Review: Departures (Japanese)

Finally, I get to watch this award-winning Japanese movie, Departures おくりびと (2008) last week. Departures is an extremely moving and sentimental film directed by Yojiro Takita. This movie depicts a glimpse of a Japanese profession - encoffiner.

Young cellist Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) and his wife, Mika (Ryoko Hirosue) move back to Daigo's small hometown after his orchestra in Tokyo is disbanded. After he answers a job advertisement in a newspaper in "assisting departures", he reluctantly becomes an encoffiner who sends the "departed" to a new journey by cleaning, dressing, and placing the corpse into a coffin. At the beginning, Daigo dislikes his job, but slowly, after being assigned for a few rituals of encoffinments, he learns the importance of his work and the role he plays in bringing closure to the family of the deceased and sending the departed to their final destination.

Mika disapproves him after she finds out about his job and hopes that he gets a "proper" and "normal" job instead. However, her perception changes after she sees his work. She begins to appreciate his husband's job as an encoffiner who possesses impeccable precision, gentleness and utmost respect.

There is no doubt that this profession is often misunderstood and shunned by most of us because we have been always avoiding to talk about the inevitable - death. Also, most people do not see it as a career. Departures tells us that death is normal. The profession is actually quite dignified as encoffiners are entrusted by the family of the deceased with the responsibility of helping the loved ones to pass on.

I enjoyed its themes of respect, reconciliation, forgiveness, and finally, being a professional and serving with pride. With its well-meaning humour and touching drama sequences, this movie is definitely worth watching!

Overall rating: A+

Trailer:

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean 4

Who would have thought Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides aka Pirates 4 would be so much fun even though our favorite love birds, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) did not return for the fourth installment? I must say, I didn't miss their absence at all as Johnny Depp and others brought the audience much pleasant adventure than I have expected.

The addition to the cast, Angelica played by Penelope Cruz is Jack's ex-lover. She disguised as Jack to recruit a crew in search of Fountain of Youth to rescue her dying father, Blackbeard. In case you haven't noticed, Penelope looks rounder and puffier in the movie due to her pregnancy. Her younger sister, Monica had to stand in for her in some scenes. To be frank, I didn't notice the differences between the two sisters until I read the trivia.

Angelica's father, Blackbeard (Ian McShane) is a cruel pirate who owns Queen Anne's Revenge. He treats his crew badly and turned some of them into zombies. He also has a special sword that carries power.

After he received a prophecy that he is to be killed by a one-legged man (it is said to be Captain Barbossa, yes, he survived in Pirates 3, but he lost a leg), he becomes obsessed with finding the Fountain of Youth. Blackbeard knows a little black magic which he uses it against Jack to force Jack to bring him to the Fountain of Youth.

Besides the addition of Angelica, the Spanish who are determined to destroy the Fountain of Youth, the reappearance of Jack the evil monkey, zombies, there are, of course, the mermaids! This is the best thing in Pirates 4. The mermaids scene is exciting and I wish there were more scenes of them. :(

They need two chalices and a mermaid's tear for the ritual. Anyone who drinks the chalice with the tear will have eternal youth, whereas the other will die instantly. Syrena, played by Astrid Berges Frisbey, is the unfortunate mermaid that was captured by Blackbeard and his crew.

Besides the rocking romance between Jack and Angelica, there's another romance going on between the missionary, Phillip (Sam Clafin) and the young mermaid, Syrena. Phillip fell in love with her and tries to rescue her. He is the one who named the mermaid.

Pretty,

yet deadly.

Beware of killer's kiss!

I think Pirates 4 is easy to watch and fun. No disappointment in Jack's adventure and the mermaid hunt.And ooh, Penelope Cruz and Geoffrey Rush did their roles well too. Totally giving it two thumbs-up for Pirates 4. Can't wait for Pirates 5&6 already!

Overall rating: 8/10

Catch the trailer here:

Review: The Fighter

Pfff, just received some negative feed backs from my course mates today about my first post in Chinese. Blehhh, they were from Chinese high school, so cannot blame them since my Chinese language standard ain't that good as them. -.- Will try harder next time.

The Fighter

As everyone has known that The Fighter is based on a true story about the famous Irish boxer, Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) during the 1908s. If this wasn't based on a true story, I would be complaining about how predictable the story was.

Micky looks up to his older half-brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) who is also Micky's trainer and hero. Dicky here is an ex-boxer who is famous for knocking Sugar Ray Leonard down. HBO then makes a documentary about his life after the success.

Amy Adams plays Charlene, the bartender who Micky fell in love with. Charlene is a former college drop-out for her drinking issues. She understands Micky's problems as a boxer can't get enough of his family struggles. Darn Amy, she's fuckin' great in her fuckin' role who keep fuckin' throughout the movie.

The lovely-dovey couple who brings out the only romance in the film.

Nods for Bale. It is hard to imagine Bale in Batman suit turns to one of a hell crack addict in The Fighter. He plays it a little too overacted but still enough for him to win a big Oscar for his role.

Am no fan of boxing movies, but darn The Fighter was one great film. I felt that the fighting scenes are too quick and lack of drama and tension in it, even though the movie is nearly 2 hours long. What? David O Russell ain't no fan of sucker punch? There are not enough winning punches there! A movie about boxing should have more fights/punches that woos people.

Brotherly hug me likey. The woman behind is Melissa Leo who plays the raging temperament mother, Alice. Damn, idk how she could bore so many children!

Overall rating: A-

Review: Burlesque

Show me how you Burlesque!

Starring both divas with strong vocals Christina Aguilera and Cher, Burlesque brings a concert-like feel rather than a film. It's about a small town girl, Ali (Aguilera) who left her home for Los Angeles to pursue her dream as a showgirl. She's pretty confident herself as a performer and is determined to get a job at Tess's (Cher) Burlesque. However, Tess somehow could not "see" Ali as a showgirl, thus rejected her flatly. Ali argues her way out to get on stage, and she gets a part when one of the showgirls is pregnant.

Nikki (Kristen Bell) does not see eye to eye on Ali the moment she first met her. She's totally a bad ass in Burlesque. This is the first time seeing Kristen Bell playing a role that is not on comedy or romance. Good girl gone bad huh?

Bartender Jack (Cam Gigandet) whom Ali met and helps her to find the way from "over here" to "over there". He's also kind enough to let Ali stay at his apartment even though he's engaged with his long-distance fiance, Natalie (Dianna Argon). I was surprised when Dianna Argon appears during the almost-ending part! Love her in Glee! Alright, back to the movie, Jack develops some feelings for Ali but he's too chicken to let her know, Ali thus turns to the regular customer of Burlesque, Marcus (Eric Dane). Marcus is a successful businessman who tries to get his hand on Burlesque.

Burlesque is how you define H.O.T. It's hundred and ten percent seductive and sexy. The story is a cliche though, not to mention the relationships between Jack and Ali, Tess and Ali, Nikki and Ali - very predictable. Both divas are singers, not actresses. So don't expect much from their acting values.

For the performances, from "Express", "Show Me How You Burlesque" to "Bound To You", you just can't get tired of Xtina's powerful vocals. But Cher only gets a couple of moments. I've been non-stop listening to her hit "You Haven't Seen The Last of Me" ever since.

Overall rating: A-

Review: The King's Speech

Finally, I managed to find some time to blog on my most hectic month of the semester and it's only the first semester for my degree Year 1. Bloody hell, I even have to sit for Mathematics 1 midterm paper on my birthday next week. What a birthday gift from the lecturer. I won't mind if it's not the day I turn big TWO ZERO. Anyway, thanks to Nuffnang and TGV Cinemas, I've just collected 4 complimentary movie passes this evening, which makes my day! :)

Actually, I was finishing my assignment until the neighbours start firing fireworks and firecrackers at 12 a.m. sharp in conjunction of Chap Goh Mei. Chap Goh Mei is derived from the Hokkien dialect, which means the fifteenth of the first month of the Lunar New Year. It's a tradition which Chinese practices annually. Seriously, the fireworks are longer than we normally see on New Year's Eve. This depicts that Malaysian Chinese are more excited on this day? Hah

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I understand why The King's Speech is the big winner of the year after watching it last month. Initially I thought it's going to be a movie that bores your mind for 118 minutes listening to his highness presenting his long speeches. But heck no, it was intelligent, brilliant, and inspiring.

Prince Albert (George VI) is a caring and responsible leader of his nation, and he always answers the calls of his duty. The only problem of Bertie is that he can barely finish a speech without strangling on his own words, and due to that, he's often frustrated and angered. His wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) then brings him to an Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush).

After swallowing a huge marble in his previous therapy and years of stammerings with or without therapy sessions, Bertie has loss his faith. But Lionel has his own ways to make things work. He addresses the Duke "Bertie" and teaches him foul language. Bertie is annoyed with Lionel's behavior but he then changes his perspective on Lionel after a few sessions with him.

It's nice to see the warmer side of Helena Bonham Carter after all those Tim Buton-y freaking weird roles and the psycho Bellatrix in Harry Potter. Geoffery Rush definitely earns an applause for his charming performance. Not forgetting the convincing Colin Firth, who gives us pains in our ears for his constant chokes in his speeches. Oh yes, 2011 is surely his year.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this Tom Hooper's masterpiece not only for his great frame shots but also his way to capture the audience by giving a gradual excitement and some soap-drama-like. Also, both Firth and Rush gives us a few laughs throughout the movie and there are also moments that are genuinely inspiring. Not saying that this is the best film in 2011, but it's definitely better than The Kids Are All Right.

Overall rating: A+

Review: 127 Hours

A true story based on the biggest fool that I've ever known so far. Oh come on, who would ever go for hiking without telling a soul? Wait, Aron Ralston (James Franco) did that! He went off climbing mountains in Blue John Canyon alone for a weekend in year 2003 without informing his family and friends.

Aron get his right forearm trapped in the canyon when a boulder suddenly fell loose. He struggled to get free but sadly failed. With his food and water running low during the gruesome days, he thought of ways to escape. While being stuck and nothing to do at all, he recalls the two hot chicks he met during the hike, his love, and his family that he ignored. He regretted that he didn't pick up his mother's call before he left for hiking.

I guess that everyone heard this story before. 127 Hours is an adaption of Aron's autobiography, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place". Now that we know Aron being trapped in the deep canyon and all, everyone is dreading for the moment where he was forced to cut off his arm with a dull knife. I forwarded that part because it totally freaked me out. Not that I've never seen bloody scenes before, but hey, this guy has no choice but to chop his arm off!

Now I know why 127 Hours won many awards. Some might find it boring because it's a one-man film. However, I find it interesting and I felt like I was there with him, only that I was watching his moves. James Franco did an outstanding job entertaining himself in the movie and gave us some hilarious moments. With all those editing, soundtrack and all, 127 Hours turned out beautifully. Round an applause to Danny Boyle, the man who brought us Slumdog Millionaire.

Overall rating: A

Review: Frozen

It's year 2011 already and I'm not done with the 2010 movies yet!
This is another top movie on my list last year:

"With 30 million skiers and snowboarders in the US and over 5000 chairlifts in operation, its only a matter of time before someone gets left behind."

After Frozen, you might want to think twice before breaking any rules in anywhere. Yeah, some says that rules are meant to be broken. But don't forget, there are reasons why the rules are set on the first place right?

Three friends - Dan (Kevin Zegers of Gossip Girl), Joe (Shawn Ashmore of X-Men), and Dan's girlfriend, Parker went for skiing at a ski resort on a Sunday afternoon.

Due to the bad weather, the resort decides to shut down early. However, the trio refused to leave until they ski for the one last round.

Thanks to some miscommunication, the lift attendant closes down the ski lift before they reach the top, leaving the three friends stranded in their ski lift chair. Not a single soul knows they are stuck up there.

Also, there are no ways of escaping from the chair lift as they are high above from the ground and there are a pack of hungry wolfs growling underneath them.

They felt dreadful thinking that they might have to stuck up there for an entire week. For sure, they couldn't stand the bloody cold weather and the storm. So, they think of some ways to escape before they are frozen to death...

Frozen doesn't need any gun fires, bombs, cars-chasing or any other action-packs to provide terror, tension, and suspense. The film do just fine with what it has for the audience. It is not very surprising, but it is definitely heart-breaking to some viewers. You can never know that the minimal use of actions can also create some sense of horror. Not a big fan of horror movies, but I like this, totally.

Overall rating: A

2010 movies

And now it's the time for The Likes & The Dislikes (not in order)...

The Likes

The Dislikes