Mad Money

A stellar cast of Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah & Katie Holmes sure sets this movie in the right mood.

Diane plays Bridget, the wife of her out-of-job corporate husband, who found themselves staring blank with bills to settle. Not wanting to give up, she applied and got a job as a janitor - yes, the once rich housewife working as a janitor in the Federal Reserve Bank at Kansas City.

Because of the need of more cash, she tempted to steal, where she formed an 'alliance' with Nina (Queen Latifah)and Jackie (Katie Holmes). Their easy money & not getting caught got them to want for more, especially the greedy Bridget.

However, their soon accumulated wealth got the officials wondering where the monies were coming from, which got them into a frenzy.

This movie is acted very well by Diane who after all these years still have the star power. She played her role superbly - both as the rich wife, and the unglamorous janitor. And of course, not to mention, the ever magnetic Queen Latifah, who played her mama role. The beautiful Tom Cruise's wife, Katie adds to this powerful line up, acting as a blur young & naive girl.

A light hearted movie for everyone :)

Mission Sex Control

First, before you misunderstand, this comedy-movie is on sex control, and not sex. Produced in 2006, this movie has recently been screened in Singapore.

This movie is based in 1971 when the Korean government launched a nationwide birth control policy with the aim to achieve higher income per capita status. To achieve this, the government sent their agents to the villages to teach & educate families on family planning.

Hyun-joo was sent to a small remote village - Yongdu Village with that mission, only to receive much resistance to contraception & the whole idea on family planning.

However, she didn't give up and eventually had Suk-gu & his friends to listen to her. To further get his & the residents support, she applied for him to be the new chief in the village. His promise in return is a '0 birth rate' in the bottom ranked village for 1 full year - a very hard & difficult task indeed for the ignorant folks.

It was this position that got him lots of trouble and losing friends & even nearly lost his family members.

This Korean movie has its typical Korean movie style - great photography, settings, beautiful actress... and also the constant non-predictable ending with twists - which actually is the spoiler here. The at times funny and at times emotional plot simply confuse the emotions - comedy or romance or ...?

Maybe this movie doesn't stand out because I've got a dose of too much similar style Korean movies... and maybe that is one of the reasons why Korean silver screens are not doing as well with their soap opera counterparts too.

Across The Universe

This Beatles themed musical film is set in the 1960s with Jude (Jim Sturgess) who leaves UK to the United States in search of his American G.I. father. While searching for his father at Princeton, he befriends Max (Joe Anderson), a rebellious young man from a privileged background, who then introduces his sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood).

Along the way, they become roommates and encounters a string of interesting housemates - Sadie, their easy going landlady who is an aspiring singer; Jojo, a guitarist; and Prudence. These characters add on as backgrounds to the 3 main characters and the developing romance of Jude & Lucy.

The movies builds up the characters friendships to only see it falter later with Jude returning to England. Movie - like, he then returns to the US to a waiting Lucy and the friendships of the group rebounds once more.

In a way this movie seems to highlight the Brit culture - especially on Brit pop. And it does pretty alright with the Beatles' hits... they are previous hits afterall.

However a rather uneventful and lame storyline don't gives much further than that... thought I'm sure any loyal British citizen would love the movie as it shows how influential Brit pop is (or was).

The Life Of Buddha

This movie shows how Prince Siddhartha who was born in a royal family became Lord Buddha. It shows Prince Siddhartha's journey where he was protected from the outside world, but eventually his curiosity on suffering made him renounced his royal lifestyle and left his kingdom to go out and search for the meaning of life, especially on causes of human suffering.

Although this movie is an animated movie, it lacks the cheerful animation that most animation brings. Its monotone and serious dialogues leaves a rather meaningful & potential movie a bore to watch; turning it more into a documentary rather than a animated movie.

Although clearly lacking the essentials needed to follow the footsteps of Thailand's animated elephant movie, Khan Kluay, however this movie is still a noble movie and would appeal to those who already know about Buddhism. And it is a real pity as this movie could actually reach out to more people, especially those who want to know more about the religion.

Ponglang Amazing

Tomorn inherits an old and run-down theatre from his uncle, who doesn't want to sell the theatre despite it not having many customers and is making loss. Tomorn wants to sell the theatre, even more so after meeting & faling in love with a pretty broker.

Tomorn meets a young cap driver who helps him with ideas on how to turn the theatre around. This comes with the help of his hilarious employees.

This is a slapstick Thai movie with exaggerated actions & humour, that will appeal more to the locals. The horror part in the movie is played down by its humour, hence not a scary movie, but a comedy which is rather okay to watch.

This movie gives insights to foreigners on the real Thai language/ culture which is normally smooth & yet can be sharp at other moments. The twist in the ending & the antics of the employees help scores for the movie.

Warlords

Set in the 1860s, during the Taiping Rebellion in the late Qing Dynasty in China, this movie tells the story of three sworn brothers - General Ma (Jet Li), Cao Erhu (Andy Lau) and Zhang Wenxiang (Takeshi Kaneshiro).

Their friendship starts off with a lil suspicion, but then builds up strong... only to be shattered towards the end when their values & objectives differs - General Ma with his quest for power & love; Cao Erhu for his honour & trust for the people; and Zhang Wenxiang for his stand on brotherhood.

This epic movie with its bold poster draws crowds who love Chinese epic movies. Not so attractive for those who want a simple movie, as the stories are actually behind the characters, and this will need evaluation. The grey scenes throughout the movie makes it rather dull, but it gives the setting it needs.

Golden Compass

My initial response to the movie was - "Another fantasy movie, again?". Ever since LOTR & Harry Potter burst into cinema screens, it seems all the production houses are now wanting a pie of the fantasy epics.

This movie which is based on a fantasy book as well sees young girl, Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who is given a fantasy ride & runaway with Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman), while her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), is embarking on a trip to the Arctic Circle to investigate a mysterious element intriguingly called Dust.

The movie focus on Lyra's world of wanting to save her friends & fellow children who are missing, and apparently being used as experiment objects. Lyra's confidence, good negotiation skills & intelligence sees her banding together with the Gyptians, the mysterious witch Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green) and Texas airman Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott).

This young kid is flung into an adventure that took her to the wilds of the icy north, where she allied a polar bear named Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), who pledges to serve her in her campaign until she prevails.

True to the fantasy movies, this movie shows talking animals and flying ships. But the best part of the movie is not from these fantasies, but more so the the lessons from it - like how a young girl gets people to be her allies by doing smart intelligent & courages moves. The part whereby each character has an animal as their daemon, or more like an inner voice & soul, also shows how we constantly have other thoughts running in our heads for every move we make.

Though the movie has an original plot, some new different ideas from other fantasy based movies - like the daemons, & good lessons, however, the overdose of these fantasy epics has raised the bar much more, and somehow the Golden Compass fall short of it compared to its peers. Unlike the other trilogies like LOTR or Matrix, which each episode can end on its own, the Golden Compass part 1 seems to leave a bad 'hanging' ending, despite good acting from its casts, especially Nicole Kidmans with her evil looks and her evil blue eyes.

Still, Golden Compass is a decent movie, and will be a good watch for fantasy epic fans.

Alvin And The Chipmunks, The Movie

The Chipmunks are back...! Yes, it's Avin...! Simon, Theodore... and of course, their 'single parent', Dave.

The 3 singing chipmunks (and talking ones as well), request to stay in with Dave. A 'budding' songwriter, Dave thought it was a good idea. In return of board & lodging and lots of mess at home, he will get them to sing for him, and hopefully launch his music career.

His unanticipated mischiefs of the trio ended him loosing his job, and they messing up his house. But in a rare encounter, he got them a recording deal which turned them into pop sensations, but which was then too big for them to handle.

By him not wanting a 'family', Alvin and the chipmunks left to stay with the recording company's boss. It was without their presence that Dave missed them, and then made a hunt chase for them. This indeed was a good comeback action, as they too were exhausted from their concert dates schedule & missed him too.

The mischievous trio of Alvin, Simon & Theodore makes this movie a nice watch, with them showing how energetic & fun life can be. Their 3 distinct characters are portrayed well here & gives the movie a good mix of lively characters.

This movie also has the special warmth moments by the chipmunks, especially Theodore making it appeal to both kids & adults, especially during this Christmas season. Also, one of the more interesting part is seeing the 3 chipmunks holding concerts with them taking center-stage!

Fans of the former TV cartoon series will most likely enjoy this animated movie as well. And though the chipmunks have 'grown up' in their dressings & looks to suite the 2000s, they still remain the same fun, happy-go-lucky chipmunks they were.