The thoughts of a true technology versatilist
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睇完套戲，有很多似曾相識的感覺…「Sex and the City」加「証人」混合版？我覺得「大」這套戲的題材同「証人」差不多，都係講綁架，可能睇咗「証人」無幾耐啦，同埋我實在睇咗好多次Sex and the City啦。「大」戲中4個女人的開場戲和戲中鄭秀文男友係藝術家醉心創作藝術品這部份實在勾起我腦海浮現Sex and the City部份類同的片段，所以有這樣的感覺…！
「大」戲故事雖然簡單，你我都會估到故事結局，但故事的轉折點係幾吸引，亦有意外的幽默情節，確實有它特別之處，都值得買飛入場睇。
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvkECYTt_MM
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This evening I saw the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still at Grand Cineplex, West Kowloon, Hong Kong. Another one of the movies from my Must See Movies list.
I never watched the 1951 original version of this movie and wasn’t that familiar with the main character, Klaatu, this time played by Keanu Reeves. But I do know about the famous phrase “Klaatu barada nikto”.
I do like Jennifer Connelly in Hulk and Blood Diamond, this time she also plays a scientist, Helen Benson, but with a much weaker performance. On the other hand Will Smith‘s son, Jaden Smith was almost perfect as he was in his motion picture debut, The Pursuit of Happyness. Although, through out the movie I felt Reeves was just doing his Matrix impression, which was a let down for such an experience actor.
In this remake the writer (screenplay), David Scarpa, updated the story to make it more relevant to issues that concerns us today. For example, the issue of world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Of course the specially effects were modernized to the level expected by today’s audiences.
They turned the plot around so that Klaatu” was shot right at the beginning and the phrase “Klaatu barada nikto” was spoken by Klaatu to Gort rather than Helen.
The best part of the movie was Smith which barely justify the 3 penguins I gave.
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剛剛睇完《地球停轉日》， 故事內容非常簡單，但故事背後卻帶出深深的教訓，有警醒的作用，希望每個人睇完戲後除了讚賞其特技效果外，能夠自我反省。若愛我們的下一代，愛身邊的人，愛我們住緊的地球，請不要再自私！
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This evening I saw the movie What Just Happened at JP Theater, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Not one of the movies from my Must See Movies list.
In a short several weeks I went from a 5 penguins rating movie to one that I am reluctant to give 1 penguin. I really should have known given it is a movie from Magnolia Pictures. I just thought, given it was staring Robert De Niro and with big stars like: Bruce Willis, Sean Penn and Stanley Tucci it cannot be that bad. Was I wrong!!
What can I say about this movie? It is boring, the plot is simple and does not capture the audience. The acting overall are weak. Bruce Willis plays an overweight, unreasonable, snob of himself. De Niro is an over the hill hollywood producer whose twice divorced that is grabbing onto his career by the thread.
Not only is this the worst movie this year. I can say it is a runner up to the worst movie I’ve ever seen.
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This evening I saw the movie The Beast Stalker at UA Cinema, TimeSquare, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Another late addition to my Must See Movies list.
This was only my second movie (on the big screen) in over 3 weeks. Those who knows me will find this extremely unusual, as some of them say I watch almost anything. Although I disagree, but I used to watch on average 2 – 3 movies a week. That was before I returned to Hong Kong over 10 years ago, now one movie a week was typical. The reason for this recent hiatus was quite simple, I found there were nothing interesting enough to watch.
Until I came across a review of this movie in HK Magazine (Friday, Nov. 28, 2008 issue), which gave it high praises. It had been years since I last watched a Hong Kong made movie and there is really nothing American to watch at the theaters, I decided to give it a try.
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剛剛睇完《証人》，一散場就叫好…好久都未試過睇完港產片就叫好，上次叫好是睇完《無間道》。
＂証人＂情節拍得好細緻，好緊湊，前呼後應，睇得出拍得好有Heart,一些都無諗過當觀眾低能，特技效果”正”，每一個演員都是好戲之人，特別係謝霆鋒，張家輝，智叔。未睇套戲之前都聽說影評讚好才去睇，詁唔到真係咁好睇，超水準之作，港產片真是掂的。
Another late addition in Vinko’s Must See Movies list.
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This evening I saw the movie Quantum of Solace at Broadway Cinemas, IFC Mall, Central, Hong Kong.
I never liked Daniel Craig as James Bond, the last was Casino Royale in 2006, but recently a friend suggested that most people did not see how Craig is trying to play an early version of James Bond. So before I went into this movie at 23:55 I kept this in mind.
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This evening I saw the movie City of Ember at UA Cinema, Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
The well known actors: Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Mary Kay Place, in this movie were horrible. May be that was intentional so that the young and coming actors can shine. The lead characters Harry Treadaway (Doon Harrow) and Saoirse Ronan (Lina Mayfleet) were quite good. At first I thought Treadaway was the lead, but later it turns out Ronan stole the show.
Ronan is a young 14 year old actor who only started appearing on the silver screen last year, with I Could Never Be Your Woman and was a “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” nominee at the The 80th Annual Academy Awards for her role in Atonement with Keira Knightley. I can see that Ronan is one of those actress to watch for years to come.
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This evening I saw the movie Mirrors at AMC Theater, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong.
This is not a typical genre (Thriller) of movies I normally watch, I didn’t even put it on My Must See Movies list.
Kiefer Sutherland was surprisingly appropriate for his role. Before I went to the movie and knowing a little about the plot, I was surprised to hear that Sutherland was cast as the male lead. The last motion picture Sutherland starred in was The Sentinel and he was not so great in it.
Through out the movie I saw him as the “Jack Bauer” character from 24, which fits perfectly with the character of this movie; A stressed emotional ex-cop suffering from the brink of nervous break down with a broken family and everyone thinks he is unreliable.
There were the typical thriller scenes to classify itself as a Thriller movie, but also enough mystery moments and twists in the plot to keep Sutherland’s character, Ben Carson, occupy. Of course, one cannot have a thriller movie without scenes where the main character gets himself into situation, which a normal person would never be brave enough to put himself in. This is part of the traditional excitment of thrillers.
Since I don’t normally watch thriller movies, I cannot rate the movie on the degree of scariness. I can only rate the movie based on the suspense and degree of twists in the plot. The plot is quite shallow the movie was not too deep. Although, its ending justified the extra penguin to give this movie the three penguin rating.
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This evening I saw the movie Body of Lies at UA Cinema, Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
I went into this movie thinking it was going to be a movie along the same line as Spy Game with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. I came out presently surprised by the execution of what could have been a typical story that had been told over and over again. As always I will not review the plot or any spoilers but describing the plot of the story.
I saw a lot of symbolism in the movie, retelling the Middle East story with a slight anti-West slant. Russell Crowe purposely gain 50 pounds for this movie, so that his character, Ed Hoffman, was more believable as a paper mover. I felt Crowe’s character symbolizes United States and its politics; you can read more about my views on these politics in my recent post, American Principals. Leonardo DiCaprio played the lead character, Roger Ferris, whom I feel symbolizes the hidden voices of the West who question the policies of their respective governments. While Mark Strong plays the head of the Jordanian General Intelligence Department, which I feel symbolizes the other side of Middle East, the side who are not openly against the West, in particularly United States.
If you go to see this movie, you will have to be prepare for a lot of dialogue and less than the usual actions from a “spy spoof”. With an opened mind you may get to see a different side of the current events in the Middle East.
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