, this is superb, the movie before ALIEN (Sigourney Weaver's version). I love the way how they present the movie in a way that you will never know who is the next victim. Beside the main actress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), all of them died either attack by aliens or burned by their own kind.

This is a remake of the 1951 & 1982 movie, hmmm... i wonder where can i find these 2 old movies, any idea?