This eve I watched Requiem for a Dream. I can't say I liked it, but... OH. MY. GOD. Intense.

These aren't intended as reviews. And most times they are hardly thoughts, are they? I just can't make myself stop and think. I've become too impatient. Rethinking yesterday's film. Three stories illustrating the lives of the poorer class, if not the poorest class, as they live their lives in Taiwan. It was the third story that really touched one. Made me think, had me imagining the director's intended message. The sad fact that it took a family tragedy for a family to 'prosper'. How they somehow were now better off. How somehow that tragedy was actually not a tragedy, but a blessing. The twisted ways of the world. Bah.

More as a list to remind me of what I have seen. Excuse my lackluster ways. Then again, you probably aren't even aware this exists, which, is actually fine by me.

Saw a film called The Sandwich Man by the famed Taiwanese director Hsiao-hsien Hou (City of Sadness). Alas, unbeknownst to me at the time, as it was a random pick, a great majority of the film was in Taiwanese, with parts in Mandarin. No English subtitles. I guess it was a good way for me to attempt to read the Chinese subtitles and figure out what was going on. Basically three stories in one movie. Taiwanese is not even close to Mandarin. You might get the essense of a word here or there, but in general, it is like another language. Didn't get all of what was going on, but yeah. After reading the summaries, didn't miss the plots at all, despite language barriers.

I really must go and kidnap befriend me a musician. Oh the magic you make. Sigh. I'll treat you well, I promise. Just play for me. Heehee.

I watched a film tonight by Chen Kaige (Yellow Earth, Farewell my Concubine) called Together. It was good. I just love the music. I really must go and see some myself. In person. So beautiful. See some, hear some, feel some. I was getting chills. Granted not all can be contributed to the movie. It is blurry whether it was the music or my room. But yeah. WOW. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

Since I'm at it, other movies that I've seen:

Sky of Love. After reading that review, apparently this is a copycat of a korean film called Ditto. This film wasn't what I expected from the summary (I thought it was about two lovers stuck in two different times. Talk about depressing, man. Thankfully I was wrong.), but didn't much like it anyway. Bleh.
Chuntao. Hmmmm. Okay. Interesting-ish.
Ikiru, a film by Akira Kurosawa. Better than I expected. It was about death, but not the way I thought. Well done. They had extras. Yum. Kurosawa et al was talking about his work in general. Open my eyes more. Must see more of his films. I think he's MissMa's favorite film guy. I think this is the 3rd of his I've seen.
Dirty Pretty Things, with Miss Tautou. Wasn't what I expected, but I liked it. Can't beat Amelie though. That one is on my list of dvds I will eventually buy. That means a lot. I'm not one to buy any old dvd. It's a keeper and at some point I shall be its keeper.

Seems they were all expected unexpected in one way or another. Or something. Yeah.

So the other day I saw a movie. With Whoopi Goldberg in it. It looked comedic, I was expecting comedic, I did not get comedic. Grrr. Film seen: Good Fences. I didn't like it so much. Wasn't so hot on the story. Mostly because I wanted to laugh, not deal with drama and seriousness, but afterwards, I went into the special features. I saw a bit of the interviews with Whoopie, Monique, and Glover. Made me appreciate it a bit more. Still though. I wanted a light comedy. Cover is so misleading.

I also watched Legally Blonde, with Reese in it. Silly, but made me laugh. I'm really liking Reese though. She has such a range. As an actress. The cover of that dvd was horrible though. They so totally retouched it so that she looked super fake. Her body was so distorted. It wasn't even necessary cause she looked super good in the film. Good figure, good shape. None of that silliness necessary.

Saw a film called Love Actually. It was supposed to be a romantic comedy. There weren't all that much laughter inducing moments for me, though there was that scene...in the extras, a deleted scene. That had me laughing. I forgot what it was, but I remember laughing. The movie was okay. Not all that. I liked the concept of it, the message, but not the execution really. Okay, but blah.

This eve I watched Im Kwong-Taek's Chunghyang. I think I liked it. It uses pansori, "a sung folk art usually performed by itinerant artists", which I first came across during a film in my Asian Cinema class. About pansori. Further confirmed by this film. It is like Chinese Opera, you can't stand it. It hurts your ears somehow. The story was sweet I suppose. Based on a Korean folktale. It wasn't super duper, but like I said, I think I liked it.

Last eve I saw The Blue Kite. This, as well as others like it, paint the changes that went through China as a scary time to be living. No wonder they are banned. The little kid was cute though. Little kids singing are cute too. And those are my deep thoughts on the film.

This eve I saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Good, good, funny. I liked it. The whole large family relations bit reminds me of things typical in my own family. Kinda. Sorta. The cultural things. A lot of things I could relate to. The marriage age bit, the marry a nice Greek boy. In my case Chinese, obviously, though I think even that would be too general, too broad and not specific enough for them. And in my case, it was never actually said, but more like expected. I had lots to say, but I don't feel like it anymore. John Corbett is pretty good looking. Where have I seen him before? It is amazing how easy it is to uglify one. I semi re-watched/skimmed it again with commentary. It was nice to learn a little about Greek culture. And all the additional tidbits about the set and the actors/actresses in it. And cool that this was based on a real story. Apples and oranges, all fruits in the end, aye? Hmmm. Things are never so simple.

Since I'm on movies, I'll list the others that I've seen. Nothing impressive. The French film Une Liaison Pornographique aka An Affair of Love. Blah. Don't let the title fool you.

Oh yes, I also watched my Faye movie. WKW's long awaited 2046. I'm listening to the soundtrack now. The cinematography was lovely. A given I suppose with Doyle. Great use of reflections, mirrors. Every second was photogenic. I'm gonna watch it again when it comes out. I think it comes out at the end of the year. I'm gonna watch it again with subtitles. English subtitles. Mine was in Mandarin. And Japanese. The Mandarin I got most of, but the Japanese...forget it. Shoot, the movie started with Japanese dialogue. Without Chinese subtitles. For small snippets later they did though. My reading comprehension of Chinese is not that advanced. I read maybe grade school level if I can claim such. My listening comprehension is not that advanced either. I likely missed all the poetic things he said. Or the characters said. Those are the best. I really like his use of voice overs and such. There was this one line that stood out to me. Something about love. I don't remember what the exact phrase was, but I liked it. I liked it even more that I got it. Perhaps I'll remember and tell you. As I'm rereading all this, I'm starting to doubt/question my memory. Bah.

Sleepy. Night.

Saw Runaway. Silly. Fluffy. I'd tell you more, but the cd was messed up and I couldn't finish the ending. Likely didn't miss much though. I thought Anya was pretty though. Her eyes are atypical. Can't tell here though.

Films seen:
Turn Left, Turn Right, HK film. Overdone. Hitting us over the head again and again and again. If better directed, written, etc. this might have been good. Otherwise it was...okay. Blah. Though it did get me piqued about a certain poet...
Sounds of Colors. Ehhh, it was okay. Nothing all that remarkable. The multiple storylines at once was a touch confusing.
Killer. HK gangsterish movie. Very dumb. Enough said.
The Cheaters. This was going along pretty decently, then it confused the heck out of me with the strange endingish twist. I didn't get it. Ah well.

And that is the end of my inciteful comments.

Saw Monster's Ball this eve, with Halle and Billy Bob. It was decent. Not all that though.

When in Jersey, visiting my Sis, saw two HK flicks. Turn Left, Turn Right and Sounds of Color. Not in the mood to talk. The first was overdone. We get it, no need to pound us in the head over and over again. Subtlety would be nice.

Watched a light, silly HK film tonight. Nothing deep, but cute. Had the infamous duo, Twins, in it. I like that Charlene girl. She always plays these spunky people. I like her. And her hair looks cool. Film seen: Summer Breeze of Love.

This eve I saw Insomnia, with Al Pacino and Robin Williams. Good, I liked it. Good story. The scenery was lovely. Some was shot, I found, in Canada. And some, I'm hoping, was actually shot in Alaska. I hadn't thought about the whole time/earth thing. As in how it could be bright as hell but late at night. Man, that would so screw things up. Or if it was dark all the time. I think I'd go nuts. It was funny watching the special features afterwards. There was this one called Eyes Wide Shut where they had these people who suffered from insomnia talking about their problems. Also with doctors and such talking about sleep deprivation. The whole time I was like, I knew that! Haha. I still have that sleep book I'm reading. I haven't touched it since I renewed it though.

Saw Charlie's Angels, Full Throttle this eve. All I gotta say is WHOAH DEMI! A touch silly, but action packed, and love all that costume changing. I liked it good enough. I want to go to that conservatory. And I want it to be empty. But mainly, WHOAH DEMI!!!

This eve I watched a film. Came upon it randomly as my eyes browsed the shelf. The first draw was that it looked Asian (imagery, etc). Surrounded by anything but *everyone screams, 'you got to be kidding me!'* (I make it sound like I'm in Hicksville, USA or something, huh?), I feel starved for Asian. Ha. On further analysis of the dvd, it was actually a film by a guy who had directed this other film that I loved. His name is Zhang Yang, though I knew the film, not him. I don't know if you all are familiar, but if you can, go out and watch Shower. I actually own a copy. Picked it up when I was in HK, post watching it at a theater. Anyway, the one I watched this eve was called Quitting. It is 'the true story of one man's battle against heroin addiction.' I found it interesting (bad word, only word in my vocab tonight it seems, but we understand each other, right?) how Zhang Yang casted the actual people in it. Like the real addict, his real parents, the other real psychotics, etc. What I couldn't get over was the addict. He was such an ass. Not only was he a skinny bugger that liked to wear tight tight jeans, obsessed with Lennon, and all that other stuff, but his attitude sucked and he just annoyed the hell out of me. So if he was being himself, himself is a stinky person. Wasn't fond of him, but I like the director's 'vision' and manner of putting the film together. Ha.

September.09.2004

12.36am ||

I'm still craving comedy. I don't happen to have any on me. (Sounds like I carry it in my pocket or something, no?) So yeah, this eve I saw Le Violon rouge aka The Red Violin. I liked it. It is just so amazing how an instrument can touch one so. The breathtaking sounds you make, the emotions you project. Wow. And to think there are little geniuses out there too. That little boy in the movie was so cute! I looked him up, hoping he was actually a little prodigy that was really playing in the film. He sure looked like he was, but what do I know. Not much info on him, so I gotta assume not. Such a cutie. I don't like orchestras and symphonies. Too much of nothing. Just like big gatherings. I like solos. I like to hear the purity of the music, minus all the unnecessaries. I'm not gonna get into the movie. I'm gonna go strategize and hunt me down some musicians and lock them in a room with me.

September.08.2004

1.59am ||

So this eve I watched Charlotte Sometimes. I think I started watching about 9pm. And I think I finished at like...1am? Haha. I was on the fence about the film after I finished, but then there was all that commentary and goodies that made the film not so bad after all. I venture to say I kinda liked it. After all the extras and explanations. Heehee. If nothing else, I appreciate it more. And Michael Idemoto. I think he is quite adorable, no? Not familiar with too many Asian American actors, but yeah, I found his expressions and all quite ...adorable. Cute isn't the word. He has this quiet sweetness to him. I also watched a segment where Robert Ebert was having a discussion session with some of the cast and the director. Michael isn't much of an articulator. His lack of words and ability to speak, and general awkwardness (the fella can't sit still either), was endearing though. Ha. Jacqueline Kim, on the otherhand, was quite a vocal, articulative lady. I like that. I skimmed through the dvd again with the director's commentary, along with 2 costars. There was 2 versions. One with Matt and Jacqueline, another with Michael and Eugenia. Yeah, I skimmed through both. Mt would shake her head and say that I am the only one to do such things. I did the first one, then I had to go through the second one, just to hear Michael talking. To see if he actually talked, you know. He doesn't seem to be much of a talker. I missed some things in the film though. I won't ruin it for people though. Like the connection between the two gals. I was clueless. All I know is that, after it was over, I was wondering why that one guy, Matt, was constantly screwing people. But yeah, it was a decent movie. Strange though. From the beginning. Because you have these Asian people just being that, people. Who'd of thunk? And I really liked the soundtrack and the songs on it. That one scene bothered me though. For the most superficial of reasons. The kiss scene with Michael and Jacqueline. Her shoes made her taller than him, so the silohuetted moment was most strange to me. Aesthetics. Ha.

Final verdict: Not necessarily appreciated by all, but appreciated by me.

Okay, it is really late and I shouldn't be up.

August.27.2004

1.10am ||

Couple other movies I saw a bit back but didn't list:

Red River Valley, the movie with the beautiful landscape imagery of Tibet and the Himalayas, but a film I wish I hadn't seen nevertheless. It disturbed me, seeing the people massacred like that. I don't care if that may have happened or not. Had a sweet love story imbedded, but again, not my kind of movie.

Also 2 films by Tsai Ming-liang, an interesting soul::: The Hole and What Time Is It There?. I don't particularly like that actor he uses over and over again in near all his films. I can't say exactly why. As to the films, I'm finding them to have similiar themes. All about isolation and loneliness and just a lot of grim kinda stuff. The first one was a tad odd, what with the musical like interludes. I suppose, in general, his films are 'odd'. For some reason I kinda sorta like them. Haha.

August.21.2004

1.03am ||

Well I gotta say that I am super glad we went to see the film aka Singles. I loved it! So did everyone else That one girl, Jang Jin-young, was so cute!! I got to scrutinize her as they had many close ups too. Haha. And her fashion sense. I want her clothes! She and I have the same style going on. I was trying to google more info on her, but didn't find much. Only that she and my sister are the same age, born in '74. I think she is from the states too. I wanna know how tall she is. She's thin, so she could be not so tall, but look tall. Mt thinks she is tall though. *shrugs* Googling stinks though. I didn't like seeing her with long hair, 'posing', or any other image of her (though most were tiny little thumbnails anyway). I liked her exactly as she looked in the film. So I guess I liked her character. Her costar girl was 'pretty' too I suppose, but she had a tad too much makeup for me. It looked pasty. Not as nice to contemplate. At least not so close. Great movie that brought lots of laughs. Mt wants the dvd. **I just googled her love interest in the film. He's 5'9, so that means she is fairly tall.

So besides the 3 bucks and 25 cents I spent on a stupid soda, I'm muy happy.

August.13.2004

12.53am ||

This eve I saw He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, with Audrey Tautou. Most definitely not what I had expected. Not even close. All I gotta say is Psychooooooooo. O_o

August.12.2004

1.03am ||

So, jinwankan le zhang yimou de To Live. Good, good. And GongLi, I'm appreciating her more and more. Very good actress.

August.11.2004

1.24am ||

I watched the Bond flick, Die Another Day, this eve. Nice. Check all the cool graphic effects in the opening sequence. And Miss Halle Berry. She's gorgeous. Beautiful beautiful bone structure. I don't think I have to mention that she has one helluva hot body too. ;oP I don't know what was up with Brosnan's whole womanizing thing though. First you see Halle coming out of the water, next thing you know, Halle and Pierce are getting it on in bed. Umm, transition please? Same with him and that other girl. Talk about sudden and strange and pretty damn cheesy. And then in the end with that older lady. Can we say over the edge? Luckily that last one was all a fantasy in the her head. If it hadn't been, man, just plain cheese. Bond, Superwhore Bond.

July.18.2004

12.43am ||

Watched a Tsai Ming-liang film this eve. Taiwanese filmmaker. Rebels of a Neon God. His films tend to be very barren and stark. And bleak. And commentative. This is the second film from him I have seen. The first was during my Asian Cinema class back in HK. I think I'm gonna check out some of his others. Anyway, night.

July.17.2004

1.06am ||

Movies of late and beyond:
Butterfly and Sword. An old kungfu/swordplay movie. Okay. I probably saw it long ago and don't remember. Didn't like it so much.
Purple Storm. Despite having Daniel in it, it was just an above-okay movie. Parts of the storyline I didn't like. Or didn't work that well...I thought.
Dragon Inn. Big star cast. Another old swordplay movie. Was actually a remake of this legendary guy's film (his name slips me at the moment). Well done. I actually watched it twice. The first time, as is, the second time, with the commentary. I love commentary. Well, it helps when the people doing it are good. Nice. Good, comprehensive storyline, nice camera work, well done.
Shadow Magic. Nice. I liked this one and would recommend it. The girl in this is kinda pretty. Very distinct features, reminds me of Gong Li.
To Love. Japanese film. Watched this this eve. Just a random pick up. Didn't quite like it. I did like some of the screen shots though. Very still, serene, and simple. Sad movie.

June.01.2004

1.22am ||

Movies of late:
Lan Yu = okay.
YiYi = very cute little boy, but not up to hype. Disappointment.
Pather Panchali = hmmmm & sigh.

MAY.22.2004

9.19pm ||

Lastest batch of films watched include:
Lost in Translation, not quite what I had hoped, though I really didn't know what I was hoping for. Must have been the misleading hype from others. When I was returning it to the library, the guy asked how I liked it. It's okay, I said tentatively. The guy was much less lenient. He thought it sucked.
Interview, a Korean film. Ehhh here too. Bah.
And lastly I saw A Death Curse, an HK film. It is supposed to be a horror like thing, but I was expecting to laugh instead. And I did. Wasn't amazing, but had its funny moments aka provided me with satisfactory entertainment.

MAY.07.2004

1.04am ||

This eve I watched Hi, Dharma, a Korean film. It was okay. It was kinda funny, but wasn't quite as funny as I had hoped. Comedic with something a bit more.

MAY.06.2004

1.20am ||

This eve I watched Whale Rider. Good. Triple thumbs up for the dvd's thorough special features/commentaries. They musta had me in mind. Haha. And that little girl is a pretty little thing. [Hmmmm...I just looked her up. I like the youthfulness in the movie versus all the jazzed up bit. And she's older. Kids grow up so quick.] Great debut acting too. And Maori people, in general, are a distinct looking lot. I wanna go to New Zealand.

APRIL.26.2004

1.25am ||

Watched Running on Karma, starring Andy Lau and Cecelia Cheung. Man, my sister was right on the mark when she said this one sucked. Surprisingly, it got a good review. At least from the link above. Hmmm. They had Andy in this humongous muscle suit. Too many times, he was naked. I suppose they wanted to emphasize how real the suit looked. I can't help wondering if the front was as real looking as his ass. Ha. Like if they molded the real thing or what. I guess I'll never know. Wasn't all that taken with the movie, but gotta love Cecelia. I just love to study her. I guess I'm enamored of her or something. I just find her very pretty. *shrugs*

This eve I watched a recommendation. A Korean film called My Wife is a Gangster. Loved it! Nice balance of comedy, action, and emotion. Lots of laughs. Very cool effects in the fighting scenes. I loved the wife character. She near raped her husband. And the drum music they had for those makeout scenes. Crouching Tiger music. Too funny. Hahaha. I had brought the vcd with me when I went to visit my sister, thinking we all could watch it. Found that she had seen it already. Oh well.

APRIL.21.2004

8.27pm ||

Delayed movie updates:

Leaving Me, Loving You. Well, had to pick this one up. Why? Because I was in it! Okay, not quite. Miss Faye Wong was. Woohoo. She, along with Leon. Back in the day, me and my sister would drool over the cassette cover of one of his tapes. I'll admit now that his singing isn't all that. Nowadays he just goes with the trends, changing his image to keep the attention of the fickle world. I love his voice though. And them eyes, they are a light brown. I feel like my Faye is a stand-in for me. Heehee. She was looking quite cute, wasn't she? And I love the clothes she was wearing. The movie itself was okay. Not all that. But love some of the camera work. The colors and setting.

The Little Chinese Seamstress. Beautiful beautiful camera shots of the lovely lovely mountainous landscape of China. Breathtaking. Movie itself was not all that.

APRIL.10.2004

2.42am ||

Shoot...is it near 3 already? Yikes. Well this eve I watched the last of the dvds I have been hoarding from my personal dvd rental aka my sister, where 'love'(including listening to gripes about InLaws) is the price to pay. Ha. Anyway, saw Spiderman, with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. It was a fun action movie. *shrugs* Very cool effects.

APRIL.08.2004

2.07am ||

Watched Sweet Home Alabama this eve, with Reese Witherspoon. Sweet story. I liked how they tied the beginning and end together. Another lovely romance story that fills your head with all these artificial thoughts. Both of the male costars were pretty dashing too. Blue eyes. I'd love to stare, to my heart's content, into someone with beautiful blue eyes...that is without me feeling self conscious or them getting the wrong idea. And Reese didn't look so bad either. Her and Ryan make a great couple. I love seeing pretty people together. Just seems right. Haha. Their kids will grow up to be lovely too.

APRIL.06.2004

12.22am ||

Watched the film The Sea is Watching, written by the the famed Akira Kurosawa. The cover imagery is lovely. Very intriguing, great colors. Movie itself didn't quite capture me, but fabulous costumes (loved the kimonos!) and mystical scenes. I think I need to watch more of his films before I can really comment. MARCH.30.2004

1.30am ||

My movies of late:

Two Weeks Notice with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant. Not too bad. I liked it. I'd say more, but it's no longer fresh in my memory.

Love Undercover 2, the sequel to the first HK film. I loved the first one to death. Tummy aching laughs. This one didn't live up. What was funny in the first just wasn't funny anymore in this one. And the story was weak. The movie wasn't all that, but nothing like some super hot eye candy to help ease the disappointment. Yeah baby...

Naked Ambition, an HK film that is supposed to satirize/poke fun at the porn industry in HK. This one is totally stupid. RETARDED. Another example of the many horrible, insensitive, badly scripted HK productions. Tsk tsk tsk.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape, this evening's watch. With Johnny Depp in it. Good good. I liked it. Fabulous performance by Leonardo too.

MARCH.19.2004

12.48pm ||

Movies of late:

Accidental Spy, another Jackie Chan film. Everything was going fine until the very end. I don't get the whole reason why Eric Tsang was in it. Overall, the storyline was a little sketchy, but that's okay, Jackie is cool. Anyway, Vivian Hsu was quite pretty. Cute. She looks so young, but she isn't (1975). And in the film she looked pretty tall, but she isn't that either (5'3), like here. I guess it is because she is so thin. Man, I'm trying to find a nice pic of her and all I get is a whole slew of bikini shots. Urgh. I like her natural, like in the film. Not naked or model-y. I don't suppose everyone agrees with me.

Igby Goes Down with Kieran Culkin. I didn't quite like this one too much. Though I liked certain moments. It was kinda cool how it was set in the city though. And the one place he was staying out is a place I pass all the time when I'm shopping along Broadway. Now I know how it looks on the inside. That Ryan Phillippe guy is pretty good looking too. I never really paid attention. I love closeups. ;P I bet him and Reese's baby daughter is lovely. It's always nice to see good looking people together. Haha.

Bridget Jones's Diary, with Renée Zellweger. This one I liked. It was cool. I'm still amazed by Renée's ability to gain and lose weight. The difference between her body in the film versus her in the special features section, wow. AMAZING. I wanna know her secret! The gaining part. The extra weight worked for her too. She didn't look bad at all. The extra fat went to all the right places. Is there a secret to that too? Probably just genetics, huh? Ha.