Beastly

 Released Year: 2011

Directed by Daniel Barnz

 

Casted by:

Alex Pettyfer as Kyle Kingson/Hunter
 Vanessa Hudgens as Linda "Lindy" Taylor
 Mary-Kate Olsen as Kendra Hilferty
 Neil Patrick Harris as Will Fratalli
 Lisa Gay Hamilton as Zola

 Story:

 Kyle Kingston, an arrogant and vain son of wealthy news anchor Rob Kingson, bullies Kendra Hilferty who magically transforms handsome Kyle into a bald, tattooed, and scarred shell. If Kyle does not find someone who loves him by the next spring he will remain in this ugly state forever. Kyle is taken to live in a private house with their maid Zola and a blind tutor Will. Both are a comfort to Kyle when his father begins to neglect him.

As spring draws closer, Kyle finds himself infatuated with Lindy Taylor, a girl from whom he had kept his distance at his former school. He sees her father, a drug addict, engaged in an altercation with two drug dealers and shoots one dead while the other vows to kill Lindy. Kyle persuades Lindy’s father to allow her to move in with him. Lindy is furious about hiding and doesn't speak to Kyle, but eventually, Kyle reveals himself and they begin to warm up to each other. Kyle writes a letter professing his love for Lindy but does not give it to her for fear of rejection. He visits Kendra to plead for more time; she refuses, but agrees to restore Will's vision and grant green cards to Zola's three children in Jamaica if he gets Lindy to fall in love with him.

The criminal who threatened Lindy’s life lands in jail. Lindy’s father overdoses and is in the hospital. Kyle permits Lindy to leave and see her father and drives her to the station. He gives her the letter but regrets doing so as she tells him he’s a good friend. Lindy calls him after reading the letter, but being heartbroken Kyle does not answer the phone. Persuaded by Will and Zola, Kyle goes to meet Lindy one last time before she leaves on a school trip to Machu Picchu. Lindy professes her love for Kyle "Hunter," says the words "I Love You" to break Kyle's "Hunter" curse, and Kyle tells her to go. Kyle’s normal self is restored and Lindy runs out looking for "Hunter" Kyle but Lindy does not recognize him until she calls his phone and Kyle's phone starts ringing. When Lindy realizes that Hunter is in fact Kyle the two share a passionate kiss in the middle of the street.

Will wakes up one morning and can see again and Zola finds three green cards for her children in the mail from the government. Kendra approaches Rob Kingson's office as a new intern, implying that Kendra will likely do the same thing to Rob as she did to Kyle. Then, in the credits, we see them on holiday together in different countries.

 L² Scored: 7/10

 

L² Comment: 

Based on Alex Flinn's 2007 same name novel, a magical-disney-like romantic movie was filmed. The storyline is some sort like the Beauty & The Beast, which is something new but too bad the story was just normal~ not good enough to give us a WOW!

Thirteen

 Released Year: 2003

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke

Casted by:

Holly Hunter as Melanie Freeland
Evan Rachel Wood as Tracy Freeland
Nikki Reed as Evie Zamora
Jeremy Sisto as Brady

 Story:

Thirteen-year-old Tracy Freeland writes poetry and is an honor student at Portola Middle School in Los Angeles. Her divorced mother Melanie is a recovering alcoholic and high school dropout who struggles as a hairdresser to support Tracy and older brother Mason. At school Tracy is teased by some girls about her "cabbage patch" clothes. Tracy then endeavours to shed her 'little girl' image and pleads with her mother to purchase a trendier style of clothing. Melanie buys Tracy new clothes from a discount vendor in a parked van.

Tracy is then invited by Evie Zamora, one of the most popular girls at school, to go shopping on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Although Evie gives her a disconnected telephone number as a mean joke, Tracy takes a city bus to Melrose Avenue anyway, where she finds Evie and a friend at an edgy thrift shop. At the store, Tracy sees Evie and her friend continuously shoplifting. Tracy begins to feel uncomfortable, and walks by herself out of the store and sits on a bench outside. Once there, Tracy begins to truly feel the need to be popular. She then steals a distracted woman's pocketbook to be more like Evie. This impresses Evie and her friend and they all go on a shopping spree. After this incident, Tracy and Evie become best friends and Evie temporarily moves into the Freeland household.

Tracy, amongst other things, is angry about her parents' divorce and, unbeknownst to her mother, cuts herself as a way to cope with the stress. Tracy rapidly transforms into a new person as she neglects her old friends, becomes more impulsive, and cares less about her schoolwork. She taunts Melanie's boyfriend, Brady, who is also a recovering addict. Although Melanie is somewhat aware of what is happening with Tracy and Evie, she is unable to stop them.

Melanie is also reluctant to ask Evie to leave her household because of Evie's manipulative, yet likely truthful claims of an abusive childhood. As Tracy steadily shuts Melanie out of her life, Tracy and Evie become very close, even talking to each other in their own ludling language. However, after the early thrills, Tracy's new-found popularity does not make her happy. Although Tracy endeavors to emulate Evie's seductive behavior, this does not bring her pleasure. Tracy gets caught up in the so-called "romance" with a teenage boy Javi, but then later doubts he feels the same.

When Evie and Tracy try to seduce Luke, an adult lifeguard in his early twenties who is a friend of Mason, Tracy does not feel comfortable. Drawn at first into their kisses and allowing them to partially strip him, Luke throws them out of his house and soon moves away from the neighborhood.

One night in Hollywood, Mason and a friend make comments about the thong on a cute girl and is then shocked when the girl turns around and he realizes that it is his sister, with a belly ring. Tracy and Evie were at the movies with Melanie and Brady, but bolted to do other things. Later on, the girls take turns inhaling from a can of gas duster for computers and become so intoxicated that they laughingly hit each other, drawing blood. Meanwhile Melanie is unaware of how deeply the girls have fallen into petty crime, drug abuse, and oral sex with teenage boys. Seeing the harmful impact Evie is having on their lives, Melanie takes Evie back to live with her cousin Brooke. Tracy seems to agree with this, after which Evie becomes upset and suddenly betrays Tracy at school. Melanie also hopes that Tracy will go live with her father, Travis, but she is unhappy at this thought. But, much to Tracy's dismay, Travis decides he wants to take custody of Mason instead, to give him a more stable environment away from Tracy.

After being informed she may fail seventh grade, Tracy comes home after school to find Evie, Brooke, and Melanie waiting for her. When the women confront Tracy about the girls' drug use and stealing, Tracy angrily blames Evie after she sees how Evie tries to blame it on her. Brooke, convinced by Evie, says Tracy was the bad influence and owing to this, they are moving to Ojai to get away from her. Melanie stands up for her daughter, saying Tracy was "playing with Barbies" before she met Evie.

Brooke grabs Tracy and pulls her sleeve up to show Melanie the many cuts and long scars on her daughter's left arm caused by her self-mutilation. Horrified, Melanie tells Brooke and Evie to leave. Both mother and daughter weep on the kitchen floor as Melanie kisses her daughter's heavily cut arm. Although Tracy tearfully pleads with Melanie to let go of her, Melanie holds on tight, and the two eventually fall asleep holding each other. The next morning Tracy wakes up with a fresh start and a new life.

The film ends with Tracy spinning alone on a park merry-go-round and she screams.

  L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

Love this film a lot, its different and its meaningful. The miscommunication/not giving time to know each other between parents and children do cost a lot teenagers' problem. Love the way both Evan Rachel & Nikki acted on this. And Holly Hunter really so hot, even at her age of late 40's at that time, she still brave enough to show us her big boobs, but too bad it seems to fail against fighting with the gravity~ lol

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

 Released Year: 2012

Directed by Brad Peyton

Casted by:

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Hank Parsons

Josh Hutcherson as Sean Anderson

Vanessa Hudgens as Kailani

Michael Caine as Alexander Anderson

Luis Guzman as Gabato

 Story:

 Sean Anderson is caught by the police escaping from a satellite research center where he was attempting to access a signal broadcast that was too faint to pick up outside of the facility. Escorted home by his stepfather, Hank Parsons, he eventually reveals that the mysterious broadcast he was attempting to access was a set of indistinguishable words that he is trying to decode. Hank, in an attempt to bond with his stepson, solves the code which tells them to look for Treasure Island, Gulliver's Travels, and Verne's Mysterious Island and Sean suggest that they were all based on the same island. Hank then tears out each page with a map in each book and shines a light through them to make one map that reveals the islands co-ordinates. Sean believes that his long lost grandfather was the one behind the transmission, and that he has discovered the island. Sean and Hank immediately set out for the island of Palau. Both Hank and his wife, Liz, don't believe anything that Sean is convinced of, such as the fact that the Mysterious Island could exist and that his grandfather discovered it, but after Hank considers that this trip could help bring him closer to his usually anti-social step son, the couple decide it would be ideal.

Once arriving at Palau, they board a private helicopter run by Gabato and his daughter Kailani, whom Sean immediately develops a crush on. The four travel to the coordinates until their helicopter is hit by a freak storm, causing them to crash on the island, where every big animal in the outside world is small and every small animal is giant (inspiring Jonathan Swift to write Gulliver's Travels). They are then chased through the forest by a giant lizard until they finally meet Sean's grandfather, Alexander Anderson. He leads them back to his hut where they spend the night. Once it is determined that a radio signal for a distress call can only be sent once a fortnight, it is decided that the group will stay put until then. Alexander calls Hank, Henry, and he tells him that it's Hank, not Henry.

The next day the five travel to the lost city of Atlantis, buried far back in the jungles. There Hank finds evidence to believe that the island is slowly sinking. It is revealed through Alexander that the island sinks underwater once every 140 years or so due to shifting tectonic plates, and that they still have years before the next cycle begins. Hank’s recent discovery, however, shows that Alexander's calculations are wrong and that the island will sink in a few days. From there the group set out to Captain Nemo’s tomb, which contains his journal holding the whereabouts of the legendary submarine, The Nautilus, their only hope of escaping on time. Once the journal is uncovered, they set out towards Nautilus, encountering various obstacles in their path. Sean’s right ankle is dislocated after a dog fight involving a giant Bee-eater (erroneously claimed to be a White-throated Needletail) because he fell from his mounted bee, and the group is slowed down. The next morning it is discovered that Gabato has left the group to return to a previously passed volcano of gold (inspiring Robert Louis Stevenson to write Treasure Island), which he believes is his and Kailani’s only hope of living a decent life. Kailani and Alexander set out to find him while Hank and Sean continue to look for the Nautilus.

Once at the submarine’s entrance, the two are disheartened to find that the rising sea level has buried the cave underwater and that they must dive to where it is located. Using a simple breathing device, they manage to reach the submarine and open the entrance hatch, narrowly avoiding a nasty encounter with a giant electric eel.

Kailani and Alexander eventually find Gabato and convince him to return to the submarine. Once there, they are distraught to discover that Hank and Sean are nowhere in sight. Upon finding Alexander's cane that Sean had been using as a crutch, the three realize that Hank and Sean dived to get to the submarine. Unknown to them, the pair are attempting to start the submarine, although the batteries are long exhausted. Hank devises a plan to use the eel to conduct enough electricity to kick start the Nautilus, and equipping a basic diving suit, exits the sub to confront the eel and throw a harpoon at it.

Once the submarine starts, they quickly travel to the surface and retrieve the other three. Sean and Kailani later share a kiss. Six months later, Gabato is head of a successful tourism movement on Palau, and has enough money to send Kailani to the United States where she is dating Sean and attending college. At Sean's birthday, Alexander gives him a copy of From the Earth to the Moon, and proposes another journey (to the moon), as a family. The film ends with Sean, Kailani, and his family reading the book together, and a view of the moon, with plans for another adventure.

  L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

How could i ever miss this film in the first place? This is a great 3D movie and a bit better than the first movie i think. Josh Hutcherson has grown up and look so cute :) though he's body not as hot as the rock, but of course, the youth win it all :) Hopefully the Journey 3 will be out soon~

High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Released Year: 2008
Directed by Kenny Ortega

Casted by:
Zac Efron as Troy Bolton
Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez
Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans
Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans
Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth
Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie
Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen
Story:

Team captain Troy rallies the team's spirit ("Now or Never") and they win the championship game which is the last one for the seniors on the squad at East High. Later, at Troy's after-match party at his house, Troy and Gabriella are seen thinking about their future and wishing that their last few months at East High would not end. ("Right Here, Right Now").

Sharpay meets Tiara Gold, a British exchange student whom she hires to be her personal assistant. When drama teacher Ms. Darbus notices that there were so few sign-ups for the spring musical, Sharpay suggests she could do a one-woman show. This alarms Kelsi, who is writing the show, so she immediately signs up everyone in their homeroom for it instead. This results in Ms. Darbus announcing they will create a play about their final days at East High, called Senior Year. In addition, she reveals that Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi, and Troy have all been considered for a scholarship at Juilliard School, but only one of them is to be chosen. Troy is confused, because he did not apply to Juilliard. Seeing his friends laughing, he believes they gave his name to Juilliard. (We later find out that it was Ms. Darbus who gave his name to Juilliard). Sharpay becomes desperate to win the scholarship, and knowing that Kelsi will give the best songs to Troy and Gabriella in the musical, she gets Ryan to try to persuade Kelsi to give them a song, by predicting her (and Ryan's) future ("I Want It All").

The next day, Troy asks Gabriella to the dance while on the rooftop (seen previously in High School Musical as The Garden Club, a place where Troy goes seeking some quiet). She then teaches him how to waltz ("Can I Have This Dance?"). Chad then asks Taylor to go to prom with him with a cheesy pick-up line. She initially refuses, but later agrees when Chad proves he can put in some effort and asks again in front of everyone in the school. The group rehearses for the musical, a scene about their prom night ("A Night to Remember"). The next day Ryan walks in on Kelsi composing in the music room and they start to sing ("Just Wanna Be With You") which leads to Ryan asking Kelsi to prom. While Troy and Chad reminisce about their past ("The Boys Are Back"), Sharpay and Tiara discover that Gabriella has a chance to go to college early to Stanford. Sharpay convinces Troy that he is the only thing keeping Gabriella from her dream. Troy talks to Gabriella about this and after sharing an awkward goodnight, Gabriella sings ("Walk Away") and leaves for college the next day.

Troy's dad, Jack, talks to him about his academic future, which he expects will be in the University of Albuquerque. This assumption makes Troy become angry and confused, and he runs away, storming around East High bewildered until he finally screams at the top of his lungs in the theater ("Scream"). Ms. Darbus is secretly watching and reveals that she sent in his application for Juilliard. Troy later gets a call from Gabriella saying that although she loves him, she will not return to Albuquerque. However, on the day of the prom, Troy visits Gabriella at Stanford University and convinces her to return and they kiss sweetly together during ("Can I Have This Dance? (Reprise)"). Back at East High, Sharpay is prepared for the last musical at East High and Troy's fellow basketball player Jimmie receives a text from Troy to tell him to cover for him onstage because he is going to be late. The Juilliard representatives are there, and watch as the show seems to go well.

Kelsi and Ryan start out the show followed by a couple other numbers; Jimmie then performs with Sharpay and embarrasses her, although the audience applauds him. Troy and Gabriella appear during the second half of the show and sing their duet together. Tiara then betrays Sharpay and tells her how she is going to take over next year in the drama department. Sharpay finally learns how it feels to be humiliated, but does not wish to go down. While Tiara performs, Sharpay immediately crashes her performance and upstages her ("Senior Year Spring Musical"). At the end of the musical, Ms. Darbus reveals that both Kelsi and Ryan have won the Juilliard scholarship and tells about everyone's future plans ("We're All In This Together (Graduation Mix)") .

At the graduation ceremony, Troy gives the class speech. Throwing their caps in the air, the graduates form a giant wildcat before breaking out into song and dance to the tune of ("High School Musical"). As the movie ends, the cast does their famous High School Musical jump with a close up of the six in order before bowing when the curtain falls.

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

Love watching High School Musical :) I have watched it in the cinema, but the DVD does attract me well enough for me to spend my night with it. Love the choreograph done by Kenny Ortega in this movie especially the last graduation scene, its awesome~ watching this kind of teenager movie always make me feel so much younger :)

"Once a Wildcats, always a Wildcats"

High School Musical 2

Released Year: 2007
Directed by Kenny Ortega

Casted by:
Zac Efron as Troy Bolton
Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez
Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans
Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans
Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth
Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie
Robert Curtis Brown as Vance Evans
Jessica Tuck as Darby Evans
Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen
Story:

The school year ends with everyone at East High School looking forward to summer vacation ("What Time Is It"). Troy Bolton is still dating Gabriella Montez, who decides to stay in Albuquerque with her mother. Troy eventually decides to look for a summer job to gain money for college.

Sharpay and Ryan Evans plan to spend part of the summer at their family's country club, Lava Springs ("Fabulous"), but Sharpay's summer plans also include pursuing Troy, whom she has arranged to be hired at the club. However, Troy convinces the club's manager, Mr. Fulton, into hiring Gabriella and their close group of friends as well; including Taylor and Chad. Sharpay is enraged upon learning that Gabriella is working as one of the lifeguards but is unable to get her fired so she orders Fulton to give them difficult tasks so they would be best to quit. Fulton attempts to intimidate the group but Troy rebuilds their confidence and convinces them that they can persevere ("Work This Out").

Troy continues to worry about funding for college. Sharpay senses his need and arranges for Troy to be promoted, hoping that this will convince him to sing with her at the talent show. Meanwhile, Kelsi writes a ballad for Troy and Gabriella. Troy agrees to sing with his friends in the show ("You Are The Music In Me"), not knowing that Sharpay is vying for his attention. (In the extended version, Sharpay and Ryan trap Troy as he prepares for a date with Gabriella, and perform their potential show stopper ("Humuhumunukunukuapua'a").)

Ryan realizes he does not mean much to Sharpay anymore, as she is ready to blow her brother aside for the opportunity to perform with Troy. This leads to tension between the twin siblings and Ryan angrily informs Sharpay that he will no longer obey her orders. Taylor and Gabriella invite Ryan to the baseball game, where he persuades the Wildcats to take part in the talent show ("I Don't Dance").

Troy and Gabriella's relationship is strained when Troy sees Ryan with Gabriella, sparking jealousy. Owing to a "promise" from Troy, he and Sharpay practice their song for the Midsummer Night's Talent Show ("You Are The Music In Me (Sharpay Version)"). When Sharpay discovers that Ryan and the Wildcats are putting together their own performance in the show, she orders Mr. Fulton to ban all junior staff members from performing. Gabriella angrily confronts Sharpay about her interference and quits her job at Lava Springs. Troy overhears the exchange, and tries to persuade Gabriella to change her mind. Gabriella expresses her loss of trust with Troy ("Gotta Go My Own Way") and leaves Lava Springs.

Troy returns to work the next day to find that his friends refuse to talk to him. Kelsi silently shows Troy the notice from Mr. Fulton, causing Troy to question his own motivations ("Bet On It"). He begins to reconcile with Chad and his other friends. Then Troy confronts Sharpay, informing her that he will not sing with her. The Wildcats and Chad forgive Troy for his absence and convince him to sing in the talent show, which he does only under the condition that they are all allowed to perform as well.

At Sharpay's supposed instruction, Ryan gives Troy a new song to learn moments before the show. As Troy goes onstage, he asks Sharpay why she switched the song, and Sharpay is shocked to find that her brother tricked her. Troy sings the song ("Everyday") alone, until Gabriella surprisingly joins him onstage. In the end, Sharpay proudly presents her brother, Ryan, with the award for the talent show. After the talent show, all the Wildcats go to the golf course to enjoy the fireworks.

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

This is a summer version which the students work in a club for their summer jobs, they are tanned which i think its not suitable for zac efron. This time, Lucas, Corbin and Monique sings more than the 1st movie which i think its a good thing coz they really got nice vocal. And i realize Grabeel is kinda cute but he's a bit sissy.

High School Musical

Released Year: 2006
Directed by Kenny Ortega

Casted by:
Zac Efron as Troy Bolton
Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez
Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans
Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans
Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth
Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie
Bart Johnson as Jack Bolton
Alyson Reed as Ms. DarbusStory:

Troy and Gabriella meet at a New Year's Eve party while both are at a ski lodge during winter break. Troy is the captain of East High School's basketball team, and Gabriella is portrayed as shy and academic. At the party, the two are called upon to sing karaoke together (Start of Something New). They seem to be attracted to each other, and exchange numbers before parting.

After break, Troy sees Gabriella in his homeroom, and she explains that she just moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and transferred to East High over break. Troy shows Gabriella around the school, and they pause in front of the sign-up sheet for the winter musical auditions. This alarms Drama Club president Sharpay Evans, who assumes that Gabriella is interested in auditioning. Wanting to eliminate competition, Sharpay investigates the new girl and arranges for the scholastic decathlon captain, Taylor, to find out about Gabriella's past academic achievements.

During basketball practice, Troy has trouble focusing because his thoughts are on Gabriella and the idea that he might enjoy singing more (Get'cha Head In the Game). Gabriella and Troy both go to the musical auditions where Sharpay and her brother Ryan perform (What I've Been Looking For) but both are too shy to audition. When Gabriella finally summons the courage to step forward, Troy offers to sing with her, but Ms. Darbus tells them that they are too late. After Ms. Darbus apparently leaves, Kelsi, the composer of the musical, trips and drops her things. Troy and Gabriella rush to help her, and they sing together as Kelsi plays piano (What I've Been Looking For (Reprise)). Ms. Darbus overhears them and gives them a callback audition.

When the callback list is posted, Sharpay is furious to learn that she has competition for the lead in the musical, and the rest of the Wildcats are shocked that Troy and Gabriella have auditioned for a musical. Other students confess their own secret passions and talents (Stick To The Status Quo), alarming both Taylor and Troy's friend Chad. Since Gabriella has agreed to join the scholastic decathlon team, both Taylor and Chad want their teammates to focus on their upcoming competitions rather than the musical. To help Troy and Gabriella return to normal, Chad and the basketball team trick Troy into saying that Gabriella is not important while she watches through a wi-fi link that the scholastic decathlon team has set up. Gabriella is hurt (When There Was Me And You), she refuses to talk to Troy and decides not to audition for the musical. Chad and Taylor feel guilty for ruining Troy and Gabriella's relationship, and decide to tell them the truth. After Chad and the basketball team tell Troy what they did and offer to support him in callbacks, Troy goes to Gabriella's house and they make up.

Intimidated after overhearing Gabriella and Troy practicing, Sharpay convinces Ms. Darbus to change the callback time to coincide with both the basketball championship and the scholastic decathlon, so that Gabriella and Troy cannot participate. Kelsi overhears the conversation and the basketball team and the decathlon team work together to come up with a plan. On the day of the competitions, Taylor and Gabriella use the schools computers to cause a series of mishaps that delay the big game and the decathlon. With both competitions delayed, Troy and Gabriella rush to the auditorium, and Sharpay and Ryan finish performing their song (Bop To The Top), confident that their plan worked. Troy and Gabriella then audition (Breaking Free) and Ms. Darbus gives Troy and Gabriella the lead roles, making Sharpay and Ryan understudies. Troy and Gabriella both win their respective competitions, and the film ends when the entire school gathers in the gym to celebrate (We're All In This Together).

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

Watching this make me feel young :) Love the dance, love the vocals, love Zac Efron :)

A Disney produce never fail to make the heat in the teens (though i'm not one). But i'm really a fans of Efron, I found him extremely cute. Of course, i watched the 3rd movie b4 in the cinema, this will be the 1st time i watch the 1st movie, and it really is a nice movie :) All of them look so young and fresh~ love it so much :)