Everybody age. The trick is to age gracefully....

But not madonna or pink which are much older than her.

... Okay, she is lazy!!

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

It turns out, of all the classic movies I have watched, I rarely watched Columbia's stuff. I believe today it the first time I have watched a movie with... Rita Hayworth!!

Madonna actually got it right:



This is the first time I watched this movie and it is interesting!

I really don't know Orson Welles materials well.

He and Rita Hayworth apparently were married when this was made.

Rita Hayworth was Columbia's biggest star and Orson Welles previous movie, Citizen Kane (1941) did not do so well.

Because of Rita Hayworth, This movie got made, and it did not make any money when it was first release. But, since then it is consider a very good example of what Film Noir is!!

Story is interesting, although a little strange.

Alot had been written about the ending of the movie, but for me, I think the Courtroom scene is the money shot!!

They REALLY do not make movies like they use to.

If you like mystery and film noir, give this a go.

My Two Sen.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Mar 22 2014, 11:10 PM

hobbit: desolation of smaug is excellent. more exciting and focused than hobbit 1. my rating 4/5.
while hobbit1 did a great job with the dwarves, hobbit2 did the same for the elves. always nice to visit rivendell!
legolas returns with a character tauriel well played by evangeline lily (of tv series lost).
flashes of lady galadriel (cate blanchett) and... sauron!
excellent cinematography, choreography and special effects.
needless to say, dsthdma audio is superb.

we'll have to wait another yr to watch the final episode in the trilogy, hobbit: there and back again which supposedly will end where fellowship of the ring begins. the hobbit is supposed to be only in 2 parts but peter jackson committed to 3, so we'll only see smaug's final desolation in hobbit3 which probably will contain bits of filler tolkien stories of middle earth. of course, the next big question is will jackson make another trilogy with tolkien's silmarillion?!

one thing about lord of the rings and hobbit, one needs to watch the shows in trilogy sequence and/or have read the books. it will be hard for anyone to parachute into say, desolation of smaug or the two towers and enjoy the show.

if the map of middle earth below helps refresh your memory... you can find shire, rohan, gondor, mordor, fangorn forest, isengard, moria, lothlorien - lotr. dol guldur, mirkwood forest, rivendell, dale, lonely mountain - hobbit.

i'm quite an lotr fan, remember the story very well.



This post has been edited by AVFAN: Mar 23 2014, 12:01 AM

Does the movie rights to silmarillion belong to Warner Brothers/New Line??

Am I the only one who is saying, If Only Guillermo del Toro stuck to the Project before going off to Ultraman (er Pacific Rim ) land?? They would have been a much darker movies...

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Mar 23 2014, 08:41 AM

Nowhere to Run (1993)

I do not religiously follow Jean-Claude Van Damme's works, and have to add, this is actually a decent movie!

So much so that I believe Kate Winslet/Josh Brolin's Labor Day (2013), has similar premise, maybe not so much Kickboxing...

Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a fugitive on the run from the law and he meets u with a widow and her two children, who is having alot of issues with a big property developer.

His (JCVD) dramatic acting skills here is actually convincing!

If you want a decent Sunday afternoon movie, why not give this a spin.

My Two Sen.

So where was this middle earth? looks like ukraine

Just watched this. Superb performances by all the A list casts




Family hurts Family : 4/5

Watched this too today



Superb concert, she raised the bar so high, she's really a diva, a queen of pop.

She brought in contortionists as dancers and the act with crackling bones sound was so eerie


She redesigned all new Vogue style and dance


She strip-naked and sang like a virgin


And many more. Worth to watch even if you're not Madonna's fan.

F**k Yeah 5/5

At her age, her stamina is exceptionally good. I was impressed with her Sticky and Sweet tour. I must get this one too.

Saving Mr Banks

looks good, I'll go for it

if you like behind enemy lines, black hawk down and and zero dark thirty, you'll like lone survivor.

based on a true story and book, it's not as glamarous as those 3 but is a good watch. the ending is somewhat touching.

chinooks, apaches and blackhawks... bullets, grenades, rpg's. good audio with dd5.1. my rating 3.5/5.

starring mark wahlberg and taylor kitsch (battleship).



This post has been edited by AVFAN: Mar 27 2014, 05:25 PM

metro manila is recommended. not much action but good drama and suspense.

a sad and moving story of the harsh realities of modern day urban struggle in the face of poverty and crime.

a british-filipino film. best one i know from an asean nation since raid redemption (serbuan maut) from indonesia.

my rating 4/5 despite low budget and minimal action.

Alan and Hacken 2013 - 10th Anniversary
This is always my favorite




Attached thumbnail(s)

Watched RUSH. Quite entertaining. Good AQ. F1 drivers nowadays are quite 'tamed down' except for the Iceman.

sun wukong-journey to the west 西游记 is one of 4 Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature (Chinese: 四大名著, the others being three kingdoms, water margin and dream of the red chamber)). written in the 16th century, it is very much a fariy tale passed on from gen to gen about good vs evil, benevolence vs destruction, kindness vs fury, use vs abuse of power. not many see it that way, though. but the fact that it has lived for 600 yrs or so tells us it has good appeal, even today.

this latest monkey king 2014 starring donnie yen, chow yun fatt, aaron kwok, etc. is yet another adaption of the story with lots of cgi, maybe a bit too much. still, in a fantasy film of mythology, one has to enjoy the essence of the story within the modern depiction of a story written 600 yrs ago. of course, if someone has no idea about the story-legend-myth, the movie can be unappealing.

of all the movies and tv series of sun wukong-jounrey to the west, i find this prologue of the full epic quite good, an excellent attempt at putting such a long and complex (part of a) novel into 2 hours. never mind the inaccuracies about nuwa, erlangshan, nezha and bull demon-princess iron fan-kid with red shoes, never mind if it looked like king kong fighting balrog, never mind the resemblance you may have seen in avatar, superman or lord of the rings, just enjoy the show. and i look forward to a sequel where sun wukong bands up with his master xuanzang and team mates to cross the gobi desert battling the first demons!

best watched in dts/hdma.



This post has been edited by AVFAN: Apr 3 2014, 09:19 PM

i just watch this just now, overall 6.5/10. Pretty agree with you, its a good attempt at putting a long story in a 2 hours duration movie. The only downside is their CGI. I know no way in hell they could do it as perfect as a hollywood movies, but truly their CGI is a bit dissappointing.

Rewatched Pulp Fiction!