Silver Lining Playbook Review

Hi guys :D Do you realize it's a month away from Academy Award? Honestly, I haven't watched all movies which have been nominated. So, I try to catch up!

I watched Silver Lining Playbook couple days ago. Starring by Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, the story was about life of Patrick Solitano (Bradley Cooper). Having bipolar disorder, his condition become worse when he caught his wife cheated with his colleague on their bathroom. After beating up his wife's lover, Pat was ordered to be in mental institution by court.

Patt's mom picked him up after 8 months in that institution. Patt stayed in his parents house and tried to find way to get back with his wife. But he had gotten a restriction order so he didn't allow to be near his wife. Meanwhile, his friend Ronnie tried to be matchmaker by introducing Patt with his sister-in-law, Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence). 

Tiffany was well-known as a slut in her neighborhood. She had been sleeping with every guys she knew. She's annoying, huffy, and sharp-tongued. She even offered to sleep with Patt at the first night they met and it's freaked him out. So, Patt tried to stay away from the "trouble-maker girl".

But it turned out that Tiffany frequently met Nikki, Patt's wife. Then Patt asked Tiffany to his letter to Nikki because he wasn't allowed to give it himself. Tiffany would give the letter if Patt agreed to join a dance competition with her. They spent a lot of time together while practiced for their routine. The more they were together, the more Patt knew Tiffany's true color. She's fragile and wounded by her husband's death. She tried to get through her grief by letting herself being used by men. 

As the time went by, they were slowly able to deal with their problems. Tiffany could respect herself and find a reason to move on by Patt presence in her life. That's why she made a fake reply letter from Nikki to Patt. The letter told that Nikki didn't want to be with Patt anymore. Heart-broken, Patt then got frustated and not excited with the dance competition anymore. In other hand, his father made a crazy bet with his friend. His father would win the bet if his favorite baseball team won and Patt could get at least five points out of ten in the dance competition. Patt finally agreed to keep joining the competition when he's told that Nikki would came to the competition.

Unexpectedly, Patt and Tiffany got precisely five points in the competition. Patt wasn't only happy because his father won the bet, but also because Nikki did come to see him. Seeing Patt talked with his wife made Tiffany miserable. She went home early and cried along the way. Patt looked for Tiffany and chased her. He told her that he knew she faked the letter from Nikki. He also told her that he loved her. Tiffany smiled and then they kissed.

Silver Lining Playbook wasn't typically romantic movie. It's not just about man and woman being in love, the movie told us that you don't have to be perfect to find your true love. Even if your world seem crumble, you still able to find your perfect one and be happy.

Personally I don't think this movie will win the Best Picture at Academy Awards. Anyway, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper did great jobs in this movie. This movie also supported by many good actors, such as Robert De Niro, Jacky Weaver, Julia Stiles, Chris Tucker, etc. Overall, I give 8 out of 10. If you haven't watched it, please do :)

Movie Buzz: Anne Hathaway Starring The Taming of The Shrew

Anne Hathaway's first winning at Golden Globe

After nailing Les Miserables as Fantine, Anne Hathaway is about to make another performance in William Shakespeare adaptation's play, The Taming of The Screw. She's been offered a role as Katharina. It's not official yet, but when press keep buzzing about it, it's hard not to believe. 

The Taming of the Screw has been adopted dozen times by Hollywood. The most famous adaptation were 1967 film version of original play, starring by famous Elizabeth Taylor. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) -played by Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles- was also based on the play.

The story is about Baptista Minola, a rich Paduan merchant who makes announcement that his lovely daughter, Bianca, will remain unmarried until her older sister, Katharina, get married. Pethrucio, a gold-digger from Verona, arrived at Padua looking for wealthy wife. Hortensio and Gremio -suitors of Bianca- are agree to cover Pethrucio's cost to chase Katharina. Challenged by Katharina's bad temper and scolding-tounge, Pethrucio is agree to capture Katharina's love. Katharina then allows herself to be engaged and married by Pethrucio. Pethrucio fighting for "taming" her new wife. Until one day, Katharina realized that wife should always obey her husband.

MUST-SEEN Movie 2013

It’s mid January and we still have a long time before this year ended. I have to tell you this is an exciting years for all moviegoers. We will see more sequels, prequels, and remake from blockbuster movies.

I’ve listed some ‘MUST-SEEN’ movies this year. If you see, more than half movies in my ‘MUST-SEEN’ list will be released on July, and December. Those months are always be Hollywood’s favorite time to make big cash. Long holidays like summer/winter break, Christmas, and New Year make people have more time to go to cinema. In other hand, ‘not so bright’ movies will put themselves in between to avoid tight competitions.You know, it’s so crowded during holidays.

Open your phone, and mark the date. Here’s MUST-SEEN movie’s list 2013:

April 19           : Oblivion (Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman)

May 3              : Iron Man 3 (Robert Downey, Jr)

May 10            : The Great Gasby (Leonardo Dicaprio)

May 17             : Star Trek Into Darkness (Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana)

May 24            : The Hangover: Part III (Bradley Cooper)

June 14            : Man of Steel (Henry Cavill, Russel Crowe, Amy Adams)

July 3               : Lone Ranger (Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer)

July 3               : Despicable Me (Al Pacino, Steve Carell)

July 12             : Grown Ups 2 (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock)

July 26             : The Wolverine (Hugh Jackman)

July 31              : The Smurf 2 (Neil Patrick Harris)

August 2           : Red 2 (Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich)

September 27  : Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers (Bill Hader, Anna Faris)

November 22: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Jeniffer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson)

November 27   : Frozen (Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel)

December 13    : The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Ian McKellen, Hugo

Weaving)

December 18   : The Monument’s Men (George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Daniel Craig)

December 20  : Last Vegas (Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Kevin Kline)

December 20   : Saving Mr. Banks (Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Collin Farrel)

December 25    : Jack Ryan (Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner)

December 25    : 47 Ronin (Keanu Reeves, Ken Watanabe)

 I’m thrill to see Keanu Reeves back in the movie! Since The Matrix Revolutions, he hasn’t made memorable performance. Let’s hope 47 Ronin could bring out the best of Keanu Reeves. I know he’s a good actor, he just doesn’t seem care enough in this business. We have Iron Man, Superman (Man of Steel), Wolverine, and Spock (Star Terk fans out there will be mad if I doesn’t count him in) to save the world this year. Christopher Nolan is a screen writer for Man of Steel, so you know it’s gonna heat up your brain and drain your emotions.

Sony Pictures Animation (Cloudy 2), Disney Pixar (Frozen), and Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me2) are ready to  tone up the screen with animation pictures. Last year was pretty disappointed for animation lover, considering 2013 Oscar for Best Animated Featured Film went to Brave. You know what I mean, right?

If you wanna see a bunch of high competence actors play together in one screen, I have a good answer for you. Four Oscar-winner (Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Kevin Kline) will join in together at Last Vegas. It’sa good sign, isn’t?
 

Well, from action's shelf we have Lone Ranger, Red 2, and Oblivion. Jonny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are cast in Lone Ranger. Both of them are great in digging character looks, style, and personality. Gore Verbinski, director of Pirates of the Carribean franchise, is also the director of Lone Ranger. So, I believe it’s gonna be epic.

I can’t wait to see sequels of The Hunger Games and The Hobbit. Boy, when I saw the ending of The Hobbit: Unexpected  Journey, I wanted to scream out loud! They ended the movie like that and I have to wait for a year to see how’s it gonna end at last. I hope it’s worthed. I’m fans of the Suzane Collins' trilogy books, so I have high expectation for The Hunger Games.  

I hope at the end of the year, when I see this list, I could say, “I told you so”. LOL. What’s your ‘MUST-SEEN’ movies this year guys? Let me know,  okay? :D

Hollywood Goes To China

China has become one of the wealthiest countries in the world. And China has the biggest population in the world. It means there are a lot of people ready to burn their cash in China! So, everyone should take a note, including Hollywood. In fact, China now is the second-biggest film market globally, behind U.S. In 2011, its box office grew 35% to over $2 billion, according to the Motion Picture Association in America.

These past few years, we all see there’s more and more Hollywood movies shot their scene at China. I talk about big budget movie, the blockbuster movie like Mission: Impossible III (2006); The Mummy: Tomb of DragonEmperor (2008), The Dark Knight (2008), Skyfall (2012) and not-yet release Iron Man 3 (2013). It might be a strategy to grab bigger market from Chinese people, as you know, you’ll be more excited to see a movie when you are familiar with the places where the scene has been taken. Or maybe it’s just the way Hollywood gives an appreciation to country which has contributed billion dollars to them. Or Hollywood might just wanna give a hint to the audience that we all should give more attentions to China. The simplest reason is Hollywood might think that China offers great views and what the heck, it’s cheaper than shooting in Europe!

James Bond at Macau 

Skyfall screenwriter John Logan's reasoning for using Shanghai: "What we were looking for was opposition to London,"said Logan. "We wanted exotic locations that seem so unlike the world that he grew up in, the world he functions in, in a way trying to find places for Bob to be uncomfortable."

 James Bond Involved in Tussle at Shanghai

  The Dark Knight Shooting In Hongkong

We'll see more of China's wonderful view at Iron Man 3, which filming some scenes at Beijing, (capital city of PRC). I will discuss about Iron Man 3 in my next post.

Iron Man and Wang Xueqi who played as Dr. Wu

Les Miserables Review

Let me tell you first, I am not a fan of musical movie. I watched West Side Story once, and after 10 minutes I decided to turn off my TV because I couldn’t find at least one reason why I  should keep watching. And few months ago I thought I should give musical a try by watching My Fair Lady. My admiration of Audrey Hepburn wasn’t enough to make me watching without skipping all the singing parts. But I was curious about Les Miserable. The cast list was full of amazing actors and actresses, and the trailer looked pretty convincing. So, I give it a chance.

The movie told a story of four main characters, Jean Val Jean (Hugh Jackman), Fantine (Anne Hathaway), Javert (Russel Crowe), and Cosette (Amanda Seyfried). Jean Val Jean was a convict who finally get his parole after 19 years in prison. But being free wasn’t as sweet as it sounded. At that time when you’re ex-prisoner, there’s nothing more for you in society. Feeling desperate and resentful, Jean Val Jean then stole from a generous priest. Stunned by priest’s kindness for denying his crime in front of law officers, Jean Val Jean sworn to be a good person since that day.

I’ve seen a lot of movies played by Hugh Jackman. He’s one of my fave actor. He’s sexy, funny, loyal, and good actor, what’s not to like? I can tell you that this is the most difficult character he’s ever played. First point, he had to sing a lot of song’s line. Second, he’s played as a man who’s been suffer for most of his life because his own action and would do anything to redeem it. That’s a lot of work. And Hugh Jackman let him self to be unattractive for the first time in screen.  With untidy beard, gaunt cheek, old look, yeah that’s really a sacrifice.