The Three Musketeers 2011

 Released Year: 2011

Directed by Paul W.S.Anderson

Casted by:

Matthew Macfadyen as Athos

Logan Lerman as D'Artagnan

Ray Stevenson as Porthos

Luke Evans as Aramis

Milla Jovovich as Milady de Winter

Orlando Bloom as Duke of Buckingham

Christoph Waltz as Cardinal Richelieu

Mads Mikkelsen as Captain Rochefort

Gabriella Wilde as Constance Bonacieux

 Story:

In Venice at the beginning of the 17th century, the Three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos , and Aramis, with the help of Athos' longtime lover, Milady de Winter, steal airship blueprints made by Leonardo da Vinci. However, they are betrayed by Milady, who gives the blueprints to the Duke of Buckingham. Upon returning to France, the Musketeers are forced to disband by Cardinal Richelieu for their failure, and they end up on the streets of Paris.

A year later, a young man named D'Artagnan leaves his village in Gascony for Paris in hopes of becoming a Musketeer as his father was, only to learn that they no longer exist. At a rural bar, D'Artagnan accuses Captain Rochefort, the leader of Richelieu's guard, of offending his horse, and challenges him to a duel. Rochefort shoots him while he is distracted but he is saved by Milady de Winter. Arriving in Paris, D'Artagnan by coincidence separately encounters Athos, Porthos and Aramis accidentally offending all three, then scheduling duels with each at 12:00, 1:00 and 2:00 pm respectively.

Athos brings Porthos and Aramis to the duel as his seconds. D'Artagnan realises they are the Musketeers he is seeking. He is prepared to continue with the duel but Richelieu's guards break it up. The three are inspired by D'Artagnan and fight together and defeat the soldiers, but later are summoned before the young King Louis XIII and his wife, Queen Anne. Richelieu asks the king to execute the four, but the queen is impressed by their bravery and the king congratulates them and invites them to an event, which to Athos' anger, turns out to be Buckingham's arrival (who comes in an airship built following da Vinci's blueprints).

Later, Richelieu orders Milady, who is actually working for him, to plant false love letters among Queen Anne's possessions, steal Queen Anne's diamond necklace, and take it to the Tower of London to frame Queen Anne as having an affair with the Duke of Buckingham. The affair would force King Louis to execute Queen Anne and declare war on England. At this point, the people would demand a more experienced leader: Richelieu himself. But Milady demands that Richelieu declare in writing that she is working on behalf of France, to protect herself in case of palace intrigue.

The false letters (saying that the necklace has been given to Buckingham) are found by a maid and are given to King Louis, who is advised by Richelieu to set up a ball at which Queen Anne would be forced to wear the necklace. If she doesn't, then her affair is real, and there will be war against England. Queen Anne's lady-in-waiting Constance Bonacieux discovers Richelieu's plan and asks the Musketeers to stop him. The Musketeers plan to sail to England and retrieve the jewels before the ball. However, at the dock, Rochefort sets up a blockade to prevent anybody from boarding the ships. Constance takes D'Artagnan's hat, cape and horse to divert the guards standing in front of the boat to allow the Musketeers to board undetected.

In London, Milady warns Buckingham that the Musketeers have arrived to take revenge on him. Milady instructs Buckingham of all their tendencies in battle, but Athos predicts this and the Musketeers resolve to do just the opposite. Buckingham captures D'Artagnan, but he was a decoy to let the Musketeers steal the airship. The Musketeers rescue D'Artagnan, demolishing the top floor of the Tower in the process. Athos points out that Milady would have fled, taking the necklace with her as insurance. As retribution for betraying them, Athos prepares to execute Milady. However, to spare him the pain of having to kill her, Milady decides to leap off the airship, dying on her terms.

The Musketeers return to Paris with the necklace, but they are attacked by Rochefort in another airship, as Milady had given Richelieu copies of da Vinci's blueprints. Rochefort then reveals that he has Constance, and threatens to kill her if they don't hand over the necklace. D'Artagnan agrees to exchange the necklace for Constance, with whom he is infatuated, but Rochefort knocks him out and captures him as soon as the necklace is in his possession. Rochefort then proceeds to attack the Musketeers' ship, at first gaining the upper hand due to the superior weaponry and armor of his airship. However, the Musketeers lure Rochefort into a storm cloud, burst the balloon of airship and make the ship crash into the Notre Dame Cathedral. On the roof, D'Artagnan duels and stabs Rochefort, who falls to his death. Meanwhile, Constance returns the necklace to Queen Anne.

The Musketeers arrive at the ball in Buckingham's now burning airship. However, for the sake of King Louis and his people, they claim that Richelieu had it built for the king, but an attempt was made by Rochefort to sabotage it, also showing King Louis the authorization Richelieu had given Milady, pretending that it was given to them. The King then congratulates the Musketeers, and thanks D'Artagnan, who he sees as his best friend, for everything. Richelieu, impressed by how the Musketeers handled the situation, offers them places in his employ, but they refuse. Richelieu threatens them by saying they will one day regret their choices, but they laugh him off. As Louis and Anne dance, D'Artagnan and Constance kiss. The Musketeers then leave, promising that they will protect France as Musketeers when they are needed.

At sea, Milady (who survived her fall) is rescued by Buckingham, who reveals that he knows that she was working for Richelieu and says that he is going to fight against France. The camera backs away and shows Buckingham advancing towards France's shore with a massive fleet of battleships and airships.

 L² Scored: 9.5/10

L² Comment:

Love this movie, but too bad i didnt watch it on the big screen few years ago, wondering when will the sequel be out... The whole storyline and the way the film was shoot is marvelous, love the scenery and the make up as well as the costume. Looking forward on the next movie :)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

 Released Year: 2011

Directed by Tomas Alfredson

Casted by:

Gary Oldman as George Smiley, "Beggarman"
    Colin Firth as Bill Haydon, "Tailor"
    Tom Hardy as Ricki Tarr
    Mark Strong as Jim Prideaux
    Ciarán Hinds as Roy Bland, "Soldier"
    Benedict Cumberbatch as Peter Guillam
    Toby Jones as Percy Alleline, "Tinker"

 Story:

In October 1973, Control, the head of British Intelligence ("the Circus"), sends agent Jim Prideaux to Communist Hungary to meet a Hungarian general who had promised to sell information. However, Prideaux is shot and captured by Soviet agents. Amid the international incident that follows, Control and his right-hand man George Smiley are forced into retirement. Control, already ill, dies soon afterwards.

Percy Alleline becomes the new Chief of the Circus, with Bill Haydon as his deputy and Roy Bland and Toby Esterhase as close allies. They have been successful lately in getting high-grade Soviet intelligence material from a project of theirs called "Witchcraft". Control and Smiley had distrusted this project. Witchcraft material is being shared with the Americans, in exchange for valuable US intelligence.

Smiley is brought out of retirement by Oliver Lacon, the civil servant in charge of intelligence, to investigate the claim by Ricki Tarr, an MI6 employee, that there has been a long-term mole in a senior role in British Intelligence. Control had held this suspicion as well. Working outside of the Circus, Smiley chooses a few men and begins to interview people who left the Circus about the same time as he and Control did.

One is Connie Sachs, who had been sacked by Alleline after claiming that Alexei Polyakov, a Soviet cultural attaché in London, is a Soviet mole-handler. Another is Jerry Westerby, who had been duty clerk on the night Prideaux was shot. Westerby says that on that night he called Smiley's house for instructions, but Ann, Smiley's wife, had answered. Shortly after, Haydon arrived at the Circus and said that he saw the news on the tickertape at his club. Smiley realizes that Haydon must have heard the news from Ann, with whom he was having an affair.

Smiley comes home and finds Tarr hiding there. Tarr tells him that he had been sent to Istanbul to investigate a Soviet agent named Boris. Tarr found that Boris had no significance, but that Boris's wife Irina was also an operative and seemed to have information. So Tarr overstayed in Istanbul and started having an affair with Irina to gain her trust. Irina, however, knew who Tarr was, and asked to trade the information, the fact that a mole sent by a Soviet spymaster named Karla exists in the top ranks of the Circus, for a new life in the West.

Tarr sent Irina's request back to London, but the reply did not come for several hours. The reply ignored Irina's request and said to come home immediately. Then, Boris, and also the British agent who was station chief in Istanbul, were both suddenly killed. Tarr saw Irina captured and being taken back to Russia. Tarr was subsequently accused of defecting and of murdering the British station chief, so he went on the run.

Smiley tells Peter Guillam, an officer at the Circus but who is working directly for Smiley, to steal the Circus logbook for that night Tarr called: he finds the pages for that night are cut out, suggesting that Tarr's story is true.

Smiley finds Prideaux, who was returned by the Russians but sacked from the service. Prideaux reveals that the specific purpose of the Hungary mission was to get the name of the mole. Control had codenamed the suspects "Tinker" (Alleline), "Tailor" (Haydon), "Soldier" (Bland), "Poorman" (Esterhase) and "Beggarman" (Smiley himself). Prideaux tells how he was brutally interrogated and gave in, and also how he saw a blonde female prisoner being shot in front of him (it was Irina). However, says Prideaux, the Soviets already knew of Control's investigation into the mole, and were only interested in finding out how far that investigation had progressed.

Smiley learns that Alleline, Haydon, Bland, and Esterhase have been regularly meeting Polyakov - the Project Witchcraft source - at a safe house to get material. At every meeting these men give Polyakov low-grade British material to help him maintain his cover with the Soviets, but one of these men, the mole, is actually handing over high-grade material, including material obtained from the Americans. The truth is, however, that Polyakov is loyal to the Soviets, and his job is to handle the mole. The Witchcraft material is mostly "chicken feed", with just enough "glitter" to persuade the Americans to share information with the British.

Smiley gets the safe house's location by threatening to deport Esterhase, who was formerly Hungarian and remains a wanted criminal there. Smiley then sets a trap by having Tarr appear at the Paris office announcing he knows who the mole is and is ready to give the name. The mole hears this, and immediately arranges with Polyakov to meet at the safe house to ask the Soviets to kill Tarr. Smiley waits at the safe house and captures the mole: Haydon.

At Sarratt, the Circus interrogation centre, Haydon reveals that he seduced Smiley's wife on Karla's orders, in order to distort any suspicions Smiley may have had of Haydon. Haydon also reveals that Prideaux confided in him about Control's suspicion of a mole right before Prideaux left for Hungary, since they were close friends.

The Circus makes plans to exchange Haydon back to the Soviets, but Prideaux, having learned of how Haydon betrayed him, kills Haydon. Smiley is restored to the Circus as its chief.

 L² Scored: 1/10

L² Comment:

This film was nominated in multiple awards and won a few, it supposed to be a great film to watch, but sorry its too boring for me. The whole film kills me minute by minute... i slept twice while watching it and i have to replay the previous scene to start watching it again. On and off, i used 2 days to finish this film. YAWN

The Prodigies

 Released Year: 2011

Directed by Antoine Charreyron

Voiced by:

Unknown

 Story:

 Ten year old Jimbo Farrar is a gifted child who is misunderstood and regularly beaten by his parents. One day he is badly beaten by his father while his mother cheers him on. Jimbo is carried away by his anger and loses control of his abilities, when he wakes up he finds his mother was beaten to death by his father who then hanged himself.

Locked in a psychiatric hospital, Jimbo is visited by the billionaire Mr. Killian, who decides to take him under his wing to teach him how to control his abilities.

Twenty years later, Jimbo Farrar is a brilliant scholar working in the Mr. Killian Foundation for Gifted Children, and married to anchorwoman Ann, who is pregnant with his child. He creates an extremely complex online game to find young children who have abilities like him.

Five unrelated teens solve the game and hack into the system to ask "where are you?. Jimbo leaves to recruit the teens, who are from various backgrounds, to go enroll at the Foundation. He finds when he returns that Killian has died. The Foundation is now controlled by Melanie, Killian's daughter, who doesn't want Jimbo to continue recruiting new candidates. Jimbo has the idea of ​​instead creating a televised competition to find future geniuses. The gameshow is used to bring in the five recruits Jimbo already has: Gil, an abused child; Liza, a young girl training to be a supermodel; Lee, an Asian girl who helps at her parents' store; Harry , an African American whose mother has a gambling problem; and Sammy, the overweight son of a wealthy family.

The five identify each other immediately and meet secretly in Central Park. No sooner are they together that two thugs assault Liza. Jimbo did not go to the meeting since he learned that Ann is pregnant and chose to be with her. He gets a message and mentally connects with the Five. He scares away the thugs before he finds Lisa in a coma and everyone else in shock. The next day he learns that Melanie wants to cover the incident up. Furious, he demands an explanation. Melanie fires him since he was her father's favorite and not her. Jimbo swears to protect other four and locks himself up, afraid he might get as angry as he did the day his parents died.

Under the leadership of Gil, the four friends infiltrate the archives of the Killian group where they find the recordings of Jimbo when he was in the hospital. He talks about his mental abilities and other "child-kings" who had the same (Killian was one). Gil, Sammy Lee and Harry avenge Liza, by killing the two thugs. But they also kill the police officer who covered it up and his wife, using their powers to take over the bodies of others.

Jimbo does not know what to do: Melanie refuses to let the game continue, but teenagers are demanding justice. One evening, while he tries to reason with the four friends, Jimbo finds they doubt him and put him to the test by ordering him to kill Jenkins. Jimbo, having promised young Killian to stop using this power, refuses. So they kill Jenkins themselves and put the blame on Jimbo, who quietly goes to jail. When Liza wakes up from the coma, Ann asks for her for help, but the girl uses her power over the baby. It is up to Melanie, to organize the final genius competition at the White House, attended by the President of the United States. When Jimbo discovers Ann's betrayal, he uses his power to break out of jail and join Liza in getting to the children, Melanie Ann and the White House.

At the White House Liza triggers a security plan where everyone in the Oval Office is sent to a secure bunker. Once locked in the four children manipulate the soldiers and bodyguards who begin killing everyone. Gil launches an atomic bomb at the Killian campus. Jimbo finally managed to join them in the bunker, where he realizes that Gil heads the group. The two clash in a battle of powers, but then Jimbo gets shot. While Jimbo lays dying, Harry convinces his friends to stop, forcing Gil to cancel the nuclear missiles. Jimbo dies shortly after.

Three months later, the Killian group is bankrupt. Pregnant Ann receives a package with a video message from Jimbo before he died. Liza left it before she disappeared with Harry and Sammy Lee in search of other "child-kings".

L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

I can't stop myself for giving a full marks for this animation. This is real good and fascinating, its a bit shame of me for not able to find who is the one who voiced for the characters. The whole film is so exciting and each scene is breathtaking. Of course a lot of scene cannot be done if human beings is the main characters, that's why all these cool animation appeared~ bravo

The Lady

 Released Year: 2011

Directed by Luc Besson

Casted by:

Michelle Yeoh as Aung San Suu Kyi
David Thewlis as Michael Aris
Jonathan Raggett as Kim Aris
Jonathan Woodhouse as Alexander Aris

 Story:

 In 1947, when Aung San Suu Kyi is two years old, her father Aung San leads Burma to independence. But soon afterwards, on 19 July 1947, he along with a group of his colleagues is assassinated by a military death squad.

As an adult she goes to England, finds a loving husband and has a happy family life. But in 1988 her mother's poor health forces her to return to Burma where her father, Aung San, is still widely remembered.

When she visits her mother in the hospital in 1988, she meets many of the people were wounded during the Tatmadaw's crackdown in the 8888 Uprising. She realises that political change is needed in Burma and is soon drawn into the movement to promote reform. She accepts the role of icon in support of self-determination by the Burmese people and devotes herself to activities in support of goals of greater political freedoms.

Suu Kyi founds a political party and clearly wins the 1990 elections. However, the Burmese military refuse to accept the result of the election and moved to bring Suu Kyi under control. She and her family became separated when her husband and children were banned from Burma and she was put under a house arrest for more than a decade. Yet their relentless struggling for Suu Kyi's recognition outside Burma is her guarantee she won't be forgotten and cannot disappear unnoticed.

Due to her family's efforts, she becomes the first woman in Asia to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet their separation continues because neither can Suu Kyi attend the ceremony nor can her husband Michael Aris see her one last time before his early death.

 L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

A nice movie regarding the true female warrior for Myanmar - Aung San Suu Kyi. A big cheers for Michelle Yeoh for doing a great job in this character. She purposely went for an extreme diet so that her weight and shape go as slim as the real legend lady. Michelle Yeoh also makes an effort to learn Burmese and deliver a long speech (though its not really that great, but really incredible).

The storyline is not bad but just a bit slow. Hope to see more good movie from Michelle Yeoh soon. :)