After reading this article, one thing came to mind: The guy has to do some frickin research before releasing an article like this. The article is filled with mistakes and inaccuracies.

Here are some responses to his statements:

"Since then, it has been much easier for Asian movies to clinch distribution deals in North America. This has paved the way for the commercial US screening of such titles as Zhang Yimou's "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," Cory Yuen's "So Close" and "Time and Tide," and Takeshi Miike's "One Missed Call."

The problem with this statement is that while true that it's been much easier for Asian movie to clinch distribution deals, it's been much harder for them to get released. For example, of all the films he mentions, only "Hero" has been released as a commercial film and it took two fucking years to get that released here. Films such as "So Close," "Time and Tide" have had extremely limited release (about 1-10 theatres tops), "House of Flying Daggers" has been in limited release since December 3rd and due to low admissions I doubt it would profitable to be a commercial release. The last film he mentions "One Missed Call" which hasn't been released or mentioned for release in the U.S. at all. Another mistake, "Time and Tide" is not even directed by Cory Yuen but by acclaimed HK director Tsui Hark.

"Now, three new Asian films have similarly found favor in Hollywood: Hong Kong's "Kung Fu Hustle," Korea's "Ouija Board: Bunshinsaba," and Thailand's "Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior."

On this statement, he states that these films have found favor in Hollywood. Again, he's incorrect. Kung Fu Hustle has been smashing records across Asia since its release last week but it's hardly making a blip on the Hollywood radar. It's release is 95% going to be limited in the U.S to art house theatres. "Ouija Board: Bunshinsaba" is not even mentioned in Hollywood, not even on Asian cinema message boards. "Ong Bak" The Thai Warrior" is not even being released by Buena Vista International but by a small independent film company, Magnolia Pictures (a company co-owned by Mark Cuban). "Ong Bak" already has been pushed back numerous times since it's original October release date and looks to come out straight to video rather than theatres.

"A farfetched dream? Not after Ang Lee's mystical epic, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," marked a milestone for being the first Asian film to reach the $100-million mark in North American theaters. Before that, Asian films were screened mainly in art film houses. After "Crouching Tiger," however, major Hollywood studios started to wise up to Asian cinema's commercial viability."

Again, he's WRONG. Asian films are mainly distributed in extremely limited release. For example, two South Korean powerhouses "Tale of Two Sisters" and "Tae Guk Gi" were released in about 20-40 theatres in the United States. Asian films are still getting the shaft due to the casual moviegoer failing to read subtitles in films. The only other dent that Asian cinema as made was with the release of the oft-delayed "Hero," which only made half of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's" earnings.

What he fails to state is that the only reason why Hollywood has a budding romance with Asian cinema is the remake rights. Remake rights for the following films have already been bought and scripts are currently being written for them: "Infernal Affairs," "My Sassy Girl," "Phone," "Tale of Two Sisters," "Oldboy," "Chaos," and many, many more. Chan Wook-Park, director of Oldboy, was reportedly furious that the remake rights were sold to Universal Pictures for a remake.

How funny that this dog looks like Donald Trump.......you're fired!

As for my top ten best films of the year, there were many more to mention but didn't make the list. This is what this list is for, the GEMS of 2004. The films that were absolutely excellent but quite didn't make the cut for the best ten of the year.

First, let me reiterate my top ten of the year, keep in mind that the Aviator pushed the Terminal into #11 and Sideways to #4:

10. Collateral
09. Kill Bill: Volume 2
08. Closer
07. Garden State
06. House of Flying Daggers (Shi Mian Mai Fu)
05. The Incredibles
04. Sideways
03. The Aviator (read previous post for review)
02. Oldboy
01. Infernal Affairs

Now to the ones that didn't quite make the cut:

11. The Terminal
Read my notes on the top ten of the year for reasons why this film is one of the best of the year.

12. Spider-Man 2
Ultimately, the best superhero motion picture yet. Director Sam Raimi took what was wrong with the first film and fixed it to make one of the best films of the year. Blazing action sequences, strong performances, and amazing visual effects make its predecessor look like a piece of shit.

13. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
I feel sorry for those people who didn't like this movie due to its complex storyline. I found the film to be one of the most original of the year and one of the most daring. Michel Gondry shows us why he's one of the most talented directors in the world while Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet give winning performances. Jim Carrey deserves at least an Academy Award nomination for his work on this masterpiece.

14. Anchorman: The Legend of the Ron Burgundy
A lot of comedies made me laugh but not as hard as this one. Will Ferrell does make an idiot out of himself as newscaster Ron Burgundy but it's so goddamn hilarious. The film includes an insane amount of gut-busting cameos and a memorable performance from Steve Carrell as Brick the weatherman. "I'm in a glass case of emotion" indeed!

15. Three Extremes: Dumplings
One of the grossest films of the year and one of the most original as well. Great performances from the absolutely sexy Bai Ling, Miriam Yeung, and Tony Leung Ka-Fai, incredible cinematography, and a haunting soundtrack by Chan Kwong Wing make this one of the best horror films ever made.

16. The Calcium Kid
Orlando Bloom sure did suck in Troy but he is perfectly cast as milkman Jimmy Connolly in this great, small independent film. In the vein of the Spinal Tap mockumentary, the film focuses on the world of boxing while discovering that Jimmy is actually hard as steel! Bloom gives a hilarious, flawless performance as Jimmy Connolly while his promoter (Omad Djalili in a role with great zest and verve) Herbie Bush tries his best to make him a contender. Sadly, this film was overlooked in its native England and was never released in the U.S.

17. Shaun of the Dead
Another U.K. production with directing duties by Edgar Wright of Spaced fame. To be honest, the film is never scary but is it funny! Simon Pegg gives a hilarious performance as the low-brow electronics manager Shaun while Nick Frost gives a hilarious role of his own as the obnoxious but yet quite lovable Ed. Loved Bill Nighy's small role as Shaun's stepfather. Look for Chris Martin as a zombie in the end when Shaun and Liz get out of Winchester. He's next to the phone booth!

18. Infernal Affairs 2: The Legend
While quite not as original, or as daring, or as spectacular as the first, IA2 is still is one of the year's best films. Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang give mesmerizing performances as they reprise their roles as Inspector Wong and Sam Hong. But the true standout of the film is the patient performance of award-winning actor Francis Ng. Edison Chen and Shawn Yue are admirable as the young Ming and Yan. Contains an absolutely magnificent soundtrack scored by Chan Kwong Wing and is definitely the only thing better than its predeccesor.

19. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Another hilarious comedy with underrated actors John Cho and Kal Penn. From the director of "Dude, Where's My Car?" but shot with a sense of sensibility and admiration. Has a multitude amount of characters from the "EXTREME!" guys to the ugly but hilarious character aptly named Freakshow.

20. New Police Story
Jackie Chan's best film since Drunken Master 2 and hands down his most dramatic. Chan does go overboard with the schmaltz and dramatics but all his forgiven when the fight scenes begin. Young actor Daniel Wu gives an above average performance as the villain who detests cops while Andy On gives amazing acrobatic performances as the guy who fights Chan toe to toe.

The Aviator
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Danny Huston, Ian Holm with Matt Ross, and Jude Law.

I'd never thought I'd say this but I found the Aviator to be even better than Sideways. I was thinking to myself, "Can there be a better American film than Sideways?." I kept repeating this to myself like Hughes when he turned mad. No, I didn't go crazy but I found myself loving every minute of this film. Sure Sideways is amazing, hilarious, and perfectly written but to have your mind enraptured into the film is almost an impossibility. Sure you relate to these characters, you sympathize with him, but after numerous viewings it begins to wear off. The emotional chemistry between viewer and character begins to dissipate with Sideways but with the Aviator all I could think of is the man on screen, Howard Hughes.

After the quite brilliant but still heavily flawed "Gangs of New York," I was expecting "The Aviator" to be a flawed film but still quite good. This is not a film that is good, it's not okay, it's great. It's Scorsese's best film since Goodfellas. This is a masterpiece by all means and only Scorsese can bring it to the viewer like no one else. Every scene is shot with remarkble panache by cinematographer extraordinare Robert Richardson with colors that explode and splash on the screen. The sets designed by acclaimed set designer Dante Ferretti are downright breathtaking and the clothes of the 20s, 30s, and 40s are amazingly brought back to life by Sandy Powell.

Scorsese takes all these brilliant elements and creates a stunningly beautiful film. Perhaps the most beautiful American film of the year (House of Flying Daggers is still the most beautiful film of the year). But without great acting, Scorsese's direction can mean nothing. De Niro was once Scorsese's actor but DiCaprio is his De Niro and wow, what an amazing performance. His roles in Titanic, The Basketball Diaries, What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, and others were great but here DiCaprio gives his all as the aviator/director himself, Howard Hughes. In what can be called his first role simply as a mature character, DiCaprio gives Hughes many subtle nuances and amazing quirks that are completely genius. Jamie Foxx may be great as Ray Charles but we knew the way he moved, the way he spoke, etc. Here, we never knew who Hughes was, but DiCaprio brings all his acting talents to make us believe that it's Hughes on the screen not DiCaprio.

Another awesome performance comes from Academy Award-nominated actress Cate Blanchett. Playing Katherine Hepburn is a fine line between acting and parody and here we believe it's Hepburn on the screen. Blanchett gives her Hepburn the zest we're used to seeing Hepburn in her real life. She's truly deserving of the supporting actress Oscar for this role. It would be a folly if she lost. Performances from Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, John C. Reilly, and Matt Ross are all mesmerizing. Credit has to go to two actors, Alec Baldwin and Matt Ross, for their compelling performances. Matt Ross gives his character a sensibility that is the opposite of Hughes go for broke attitude. He plays Glenn Odekirk or "Odie" with acting that is arresting, a character who lives by Hughes order. Alec Baldwin gives his villainous character a bit of relaxation and patience not seen in many villains these days and who says the word "fuck" in such a great way.

If there was only one weak performance it would have to be Kate Beckinsale. Beckinsale feels weak in this myriad of absorbing and compelling performances. Her delivery of dialogue seems to be forced rather than relaxed. She just seems to play Kate Becksinsale rather than Ava Gardner. The balleyhooed role of Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow is just all hype. She's only in the film for at the most, one minute. Stefani should just stick to music.

Despite two weak performances, the screenplay is quite excellent. John Logan gives Hughes a complexity comparable to many of the characters of Scorsese's earlier works. Logan's Hughes is more of an amalgamation of Scorsese's main heroes from his earlier films. He writes his characters as tried and true humans rather than black and white heroes and villains.

Apart from the weaknesses, Scorsese's film is absolutely breathtaking in its scope and audacity. It truly is the work of an accomplished and truly gifted filmmaker. This is Scorsese at the top of his form. It brilliantly focuses not only on Hughes' successes but also his failures and into his downward spiral into madness. It is simply the best American made film of the year (sorry Sideways). If you were to watch one American film this year. This is it. Brilliant, mesmerizing, and exceptional, this is one of the best films of the year.

Grade: A+

Did some research to find out what piece of music that was at the end of the Kingdom of Heaven trailer and found that it is from Jonathan Elias' album The Prayer Cycle. What is more amazing is that the beautiful Hungarian vocals at the end of the trailer is done by none other than ALANIS MORISSETTE! I actually thought that it was Lisa Gerrard (she did vocals on Gladiator, The Insider, Man on Fire) but it wasn't. Isn't Alanis the one who spoke of hating Dave Coulier in her album Jagged Little Pill? Is this the chick who made everyone misunderstand the definition of ironic? I don't know but I never knew Alanis could sing Hungarian so beautifully and with such powerful emotion. I began listening to the previews on Amazon.com and one word came to mind: heaven. All I could of is heaven when I was listening to beautiful piece after beautiful piece. I'm certainly going to buy this album later today.

I've been watching a lot of trailers lately and one of the best of the year has to be Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. With a film starring Orlando Bloom, Eva Green (The Dreamers), Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson (Troy), Liam Neeson, and Edward Norton, I hope it's going to be great. I really love the music at the ending of the trailer. The film is actually about the Crusades. If you don't know what the Crusades are about, it's a religious war about the Christians vs. the Muslims. The film has a lot of shots comparable that of Gladiator (a lot of shots in the trailer are straight ripped out of that film). Even though, it looks to be good on May 6th, 2005.

Beware though, it's pretty big (about 36.7 MB) for 56k users.

Kingdom of Heaven (Theatrical Trailer)

Little guy: Hare krishna! Hare krishna!
George: Hey little guy, how would you like a hare krishna fist down your throat?!

Hilarious.

Had a pretty good Christmas. The food wasn't that good though. There was noodles, fried rice (the rice tasted like it was missing something), beef stew, and some other dishes. Despite this, dessert was delicious. Bread pudding, cookies, and some other desserts. All I did on Christmas was sleep and watch movies (Kill Bill: Vol. 2, The Incredibles). Maybe I'll watch The Aviator tomorrow, just hope it's not sold out.

I've been watching the new Season 5 set of the Simpsons and noticed that they have cut out a lot of things from the syndicated version of the show. Small little things that even make the episodes funnier.

It has been hard choosing my top ten films of the year. So many great choices but so little spots. Enough of my banter.....

The time has come.....

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF 2004:

#10. The Terminal
One of Spielberg's very best films, fusing joy, seniment, and incredible acting. Hanks is joyously great as Viktor Navorski, a man who cannot leave JFK airport. Great acting from the supporting roles: Stanley Tucci, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chi McBride, Zoe Saldana, and others.

#9. Collateral
From the director of Heat and Manhunter, Michael Mann brings us closer to the true aspect of Los Angeles: dark, bitter, and oh-so-fucking cool. Tom Cruise gives a career best performance as the cold hearted Vincent while Jamie Foxx gives an excellent dramatic performance as Max playing Yin to Cruise's Yang. Remarkable action sequences and a splendid script round off this completely mesmerizing tale of a hitman who knows how to do his job well. EXTREMELY WELL.

#8. Kill Bill: Volume 2
The second chapter to Quentin Tarantino's magnum opus "Kill Bill." Uma Thurman knocks up her acting a notch to give one of the best female performances of the year. David Carridine resurrects himself as the calmly cool but yet extremely deadly Bill. Supporting cast includes Darryl Hannah, who gives a cold hearted bitchiness to her role that's great, and a gruff Michael Madsen who gives a solid performance as Bill's brother Budd. Makes the first chapter seem complete and dare I say it, even better.

#7. Closer
Mike Nichols' masterpiece after his Emmy-winning "Angels in America." Give four shitty actors this type of script and they will tear it apart. Give it to four incredibly talented actors and they take it to a entirely incredible new level. From the four actors, Clive Owen stands out head and shoulders from the bunch as the sadistic asshole, Larry. Julia Roberts gives her most underrated performance ever while Jude Law and Natalie Portman both give the film a certain type of excellence that you can only see in these type of films.

#6. Garden State
What the fuck is Zach Braff still doing on "Scrubs"? He should be fucking directing and his debut is simply magnificent. Braff's directing gives a simplicity anyone can enjoy while a true moviegoer can cherish. Natalie Portman again steals the film as the charming and adoringly cute Sam while Peter Sarsgaard gives another incredible performance as Mark, Braff's brash but yet gentle friend.

As we go into the top 5, this list may change. I still haven't seen the critically acclaimed Clint Eastwood film, "Million Dollar Baby," or Martin Scorsese's love letter to Howard Hughes titled "The Aviator."

#5. House of Flying Daggers
Simply the most beautiful film of the year. Splendid visuals, excellent acting, and a great story round up this amazing wuxia motion picture from Zhang Yimou. I found this film even more exciting, more moving, more powerful, and more amazing than Hero. Zhang Ziyi is a sight to behold while Takeshi Kaneshiro gives power and grace to his character. Andy Lau gives an excellent performance as the cold and stoic Leo. I hate to say this but I've grown to love the ending (I've already seen the film 8 times on DVD). I hated the ending the first time I saw it but on a more lyrical level it is definitely beautiful and poetic. Like a sad love song, it poignantly ends but it ends perfectly.

#4. The Incredibles
Definitely the most fun and entertaining film of the year. Crushes "Shrek 2" in terms of complexity, sassiness, entertainment, and most of all, heart. Loved it from beginning to end and absolutely the best Pixar as yet to offer!

#3. Sideways
The best American film of the year while also being the funniest film of the year. PERIOD. Paul Giamatti should be awarded the Academy Award with his performance but also Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen (if she loses, I'll destroy the Academy). This is Alexander Payne's best film since......I don't know....never. This film deserves all the awards it's been getting.

#2. Oldboy
Mindfuck, n.
1) A mind being screwed with, toyed (aka FUCKED). 2) Oldboy, a film directed by Park Chan-Wook.

Definitely the most fucked up film I've seen since Takashi Miike's Audition. Choi Min-Sik gives the most powerful performance of the year as the emotionally tortured Oh-Daesu (which means just Mr. in Korean, we never know his real name), while Ji-tae Yu is absolutely brilliant as the notorious baby-faced Lee Woojin. The less you hear about this film, the more you will get out of it. Go into this film purely without knowing anything and you will be blown away. But the best thing is the fucking ending, oh god, the fucking ending. Hollywood never makes endings like this and you'll see why. The ending will leave you breathless for days on end and in many ways, change the way you see films forever.

What can be my best film I've ever seen this year? Well, my best film wasn't even released in 2004, shit, it was even released two years ago? So why am I putting it here? Because I saw it on January 1st, 2004 and it completely changed me. This film is purely the reason why I want to work in films.

MY NUMBER ONE FILM OF 2004

Infernal Affairs
Directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak

This motion picture truly changed me. I don't know what to write about this film. It truly earns the spot in my list of the best films ever shot, ever acted, and ever made. I'm not ashamed to say this but Infernal Affairs is definitely the best film I have ever seen. Nothing else comes close to the images and sounds that come out of this film. I have already this film over 20 times on DVD and pick up something new with each and every viewing. This is utter perfection on the screen, ever goddamn inch of it. I knew only the plot of the film before viewing and I was blown away after it was over. Tony Leung Chiu-Wai gives not only his best performance on screen but one of the best performances ever by an actor as the emotionally tortured and beaten Yan, an undercover cop whose been with the triads for 10 years. Andy Lau gives his finest performance as the triad going undercover as a cop Ming. Ming on the other hand isn't tortured or beaten, he's living the good life, the awesome life, the best life anyone can have. He has a beautiful fiancee, he buys expensive audio equipment, and is being promoted to the higher ranks of the police force. He is everything Yan wishes to be. Other than Leung and Lau, every actor gives their career best on this film: Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Dion Lam, Chapman To.

But what truly makes this film stand out from the rest is the ending. If Oldboy blew my mind with its ending, Infernal Affairs simply made my entire body implode. As I wrote for Oldboy, Hollywood doesn't make these type of endings and they won't. Infernal Affairs takes an enormous risk with its ending but the payoff is so great and so incredible that it brought tears to my eyes. The ending is not sugar-coated but true. It is heart-breaking and sad but is also redemptive of every shitty film you've ever seen. This film is a masterpiece from beginning to end from balls to bone. I always cry when the film is finished because it's just so goddamn fucking good. This film is beyond perfection, it is awesome, it is spectacular, and definitely not only the best film of the year. It is one of the best films of all time. No, in my opinion, it is the best film ever made.

The reason why I want to become a filmmaker
The reason why HK cinema has exploded once again.
The reason why Scorsese is making the god forsaken remake.
And the reason why we watch films in the first place.

I feel bad for the Philippine people.....

because they have to deal with non-stop Fernando Poe, Jr. bullshit all day. I went to my aunt's house to get a haircut the other day and she has the Filipino Channel. Guess what they were showing all day on the Filipino news? Shit about how people were stepping on his flowers and him being so great. It seemed as if God died in the Philippines and they're mourning it. Jeez people, he's just a fucking actor! All about FPJ this and FPJ that. Shit man, it's like he cured cancer, AIDS, obesity, and the common cold all on the same day. Well, I'd mourn the person who cured all those but FPJ? What the fuck, man?! All he did was star in shitty ass action movies where his damsel in distress could be the age of his granddaughter and whatnot.

I'll probably post my top ten films of the year tomorrow as critics throughout the nation are currently posting theirs (Roger Ebert's #1 was Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" and Kenneth Turan's was "Sideways").

I also saw a shitload of movies the past two days:
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (UNRATED): HILARITY at its most insane level. A-
Men Suddenly in Black: A solid comedy that falls apart at the end. C+
New Police Story: Jackie Chan's best movie since Drunken Master 2, amazing fight scenes, and a color cast of characters round up this solid action film. B+
A-1: Not about the steak sauce but about an apartment room number. Angelica Lee is deliciously hot in this film. The movie was decent but nothing to write home about. B
Taegukgi: A great film that gets too melodramatic at the end for it's own good. It could have been perfect, if not only for the sappy and completely horrible ending. C

My top 5 best songs I've heard in 2004:
5) Work - Jimmy Eat World
4) Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
3) Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
2) Run - Snow Patrol
1) The Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice

The 10 worst films I've seen in 2004:
10) The Village
9) Troy
8) Blade: Trinity
7) Saw
6) Breaking News
5) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
4) Alien vs. Predator
3) Gagamboy
2) Captain Barbell
1) Alexander

It is nice to know that a great film like Sideways is actually winning AND deserving its awards. It recently won best picture from the New York Film Critics, Boston Film Critics, American Film Institute, and Los Angeles Film Critics. It really deserves its awards. I just love this film.

My dad finally opened the Seinfeld box sets and they are awesome. I've never laughed so hard in my life. There are so many episodes that they don't show on television and it's sad because there are a lot of episodes that are truly great. Some truly funny shit:

Boy: You're ugly.
George: That's what you think!
Boy: That's what I know.

Here are some lyrics to ONE. AWESOME. SONG.......

I completely loved this song I first time I heard it on the Late Late Show on CBS. It's just perfect.

I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go
You've been the only thing that's right
In all i've done.

And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do
I know we'll make it anywhere
Anywhere from here

Light up, Light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder, louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

To think I might not see those eyes
It makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbyes
I nearly do.

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder, louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

Slower, slower
We don't have time for that
All I want is to find an easier way
To get out of our little heads

Have heart my dear
We're bound to be afraid
Even if it's just for a few days
Making up for all this mess.

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Snow Patrol ~ RUN

If my brother had a gaming orgasm, I got an audio orgasm earlier tonight. And it's this site. Sure, you have to fucking pay for the songs. But it's only fucking $0.01 per MB! It's got songs in MP3, OGG, WMV, MP4, and oh my GOD.........APE, WAV, LL WMV, and FLAC (lossless codecs)! I already downloaded 18 songs:

Vertigo - U2
Not Listening - Papa Roach
The Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice
Down - Blink-182
What You Waitin' For - Gwen Stefani
Wonderful Night - Fatboy Slim
Sunday Morning - Maroon 5
End Credits (The Shawshank Redemption) - Thomas Newman
Wonderwall - Ryan Adams
Shape of my Heart - Sting
Lonesome Tears - Beck
It's All in Your Mind - Beck
No Phone - Cake
Vitamin R - Chevelle
Thank You - Dido
Here With Me - Dido
Slow Hands - Interpol
Float On - Modest Mouse


And I only paid $1.97 for all of this!

I downloaded using LAME-standart codec and man, it's almost CD-Quality! The lossless formats were just too much ($0.30 compared to $0.06). But man, fuck iTunes!

Closer
2004
Director: Mike Nichols (Angels in America, Wit, The Graduate)
Starring: Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, and Natalie Portman.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I saw Mike Nichols' film Closer last Tuesday and I was surprised and at how deeply effective it is. Okay, I hate Julia Roberts, I found all her performances merely just a reflection of herself but in Closer, she plays Anna Cameron so subtly that I just felt her character (hell, I felt for every character). Her performance is this film is underacted and maybe that's why I loved it. She plays the polar opposite for every character she has been playing since her movie career started and it pays off. Every performance in this picture is absolutely top-notch from Jude Law's idiot character Daniel to Clive Owen's dermatologist and quite despicable character Larry. Clive Owen is an underrated actor who should be getting better roles in the future. His performance here is great because you sympathize with his character but at times you hate him as well. Natalie Portman is amazing as the delicate and beautiful Alice, a waif who depends on Law's character. Great things should come in the future for her.

But what I truly loved in the film is the script. I have NEVER heard conversations this frank in a high-calibur picture. It literally has to be heard to be believed. Many of the conversations between the characters are fascinating and sometimes borderline pornographic but that's what makes the film feel real.

At the end, you'll have conflicting feeling between the characters and I think that's what Nichols was trying to convey. That sense of authenticity and realism of a breaking relationship and he directs it perfectly. This is one of the best films of the year.

Grade: A

Blade: Trinity
2004
Director: David S. Goyer
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds, Parker Posey, and Dominic Purcell.

After the excellent first two installments of Blade, I was expecting this third and final installment to be great. Until I read the reviews. The reviews were horrible. I still decided to watch it anyway and that was my big mistake. What a waste of $6. The first two installments had a sense of mystery about Blade and his missions but this installment removes everything that made the first two great. Gone is the intensity, the panache, the darkness of Blade, and the comic book type humor. With Blade: Trinity, the humor is now comedic with Ryan Reynolds disposing most of these lines (I admit that there are funny lines).

The problems with the film are three things: the acting from most of the new characters (especially Biel, Posey, and Purcell), the music, and the fight sequences. Biel can't even act for the life of her and the scene where she's supposed to be extremely emotional comes out being cheesy and unintentionally laughable. Posey is miscast in the film as Danica Talos, a bitch of a vampire who not funny or even scary. But the worst character of them all has to be the main villain, Dracula (or the stupidly named Drake). He doesn't have the charisma of Stephen Dorff from Blade or the menace and threat from Luke Goss in Blade 2. He's completely worthless and totally laughable. He looks more model than vampire. Who the fuck wrote this piece of shit?

And final problem I had with the film is the fight sequences. This really hurt for me because I love well choreographed and well performed fight sequences. The stylistic fight sequences from Blade or the brutal street fighting from Blade 2 are nowhere to be seen here. The final fight between Blade and Dracula is just plain boring. On top of that, the music sucks. The music in the movie is just plain horrible. It just blasts all over the film, you can't even hear what the characters are saying. And who the fuck chose the music for this?

I hate to say this but I despised this film. Sure, it's not as bad as Alexander (which was by far the worst film of the year), but man, it SHOULD have been so much better. Goyer can't direct his scripts if the world depended on it. He uses too many flash cuts during the fight scenes and he can't even cast proper actors for the roles.

And for a movie titled Blade: Trinity, Wesley Snipes is in the movie much less than in the first two installments (no wonder he hated working on this movie).

Fuck this movie.

One of the WORST of the year.

Grade: D-

Blade: Trinity sucked and I miss you.......

Later tonight, a comprehensive review on why Blade: Trinity is a failure and why David Goyer should be bitch slapped.

Casshern
2004
Director: Kaz Kiriya
Starring: Yusuke Iseya, Kumiko Aso, Akira Terao, Kanako Higuchi, and Fumiyo Kohinata.

Casshern is a motion picture filled with ideas, beautiful sounds and amazing images. It tries to make a point but unfortunately its these same ideas that crush the film. The film (which surprisingly only cost $6 million to make) is absolutely mind-blowing in a visual, aural, and visceral sense but it’s dramatic scenes are tepid and at times overdone. It’s theatrical trailer presented the film as a nonstop action picture but it’s exactly the opposite. The problem was, I knew this film was a drama and I was expecting one. I just wasn’t expecting one this poorly written. What’s missing from the film is the sense of sympathy for almost all of the characters. Not only do you feel annoyed by their banter, you begin to hate almost every character. Every speech becomes redundant and thus the film becomes boring at times. Only during the spectacular action sequences does the film get truly exciting. Just imagine all those hyper kinetic scenes in the Incredibles at multiply them by one hundred and you will get the action scenes from Casshern. The action sequences are incredibly shot and extremely well made. You feel the power and speed of Casshern and pity his enemies. If only the entire film was as good as the action scenes.

The story speaks of an anti-war sentiment that bleeds freely through this film and it shows by the repetitive, boring speeches and never ending flashbacks of the main character during a war. These flashbacks, shot in black and white, are good for the first time we see them but become annoying the second time, the fourth time, goddamn it can’t someone turn off his flashback senses! The grain during these scenes got onto my nerves as well.

Unfortunately, the film doesn’t even come with good actors. The main character, Tetsuya (Yusuke Iseya), is only there to stare at his girlfriend, scream at his father, and wail during certain scenes. Definitely a poor performance. Luna (Kumiko Aso), the girlfriend of Tetsuya, is only there to scream for help and to be the person who can understand the enemy (isn’t there any movie where the girlfriend doesn’t care for anybody?). Many performances come to mind during the film but the only performance from the film that is worth mentioning is that of the main villain, Kozuki (Fumiyo Kohinata). He pulls numerous scenes with great panache and sincerity not seen in many action drama pictures but here you feel for him even more than the heroes. Not only do you sympathize with him, you feel his hatred, you feel his disdain for almost all those around him.

Another negative about the film is it’s running time. Why is the film over two hours? A film like this should be a guaranteed 100 minutes. The extra 40 minutes make the film feel bloated and at times too fat. It looks like Kiriya doesn’t know what the hell an editor is. The ending is especially overblown and at times I wondered when the fuck the movie is going to end.

If there is any merit to this film, it’s that the action sequences are spectacular with a capital S. For a debut film, it’s not that bad (which my review sounds like), but it’s not that good either. Granted, combined with a good cast, an editor, and a better scriptwriter, Kiriya may become a great filmmaker but Casshern is a great example that more is absolutely less. Much less. This film could have been great. But it’s definitely not.

Grade: C-

Zhang Ziyi as a child. How funny that she never, ever changed.

Since Sunday night, my laptop has been fucking up on me. I couldn't log onto Windows and it sucked balls. It was boring for the past two days. All I can do is sleep and do assignments (which weren't that hard in the first place). Thank God it got fixed earlier today (thanks to the SETUP CD-Roms). I gotta wait for my brother so I can back up my music files and other important documents on his hard drive. I really gotta reformat my hard drive. My laptop is currently unable to display the text of any disc and my start menu cannot even fucking sort out by name. I wish I had a 300 GB HD to back up everything on. And again, I also wish for that awesome 60 GB Apple IPod....drools.