Nearing the end of this list, I still find myself remembering movies that should have been included here. A recent Twitter chat about John Woo’s Red Cliff made me re-examine my decision to leave the first half of the two-part series out of the list. I loved it dearly last year, and it made me insanely excited for the second movie this year, but I couldn’t in good conscience include it. Part of that is because of my “nothing from 2009″ rule. As half of the complete tale came out now, it can be excluded, though that’s a bit mean. The main reason is that while the first part promised much, the second didn’t deliver.

Don’t get me wrong, it still features high drama, enormous battles, cool character moments, and intimate emotional interludes, but there is a terribly annoying sub-plot featuring Sun Shangxiang, and the final act runs out of energy before the final inconclusive moments. It’s a great deal of fun, and taken together with the first is still a remarkable achievement, but there is nothing to rival the Battle of Eight Trigrams from the first half. It’s possible I will enjoy it more on second viewing, but that’s not happening any time soon. This list is taking up a lot of my time right now and after that I’ve got a full couple of weeks. Something to do with this big Hexmass thing everyone is celebrating.

Getting down to the last ten movies, it gets harder and harder to rank them. I spent about an hour on Friday just moving numbers 8, 9 and 10 back and forth, agonising over the choice as if it were a grievous error to get this wrong. By now, the difference in affection for these movies is almost insignificant: I very nearly think of all of these movies as the best of the decade, and each viewing of them would push them towards the top of the list without causing much grief. It will probably always be in flux, but these ten will almost certainly remain in some capacity, with only maybe Ratatouille usurping any of them.

10. Children of Men

Alfonso Cuaron’s thrilling adaptation of P.D. James’ novel came from nowhere and took me completely by surprise. With no advance word and only a hastily released trailer, I ended up seeing this cold and couldn’t believe my eyes. Commenting on topical concerns with an accuracy that must have been the result of some kind of supernatural prescience during its filming, this retelling of the myth of Christ’s birth says more about modern British life than any number of hand-wringing state-of-the-nation mini-series on UK TV, and certainly with more confidence than anything from the terminally ill British film industry. More than that it’s a bravura piece of cinema, with Cuaron trotting out numerous technically accomplished setpieces as if it ain’t no thing. It rewrites the rules of the action genre, strengthens the argument that SF is the genre best capable of commenting on contemporary issues, and restores your faith in humanity’s capacity for goodness.

Best Moment: Our hero (Theo, played by Clive Owen) and his pregnant companion Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) are trapped in the decrepit Bexhill-on-Sea concentration camp when a riot breaks out. As the British army moves in to quash the rebellion, the camera follows Theo through the carnage in a single shot. Cineastes everywhere had seizures of pleasure at the technical brilliance on display, but only the ones who don’t understand how sight works, of course. [/bitter]

9. Fight Club

Apparently this was the movie that was going to be responsible for the downfall of society. Upon release David Fincher’s adaptation of Chuck Pahlaniuk’s uproarious novel was famously treated like radioactive material by Alexander Walker, but embraced by almost everyone else as a breath of fresh air. On the surface it can be taken as a celebration of empty-headed machismo and fashionable nihilism, but the surprisingly wacky tone and endearing slapstick performances by Brad Pitt and Edward Norton expose it for what it really is: a satire on anarchic impulses and male narcissism, and an exploration of how paranoia can lead disaffected men into doing terrible deeds. Until Chris Morris’ Four Lions comes out, this is the funniest movie about terrorism made. Nevertheless, I’ll be honest. The thing I love most about it is the visual imagination, with Fincher gaily tearing apart the rulebook and treating his audience to an audio-visual collage of joyful unpredictability.

Best Moment: After the reveal of Tyler Durden’s true identity, our narrator gets to indulge in a panicky race against time to thwart his evil plan. For something as potentially dark as this, it’s amazing to think that Fincher manages to create such a fun movie, and the final twenty minutes of the movie are arguably the most entertaining. Edward Norton has never been as likeable as he is here, brandishing a gun while in boxer shorts and yelling about “lead salad!”

8. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

When Ang Lee’s martial arts romance was released in the UK, there were complaints that it was nothing special. Just another wuxia movie, except this time it’s directed by a “respectable” filmmaker, which means critics suddenly suddenly take note of the genre. To martial arts fans in the West, Hong Kong productions were often rough and ready, and arguably part of their appeal was reconciling our cultural expectations with what — to us — seems like bizarre sidetracking (anyone who has seen a Chinese wuxia horror movie like Encounters of the Spooky Kind or Mr. Vampire will know what I’m talking about). Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was, to some, a betrayal of that clumsy aesthetic, but that argument is borne of madness. This emotionally rich tale of duty and love would have been an exceptional historical romance already, thanks to Lee’s elegant visuals and his command of his superb cast. The breathtaking martial arts action was the cherry on top, and to see these beautifully choreographed fight scenes filmed with such care and reverence should have delighted fans of the genre. In his review, Peter Bradshaw said, “Frankly, this is what Phantom Menace was supposed to feel like.” This sums up my post-screening euphoria perfectly. If only all five books in Wang Dulu’s Crane-Iron series had been filmed like this, I would have been first in line for each.

Best Moment: When I first saw this movie, the earliest fight scene between Zhang Ziyi’s Jen and Michelle Yeoh’s Yu Shu-lien brought gales of laughter from a cynical London audience, enraging me so much I very nearly stood up to berate the hooting idiots around me. It’s a testament to the scene’s power that a moment later I was drawn back to the battle raging onscreen. Woo-ping Yuen excelled himself with what could be the most exhilarating and thrilling fight scene of the decade.

7. Being John Malkovich

A movie about people taking over a celebrity’s body, written by a former sitcom writer, and directed by a guy famous for making videos about talking dogs? I was certainly looking forward to seeing it, but I expected little more than a fun diversion with a John Malkovich cameo. The movie I saw was possibly the biggest surprise I’ve ever had in a cinema, one that detonated a bomb inside my head. What we were given was a complex, coherent fantasy unlike anything ever made before, something with a faultless internal logic that seemed to have been beamed in from another universe. Instead of a meta-textual pop cultural frippery we got a treatise on identity, love, obsession, celebrity culture, jealousy, and control, all while Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze told a hilarious and creepy story about a group of immortals using a metaphysical bridge to colonise new bodies. Describing the crazy ideas makes it sound like a game, but it was more than just intellectual trickery for the sake of itself. There was real reflection on what humans are, telling self-lacerating truths about how awful we could be, which built to a tragic finale. Even better than the rush of ideas driven to logical but unfamiliar conclusions, or its emotional fearlessness, was the sense that the rules had been changed. Any kind of story was now fair game, if it could be done as well as this.

Best Moment: Just the short description of the central idea — a portal allows you to control John Malkovich’s mind — could fuel a movie, but Kaufman is willing to explore every possible storytelling avenue of that idea, sending the plot in directions no one could have predicted. Part way through the movie, he gives us an utterly logical variation on the portal trick, but one that surprises right until it happens. Of course Kaufman had to send Malkovich into his own mind, but you only realise he had to do that after he has done it. It’s simultaneously hilarious and terrifying, and totally unforgettable.

6. Lord of the Rings

A cheat to combine the three movies as one, but a cheat that makes a kind of sense. Peter Jackson filmed all three films back to back, and stuck together they work as a complete movie, especially in their extended forms. Considering them in this way also mitigates objections about the length of Return of the King’s final act — with its endless goodbyes — and the compromises in structure necessary to make The Two Towers feel like a complete film. Not that those problems were ever in danger of overshadowing the successes of this project, which stands as possibly the most ambitious and thrilling movie trilogy ever made. Jackson and his co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens did such great work adapting Tolkein’s dry prose into a living, breathing vision that it’s tempting to say the books never achieved all they could until these New Zealanders came along.

It is to Jackson’s credit that he did the one thing necessary to make it all work: he had to take it seriously. Without a shred of cynicism, he portrayed numerous wrenching emotional moments with total conviction and treated his characters like the Middle-Earth heroes we always dreamed they would be. For that alone the trilogy would signify a welcome sea-change after years of half-hearted and jokey action men diluted the idea of noble heroism, but Jackson’s masterstroke was simple: he merely brought his usual intelligence and meticulous nature to the table instead of just doing the bare minimum to get the film made. He gave 100%, and 100% Jackson commitment is the nearest thing we have to a guarantee of total satisfaction. If you don’t buy into it, fair enough. If you do, the trilogy stands like the Eighth Wonder of the World. Can its spectacle ever be topped?

Best Moment: Jackson is the master of the big setpiece, usually by breaking these huge scenes down into smaller, still satisfying setpieces that add up to a greater whole. The Mines of Moria sequence features the superb cave troll fight followed by the race down crumbling stairs and then Gandalf’s showdown with the Balrog. The Siege at Helm’s Deep includes shenanigans with Aragorn and Gimli, the arrival of the elves, and Legolas going batshit. Best of all, the enormous Siege of Minas Tirith is followed immediately with the Battle for Pelennor Fields and then the Ride of the Rohirrim. When I saw this for the first time at Leicester Square Odeon, you could hear the sound of 1500 people sobbing over the thunder of hooves and clashing metal. It was a perfect moment.

A few minutes later, after Legolas did this, our cheering and applause almost brought down the roof:

And we’re almost there. If you have any complaints about my decision to take the Lord of the Rings trilogy as one movie, please address them to my ASS. (I’m kidding. The comment box beneath is just fine. Feel free to argue your cases: I welcome the debate.)

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone...

(Fox Searchlight) Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis, Rose Byrne, Troy Garity, Benedict Wong, Hiroyuki Sanada, Mark Strong. Directed by Danny Boyle

Boyle is the director of such impressive films as 28 Days Later, Trainspotting and Millions, all of which I would highly recommend (his next movie after this one was Slumdog Millionaire, previously reviewed in this blog). A couple of years ago, I was in puppy heaven when I discovered that he was doing a science fiction film.

It is about 50 years in the future and the sun is dying – take that, you global warming alarmists! A mission was sent to re-ignite the sun with a kind of stellar bomb, but that mission failed and the astronauts aboard the Icarus were presumed lost. The situation on Earth growing more desperate, a second mission – Icarus II – is launched and with it goes the hopes of humanity.

Things seem to be going pretty well, but as they approach Mercury, they pick up the distress signal of the first mission. Logic dictates that the crew continues on their way, explode their bomb and then see about the other Icarus but no, they have to go there first. Hey, what’s logic when you have science fiction? Anyway, predictably, bad things happen when they try to change course, an EVA repair mission goes the way of most EVA repair missions in science fiction movies these days and things burn up, flash freeze, explode and so on. What’s an astronaut to do?

Where to begin? This is a wildly uneven movie. There are a lot of great visuals, some wonderful dramatic tension and Chris Evans darn near steals the show – yeah, I know, Chris Evans – and the soundtrack kicks bootie. To the bad, you’ll notice at no point in my synopsis did I mention a specific human character. That’s because they are so interchangeable and unmemorable. Not all of it is the fault of the generally solid cast – it’s just that they play mostly subdued, as you would expect highly trained astronaut/scientists to be in that situation. In going for realism, Boyle winds up giving his dramatic tension short shrift. With a cast that includes some very good actors like Michelle Yeoh, Cillian Murphy and Cliff Curtis, that’s a bit of a crime.

Surprisingly enough, I found the direction of Danny Boyle to be one of the movie’s weaker points. Boyle is a genuine talent – his resume is nothing if not impressive – but he falls prey to the “Look, Ma, I’m directing” syndrome, taking himself far too seriously, sacrificing story for overly-clever directing moves. For example, the villain – who is apparently fully human – is rarely glimpsed as anything more than an impressionistic figure. When the heroes engage in hand-to-hand combat with him, the results are nearly unwatchable and actually gave me a headache. One of the more interesting moves is that as the crew of the Icarus II board the Icarus I, faces (I assume of the first crew) flash onto the screen like some terrible subliminal ad gone awry. I’m not sure what Boyle is trying to accomplish here, but if a director needs to explain what you’re trying to get across, then he/she didn’t do a very good job in the first place. In the end, the movie breaks down in the third act, just when it should be picking up steam. You get the feeling that they were rushing things more than a bit – in any case, I think if Boyle had paid more attention to storytelling and less to style, he might have made a really super film.

While I complain a great deal here, there are some compelling reasons to see this. For one thing, it’s a “smart” science fiction movie – think Solaris and Event Horizon and those are rare enough as to be very precious. And yes, I listed a number of failings of the director, but in all fairness, he got more right than he didn’t, and that’s a plus too. This is not what you would call a popcorn movie, but at the same time the gorgeous visuals – the screen is constantly bathed in warm golds and yellows of the solar winds – beg to be seen on a big screen or at least an HD plasma home theater.

This is quite the disappointment; I was hoping this could be a sleeper hit, but the box office here in the States was dismal. That’s too bad – but I can understand why people aren’t warming to this movie, and considering how close it comes to the sun, that’s unacceptable.

WHY RENT THIS: Terrific visuals. Chris Evans gives an unexpectedly strong performance. Astronaut-cicle; need I say more?

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Look Ma, I’m directing. Messy third act. Style over storytelling.

FAMILY VALUES: Violence and some icky visuals. A little bit of language too.

TRIVIAL PURSUITS: The helmet design for the space suits were based on the character Kenny from “South Park.”

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: The scientific advisor, Dr. Brian Cox of the University of Manchester and the CERN project provides a commentary track. There are also two unrelated short films that director Boyle included simply so that the filmmakers could be seen by a wider audience.

FINAL RATING: 6/10

TOMORROW: Noise

(Due to the especially problematic nature of this film’s third act, this review has minor spoilers in order to discuss it)

We’ve grown tolerant of science fiction over the years, letting it rape science in the name of awesomeness. Hilarious depictions of human exposure to vacuum, sound propagating in space, people walking around thanks to a rarely-explained “artificial gravity”, aliens who are just human beings with a different skin color and a few prosthetics, and so on.

But Science is awesome. There is no reason it should be ignored. When science fiction manages to respect actual science, the results are immensely satisfying. Stanley Kubrick did it in 1969 with his amazing “2001 – A Space Odissey”, a movie that, to make up for the lack of sound in space, used the nervous breathing of the astronauts inside their spacesuits, a brilliant move to create tension — not to mention how it depicted human exposure to vacuum with impressive accuracy, and it’s a forty year old film.

And then films like “Sunshine” come along, under a pretense of being “scientifically accurate”, and consistently laugh in the face of scientific fact in the name of entertainment, but treating the audience like dumbfucks.

I liked “Sunshine” when I first saw it a year ago. In fact, I loved it. But upon seeing it again, something fairly rare happened — a complete change of opinion. Opposite to my embarassingly well-documented (here, here and here, respectively) experience with “There Will Be Blood”, which I initially didn’t like, but eventually loved.

In this latest viewing of “Sunshine”, I couldn’t help noticing the carelessness in its construction and the constant exposition in the dialogue, not to mention set pieces built entirely around scientific innacuracies. There is a threshold to how much abuse I’ll let my mind take until I start disliking a film, especially when said film likes to think it’s clever. It wants to awe us with its “understanding” of science, as evidenced by the moment a character says “80% of dust is human skin,” for no reason, as if his brain is wired to wikipedia.

The sun is dying. After the failure of spaceship Icarus I for unknown reasons, Icarus II is sent with the same purpose — re-igniting the star with the use of a payload consisting of a powerful bomb . But nearing Mercury, they come across the distress signal of Icarus I, and physicist Robert Capa (Cillian Murphy) suggests a detour to add their payload to their own, increasing their chances of success since the bomb’s capacity of re-igniting the sun is entirely theoretical — which makes two bombs a safer bet. This starts a dangerous chain of events that puts the mission and its crew in serious risk.

And one of the film’s main problems is that this chain of events isn’t believable. It starts with one of the crew members, Trey, adjusting the ship’s trajectory but forgetting to adjust the huge heat shield that protects them from the sun — you’d think that would be hard to forget, but he does. Maybe it would have sounded more credible if it wasn’t for Trey’s interpreter, Benedict Wong, overacting to the point of embarassment upon acknowledging his mistake.

Then some crewmembers realize moving the shield to fix it will make them lose two comm towers due to direct exposure to the sun — they go ahead without consulting their captain, destroying a vital part of their ship without hesitation — someone even says “We’ll need the towers for the return trip,” to which someone hilariously replies in a stunning display of foresight and professionalism, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Finally, when two crew members are outside fixing the damage to the heat shield, right after they confirm they can do it and everyone cheers happily — the oxygen room just catches fire as though it’s saying, “SURPRISE, BITCHES”. And when narrative conflicts just happen like that, it’s a worrying sign of a schematic script.

Sunshine also suffers from a less than impressive art direction. While the Icarus at first seems very believable (being made out of segments like the International Space Station), the heat shield soon reveals itself so unstable that it makes the entire ship a major design fault — after all, the mission includes abandoning this heat shield, using it to protect the payload as it goes toward the sun — so how do they plan to survive the return trip with the much smaller, second heat shield, if the larger one could barely be moved without destroying the comm towers?

And why do the comm towers spin around the ship, protruding so far from it it’s no wonder the heat shield can’t protect them? Artificial gravity via centrifugal force? It doesn’t work that way, but well, at least they try to explain artificial gravity in this film, even though gravity itself is dubiously represented in it — the payload, which has the “same mass as Manhattan”, seems to generate Earth gravity (as seen later in the film) — yet somehow, this doesn’t seem to interfere with the artificial gravity inside the Icarus (both are clearly not the same, since if they were the Icarus crew would have to move around the ship vertically with ladders due to their perpendicular position in relation to the payload). But this latter point is admiteddly more of a nitpick, dubious science that shouldn’t hurt the film.

What does hurt the film, aside from the aforementioned dumb chain of events (which reaches unbelievably stupid heights in the film’s third act, as I will discuss in a moment), is the painful sequence when the astronauts have to make a jump from a destroyed airlock to an intact airlock and only one of them has a proper spacesuit.

Their major concern? Freezing instantly when exposed to “-273 degrees celsius”.

So, we have a bunch of astronauts who think the temperature of space is absolute zero and that people exposed to vacuum instantly freeze despite being in a fucking vacuum. And worse, one of them does freeze instantly — we even hear the sound of his skin hardening. In space. Not to mention there is no reason why the Icarus couldn’t have gotten a little bit closer to the destroyed airlock to, you know, make it harder for their colleagues to accidentally float away to their death. It’s a sequence so ridiculously full of inconsistencies it’s barely worthy of a “B” movie.

Relax. I babbled enough about this. The flaws of “Sunshine” are not down to a science advisor who apparently couldn’t get the filmmakers to listen. As a narrative, the film is equally flawed, not just due to its aforementioned schematic script but also because of the expositional dialogue: upon hearing a loud, continuous sound all over the ship, a character explains to the others that it’s just the sound of the metal in the heat shield expanding and contracting due to the change in temperature.

… at the point when he says that, they’ve been travelling together for sixteen months, yet they act like it’s the first time this happens. Even worse, Corazon (Michelle Yeoh) replies “I know what it is, flyboy”, making the exposition even more blatant.

Alex Garland, writer of the script, does try to hide the patronising nature of these lines, but he simply can’t — in order to explain how the bomb works to the audience, he has two characters discuss death in a vaguely-related fashion and one of them starts a simulation of the bomb, explaining it to his friend while actually explaining it to the audience, and finishing it with a line that tries to justify why he just did that, but fails to convince — it’s painfully obvious the film is trying to get its viewers to understand what it’s doing.

Why, instead of that, couldn’t the character have simply gotten into the room and started the simulation to admire it by himself? It could have been a nice, silent scene that got whatever information it needed to get through subtly and quietly, trusting the audience instead of patronising us.

And that’s another problem — it never feels like these astronauts have been actually travelling together for sixteen months. They rarely talk to each other with intimacy, and when they go out on a spacewalk, they act like it’s the first time they do that in sixteen months (speaking of which, let me add the spacesuits in the film look absolutely ridiculous).

Standing out in a problematic cast, the talented Cillian Murphy is convincing as Robert Capa, and his growing fear in the third act of the film helps the absurdity of it all feel less stupid. The other cast member who does a surprising job is Chris Evans, intense as the cold and practical Mace. Hyroyuki Sanada plays Captain Kaneda with charisma, but Rose Byrne doesn’t get any room to shine as the unidimensional Cassie, neither does Michelle Yeoh as Corazon, who suffers from having to say some of the film’s worst lines (the “-273 celsius” bullshit and “I know what it is, flyboy”). Troy Garity is also sabotaged by a very unremarkable character, Harvey, and Cliff Curtis plays an equally uninteresting crewmember, Searle. Finally, Benedict Wong, as I said, overacts constantly and Mark Strong embarasses himself by playing the film’s most implausible and ridiculous character.

Finally, there’s director Danny Boyle. After starting the film with a beautifully realized shot, Boyle succumbs to over-direction. Insisting on countless exterior angles exposing the Icarus, he also goes for obvious symbolism. When Searle is trying to explain two sides of an argument, the camera moves to the other side of a glass screen, illustrating that he’s now talking about the other side of the argument as if we’re all a bunch of retards who can’t understand the basics of conversation.

And as the film progresses, Boyle exaggerates more and more and suddenly decides he wants to do an Alien film. Working with a horrendous editing work that makes Tony Scott look like a genius, the film adds a villain that would have seemed much more interesting if it wasn’t for his putrid dialogue, the pathetically exaggerated way he’s filmed (always out of focus, with the image shaking) and his amazing stealth abilities that make no fucking sense. And at the very end, Boyle goes as far as adding freeze frames and horribly overdone camera movements to try and create some tension.

However, it’s still Danny Boyle, which means “Sunshine” does have some highlights (aside from Alwin H. Kuchler’s exceptional cinematography and John Murphy’s memorable soundtrack): namely, the beautiful scene when the crew of the Icarus II is hypnotized by the sight of Mercury orbiting around the sun, and the moment Robert Capa needs to jump from the Icarus to the payload — a masterfully-shot moment with excellent music that offers a glimpse of the great film “Sunshine” could have been if Garland had revised his script and respected Science, and if Danny Boyle had done the same plus restrained himself.

However, with this much pseudo-science, pretensiousness, inconsistencies, plotholes and badly-developed characters, “Sunshine” is weak science fiction. An interesting premise that needed way more pre-production work before being filmed.

So I’m not a fan of the model look. Straw thin pale white girls with balloon boobs aren’t my thing (well balloon boobs are but not everyting else). But I normally would say the roided-up and veiny body builder look is just as gross. However there’s nothing sexier than a strong woman, emotionally speaking, and I there’s something very special about a woman who can handle shit and doesn’t need a man to come in and save her (not that I don’t want to).

So here I present to you my favorite sexy strong women. They’re not innocent little girls, but they don’t look like dudes. They’re juuuuust right.

10. American Gladiator Girls

I was a big fan of this show growing up, but when NBC resurrected it a few years ago, I found an entirely new reason to watch. The chicks were hot. I don’t remember if they were in the nineties when I watched as a kid (although the pics I found online would suggest not) but the new batch had some definite sex appeal workin’ to their advantage. Pretty much any of those girls could get it, except Hellga (shivers).

9. Natasha Kai

Now Natasha Kai isn’t that hot, but she’s awesome looking. The starting forward for the US Women’s Soccer National team looks like one of the characters from the new movie Avatar, with her tattoos and exotic face. She’s Hawaiian and is an extreme surfer girl in addition to be a soccer stand up. She could whoop my ass anytime.

8. Sarah Palin

Now Sarah Palin is not necessarily the most physically imposing woman, in fact she’s not even as powerful as she used to be since stepping down from her governorship, but this bitch hunts. Look at the picture below this…

that’s a motherfuckin’ caribou corpse. She gets busy. She’s an outdoorswoman and she’s quite attractive and that qualifies her to be allowed to kick my ass.

7. Laila Ali

The daughter of the greatest, Laila Ali is as beautiful as a butterfly and can sting me anytime. Or get stung (chea!). As the host of American Gladiators she gave me eye candy even during the male events. But she really built a reputation following in her father’s footsteps and beating the shit out of other people. She has a 24-0-0 professional boxing record, and 21 of those wins were knockouts. Although a lot of other female boxers have complained that she has often avoided fighting the top contenders, I just think they’re mad they’re not as pretty as her.

6. Michelle Rodriguez

You may know her ass the rough chick from Girlfight, or the rough chick from The Fast and the Furious, or the rough chick from Lost. Michelle Rodriguez has basically cornered the market on playing rough chicks. That’s basically because she genuinely just seems like a rough-ass chick. That’s ’cause no one else is as good at making you want to kiss them when they’re looking at you like they’re gonna punch you. She’s always worth the risk.

5. Candace Parker

Don’t let the dress fool you. If you haven’t heard Candace Parker is the greatest women’s basketball player ever. Or at least she will be when her career’s over. She’s only played one season in the WNBA (she missed the 2009 season on maternity leave) but she became the first player to win rookie of the year and MVP in the same season. Now I know you’re thinkin’.  “This gorgeous chick in the red dress is not a WNBA all-star.”

How bout’ now. Yeah. She dunks too. First NCAA women’s player to dunk twice in a game and the only female to win the McDonald’s High School dunk contest. Be afraid LeBron. Be very afraid.

4. Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh is the greatest international action heroine ever. Unquestionably. Her training as a classical dancer helped her segue perfectly into martial arts action films where she has built her self an incredible reputation. You probably know her from the breathtaking Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or that shitty Bond film. She is also a stone cold fox, who I’m pretty sure after years of martial arts, doing her own stunt work, and weapons play in movies, could actually kill you.

3. She-Hulk

When mild-mannered lawyer Jennifer Walters was given a blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce Banner, she turned into… a huge slut. I’m half joking. She-Hulk gets around. Ya see, instead of being a raging ball of anger like the Hulk, when She-Hulk transforms she goes from inhibited mousy paper pusher, to bodacious and brazen glamazon. And more than a few Marvel heroes have hit that, (as did Juggernaut). But c’mon, like you wouldn’t. Most superheroines despite being crazy strong are still drawn like stick thin models. But not She-Hulk, and I think she’s sexier for it.

Serena Williams

There’s really no other way to put it. “I wanna shove my balls down her fucking throat.” Serena Williams is super hot. Yeah she’s huge, a woman of gargantuan power and proportions. But so is her ass. Her ass is of gargantuan power and proportion. Watching her jiggle and scream and sweat while… playing tennis, is seriously the sexiest thing you will see on CBS this summer. I mean look…

For real. Some of my friends don’t get it but, fuck ‘em. This woman is hawt. And if you’re like me and you’re attracted to talent, she’s  the greatest women’s tennis player of our generation (all-time is debatable). Watching her take apart Sharapova in the 2007 Australian Open was one of the greats achievements I’ve ever watched in sports. She’s a fuckin’ beast.

1. Gina Carano

OK so I’m kinda cheating. Gina Carano is technically already mentioned as an American Gladiator, she was the undefeated joust champion Crush. That said as the clear stand out on the show, and the one with the best resume outside the show she deserves further recognition. A Muay Thai fighter, at heart who quickly became the dominant force on the growing women’s MMA circuit, Gina became the face of the sport more because of her demure and sexy personality. And the fact that she looks like this…

She was the reigning champ before she lost a heartbreaking fight to Cris Cyborg (who I believe to be a Terminator). But she is still very much the face of the sport. Now it appears she’ll be branching into the acting game with my favorite director. I cannot wait.

Babylon AD è un film del 2008 film thriller basato sul romanzo Babylon Babies di Maurice Georges Dantec. Il film è stato diretto da Mathieu Kassovitz e i protagonisti sono Vin Diesel, Mélanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh e Lambert Wilson. E ’stato rilasciato il 29 agosto 2008 negli Stati Uniti.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Azione | Fantascienza | Thriller | Mathieu Kassovitz | Vin Diesel | Michelle Yeoh | Mélanie Thierry

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

O ator, diretor e coreógrafo, Yuen Woo Ping (Iron Monkey) volta à China e pra direção com este filme em que nos apresenta Su Qi-Er, um homem rico durante a dinastia Qing, que perde sua fortuna e sua reputação como resultado de umas acusações falsas. Depois de ver-se obrigado a viver nas ruas, ressurge como um herói conhecido como o “Rei de mendigos“.

Protagonizam o filme que estréia em fevereiro de 2010 na china, Vincent Zhao (Once Upon a Time in China 4 e 5), Gordon Liu (Dragon Squad), Michelle Yeoh (Heroic Trio), Jay Chou (Initial D), Zhou Xun (Painted Skin) e David Carradine em um dos seus últimos papéis.

Saludos cosmonautas,

Sabemos que muchos os estaréis preguntando qué ha pasado con Urías todo este tiempo, y tenemos muchas ganas de responder a ese misterio, pero parece que no tenemos aún una respuesta clara por su parte. Hoy ha vuelto a la Arcadia y ha confesado que se ha pasado todo el fin de semana en la decimoquinta edición del Saló del Manga de Barcelona preparando un reportaje que veremos muy pronto. A lo que no ha podido resistirse es a enseñarnos todo lo que ha comprado, que en realidad no es demasiado y tampoco muy original, pero nos ha dicho que ha estado bastante ocupado con otras cosas.

Por el momento no nos ha querido decir exactamente qué ha estado haciendo durante los días previos al salón, pero dice que tarde o temprano nos enteraremos. Por ahora, vamos a ver esas adquisiciones…

Y aquí tenemos los manga que ha comprado Urías (sí, en el salón, aunque parezca mentira, también se pueden comprar manga). En esta caso han sido el número 2 y 3 de “Pluto” y también el 11 y el 12 de “20th Century Boys”, dos obras de Naoki Urasawa, autor al cual nos hemos enganchado recientemente. También podéis ver dos tomos de “Shin-chan”, el 1 y el 2, y aunque ya teníamos la edición de 1996 de Shin-chan, hemos querido agenciarnos la obra en su formato más propio del original, y también leer historias inéditas para nosotros. Después tenemos el número 5 de “Detroit Metal City”, esa locura de manga que consigue que nos partamos de risa. Y también el segundo númeor de “Ebichu, el hámster ama de casa”, una obra muy raruna, con un humor muy peculiar, muy guarro, muy bestial, y que tanto nos hace reír a carcajadas como dejarnos atónitos (por no entender de la misa la mitad). Finalmente, tenemos “Nijigahara Holograph”, un regalo de Ponent Món al comprar Ebichu y que ha resultado ser una gran sorpresa, nos hemos enganchado mucho con otro de esos mangas geniales que en España van a pasar totalmente desapercibidos.

No solo de manga vive el hombre (y tampoco la mujer), y si ya tenemos cierta afición por coleccionar cómics en general, lo de los DVDs ya es una obsesión enfermiza. No pudimos resitirnos a comprar 4 DVD’s de Hong Kong Digital Classics por solo 10 euros, y además con pelis clásicas como son “The Young Master” de Jackie Chan o “Ultraforce” de Michelle Yeoh, y también “El Camino del Dragón” de Donnie Yen y “Crime Story” también de Jackie Chan, de las cuales hemos oído muchas cosas buenas. Además, también nos hemos hecho con un muy buen pack, a 16,95 euros, formado por “Crows II” de Miike Takashi y “Cure” de Kurosawa Kiyoshi. La primera es la segunda parte de la adaptación cinematográfica del manga, cuya primera parte vimos en Sitges el año pasado y nos encantó la energía y lo cool de la propuesta. Por otro lado, “Cure” del “otro maestro Kurosawa”, es ya un clásico de la nueva ola de cine de terror japonés.

EDIT: Con eso de ir tres días al salón nos olvidamos de mostraros algunas de las compras primerizas, que iremos actualizando en breve.

Sí, finalmente ya podemos lucir una camiseta de X Japan, quién iba a decir que la acabaría comprando en Barcelona, después de haber buscado en Japón en tres ocasiones sin obtener resultados… esta camiseta forma parte de TODO LO QUE MOLA.

Lo cierto es que la imagen habitual del Salón del Manga son los pasillos abarrotados de gente, el tener que desplazarse a través de la marea humana, e intentos infructuosos para llegar a ver bien un stand, así que hemos querido ser algo originales, y en lugar mostraros esa imagen típica del Saló, os mostramos el aspecto que tenía el domingo a primerísima hora, justo cuando abrían puertas, casi desértico, ideal para comprar.

Pero a los pocos minutos, el salón empezaba a llenarse poco a poco de visitantes…

¡Ponyo, coño!

¡Y aquí un detalle de la camiseta que ha dado que hablar en el salón! ¡La camiseta de TODO LO QUE MOLA!

Y aquí tenemos una foto que puede ser algo reveladora… ¿Estará Beus Senshi de los Kamen Sentai Bloggerman implicada en la misteriosa desaparición de Urías?

True Legend verra le retour de Yuen Woo-Ping derrière la caméra en tant que réalisateur. Retrouvez ci-dessous la teaser du film.

True Legend devrait conter l’histoire de Su Qi Er (ou Beggar Su), figure emblématique du kung-fu du siècle dernier.

Chiu Man-Cheuk tiendra le rôle principal aux cotés de Zhou Xun, Jay Chou, Gordon Liu, Michelle Yeoh ou encore David Carradine.

Sources : Twitch – Filmsactu – Official Website

Ah, it’s good to be home again. Transoceanic travels tend to wear one down; more about my travels later on in another article. Do any of you like that grizzled songwriter and singer named Willie Nelson? Have a look at some of the lyrics from one of Willie’s classic songs:

On the road again,
Goin’ places that I’ve never been,
Seein’ things that I may never see again,
And I can’t wait to get on the road again.

Old Willie isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. but his words are in tune with my desire to go where I want to go.

And travel is in some ways considered an ingredient of an art form; after all, people write articles and books, take museum quality photos, and make great works of art on canvases about where they’ve been. So call me an artist if you want. Or better yet, call me a traveler.

Isn’t life a series of travels — from here to there, from home to work and back, from the womb to the grave — we are always on the move. Even when we are just staying at home, our lives still travel forward, from dawn to dusk, from beginning to end.

A movie from a few years ago, Memoirs of a Geisha, can convey more about travel in a sense. While what we saw onscreen is an account of the travels of one small and impoverished Japanese child from a backwater fishing town to the highest echelons of the world of geishas, and the the movie itself is a Hollywood version of the life of a geisha, as created in the novel of the same name by Arthur Golden, this still represents the travels of an idea.

Years ago, at least as far back as when written communication began, when we had an idea, we sent it downstream to our hands where we transferred the idea onto a piece of paper. The idea transference progressed to paper and ink, to typewriters, to electric typewriters, to personal computers with a word processing program, and finally to its current circumstances where an idea can travel from my head to a screen in front of you, wherever you are — even halfway around the world — without either of us leaving our homes.

Arthur Golden was a Harvard scholar with a major interest in all matters Japanese: Mr Golden did his research and study and even traveled to Japan to learn about geishas. After scrapping his original 800-page draft, it was eight years before he gave the world this best-selling novel.

Memoirs of a Geisha, the book, topped best–seller lists for two years. Steven Spielberg ultimately bought the film rights, and the finished film, directed by Rob Marshall, ultimately played in a theater near you. Now that was an idea that really traveled!

While geishas are considered by some to be cultural artifacts whose time has long since passed, this is not really the case. Geishas are alive and well. I saw them with my own eyes in the Gion district of Kyoto, last October. Just like you and me, the geishas are working people. One can pass them on the street as they head for the okiya, or geisha house where they work.

They are, in some quarters, thought of as living works of art as they must master and hone their superb artistry to the skills of conversation, dress, tea, dance, and music, all for the entertainment of men. Yet they are still mostly an unknown commodity to those of us in the west, and to most of the world beyond Japan’s shores.

I hope Arthur Golden’s long years of research preceding his novel, and the efforts of Rob Marshall, and the cast and crew of Memoirs of a Geisha, have brought the subject into focus for us.

And that is my cue to wind down this column, and to begin another kind of travel. To follow some of the ideas to the places where they begin or where they become public.  For us to share these ideas, you won’t need a travel agent, a passport, or even a hotel reservation. Just connect to the internet, and find your way to this website, or one of your own choosing to check out another person’s ideas, and your journey will begin.

Su is a wealthy man living during the Qing Dynasty who loses his fortune and reputation as a result of a conspiracy against him. After being forced onto the streets, Su dedicates his life to martial arts and reemerges as a patriotic hero known as the ‘King of Beggars’.

Directed by Yuen Wo Ping and starring Zhao Wen Zhuo, Zhou Xun, Andy On, Michelle Yeoh, Jiang Lu Xia, Cung Le, Sylvester Turkoy.

Source: Quiet Earth

If you’ve been a reader of my columns for years, then you know that every once in awhile, I’ll turn on the look-back machine to find some song, movie, or era that I can connect to something here in the present. About 46 years ago, in October of 1963, a young singer-songwriter, poet-musician sat down and created a memorable song. His name was Bob Dylan. The song was The Times They Are A-Changin’.

This song became an anthem of change and hope. It has been called the archetypal protest song. It seemed to touch many people in many walks of life-  from parents to politicians, and from young people to old timers. The lyrics resonated through so many people who wanted to live as they wished.

For the leaders of our country -

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall.

For those who had brought forth children -

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand

And generally for all thoughtful people who cared about themselves as well as others, and would take the time to listen as well act:

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.

This song has been covered by many artists like Joan Baez and the Beach Boys. Folk singer Odetta and Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, The Byrds, and Phil Collins.

As recently as September 2008, John Mellencamp made a web-cam recording of the song and posted it on the internet as a statement about changes that might come to America after the 2008 Presidential Election of Barack Obama.

So we know that the song, penned by the young Bob Dylan years ago, has enjoyed both longevity as well as impact. And certainly since the fall of 1963 the times have indeed changed.

For Asian actresses, for most of the late 20th century, they were locked into playing just exotic women of the night, or mistresses, or victims, along with roles in which they were asked to swing a sword.

Since the times are still changing, we’ll have a look at a film without martial arts and wire-work but with two Asian actresses. Michelle Yeoh andMichelle Krusiec have the lead roles in a movie that is called Far North (released in 2007).

Yeoh (below), from Malaysia, has long been a headliner in Asian cinema. I guess the acme of her acting career and world wide fame can be best illustrated in her three most famous roles.  First, her role of Yu Shu Lien inAng Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2003), then her role as Wai Lin in the James Bond thriller Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). Finally she starred as Mameha in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).

Krusiec (below) is a American/Chinese actress who hails from Nevada. This 35 year old beauty has had a very successful career in American television. She’s made guest appearances in such series as NCIS, Grey’s Anatomy,Without A Trace, Cold Case, Monk, and ER. And she’s had a few film appearances.

Well both of these ladies must have packed an ample supply of long johns and other accouterments of winter clothing for their work in Far North. Filmed in part in Svalbord, one of Norway’s least hospitable areas in terms of climate,  this film was no walk in the park for either the onscreen actors nor the production crew. It would not be stretching the truth to say that ice wasn’t needed in your drinks in that part of the world.

In fact nearly all of this movie was shot out of doors or in a tent. The landscape is foreboding. Ice, rocks, snow, sky, and on occasion – some body of water that isn’t frozen. I read that the crew and cast had to take an ice-breaking Russian trawler to get to some of the locations.

Yeoh plays Saiva, a forty-something who at birth, we are told in a voice-over, was decreed by a shaman to be an evil presence. Consequently she has carried this thought around with her for her entire life. People are frightened of her and she distrusts everyone; hence she lives far away from others preferring isolation to neighbors.

We are never informed specifically as to where we are, or when the story takes place. In flashbacks we are shown that Saiva’s community was over-run by an invading army, or rather a band of soldiers. Her man was tortured and killed, then she was raped. Some how after this ordeal she is able to rescue an infant which may or may not be her own child.

In the present, Saiva and Anja (Michelle Krusiec) are on the move again. They’ve set up their tent on the shore of an desolate island, not only far from the madding crowds, but far from anyplace as well as anyone. They live by hunting and or fishing. Their relationship might be mother/daughter but we aren’t told that either.

One day, Saiva spots a walking wounded man named Loki (Sean Bean) on the frozen arctic tundra. With about one hundred meters separating the two of them, this man collapses. Against her better judgement, Saiva decides to save this man. So they bring him back to their dwelling.

He recovers and proves to be an asset by repairing the outboard motor on their small boat, meaning they no longer had to paddle to get anyplace.

He is proficient at hunting so they have more to eat. But when a man lives in close quarters with two attractive women sparks are bound to fly.

And they do. At first somewhat furtively…

…then openly and much closer to home. When Loki and Anja announce that they are leaving to start a life together, there are consequences. Shocking consequences. Tragic consequences.

While far from being an ideal movie, this film does have a lot going for it with Krusiec and Yeoh being marvelous to look at even with their arctic clothing. The elements of nature play a huge part in the film from the barren frozen tundra to the extreme cold, to the sense of complete and utter isolation which makes for life being extremely difficult.

The film does have elements that are both unspoken and unspecified. We have to do a lot of guessing and even then, we get no answers. Which may add to your enjoyment of the film, as you must put in a lot of thought as you watch.

We also don’t get a lot of character development but since we didn’t get much in the way of where and the when, it isn’t that important. Also there’s not a lot of dialogue either. This movie is a wonderful example of show not tell.

I thought this film was worth seeing for Michelle Yeoh, Michelle Krusiec and the very effective turn by Sean Bean. One more thing, if you will allow me this – the location is another reason to watch this drama. While the setting is world’s apart from the idyllic island and beaches that you usually see on my pages, this change is all for the good as Director Asif Kapadia does a marvelous job, despite the obvious obstacles of working in this environment, in bringing this cold and desolate location onscreen for we viewers.

Beyond that, it is nice to see Michelle Yeoh in a role where her martial arts skillset is set aside. For Krusiec we can say she does look very good on the big screen representing a change from her TV work. So, I do recommend the DVD.

Like Dylan said so many years ago, the times they are a-changing, and for Asian performers, we hope this change continues so we may see more new and varied roles offered to them and how they deal with the concurrent challenges to their skills as actors and actresses.

Todt, Michelle (que já chamei de feia), Vatanen e, ao fundo, papagaio de pirata

Sexta-feira acontece a votação que irá eleger o novo presidente da FIA, que comandará a entidade no próximo biênio (sempre gostei dessa palavra, biênio. Bonita). De um lado, Jean Todt, ex-manda-chuva da Ferrari e candidato de Max Mosley. Do outro, o desafiante Ari Vatanen, ex-campeão mundial de Rali e ex-membro do parlamento europeu. Portanto, um homem calejado “nas políticas”.

Como eu já havia comentado no GP Chat com vocês no fim de semana, recentemente veio à tona a revelação de que membros da campanha de Todt andaram ameaçando federações africanas. Algumas destas federações, que optaram por apoiar Vatanen, puseram a boca no trambone e a coisa fedeu. Paralelamente a isso, o próprio Vatanen andou trocando farpas com a FIA e colocou em xeque a lisura da votação da próxima sexta.

Após o finlandês ameaçar entrar com um processo da Justiça francesa, a FIA concordou em fazer uma série de concessões para que o pleito aconteça de forma transparente, como noticiou hoje o inglês Autosport. Já é um passo, mas a pergunta persiste: por que a FIA e as equipes da F-1 querem tanto Jean Todt? O que está em jogo que não sabemos?

Se o francês de fato representasse uma ameaça às demais equipes pelo seu histórico ferrarista, não tenho dúvidas de que neste momento teríamos ao menos tio Frank e tio Ron bradando aos quatro ventos em prol de Vatanen. Não é o que acontece. E isto me lembra do ditado que diz que quem cala, consente. As equipes estão assistindo ao apoio descarado de Bernie Ecclestone, Max Mosley e até de Michael Schumacher ao francês baixinho sem emitir um único pio.

O que todos têm, afinal, contra Vatanen? O que irão perder se a estrutura montada por Mosley (e que será mantida por Todt) ruir? Minha mente não está muito criativa hoje, e não consigo pensar em nada diferente de grana. Só sei que aí tem coisa. Alguém se arrisca a dar um palpite?

Uma ótima terça-feira a todos! Beijundas!

Ang Lee’s – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
On the surface, Lee’s film is a martial arts movie with elaborate set pieces, beautiful choreography, and noble heroes. But under that surface making the film what it is are layers upon layers of sub plots and stories that create wonderful characters and an intimate story that is tragic and heartbreaking.
Li Mu Bai is a master of the martial art Wudan and after having an epiphany during his meditation decides to hang it up and retire from his life of martial arts and defense. Turning his legendary sword, The Green Destiny, to an old friend and state official, Sir Te, it will leave his ownership without avenging his master’s death ten years prior to the villainous Jade Fox. Upon delivering the sword to Sir Te, it is quickly stolen under the watchful eye of Yu Shu Lien, the rumor of the return of Jade Fox begins to spread through Peking, and the crime raises an eye to the Governor’s house hold whose daughter, Jen Yu, has taken a special interest in Yu Shu Lien and The Green Destiny. Upon Li Mu Bai’s arrival to Peking to see Yu Shu Lien he discovers the loss of his sword and discovers the surfacing of his master’s killer and decides to stay his retirement to reclaim his sword and avenge his master’s death.
This is the simplest way to line out the plot for you, but over the course of the runtime where this portion of the plot unfolds, I haven’t even touched on a number of intriguing sub-plots that arise, nor the two fantastic fights that unfold as well. The theme that becomes quickly clear and only grows over the film is the theme of love between people. Yes there are a number of awesome action scenes and fights in the film, but at its heart it is a story about love and the things that keep us from it in our lives. Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien have had a bond for years and from the moment that we first see them together in this film you can tell more is there between the two, but neither one of them is able to show one another. Same goes for Jen Yu who is being forced into love through an arranged marriage where her heart lies somewhere else. This theme is countered with the idea of being free and living life to its fullest and offering point/counterpoint throughout as characters struggle with the paths they have chosen and will choose.
The film also serves as a detective story of sorts over the course of the first act with a number of players lurking in the shadows; for good and bad. As the plot around the theft of The Green Destiny and The Jade Fox unfolds things get a bit dense with a father and daughter tacking down Jade Fox, the palace’s main guard Bo investigating the theft, and Li and Yu going about their methods to get to the bottom of the mess. All of this provides for a nice mix of mystery and intrigue as details are revealed about our characters which ultimately set up the second half of the film which is more a tale of self discovery for Jen Yu who must come to grips with her past as she moves forward. Lee does a fantastic job of balancing all of these story elements and styles into a wonderfully cohesive and engaging story that will not let you go.
The film’s fight scenes are also some of the best you will find in film and are beautifully photographed by Lee and his team. The fights are also epic and unreal as the fighters glide through the air over rooftops and bamboo, duel with an array of weapons, and many times involve a host of participants. You never get lost in the action and it is not shot in that zoomed in nature that many modern directors deem good action photography. The film is also an excellent showcase for women as heroes and action stars as either Jen or Yu is involved in every single fight and they do not fail to impress.
The actors in the film are also quite wonderful, starting with Chow Yun-Fat as Li Mu Bai. Calm, wise, and intimidating, even with a smile, Fat’s portrayal of Li is so strong and with such presence we just know he is not one to be messed with. Fat is perfectly paired with Michelle Yeoh as Yu Shu Lien and the two project their sadness and longing for each other and their history right under their skin with beautiful subtlety. Yeoh also shines in the action scenes bringing an intensity and skill that catches you off guard. She also nails the dramatic beats especially in the heart wrenching finale. Zhang Ziyi stars as the young Jen Yu and not only handles the fighting but carries herself wonderfully as the cocky, bratty, and conceited Jen and appropriately reacts when that attitude gets her into trouble. Chen Chang plays a bandit that is apart of Jen’s past and he brings a bit of fun and charisma to the proceedings while successfully conveying his heartfelt emotions when he has to. Lastly, Pei-Pei Cheng is appropriately nasty and evil as Jade Fox and wickedly takes advantage of her limited screen time.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of the most successful foreign language films on American shores and rightfully so. It is a masterfully crafted piece of cinema by Ang Lee and has a beautiful story to boot. Providing visceral thrills, thought provoking subject matter, and great storytelling you can’t help but get wrapped up in the picture. Beautifully shot and put together there isn’t a wasted frame and when its all said and done you will not be able to shake the experience for some time as it is one of the finer films you are sure to come by.

I den tredje Mumienfilmen (om man inte räknar med spinofferna om The Scorpion King) återser vi Brendan Fraser som äventyraren Rick O’Connell som denna gång inte bara har sin fru (numera utbytt till Maria Bello) med sig på skattjakten, utan även sin nu vuxne son (Luke Ford) och den nipprige svågern (John Hannah). Det hela utspelar sig i Kina där Drakkejsaren (Jet Li) väcks till liv och som i sin tur har för avsikt att få liv i sin armé av terracottasoldater.

Även om filmen håller hyfsad klass, så känns det ändå som att det nu är tid att sätta stopp för den här franchisen. Vem ska annars vakna nästa gång? Någon gammal viking? Frasers morfar? Lite grann av känslan har tappats bort från de två föregångarna och nu är det mest effekter och fighter staplade på varandra. Michelle Yeoh som tvåtusenårig häxa och Himalaya fullt av snömän bidrar till att det blir aningen fånigt. Bortser man från detta och en massa annat, låter sig underhållas och tar det för vad det är – så är det helt okej som matinéäventyr.

Betyg: 3

Here are two of the best movie fights of all time, and not coincidentally they both involve swords. The first is from the great ‘The Princess Bride‘ and the second is from the (also) great ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon‘. I don’t know which I like more. The fight between Inigo and Westley is humorous and well-done, but Michelle Yeoh vs. Ziyi Zhang (even if we don’t consider ZZ is one of the most beautiful women ever) is pure cinematic gold. You be the judge.