The Proposal

Margaret (Sandra Bullock), a prominent book editor in New York proposed to her executive assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) when she faces deportation back to Canada. Andrew must marry Margaret so that she could stay in the US and save her job. So it is now Margaret who is wooing Andrew for him not to back out. Margaret even promised Andrew a promotion once it is done. Now, Andrew and Margaret fly to Sitka, Alaska to break the news to Andrew’s family before the Immigration Agent knows that the coming wedding is just a set up.  During their weekend visit to Andrew’s family and while convincing everyone that they are really a couple, they unexpectedly fell in love with each other.

I really enjoyed the movie. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are good combination for a romantic-comedy movie. Reynolds delivered the lines well and I have to say he’s very charming and oozing with sexiness (as always). Bullock on the other hand made me laugh so hard especially the part when she said Sit-ka, Al-aska. One character that I also love from the movie is Andrew’s grandma. She’s very funny and her lines are very hilarious. I will definitely watch it again!

My rate:

Bride wars

Bride Wars is a story of two best friends Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anna Hathaway) who since they were kids have planned everything for their wedding. Both attended weddings and have critique everything from flowers to wedding singers. So when their boyfriends propose to them, they were very ecstatic and excited to arrange everything. And on top of their list is to get married in the Plaza Hotel, New York’s Number 1 Bridal Destination. They thought everything will go smoothly until there was a clerical error in booking for the venue. They’re about to get married on the same date! So now their friendship is put to test when no one wants to give way.

Finally, I get to watch this movie I’ve wanted to watch for months. I’m not really a big fan of Hathaway and Hudson but I really enjoyed this movie. It was very hilarious and entertaining! And I have to say, Anne Hathaway is very pretty and adorable in the movie. The way she dress and her face is so perfect. The only downside of the movie is their grooms. They are not that charming, hot or handsome except for Bryan Greenberg who played Kate Hudson’s brother who soon becomes Anne’s groom (oops! there goes the spoiler.)My favorite part is when Kate Hudson’s hair turned blue. She’s very funny.

For all the ladies, I recommend you watch the movie. You will really enjoy it as much as you can relate to the movie.

Rate:

Taken

I don’t know who you are. But if you don’t let my daughter go, I will find you. I will kill you.

I’ve seen Taken months ago but since it is been shown in theatres just now, I want to post my review about the movie. The story is a revenge movie of a father whose daughter was kidnapped by a woman trafficking gang on her trip to Paris. Liam Neeson played as Bryan Mills who is an ex-government agent who retired in California to live close to his daughter. Mills wants to make up to his daughter for the lost time when he was away for his job and left her daughter to his ex-wife (Famke Janssen). When he knew that his daughter was taken by goons in Paris, he immediately fly and look for the criminals in order to save his daughter.

I had doubts that Taken would be a worthy movie to watch when I read the cast especially with the leading actor that didn’t even ring a bell to me. Taken is a kind of movie that is predictable or you already know what will happen at the end but you still want to go along with the ride. It’s like a James Bond movie that is fully-packed with action, car-chasing and gun-toting. You will really admire the love and how a father cares for his daughter. He can even risk his life and even his profession to catch the culprit and save his daughter. It’s my first movie to see Neeson but I’m really impressed and it made me look for his past movies. The movie really proves that older man for an action movie is not bad after all. So if you love action and ass-kicking movies, I recommend Taken.

Rating:

Underworld III – Rise of the Lycans

I never get to see this movie on wide screen so I tried my luck on torrent sites and presto I found a good DVD copy of Underworld III –Rise of the Lycans.

Underworld III is a prequel to the first two movies that explains the details of how the bloody war between Lycans and Vampires began. Long time ago, a Lycan, Lucian (Michael Sheen) comes out as a powerful leader who join forces the werewolves to rise up against the cruel vampire king, Viktor (Bill Nighy) who has enslaved them. Viktor’s daughter, Sonja (Rhona Mitra) has a secret love affair with Lucian help Lucian in his battle against the Vampire clan and his fight for Lycan freedom.

Aside from the reason that I love vampire-werewolf movies, I enjoyed the movie because the movie has lots of stunts and full of actions and as expected from a vampire-werewolf movie, it gets bloodier and bloodier. I much-admired the part when Lucian transform to an angry and scary monstrous Lycan. Their CGI team really did well in that part. The movie has this Romeo and Juliet theme which makes the movie cliché for me. But their love story is still interesting. I thought I wouldn’t like Rhona Mitra in the movie but she gave justice to her role as Sonja. There’s only one thing I notice in the movie that is really weird. There is no woman Lycan in the movie. Well, I’m still looking forward for Underworld IV and hoping to see again Kate Beckinsale this time.

Rate:

Pink Panther 2

Cast: Steve Martin

Directed by: Harald Zwart, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia, Emily Mortimer

Released: 2009

Most of the review I have read said that, if you enjoyed the Pink Panther 1, you will definitely enjoy this sequel. But in my case, I haven’t seen the 1st one because I thought it would be the corniest movie I will ever watch. My bf and I were in the mood to watch a movie so we rushed to our favorite movie theater after work. There were 2 Tagalog movies and 2 Foreign movies. Since we aren’t into Tagalog movies (only in theatres) and we already watched the Underworld III, we chose Pink Panther 2. I had my eye balls raised when he bought the tickets because I was thinking I wouldn’t enjoy it.

Anyway, Pink Panther is a story about finding the stolen world’s most priceless artifacts, the Pink Panther Diamond. Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin) together with other dream team members was assigned to catch the culprit. Evidences shows that the thief is Tornado and so the team went to investigate to reveal who he is and bring back the Diamond.

My verdict? Three words. “Just for Laughs”. The movie is not that bad if you are looking for something to laugh about. Of course there are corny moments (I expected that) but there are also parts of the movie that I was laughing so hard and got teary eyes. Steve Martin’s French accent is so funny but his stupidity is annoying sometimes. But that’s the point of the movie. To make you laugh because he is stupid. I’m not recommending the movie but I admit I enjoyed it so I’m giving it 2 stars.

Rate:

Winners of the 81st Annual Academy Awards.

Slumdog is the big winner! I knew it!

Best Picture

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Actor in a Leading Role

Sean Penn
MILK

Actress in a Leading Role

Kate Winslet
THE READER

Directing

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Foreign language Film

Departures

Music (Song)

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Music (Score)

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Film editing

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Sound Mixing

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Sound Editing

THE DARK KNIGHT

Visual Effects

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Documentary Short

SMILE PINKI

Documentary Feature

MAN ON WIRE

Actor in a Supporting Role

Heath Ledger
THE DARK KNIGHT

Short Film (Live Action)

SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND)

Cinematography

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Make-up

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Costume Design

THE DUCHESS

Art Direction

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Short Film (Animated)

La Maison en Petits Cubes

Animated Feature Film

WALL-E

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Writing (Original Screenplay)

MILK

Actress in a Supporting Role

Penelope Cruz
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

Yes Man

Yes Man is a story of Carl Allen (Jim Carrey), a loan officer who was devastated by his divorced marriage with a woman who went to elope with another man. Carl always says No to every phone calls, offers, requests, every invitations to party and just sit home and watch movie. One time, he decided to attend a Yes Man self-help seminar. After attending the seminar, he decided to say Yes to everything or every opportunities that will arise hoping everything will fall into places. As he keeps on saying yes, his world begins to open up with new opportunities and surprises. One of the good things that happened to his yessing is meeting bizarre and easy-go-lucky Allison(Zooey Deschanel).

This so-called comedy movie is not that funny for me. I mean I’m not a big fan of Jim Carrey but I love him on Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind. There are only two or three parts of the movies that I really laugh that big. This movie is not really a good come back movie for Jim Carrey though it entertained me.

I can’t imagine myself saying YES to everything.

My verdict is:

Slumdog Millionaire

What made me watch this movie? The awards. Slumdog Millionaire won Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score in the recently concluded 2009 Golden Globe Awards. These are only few of the awards that the movie received since last year. Be more amazed and check this out to view the full list of awards and nominations. Hmmm… do you want to know if the movie really worth the awards? Yes. I will explain later why.

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Jamal Malik, an 18-year old orphan from the slums of India. Jamal plays in Who wants to be a millionaire? Indian version to win 20,000,000 rupees. When he’s about to be asked for the final question and the show took a break for a night, the police arrested him because the host suspected that he is cheating. The police get curious and suspicious on street kid, Jamal manage to answer all the questions. Jamal then tells his story about his life in the slums, his brother, Salim and their adventures and about his love, Latika. His journey reveals the key to the answers and justifies his innocence.

Why people loved and will love this movie? Because it is true-life. It’s a real life experience. And when it comes to poverty issue, people become emotional and sensitive. The movie gives us enlightenment about the life of street kids and the life in the slums of India. The movie is impressive and the scenes really work well. There are parts of the movies where they talk in Hindi with no subtitles but you can still grasp it. For me it’s a good thing because subtitles are too irksome.

The cast is great. The sad eyes of Dev Patel are perfect for Jamal’s character. Humor, drama, violence and veracity make Slumdog Millionaire a winner. Jamal’s life will make you weep and squirm. And I have to say, Latika is damn pretty.

My verdict is:

Nights in Rodanthe

Last night I was so pissed about something so I decided to watch a movie. I deserve it after a long tedious day of work and a crappy argument with someone. I have bunch of movies in my flash drive that’s been there for weeks. I’ve heard good stuff about these movies and I keep telling myself I will watch it tomorrow. And if today is tomorrow I would tell myself again I will watch it tomorrow. And last night, I decided that that tomorrow is tonight!

I’ve watch 2 movies in a row and I can’t wait to share my verdict about it. The first one was Nights in Rodanthe. A movie adapted from Nicholas Sparks’ novel. I know you will ask if it will be as touching and as romantic as The Notebook. At the end of my review, you will know.

Nights in Rodanthe is about an unhappily married Adrienne, who went to take care a coastal inn for the weekend while her friend is away for a vacation. Adrienne will attend to one guest, Dr. Paul Flaner for few nights. Dr. Paul Flaner arrived carrying with him a dark secret and Adrienne contemplating about her marriage and family. They are two strangers sharing the same roof. But when a hurricane attacks the place, they turn to each other for comfort and develop into a sweet romance.

I’ve seen how Lane and Gere teamed up in the Unfaithful, and the two are great together. These two lovely actors seems like don’t grow old. They still look young and extremely hot! The two really have something together that can make any story more poignant. I love the story. Nicholas Sparks really deserves a credit. Girls will truly weep and swoon over it. This movie will take you, break you and mend you though there’s a big twist near the end. Watch it!

My verdict is:

City of Ember

City of ember is a story about a city that experienced a catastrophic event that made people retreat to an underground city called Ember. A box that contains instruction on how to get out of Ember after 200 years was entrusted to every mayor of the city. The box has been passed from one mayor to another for centuries until an incident happened and the box was forgotten. Just in time when the generator that keeps the city alive is giving up, Lina found the box. Lina with her friend, Doon figure out how to save the people and how to get out of the city through the box.

The first few minutes of the movie was exciting and can really make your eyes glued to the screen because the story is something new. But there are parts of the movie that made me yawn and remark how-the-hell and what the f***? Like canned foods don’t have expiration in an underground city for more than 200 years? And where the weird giant mole come from? In fairness to the movie, the cast was selected well. I like Saoirse Ronan, the one who played Lina in the movie. She is such a sweet girl with amiable eyes that you’ll be afraid that she will get hurt. I find their Assignment day very amusing where you get to pick your job for your whole life in Ember. Imagine having that in real life? The fun part is when the time Lina, Doon and Lina’s little sister found out about the secret passages out of the city. The waterslide is way terrifying for a kid yet the little girl is wearing her wide smile and enjoying the ride!

I haven’t read the book and maybe it’s a good thing because someone told me the book is way better or way exciting and action-packed? Anyway, my verdict is the movie is fine. I enjoyed it! Kids will love it as well as those kids at heart.

My verdict is: