Tag: movies

An inconvenient truth

went to see the most important film of the year today. very well done, with a data-driven approach to hammer the reality of global warming home. the only nit i have is that the call to action comes too late in the movie (in the last 5 minutes, and in the credits). also, there was not enough coverage of solutions beyond vague calls to save energy. no advice how to short a basket of detroit companies and buy efficient cars with the proceeds, no talk of emissions trading, no call for new nuclear power plants. instead, we got the advice to pray

still, go see it even if you are familiar with all it’s points. longer playing times matter.

For badboys only

“For Bad Boys Only” is an unconventional detective agency which specializes in helping clients to search for reunite with their first loves. The agency is managed by King Chan (Ekin Cheng), a flirty Casanova, and his partner, Jack Shum (Louis Koo), a perfectionist, with King’s younger sister, Queen (Kristy Yang), who has a soft spot for Jack, being the only employee. Recently, Taiwanese tycoon Yung Wing-hing (Ko I-chen) hires the agency to search for his ex-lover, Koon Ching (Shu Qi), whom was Asia’s premier female air force pilot. At the same time, a young man named Tin-ngai also hires the agency to search for his missing girlfriend, Shadow (Shu Qi). To King and Jack, Koon Ching and Shadow look strangely identical. Making matters more bizarre, King meets an amnesic girl named Eleven (Shu Qi), who also looks identical to Shadow and Koon Ching. The amorous-natured King also falls in love with Eleven. While searching for Eleven’s true identity, King and Eleven were attacked multiple times before Eleven was captured by a group of gun-wielding mysterious men. At the same time, Tin-ngai also finds Shadow, who was disfigured. It turns out that Shadow was captured by Japanese scientist Taro Sakamoto (Mark Cheng), who retrieved DNA from Koon Ching’s body and injected into Shadow, hoping to create a female pilot with similar skills. However, the experiment failed and Shadow was disfigured. However, Tin-ngai’s love for Shadow did not change and decides to spend the rest of his life with her.

After King and Jack learns of this, they proceed to rescue Eleven. The two of them successfully sneak into Sakamoto’s base, where they find dozens of clones that look identical to Eleven, each of them with different mutations. They were all named by numbers, with Eleven being the only perfect experiment with no mutations. However, Sakamoto manipulates Eleven to go mad to kill King and Jack.

A taste of HK movies to come? There’s fanfic for your entertainment, too.

Bad scifi lessons

dave liloia alerted me to the sci fi movie nights at the harvard center for astrophysics.

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics will screen a classic science fiction film on the first Thursday of each month. The series will explore the idea that “everything we learned about science, we learned from the movies.” Except for Camp-o-Rama, doors open at 18:45 and programs begin at 19:10 with a Flash Gordon serial. Movie begins at 19:30.

the next installment on 12/6 features robot monster along with the well-known plan 9 from outer space:

Ro-Man, the most evil creature in the Universe, comes to Earth to kill everyone with his powerful death ray. Perhaps even outdoing Plan 9 From Outer Space as the Biggest Turkey Ever Made, Robot Monster is beyond belief…and that’s why it is so much fun to watch…but no more than once! Labeled a “Poverty Row Quickie” by film critics, this low budget 1950’s B film stars actors and directors who never should have come within a km of a movie camera. Featuring imbecilic dialog and moronic costumes, this classic sub-schlock masterpiece rivals anything put out by Ed Wood! Starring: Who cares?

Second renaissance

This is a history of the world before the Matrix was created. The Second Renaissance is the most powerful 20 minute animated story I have ever seen. The powerful imagery shocked, horrified, and forever changed me after my initial viewing. Images like the robotic horse rider storming across the nuclear battlefield or the televised execution of robot protesters show us a future that is terrible to behold. Second Renaissance brings about a new emotion towards the machines, sympathy. In the first Matrix movie, our only view of the machine’s personality is through Agent Smith. His short efficient speeches don’t invoke much sympathy for the robotic plight. Second Renaissance shows us that we were the ones who screwed up and we paid for it with our souls.

Away

i was spirited away (and scented away by the wonderful perfume emanating from the girl on the seat next to me) by one of the best animated films i have seen to date. the grotesque figures and features mesmerized me for the full 2 hours. highly recommended.