Departure

Genre: Drama

Language: Japanese

Director: Yojiro Takita

Cast: Masahiro Motoki, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ryoko Hirosue

Runtime: 130 min

Plot:

Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a cellist in an orchestra in Tokyo, loses his job because of dissolution of the orchestra. After quitting as a professional cellist, he decides to move back to Sakata, Yamagata, his old hometown along with his wife to find a new job. One day, he finds a classified ad entitled "Assisting departures" for an "NK Agency". He goes to the job interview thinking it is for a job at a travel agency. But at the interview, he discovers that NK is an abbreviation for "encoffinment" (納棺 ,nōkan), and he is instead to assist the "departed". Since the interviewer, the President of NK Agency, is immediately keen to have him take the job, the salary is good, and with no other job prospects, Daigo decides to accept his offer. However, when he comes home to his wife he finds himself unable to admit of the type of work he will be doing, so he dissembles saying that he is to be employed in the 'ceremonial occasions industry.'

Watched the movie on 28 Feb late night @ GV Grand with Sylvia.

I came to know about this movie a few days before the Oscars as the movie received many awards in the Japanese Oscars. And then came the Academy's Best Foreign Film Award. How interesting to have the special occupation as the theme of the movie!

I always have a misconception of the casket business which is a sacred yet mystery industry. The stereotype idea was that people worked there sometimes charged very highly. However after watching the movie, I realised that even though they are very expensive, they are the dead's last purchase before they leave the world. And the preparation for the dead to leave gracefully lies in the hands of these unknown service people.

No one around me does this. But there is a part in the movie whereby the male lead - Daigo asked his female colleague if he was good enough to do the job even he had not seen a dead before. His colleague assured him that anyone is capable of any job as long as he put in the effort. I guess this in fact applies to all. There is nothing that cannot be achieved. I like Daigo's prestige too, stern looking man with a tint of funniness.

Certain scenes rekindled my memories of my Granny who passed away a year ago. I wished I was able to see her before she was being placed in her coffin but I wasn't allowed to. I felt sad for not able to say my farewell to her like what the movie had shown. I wondered will my loved ones bid their farewell to me when I leave.

I like how the movie is presented. A bit of humour in the beginning when Daigo gets on the job. Not too gloomy yet the respect of the occupation is done nicely. After watching 4 movies that talk about death, this movie puts a nice finish to my weekend.

ah-deng says: 4/5 Unique theme, good story.

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas

Genre: Drama

Language: English

Director: Mark Herman

Cast: Vera Farmiga (The Departed), David Thewlis (Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix), Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon.

Plot:

Nazi officer Ralf (David Thewlis) and his wife Elsa (Vera Farmiga) have a teenage daughter, Gretel, and an 8-year-old son, Bruno (Asa Butterfield). The well-to-do family must move to the "countryside" when the father is promoted. Unknown to Bruno, the new house is near a Nazi concentration camp, and Ralf is the new commander. Bruno initially dislikes the new house as he always has to stay in the house or the garden; also there are no other children to play with, apart from his sister. From his bedroom window, Bruno spots a barbed wire fence with people in "striped pajamas" behind it. Though he thinks it is a farm, it is the camp with Jews in their camp clothing. Bruno is not allowed to go there, because according to Ralf, Jews are not really people; it is agreed that at least they are a bit weird, as demonstrated in their clothing.

Watched the movie on 28 Feb evening @ The Cathay with Sylvia.

My third Nazi related movie in a month. This time not so much of war, more on children, lonely children. I knew very little about the movie and thus i went to watch with the feeling of thinking it could be another children movie. I was caught by surprise by the "twist".

I only know the Father character played by David Thewlis from the Harry Potter series of movie, who played Remus Lupin. However, the rest of the cast left deep impression especially the 2 little boys. The innocences of the child actually see things differently, thinking the prisoners' outfits as pyjamas. And of course, towards the end when the 2 boys held their hands as friends, the contradiction of war and races became as one.

After watching, I was in my memory bank again. I was once a child who had to play alone too. I was curious about what adults around me did and not telling me what they were up to. It was forbidden for me to ask things I should not ask. And I was lucky I was not born during the war time. I am also glad that there are people around to remind me all the good memories. The movies really brought bits of my childhood memories back to me again.

ah-deng says: 3/5 Unlike those violence war film, this movie is worth a watch from a different perspective.

Suspect X

Genre: Suspense

Language: Japanese

Director: Hiroshi Nishitani

Cast: Kou Shibasaki, Masaharu Fukuyama, Kazuki Kitamura

Runtime: 130 min

Plot:

A male body is discovered. He is strangled to death where his face pulverized beyond recognition and fingers burned to a crisp. Kaoru Utsumi (Kou Shibasaki) is assigned to the case. The police face great difficulty in cracking the case. Thus, she seeks advice from brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa (Masaharu Fukuyama), aka Detective Galileo. After analyzing the case, Yukawa suspects that the true genius behind everything is Tetsuya Ishigami (Shinichi Tsutsumi), the neighbor of victim's ex-wife. Ishigami happens to be Yukawa's college friend whom he regards as a true mathematics genius. Elaborate bluffs, false testimonials, loopholes in logic - all begin to appear in Detective Galileo's way as if intentionally placed as a challenge by someone with mathematical brilliance.

Watched this movie on 27 Feb late night @ GV Vivo with Sylvia.

The movie was a film version to the drama - Galileo, which is based on Detective Galileo (探偵ガリレオ, Tantei Garireo), a novel by the famous mystery writer Keigo Higashino (東野 圭吾,, Higashino Keigo). It narrates the events and cases encountered by Kaoru Utsumi, a rookie detective, and Manabu Yukawa, a university associate professor, while the two pair up to solve many mysterious cases.

Although the main casts are the same as the drama version, the movie version seems very draggy compared to the drama. There seems to be many details to be told to have the story complete. There was a lot of slow motion scenes that make the movie even slower and longer. And I feel there are some parts that may not be necessary needed such as the mountain-climbing part.

During the drama, Professor Yukawa also using his formulas and analysis to solve the mysteries but I don't see that unique part in the movie for the main case. Thus it becomes just another suspense movie that loses its own uniqueness. Probably, only the answer was the only thing that was impressive.

ah-deng says: 1½/5 If you are a fan of Detective Galileo, the drama version is much better.

Marley & Me

Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada)
Cast: Owen Wilson (You, Me and Dupree), Jennifer Aniston (He's Just Not That Into You)
Runtime: 115 min

Plot:

As the snow falls on their wedding night, newlyweds John (Owen WIlson) and Jenny Grogan (Jennifer Aniston) decide to leave behind the harsh winters of Michigan and head south to begin their new lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. They obtain jobs as journalists at competing local newspapers, buy their first home, and begin to make their way through the challenges of a new marriage, new careers and, possibly, the life-changing decision to start a family. However, being unsure of his readiness for raising children, John confesses his fears to his friend and fellow journalist Sebastian (Eric Dane), who comes up with the perfect solution: Get Jenny a puppy. Then came Marley.

Watched the movie on 27 Feb night @ GV Vivo with Sylvia.

Initially, when the preview came out months ago, I wasn't interested in watching the movie at all, thinking I should stop watching Owen Wilson's crap movie. But I was drawn back after I watched an interview of both the actors on the Oprah Show week ago and I told myself, I should give this movie a chance!

After watching the movie, I was glad I did not give this movie a miss. Somehow, almost all dog movies I watched. I will end up crying, and this movie is no exception. But before those tears, there were lots of warm, fun moments as the movie really brings out the message of managing family and relationships. And the dogs are really awesome to be able to deliver such good performances!

Coincidentally, I was chatting to Julia earlier about her dog that died few weeks ago. And when I watched how Marley slowly grew old, I felt for Julia's dog. We agreed that all dogs have the bonding with their master. They are part of the family, in fact, they are one of the member. That's why there is a bond between the animal and human.

I was surprised with both Owen Wilson & Jennifer Aniston's performance for this movie. The comedy essence was just nice, not too much or too less. I like the fact that the movie focused a lot on family. The part whereby Jennifer decided to quit her job and to fully take care of their children, reminded of my close friend - Grace. I believe the motherhood message that Jennifer was portraying was the same as Grace, especially the part when she said about when she was at work, she thought of her children at home and couldn't concentrate on her work.

ah-deng says: 4/5 Warm-hearted family oriented movie. Dog lovers must watch!

Still on the Oscars - 81st Annual Academy Awards

Finally I watched the whole award ceremony on Star Movies last night. I must say this year's event was awesome compared to the previous years. Hugh Jackman did a good job for his 1st attempt of hosting such a big event, and I was impressed with the opening act which he linked the nominated movies up in a touch of humour. Although he may not sing well, but the effect of bringing the gist of every movie brings back memories of those movies if one had even watched them before.

The Annual Academy Awards is an event of the year where all movie makers gather and celebrate a whole year of hardwork and finally, get recognition. This year was exceptionally outstanding as we see many non English winners such as Penelope Cruz, Spanish who won Supporting actress, Slumdog Millionaire's multiple wins for various category for Indian film maker, the movie Departure, Japanese winning Foreign Movie, another Japanese short documentary won too. I like what Penelope said in her acceptance speech, «"This ceremony was a moment of unity for the world because art, in any form, is and has been and will always be our universal language and we should do everything we can, everything we can, to protect its survival."» How well said.

2008 closed with so many incredible movies made, looking forward for more in 2009... As far as I know, many great movies and blockbusters will already in their final post production, some may be already on it's way to theatres near us. May all the movie magic be with us!

OSCARS - 81st Annual Academy Awards

There was only one surprise from The 81st Annual Academy Awards - Actors in Leading role. Other than that, most awards have similar results as the Golden Globe and BAFTA.

And the Oscar goes to:

I was very happy for Sean Penn. He finally win the Oscar over Mickey Rourke who was the favourite. Also Kate Winslet, her win overwrote her history of not able to win an Oscar after many years of nomination.

As Hugh Jackman (Host of the Awards) said, keep making Movies and keep going to the movies! That's I'm going to do!!

New In Town

Genre: Comedy / Romance

Language: English

Director: Jonas Elmer

Cast: Renée Zellweger (Miss Potter), Harry Connick, Jr. (P.S. I Love You)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Plot:

An aspiring executive (Renée Zellweger) in love with her upscale Miami lifestyle, adjusts to her new life in a small Minnesota town (New Ulm) after being sent to oversee the restructuring of a factory. The locals give her a frosty reception when she makes no attempt to understand the local culture. She ends up risking her career to save the factory after she begins to understand the impact of her actions on the people of New Ulm and falls in love with the local union leader (Harry Connick, Jr.)

Watched on 21 Feb evening @ Cathay Cineleisure with Sylvia.

Quite a typical story. A career woman moved to somewhere unfamiliar, thinking she can managed on her own without requiring anyone help. Then met a man that saved her day and she fell for him eventually. Renee tried her best to convince the audience her role as the successful career woman and she rather stood out from the rest, showing she really couldn't blend to the people in town.

The "new" location of filming was not that common among the rest of the US movies, the always winter cold scene was rather unique as in Asia, those experiences such as Ice fishing, trapped in snow pile, are not common. Other than that, I felt the movie does not really got me engaged except for the crow shooting part. I thought if the male lead was change to Hugh Jackman, will the movie be much better?

ah-deng says: 1/5 Watch it during Christmas on TV.

He's Just Not That into You

Genre: Comedy / Romance

Language: English

Director: Ken Kwapis

Cast: Drew Barrymore (Music and Lyrics), Jennifer Aniston (Rumor has it) , Scarlett Johansson (Scoop), Justin Long (Alvin & The Chipmunks), Ben Affleck (Daredevil), Jennifer Connelly (The Day The Earth Stood Still), Ginnifer Goodwin, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper (Yes Man)

Runtime: 129 minutes

Plot:

Based on the best-selling book that swept the nation, Hes Just Not That Into You is coming to the big screen, in a feature film that is equal parts hilarity and heartbreak. Meet Gigi, Connor, Alex, Ben, Janine, and Neil complex people with complex emotions all of whom must learn to navigate the tricky territory of relationships, both old and new. By the end, some marriages will be over, some will be just beginning, some old habits will be broken and some new ones will be formed. But one things for sure if hes not calling you, hes not sleeping with you, if hes married to someone else, or hes sleeping with someone else chances are HES JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU!

Watched this on 21 Feb late night @ Cathay Cineleisure with Sylvia.

Ever since the preview came out 3 months ago, the funny and attractive cast drew my attention and made it a must-watch movie on my list. And after watching it, i wasn't disappointed especially with the impressing group of cast.

The plot chronicles the romantic misadventures of nine individuals in their twenties and thirties. Somehow, all their stories were familiar as they were like happening around me, or even my story. There always be times when girlfriends sitting in a cafe consoling a girl who was unsure. Or a desperate girl hopelessly waiting for her phone to ring. Worst, held your breath while checking your voicemail.

I especially like Gigi who repeatedly misinterprets the signs that men give her about their level of interest in her, and Alex, the manager of a bar and a friend of Conor who rejected Gigi. Alex often gave dating advices. Never did he know that he had slowly fell in love with Gigi through all those phone calls with her.

The many couples in the movie did a good job in delivering their roles. And the in-between statements that further emphasis the movie title "He's just not that into you", with people telling their experience. Women deceiving themselves by telling themselves white lies, men thought they knew everything yet they don't. Really a good movie for both men and women.

ah-deng says: 3½/5 Good movie to relax before the start of the upcoming week.

K20 - Legend of the Mask

Genre: Drama, Action
Language: Japanese
Director: Sato Shimako
Cast: Takeshi Kaneshiro (The Battle of Red Cliff) , Takako Matsu (Hero the movie), Nakamura Toru
Runtime: 137 min

Website / Trailer: http://www.k-20.jp/

Plot:

A mysterious thief, who only steals from the rich and aids the poor. People call him K-20 as he often disguise in as many as 20 faces. Heikichi (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a circus acrobat was conned and mistaken as K-20 and subsequently arrested by Akechi Kogoro (Nakamura Toru), a famous detective who once arrested K-20 himself. In the midst of clearing his name, Heikichi rescued Yoko Hashiba (Takako Matsu), the Duchess, Detective Akechis betrothed fiance. In the non-stop battle with K-20, the true identity of the thief may finally be revealed!

Watched this on 20 Feb late night @ Cathay Cineleisure with Sylvia.

It seems like no matter when or where, you always need a hero for the rescue, no exception in this 19th century staged fiction. And the hero of the movie turns out to be a thief who initially was reluctant to even accept to be a thief himself.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is always so dashing, bright and lovable on screen. The only thing to be disappointed is probably his fashion which was not that tally with the movie backdrop. His outfit seems too fashionable which was not in sync with the theme. Maybe i was too picky.

The fun of the movie was that I started to guess who was the real K20 from the beginning of the movie, and the selection kept changing as the movie progress. The helpful and friendly fellow-class neighbours helped Takeshi along to become K20 substitute since he was framed, and the next moment, the Japanese version of Spiderman appeared.

ah-deng says: 3/5 For the sake of Takeshi Kaneshiro, do watch it.

The Other End Of The Line

Genre: Romance

Language: English

Director: James Dodson

Cast: Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives), Shriya Saran, Anupam Kher (Bend It Like Beckham), Sara Foster, Austin Basis and Larry Miller

Runtime: 106mins

Official Website: http://www.theotherendoftheline.com/

Plot:

Beautiful and radiant, Priya Sethi (Shriya Saran) indulges her infatuation with American culture by working at the Citi One Bank Card call center in Bangalore, India. Speaking in perfectly unaccented English, she tells her customers her name is Jennifer David and a native of San Francisco. She happens to call the handsome and charming Granger Woodruff (Jesse Metcalfe) to help him with the fraudulent charges on his credit card. Priya and Granger have an instant connection over the phone. Unable to suppress the intrigue their easy chemistry offers, Priya agrees to meet Granger in San Francisco. She gets on a plane and crosses not only an ocean, but entire cultures as well.

Watched on 20 Feb night @ Cathay Cineleisure.

I am very familiar with the call centre environment. I know what the agents are behind those telephone lines. But the movie was a bit off realistic as in the real call centre, i don't think there is time for an agent to help her client on cold remedy or to give advice on his project.

Nevertheless, being a romance story, the plot was really romantic in a certain aspect. A girl falls in love with someone she barely knew through only phone calls and biography over the net, knowing that she shouldn't marry someone she doesn't love. Sometime, I really wonder if men out there, are they really that slow to realise their true feeling, or even the girl's feeling.

The father character, played by Anupam Kher, bought some much laughter to the movie. His panicky and sense of protection for his daughter were both funny yet justifiable. Although as a traditional Indian family, a daughter should marry someone her family arranged, he gave in to his daughter for her dream. And i was impressed by him standing by her daughter's decision even when the other family despised her. How fatherly...

I have watched 2 movies about India, Slumdog Millionaire and this. Glad that I was able to see Mumbai without having to travel there myself as i most likely cannot stand with the smell. In fact this movie tends to compare the 2 cities (Mumbai and San Francisco) and I like the way of presentation.

ah-deng says: 2/5 The usual fairy tale with a long distance relation and culture touch.

BAFTA 2009

The Orange British Academy Film Awards took place at the Royal Opera House on Sunday 8 February (Local time - 9 February).

I watched a bit of the Red Carpet Ceremony on BBC during my BKK trip. Now I shall publish some selective winning categories.

Winners:

Best Film

Slumdog Millionaire

Director

Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle

Leading Actor

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Leading Actress

Kate Winslet - The Reader

Supporting Actor

Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristine Barcelona

The winners seems to be the same as the Golden Globe, will the Oscars this Sunday have the same results? We shall observe....

The Wrestler

Genre: Drama

Language: English

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Mickey Rourke (Sin City), Marisa Tomei (Alfie), Evan Rachel Wood

Runtime: 105 Mins

Plot:

Robin Ramzinski, ring name Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke), is a Professional wrestler who was a major star in the 1980s, but is now nearly twenty years past his prime and wrestling on the weekends for various independent wrestling promotions. But when he suffers a heart attack, Randy’s doctor tells him he needs to lay off the steroids and stop wrestling. Forced out of show business, he begins to evaluate the state of his life. He tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter and strikes up wary romance with an aging stripper, Pam. For a while, things work out. But as he might resist, the pull of the spotlight us too much for him and Randy attempts once again to fight his way back into the ring.

Watched this on 15 Feb night @ The Cathay with Sylvia.

The movie came to my attention when he beat Brad Pitt and won the Best Actor in Golden Globe. I was like who is this guy and how could he have won the award? How did he do it?

My utmost impression of the film was that the back view of Mickey Rourke, almost 70% of the film was his back view. But even his back view is acting. Whenever he walked to work or he was walking to wrestle, even as he walked into the club, I could imagine his facial expression, wondering what was his feeling. Although this way of filming may not be uncomfortable as the cameraman is always following behind the actor, it is sort of portraying the story of a lonely man through his back.

The wrestling scenes brought back memories of those days I used to watch WWF when I was young. It was amusing to see that the wrestlers actually decide the moves before their match. Although back then I knew that wrestling was really a put-up show but never did I know that all those fake stuff were made up that way. Also when Randy had to work in the supermarket meat counter, I was reminded again that I ever worked at the ham counter when i was younger.

And in the final scene Randy salutes the cheering crowd and leaps from the ropes doing his "Ram Jam" and the shot cuts to black. What a way to end the story.

ah-deng says: 3½ / 5 Would Mickey Rourke win the award if the ending was not like that?

Slumdog Millionaire

Genre:Drama
Language: English & Hindi
Director: Danny Boyle (The Beach)
Cast: Dev Patel, Madhur Mittal, Freida Pinto
Runtime:120 min

Plot:

Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), a former street child from the Dharavi slums. Jamal is a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire hosted by Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor). Jamal has made it to the final question, scheduled for the next day, but the police are now accusing him of cheating, because the other possibilities, that he has a vast knowledge, or that he is very lucky, both seem unlikely.

Watched this on 15 Feb afternoon @ The Cathay with Sylvia.

I know this movie before it's release, even before the wining of the Golden Globe. Henry told me that he watched this movie from his source and found it interesting and highly recommend me to watch it. At first, I wasn't interested at all, thinking how a Bollywood movie can be interesting? Then came the winning of the Golden Globe for Best Film and many reports on how well the movie has done, I'm convinced that this is another movie one cannot not watch!

The movie shows audiences many contrasts, the Rich vs the Poor, Clean Bungalow vs Dirty Slum, Women washing along river vs Men hanging around roadsides, commoners fighting for lives vs Police gambling for lives, etc. I like how the movie shows the different period and colours, the switching of childhood memories to the game show, then to the interrogation by the police officer.

Suddenly, I felt how lucky I am to be in Singapore, else will I be able to survive in that kind of environment. While we are comfortable eating our bowl of laksa in the air-conditional food court, the poor, parent-less children had to beg in the slum to earn themselves a meal, at the same time hoping to be a successful singer trusting the kind soul who offered them the shelter and food.

The movie ended like a fairy tale, typical happily ever after. Plus the infamous Bollywood in-line dance by all the actors. So typical yet brings a smile on my face. I suddenly missed the old days when I had to watch Bollywood movies on TV because that was the only programme to watch during weekends.

ah-deng says: 4½ / 5 Worth my $10.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: David Fincher (Se7en, Zodiac)
Cast: Brad Pitt (Se7en, Ocean Series), Cate Blanchett (Lord of the Rings Series), Elias Koteas, Jason Flemyng, Peter Bergman
Runtime: 166 min

Plot:

The elderly Daisy (Cate Blanchett) is on her deathbed with her daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) in a New Orleans hospital as Hurricane Katrina approaches in August 2005. Daisy tells the story of a blind clockmaker named Gateau, who was commissioned to create a clock to hang in the New Orleans train station. After receiving news of his son's death during the World War I, he continued work on his clock, but intentionally designed it to run backward, in the hope that it would bring back those who died in the war. After her cryptic story, Daisy asks Caroline to read aloud from a diary containing photographs and postcards written by Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt).

I watched this movie on 14 Feb late night @ The Cathay with Sylvia.

Brad Pitt is one of my favourite actors thus I will not give this movie a missed. With its extraordinary plot, it really brought me into thinking about life. Is there really a person who is unable to stop time, but is born in his eighties and ages backwards. Is there any difference from us who age the normal way?

After the movie, all i can conclude is all human race has to go through the same cycle, no matter you aged forward or backward, the difference probably is the way of experiencing the cycle that is different. Example in the movie, when Benjamin was a child in age but physically he was an old folk, he was curious about what the other children in the neighbourhood were playing but was forbidden mainly due to his old, weak body. But his mentality still kept him going and he picked up piano quickly.

He understood that he was special and knew that he could not lead the same kind of life like the rest. However, everyone had to go through life and death. He witnessed death of his fellow housemates, his father, his foster parents, his colleagues. He saw the birth of his own daughter but feared that she might inherit his special illness. He made the decision to leave his loved ones knowing that they cannot be able to cope if he would to stay and be a teenage dad by the time his daughter grew up.

Although the film was draggy in the middle but the touch of humour and the love encounter now and then helped audience to sit through the almost 3 hours movie. I felt if the last aging process could be illustrated more, the whole story could be more complete.

ah-deng says: 4/5 Impressing make up skills and unique plot.

Valkyrie

Genre: Action, Drama
Director: David Singer (Superman Returns)
Cast: Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible series), Kenny Ortega, Bill Nighy, Joe Johnston, Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard
Runtime: 121 min

Plot:

During World War II, Wehrmacht Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) is severely wounded in Tunisia, and is evacuated home to Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Major General Henning von Tresckow (Branagh) attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler by smuggling a bomb aboard the Führer's private airplane. The bomb, however, fails to detonate and Tresckow safely retrieves it to conceal his intentions. After learning that the Gestapo has arrested Major Hans Oster, he orders General Olbricht (Bill Nighy) to find a replacement. After recruiting von Stauffenberg into the German Resistance, Olbricht delivers von Stauffenberg to a meeting of the secret committee which has coordinated previous attempts on Hitler's life. The members include General Ludwig Beck (Stamp), Dr. Carl Goerdeler (McNally), and Erwin von Witzleben (Schofield). The Colonel is stunned to learn that no plans exist for after Hitler's assassination.

I watched this on 14 Feb @ The Cathay with Sylvia.

There were a series of German related movies these days, and Valkyrie is one of them. The movie talks about the assassination of Adolf Hitler, carried out by the code Operation Valkyrie which involves the deployment of the Reserve Army to maintain order in the event of a national emergency. The plotters carefully redraft the plan so that they can dismantle the Nazi regime after assassinating Hitler.

Tom Cruise portrayed as Colonel Stauffenberg, who was being ordered to carry out the assassination. I always felt that Tom Cruise looked best in uniforms and this movie proves it once again, even if he was without an arm and eye. He even had to act with one of his eye not moving.

The movie was well-paced and easy to understand. Everyone has just one goal, either to follow the Führer or oppose him. Audience can also learn a bit of history out of this movie as this was the last known attempt out of 15 ones to assassinate Adolf Hitler. And I must say that the actor portraying Hitler does look very much like him.

Not so much of a war film but a planned operation to remove the powerful leader but failed to accomplish. Else History will be changed and Stauffenberg will probably be the hero.

ah-deng says: 3/5 Felt Tom Cruise could have performed much better.

Love Matters

Genre: Comedy

Language: Mandarin, English and Dialect

Director: Jack Neo, Gilbert Chan

Cast: Henry Thia, Yeo Yann Yann

Runtime: 117 minutes

http://www.neostudios.com.sg/

Trailer: http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=xzVgbZE22Jk

Watched the movie on 31 Jan late night with Sylvia and Barbara

Inkheart

Genre: Fantasy
Language: English
Director: Iain Softley
Cast: Paul Bettany (The Da Vinci code), Brendan Fraser (The Mummy), Eliza Bennett (Nanny Mcphee)
Runtime: 106 mins

Plot:


Mortimer "Mo" Folchart (Brendan Fraser) and his 12-year-old daughter, Meggie (Eliza Bennett), share a passion for books. What they also share is an extraordinary gift for bringing characters from books to life when they read aloud. But there is a danger: when a character is brought to life from a book, a real person disappears into its pages.

Watched this on 31 Jan night @ GV Vivo with Colonel, Sylvia and Barbara.

Just when everyone thought that this just another bedtime story kind of movie, it proves it is different as instead of being the typical fairy tale-liked, Inkheart brought all the fairy tale to life. While people in the real world has to overcome the fact that characters in our story book have come to life and be in our surroundings, the characters in the fairy tales have to overcome their fears that they have have to adapt to the real human world. Magical creatures and firespitting became a norm if all these were to come true.

One thing i do not like about the movie is the daughter's character who portrayed it too maturely for a twelve years old. However, the other characters such as Farid, Dustfinger and Fenoglio were lively and funny that lifts the whole movie up. And the villain, Capricorn, reminds me of Mike Myers in Austin Power.

ah-deng says: 3/5 Colourful and Entertaining.