Reviews

I have watched this movie just out of curiosity to find out if there was any "connection" with "Saving Private Ryan" and to some extent there was. The plot is quite obvious with a resemblance of old fairy tales about seven warriors. There are all movie elements you expect to see in recent Chinese movies like love, brotherhood, master and student relations, political intrigues, wisdom, betrayal, revenge, etc. Everything is the way it should be, the good guys remain good ones till they die and bad guys are either punished or learn their lesson. As a person who has been watching martial art movies for many years, I could appreciate the quality of fighting scenes choreography. I can hardly imagine how warriors of the past could fight for hours using their weapons when one gets tired after fencing for just an hour. Of course there are special effects, but most of the stunts are done with minimal "wire use" that has been heavily exploited by Jet Li in his last movies. I cannot say this is one of the best martial art movies, but I did not have a feeling of wasted time after watching it. The main thing that kept me watching this movie till the end was a prophesy written by a wise master. Intrigued? Then watch it yourself.

This is another good movie following "Good Will Hunting" I would recommend to watch. First it seemed like another typical story of a 16-year old Afro-American guy. Jamal enjoys literature and playing basketball but has to conceal his passion for literature from his peers. The main point of the movie is when Jamal gets to know a famous writer who seemed mysterious and weird. According to Kim Woo Chong, Daewoo founder, "life changes after meeting" and this is exactly what happens in this movie. Mr. Ex-Bond is still very good at acting. One of my favorite moments is a short conversation of the main character and a snob about BMW. And I am sure you will find that verbal duel between Jamal and one ambitious professor very interesting. Got intrigued? Then watch it! Two thumbs up!

This movie is one of the old classic movies I would like to recommend fro watching. I remember when I was watching "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993) I was laughing at a moment when a main character (Meg Ryan) and her friend/colleague (Rosie O'Donnell) watched their favorite movie by knowing the script by heart and cried. But I was curious to know what movie they were watching. Luckily Jane, my former boss in the US, was a movie expert and she was surprised that I had not watched that famous movie as I learned later. Thanks to her I got that DVD and managed to watch that classic and romantic movie with famous actors. After watching that, the script of "Sleepless in Seattle" I got all pieces of the puzzle. This movie was created mainly for women due to romantic and sentimental plot, but frankly saying I liked this movie more than that well-known "Casablanca". The story of "An Affair to remember" is simple and naive, yet it served as a basis for many remakes. Watch it if you like classic and romantic movies.

"The Way Home" is one of the best Korean movies I have watched for the last years. This low-budget movie is a very nice story of relations development between a grandmother and her grandson. Having visited South Korea I never knew this side of life in rural areas and watching this one was quite a shock to me who saw only big cities and met quite wealthy people there. I was really moved by acting of that old lady, whose character is an old and ill person but very kind to her neighbors and unconditionally loves her grandson. A boy was also good and even managed to make me irritated. There is not much of a dialog, but actions speak louder than words. I cannot say I am very sensitive person, however there are some moments that really made me sad and thoughtful. You'd better watch it yourself! I highly recommend this movie! Two thumbs up!

When I watched The Kite Runner (2007), the movie based on the book written by Khaled Hosseini, I actually changed my rules. Normally I try to read a book (if available) first so the characters are not associated with actors' personalities and my imagination creates the characters purely based on what I read. Although the plot seems quite simple it was very interesting to watch this movie. This is a story of a young Afgani man who originally comes from Kabul and ended up in the US. Most of this story is based on Amir's memories of his childhood, relations with his father and close people in Afganistan before the Soviet invasion. That showed me another side of people's lives in Afganistan since my perception of this country was different. I am not going to tell all details because you need to watch it yourself. The movie is very good, but if you want to enjoy a full story you'd better read the book because the movie could not cover everything. Two thumbs up!

"Julie & Julia" is the movie released in 2009 that I enjoyed watching. This movie is based on two true stories. The cast is great (Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Stanley Tucci) so is their acting. Meryl Streep is great as usual. Her talent to personalize any role she plays keeps me amazed. Amy Adams has gained a lot since one of her roles in "Catch me if you can" and Stanley Tucci is a good match to Meryl's character. The scenes with cooking and languages courses are hilarious. Moreover I found out this cooking book does exist with all recipes mentioned. These stories are another proof of how people succeed in their lives when they do what they are really passionate about. Enjoy watching it!

I was curious to watch this well-praised movie "The Blind Side" for the role in which Sandra Bullock got her Oscar award. Although her acting was good and this movie is based on a true story I was not impressed by this one. If I had not known that was a real story I would think of this one to be another fake American dream-based movie where a main character had life full of deprivation and abuse, but then a fairy came and changed it to a fabulous one. While watching I recalled another movie I watched several years ago called "Radio" with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ed Harris that was also based on a trues story of a mentally retarded boy who ended up as a support guy to the High School football team. The plots of these two movies are similar to some extent but I liked "Radio" more. Watch both and then you can decide which one you like more.

I did enjoy watching "A Christmas Carol" produced by Disney in 2009. To me, who has watched several adaptations of this story, this one is the best version. Robert Zemeckis meets my expectations and keeps me interested in his creations like Forrest Gump, Polar Express, Beowulf, etc. If you really want to enjoy this animation you'd better watch it in original language (English) because I watched a Russian version many interesting speech and accent details are lost "in translation". Jim Carrey's voice with Scottish accent is amazing although the main character has no resemblance of an actor. However, you can easily recognize characters voiced by Gary Oldman and Colin Firth because those are their "animated clones". Enjoy it! Two thumbs up!

Yesterday I had an opportunity to watch this movie. Even after hearing many positive comments, I was hesitating for a while about watching that since I did not manage to watch very good Russian movies produced lately except the movie "Stilyagi", but my desire to see the movie about the legendary Harlamov took over. I got interested due to the fact that my Dad watched that famous hockey match USSR vs Canada and he told me that was a life-time event when USSR hockey team proved to be the best one in the world. I was not even born then yet, but read about that match and V. Harlamov in particular. Moreover I was very curious to find out more about Tarasov, who was very good coach with his special "hard-to-cope" training routine that brought its fruits. I must tell I was not disappointed and did not feel I wasted my time. Of course I was not impressed by computer effects (this area still leaves to be desired) and some very predictable moments. I still do not like that post-Soviet heritage in the Russian movies when foreigners are shown like stupid and cruel ones (compared to bulls) who then suddenly change to good ones after lessons taught by main character. But I was impressed by acting of Vladimir Menshov whose characters were mainly good guys. I was surprised by Oleg Menshikov, who used to be a good actor but seemed to have lost his acting grip. I must admit in this movie he was good and I believed that Tarasov might have behaved, lived and coached the way Menshikov embodied him. Of course tastes differ so it's better to watch it yourselves. My recommendation? It is worth watching. See you in the movies.