The Forbidden Kingdom è un film americano del 2008 , film d’avventura della Lionsgate e The Weinstein Company diretto da Rob Minkoff. E ‘il primo film in cui due dei nomi più conosciuti nel genere dei film di arti marziali, Jackie Chan e Jet Li recitano insieme. Le sequenze di azione sono stati coreografate da Yuen Woo-ping.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Rob Minkoff | Jakie Chan | Jet li

snap shot film the forbidden kingdom

Mr. Mop menuangkan air di gelasnya Jason , ketika Jason ngoceh minta di ajarin Kung fu. Jason ngoceh bercerita semua jurus kungfu yang ia tau. Mr. Mop sedikit pun gak menghiraukan ocehan Jason malah menuangkan air hingga penuh ke gelasnya jason.
.
Mr. Mop : empty your cup … !
.
si Jason dengan seketika membuang seluruh air yang ada dalam gelasnya.
.
Mr. Mop : It’s hopeless.., hopeless..!
.

sebenarnya dimana letak kesalahan Jason yang membuat Mr. Mop kecewa, lalu apa sebenarnya maksud Mr. Mop menyuruh Jason mengosongkan gelas?
.
ada yang tau…?

.
.
.
NB : ini hanya satu cuplikan film the forbidden kingdom yang berkisah tentang dunia paralel. untuk lebih jelasnya silahkan klik link yang ada pada gambar.

Jason (Michael Angarano) älskar kungfufilm, men är själv en osäker och rätt hunsad kille hemma i Boston. När han bevittnar ett brutalt rån och själv hotas till livet, tar en magisk stav honom till en parallell kinesisk värld. Där regerar den brutale Jade Warlord efter att ha förstenat den goda krigaren Apkungen. Nu är det bara Jason som kan väcka kungen till liv med hjälp av staven men för att klara detta måste han först läras upp av två mästare; luffaren Jackie Chan och munken Jet Li.

Jag hade faktiskt förväntat mig något mer genuint då man sammanfört två kampsportsgiganter som Chan och Li, men det här blev mer av smetig amerikansk actionungdomsfilm än Hong Kong-rökare. Vi har sett det förr… den “oduglige” tonåringen som ska rädda dagen men först efter det att han funnit sig själv, storslagna stereotypa asiatiska miljöer med körsbärsblom och snöklädda bergstoppar, snygga och tuffa tjejen som så klart är den rätta för vår unge hjälte osv osv. Detta kryddas med de mest klyschiga replikerna som låter som refuserade lyckokakslappar men ska föreställa gammal kinesisk filosofi. Att sedan se Jet Li med orange päls i ansiktet som den gullige Apkungen blev lite för mycket. Bortsett från detta är väl The Forbidden Kingdom ett helt okej matinéäventyr med en massa snyggt koreograferade slagsmålsscener och hygglig underhållning för stunden.

Betyg: 2

สมัยก่อนเฉินหลงอาจจะเป็นยอดนักบู๊ฝั่งเอเชียคนนึงที่เป็นมือหนึ่งในด้านแอ็กชั่น ได้รับเสียงตอบรับในทางที่ดีและมีแนวทางในการเล่นผาดโผนอย่างโดดเด่น แต่ทุกวันนี้ ด้วยวัยที่มากขึ้นบวกกับน้องรุ่นใหม่ๆที่มาพร้อมสโลแกนเล่นจริงเจ็บจริง หรือจะเป็นเพราะตัวเขาเองที่อยากลองเล่นแนวอื่นบ้าง พักหลังๆมานี่เราจึงไม่ค่อยได้เห็นเฉินหลงออกมาบู๊ระห่ำเหมือนครั้งก่อนๆแล้ว

และถึงจะเป็นบทในหนังแอ็กชั่น ก็มักจะไม่ใช่บทแอ็กชั่นฮีโร่เต็มตัวเหมือนเมื่อก่อน แต่จะหนักไปทางตลกไม่ก็เบาลงในงานที่ต้องออกแรง ดูได้จากผลงานที่ผ่านมาและกำลังจะตามมาในอนาคต เพราะหลังจากเสร็จ Rush Hour 3 หนังต่อมาที่เป็นการร่วมงานกับเพื่อนรักเจ็ท ลีอย่าง The Forbidden Kingdom ก็ไม่ใช่หนังบู๊มันๆอย่างที่แฟนๆรอคอย แต่เป็นเทพนิยายในการตีความใหม่ของชาวตะวันตกเสียมากกว่า แถมยังเล่นเป็นอาจารย์ให้พระเอกด้วย เหมือนบทในหนังต่อมาอย่างแอนิเมชั่นสุดฮิต Kung Fu Panda ที่อาศัยความเป็นยอดกังฟูในอดีตมาสร้างคาแรกเตอร์รุ่นพี่ของเจ้าแพนด้าตัวเอก หรือการกลับมาร่วมงานกับฝั่งเอเชียเองอย่าง ใหญ่แค้นเดือด ก็ลดดีกรีลีลาบู๊ลงไปเยอะ

ส่วนบทในอนาคตที่น่าสนใจก็จะตามมาด้วย The Spy Next Door ที่เจ้าตัวรับบทคล้ายๆกับวิน ดีเซลใน The Pacifier เฉินหลงในเรื่องก็คือพี่เลี้ยงเด็กชาวจีน ( หน้าให้มาก ) ที่วันนึงความลับเผยว่าแท้จริงแล้ว ว่าเขาคือสุดยอดสายลับ ( เนื้อเรื่องคุ้นๆมั้ยเนี่ย ) และเรื่องที่เรากำลังจพูดถึงในตอนนี้ก็คือ Kung Fu Kid ที่เป็นหนังชื่อกังฟูเกี่ยวกับกังฟูอีกเรื่องที่พี่เฉินของเราเล่นเป็นอาจารย์

หนังใช้เค้าโครงเดิมจากหนังเก่าชื่อดัง Karate Kid ที่เป็นเรื่องของเด็กหนุ่มที่ได้มาเจอกับอาจารย์กังฟูจนได้วิชานั้นมาและกลายเป็นคนใหม่ที่กลับมายืนบนลำแข้งตัวเองได้อีกครั้ง

ซึ่งเวอร์ชั้นใหม่ก็ได้เปลี่ยนจากวิชาคาเรเต้มาเป็นกังฟูอย่างที่เห็น เพื่อที่จะได้เข้าทางเฉินหลง แต่หนังจะทำได้ดีเหมือนที่ฉบับเก่าสร้างไว้ได้หรือไม่ มาดูกันว่ามีอะไรบ้างที่ทีมงานต้องหนักใจ

อย่างแรกเลยหนังฉบับปี 1984 เป็นหนังที่ประสบความสำเร็จอย่างสูงจนขึ้นแท่นหนังคลาสสิก ตลอดจนมีภาคต่อตามมาอีกสองภาคและแจ้งเกิดให้ดาราหนุ่ม Ralph Macchio อย่างสวยงาม……Jaden Smith ที่ผ่านงานแสดงมาแล้วสองเรื่อง ล้วนแล้วแต่ประสบความสำเร็จไม่ทางใดก็ทางหนึ่งเช่นกัน อาจจะแจ้งเกิดได้ในวงกว้างหรือเปล่านั้น น่าลุ้นยิ่งกว่าอะไรทั้งหมดเสียอีก

สอง นี่เป็นงานกำกับของ John G. Avildsen หนึ่งรางวัลออสการ์จาก Rocky หนังกีฬาดราม่าคลาสสิกเช่นกัน แต่ของใหม่นี่ได้ Harald Zwart ที่เพิ่งคว่ำไปกับภาคต่อ The Pink Panther 2 เมื่อต้นปีมาหมาดๆ แต่เคยทำหนังสายลับรุ่นเล็กจนดังมาแล้วจาก Agent Cody Banks

สาม Pat Morita ที่เพิ่งลาโลกไปไม่นานมานี้ เจ้าของบทอันน่าจดจำ Mr. Kesuke Miyagi ที่เป็นผู้ถ่ายทอดวิชาให้เจ้าหนูนั้นชิงออสการ์ครั้งแรกและครั้งเดียวจากเรื่องนี้ และเป็นรางวัลเดียวที่หนังเข้าชิงด้วย ส่วนเฉินหลงนั้นถึงจะมีฝีไม้ลายมือเป็นที่ประจักษ์ แต่ทั้งโลกก็ยังจดจำเขาในฐานะฮีโร่หน้าตี๋มาดฮาๆอยู่ดี แต่หลังจากรับเล่นในใหญ่แค้นเดือด บทที่เป็นการเปลี่ยนแปลงพอสมควรจากเล่นๆมาเป็นเค้นอารมณ์ บางทีนี่ก็อาจเป็นอีกหนึ่งจุดเปลี่ยนอีกครั้งก็ได้

อย่างไรก็ตามกว่าหนังจะฉายก็ 11 มิถุนายนปี 201O โน่น ยังมีเวลาให้จับตามองอีกเยอะ ถึงนี่จะเป็นหนังรีเมคก็ตามที และอย่าลืมว่านี่เป็นการเจอกันของอาจารย์เอเชียกับเด็กน้อยผิวสีอีกด้วย !!!

แต่ใบปิดแรกกลับใช้ชื่อว่า Karate Kid เอ๊ะ ยังไงกันเนี่ย

Don’t recognize him?  It’s John Fusco, of course!  Celebrated screenwriter of The Forbidden Kingdom, Hidalgo, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.  So he’s into kung fu and horses.  Horses are kinda like turtles, I guess.

Don’t worry, though, what he lacks in ability to write an enjoyable movie he makes up for by having absolutely massive balls.  This is the guy who wrote the screenplay for the upcoming remake of The Seven Samurai.  Yes, the upcoming remake of The Seven Samurai is a thing that exists.  A thing that people (i.e. the Weinsteins) deemed worthy of being brought into existence.

So the Weinsteins give old John Fusco a call.  He comes into their office for a meeting, like this I presume:

and they ask him if he’d be interested in trying to improve on what many people consider to be the greatest film of all time.  His reaction is not, “You know what?  I managed to write one of the most bland and uninteresting kung fu movies of recent memory, despite the involvement of the two biggest Asian movie stars–not just action stars, movie stars–since Bruce Lee working together for the first time.  Maybe I’m not up to this.”  Instead his reaction is to say (verbatim), “Yes, this sounds like something that I am capable of doing.  In fact, Harvey, if you’d be interested, I can think of more than a few ways  that a Casablanca franchise reboot could be improved with an increased equine presence.”

Whatever, all of the right people from the Turtles’ history are involved in some way, and they are going back to the tone of the comics (read: Raphael will probably say “damn” three times). This is a pretty uninspired choice for head screenwriter, I’m putting the over/under at four people getting a writing credit, but everything else is still coming together satisfactorily.  Just please don’t send them back in time again, John.

via SuperHeroHype

… que se yo, en DVD o en el cable.

Es que vimos dos de las películas que se estrenaron hace poco.
El Reino Prohibido (The Forbidden Kingdom -功夫之王) . Con Jet Li (el Rey mono – El monje silencioso), Michael Angarano (Jason) y Jackie Chan (Lu Yan / viejo).
Un adolescente obsesionado con el cine de Hong Kong y los clásicos de Kung-fu, descubre por casualidad (bah, no tan casualidad, un viejo chino se encomienda una tarea) el legendario báculo de un sabio guerrero chino, más conocido como el Rey Mono. Gracias a la reliquia, el joven retrocede en el tiempo hasta la Antigua China donde se une a un grupo de guerreros expertos en artes marciales que intentarán liberar al Rey Mono. Debe cumplir su misión, la de devolver ese báculo al Rey Mono, petrificado por el malo Jade, Señor de la Guerra. Se cruza convenientemente con Chackie Chan y con una linda joven (Yifei Liú), con quienes se aliará para conseguir su objetivo. Se les unirá Jet Li, obvio. Y tendrán que sortear varios escollos, como a la bruja blanca (Bingbing Li, en China si ponen brujas lindas, no como los yankis).
En fin, hacé de cuentas que agarrás una olla y metés El Señor de los Anillos, lo mezclas con Crónicas de Narnia, una pizca de caramelos Halls (para congelar el Rey, jaja) y por supuesto, para darle el toque chino ponele un sobrecito de El Tigre y el Dragón. Listo.
Se pasa un buen rato, entre patadas y coreografías marciales, pero ta.
Calificación:

Dani, un tipo de suerte (Dan in real life), está dirigida por Peter Hedges y está protagonizada por Steve Carell (Dan Burns), Juliette Binoche (Marie) y Dane Cook (Mitch Burns). Acompañados por dos veteranos como Dianne Wiest y John Mahoney.
Dan, un periodista viudo con tres hijas que, de casualidad, conoce a Marie en una librería. El problema surgirá cuando el hombre descubra que esa mujer es, nada más ni nada menos, que… la novia de su hermano.
Dándole a la cuñada, dijo alguien en un blog de Clarín … jajaja
Si son de ver cine, de ver comedias románticas, podrán captar que la historia en si no es nada nuevo. Hasta hay escenas que ya había visto (casi copiadas) en otras películas. Perooo . Vale la pena igual verla. ¿Por qué?.
Pues porque no es de las películas románticas que empalagan con tanto dulce, no, para nada. Hasta te diría que tiene endulcorante y pocas gotas.
Porque está Steve Carell al frente y es el mejor comediante que existe hoy (Stiller y Sandler son payasos, y hay varios que pelean el descenso).
Porque está ella, Juliette Binoche, hoy cuarentona (45) y que no se le nota. Linda y buena actriz.
Vale la pena verla, pero pueden dejarla para el DVD, igual ya está en este formato en varios países, no tarda aqui..
Calificación:

Todas las imágenes son de MovieWeb (All images are MovieWeb).

****************************************

ACTUALIZACION:
NOTICIA APARTE:
Esta noticia es fea, otra más. Pero no me dio para hacer un post exclusivo de ella.
Lucy Gordon, actriz británica conocida por sus participaciones en Spider-Man 3, Frost y la comedia romántica protagonizada por John Cusack Señales de amor, fue encontrada ahorcada en su departamento de París, tan solo dos días antes de su cumpleaños número 29. “La muerte no se produjo en circunstancias misteriosas – aseguraron fuentes oficiales -, se trata de un claro caso de suicidio, de una joven que tomó una triste decisión”. Según informaron allegados a la actriz, Gordon tomó la decisión de quitarse la vida luego del suicidio de su mejor amigo, que la dejó completamente devastada. Lucy recientemente había terminado el rodaje de Serge Gainsbourg : vie héroïque, una biopic sobre el cantautor, en la cual interpretaba a la actriz Jane Birkin.

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/05/21/cultura/1242917351.html

Een van de populairste sterren van Hongkong films van de vroege jaren 1990, het compacte, charismatische Jet Li was in een tijd als de erfgenaam van wijlen Bruce Lee. Een kind Prodigy in de vechtsport, maar muntte uit in de high-kicking “wu shu” stijl, het winnen van diverse nationale kampioenschappen en reizen rond de wereld (met inbegrip van een 1974 US bezoek aan het Witte Huis Nixon). Alvorens 20, Jet Li film maakte zijn debuut als een priester in de bestrijding van “Shaolin Tempel” (1982), die werd verboden in Taiwan, maar populair in Azië ….

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Starring: Jet Li, Michael Angarano, Jackie Chan, Liu Yifei, Collin Chou
Release year: 2008
Language: English

http://u-ubhaj1haji.urlcash.net
http://u-wbhaj1i2dj.urlcash.net

Wow! What a week of reading! I have been reading more or less NON STOP all week, stopping only to write the reviews and blog or when life called me away, and even then I had my book in my coat pocket. I polished off four books this past week, so today I am kicking back and watching movies

Books read this week:
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson ~ Of the four books I’ve read this past week, I have to say I enjoyed Miss Pettigrew the most.

Yesterday, the kids and I went to the library for their monthly family movie, “Beverly Hills Chihauhau.” Saturated with the “aww factor,” which was supplied by toy dogs in Italian Leather and Pepto-pink cashmere sweaters. It’s definitely an adorable movie and worth seeing again

And yesterday evening brought our Netflix movies in the mail, one of which was disc 1 of Dexter season 2 \O/ Woo-Hoo! \O/ . Poor Dexter struggles with an identity crisis after finding out his adopted father and mentor, Harry, lied to him about crucial information. Then, divers discover his body-dumping ground. Rita thinks he’s an addict and tells him he either goes to NA or it’s over. And Doakes, Dexter’s nemesis, tails him wherever he goes leaving Dexter the Dark Avenger all Jekyll and no Hyde. I can’t wait for disc 2!

For Maggie’s Netflix movie, The Forbidden Kingdom was a fun fantasy movie about a western teen boy with a fascination for martial arts movies who is magically whisked away to a mystical Middle Kingdom China. While I could have lived without Jason, the movie stars both Jet Li and Jackie Chan as Kung Fu masters. There is even a rare sight in this movie, Jet Li ACTUALLY throws his head back in a hearty laugh!

For my middle daughter, Penelope is the romantic tale of title character Penelope, who had the misfortune of being the victim of an old family curse that gave her the nose and ears of a pig. Penelope has to learn that being happy with who you are is more important than what others think of you. As an added bonus, Penelope’s love interest is played by James McAvoy :-p

And finally, for my oldest daughter, The Crow. She thinks the Crow is cool, and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie.

Books on the menu for the coming week are:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Appeal by John Grisham
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Derailed by James Siegel

If I actually manage to get through all those in the coming week, which I doubt, I’ll start The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

So, what are your plans for the coming week?

Her om dagen fikk vi tilsendt en spennende bok på jobb, “Cathys bok” av Sean Stewart. Jeg tok den med meg for å spise lunsj – og ble hektet. “Cathys bok” handler om en jente som akkurat har blitt dumpet av kjæresten sin, og som ikke forstår helt hvorfor. Hun begynner å følge etter ham, bryte seg inn i huset hans osv., og oppdager selvsagt en masse mystiske ting. Det blir også litt romantikk, kanskje kjæresten ikke dumpet Cathys frivillig allikevel…?

Jeg har nylig sett “The Forbidden Kingdom” og får en del assosiasjoner til den når jeg leser boken, udødelighet og andre kung-fu ting.

Dette høres kanskje ut som en helt vanlig tenårings-jente-bok, men “Cathys bok” har en del spesielle tillegg. Det er en multimedie-bok, i en pose i omslaget ligger det en haug med beviser: visittkort, brev, tegninger og andre ting (jeg tok meg aldri bryet med å åpne bevisposen, men det så morsomt ut!).

Det er flere ting som gjør boken spesiell: på omslaget er det oppgitt et telefonnummer man kan ringe, man kommer visst rett til Cathys telefonsvarer. Det finnes også egne nettsider der man må svare på spørsmål og oppgi koder for å få tilgang. Selve boken er utformet som en ekte dagbok, med tegninger og skriblerier overalt.

Spennende bok til en hyggelig pris (148kr!). Det er meningen at dette skal være første bok i en trilogi, og jeg gleder meg til å lese hva som skjer videre.

It’s any die-hard martial arts fanatic dream movie.  Jet Li and Jackie Chan stars in this adventure action-pack comedy that is light-hearted and yet have all the elements of a great film.  As my friend implies, Jet Li – the silent actor.  You may have noticed that Jet Li hardly speaks a lot of dialogue in his movies.  For him, action really speaks louder than words!  I remembered when he starred in his first hollywood motion picture: Leathal Weapon 4.  I didn’t even remember him uttering a single word!  We were so eager to hear him say something this time in Forbidden Kingdom, and no surprise that his role is the Silent Monk!  It must have taken 30 or so minutes after he came out that he said his first two words…and it took me almost a minute to comprehend what he said!  It was really funny!!!  Anyway, Jackie Chan’s English is much better and more comprehensible.  But all in all they both did a fine job and I hope it is not the first and last film they will do together.  Bravo!

Christmas has come and gone, the year is now 2009, and I’m due for a post.

On Friday, December 19, Rachel and I started our ~718 mile drive from small-town Searcy, AR to Lancaster, OH, home of the Cochran clan.  The drive was split into two days, staying in Nashville the first night and finish the trip on Saturday.  We had a nice visit especially since Abby got to see her great-grandma Jean, great-aunt Lana, and great-uncle Jeff for the first time (although Abby seemed to cry every time Grandma Jean held her).  We had a good time playing games with Mom and Dad, Candy and Nate (her boyfriend).  Then we had the ~614 mile drive from Lancaster to Memphis, TN.  We did that in one day.  It was long.

We arrived in Memphis on the 24th and had Christmas the next day.  The day was bittersweet with a phone call around 11am telling us that Papaw had passed away.  Randy left for Searcy after lunch and I followed later that evening so I could get all the big toys home that Abby had gotten for Christmas.  The next few days were filled with family coming from all over, visitation, and a funeral.  The service was a good celebration of Papaw’s life and the legacy he left with his family.  He is at peace and with God; better than I can say for the rest of us.

During this time Abby had an ear infection and now she has bronchitis.  I had a bad virus that gave me terrible coughing fits, sneezing and congestion.  Just yesterday I regained my sense of taste.  Rachel also has gotten some congestion and coughing, but I think  she lucked out more than Abby and me.  Because of my intense sickness, Rachel had to go to a New Years party in Memphis without me.  I was sad to miss it, but it was nice having a quit house (and to mess with all my new presents unmolested).

Now it’s back to normal: wake up, work, dinner/chores/Abby/Rachel, game, sleep.  The break was good, but I like to have my structure back.

Casey out.

Christmas Loots: Brisingr, Cars, The Dark Knight, Dragonball Z Burst Limit (XBOX 360), Fallout 3 (PC), The Forbidden Kingdom, Gremlins, Hail to the Thief and Kid A by Radiohead, iTunes Gift Card, JC Penny Gift Card, Logitech X-540 Computer Speakers, Mass Effect (PC), Ranger’s Apprentice: Battle for Skandia, The Sandlot, XBOX Live 13-month subscription, You Are My Sunshine by Copeland

Edit: I was amiss in forgetting to put my National Geographic subscription from Rachel.  Sorry.

We travelled all the way to our couches.

The Hub and I love to spend an evening watching a movie, especially if it is cold or wet or snowy or icy outside. Who wants to live in the real world, with weather that could (conceivably) kill you? Not us.

Over vacation, as I noted yesterday, we watched alot of movies. Alot alot. Yes, yes, we also volunteered at a soup kitchen and adopted needy children and saved the whales. But who am I to boast?

Here, in a nutshell (I hate Austin Powers) are the movies we saw:

1. Lillies
This is a gorgeous movie set around a false arrest and revenge. A priest is called in to hear a last confession, and instead he is locked up and forced to watch a play (put on by the prisoners) detailing his life and misdeeds. Wonderfully great. It’s gay, though. Be warned. Man loving.

2. The Incredible Hulk
I like Edward Norton in this, but I kept expecting Liv Tyler to speak in Elvish and make the waves all horsey. It was better than the one from a few years ago…

3. Tropic Thunder
I wanted to enjoy this so much more than I did. Robert Downey Jr is fantastic in everything, so there is that. Otherwise, I just noticed Ben Stiller’s amazingly huge and ripped arms. Huh, I said. Huh.

4. The Dark Knight
Although I saw this in the theater I found that I needed to watch it again at home to get all the nuance. This is a great superhero movie. Bale is amazing as Batman (aside from his 8-packs-a-day-voice) and Ledger is even better than you’ve read.

5. Kung Fu Panda
This was the first of two great animated movies we watched. The Hubby isn’t so much into the cartoons, but I delight in my inner child and would watch them all the time. My inner child’s name is ‘Topher, by the way. He likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and feels all funny about Superman. What? Oh yeah. Good movie. Rent it.

6. The Forbidden Kingdom
Aside from Jackie Chan’s atrocious accent, this was a terrific Kung Fu flick. Jack’s son is a wimp, and so (of course) magically gets plopped into feudal China to fight all mystical martial artsy style with the HeeYaa! and the Yeeeee! Great special effects and a good story make for an entertaining afternoon.

7. The Women (Remake)
Don’t bother. See the original.

8. Milk
This is the one movie that we saw together in the theater, and I’m glad I didn’t wait for this on DVD. You all know how I feel about gay rights, so I wont get into that. Sean Penn is perfect as Harvey Milk, James Franco is perfect as his partner, and Josh Brolin is perfect as his foil. This is a story that should have been told long ago, just like this. Go see it. Wonderful.

9. Seven Years In Tibet
How did I miss this years ago when it came out? It reminds me of The Last Emperor. Cinematically this is a beautiful movie, both for the setting and the main actor (Pitt). It is a slow moving story about a man who comes to find out who he is by being submerged into another culture. Excellent.

10. Fred Claus
Ew.

11. Hancock
I don’t understand why more folks didn’t like this movie. I thought it was a nice wrinkle in the superhero genre. Good effects, good casting, good story. I could watch it again and be just as happy. Why the hate?

12. Wanted
Although extremely violent, I do love me some wire-fu and such. And James McAvoy. And Angelina. And curving bullets. And James McAvoy. Wait – I said that. …James McAvoy.

13. Wall E
When this started I turned to the Hub and said “I will cry at some point during this movie. Please do not mock me.” And I did. And he didn’t. This was the best romance movie I have seen all year, and surprise! It was a Pixar movie. if I had to sum it up in one word, it would be “Awwww.”

14. White Christmas
A perennial favorite. How could you not love Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney singing the title song just as it starts to snow in Vermont? A great golden age musical that is guaranteed to put you in the Christmas spirit.

14 movies in 16 days. We took a few days off to open presents and be with people and eat, of course. And this doesn’t even log the two LOTR movie’s that Sabs and I watched.

Time to get on that exercise bike…

I’m not a very movie person… so only watched a total of 11 movies in theaters this year.  Most of them aren’t big blockbuster of the year… maybe because i prefer romance & comedy… and usually they are not big blockbuster Anyway these are what i watched this year:

27 Dresses

http://www.27dressesthemovie.com/

功夫灌籃

http://www.emp.hk/kungfudunk/

August Rush

http://augustrushmovie.warnerbros.com/

Horton Hears a Who!

http://www.hortonmovie.com/

Definitely, Maybe

http://www.definitelymaybemovie.com/

The Forbidden Kingdom

http://www.forbiddenkingdommovie.com/

Made of Honor

http://www.sonypictures.net/movies/madeofhonour/

What Happens in Vegas

http://www.whathappensinvegasmovie.com/

The House Bunny

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/thehousebunny/

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

http://www.madagascar-themovie.com/

BOLT

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/bolt/

Out of 11 movies, most regret watching was “功夫灌籃” and “The Forbidden Kingdom”… the stories was not meaningful at all… For “功夫灌籃” i watch it with my cousins and sister during this year Chinese New Year… and realise Angie was in the theater as well!!  So even though i don’t really like the movie but it was quite memorable… haha!  And for “The Forbidden Kingdom”, i watch it with Shirley… both of us agreed it was a lousy movie… we actually walk in to watch it because of the fighting scene of Jackie Chan & Jet Li!

As for favorite movie this year that i watched, its pretty hard to come out with one… most of the romance are nice… but if really gotta pick one, i think my favorite should be “August Rush”… it’s really a very nice movie… i watch it with my family… haha!  And i can’t stand my mum beside me… keep asking me lots of question!!!  Hahaha… And for animation movie, favorite is “BOLT”… the effects and characters from the movie really stand out more than the other 2 animation movie i watched… =D

Chan Li

After their first foray in The Forbidden Kingdom, Jackie Chan and Jet Li will unite once more in another martial arts epic, one which is actually worth your time. Details are sketchy at the moment, but it’s pretty much certain that this venture will be more favoured by fans than their previous outing due to the rumoured director, a Mr Yuen Woo-ping – action director of such highly regarded martial art films such as Danny the Dog and an upcoming Tamil flick, Endhiran. His resume sufficiently overshadows The Forbidden Kingdom director, Rob Minkoff, whose most famous movie was more of an animation – The Lion King.

What has come to light is the fact that, although both Chan and Li are renowned for doing all their own stunts, this time they shall be using stunt doubles – each other! It has been rumoured that Chan will be playing a shaolin-like character, and Li will be portraying a drunken form of kung fu. Any kung fu enthusiast would presume that the roles would be better reversed – with Chan playing the drunken style and Li donning the Shaolin approach once again.

We caught up with Yuen Woo-ping between his busy schedule, and pressed him on such matters. This is what he said [translated from Mandarin]:

Why you racking my balls dude? I just figured I wanted to do something new… and with these old fogies what’s a better idea than taking them away from their comfort zone and placing them in new roles ay? And besides, they’ll be each others’ stunt double… hell, they all look alike…

Details on the movie, including its title, will be published shortly.