Inglourious Basterds

Genre: War Drama
Language: English, German, French, Italian
Director: Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill series)
Cast: Brad Pitt (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button), Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz
Runtime: 152 minutes

Plot:

Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa. She narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema.

Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as "The Basterds," Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own.

Watched the movie on 28 Sep @ Cathay AMK Hub

ah-deng says: 4 / 5 Brilliant dialogues and cast including those cameos. And of course, the scalp part was a shock too! However, based on History records, Hitler committed suicide instead of being killed thus I was a bit disappointed but parts of the plot. Other than that, it is an entertaining movie even towards the end!

Tokyo Sonata

Genre: Drama

Language: Japanese

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Retribution)

Cast: Inowaki Kai, Teruyuki Kagawa (Tokyo!), Kyôko Koizumi (Gu-Gu the Cat)

Runtime: 119 minutes

Plot:

The story concerns a Japanese businessman, husband, and father of two, who unexpectedly loses his job. Unable to break the news to his devoted wife, he dresses up every morning and pretends to go to work, instead wasting the days away with a former classmate who is also unemployed. Although they aren't aware of his contradictory behavior, his family begins to disobey him nonetheless. His teenage son enlists in the Army in order to fight for the United States, while his adolescent son goes behind his back to take piano lessons. The longer his charade goes on, the less control he has as patriarch, creating an even deeper divide between him and his family.

Watched the movie on 21 Sep @ The Cathay Picturehouse

ah-deng says: 4 / 5 I believe that in Japan society, there is this invisible responsibility cap men are wearing. They felt they should be the ones protecting the family, and couldn't face the reality once they faced failure. When the male lead's former classmate committed suicide with his wife, it just showed that they are being coward, not willing to face reality. Should this happened to an American family, things may worked out differently.

The Ugly Truth

Genre: Comedy/Romance

Language: English

Director: Robert Luketic (21)

Cast:Katherine Heigl (27 Dresses), Gerard Butler (P.S. I Love You)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Plot:

Abby Richter is a romantically challenged morning show producer whose search for Mr. Perfect has left her hopelessly single. She's in for a rude awakening when her bosses team her with Mike Chadway, a hardcore TV personality who promises to spill the ugly truth on what makes men and women tick.

Watched the movie on 21 Sep @ The Grand Cathay.

ah-deng says: 3 / 5 Come on, let's face it, truth isn't pretty most of the time. But we do like to be told with the honest truth. And Gerard, I seriously think you should have a shave.

The Time Traveller's Wife

Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: English

Director:Robert Schwentke (Flightplan)

Cast: Eric Bana (Star Trek), Rachel McAdams (State of Play), Ron Livingston

Runtime: 110 minutes

Plot: Clare has been in love with Henry her entire life. She believes they are destined to be together, even though she never knows when they will be separated: Henry is a time traveler -- cursed with a rare genetic anomaly that causes him to live his life on a shifting timeline, skipping back and forth through his lifespan with no control. Despite the fact that Henry’s travels force them apart with no warning, Clare desperately tries to build a life with her one true love.

Watched the movie on 20 Sep evening @ Cathay Cineleisure

ah-deng says: 3½ / 5 A passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap. Loved the concept of explaining sometimes the person you loved may not always be there at the same space as you are at.

Coco Before Chanel

Genre: Biopic

Language: French

Director: Anne Fontaine (La fille de Monaco - The Girl from Monaco)

Cast: Audrey Tautou (Hunting & Gathering), Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola (The Eye)

Runtime: 105 minutes

Plot:

Coco Before Chanel is the story of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, who began her life as headstrong orphan, and through an extraordinary journey became the legendary couturier who embodied the modern woman and became a timeless symbol of success, freedom and style. The film portrays the formative years of Chanel's life, the years of Chanel spent discovering and inventing herself.

Watched the movie on 4 Sep @ GV Vivo with Vanessa & Peiling.

ah-deng says: 3 / 5 Wished the movie elaborated the love life of Coco & Arther and how it affected her work after.

The Proposal

Genre: Romance/Comedy

Language: English

Director: Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses)

Cast: Ryan Reynolds (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Sandra Bullock (Premonition)

Runtime: 108 minutes

Plots:

Publishing powerhouse Margaret Tate is used to getting her way. She bullies her ambitious assistant, Andrew Paxton, earning the ire of all the underlings at Colden Books in New York City. But Margaret, a native Canadian, finds her career in jeopardy when she is denied a visa and learns she will be sent northward. She forces Andrew to become her fiancé, but she’ll have to take a trip home to Alaska with him to prove to U.S. Immigration that their impending union is genuine.

Watched the movie on 23 Aug with Sylvia

ah-deng says: 3 / 5 Is it only me? The office environment seems familiar...

Scandal Makers 과속스캔들

Genre: Comedy

Language: Korean

Director: Kang Hyeong-cheol

Cast: Cha Tae Hyun (Miracle of a Giving Fool - BABO), Park Bo Young Hwang Suk Hyun

Runtime: 108 minutes

Plot:

Mid 30's Nam Hyeon-su is a popular radio d.j. and entertainer (who was even more popular in his younger days as a teen idol). One day his apartment doorbell rings and a young lady named Hwang Jeong-nam appears and tells Hyeon-su that he is her father. Furthermore, she informs him that he is now a grandfather to her young son, Ki-dong. Hyeon-su would like nothing better than just close the door, but when Jeong-nam threatens to go to the media he allows the young lady and her son to stay in his apartment. Complications arise when they are spotted outside together and people assume they are romantically involved!

Watched the movie on 22 Aug night with Sylvia.

ah-deng says: 4 / 5 There is this charm Cha Tae Hyun possessed that everyone finds it hard to resist from laughing at. The little grandson has huge potential too.

Up - 3D

Genre: Animation

Language: English

Director: Pete Docter (Monsters, INC)

Cast: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai

Runtime: 96 minutes

Plot:

A young Carl Fredrickson meets a young adventure spirited girl named Ellie. They both dream of going to a Lost Land in South America. 70 years later, Ellie has died. Carl remembers the promise he made to her. Then, when he inadvertently hits a construction worker, he is forced to go to a retirement home. But before they can take him, he and his house fly away. However he has a stowaway aboard. An 8 year old boy named Russell, whose trying to get an assisting the elderly badge. Together, they embark in an adventure, where they encounter talking dogs, an evil villain and a rare bird named Kevin.

Watched the movie on 15 Aug afternoon @ Cineleisure with Barbara and Sylvia.

ah-deng says: 3.5 / 5 If there even be a chance, I don't mind flying in a house too.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Genre: Action/ Adventure

Language: English

Director: Stephen Sommers (The Mummy Series)

Cast: Channing Tatum (Public Enemies), Marlon Wayans (Dance Flick), Lee Byung-hun (The Good, The Bad, the Weird), Dennis Quaid (Horsemen)

Runtime: 118 minutes

Plot:

From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite G.I. JOE team uses the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment to fight the corrupt arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious Cobra organization to prevent them from plunging the world into chaos.

Watched the movie on 6 Aug with Sylvia.

ah-deng says: 4 / 5 Somehow, these movies are a must in Summer. And this Summer, there are quite a number of them hence many will compare this with Transformer especially. No matter what, I must say that CGI plays an important in movies these days as they brought cartoons in my younger days to life.