War of the Worlds

RENT
Way overhyped. Maybe the book and past movies were better, but this remake sucks. Tom Cruise started weak and it never picks up from there. Throughout the movie, all you see are people screaming everywhere and the Cruise family traveling from town to town. Very boring. Films like Armageddon or Day After Tomorrow blows this away.

With all the promotions, Spielberg's directing, and book from HG Wells, this should definitely have been better. With an end of war theme, there should have been more action and heroism. We want to see the US kick some ass. After 9/11, we have enough of emotional family bonding.

The ending was also weak. Is that it? Hope the DVD has another one.

Batman Begins

DUMP
Just as expected, this release of Batman was boring. If you are not a diehard fan of the series, you will find Wayne's revelation of his past very dull. There wasn't much about Batman that most people don't know already. His parents were killed by a mugger. He stumbled onto a batcave. He was a billionaire. What a drag.

Christian Bale did not make a good Batman. He did not look the part and his character had some lame lines. Watching the film, all I could think of was him slicing up people in Equilibrium. He should not have been casted in this movie. Katie Holmes was also too young to play her role as a district attorney. She did not look like a woman who can take on the city's criminals.

They should not have came out with another Batman movie. The ones in the past were a success, but this one blew it.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

BUY
Angeline Jolie is sexy as ever and coupled with Brad Pitt makes a beautiful pair. She looks terrific while serving dinner, dodging bullets, and just about anywhere. Hollywood has added to her desire by making her a beautiful and independent wife that knows how to kick ass. Who can resist a woman who can cook, knows how to use big guns, and can kill you?

Lots of chemistry between Brad and Angeline in this movie, and you can see how they move from different phases of their relationships. If you were a spy, definitely you dream your wife would be a sexy spy like Jolie.

We Were Soldiers

BUY
This is an old movie, but Mel Gibson always does a terrific job. He struggles to be a great dad to his three children while being the commander of a cavalry unit heading into the Vietnam War.

He was hesistant in bringing his troops into foreign soil but he stay strong and motivated. He never gave up. Even when an enemy soldier was dashing toward him, he did not flinch. He was the first to step into the battlefield and the last one to step off. He would not leave the fight until all his men was accounted for. He was a caring, strong, and courageous leader.

War is brutal. It is filled with deaths and horrors that are only in nightmares. Respect our soldiers on July 4th because many fought and died for our freedom.

Robots

RENT
An animated film with very lifelike robots. Each robot has its own personality and the voices were very well done. They almost seem human.

However, I don't understand all the hype behind this movie. Everyone was waiting for its release. It was just OK.

Racing Stripes

RENT
For a movie that tries to be like SeaBiscuit, it is entertaining to watch. Some personalities such as the seagull create some great laughs.

Without the great voices behind the animals, this is just another dumb animal movie.

Walk on the Moon

RENT
This film has a new twist. In most movies men cheat and cause havoc, but a woman cheats in this one. Diane Lane is the culprit who goes out and have fun with the blouse man. Even though the man is one of the stars in Lord of the Rings, it is no excuse for Diane to cheat.

There is a double standard here because men are flamed for cheating but Diane's cheating is almost displayed as forgiveable. That is unacceptable.

What kind of BS is that? Just execute her at the gullotine!

White Chicks

RENT
After watching the Wayan brothers in "white chick" costumes for the second time, the movie had some funny moments. I complained the first time, but I did noticed some humor on my second watch. The rich black man was so funny.

However, I still can't believe that no one recognize the Wayan Brothers in their disguises. Who are they kidding?

Look at the picture. Do the girls resemble black men?

Ransom

BUY
Mel did it again.

His films are never a disappointment. Everytime he raised the stakes in the Ransom, you gasped. What courage! His ability to take risk catch you by surprise.

How many people in times of despair has that ability? Because if you push too much, it could be over.

Hero

BUY
It's great that Quentin Tarentino brought this film to America. Even though the film was released a few years back in Asia, it is a good film.

For many people, it is difficult to understand the plot of the killers but if you watch it a few times, it will become very clear. You will also learn more of Chinese history and see how the Chinese lived in the Age of Kings.

Judge Dredd

DUMP
You have to see it to believe it. Sylvester Stallone is horrible in this movie.

He should have stay in costume for the duration of the film. At least then, we won't know who is the terrible actor behind the mask.

Diane Lane is great as usual and she should have chose the robot as her costar. You have been judged, Sly.

Miss Congenality 2

DUMP
Like all sequels, this one was worst than the first. In the first one, you could tolerate Sandra Bullock in her role as a undercover FBI who needed to look pretty, but this has gone too far. You no longer want to see her act all boyish because she is really looking grotesque.

Lots of catfights and lots of female bonding. Can you get more girly?

Assault on Precinct 13

RENT
A good action movie to watch. Cops and criminals team up to fight dirty cops on a snowy New Year Day. Dark throughout the movie. Die Hard also took place on a snowy Christmas, but it worked much better.

Ethan Hawke is no Bruce Willis, and you are still reminded of his role in Training Day. How can this rookie cop be a hero?

The concept of the movie worked with some shocking moments, but it was mostly predictable. If you want to root for the bad guys, this is the one for you.

Go Morpheus!

House of Fury

DUMP
If you like martial arts, this is the movie for you. Lots of martial arts and lot of broken things. Otherwise, pass on this one. It was so boring to watch. I fast forwarded all the fight scenes and it still suck. The first fight scene was nice, but all the rest were just a waste of time.

It was such a kids movie. Twins hardly have good performances. If you are not a teenage fan, I suggest passing on all their movies.

After reading more about the movie, I realize why this was such a bad production. It was directed by a kid, Stephen Fung. Film companies got to stop rich kids from directing and producting.

Seoul Raiders

DUMP
If you don't understand Chinese, Japanese, English, and Korean, don't watch this movie. I have no idea why one person will speak 3 languages in one dialogue. It was impossible to follow the story. No one even spoke fluent Cantonese. Does it make sense to have Korean and Taiwanese women speak Cantonese?

This is the bad edition of Charlie Angel. Sexy women who can't act or speak. Many times, I wanted to fast forward this movie. Good music and nice sceneries, but boring fight scenes.

Six Strong Men

RENT
The title of the movie is all wrong, because there are only four main characters. The other two don't count because they hardly had a story attached to them. Throughout the film, you watch a group of men who had tried to commit suicide deal with their life issues. It's not until the end that you realize there could be some point to these stupid issues.

With a cast consisting of Ekin, Hacken, Andy, and Candy, more could have been done with the movie. Does it mean that famous singers can't act?

I leave you with something to think about. If you were hurt in an accident, which one of your friends will rush to the hospital?

* Candy Lo was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this film*

Three of a Kind

DUMP
If you want to see a weird movie with all different type of emotions, this one is for you. You will see happiness, sadness, fatherly love, lust, and much more. The father is a famous author who is struggling to write a book and to keep his daughter. The guy is a playboy who realizes that he is tired of the chase. The girl is in love with his boss. The scenes are all disconnected and you are randomly thrown pieces of the plot.

It's hard to recommend this movie because I can't say it is funny, sad, or inspirational. It just drags on for two hours and you wish it would end. At the end, you just want to kill the characters because they are so stupid. There is no other word to describe it.

Watching them makes you puke!

Interpreter

RENT
Toward the second half of the film, there were some scenes with suspense, but Sean Penn drowned out the first half. Without Sean, this was a nice drama, where you want to see how the movie ends. I don't know what is about Sean, but he makes movies boring to watch. Mystic River was so hard to watch.

When watching this movie, you would think that it would get really politically involved, but it did not, which made it much easier to understand the plot.

Nicole was great in her role and she needed another costar. She kept the audience guessing until the end, on her true motives. However, the ending was kind of disappointing.

Reindeer Games

BUY
An old movie, but a good movie for Ben Affleck. He acted well, and did much better than his nemesis, Matt Damon in Bourne Supremacy. Sometimes, I wonder if old movies were made better or all the ideas are used up because this movie had horrible ratings in 2000.

Don't miss Charlize Theron in her incredible appearance in the pool! It's amazing what actress will do before they are Oscar winners.

If you are looking for movies with a twist, this one is for you. When you think you figured it out, it changes on you, and then changes again on you. Nice surprise ending.

Super Model

RENT
Definitely good for a few laughs.

Ronald was hilarious in some scenes and mostly shameless throughout the movie as he protrayed a character similiar to Zoolander. At times, the sillieness was very lame, but his cronies and Karena kept it all together.

A good one to just watch and throw away, because you'll never want to see it again.

Escape from HK Island

RENT
A dark comedy where a man tries everything to leave Hong Kong, but just cannot do it. When he was wealthy, he did not care about anyone or anything. Now, in his time of need, no one is willing to help him. In fact, they want him to just die. Ironically, he only needs a few bucks to take transportation to cross the river.

In life, it is never good to burn any bridges if you can avoid it. You never know when you need help from someone. Think about it. If you lost everything now, who would help you?

Who are your real friends?

Elektra

DUMP
Another bad superhero movie, where the hero is haunted by her past. Gloomy scenes throughout the length of the film, and none were worth watching. You never feel attachment to the character. She is like a ghost in the night.

The victims were even cooler than her. They exhibit a sense of death and power, wherein she is just wearing a red outfit with 2 sais. When watching the movie, you always keep wondering when she will die and the villians can take over.

Looking at the pictures, her costume was designed very well, but you never see it in action in the movie. All you see are streaks of red flying everywhere because the film is so dark. What a waste.

Leaving Me Loving You

BUY
Incredible scenaries. I wonder if Shanghai is really that beautiful at night with the bright lights and fantastic buildings. Everything is so colorful. Spectacular ending that should not be missed.

Very nice music. Throughout the film, there was a great selection of songs that puts you in the right mood. Faye has a certain sense of mystery and romance that keeps you intrigued.

This film shows that you should never wait until something is gone to cherish it, especially love. If you feel it, you must grasp it at the moment because you don't want to regret it at 80.

Spanglish

RENT
Paz Vega was great in this movie. She hardly even spoke English in this movie, but she was able to express all her thoughts. For someone who spoke Spanish, it was an incredible performance. You know how when someone starts speaking a foreign language in a film and you wonder where are the subtitles, you don't feel this way in this film. Through her facial expression and body language, you could understand her. At the end, when traditional ideals mixed with the western culture, you could understand those moments, even though it was in broken English.

Tea Leoni also had a fabulous performance as an emotional freak. Even though there were two great performances, it's unfortunate that the story was not that great. What was great was the crying? Geez. Everyone cried, even Adam Sandler. What has this world come to?

Sideways

RENT
This was a dumb movie. I must be missing something. It was a total pointless story of a road trip where the guys met some women, and they spend almost the entire time talking about wine. There was just way too much about wine. I know there are different types of wine and they give different meanings, but give me a break.

Throughout the movie, I was waiting for some big statement, but it's a big disappointment. If any of you see the ending, let me know if it could have been a tee better, maybe, a tee. Cmon.

Crazy N' The City

RENT
A story of a rookie cop who wants to make it in law enforcement, a veteran cop who loses his edge, and a crazy man who is looking for his life back.

You meet a variety of characters who meet and work well together, but there is no plot. Their self challenges are not interesting and you don't want to follow their individual travels. If I didnt know better, I thought this movie was made in the 90's. There were no fresh ideas, no visual effects, and no props. Take a look at the picture. It looks like a low budget production.

However, if you do want to see the energetic Joey Yung as a police officer, do go see the movie. You'll never believe she aged since her first film.

Hotel Rwanda

RENT
Sometimes you wonder if a superpower like the United States should help out other countries in need, especially when there is genocide. Is it the US's responsibility to keep the world safe from all enemies, even if it is from themselves? Should another country step in if there is a civil war? It is hard to say.

Will Americans want to risk their lives and lose their lives to fight a war that is not their own?

Rwanda shows a story that most do not know. A story that 1 million Rwandan were massacred. A horrible war in African history. It is comparable to Schindler's List where a man also chooses between business and humanity.

However, not to be inhumane, but this movie lacks the realism and gore of Schindler. No one wants to see blood, but it needs to be shown. People need to graphically see the horror of 1 million deaths. They can not show 10 bodies in the whole movie, and hope that the public will believe such a war existed. It leaves everyone very skeptical whether there was a genocide of a million people. This should have been convey more clearly, as it is a tragedy in world history.

The Road Home

RENT
A very sappy and artistic love story that most will probably never watch, but it does show some moments in society that have been long lost. A perfect scene is to see a young and innocent Zhang ZiYi run though the fields in her village as the outside world never existed. You can see that the smut and glamour of Hollywood has not corrupted her yet. If you want to see why ZiYi was brought to the big screen in America to star in films such as Crouching Tiger, Hero, and Rush Hour, you might want to skim through some parts of this movie.

Some scenes of innocence and naiveness were refreshing to see. It is nice to see that ZiYi was so unselfish and content with life. She was so happy to cook for the man she liked, patiently waited in the snow for his return, ran through the mountains to get him food before he left, and in the end, took the final journey with him through a long and snowy road.

Definitely, not an exciting movie to watch, but glad to have gotten something out of it.

Hitch

BUY
This is a really funny comedy with Kevin James as Albert seeking his dream woman. Without the help of Hitch, he had no way of ever meeting such a woman. Albert was really funny as he stumbled through love and his challenges were very realistic.

On the other hand, Will Smith suck in this movie. There is no other way to put it. His intimacy and courtship of Eva Mendez was terrible. His lines were horrible, and he just did not work well with Eva. Eva was a sexy, sophiscated woman and she should have definitely found another costar, because her efforts were really wasted.

I don't know what it was, but Will did not perform well in this movie. Maybe it was because he was casted in the wrong role.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

DUMP
This one is not worth watching. Jim Carrey should not do serious roles, and stick with his successful comedies. Even though all the flashbacks were not confusing, it was a very dull journey through his life. I did not find his relationship fresh or of any interest at all. The only success this movie got is to have a bunch of famous people say Fuck. I cannot believe Kirsten Dunst took a role in this film.

In the last 20 minutes, there are some nice moments with good music, but it doesnt justify any production of this movie.