The Legend of Zorro

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Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are re-united with director Martin Campbell in the epic adventure The Legend of Zorro. After fighting to help California become the 31st state of the Union, Zorro (Banderas) must live up to the promise he made his wife Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) to live a normal life.

The Mask of Zorro 7 years back had some much charm, largely coming from the leads and storyline.

7 years latter (after bad choice of spouses and banana ads), Antonio and Catherine returns looking just as good, if not bigger breasts for the latter.

Those who watched Part 1 may be disappointed, and you feel that the sequel was done for the sake of having one. It has lost the X-factor and the editing team could have made it 20 minutes shorter.

For newbies, it's still a spectacular extravaganza and costume parade. Ong Sor Fen from ST calls it a good B-grade movie. I would rather call it a not-so-good A-grade movie.

The Legend of Zorro – The Original is still the Best


All About Love 再说一次 我爱你

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After a surprisingly pleasant Wait Till You Are Older, this is blatant product placement disguised as a movie. If you are bored, can count the number of times the Cyma watch appears in full on the screen. Clever flashbacks allow Andy Lau to brood in his pink Baleno tops.

Please blame the casting director for putting Andy alongside the cutesy Charlene Choi as his wife.

She dies soon of a car accident, doctor Andy becomes a ambulance assistant. 6 years latter, he saves Charlie Young from another car accident. She happened to have his wife’s heart after a transplant six years ago. 40 minutes pass and the movie finally begins.

The saving grace is the ending and Charlie, who is quite credible in her role. At the rate Andy Lau’s acting, and the kind of challenging roles he gets, he should be grabbing a Golden Horse award. Unfortunately, not yet.

Don’t get me wrong. This movie does deliver towards the end when sniffs could be heard.

All About Love – Welcome back Charlie


Saving Face

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My friend felt weird during the screening, "Do you feel strange?"

"There..." I pointed to the whole row of short-cropped females right in front. The cinema was filled with more women since Be With Me. For once, I get to see all the successful media women folk who had been shunning movies like Transporter 2 and The Myth.

Saving Face is the female version of The Wedding Banquet, directed and written by Alice Wu. The ever gorgeous Joan Chen takes on the role of a traditional Chinese widow, with a successful daughter Wil (Michelle Krusiec). (Incidentally, Michelle's been nominated for a Golden Horse.)

"Mum, I love you and I am gay."

Wil's lesbian and mum's pregnant. How complicated can it get? Not in a traditional Chinese family definitely. Saving Face, or more correctly said, losing face is a no-no for the ultra-strict grandfather.

Joan Chen's subtle, Michelle's natural and her girlfriend is just gorgeous. Saving Face achieves all that Hainanese Chicken Rice failed to. The love between parent-child, and same-sex relationship was well played out. I felt strange, but eventually kind of touched at how strong love can be.

Saving Face – Unassuming and Unpretentious


High Tension (French)

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Trust me! I am not a psycho! But I totally loved this movie. If you are a fan of slasher movies (Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, Friday the 13th etc), you won't be disappointed with this one.

High Tension brings us where Wes Craven failed to in recent times. It's a nightmarish story of two girls' battle for survival at the hands of a sadistic psychopath. It's raw. It's intense. It's gore.

Shouldn't say too much of the story, but it keeps you gripping to your seat from the start till the end. Kind of strange for an ending, but it didn't matter to me.

I hear screams, mostly coming from the seat next to my friend. When the lights came out, realized it was a group of guys. Oh. Oh.

(I love French and slasher movie. I know I am bias but...)
High Tension – A movie that lives up to its title


The Great Raid

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I have always been a fan of war genres like Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbour and the recent Longest Engagement. Based on a true story of a rescue mission of US POWs in the Philippines held captive for more than 3 years, I thought this was a must-watch after seeing the thrillers.

A war genre. Credible actors who include Benjamin Bratt, James Franco and Joseph Fiennes. Historical inspirations. Celebration of the human spirit. So what was missing?

A lack of marketing? Straight-in-your-face story telling by director John Dahl? Or the fact the war movies are overdone? Especially when it is not an 'epic' of special effects.

For me, it was the emotions part. Scenes which could have drove tears. The love between the strong Connie Nielson and languished Joseph Fiennes was overly subtle. Torture scenes were 'seen-befores'.

The movie did come alive during the rescue mission. Was it too late? To me, it was enough. Should be inspiring but lacks the commercial appeal.

The Great Raid – Not great, but good enough.


Transporter 2

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Can I say I totally enjoyed the show? It's seldom I will say something like this an action-packed thriller.

From the makers of The Professional and La Femme Nikita, the plot really doesn't matter much. Be prepared for a ride of your life – with black Audis, police cars, cabs and even a plane. While the story's almost impossible and brainless, every moment keeps your adrenalin running.

Watch Hollywood's newest action star's Jason Statham as Frank who disarms bombs in his unique, expressionless ways. As he attacks his enemies with fire hoses, he kind of reminds you of Jackie Chan, though in a much cooler way. (And I was a fan of Jackie.)

While this B grade movie is filled with predictable scenes and people (Lola the lingerie-clad gun blowing assassin), it's very watchable if you want high intense action. Hear out for Frank's voice, and Lola's eye shadow. Even my friend who is a Chinese teacher said, "Not bad. Can watch. 4 stars."

Transporter 2 – Good, old Miami action.


April Snow

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Though I am not a Bae Yong Jun fan, I watched it with much anticipation. I can tell you now, don't.

The story's probably lifted from some other Hollywood movie that I watched before. His wife and her husband met with a car accident. His wife and her husband were having an affair. They end up falling in love. What was that similar movie I watched that had Harrison Ford in it?

The major pitfall of this movie is it's way tooslow. I know Korean dramas are slow, but again, it's too lingering for its own good. You wished something would happen but it never.

The highlight of the movie has to be the bed scene between the two. Watch Son Ye Jin's painstaking agony as her clothes are slowly removed. And keep your eyes focused on Bae Yong Jun's chest as the camera pans deliberately up and down his chest. Oohs and ahh.

The snow falls in April. The movie ends. Loud breaths from the audience. A sign of relief, disappointment, or time to go to the toilet?

(Side note: This movie happened to be a flop in most other countries. I was surprised when I watched Taiwan's entertainment news.)

April Snow – Watch the snow fall slowly, slowly, slowly ...


Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo

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Firstly, can I say that the poster and title is very misleading? Deuce was probably stuck in Amsterdam the whole time.

Do you remember Part 1, say 7 years ago? (I know Channel 5 has just shown it timely again.) If you cannot recall that at all, you probably won't for this. You just wonder: Why the sequel?

Deuce has to help uncover the series of man-whore serial killer in Amsterdam. He becomes a gigolo and charms through abnormal women who include Ms Giant, Ms Penis-nose, Ms Hole-in-the-Throat and Ms Shit-skin.

Watch it if you are a fan of man whores, male anatomy jokes and Deuce Bigalow himself.
Let me clarify, it is still funny to a certain extent, but lacks the freshness of the original.

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo - Dumb and Dumber


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