moviefreak

Before I begin writing the review, I just want to say to everybody:

and I hope that the new year bring more hope and joy to all of us.

This 1991 movie I’m about to review is a classic one (the Chinese name is “Da hong deng long gao gao gua). Granted it’s not very new, but I think it’s a great movie in many aspects (it is nominated for Oscar in many categories and managed to win 11 of them but didn’t win, though it won 11 other movie awards - THANKS A LOT for the correction, Luke!), even though it can be categorized as a tragic story. This movie also made Gong Li become so famous.

All in all, I’d give this movie an 8.2 stars out of 10.

The Story:

Set in China in the 1920s (based on Su Tong’s novel), the story focuses on Songlian (Gong Li), a university student who wants to continue her studies, but after her father’s death, she is encouraged to marry a rich lord, Chen Zuoqian (Ma Jingwu). The lord has got several wives already, but he keeps on looking for younger ones. 

When Songlian arrives at his house (which is like a HUGE complex of houses), she’s given a separate personal house and maid and she finds out that the three other wives have their own houses and maids respectively. It’s the tradition for the husband to stay in the house of the new wife for 7 days. On top of that, the new wife also gets a special treatment every day before the master visits her. What’s the special treatment? A foot massage given by an expert masseuse. 

The innocent Songlian doesn’t realize yet that the competition between the wives is SO tough. On the second night, the third wife Meishan (He Caifei), a retired Chinese opera singer, starts making a fuss in her house so that the master gets out of Songlian’s house to visit hers. Then she seduces him to stay with her. 

What’s the big deal about being the chosen one? Well, first of all, before one of them is chosen, they all must stand in front of their respective houses along with their maids - plus some unlit lanterns. After a servant announces which one of them is chosen,  the lantern in front of the chosen wife will be lit, along with all the other lanterns inside her house (remember that at that time there were no electricity yet). Other than the fact that she’s going to get the special foot treatment (which is coveted even by Songlian’s maid!!!), she also gets to choose which kinds of food she wants to eat during breakfast (they usually have breakfast together. So the chosen one gets to eat all her fave food!!!

Anyway, the competition gets crazier as Songlian realizes that one of them is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. To gain an advantage, Songlian decides to lie to the master that she’s pregnant. However, the maid (who is in love with the master and she secretly wants to be a wife) finds out about this and so the master is VERY angry. He tells the servants to cover all of Songlian’s lanterns with black sheets. By now you’d know how important the role of the lantern in this story, right?

How does the story end? I’m not going to spill too much here, but be prepared for a tragic ending. 

Notes:

1. I wonder how one can be really fair to more than one wife, especially if they differ in age. No matter how much you try, how can you fulfill the needs of FOUR women, even if you’re the richest bloke on earth? 

2. This story also shows that even though Songlian is a university student, she “loses the battle” with other scheming wives since they’re more mature than her. It also shows that you have to be careful with your decisions since it may make or break you. 

3. After watching the movie, I’m SO glad I wasn’t born in that age, time, and place!!!

No, no, no, it wasn’t me who got to meet some movie stars. This time I’m not going to review any movie, since I’m pretty tired, but I want to share some things that I heard from one of my best friends. One of my best friends’ husband is an aspiring actor (he’s gotten some small parts in some movies and also in TV ads), so naturally they prefer to live in LA to be close to Hollywood.

The other day they went to this event in Hollywood where they got to meet some stars and watch their interviews. Here are some of the things my friend picked up from that event:

 Kevin Bacon showed too much cockiness, so my friend wasn’t impressed by him. 

Anne Hathaway seems very bouncy and she’s funny. My friend said to me, “No wonder she got the parts in The Princess Diary. She’s like someone who fits perfectly for Disney movies!”

 Will Smith really knows how to work the crowd. My friend said, “Charming the crowd? That seems to be a piece of cake for him!”

 Clint Eastwood is also funny and even though he’s accomplished A LOT, there’s NO arrogant aura at all. He also seems very easy-going.

 Daniel Craig is TOTALLY charming and he has confidence! My friend said about him, “You just can’t help liking him!”

That’s all she told me for now. I’m going to tell you more if she meets more movie stars and if you’d like to know more about her opinions after meeting them.

This movie is based on a 2003 Korean movie with the title “Geoul sokeuro“ (or Into The Mirror). I’ve never seen the Korean one, but hubby has, and he says that this Hollywood one has a better story for the middle part, though the beginning and the end of both movies are the same. I’d give this movie a 7 stars out of 10.

However, remember that it’s rated R for strong violence, disturbing images, language and brief nudity!!!

The Story:

Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland) is an ex-police detective who now has to resort to being a night watch since he is suspended due to having shot another police officer. He’s now staying at his sister’s place and his relationship with his wife has been weird ever since the shooting. He’s also taking stress medication. Anyway, he works in a burned out department store.

Strange things start to happen in the department store, especially when there are mirrors around him. He sees things in the mirrors’ reflection that aren’t really happening in real life. One time there are hand prints on the largest mirror in the store and when he touches it, it breaks and it hurts his hand. Then he also starts seeing the burnt victims of the store in the changing rooms by watching the mirrors. His wife starts to think he’s hallucinating when he tries to explain it to her.

Meanwhile, one day he also receives a package from Gary Lewis (Josh Cole), the night watchman that he’s replacing.  In the package there are pieces of information about the fire that burnt the department store and the person who started it. Through his connections, he finds out that the person who started the fire stated that the mirrors killed his wife and kids because he couldn’t do what the mirror wanted him to do. He burnt the department store since he thought he could destroy the mirrors that way. By now, Ben starts to believe that the mirrors are doing bad things to people. 

A tragedy occurs in Angela Carson’s (Amy Smart) place. As Ben’s sister is taking a bath, we can see her reflection in the mirror pulling her jaws apart and in real life Angela starts doing it. Thus Angela has a tragic death. The grieving Ben then gets back to the department store and yells at the mirror to tell him what he wants. Then a name appears on the mirror: ESSEKER.

Who is Esseker and why does Ben have to find that person? Will he be able to find Esseker before time runs out, before the mirror kills his wife and kids? 

For those people who love “silly” movies, between these two, the winner is DEFINITELY Superhero Movie. I find that Disaster movie is TOTALLY disastrous. The plot is wacky and they try to jam in too many characters into this movie. I find that Superhero Movie has a better plot as it’s the parody of Spiderman 1.

My personal ratings for both movies would be:

6.2 stars versus 2.5 stars out of 10.

So, you’d better stay clear of Disaster Movie, people!!!!!

One word of advice, though: if you want to enjoy Superhero Movie fully, you’d better be IN THE MOOD to watch this type of movie and make sure you’ve seen Spiderman 1 before you watch this one. My FAVE scene from Superhero Movie is when Dragonfly hides on the ceiling and he does something “despicable”, but it’s SO hilarious for me he he he he he…If you’ve seen it, I’m sure you remember the scene that I’m talking about he he he..

P.S. Remember that both movies are rated PG-13, so it’s not suitable for kids!!!

Now let me leave you with both movie trailers:

Of all the movies with Vin Diesel as the main actor, I think this one is the worst of all. There are just some things I don’t understand from the movie and I don’t think the plot is too interesting to watch. In fact, it is somewhat depressing for me to see life on earth becoming this way. I’m not a fan of depressing futuristic movies like this one, so I’ll give this movie a 5.5 stars out of 10.

The Story:

The setting is in the far future. Toorop (Vin Diesel) is a mercenary and a Russian mobster named Gorsky (Gerard Depardieu) wants him to smuggle a woman to New York. Toorop used to live in USA, but for some reason he’s now on a black list, so Gorsky gives him a kind of neck injection that would make him pass the border in USA along with plenty of weapons.

So Toorop goes to get the woman, who turns out to have been living in a secluded convent her entire life. The woman’s guardian Sister Rebeka (Michelle Yeoh) states that she will go along with them. The woman’s name is Aurora (Mélanie Thierry). As they strive to board the train and submarine to get them to their destination, they face plenty of dangers, so Toorop has to protect her along with the martial artist Sister Rebeka.

Among all the dangers they face, one of them is a group of people sent by Aurora’s father, Dr. Arthur Darquandier (Lambert Wilson). They offer Toorop 1 million to give Aurora up to them, but Toorop refuses to do that. They manage to escape from them.

Along the way, Aurora shows weird signs for someone who hasn’t been outside all her life. Sometimes it looks as though she were a human dictionary or a prophet. Sister Rebeka tells Toorop that Aurora can speak 19 different languages when she was 2 years old. She also says that Aurora began to act strangely ever since a doctor came to visit her three months ago. By this time, Toorop thinks that somebody has put virus inside Aurora’s body, so he vows to kill her and burn her body if that is the case.

When they arrive in New York, Gorsky contacts Toorop as well as the High Priestess (Charlotte Rampling). The High Priestess is the leader of the Noelites and the Noelites believe that Aurora is the solution to make their religion “big and mighty” in this world. The doctor comes by to check up on Aurora again, even though he doesn’t say anything to her. The “clever” Aurora knows that she’s pregnant and she’s carrying twins (even though she’s NEVER been with a man). She also knows that she’ll die when she’s given to the High Priestess.

So Toorop decides to save her, though that means he must die in the process. What happens next when they try to escape from Gorsky’s people and the High Priestess’ men? Will they die? Will Aurora have her babies?

Notes:

1. One part of the movie I enjoyed SO much was when Toorop and Aurora are on a vast snowy mountain and there are Aurora Borealis all over the sky. SO breathtaking! Then Aurora tells Toorop that on such a night, Sister Rebeka finds her as a baby, so that was why she was named Aurora.

2. In the movie there’re two Bengal tigers. I thought they were real tigers, but Aurora realized that Bengal tigers were extinct already years back. Toorop explains to her that they’re clones of CLONES. Geez…this movie is too advanced for my brain!!! So they’re COPIES of COPIES?????? That’s one reason why it’s hard to digest the information at the end of the movie about Aurora and her mother. If any of you understands it better than me, it’d be great if you can explain it to me fully hi hi hi hi hi…

This time I agree with imdb rating for this movie, which is 6.9 stars out of 10. I find that the movie is okay and the tension build-up is good, but there is something that makes me really frustrated. I’m going to tell you the story first before I explain what makes me SO frustrated.

The Story:

Jenny (Kelly Reilly) and Steve (Michael Fassbender) is a couple. Steve plans to propose to Jenny, so he takes her to a romantic getaway in order to do it. The location is Eden Lake. When they arrive at the lake, a group of teenagers start to bully a kid and they also start to bother Jenny and Steve. Steve tries to confront them, but that only makes things worse. Meanwhile, Jenny just wants to leave the place, but Steve is adamant that nothing should ruin their peaceful holiday.

They build a tent and try to enjoy the rest of their holiday, but the teenagers steal their things and their car, as well. Jenny and Steve try to find the car, but the teenagers won’t let him do it. Again Jenny begs Steve to just walk away and leave the bullies, but Steve won’t do it. When one of the teenagers tries to attack Steve with a knife, they fight and the knife accidentally kills the dog of the gang’s leader. Steve grabs the car key and off they go to get their car, but now the teenagers are pursuing them with vengeance.

They manage to get Steve and torture him, but then Jenny manages to free him. They continue running away to get help, but the gang is still after them.

Will the teenagers get them in the end? Will Jenny and Steve survive?

Notes:

1. At the end of the movie, you’ll find out why the gang leader becomes such a terrible young adult, so I feel satisfied to know this.

2. What I find SO frustrating is the fact that STUBBORN Steve doesn’t want to leave the place to enjoy the rest of the holiday. Everything would have been SO different had he just listened to Jenny’s plea. GRRRRRR!!!!

Here’s the trailer for you: