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...

The Amityville Horror 2005

 Released Year: 2005

Directed by Andrew Douglas

Casted by:

Ryan Reynolds as George Lutz

Melissa George as Kathy Lutz

Jesse James as Billy Lutz

Jimmy Bennett as Michael Lutz

Chloë Grace Moretz as Chelsea Lutz

 Story:

In 1974, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered his family at their house in Amityville, New York. He claimed that he was persuaded to kill them by voices he heard in the house. Married couple George and Kathy Lutz move into the house along with the latter's three children from a previous marriage, Billy, Michael and Chelsea. The family experiences paranormal events in the house. Chelsea claims that she befriended a girl named Jodie, a name possessed by one of the murdered DeFeo children. Chelsea also inexplicably acquires Jodie's teddy bear. Then one day the couple decide to go out and spend some time together, and they hire a babysitter to baby sit the 3 kids, when the babysitter, Lisa, arrives they come to know that she had been there before to babysit the Defeos.

She tells Billy about the murders that took place in their very house. When she goes to Chelsea's room and Chelsea tells her that she is a bad babysitter, and she says Jodie told her so, the babysitter begins to criticize Jodie for the reason behind her being fired from babysitting. She is dared by Billy to go to the closet (the same closet where Jodie was). Inside the closet, she gets locked and is not able to come out. After a few seconds she has an encounter with Jodie herself. Then she goes into a shock and the paramedics come and take her. On the way to the hospital, Lisa says to Kathy that she had seen JODIE, who was supposed to be dead. Kathy asks priest Father Callaway to bless the house, regarding this as a protective measure which will prevent any future paranormal incidents, but Father Callaway flees the house when he encounters such occurrences himself in the process. He later informs Kathy that the teddy bear Chelsea has belonged to Jodie DeFeo and was buried with her.

George's behavior towards Kathy's children becomes abusive and paranormal activity continues; Kathy discovers that the building once belonged to a cult preacher and becomes convinced that George's abusive behavior is owed to a possession of him by the preacher's spirit. She tries to evacuate her children from the house and escort them to safety, but the possessed George attempts to kill her and the children; Kathy knocks him out to prevent him from doing so and transports him away from the residence. Subsequently, George is released from the spirit's control and the family permanently leaves the house. A title card states that the family left within 28 days of arriving and never returned for their personal items. Jodie is shown standing in the now empty house and screaming in terror while the house rearranges itself. Subsequently, she is pulled beneath the floor by a pair of disembodied hands.

  L² Scored: 6.5/10 

L² Comment:

Remake of the same name movie in 1979, this is a true horror story which has receive a negative critics. For me, it is just standard horror movie and nothing really too exciting during the whole movie. Sometime, even though its a remake, but i really hope the production team would come out something special rather than just copy everything from the original movie, right?

Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds

Released Year: 2006

Directed by Phillip J. Bartell

Casted by:

 Jim Verraros as Kyle

Emily Brooke Hands  as Gwen Anderson

Rebekah Kochan as Tiffani von der Sloot

Brett Chukerman as Marc Everhard

Marco Dapper as Troy

Scott Vickaryous as Jacob

 Story:

Kyle breaks up with Marc, his love interest from the first movie, accusing him of flirting with hotter men. Kyle, Tiffani and Gwen, friends from the first movie, all become attracted to Troy, a chiseled farm boy from Troy, Illinois, who poses nude for their art class. Troy befriends and confides in them that he has slept with both women and men, but is reluctant to embrace any gay feelings. Kyle and the girls devise a scheme in which Kyle pretends to be an ex-gay who is dating Tiffani, to overcome Troy's inhibitions and get him to sleep with the both of them.

While Kyle and Troy start attending meetings with the campus ex-gay ministry, Marc notices Kyle becoming close with Troy and decides to try to seduce Troy himself. Troy eventually succumbs to Marc's advances during Gwen's homoerotic photo shoot, and the two fool around, but Marc cannot go through with it because he still has feelings for Kyle. Troy then overhears Gwen and Marc talking about the entire scheme.

Wanting to get back at the schemers, Troy visits Tiffani and Kyle because supposedly they have an "arrangement" that lets Kyle sleep with men. They attempt a threesome, but Troy gets his revenge by goading them into performing an uncomfortable act of cunnilingus first. Gwen and Marc storm into Kyle's house after witnessing the debacle, and Troy scolds the group for being so sex-crazy. Troy ultimately concludes that he is bisexual (to which everyone shouts out, "There's no such thing!", although they later accept it) and Kyle admits he was wrong to leave Marc.

The five then start scheming to out Jacob, the closeted leader of the ex-gay ministry, to his mother by tricking him to have sex with Octavio, another member of the ministry, in a portable toilet on wheels. Jacob finally comes out to his mother (after he inadvertently ejaculates on her coat as his sexuality is revealed), and flees with Octavio. Troy takes a liking to Tiffani and they start a relationship.

In the end, Marc and Kyle get back together after confessing their feelings to each other and start kissing. Gwen starts to date a girl experimentally.

 L² Scored: 5.5/10 

L² Comment:

 This is the 2nd movie of the Eating Out chronicles, though i love it coz dicks are shown often, but the storyline is a bit empty for me. The acting is quite bad also for some of the guys, but luckily Andrew Ley is hot and sexy enough :) yummy

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

 Released Year: 1994

Directed by Stephan Elliot

Casted by:

Terence Stamp as Bernadette Bassinger

Hugo Weaving as Anthony "Tick" Belrose/Mitzi Del Bra

Guy Pearce as Adam Whitely/Felicia Jollygoodfellow

Bill Hunter as Robert "Bob" Spart

 Story: 

Anthony "Tick" Belrose, using the drag pseudonym of Mitzi Del Bra, is a Sydney-based drag queen who accepts an offer to perform his drag act at Lasseter's Hotel Casino Resort managed by a female friend named Marion in Alice Springs, a remote town in central Australia. After persuading his friends and fellow performers, Bernadette Basinger, a recently bereaved transsexual woman, and Adam Whitely, a flamboyant and obnoxious younger drag queen who goes under the drag name Felicia Jollygoodfellow, to join him, the three set out in a large tour bus, which Adam christens "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" for a four-week run in the Australian Outback town.

While on the long journey through remote lands bordering the Simpson Desert, they meet a variety of characters, including a group of friendly Australian Aborigines for whom they perform, and the less accepting attitudes of rural Australia in such towns as Coober Pedy, and are subjected to homophobic abuse and even violence, including having their tour bus vandalized with the words "AIDS fuckers go home".

When the tour bus breaks down in the middle of the desert, the trio meet Bob, a middle-aged mechanic from a small outback town who joins them on their journey. Before they arrive at Alice Springs, Tick reveals that Marion is actually his wife, as they never divorced, and that they are, in fact, going there as a favour to her. Continuing their journey, Adam is almost mutilated by a homophobic gang before he is saved by Bob and Bernadette. Adam is shaken and Bernadette comforts him, allowing them to reach an understanding. Likewise, the others come to terms with the secret of Tick's marriage and resolve their differences. Together, they fulfill a long-held dream of Adam's, which, in the original plan, is to climb Uluru in full drag regalia ("A cock in a frock on a rock"), although the location was changed to King's Canyon in the film.

Upon arrival at the hotel, it is revealed that Tick and Marion also have an eight-year-old son, Benjamin, whom Tick has not seen for many years. Tick is nervous about exposing his son to his drag profession and anxious about revealing his homosexuality, though he is surprised to discover that Benjamin already knows and is fully supportive of his father's sexuality and career. By the time their four-week stint at the resort is over, Tick and Adam head back to Sydney, taking Benjamin back with them, so that Tick can get to know his son and Marion can have a long-earned break. However, Bernadette decides to remain at the resort for a while with Bob, who has decided to work at the hotel after the two of them had become close.

 L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:  

A very diva diva movie for me, i feel its funny especially watching the manly Hugo Weaving as a drag queen. But i like him though he is not as free as Guy Pearce in this movie. Overall the movie is not bad, but if there's a lil bit spice of bed scene will be better lol~

The Adventures of Felix / Drôle de Félix

 Released Year: 2000

Directed by Olivier Ducastel & Jaques Martineau

Casted by:

Sami Bouajila as Félix

Patachou as Mathilde Firmin

Ariane Ascaride as Isabelle

Pierre-Loup Rajot as Daniel

Charly Sergue as Jules

Maurice Bénichou as Fisherman

Philippe Garziano as Railroader

Didier Mahieu as Friend / Unionist

 Story:

Félix, a young gay man of Arab descent, living in Dieppe, is currently unemployed and HIV positive. While cleaning out the apartment of his recent deceased mother, he discovers that the father he never knew is living in Marseilles. Félix decides to hitchhike south to meet him, promising to see his lover Daniel there five days later.

Carrying with him only a small bag, his HIV medication and a rainbow kite, Félix takes to the road. He witnesses a racist attack and is beaten up by one of the assailants. He is unable, however, to bring himself to report it to the police. Later, Félix encounters a series of people who form an alternative family for him: a young gay man studying art, who Félix teaches to draw, a lone old widow, who shelters him in her house, a handsome railroad worker, with whom he has a brief sexual encounter, a mother of three children by three different fathers, and a kind, middle aged fisherman. As he calls each of these characters "brother", "cousin", "grandmother" and the like, he gradually constructs a sort of family and new understandings of life through this odyssey, no matter whether he actually meets his "true" father at the end of the story.

Félix is haunted by the racist crime he witnessed, in which he learns, the victim died, and in his inability to do anything about it. Stopping at a hotel, he sees the police arresting the murderer. When he arrives at Marseilles, Felix decides not to see his father and goes instead on a romantic holiday to Tunisia with his lover.

 L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:  

The storyline is not bad, but there's some part which really bored me out. But not a bad thing to watch it as i'm not expecting any nude scenes but there they are lol~

Particles of Truth

 Released Year: 2003

Directed by Jennifer Elster

Casted by:

Jennifer Elster as Lilli Black

Gale Harold as Morrison Wiley

 Story:

The film follows the lives of 10 dysfunctional individuals for 48 hours before the grand opening of an art show, focusing particularly on one dysfunctional couple played by Elster and Harold.

When this couple (Lili and Morrison) kiss for the first time, Lili goes into his bathroom and has flashbacks of her mother and realizes that she is not ready for a relationship. The film concludes that only with closure of her past, can she commit to a healthy relationship in the future.

L² Scored: 3/10

L² Comment:  

I watched this film because of Gale Harold, but seriously the speed is damn slow and i'm kinda bored after the first hour, i can barely finish the end of it and try to stop myself from falling into sleep...

On Golden Pond 1981

 Released Year: 1981

Directed by Mark Rydell

Casted by:

Katharine Hepburn as Ethel Thayer

Henry Fonda as Norman Thayer Jr.

Jane Fonda as Chelsea Thayer Wayne

Doug McKeon as Billy Ray Jr

Dabney Coleman as Bill Ray

William Lanteau as Charlie Martin

 Story:

An aging couple, Ethel and Norman Thayer, spends each summer at their cottage on a lake called Golden Pond. They are visited by daughter Chelsea, who is somewhat estranged from her curmudgeon of a father. Chelsea introduces them to her new fiance, Bill, and asks the Thayers to permit Bill's young son Billy to stay with them while she and Bill have some time to themselves.

The boy is annoyed by being left with elderly strangers with no friends nearby and nothing to do. He resents Norman's brusque manner at first, but eventually comes to enjoy their Golden Pond fishing adventures together. Chelsea returns, a little exasperated and envious of the fact that Norman seemingly has bonded with a stranger's child in a way he never quite did with her.

L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:  

Who will be as good as Katherine Hepburn to win another Best Actress from Oscar after so many years? Together with Henry Fonda, both of them won the Best Actor & Best Actress with this film while many others were being nominated such as Jane Fonda as the Best supporting actress, Best Film, Best Directors and others... 

The whole storyline is touching, it makes me really think about the life & death question, what will i be when i reach the time of passing away, will there anyone that i love/love me be around? Sad...

The Lover / L'Amant

 Released Year: 1992

Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud

Casted by:

梁家辉 Tony Leung as The Chinaman

Jane March as The Young Girl

 Story:

The primary characters are known only as The Young Girl and The Chinaman (now an antiquated term often described as offensive). The daughter of bitter, fearful, poverty-stricken colonials, the Girl is a pretty waif who wears an old silk dress and a man's fedora, and paints her lips bright red when out of her mother's sight. She and her family are French, but live in Vietnam where her mother is a schoolteacher to local children. Her weak-willed mother, violent older brother, and timid younger brother live in a rural section across the river. The girl is a loner but an excellent student, who dreams of being a writer.

The Young Girl meets the Chinaman when crossing the river on the ferry, returning to the city after a school holiday ended. He is the son of a Chinese businessman whose fortune was made in real estate, and has recently returned from Paris after dropping out of school. He has the look but lacks the self-assurance of the playboy he fancies himself to be, and he is mesmerized the first time he sees her standing by the rail on a crowded ferry crossing the Mekong River. After some awkward conversation, he offers her a ride to Saigon in his chauffeur-driven limousine and she accepts, although the two barely speak during the drive. She gives her age at the beginning of the film as 15, but lies to the man by stating that she is 17. On the other hand, a fresh Chinese graduate from France also impressed her by lying that he is 32, considering the usual age of the fresh graduate at the time. The following day, he waits for her outside her boarding school, and the two go to the room he rents for entertaining mistresses in the seedy Chinese quarter, where they make love. They realize that "a future together is unthinkable" because she is scheduled to return to Paris soon, and he is arranged to marry a Chinese heiress. Aware of the limited time they have together, they fall into a relationship in which they shed all responsibilities that come with commitment. Every day after school, the girl goes to the bachelor room.

The Young Girl's family discovers the affair, and though at first angry, they encourage her to continue because the man is wealthy and able to pay off some of their debts. Despite this added tension, the affair continues passionately. The Chinaman even goes so far as to beg his father for his allowance to be with the girl instead of entering into his arranged marriage, but his father would rather see him dead than with a "white girl." Though both devastated, the man marries his arranged bride, and the girl boards a ship days later to return to France.

Decades later, the Young Girl has become a successful writer. The Chinaman telephones her, as he is visiting France with his wife. He assured her that he never stopped loving her, and that he would not stop for the rest of his life. 

 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:  

Excellent movie i have ever watched since years ago (from 1984 Marguerite Duras' novel), love the story and all the things. Even though Jane March is not my favorite, but she's ok in this movie. Tony's ass and nice balls are memomable enough, i just wish that they could shoot a clearer scene on his hard cock which really show on the film.

A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella 西遊記大結局之仙履奇緣

 Released Year: 1995

Directed by 劉鎮偉 Jeffrey Lau

Casted by:

周星馳 Stephen Chow as 至尊寶 / 孫悟空 Joker / Monkey 

朱茵 Athena Chu as 紫霞 & 青霞 ZiXia & QinXia 

羅家英 Lo Kar Ying as 唐三藏 Longevity Monk

吳孟達 Ng Man Tat as 二當家 / 豬八戒 Pigsy 

蔡少芬 Ada Choi as 鐵扇公主 Princess Iron Fan

莫文蔚 Karen Mok as 白晶晶 / 白骨精 Bak Jing Jing

藍潔瑛 Yammie Lam as 春三十娘 / 蜘蛛精 Spider Woman

Story:  

After travelling back in time, Joker discovers more about his past life and reunites with his master, Longevity Monk, and his fellows Pigsy and Sandy. However, he does not want to accept his fate as Monkey, because he just wants to get back Pandora's Box and return to 500 years later to save Bak Jing-jing. The fairy Zixia falls in love with him after he pulls out her sword from its scabbard because she once made a promise to love the person who can unsheathe her sword.

Zixia and Longevity Monk are captured by Bull King, who wants to take Zixia as his concubine and feast on the Monk's flesh to become immortal. Pigsy and Sandy try to rescue their master but the Monk refuses to leave unless Joker promises to fulfil his destiny. Joker goes off in search of Zixia, rescues her, and they flee from Bull King. In an ensuing fight between Joker and his companions against Bull King, Joker falls off a cliff and finds himself back in Waterfall Cave, where he meets Grandpa Buddha and Bak Jing-jing. Bak Jing-jing agrees to marry Joker initially, but she leaves later and tells him to save Zixia because she knows the one he truly loves is Zixia. Shortly after, Spider Woman comes to Waterfall Cave and kills everyone there, including Joker.

Joker, as a ghost, hears Guanyin's voice inside the cave again, reminding him about his destiny. He decides to accept his fate and puts on the golden headband, transforming into Monkey. He returns to the world and rushes off to Bull King's city to save his master and stop Bull King's wedding ceremony with Zixia. As he is now Monkey, he must relinquish all his human desires, including love, so he tells Zixia that he is not Joker and pretends to scorn her.

Monkey and Bull King engage in battle. When Bull King realises that he is losing, he uses Princess Iron Fan's magic fan to churn up strong winds that will blow the entire city towards the Sun. Monkey succeeds in stopping Bull King and saving everyone, but Zixia sacrifices herself to save him. As she dies, Monkey feels that he still loves her and his headband starts to tighten, giving him a headache. In anger, he beats up Bull King before escaping together with his master, Pigsy and Sandy, by using the Pandora's Box.

Monkey wakes up later and finds himself in a cave, but with his master and fellows this time. Outside the cave, in a busy city, Monkey sees the incarnations of Joker and Zixia in a standoff on top of a wall. He uses his powers to possess Joker's body and make Joker give Zixia a long and passionate kiss before leaving Joker's body. Joker recovers and is surprised to see himself locked in an embrace with Zixia, but accepts and continues the romance with her. They notice Monkey walking away in the crowd below. He does not turn back and continues on the journey to the west with his companions.

 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment: 

Second part of the movie rounds up the queries and question marks of the first movie. Of course this comedy film doesn't really based on the fiction in 100%, therefore we were curious of what is gonna happen in this part. Showing in the same year, the second movie rank 1 spot higher than then first one and landed in number 5 of HK blockbuster in 1995. While Yammie, Karen & ManTat did not occur that much, Athena & Ada appeared in this second part is also a wonderful arrangement as well.