Para Para Sakura 芭拉芭拉櫻之花

 Released Year: 2001

Directed by 馬楚成 Jingle Ma

Casted by:

郭富城 Aaron Kwok as 王锦胜 Philip
张柏芝 Cecilia Cheung as 乐儿 Yee
 陈庆祥  Ah- Niu as Henry Ko

 Story:

Phillip Wong, a colour-blind dance instructor who holds a class devoted to the latest dance craze, the Japanese Para Para. While in Shanghai, Phillip meets Yee, a spoiled rich girl who is running away from her up-coming arranged marriage. Soon, Yee begins using Phillip's dance studio as a sanctuary from her responsibilities, and an attraction begins to form between the two. However, Yee is called back to Japan to be married before long, and Phillip must use more than his dance skills and charisma to prevent her from taking her vows.

L² Scored: 4/10

L² Comment:

Nothing really special about this movie, except the para para dance which is quite famous at that time. Of course having Aaron Kwok & Cecilia Cheung in this movie can guarantee certain percentage of the tickets to be sold off. Basically all the actors/actresses are just simply acting in the film...

It's a Mad Mad Mad World 3 富貴再三逼人

 Released Year: 1989

Directed by 冼杞然

Casted by: 

董驃 Bill Dong as 雷達驃  Biao
沈殿霞 Lydia Sum as 驃嫂  Biao's wife
陳奕詩 Elsie Chan as 帶弟 Dai
李麗珍 Loletta Lee as 來弟 Lai
關佩琳 Pauline Kwan as 招弟 Pauline
盧冠廷 Lowell Lo as 毛毛 Momo

曾志偉 Eric Tsang as 笑口祖 Joe
陳山河 Chen San He as 阿水 Shui

 Story:

Continue from the previous movie, Bill & his wife went to collect their winning money from the center. But their lottery-winning picture was shown everywhere in the foreign country which makes them feel uncomfortable. Bill and the family decided to go back to Hong Kong with Momo & Joe (who came to tackle Dai). Lai decided to stay back for her study with Shui.

Back to Hong Kong, the whole family become very arrogant and live like king. They requested the bank to prepare notes of HKD 3,000,000 for them to view. Bill's wife brought their old neighbours there and cause the robbery to happen. When the robberies gone with the money, they are back to the poor life again. Pauline wanna make her mother feel happy again, she makes a false lottery ticket and almost cause Bill's wife to be arrested but luckily was helped out by an old friend. Lai and Shui get married and went back to Hong Kong while Bill's wife stay with them when she gone into a fight with Bill. 

Finally Bill's wife lost all their money in a casino. While looking for her, Lai and Shui accidentally win a jackpot of HKD 200,000. And they money that got stole away was paid back by the insurance. Finally the family is rich again.

L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

This is the last movie of the trilogy comedy, of course it still got a lots of extended version. For me, this is not as good as the first two movies. Is it because Clifton is no more the director of this film? Or they have ran out of idea? Anyway, love the way they show all the cash in the bank~ kinda like that scene :P

Upside Down 2012

 Released Year: 2012

Directed by Juan Diego Solanas

Casted by:

Jim Sturgess as Adam

Kirsten Dunst as Eden

Timothy Spall as Bob

 Story:

The film starts with Adam telling the story of his planet, unique from other planets as it is the only one that has dual gravity. Two planets live next to one another. The gravity has 3 rules:

    All matter is pulled by the gravity of the world that it comes from, and not the other.
    An object's weight can be offset by matter from the opposite world (inverse matter).
    After some time in contact, matter in contact with inverse matter burns.

The two worlds are separated. While Up is rich and prosperous, Down is poor. Up buys cheap oil from Down and sells electricity back to Down at much higher prices. Going Up is strictly forbidden and the only connection between the worlds is through the company "TransWorld".

Adam lives in an orphanage Down Below as he lost his parents in an oil refinery explosion. The only living relative he has is his great-aunt, whom he visits every week. His great-aunt has a secret recipe for flying pancakes using pollen from pink bees. The recipe has passed through generations and will be inherited by Adam.

As a child, Adam secretly climbs a mountain that gets very close to the Up world. There he meets Eden, a girl in Up. Years later, they are now friends as teenagers and are in a romantic relationship. They meet on their mountains and Adam uses a rope to pull Eden towards Down. As Eden sits on Adam's shoulders, they form an anti-gravity object that easily floats. But they are found and while Adam is trying to pass Eden back to her planet, he gets shot and drops her. He thinks she is dead. When he returns home, his aunt is arrested and her home burned.

Ten years later, Adam is now working on creating anti-gravity using his great-aunt's recipe. The recipe allows matter to feel both gravitational fields at once. Adam is developing it as a cosmetic product for face-lifts. Then he sees Eden on TV and learns she is alive and works at TransWorld. He finally works out his formula and gets hired by TransWorld to develop the face-lift cream. Adam's plan is to find Eden in TransWorld. In his office he meets Bob, a TransWorld employee from Up who makes a deal with him. In return of Adam bringing material (like stamps) from Down, he will help him find Eden.

With the help of Bob, Adam meets Eden by putting Up-material in his clothes to disguise himself as a worker from Up. But Eden doesn't recognize him as she lost her memories with the impact of the fall years before. The Up-material in Adam's clothes starts to burn so he has to return to Down. Later on, Bob is forcefully retired but as he leaves, he secretly gives Adam his ID to help him. Later, by calling Eden through Bob's phone, Adam manages to get a date. He presents himself as Bob.

Meanwhile, his cosmetic cream becomes of great importance to the company. While Adam is doing a presentation of the cream, Eden sees him and learns his real name. Adam runs to find her but Bob's ID has been terminated so he is noticed. He goes to Bob's house. He shows him that by mixing the matter from both gravity areas can make matter that resists both gravitational fields and tells him he didn't give TransWorld the secret ingredient of his compound, leaving the company unable to produce the product without him.

With Bob's help, he goes back to the restaurant where he met with Eden before and finds out she started to remember him. But the cops come and he has to run. When he returns to his planet, he goes to the mountain top where he met Eden. Eden comes to find him and they meet as they used to. But cops find them again and as they fail to escape, Eden is arrested by cops while Adam drops. TransWorld agrees to drop the charges against Eden if Adam gives them his formula and never contacts Eden again.

Now Adam has gone back to his old life, believing he will never see Eden again. Eden goes to Bob for help. Bob finds Adam and surprises him by showing he can stay Down without the help of the weight supplements; Bob has been able to use Adam's methods to create a way to negate the effect of gravity. Bob tells him he had the patent of his beauty cream before TransWorld and tells him he has a date.

At the spot Bob tells him, Adam finds Eden, also able to walk without weights. There, he learns that she is pregnant with twins and that is what keeps her Down.

The film ends by Adam telling their act has changed their worlds forever.

 L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

I will scored it a 10/10 if not because of those mistakes they make:-

1. Why can the bullet be shot in the different world with the same speed and angle they want?

2. On the start of this film, when Eden was ridding on Adam's shoulder in the down world. Why doesn't Eden's hair flow up towards her own world?

3. How can Eden & Adam make love in Adam's world... and both of them can flow in the middle of air while turning round and round?

But overall this movie is very special, and i don't think anyone has use this idea before. Cool and i totally love it...

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

 Released Year: 2009

Directed by Marc Lawrence

Casted by:

Hugh Grant as Paul Michael Morgan

Sarah Jessica Parker as Meryl Judith Morgan

Sam Elliot as Clay Wheeler

Mary Steenburgen as Emma Wheeler

 Story:

A successful Manhattan couple, lawyer Paul Michael Morgan and real estate agent Meryl Judith Morgan, separate due to Paul's infidelity. After dinner one night, Meryl and Paul witness the murder of one of Meryl's real estate clients, then they become targets of contract killer Vincent and must enter the Witness Protection Program.

Paul and Meryl are relocated to the small town of Ray, Wyoming and placed temporarily under the protection of the local sheriff and deputy, who happen to be a married couple. For their own safety, they are permitted no outside contact via telephone or e-mail. They have trouble adjusting to small-town life, but after an unfortunate encounter with a bear and bumbling attempts at shooting rifles, chopping wood, and horseback riding, they eventually adjust and begin assisting the local citizens professionally. Meanwhile, none of their coworkers in NY know their whereabouts. The killer has planted a bug at Meryl's old office and in her assistant Jackie's purse, hoping to gain information, which is eventually successful.

Jackie attempts to call Meryl but Paul's assistant Adam stops her by kissing her, which she responds to by tasering him. Paul and Meryl go on a "date" in town and begin to reconcile, but then Paul is alienated when he learns that Meryl had a one-night stand with one of their acquaintances during their separation. The next day, with the killer in town unbeknownst to them, the Morgans anticipate leaving Ray for a permanent hiding place. The Wheelers invite them to a rodeo, but the Morgans are quarreling, so they decline. Leaving the Morgans without any form of security, the Wheelers leave for the rodeo. The killer tries to attack the house but is accosted by a bear, which gives the Morgans sufficient warning that they are able to escape. They flee on horseback to the rodeo to seek assistance. The killer follows them to the rodeo; they spot him and hide in a bull suit. However, they accidentally frighten a live bull into head-butting them. Meryl, unable to walk, stays hidden from the killer while Paul confronts him with a canister of bear repellant. Paul accidentally sprays himself in the face but is rescued by the Wheelers and his new friends from the town.

Six months later, Paul and Meryl have repaired their marriage. They have an adopted baby girl from China, named Rae in honor of the Wyoming town, and Meryl is pregnant with a child of their own as Jackie and Adam begin dating.

L² Scored: 5/10

L² Comment:

This movie is rather simple and very expectable...There's really nothing special for this whole film, both Grant and Parker is so used to this kind of romantic film and they are really so used to it... this is just for the sake of earning for the living? lol

Howl's Moving Castle 霍爾的移動城堡

 Released Year: 2004

Directed by 宫崎駿 Miyazaki Hayao

Voiced by:

倍賞 千恵子 Chieko Baishō  as 蘇菲婆婆 Grandma Sophie & Sophie
木村 拓哉 Takuya Kimura as 霍爾 Howl

美輪 明宏 Akihiro Miwa as 荒野女巫 Witch of the Waste

 Story:

Sophie, a hatter, is a responsible eighteen-year-old girl who encounters a mysterious wizard named Howl while on her way to visit her younger sister. The Witch of the Waste, who pursues Howl, comes to the hat shop and curses Sophie by transforming her into an old woman. Seeking a cure for the curse, Sophie travels into the Wastes and finds a living scarecrow, who takes her to Howl's castle. Here, Sophie meets the fire demon Calcifer, the source of the castle's energy and power. Calcifer offers to break the curse in exchange for Sophie's help in breaking the spell he's under, which keeps Calcifer bound to the house. When Howl appears, Sophie announces that she is the castle's new cleaning lady, hired by Calcifer because he was sick of how dirty the castle was.

Currently, Sophie's country is caught up in the beginning of a war with its neighbor following the mysterious disappearance of the other realm's Crown Prince. Howl receives summons from the King, who orders his various assumed identities to fight in the war. However, Howl comes up with an idea to send Sophie, under the guise of being his mother, to the king to profess the cowardice of one of Howl's two aliases. At the palace, Sophie runs into an asthmatic dog, Heen, who she thinks is Howl undercover. She also meets the Witch of the Waste, who Suliman, the king's magic advisor, punishes by draining all of her power, causing her to regress into a harmless old woman. Suliman tells Sophie that Howl will meet the same fate if he does not contribute to the war. As Sophie vehemently protests these measures, the Witch's spell temporarily weakens due to the love in her words. Suliman realizes Sophie's true relation to Howl and her strong romantic feelings towards him. Howl then arrives to rescue Sophie, Suliman tries to entrap Howl, but with Sophie's help, they manage to escape.

Sophie learns that Howl transforms into a bird-like creature to interfere in the war, but each transformation makes it more difficult for him to return to human form. Sophie fears that Howl is preparing to leave them, as his remaining time as a human is limited, he returns to interfering in the war. Sophie's mother shows up and is actually under Suliman's control and leaves behind a bag containing a "peeping bug" under her orders. The former Witch of the Waste discovers it and promptly destroys the bug by tossing it into Calcifer. Unfortunately, Calcifer gets sick after eating the bug, rendering him unable to protect the castle from being discovered.

A few hours later, the city is carpet-bombed by enemy aircraft while Suliman's henchmen invade the flower shop Howl made for Sophie. After protecting the flower shop from the bombing, Howl draws the guards away just after healing Calcifer. He tells Sophie he is not going to run away anymore because he has something he wants to protect before leaving to interfere with the war. Deducing that Howl must be saved, Sophie moves everyone out of the castle and removes Calcifer from the fireplace, destroying the castle. She offers Calcifer a piece of her hair to strengthen him enough to power and energize a portion of the castle. They head toward Howl when the former Witch of the Waste discovers Howl's heart within Calcifer. The Witch takes the heart and refuses to let go of it although it is burning her. Sophie pours water onto The Witch of the Waste making Calcifer lose all his strength and power. The segment of the castle is split, and she and Heen fall down a chasm.

Making her way toward Howl's heart, Sophie enters through the door into the black region and discovers a recollection of how Howl and Calcifer meet: Howl eats Calcifer, who then gains his heart. Sophie finds Howl, having now lost his human consciousness in bird form. They head back to the group, and Sophie asks the Witch for Howl's heart. She gives it to her and Sophie places the heart back inside Howl, returning him to life, and freeing Calcifer. She kisses the scarecrow on the cheek as thanks, who reveals that he is actually the missing prince. Heen shows the scene of their happy end to Suliman, and the war is finally over. Howl, Sophie, and the others are seen high above the bomber planes returning home from the end of the war.

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

Seriously i dont understand why Hayao directed this film by himself and invited Takuya Kimura to voice Howl. Is it because the previous film in 2002 (The Cat Returns) did not hit well in the blockbuster, therefore Hayao needs some excitement to bring up his career again. Overall the movie is not bad, i kinda like it the magic and everything in this film~ nice :)

The Cat Returns 貓の報恩

 Released Year: 2002

Directed by Hiroyuki Morita 森田 宏幸

Voiced by:

池脇千鶴 Chizuru Ikewaki as  吉岡ハル Haru Yoshioka

 山田 孝之 Yoshihiko Hakamada as  ルーン Baron Humbert von Gikkingen
 袴田 吉彦 Tetsu Watanabe as  バロン Muta/Renaldo Moon

 渡辺哲 Yōsuke Saitō as  ムタ Toto    

 Story:

The story is of a girl named Haru, a quiet, shy and unassuming high school student who has a suppressed ability to talk with cats. One day, she saves a darkly-colored, odd-eyed cat from being hit by a truck on a busy road. The cat is Lune, Prince of the Cat Kingdom. As thanks, the cats give Haru gifts of catnip and mice, and she is offered the Prince's hand in marriage. Her mixed reply is taken as a yes.

Wanting none of this, Haru hears a kind, female voice, which tells her to seek the Cat Bureau. Haru meets Muta, a large white cat the voice told her to seek for directions, who leads her there to meet the Baron (the same Baron from Whisper of the Heart), who is a cat figurine given life by the work of his artist, and Toto, a stone raven who comes to life much like the Baron. Soon after meeting them, Haru and Muta are forcefully taken to the Cat Kingdom, leaving Toto and the Baron in the human world to follow the group from the air. The Baron and his crow friend find the entrance to the Cat Kingdom on Earth: Five lakes forming a cat's paw.

Haru is conducted to a feast at the castle of the Cat Kingdom and she begins to slowly turn into a cat with tan paws, ears and whiskers, though still mainly human, so that she will make a suitable bride for the Prince. At the feast, the Baron (in disguise) dances with Haru as part of the entertainment, and reveals to her that the more she loses herself in the kingdom, the more cat-like she will become, and that she has to discover her true self. When the Baron is discovered and is forced to fight the guards, he and Haru are helped by Yuki, a white female cat who works as a servant in the palace and who had tried to warn Haru to leave the Cat Kingdom before she was taken to the castle. Yuki shows them an escape leading to a tunnel.

Haru, the Baron, and Muta's escape moves them through a maze to a tower, which contains a portal to Haru's world. The King goes through a series of efforts to keep them in the Cat Kingdom long enough for Haru to remain trapped in the form of a cat and have her as his daughter-in-law.

Lune and his guards return to the Cat Kingdom to reveal the King was not acting on his behalf and has no desire to marry Haru; he has instead planned on proposing to Yuki. Muta is revealed to be a notorious criminal in the Kingdom (having devoured a whole lake of fish in one session), and Yuki as being the strange voice who had advised Haru to go to the Cat Bureau. In her childhood, Haru had saved Yuki from starvation by giving her the fish crackers she was eating, and Yuki has now repaid her kindness.

Eventually, the Baron, Haru and Muta escape the Cat Realm, with the aid of Prince Lune and Toto, and Haru discovers her true self and tells the Baron how she has come to like him. He tells her "Just for the record, I admire a young woman who speaks from the heart." and that the doors of the Cat Bureau will be open for her again. Haru returns to the human world with more confidence in herself; after learning that her former crush has broken up with his girlfriend, she simply replies "it doesn't matter anymore."

L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

One of Hayao's movie after he got famous for such a long time. This story is quite special, i feel that it mix with a bit of Japanese local horror myth... this was shown when the whole bunch of cats came with their king in the night to look for Haru. Overall i love this animation and this is not the 3rd time i have rewatch  this :p

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