The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Released Year: 2013
Directed by Francis Lawrence

Casted by:
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark
Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne
Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy
Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket
Lenny Kravitz as Cinna
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee
Donald Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow
Jeffrey Wright as Beetee Latier
Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman
Willow Shields as Primrose Everdeen
Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair
Jena Malone as Johanna Mason
Lynn Cohen as Mags Flanagan


Story:

After winning the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark return home to District 12. President Snow visits Katniss at her home. The two make an agreement to not lie to one another, and Snow explains that her actions in the Games have inspired rebellions across the districts. He orders her to use the upcoming victory tour to convince him that her actions were out of genuine love for Peeta, not defiance against the Capitol, otherwise Katniss' loved ones will be killed.

As the tour begins, Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss and Peeta's mentor, warns them that the "show" of their relationship must continue for the rest of their lives. Katniss suggests a public engagement between herself and Peeta, which is carried out and approved by Snow at his mansion in the Capitol.

Returning home, Katniss warns her friend Gale Hawthorne of Snow's threat to kill both their families. Peacekeepers crack down on District 12, and Gale is publicly whipped after attacking new Head Peacekeeper Romulus Thread. Snow announces that the upcoming 75th Hunger Games, the Third Quarter Quell, will feature tributes selected from previous victors. Katniss immediately devotes herself to ensuring Peeta's survival, and recruits Haymitch's help to do so. At the reaping, Effie Trinket draws Katniss and Haymitch's names, but Peeta immediately volunteers to take Haymitch's place.

As they prepare, Haymitch reveals that all the tributes are angry about being returned to the Games and advises a reluctant Katniss to make allies. In the pre-Games interviews, Katniss wears a wedding dress, as ordered by President Snow, but her stylist Cinna rigs it to transform into a representation of a mockingjay. Peeta announces that he and Katniss have secretly married and are expecting a baby, which causes outrage, and the audience of Capitol citizens begins shouting for the Games to be stopped, to no avail. Just before Katniss enters the arena, Cinna is severely beaten by Peacekeepers, as punishment for the dress, and dragged away as Katniss watches helplessly.

In the Games, Katniss allies with Finnick Odair and the elderly Mags, from District 4. The arena's outer force field shocks Peeta, stopping his heartbeat until Finnick revives him. The group flees a poisonous fog, and Mags sacrifices herself so as to avoid slowing them down. When vicious mandrills attack, Peeta is saved by the unexpected sacrifice of a tribute from District 6. The group escapes to a beach and meets District 3's Wiress and Beetee, and District 7's Johanna Mason. Wiress discovers the arena is designed like a clock with regular hazards each hour, but is killed soon afterward by Cashmere and Gloss, the brother and sister tributes from District 1, who are in turn killed by Johanna and Katniss, respectively.

Beetee suggests using one of the hazards, a tree that is struck by lightning every 12 hours, and a coil of wire to electrocute the other remaining tributes. The group separates to prepare the trap, but once alone Johanna suddenly hits Katniss over the head, stunning her, and discreetly cuts the tracker from her arm. Katniss returns to the tree and finds an unconscious Beetee with the wire from the tree attached to a makeshift spear. Unable to find Peeta, Katniss almost attacks Finnick, but Finnick reminds her to remember "who the real enemy is", as Haymitch had advised her prior to the Games. Katniss attaches the remaining wire to an arrow and shoots it into the arena's force field as the lightning hits, causing a power failure that takes down the dome's force field as well as the Capitol's surveillance.

Katniss awakens in an aircraft to find Haymitch, Beetee, Finnick, and Plutarch Heavensbee, the head Gamemaker, who is revealed to be a rebel against Snow. He tells her they are bound for District 13, headquarters of the new rebellion, and that half the tributes were aware of the plan to escape with Katniss, who symbolizes the growing rebellion. They were unable to rescue Peeta and Johanna, who were taken by the Capitol. A distraught Katniss is sedated after attacking Haymitch. She later awakens to find Gale by her side, who reassures her that her family is safe but tells her that District 12 has been destroyed by the Capitol.

L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

Kinda draggish in the beginning of the movie until i fall asleep in the cinema previously. Rewatching the blu-ray version & the same thing happened to me again. It only excites me when the fights begins. Pity Mags the old lady who has to involved in the fight again, but well, somebody needs to be sacrifice right?

Jack the Giant Slayer

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by Bryan Singer

Casted by:

Nicholas Hoult as Jack

Eleanor Tomlinson as Isabelle

Ewan McGregor as Elmont

Stanley Tucci as Lord Roderick

Ian McShane as King Brahmwell

Bill Nighy and John Kassir as Fallon

 Story:

In the Kingdom of Cloister, Jack, a young farm boy, is fascinated by the legend of Erik, an ancient king who defeated an army of invading giants from a realm in the sky by controlling them with a magical crown. At the same time, Princess Isabelle becomes fascinated with the same legend.

Ten years later, Jack goes into town to sell his horse to support his uncle's farm. There, Jack spots Isabelle and develops a crush on her after defending her honor from a group of hooligans. Meanwhile, Lord Roderick returns to his study, only to find that a monk has robbed him. The monk offers Jack some magic beans he stole from Roderick as collateral for Jack's horse. Back at the castle, Isabelle quarrels with her father, King Brahmwell, as she wants to explore the kingdom, but he wants her to stay and marry Roderick. Likewise, Jack's uncle scolds him for being foolish before throwing the beans on the floor and leaving the house.

Determined to be free, Isabelle sneaks out of the castle and seeks shelter from the rain in Jack's house. As it rains, one of the beans takes root and grows into a massive beanstalk that carries the house and Isabelle into the sky as Jack falls to the ground.

Jack, Roderick, and Roderick's attendant Wicke volunteer to join the king's knights, led by Elmont and his second in-command, Crawe, and climb the beanstalk in search of Isabelle. As they climb, Roderick and Wicke cut the safety rope, intentionally killing some of the knights. At the top, they discover the giants' realm and decide to split into two groups: one with Jack, Elmont, and Crawe, and the other including Roderick and Wicke, but not before Roderick forcibly takes the remaining beans from Jack (although Jack manages to save one for himself).

Jack's group is trapped by a giant, who takes everyone prisoner except Jack. Meanwhile, Roderick's group encounters two other giants; one eats Wicke, but before they can do the same to Roderick, Roderick dons the magic crown.

Jack follows the giant to the giants' stronghold, where the two-headed giant leader, Fallon, has killed Crawe. There, Jack finds the imprisoned Isabelle and Elmont. As the giants prepare to kill their remaining prisoners, Roderick walks in and enslaves the giants with the crown. He tells the giants they will attack Cloister at dawn and gives them permission to eat Isabelle and Elmont. Jack rescues Isabelle and Elmont as one of the giants prepares to cook Elmont as a pig-in-a-blanket. The trio makes for the beanstalk, where Jack causes the giant guarding the beanstalk to fall off the realm's edge. Seeing the giant's body, Brahmwell orders the beanstalk cut down to avoid an invasion by the giants.

Jack and Isabelle head down the beanstalk, while Elmont stays to confront Roderick. Elmont kills Roderick, but Fallon takes the crown before Elmont can claim it, and Elmont is forced to escape down the beanstalk. Jack, Isabelle, and Elmont all survive the fall after the beanstalk is cut down. As everyone returns home, Jack warns that the giants are using Roderick's beans to create beanstalks to descend down to Earth and attack Cloister.

The giants chase Jack, Isabelle, and Brahmwell into the castle, where Elmont fills the moat with oil and sets it on fire. Fallon falls in the moat and breaks into the castle from below. As the siege continues, Fallon captures Jack and Isabelle, but Jack throws the final bean down Fallon's throat, causing a beanstalk to rip apart his body. Jack takes the crown and sends the giants back to their realm.

Jack and Isabelle marry and tell the story of the giants to their children. As time passes, the magic crown is crafted into St Edward's Crown and is secured in the Tower of London.

 L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment: 

All of us known this story since our childhood, or its better known as Jack & the beanstalk ~ Overall the storyline is not bad, following the original story which we have familiar with. The graphic and thingy is good, only the giants might look a bit fake to me haha

The Hunger Games

 Released Year: 2012

Directed by Gary Ross

Casted by:

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen

Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark
Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne
Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman

Amandla Stenberg as Rue
Alexander Ludwig as Cato
Isabelle Fuhrman as Clove

Story:

The nation of Panem consists of a wealthy Capitol and twelve poorer districts. As punishment for a past rebellion, each district must provide a boy and girl ("tributes") between the ages of 12 and 18 selected by lottery (the "Reaping") for the annual Hunger Games. The tributes must fight to the death in an arena; the sole survivor is rewarded with fame and wealth. In her first Reaping, 12-year-old Primrose Everdeen is chosen from District 12. Her older sister Katniss volunteers to take her place. Peeta Mellark, a baker's son who once gave Katniss bread when she was starving, is the other District 12 tribute.

Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol, accompanied by their frequently drunk mentor, past victor Haymitch Abernathy. He warns them about the "Career" tributes who train intensively at special academies and almost always win.

During a TV interview with Caesar Flickerman, Peeta unexpectedly reveals his love for Katniss. She is outraged, believing it to be a ploy to gain audience support, as "sponsors" may provide in-Games gifts of food, medicine, and tools. However, she discovers Peeta meant what he said.

The televised Games begin with half of the tributes killed in the first few minutes; Katniss barely survives ignoring Haymitch's advice to run away from the melee over the tempting supplies and weapons strewn in front of a structure called the Cornucopia. Peeta forms an uneasy alliance with the four Careers. They later find Katniss and corner her up a tree. Rue, hiding in a nearby tree, draws her attention to a poisonous tracker jacker nest hanging from a branch. Katniss drops it on her sleeping besiegers. They all scatter, except for Glimmer, who is killed by the insects. Hallucinating due to tracker jacker venom, Katniss is warned to run away by Peeta. Rue cares for Katniss for a couple of days until she recovers.

Meanwhile, the alliance has gathered all the supplies into a pile. Katniss has Rue draw them off, then destroys the stockpile by setting off the mines planted around it. Furious, Cato kills the boy assigned to guard it. As Katniss runs from the scene, she hears Rue calling her name. She finds Rue trapped and releases her. Marvel, a tribute from District 1, throws a spear at Katniss, but she dodges the spear, causing it to stab Rue in the stomach instead. Katniss shoots him dead with an arrow. She then comforts the dying Rue with a song. Afterward, she gathers and arranges flowers around Rue's body. When this is televised, it sparks a riot in Rue's District 11. President Snow summons Seneca Crane, the Gamemaker, to express his displeasure at the way the Games are turning out.

Since Katniss and Peeta have been presented to the public as "star-crossed lovers", Haymitch is able to convince Crane to make a rule change to avoid inciting further riots. It is announced that tributes from the same district can win as a pair. Upon hearing this, Katniss searches for Peeta and finds him with an infected sword wound in the leg. She portrays herself as deeply in love with him and gains a sponsor's gift of soup. An announcer proclaims a feast, where the thing each survivor needs most will be provided. Peeta begs her not to risk getting him medicine. Katniss promises not to go, but after he falls asleep, she heads to the feast. Clove ambushes her and pins her down. As Clove gloats, Thresh, the other District 11 tribute, kills Clove after overhearing her tormenting Katniss about killing Rue. He spares Katniss "just this time...for Rue". The medicine works, keeping Peeta mobile.

Foxface, the girl from District 5, dies from eating nightlock berries she stole from Peeta; neither knew they are highly poisonous. Crane changes the time of day in the arena to late at night and unleashes a pack of hound-like creatures to speed things up. They kill Thresh and force Katniss and Peeta to flee to the roof of the Cornucopia, where they encounter Cato. After a battle, Katniss wounds Cato with an arrow and Peeta hurls him to the creatures below. Katniss shoots Cato to spare him a prolonged death. With Peeta and Katniss apparently victorious, the rule change allowing two winners is suddenly revoked. Peeta tells Katniss to shoot him. Instead, she gives him half of the nightlock. However, before they can commit suicide, they are hastily proclaimed the victors of the 74th Hunger Games.

Haymitch warns Katniss that she has made powerful enemies after her display of defiance. She and Peeta return to District 12, while Crane is locked in a room with a bowl of nightlock berries, and President Snow considers the situation.

  L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

 Love this movie, its something similar like the Japanese film "Battle Royale". This movie is originated from Suzanne Collins' novel The Hunger Games as well. Overall the movie met my expectation no matter in the storyline, characters and the twist as well. I wish to read the novel and hoping to see the next movie soon :)

Captain America: The First Avenger

Released Year: 2011
Directed by Joe Johnston

Casted by:
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America
Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter
Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt / Red Skull
Sebastian Stan as Sgt. James "Bucky" Barnes
Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Phillips
Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine
Story:

In March 1942, Nazi officer Johann Schmidt and his men invade Tønsberg, Norway, to steal a mysterious tesseract possessing untold powers. In New York City, Steve Rogers is rejected for World War II military duty due to various health and physical issues. While attending an exhibition of future technologies with his friend Bucky Barnes, Rogers attempts to again enlist. Having overheard Rogers' conversation with Barnes about wanting to help in the war, Dr. Abraham Erskine allows Rogers to enlist. Rogers is recruited as part of a "super-soldier" experiment under Erskine, Colonel Chester Phillips and Peggy Carter. Phillips is unconvinced of Erskine's claims that Rogers is the right person for the procedure but relents after seeing Rogers commit an act of self-sacrificing bravery. The night before the treatment, Erskine reveals to Rogers that Schmidt underwent an imperfect version of the treatment, becoming super-human but suffering side-effects.

In Europe, Schmidt and Dr. Arnim Zola successfully harness the energies of the tesseract, intending to use the power to fuel Zola's inventions. Schmidt, having discovered Erskine's location, dispatches an assassin to kill him. In America, Erskine subjects Rogers to the super-soldier treatment, injecting him with a special serum and dosing him with "vita-rays". Rogers emerges from the experiment taller and muscular. After the experiment, one of the attendees shoots and kills Erskine, revealing himself as Schmidt's assassin Heinz Kruger. Rogers pursues and captures Kruger but the assassin commits suicide via cyanide capsule before he can be interrogated.

With Erskine's death the super-soldier formula is lost. Rogers chooses to tour the nation in a colorful costume as "Captain America" to promote war bonds rather than be confined to a lab while scientists attempt to rediscover Erskine's formula. In Italy 1943, while touring to active servicemen, Rogers learns that Barnes' unit was lost in battle against Schmidt's forces. Refusing to believe Barnes is dead, Rogers mounts a solo-rescue attempt with Peggy and Howard Stark flying him behind enemy lines. Rogers infiltrates the fortress belonging to Schmidt's HYDRA organisation, freeing Barnes and the other captured soldiers. Rogers confronts Schmidt who reveals his face to be a mask, removing it to display the red-colored, skull-like face that earned him the nickname "The Red Skull". Schmidt escapes and Rogers returns to base with the freed soldiers.

Rogers recruits Barnes, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Jim Morita, James Falsworth, and Jacques Dernier to attack the other known bases belonging to Hydra. Stark provides Rogers with a new outfit and a new, circular shield made of Vibranium, capable of negating large amounts of damage. Rogers and his team attack and destroy all of the known bases. The team later attacks a train carrying Zola. During the assault Zola is captured but Barnes falls from the train and is lost. Using information gathered from Zola, Rogers leads an attack on Schmidt's final base to stop him using his powerful weapons against American cities. Rogers manages to board Schmidt's jet before it takes off and confronts him. During the fight, Rogers damages Schmidt's container for the tesseract. Schmidt physically handles the tesseract, causing him to dissolve in a bright light. The tesseract falls to the floor of the plane, melting through the surface and falling to Earth.

Seeing no way to safely land the plane without risking the onboard weapons detonating, Rogers makes a date with Peggy via radio before purposely crashing the plane in the Arctic. Stark later recovers the tesseract from the floor of the ocean but the aircraft remains undiscovered and Rogers is declared inactive. Rogers awakens in a hospital room. Deducing something is wrong, he flees outside into what is revealed to be present day New York. Rogers is confronted by Nick Fury who informs him he has been "asleep" for nearly 70 years.

In a post-credits scene, Fury approaches Rogers and tells him that he has a mission for him.

L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

I didn't read any of Captain America's comic before, but hell yeah this is a nice movie. Though i watch it in 3D, but seriously, its not worth as the 3D effect is not that much, so i think its ok if you guys just go for the normal 2D movie instead.

The whole story mention about how Captain America is born and how he transform into such a hottie, oopps, i mean superhero. But from the ending, the possibility of the rest of the actors/actresses to be film in the next movie (except Chris Evans & Samuel L Jackson) is to be zero i can say.

Chris Evans is the best thing to be view in the whole movie, especially his hot body. Pheww... just look at his nipples, so damn delicious :) lol

Burlesque

Released Year: 2010
Directed by Steven Antin

Casted by:
Christina Aguilera as Alice Marilyn "Ali" Rose
Cher as Tess
Cam Gigandet as Jack
Stanley Tucci as Sean
Eric Dane as Marcus Gerber
Kristen Bell as Nikki
Peter Gallagher as Vincent "Vince" Scali
Julianne Hough as Georgia
Story:

Ali Rose is a young, hard-done-by girl who works in a bar in a small town in Iowa. Her boss hasn't paid her for two months and she has finally had enough. She takes what he owes her from the till and decides to leave for Los Angeles to pursue her dream of singing. After a fruitless day of searching for jobs in her new home, she winds up at a burlesque bar and becomes enthralled with the whole concept. She tries to persuade Tess to let her go on stage but Tess won't hear her out.

Ali meets the friendly bartender Jack and starts to waitress for him because she knows this is where she belongs. Later, Tess auditions Ali and hires her as a dancer to replace a newly pregnant dancer named Georgia. One night, Nikki, the most famous dancer in this bar, gets drunk and is not allowed to perform by Tess, so Ali takes her place. Nikki cuts the music out of jealousy, but Ali impresses everyone with her own voice. She becomes the new star of this bar and earns it a reputation.

Ali had some dates with a successful businessman named Marcus before she realizes that her true love is Jack, whom she has to share an apartment with after her hotel room is robbed. Meanwhile, running out of money, Tess is worried that she has to sell the bar to Marcus, who intends to tear down the club and build a skyscraper. Finally, Ali helps Tess solve the problem by selling the air right of this place to another businessman. Tess has financial resources and Ali stays at the bar as its most valuable star.

L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

After waiting for a long time, Burlesque finally come to Malaysia. I was unable to watch it at the 1st time until now. A movie never to be missed. With her powerful voice and her voluptuous body, xtina definitely owned this film. But Cher's "The Last of Me" is certainly a great performance which is memorable enough until it won several awards, bravo.

The whole film is damn gorgeous, but not so compatible to the bitchy Moulin Rogue, lol. And Cam Gigandet's butt is a must-watch in the whole film, yummy~

The Lovely Bones

Released Year: 2009
Directed by Peter Jackson

Casted by:
Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon
Mark Wahlberg as Jack Salmon
Rachel Weisz as Abigail Salmon
Stanley Tucci as George Harvey
Susan Sarandon as Grandma Lynn
Reece Ritchi as Ray Singh
Story:

Susie Salmon, a 14 years old girl who live in a happy family on 1973 who dreams of becoming a famous photographer. She has a crush on an indian boy, Ray Singh and so does he towards Susie. Ray sliped a not for Susie for a date on the next day. As Susie walking happily back home after Ruth Conners, she bumped into her neighbour, George Harvey.

George coaxes her into seeing an underground den that he says he has built for the neighbourhood children. While in the den, Geroge raped Susie and killed her. But Susie's spirit cannot accept the facts and ran away and passed through Ruth on her way. In the meanwhile, her family was so worried and make report to the police. Susie's spirit ran home and found out the whole house was empty. She then saw Harvey soaking in the bathtub on the upstair bathroom. Her charm bracelet hanging on the sink faucet near a bloody shaving razor. Susie realize she never escaped from the den and she was dead now. Susie screams in horror and was pulled into a world-between that she can watched over her loved one. At there, she met a chinese girl, Holly who was dead too.

In the meanwhile, police investigate in the neighbourhood and found Susie's hat with blood stain. Susie's mother, Abigail broke down into total stress and move away from the sad place. She try to live on a different life and told others she only has 2 children, Lindsey & Buckley, refused to remember the death of Susie. Susie's father, Jack suspected George and followed him into the corn field but accidentally bump into a young couple which beat Jack to unconsious. Grandma Lynn then move into the house to take care of Lindsey and Buckley. Ray found out Susie's death from Ruth and was in deep sadness.

Holly urged Susie to move on to her life but Susie claimed that something has not been done yet. One day, Lindsey sneaked into George's house and discover a notebook underneath the bedroom floorboard containing a sketch of the clubhouse and Susie's hair. George was back and chased after lindsey but Lindsey escaped and went home. She was happy to see Abigail is finally back home and passed the notebook to Lynn.

George was horror and plan to runaway. He put Susie's dead body into a safe and wanna throw into a big hole which will be burried soon. Ruth and Ray were nearby and Ruth sense it. Susie's spirit entered Ruth' body and Ruth collapsed, Ray went for rescue and discover she has become Susie. Ray finally kiss Susie which completing Susie's last wish, Susie returns to heaven.

Few years later, George wanna coaxes another young girl into a car but accidentally fall backward when a large icicle knocked his head. George fall over the cliff and dead in broken pieces. Susie's spirit is still around her family and saw Lindsey happily married to a guy and Abigail finally able to step into Susie's room again. Everybody is healed.

L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

Woah, this is really a nice film i must say :) Story is from Alice Sebold's novel in 2002 which created a blast :) Specially love the sentence which Susie Salmon said:

These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections - sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent - that happened after i was gone. And i began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it. The events my death brought were merely the bones of a body that would become whole at some unpredictable tome in the future. The price of what i came to see as this miraculous lifeless body has been my life.

Saoirse Ronan is seriously a beauty which in a few year times she definitely can be the next Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johanson. Even the pretty Rachel Weisz lost all her shiny beauty to this young actress.

The Devil Wears Prada

Released Year: 2006
Directed by David Frankel

Casted by:
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly
Anne Hathaway as Andrea Sachs
Emily Blunt as Emily Charlton
Adrian Grenier as Nate Cooper
Story:

Andrea, also known as Andy is highly passionate on writing her journal. Staying with her boyfriend Nate in a small cozy place and dressing casually is what she used to do. But getting into the US 1st top fashion magazine "Runway" is her stepping stone for achieving her target as a journalist. "Runway" editor-in-chief is Miranda, who's an icy-cold woman with excellent job presenter and fussy on everything for being the perfectionist.

Andrea has to suit herself in the high-end and vogue world in "Runway" while assisting Emily as the 2nd assistant for Miranda. After being insult, Andrea learns her lesson and try to be as vogue as other girls in the magazine with the help of Nigel. Andrea starts to have fight with Nate, her friends and even abandoned her dad during dinner due to her heavy job load.

By giving a good performance, she replaced Emily to attend the fashion show in Paris together with Miranda. She also has affair with Christian who's has certain power in this industry. But after seeing the failure of Miranda's marriage, Andrea realized this is not the life that she wants. Giving up on her job, she went for the New York News and get back with her boyfriend.

Of coz, the wonderful Miranda managed to keep her own job and power in the industry and wish all the best to Andrea in the end.

L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

My favourite show among the year in 2006. Talks about all those high end fashion and company politics. I watched this movie twice in the cinema. Simply excellent. Nothing to criticized but just 2 thumbs up :)