I was watching E!’s show 10 Vampires We Love shortly after I came home from watching New Moon. The show was a countdown of the vampires that the people of E! like. I’ll include the list at the end of this post. Anyway, I have a bone to pick with who they chose to be on the list. I noticed that the list didn’t include, in my opinion, a variety of vampires, and the fact that all, except one, of the vampires are from movies or tv shows that came out within the last ten years. Anyway, what I mean by the lack of variety is that four of the vampires came from two different sources. I find it biased like how this post is. The reason that I have a problem is that they didn’t include other vampires like Henry Fitzpatrick from Blood Ties, Mick St. John from Moonlight or any of the vampires from the Vampire Chronicles or The Lost Boys. I don’t think it’s right to put a relatively unknown vampire like Santinico Pandemonium or Dracula from Dracula 2000 on a list like 10 Vampires We Love when there are better qualified vampires out there.

10. Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore
9. Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen
8. David Boreanaz as Angel
7. Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton
6. Selma Hayek as Santanico Pandemonium
5. Gerard Butler as Dracula in Dracula 2000
4. Wesley Snipes as Blade
3. Kate Beckinsale as Selene
2. Alexander Skarsgaard as Eric Northman
1. Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen

When I’m feeling blue, all I have to do is look at their smiley faces. And I’d instantly feel better

I got to watch New Moon on the day after the premiere, and I’m telling you, the whole experience was nuts. As soon as I sat down to watch the movie, and the New Moon title screen came up, the rest of the audience started to scream. I thought to myself, jeez, what a bunch of crazy fan girls. Now keep in mind that while I like the books and the movies, I will forever be a Vampire Chronicles fan. Anyway, again, everybody screamed when Edward and Jacob came on, as well as when Jacob took off his shirt for the first time. Now, I can understand why everybody was screaming when Jacob took his shirt off for the first time, but why for Edward? I’m sorry, but I think that Edward is a pasty-ass pansy. Anyway, overall, I think that the movie was ok. There were quite a bit of funny parts but I think the movie is just a bunch of notable scenes from the book that was just pieced together and made into a movie. I gotta admit though, it’s very Chris Weitz. I say that because it reminded me of the movie that he did before, The Golden Compass. Both The Golden Compass and New Moon were edited very similarly. Anyway, don’t let my opinion deter you from watching the movie.

In my Lestat vs. Edward pictures post, one of the pictures that I mentioned had a reaction from Armand. It made me think. There’s a similarity between Armand/Marius and Bella/Edward relationships. The similarity is that Armand and Bella were both humans that were turned into vampires by their respective vampire lovers, Marius and Edward. I didn’t really realize that until I saw Armand’s reaction in that picture. I just thought that was interesting.

“Do you Jive?”

Oscar Wilde.

David Bowie.

Roxy Music.

Placebo.

Thom Yorke.

Iggy Pop, somehow mixed with Lou Reed.

Todd Haynes

Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Ewan McGregor.

Christian Bale.

I could describe the movie, but I think they just did.

“He was elegance walking arm in arm with a lie.”

Amazing music, amazing images, amazing script (mostly based on the writings of Oscar Wilde!).

Voila the trailer:

Voila le clip:

“For once, there was an unknown land, full of strange flowers and subtle perfumes; a land of which it is joy of all joys to dream; a land where all things are perfect and poisonous.”

“The world is changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curves of your lips rewrite history.”

Okay, there are perhaps a lot more men in ‘The Tudors’ than King Henry VIII and Charles Brandon but they’re the only ones I care about. I’ve liked Johnny since I saw him in ‘Match Point’ and I adored him in ‘August Rush’. Seeing him as King Henry VIII in the Tudors is such a blessing because I get to see him A LOT and nowadays, I can’t imagine anyone else as King Henry.

And of course there’s Henry Cavill. He plays Charles Brandon, or Duke of Suffolk. There’s something very attractive about Henry. Of course I’m not blind, and I know how gorgeous he is. Nevertheless, he has this ‘non-threatening’ personality. He seems approachable and kind. There isn’t an inch of arrogance in him…even if he’s one of the most beautiful men in the world.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers as King Henry VIII

Henry Cavill as Charles Brandon

Charles Brandon and King Henry VIII

I haven’t done a Johnny post for so long and I think it’s way overdue. Here’s a picspam of Johnny, in the movies (and TV series) he’s been in.

With Natalie Dormer in ‘The Tudors’

With Kerri Russell in ‘August Rush’

With Scarlett Johanssen in ‘Match Point’

With Keira Knightley in ‘Bend It Like Beckham’

Today’s Booking Through Thursday question is actually about Booking Through Thursday itself.

What’s your favorite part of Booking Through Thursday? Why do you participate (or not)?

I admit that I am awful at participating in all BTT questions. I try really hard to do it in a timely fashion and do all of them, but I am really bad at it. I tend to answer only the questions that fascinate me and which I feel like I can answer adequately.  My favorite part about BTT is sharing my opinions with other bloggers (I’m opinionated and sometimes self-centered – I like to hear myself talk and think that I can sometimes contribute to the world by self-publishing). I also really like seeing what other people are reading and what they think are good books in order to get ideas about what I should be reading.  And BTT sometimes provides me with those ideas.

Also, I have a new review up of The Tudors.  You can find the review here.

I was on a hiatus -more forced than voluntary – I came down with a nasty version of the flu.  The doctor didn’t think that it was H1N1 because the test said it wasn’t but quite honestly, I think it was. The test she gave me was one in the office – a rapid flu test so to speak – and she prefaced the test by saying that it wasn’t very accurate – lots of false positives and false negatives. It came back negative but, being that I got the seasonal flu shot and had contact with a co-worker not too long ago that was sick with H1n1, it probably was that.  And I had a pretty bad sinus flare up to boot along with fevers that spiked at 102-103 at night.  Yes folks, that sounds like the flu.  I was able to eat and drink, thankfully, and my fever was under control using the Advil and it didn’t give me pneumonia or chest issues, so I wasn’t admitted.  I was worried about the chest stuff because I have asthma, so it could have been much, much worse.

I ended up staying at home and watching Seasons 1 and 2 of the Tudors, which I’m now hopelessly addicted to (Season 3 out on DVD on Saturday!!!). And I love me some Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. He’s actually a pretty good actor in this series (as was Natalie Dormer, who played Anne Boleyn).

I also was able to write o.ne review.

Vorweihnachtszeit – wie immer die nervigste Zeit des Jahres. Fürs Internet fehlt mir momentan jede Minute, daher verkümmert mein Blog traurigerweise momentan ein wenig. Die news sind daher keine news mehr, aber der Vollständigkeit halber muss es natürlich erwähnt werden: Nach den Weihnachtsfeiertagen wird die 3. Staffel der TUDORS am späten Abend nach 22 Uhr auf Pro Sieben unter dem Titel  Ein Sohn für den König ausgestrahlt. Die Termine hierfür sind der 28. und 30. Dezember, sowie der 1. und der 4. Januar. Aufgrund der mittelmäßigen Quoten ist der Primetime Platz also verlustig gegangen, aber hartgesottene Fans wird das nicht weiter stören. Mir hat die dritte Staffel sehr gut gefallen, ich bin gespannt, wie sie hierzulande ankommt. Außerdem kündigte auch Arte eine Fortsetzung der Ausstrahlung im nächsten Jahr an!

Hier gibt es übrigens das erste offizielle Promobild aus Staffel 4, wir sehen die sechste und letzte Hochzeit Heinrichs VIII. bzw. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers und Joely Richardson.

Quarta-feira passada, no auge de minha falta de sono, busquei um filminho água com açúcar para assistir e desacelerar os batimentos. Telecine Light, era a escolha.

Então a tv me apresenta uma violoncelista, interpretada por Keri Russell, assistindo a apresentação de um músico de rua, quando é surpreendida por um cantor-compositor, interpretado por Jonathan Rhys Meyers. 

Keri tem traços delicados e ares de anjo, Jonathan tem olhos azuis cativantes e estilinho de vocalista de banda de rock, mesmo. Não demora para a gente torcer pelo casal. Logo, fica claro meu engano: o filme passaria de um romancinho.

Pois bem, dessa relação nasce uma criança que acaba por não conhecer os pais. O menino cresce seguindo sons e sentindo que, quando ele toca uma música é como se seus pais o pudessem ouvir e a partir disso, encontrá-lo.

A música é retratada de diversas maneiras: num concerto, num show de rock, nas ruas, no cotidiano e até mesmo na igreja. Todas elas, deixam explícita a pequenês dos seres humanos diante do poder dos sons.

A grande surpresa ficou por conta de Robin Williams, que se inspirou no Bono (U2) para compor seu personagem. 

A trilha sonora bem trabalhada, tem a música-tema como responsabilidade de Mark Mancina, e pode ser escutada aqui. Do final, eu esperava um pouco mais ( me animei durante a trama).

Com direção de Kirsten Sheridan e produção de Richard Barton Lewis, “O Som do Coração” veio de mansinho e me conquistou. Ganhei a noite.

obs. Ainda me pergunto onde será que eu estava quando esse filme foi lançado? Dormi no ponto. Os que fizeram o mesmo, atentem-se dessa vez: o Telecine Light exibirá novamente hoje, às 17h55!

Its official, Woody Allen can do no wrong!!!

Tennis pro Chris (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) gets mixed up with the darker side of high society in this suspenseful drama with a Hitchcockian flair from writer-director Woody Allen, who sets the action across the pond from his beloved New York City. Chris is befriended by a wealthy family and falls for femme fatale Nola (Scarlett Johansson). But a clandestine affair involving another woman leaves Chris wondering if murder is the only way out.

Now this film for me raises about two big questions: 1. Does Woody Allen have anything left to say?, and 2. Does Scarlett Johansson have the acting chops to pull off all the roles she’s been getting.

The answer to the first question is a resounding yes. For people that don’t like Woody Allen films well then you may just want to check this out. It is nothing like any of his other usual witty romantic comedies. Match Point is romantic, very dramatic, and by the end turns into a type of psychological thriller.

One thing I really loved about this film was that it’s main message about luck and its effect is shown incredibly well throughout the movie. The opening image stays with you during the film, and is shown again once more and even more touching and meaningful.

The amazing story about infidelity and being caught up in lust really does keep you interested in this film. It is played out so well, as they show you how this one man interacts with both of these women on a daily basis and not once does one story become more interesting than the other. Every moment that happens in this film just keeps you more and more glued to the screen where you are ultimately in love with this story.

Now to answer the second question that is also a resounding yes. Johansson does a great job as well as playing this chick who at first plays hard to get then by the end of the film she starts to really turn out to be one of these crazy obsessed chicks that your just afraid of seeing. Also, Rhys-Meyers basically does an even better job, but the only problem I had with him was that I just felt he was a little too gay looking. I mean check out pitcures of him, he doesn’t look like the kind of guy that would be banging Johansson on the side. But hey that’s just me.

The ending to this film is ultimately effective and it feels very true. This story couldn’t have ended any other way other than the way it did. One of the more effective films I have seen ever from Allen, and overall probably ever.

Consensus: Match Point is one of Woody Allen’s best that features great writing, a compelling story that teaches us the lessons about class and infidelity.

9.5/10=Full Pricee!!!

I was looking up Edward Cullen on Wikipedia and I saw that it said that Edward was a Byronic hero. Because of that, I clicked on the link that explained what a Byronic hero was. Anyway, as I was reading the characteristics, it did sounds like Edward As I continued down the website, it mentioned that Lestat from the Vampire Chronicles and the Phantom from the Phantom of the Opera were Byronic heros as well, but I digress with the Phantom. That made me think about how much Lestat and Edward were alike in the sense that they are both Byronic heros. I think that’s the reason why I don’t like either character. I mean, it’s not that I hate them, but it’s just that they’re not my favorites characters from their respective series. Anyway, I think that’s the reason why I don’t like Lestat and Edward is the fact that they’re Byronic heros.

In my search for any Lestat vs. Edward stuff, I found quite a few pictures that made fun of Edward and the Twilight series or making fun of the fact the Twilight series “outshines” the Vampire Chronicles. The one that I found to be the most funny was the one where it showed Edward and Bella together in the first box, and the following three boxes showing Louis, Lestat, and Armand telling their opinions on the series. I found that Lestat’s and Armand’s reactions to be the most funny. Their reactions were classic Lestat and Armand. Anyway, the next one that I thought was funny was the one where Lestat as picking on Edward. I just found those funny. By the way, you can find the originals at this site.

I was bored recently and was on my computer I don’t know why but I typed Lestat vs. Edward into Google to see what I would get. Anyway, a lot of stuff that popped up were drawings of people making fun of Edward through Lestat’s point of view, and videos and articles asking who would win in a no-holds bar fight. I immediately thought that Lestat would definitely win. I say that because, after looking up their powers as a refresher, while Edward has super strength, super speed, and can read minds, Lestat can do or has all of that, plus so much more. Lestat also has pyrokinesis, the ability to fly, and he’s telekinetic. Plus, he killed an entire wolf pack by himself, albeit with the help of his two mastiff dogs. Anyway, I really think that Lestat would definitely win the fight against Edward, and that’s assuming Lestat doesn’t fall in love with Edward first, which I doubt would actually happen, and that Lestat doesn’t hurt Bella.

Jag har märkt att jag skriver väldigt mycket om min musiksmak, men nästan ingenting om dom filmer som jag gillar. Så jag börjar med att skriva om en av mina favoritfilmer, som är en film från 1998, Velvet Goldmine.

Det som skildras i filmen är allt mellan upptäckter av nya artister, kärlek, sökande, musikframträdanden, sex, otrohet, drogmissbruk och glitter&glamour. Flera skådespelare som är stora namn idag är med i filmen – Jonathan Rhys-Meyer, Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale och Toni Collette.

Filmen är en skildring av glamrock-eranunder 70-talet, och karaktärerna tycks vara inspirerade av David Bowie, Iggy Pop och Kurt Cobain. Ytterligare kuriosa är att mycket av dialogerna sägs vara taget från Oscar Wilde-citat.

Posted by Missberlish

Jonathan Rhys Meyers

ირლანდიელი კინომსახიობი და ოქროს გლობუსის ლაურიატი.

ჯონატანი დაიბადა 1977 წლის 27 ივლის დუბლინში , ირლანდია. 1978 წელს მისი ოჯახი გადავიდა საცხოვრებლად კორკის საგრაფოში. კიდევ ორი წლის შემდეგ მამამ დატოვა ოჯახი და უტოვებს ჯონატანს და კიდევ სამ შვილს დედას გასაზრდელად. მომავალი მსახიობის ბავშვობა ყოველთვის დაკავშირებული იყო სახლიდან გაქცევასთან და სკოლიდან გარიცხვასთან .16 წლის იყო რომ საბოოლოოდ გამოაგდეს სკოლიდან. ამის შემდეგ მის ცხოვრებაში გამოჩნდა ნათელი პერიოდი ჯონატანს იწვევენ პირველ გასაუბრებაზე პროექტში «ღილების ომი» (1994წ War of the Buttons), თუმცა როლის მიღება ვერ მოახერხა. მაგრამ შემდეგი კასტინგი წარმატებულად გაიარა ის მონაწილეობას იღებს სატელევიზიო რეკლამაში რასაც მოყვა კინოდებიუტი — როლი ფილმში «უსახელო სიყვარული» (1994).
1995 წელს სტარტს იღებს პროექტი «ფინბარას გაქრობა», რომელშიც ჯონატანს ხვდება მთავარი როლი . 6 თვის მანძილზე მან შეძლო ეთამაშა ორ ფილმში ერთად . ისტორიულ დრამაში «მაიკლ კოლინზი». შემდეგ ის მიემგზავრება მადრიდში ფილმისთვის «მკვლელის ენა », რის გადაღების შემდეგაც მას მუდამ უჩნდებადა სიმარტოვის შეგრძნება.

ცნობილი ფილმები მისი მონაწილეობით

ტიუდორი( The Tudors ) სერიალი 2007-2009

აუგუსტ რაში( August Rush) 2007

მაჩ პოინტი(Mach Point) 2005

ალექსანდრე( Alexander) 2004

ამაოების ბაზარი (Vanity Fair )2004

ოკტანი( Octane )2003

ითამაშე ბექჰემივით( Bend It Like Beckham )2002

მესამე ზედმეტია( Tangled) 2001

November 15, 2009

Such a great weekend.  Lisa’s party was so lovely.  Her book is beautiful, the hardback and the paperback with its French flaps.  Her poetry is lyrical and imaginative.  The chocolate room was as romantic as a weekend in Paris.  It was delicate and eggs with chocolate, truffles and cupcakes.  It was the like the inside of the kind of room you wanted to go into as a child but you weren’t allowed.  But here, you were.  Allowed.  In.  Invited.  A room you could walk into like entering a perfect egg. I loved this party.  It was amazing. 

 Today I recovered a bit and spent time with my daughter who was visiting with her girlfriend.  They were painting a room green.  We don’t have a style or a reason for anything in our house, but there was a paint sale on green and it matched the green scarf I often wear when I go by that room.  I feel pretty good about that room being green.  We maybe will put a green candle in there.  Hopefully there will be a sale on green candles.  Problem is we have two writers staying with us and that room is not ready, so one will stay in my writing room and one in the sun room.  Awkward.  On the couch.  We’ll apologize. 

 We’re thinking about prescription drug use and its overuse because we’re watching this movie Prozac Nation about these kids at Harvard.  Harvard, how does anyone get privileged enough to go there?  I don’t even know.  Great Lou Reed music and Christina Ricci and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are so beautiful and ardent. 

 It’s very hard for me to understand depression.  Elizabeth Wurtzell went to Harvard Sylvia Plath to Smith.  They were very fortunate in many ways, yet they were clinically depressed.  Being depressed doesn’t have a lot to do with how lucky you’ve been, it has to do with how you feel.  Elizabeth Wurtzell was fired for plagiarism from the Dallas Morning News and she failed the bar exam, that’s the bad thing about being famous, all this stuff is on the internet. I like that Wikipedia says that she had a history of therapy and suicide attempts.  I like how those two got wrapped up together. 

 A lot of people that I know are in therapy.  My mother-in-law told me once when I had tried therapy for a few short weeks, not to tell anyone.  Then I quit that therapy.  It was a short lived thing, but as I said I’ve only been in therapy maybe 6 weeks of my whole life, but most people I know have been in therapy for years and years.  They aren’t well even now, but they continue.  Here is the thing with long term therapy.  Like plastic surgery, if I saw someone with plastic surgery who looked 40 but was actually 70, I would think, sure, I’ll try it.  But that hasn’t happened. 

 My friends in years of therapy don’t seem any healthier than I do.  Well, that isn’t really saying much.  This is such a sad movie.  It’s a movie about a very mean person, it makes me want to read the book.  In the movie, the narrator seems completely cruel to her friends, to her mother, to her boyfriend; she is so horribly self absorbed that you cannot like anything about her, you cannot feel sorry for her.  The narrator takes Prozac, although it hasn’t been clearly determined to the audience that she is really depressed.  She just seems like  a person with no conscience; she’s just mean.  I know people like this, there’s someone at my work like that.  I assume most people have someone at their work who is mean for no reason.

 In 2005 27 million Americans were using antidepressants according to USA Today.  The idea according to the movie is that the Prozac covers up your problems so that you don’t have to deal with them.  What exactly do Americans have to be so depressed about, you might ask?  We are the richest nation on earth, and yet, we take the most anti-depressants.  I wouldn’t want to be a therapist, or a psychiatrist and decide if people should be taking drugs or not.  Some people need antidepressants.  Absolutely.  But as a nation, do 27 million of us need them?  I don’t know.  Hard to say.  This was one slow movie, like watching a caterpillar become a butterfly.  It felt like it took all summer, but in the end there really wasn’t a butterfly.  Our narrator was still mean, but she was a mean writer.  And, in my particular profession as an editor, it isn’t like I’ve never had a chance to meet one of them.  But, at least she’s honest.

 Tomorrow our event at the Geffen Playhouse.  It’s going to be great.  I look forward to seeing you there.   Marc Acito, Annie La Ganga and Lionel Rolfe reading and discussing their work in one of the most beautiful spaces in Los Angeles.

Un film del 2010, regia di Brendan Gleeson, con Jonathan Rhys Meyers / Colin Farrell / Cillian Murphy / Gabriel Byrne. Prodotto da ()

Uno studente dublinese sta scrivendo un romanzo su un romanziere moderno di nome Trellis. Questo autore vuole scrivere un libro contro il peccato e, a tale scopo, recluta molti personaggi presi in prestito da altri romanzi o da antiche saghe e favole irlandesi come il famoso eroe Finn McCool. Infine ne crea alcuni completamente originali. Però Trellis è anche uno che dorme molto e mentre dorme i suoi personaggi non sanno cosa fare e parlano del più e del meno, interrotti costantemente da Finn che vuole raccontare la storia di Sweeney sugli alberi. Durante i sonni di Trellis succede poi che i personaggi si ribellino. Pare infatti che Trellis abbia violentato un personaggio femminile di sua creazione e allora gli altri decidono di punirlo per le sue malefatte cominciando a raccontarsi storie in cui il povero romanziere viene picchiato e tormnetato con mezzi magici, per essere alla fine sbattuto sull’albero dove si trova il pazzo Sweeney.

Radha Mitchell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers open the door to a new life.

(Sony Classics) Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Guang Li, Matt Walker, Ping Su, David Wenham. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode

War brings out the worst in us. Greed, bloodlust, cowardice, brutality, all of these things surface once the shooting starts. However, war also can bring out the best in us, and in the most unlikely of people.

George Hogg (Rhys Meyers) is a confirmed pacifist and a British reporter with a yen for adventure but not a ton of experience. He travels to China to report on the Japanese invasion there in 1938. China had been in the midst of a civil war between the communists and the nationalist regime, but all that was put aside when a common energy emerged.

Along with fellow reporters Andy Fisher (Walker) and Eddie Wei (Su), Hogg manages to finagle their way into a medical supply transportation mission from the Red Cross into the besieged city of Nanking (called Nanjing more properly in the film). There, he witnesses first hand the atrocities of the Japanese army against the Chinese citizenry and captures it on film before he himself is captured. The Japanese commander seems inclined to release his prisoner back to Britain until the contents of his camera are discovered. Hogg is then marched off to be executed, but is saved by communist intelligence agent Chen Hansheng (Fat). During their escape, he witnesses the execution of his colleagues and in his shock, gives away their position. He is wounded and Hansheng only just manages to get them away in the nick of time.

Hansheng leaves him in the care of American nurse Lee Pearson (Mitchell) who has become a de facto caregiver to the displaced refugees of Nanjing. His wounds are not fatal but severe enough that he can’t travel back to England and tell the world what is going on in China, as Hansheng wants him to do. Instead, she sends him to the tiny village of Huang Shi where there is an orphanage, forgotten in the panicked exodus before the Japanese military invasion. She leaves him there to look after the children, who have almost no food and less learning. He is charged to provide them with both.

At first Hogg is uncomfortable with his new position and the children are none too happy with the situation either. In fact, they lead him out and attempt to beat him to death with sticks until a timely return by Pearson who admonishes the kids that if they don’t leave him alone and let him take charge, she will never return leaving them without medicine and food. Reluctantly, the kids agree to the deal.

There is a great deal of mistrust on both sides but as they warm to each other, Hogg proves to be resourceful. He manages to get a rusty old generator working, providing the orphanage with light. He strikes a deal with black marketeer Mrs. Wang (Yeoh) to provide seeds so that the orphanage can grow their own food. In return, he gives her half the harvest to sell on the black market.

Their little community is thriving when the news comes that the nationalist army is coming through and intends to conscript all of the older male children to fight in their army against the Japanese and the communists (talk about ambitious). Hogg, realizing that he can no longer stay in their little sanctuary, determines to move the children to safety. He finds a place on the edge of the Gobi desert so obscure, so out of the way that it is almost a sure thing that nobody will bother them there. The trouble is that the site is 700 miles away and they have no transportation. They must get there on foot.

Director Spottiswoode, whose resume includes Tomorrow Never Dies and The 6^th Day, makes good use of the Chinese locations and even better use of Chinese cinematographer Xiaoding Zhao. Zhao, the man behind the camera for such Chinese epics as Curse of the Golden Flower, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles and House of Flying Daggers, is well able to capture the gorgeous vistas of the Gobi and the hills, forests and plains around Nanjing, but also the horrors of the war. The two make for a jarring counterpoint.

Rhys Meyers, so good as Henry VIII in the Showtime series “The Tudors,” is solid as Hogg. A man with the courage of his convictions but lacking the experience to know when he’s in over his head, he nonetheless changes from a plucky adventurer more consumed with making a mark on the world into a man of resourcefulness and responsibility who realizes that when you make a mark on a child, you’ve made a mark on the future just as indelibly as he wished to in his previous life. Mitchell is likewise solid as the hard-as-nails Pearson.

I was more taken with Fat and Yeoh. The two have a natural chemistry as you may remember from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and their all-too-brief time onscreen together here is memorable. They have very different roles; Fat as an agent who is James Bond on the outside but has deep convictions about his cause and a great deal of love for people. Yeoh is the opposite – somewhat cool and reserved on the outside but similarly soft on the inside. These are simply put two of the finest actors on the planet and it’s a shame they don’t get the props they deserve on this side of the Pacific.

The problem I have with this biopic, as I do with most biopics, is the unnecessary license the filmmakers take with history. One of the major historical characters in the film, for example, is shown dying heroically of wounds suffered in an aerial attack but history show that the character died instead of tetanus incurred when the character stubbed their toe playing basketball after which the toe became infected. Also, the orphans tend to be more stock characters than anything else; if they had been fleshed out more, it would have made for a more interesting dynamic.

Don’t get me wrong; this is a solid bit of filmmaking. Despite the license taken occasionally here, most of the events actually happened. George Hogg was a real guy and he did lead a group of orphans on a 700 mile journey. He also wrote a book about his experiences called “I See a New China” that is worth a read. His story translates well cinematically, although it doesn’t appear that the movie used his book extensively to fact check. Because of that, this isn’t a movie you need to see urgently, but it is still a movie worth seeing.

WHY RENT THIS: It’s a tremendous story from a historical event relatively unknown in the West. Gorgeous cinematography and outstanding performances from most of the cast make this a worthwhile endeavor.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: As is usual with Hollywood biopics, much historical misrepresentation, some of it fairly unnecessary.

FAMILY VALUES: Violence and brutality are everywhere in this representation of the Rape of Nanking; definitely not for more impressionable sorts.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The role of Lee Pearson is loosely based on Rewi Allen and Kathleen Hall, two nurses from New Zealand who were close to Hogg during this period.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: None listed.

FINAL RATING: 7/10

TOMORROW: The Syrian Bride