La Doublure (The Valet)

I watched this movie a couple of weeks ago, but do to lazyness i was unable to write a little review for it. haha

So let's begin. This film, as you can tell by the Title of this entry, that it is Foreign, French.

This film follows an ordinary guy,François Pignon, whom is yes you guessed it a valet worker, played by Gad Elmaleh. He is caught between a scandle that must be hidden in order to save another mans, Pierre Levasseur, marriage. Pierra played by Daniel Auteuil, is having an affair with a super model, Elena Simonsen whom is played by Alive Taglioni. Pierre's wife, Christine Levasseur, played by Kristine Scott Thomson, finds a photograph of Pierre and Elena, and is suspicious. In this photo however, happens to have Francois in it, which as a result leads Pierre to tell his wife that it was Francois who was with the super model.

In order to follow this lie, Francois Pignon is paid to pretend that he is dating Elena. They are forced to live with each other and act like a real couple. In the midst of all of this, Francois has already another love and another friend who is also a valet worker. He is forced to keep this scandle hidden, which results in more confusion with the other people in his life.

I really enjoyed this film, it was a fun comedy to watch. It's just one of those movies that you dont have to think about. The story and plot is very basic, yet fun to watch. Another Foreign film to reccomend. Check it out.

Hot Fuzz

Hott Fuzz

So the day right before or well actually that Monday after Spring Break, my brothers and i decided to catch a flick. I was suprised that this movie was out, but i guess because i had no idea when it was comming out. The media didn't really advertise this movie. In all honesty the only kind of advertisment i got from this movie was through school, where this guy came around giving out stickers and such, trying to promote the movie. I had orignally heard about this film through a poster i saw and from some other people. This movie immidiately interested me because of the two main characters whom was also in the movie Shaun of the Dead. If you havent seen that movie, PLEASE it's a must see! Anyways going on with this story...

So this movie follows Nicholas Angel, Simon Pegg, who is considered to be one of the best cops in the police force in London. However, his superiors consquently transfers him to a small town in London, Sandford. This little town is basically known to be crime-free, in the middle of nowhere. There he meets another cop, PC Danny Butterman, Nick Frost, who is a major fan of action flicks. Together as partners they stick together watching over the small town. As time progresses, a series of events start to happen, and as a result Angel is convinced that this town is not so crime-free afterall. He eventually becomes obsessed and tries to put all these strange incidents that they call "accidents" together. Resulting in some mega ass woopin'.

This movie is once again, another comedy. They use british humor, so essentially it's pretty straight forward, but i guess if you dont get the humor you might not understand whats going on. But yeah i enjoyed this movie. Although, i don't think it quite beats Shaun of the Dead, but mayb because i've seen that movie so many times, and i consider that movie one of the best movies to watch. But Simon Pegg and Nick Frost together is genious. They are one of the funniest duo's. If they have any future movies together, i would say that i will be right there to watch it. HAHA... Check out this one, It's Bloody Brilliant!

Blades of Glory

Blades of Glory

This movie is basically about two professional ice skaters who were banned from competiting in the men's competition for the Olympics because of a certain incident that happened. Because of this, the two rivals in return find a way to compete together in the doubles competition. The movie follows Jimmy MacElroy, played by Jon Heder, and Chazz Michael Michaels, played by Will Ferrell. MacElroy and Michaels are very differnt in terms of thier background and personality, but the one thing that brings them together is thier passion for ice skating and winning the gold for the Olympics. However in every competition, there always is an additional rival team, in this case that would be the Van Waldenberg siblings, Stranz and Fairchild, played by Will Arnett and Amy Poehler.

This movie is categorized as a comedy, because of all the rediculousness it brings from Jon Header and Will Ferell. I would have to say that this movie is the kind of movie you would watch just for fun. Essentially you have a very funny cast known for thier comedic talents, so of course they all have thier moments of glory.

My Girl (Ma-i-geol)

It's a nice day here in Sunny California. Temperatures in the 80's, the sun shinning bright, a bit of soft wind here and there. Bascially, its a good day to go out and enjoy. Especially when it's mid-February... I mean who can really enjoy wheather like this anywhere else in the winter?
With that said, i'm wasteing away this beautiful day sitting in my room, bored with nothing to do BOOO...

It's been quite sometime since i've written in this, as i recall the last time i wrote was when i was talking about starting my winter session, but as of this week, i just finished. CRAZZZYNESS but unfortunately i start my spring semester next week.. booo I guess at least i have a four day weekend to just chill out till then.

This past month, i've been trying to look for stuff to watch since, Hana Yori Dango had such a hook on me, i decided to look around and see what i could find. I watched some shows here and there like "Kima Wa Petto" and "Densha Otoko" both were good to watch but i guess those dramas were something i could watch when thier wasnt anything else. But i still enjoyed the both. Since i'm pretty horrible at researching shows and such on the net, my bro told me about another drama his friend told him about called My Girl. I actually finished this drama a couple of weeks ago, but i think it deserves to be in one of my favorite drams along with Hana Yori Dango.

This Korean drama is about a girl Joo-Yu-Rin, who starts off being a tour guide at Jeju Island of South Korea. She lives with her father, who is unfortunately an addictive gambler, who seems to get himself into trouble constantly. Joo Yu-Rin has a talent of fibbing, though her talent gets the best out of her when she meets the heir of L'Avenuel Hotel, Seol Gongchan. Seol Gongchan's been trying to look for his long lost cousin, whom he must find for his grandfather before he dies. Do to the short time that his grandfather has, he heirs Joo Yu-Rin to pretend to be his cousin, in which she agrees to because she needs the money. However, being that she would only have to appear once, the grandfather suddenly recovers and asks Joo Yu-Rin to stay with them so he could get to know her. Joo Yu-Rin once again agrees to stay with them for the time being, until Gongchan finds his real cousin. During this time, Joo Yu-Rin gets showered with love and care from this family, and eventually being so attatched to Gongchan, shes tries not to lie as much as she once did. She then becomes drawn to Gonchan but believes that this one sided love with never seem to work out, though in the process Gongchan slowly starts to like her as well, creating a good story hahah..
This drama is really good, it consists of 16 episodes all an hour long! I really enjoyed this drama, It's a romantic comedy, but also has it's drama. Other main actors/actresses include Lee Jun Ki who plays Gongchan's best friend and Park Si Yeon who plays a professional tennis player as well as Gongchan's girlfriend. You all should check it out! It's worth a watch.

Volver

Another Foreign, Spanish movie for my brothers and me.
This time, we were debating over The Curse of the Golden Flower or Volver. We just decided on Vovler because it was the top movie on Rotten Tomatoes. haha We were being very indecisive, which resulted in being late watching the film. Luckily the previews saved us some time, so that when we got in they were barely showing the films title. VOLVER

Volver, translation: To return, is about three women. All are related to one another, but all have thier own stories that are portrayed in this film. The movie follows a good mother, Irene played by Carmen Maura, another young mother, Raimundo, played by Penelope Cruz, who is living a struggled life, and Sole played by Lola Duenas, who is running a salon in her apartment, where gossip is being told. This film is categorized as a drama/comedy and runs for about about two hours. I thought this film was really good, even though the diaglogue was really fast. Thier were a lot of things going on in this film, however, in the end everything seemed to come together. It had its fair share of sad moments, as well as its funny moments. The overall storyline of this film was good too. This film is nominated for 2 golden globes, and has won about 12 awards overall. I dont know if you want to believe the Hype, but i thought this film was overall pretty good.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Yay for thanksgiving. Finally had the chance to have a loooong break. However, all good things must come to an end =(... haha
Anyways, this weekend I got to catch two flicks. Tenacious D and Bobby.

Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny
I originally wasn't really interested in watching Tenacious D, but I mean it was Jack Black and my bro-hams wanted to watch it, so I said OK! The movie plot is bascially just about JB (Jack Black) and KG (Kyle Gass), forming a rock band. They find that it's tough to become a successfully rock band, so they go on an adventure to find a guitar pick that they think will give them the power to become awesome. haha and that is bascially it. The movie is classified as a comedy, I mean I laughed at some things, but it wasn't like water eyed funny hahaha (if that makes sense). I never heard the F work said so much ahhah... but the movie is kind of like a musical. The Tenacious D songs are played throughout the movie, and every song described what they are doing at that moment, exactly like a musical. My brother told me that the movie is exactly like their HBO show, so I guess if you've seen the show on TV then you should know what to expect. As for the rest of you, I say it was alright. HOWEVER, I think it would be wise to just wait for it when it goes on TV...












Bobby
Alright, so this movie I saw Friday night with some of my old buddies. I actually wanted to watch this film for awhile, just because Shia Labeouf was in it hahah.. But then I also wanted to see the interaction between an all star cast. To name a few, Helen Hunt, Martin Sheen, Joshua Jackson, Shia Labeouf, Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, and so much more... This movie is basically about, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and how it revovles around twenty two people that were there when he was shot at the Ambassador Hotel. Each story has its uniqueness to it I suppose, and of course each person is connected to one person out of the twenty two persons. I would categorize this film to be a drama, though there are some parts that would give you a chuckle here and there. When I watched the film, I must say that there were a lot of older folks that filled the theater. I think that my friends and I were probably the youngest ones in there... At the end of the film, the movie showed a couple of pictures of Bobby Kennedy, as well as JFK, and I must say, everyone stayed in their seats just looking at each photo. It was so long ago, that I think every person in there had a moment of nostalgia. It was a sad film. I mean you already know what the ending is going to be, so i guess everyones just waiting for that moment to come. Overall, i think the movie was alright too. I suppose i had high expectations of the film, and the overall outcome wasnt as great. This movie is definetly a DVD film. It's definitely interesting to see how all the chracterts worked out the way they did. I thought the movie was portrayed really well, and every character had thier own story. The ending is one of those endings where each character realizes when something tragic happens, the people around them is really the people that they value. (or something like that haha)

Stranger Than Fiction

This week's movie pick is Stranger than Fiction. This movie stars Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson, and Dustin Hoffman. The movie is about an average guy named Harold Crick (Ferrell), who suddenly hears a womans voice narrating his life. Throughout the film, Harold tries to figure out who this woman's voice is when she finally says that he is facing imminent death. He's get's time off of work and asks for help from a literary theorist (Hoffman) to find out who this writer is so that he may try to escape it. Another part of this film shoots to the actual narrator/writer (Thompson) who is trying to finish a book about Harold. An assistant (Latifah) is hired to help the writer finish her book, by giving her ideas to kill Crick. Little does she know that this fictional character that she's made up is actually real.

Thier's actually more to the story, but generally thats the over view of the film. The movie is a bit of a comedy/drama/ romance. The romance in it deals with Harold Cricks character falling in love with a cookie maker Ana Pascal (Gyllenhaal). I thought the film was good. Besides the fact that thier were people talking during the film (lame). The whole concept of somebody deciding your fate and knowing that you'll die soon is a bit scary. I think this type of film is the kind of film you could defintely watch at home with a nice cup of hot chocolate. hahah

Borat

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)

I never thought i'd watch this film, but i was bored and decided to go watch it. Suprisingly it was pretty funny. It's your typical documentary about this guy that does abnormal things causing attention. (Abnormal to Americans anyway.) This movie really shows you how Americans are. Sort of. This movie is exactly how the trailer informs you. It's about this Journalist, Borat Sagdiyev, from Kazakhstan. He's been selected to do a documentary about his travels across the United States, and through his journey he mixes his views in with the american culture, resulting serious consequences, which are arguable funny.

I would reccomend this film to anyone that laughs at stupid things. hahaha Borat is just a funny man in general, and to have the reactions of Americans makes it even funnier. Check it out!

Driving Lessons

This past weekend i got to watch the UK indie film Driving Lessons. It stars Rupert Grint, Julie Walters, and Laura Linney. This movie is somewhat of a remake of the movie Harold and Maude. This movie is about a seventeen year old, Rupert Grint, who comes from a traditional household, that has a domineering mother and quiet father. This film takes place in the summer, where Ben (Grint) is spending his days in bible school, getting driving lessons, and helping his mother. He then gets convinced from his mother to get a job. His job consists of taking care of an old, retired actress Evie (Walters). Evie, a very eccentric and adventurous woman, introduces Ben to a whole new world outside of conformity. At the end of the film, Ben must decide if he wants to be his own person or rather follow his mothers ways.

This film is pretty good, it's one of those films about finding yourself. It is a Comedy/Drama. Julie Walters character in this film is really blunt and sarcastic, which makes it funny. It was nice to see Rupert Grint trying new things outside of the Harry Potter world. Though his character in this film was a bit the same shy kinda of guy. I would reccoment watching it. It'll make you laugh and cry. haha mayb not cry but feel sad.

The Last Kiss, The Black Dahlia

Yesterday A day out to the movies. The last summer outing with my friend Christine. She's going off to college so we had a girls outing. We went to universal city walk and catched two movies. The Last Kiss and the Black Dahlia.

The Last Kiss is about a group of friends that are on the verge of turning 30 bascially finding themselves as they are getting older. 4 best friends realize that they are getting older and have a hard time accepting adulthood. I thought the movie was pretty good. It had a wierd ending haha but i mean it was still good. Not as good as garden state but you can't based it off of that movie. This movie was a little more realistic. It's just about how growing up can be scary; marriage, kids etc.

The Black Dahlia
This movie is about an aspiring actress, Elizabeth "Betty" Short, who was brutially murdered. It's bascially a suspense, mystery kind of movie. That's all i can really say HAHA.. the movie was quite confusing. I was watching it and thier was soo many things happening, that i didnt really follow what was going on. The crowd that i was watching actually laughed at some scenes. It was kind of wierd. It was confusing to the point when the movie was wrapping up i was still confusing. The movie keeps you questioning a lot of things, and by the end you get the gist of it but for me i was still confused on how everything connected together. Overall though i liked the way it was filmed. I liked how it was filmed old school style, the whole 40's 50's style. The music was old school too. It was just like those old mystery movies how thiers a narrator and jazz music playing. That was good.