Tae Guk Gi : The Brotherhood of War

Director : Je-gyu Kang
Starring : Dong-gun Jang, Bin Won
2004

Tae Guk Gi is widely considered the best Korean movie of all time and one of the best to come from all of Asia. The budget for this film had to be pretty crazy. Think of this movie as the Korean Saving Private Ryan. I liked them both pretty equally. Tae Guk Gi had a better story and better acting overall while Saving Private Ryan had the beach scene, Vin Diesel and that awesome sniper. Both had a main character who whined a lot (Matt Damon and Jin Seok). Both were sweet movies.

Of course with this movie being from South Korea and about war, the film is set in the war torn Korea's during the years 1949 and 1950. It starts out with two brothers, Jin Tae and Jin Seok, hanging out around the city. They are really close, a little too close in my opinion. This can be witnessed best when they share a popsicle. Anyway they both go home to a big family and everyone parties together. Life is grand. Next thing you know the war breaks out, a draft is called and everything falls apart.

Things from here till the end are predictable. The older brother tries to be really over protective of the younger brother. The younger brother tries to be all macho and goes with the I don't need or want your help. Throughout the next year they gradually fall apart with the older brother becoming RAMBO and the younger, well he just whines a lot. I know none of that sounds appealing but it rules.

Rating : 4.5 stars. Tae Guk Gi is a war epic that offers a lot more then loss of limbs. I watched this with my brother and we joked that this movie had to of absorbed most of Korea's 2004 GDP because they pumped a lot of cash into it. Some of the effects still look a little wack but any set or battle scene looked most legit. Jin Seok did get a little whiny as stated and I was sort of hoping for him to die but what can you do. The whole final battles plot also is kind of eh but still entertaining.

Quotes : This movie didn't have the greatest lines but with it being foreign, quotes are even harder to find. I could only find one decent one.

"Wills are for dying people. You've got to be strong."

Best Scene : The whole communist execution scene. You know which one. I could kind of sense that something like this was going to happen but it didn't matter, the scene still has a great effect.

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Trailer

Avatar

Director : James Cameron
Starring : Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang
2009

The billion dollar movie. Actually now it's up to 2.6 billion worldwide. Once it is adjusted for inflation, Avatar becomes the 14th highest grossing film of all time. It only took 310 million to make. A lot of people seemed to either love the movie or hate it saying things like it's a bunch of giant smurfs playing dances with wolves. I think they are kind of right, the story is pretty hackneyed but other things make up for it.

Avatar is a story about a handicapped marine who travels to another planet in order to continue his recently deceased brothers work. That work would include morphing his mind into the body of a genetically engineered aliens body in order to learn their customs and hopefully open up some kind of mutual interspecies relationship. It sounds really complex but it's basically a disney movie. Once the main character, Jake Sully, spends some time with the aliens, he of course sides with them and rightfully so. The marines only care about mining unobtanium (what a clever name) wipe out anything in their way. It really is disney stuff. They go through this whole sequence where Jake has to earn the trust of the aliens and eventually he gets it on with one of them. There is a pretty sweet battle at the end and the aliens win, but you already knew they would from the beginning.

Rating : 4 stars. This movie is eye candy. Not the best movie I have ever seen but it does do somethings better than any other movie has before. The story is boring and the acting isn't that great. I did love the marine colonel though, that guy ruled. I started rooting for him by the second half of the film. The planet Pandora looks wonderful. Any scene with the flying raptors ruled especially the big battle at the end. Only thing is the visuals were the only thing Avatar has going for it. Once the my initial awe of seeing everything wore off, I was kind of bored.

Best Scene : Any scene that includes either alien fighting or parkour except for the final showdown with the colonel, that was dumb.

Quotes :
"Just relax and let your mind go blank. That shouldn't be too hard for you."

"You haven't got lost in the woods, have you? You still remember what team you're playing for?"

"A Marine in an Avatar body? Gives me the goosebumps!"

"One life ends, another begins."

"You are not in Kansas anymore, you are on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen, respect that fact every second of every day."

"Thanks Jake, I'm gettin all emotional, 'might just give you a big wet kiss!"

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Trailer

Fanboys

Director : Kyle Newman
Starring : Jay Baruchel, Kristin Bell, Sam Huntington
2008

There's a pretty good chance you haven't heard about this movie. The nerd side of me only saw the trailer once, it wasn't widely marketed at all. The plot is four friends get together and embark on a road trip to steal a copy of Star Wars Episode 1 six months before it is to be released. They are doing this because they are all huge mega Star Wars nerds, which are also known as fanboys. One of them, Linus (easily the least likable of the bunch), has some terminable disease and won't make it to the movies release date, hence why they try to pull this off. I know saying I didn't like the dying guy is kind of messed up but I really didn't like him.

The main characters name is Eric. He is a car salesman that appears to have outgrown his childhood nerd friends. I guess they had some kind of falling out, he told them to grow up and when they didn't left. Once he finds out that Linus is doomed he comes back and they start their road trip. The two guys that make the movie are Baruchel and Fogler. You might remember Fogler from the horrible movie Balls of Fury. He made me laugh a few times in this one. Baruchel getting really big at the moment. His thing with the R2D2 at the very end killed me. I watched that part a couple of times. Of course Kristin Bell is a babe. Seth Rogen, Will Forte, Craig Robinson (Darryl from the Office), Doug Denman (Roy from the Office), William Shattner, and Danny Mcbride all have small roles so there are some a bunch of funny people in Fanboys.

Rating : 3 stars. Fanboys is a very average movie. There are a few funny parts and it doesn't try too hard. The story isn't anything groundbreaking and the movie feels almost like it is an indie film. I however, wouldn't recommend it unless you are pretty interested in seeing it.

Best Scene : The interviews with Danny Mcbride were pretty funny. Baruchel's line in the tent again killed me. Seth Rogen as both a pimp/star wars nerd might have been the best scenes though.

Quotes :
Zoe: That better be your lucky R2 poking me.
Windows: Nope. My penis.

"What's the Klingon for "I'm going to die a virgin"?

Eric: [hands him a vacuum cleaner] Your mom said clean up this shit-hole or no grilled cheese for a week?
Hutch: [sticks his head out on the door] That's emotional blackmail, and you know it!

"Rule number one: In my van, it's Rush. All Rush, all the time. No exceptions. Rule number two: Nobody touch the red button. And I mean never touch the red button. Most importantly, rule number three: There's no jerking in my van!"

Windows: So, we're all hunky-dory? We're all copacetic?
Roach: Well, if the word "copacetic" means I'm gonna rip off your tongue and lick your ass with it, then yeah, we're copacetic.

Head Of Security: Mr. Lucas is touched and mildly flattered by what have done here. And I have been informed that I feel the same way. So the charges are gonna be dropped. That is, of course, if you are what you appear to be.
Windows: Uh, what do we appear to be?
Head Of Security: Fanboys. Something we can easily determine with a simple quiz.

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Trailer

The Spirit

Director : Frank Miller
Starring : Gabriel Macht, Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johannson, Eva Mendes
2008

Lets just start with looking at the facts of this movie. If you are a chick, there probably aren't many things that you will like about The Spirit. It's a dude movie in almost every way. It's based off a comic book, the director is the same guy who did Sin City and wrote 300 (both dude movies), Samuel L Jackson is a crazy Nazi that can't be killed and the movie is full of babes. The movie is made pretty much like a comic book so it is full of over acting. It's not a good movie but I did enjoy it if that makes sense.

The main character is a guy named the Spirit. He starts the movie with a big monologue about how the city loves him and he loves it back. Makes no sense at all but sounds really cool. We learn he is kind of a cop and is looking for a bad guy named the Octopus. The Octopus turns out to be Samuel L and for some odd reason, the two of them can't kill each other. They beat each other up but in the end their stab and bullet wounds always heal. The Octopus is after the blood of Hercules, which once swallowed, will make him completely invincible. See, this is a dude movie. Other then the power to survive pretty much anything, the Spirit also has the power to make every woman who sees him completely fall in love. This will come in handy because his city is stockpiled with good looking ones. First there is Sarah Paulson, she might not be as amazing as the others but she has a hot nurse thing kind of going on. Then there is Jamie King. You don't see her that much because she plays DEATH. Both metal and hot. Next I would say is Eva Mendes. I don't know why but I have never really had a thing for her. She is kind of a crook which makes her a little hot. That is a terrible way for a guy to think but whatever. I saved the best two for last. Paz Vega plays a sword wielding belly dancer. Only a super nerd could have thought of that and I salute him. Then there is Scarlett Johannson. She plays a sexy Nazi. That doesn't exactly make her hot but everything else does, especially the glasses.

Rating : 2.5 stars. Movie sucked in almost every movie quality except visually. It's not made to be a classic movie though. Take it for what it is, a comic book movie full of attractive women, cheesey lines, and Samuel L screaming. I would and probably will watch it again sometime. Dudes who liked Sin City, give it a watch. Women find something else to watch except for Blindness.

Best Scene : Samuel L and the Spirits opening fight. Has the Miller look that we have come to love.

Quotes : "My city, I can not deny her. My city screams. She is my mother. She is my lover, and I am her Spirit."

"You're in love with every women you meet, Mr. Spirit. You say lovely things to all of us and you mean every word you say."

"I've known some pretty strange women in my time but this one, she's got the final word on strange."

"Shut up and bleed!"

"I don't like egg on my face."

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Trailer

Tell No One

Director : Guillaume Canet
Starring : Francois Cluzet, Marie-Josee Croze, Andre Dussoillier
2006

I thought this was going to be a horror/slasher film. Turns out Tell No One is more of a murder mystery and a decent one at that. I'm sure anything you watch after Blindness will seem like a good movie but I really enjoyed this one. It's french which means usually that it's terrible or really worth while, Tell No One being the latter.

Like many murder mysteries, the main character, Dr Alexandre Beck's wife, Margot dies within the first ten minutes. Also like most french movies, she was naked for like four of those ten minutes, with the other six minutes were mostly credits. I'm not saying if that is a good or a bad thing, I'm jus' sayin'. From here the movie skips to eight years to the present day. Alex still isn't doing that great since the death of his wife. Apparently he was the main suspect in the trial so you know that wasn't fun.

The police stop by his hospital one day and say they found some more bodies near the original scene of the crime. This of course re opens Margot's case and opens still hurting wounds. Weird stuff starts happening though. One being the police show Alex photo's of a pretty beat up Margot that were hidden in a safety deposit box all this time. Slowly he is becoming a suspect again in what was an open case. Next thing you know Margot's former best friend is found dead and the murder weapon is found in Alex's house. To clear things up Alex is being framed for a reason we do not know, the police are chasing after him because they not only suspect him of killing Margot but now her best friend Margot and Alex is being sent strange emails from who he thinks is his wife. The last 30 minutes or so are really good and I won't give anything away. Who killed all those people? Who is framing Alex? Is Margot still alive and if so why did she stay away? Sounds kind of soap operaish now but it is intriguing.

Rating : 4 stars. Again this movie does benefit from being seen post Blindness but I was still into it. It is one of those twist movies that you can't look away from. The acting is nothing special and the french accents do take some getting used to but neither of these hurt the movie.

Best Scene : Other than the twist ending I liked the scene in the park isn't bad. Movie did get a little slow in the middle but the whole chase and van kidnapping sequence was solid.

Quotes: Movies in french so quotes are hard to find.

Screens :








Trailer there's some nudity but its youtube so it's not that bad. Anyway I am here to alert and you have been alerted

Blindness

Director : Fernando Meirelles
Starring : Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Danny Glover
2008

This movie should have been called Blindness: The Movie That is so Bad, You Wish You Couldn't See. I have seen a good amount of bad movies in my day, so for me not to be able to finish one means it must really blow. That's what we get with the movie Blindness. Some time in the not to distant future, people are randomly going blind. First some asian guy driving home, then the guy who steals the asian guys car, then the eye doctor who the asian guy visits and so on. What the movie never does is explain why the blindness plague starts or is passed on. They may actually have but after an hour of just not caring anymore, I just skipped to the end. Spoiler alert that doesn't even matter because you shouldn't see this but anyway they magically get their vision back in the end. That is never explained either. I don't really feel that it's necessary to tell you anymore.

Rating : 1 star. Usually if a movie knows it's, bad I'll cut it some slack. Blindness is a movie full of people you probably know and a director who has done a good amount of projects. First starters, I never once felt like they were blind but that they were just doing a crappy job pretending. Ruffalo is an average actor when surrounded by a good cast and he was really bad with these clowns. Julianne Moore is crying all movie and a crying ginger is no pretty sight. She also becomes the only person in the world who retains her sight which is another unexplained plot hole (unless it happens in the last 45 minutes that I skipped again). This movie actually sounded like it could be cool, to me at least. Did I also mention that I think i remember Mark Ruffalo cheated on Julianne Moore while in the blind camp. He cheats on the only woman left in the world who still has the eyes that can catch him. Ok player. Blindness is a suckfest.

Best Scene : Hah yeah right. When the ward/camp of all the blind people turned into total anarchy and some thugs took control of all the food, ya that was a great idea. Soooo badddd.

Quotes :
"I'm blind"

Screens :






trailer

Cool Hand Luke

Director : Stuart Rosenberg
Starring : Paul Newman, George Kennedy
1967

I looked through the list of movies I have reviewed the other day and realized I have yet to do any of the "classic" genre. Well Cool Hand Luke is a pretty good one to start with. I had never seen it before until recently. I knew it was on the AFI top 100 list and I knew I would like it, I just lacked for whatever reason the motivation. Because my domain name includes jus sayin dude, I'll assume anyone who may stumble upon this will be of a younger age and maybe unfamiliar to this movie or Paul Newman. Maybe you have heard of his salad dressing? Well his acting is even better.

Cool Hand Luke is the story of a man who gets drunk one night, destroys some public property and thrown in jail. Not much is groundbreaking as far as story goes. Luke is the cool new prison who gains the trust and admiration from his fellow inmates by always being in high spirits. The guards see this and want to "break him" but Luke is just way to cool for this to happen. He attempts to escape three times but it caught and welcomed back with escalating penalties each time. He never loses his cool though (until the end).

Rating : 4.5 stars. I know that wasn't much of a synopsis but this movie wasn't so much about the story for me. Sure there are things you never see coming but you should be able to see how the movie is going to end from pretty far out. Cool Hand Luke is about the acting. Newman starts off looking so worry free only to be completely broken and sobbing at the guards feet in a hour and a half. The guy who befriends him beats Luke up in the beginning of the film only to fight/cry out against the guards out of passion (no homo dude love, guys get close in prison, not that way though). The movie has so many good and famous lines. I never knew this was where the failure to communicate line came from. Was this the best prison movie of all time? Maybe. I don't know if The Great Escape counts as a true prison movie because its technically a pow camp. Ok, that was a dumb argument, the first word of that is prisoner. The Great Escape is my favorite and the best in my eyes. I did like this more than The Shawshank Redemption and that was a really good movie. So you know, watch this. I also saw somewhere that Luke Jackson is AFI's 30th ranked movie hero of all time.

Best Scene : I was going to say the church monologue at the very end but that is second to when he comes back into the jail after the whole dig the trench/get the dirt of the yard train wreck. All of his "boys" that used to slurp up every word Luke said now turn their back in disgust after seeing him cry and beg to the guards. Their hero, the unbreakable man, was now crawling in front of their own eyes after probably a good 15 hours of hard labor plus all the beatings you could want. Luke then yells out "WHERE ARE YOU NOW" and passes out. Baller scene. Probably the first time it's been described as baller too.

Quotes : So many
"He's a natural born world-shaker.

"[watching sexy girl wash a car] My Lord, whatever I done, don't strike me blind for another couple of minutes."

"That's my darling Luke. He grins like a baby but bites like a gator."

Boss Paul: That ditch is Boss Kean's ditch. And I told him that dirt in it's your dirt. What's your dirt doin' in his ditch?
Luke: I don't know, Boss.
Boss Paul: You better get in there and get it out, boy.

"Any man playing grabass or fightin' in the building spends a night in the box. "

"Luke: Anybody here? Hey, Old Man. You home tonight? Can You spare a minute. It's about time we had a little talk. I know I'm a pretty evil fellow... killed people in the war and got drunk... and chewed up municipal property and the like. I know I got no call to ask for much... but even so, You've got to admit You ain't dealt me no cards in a long time. It's beginning to look like You got things fixed so I can't never win out. Inside, outside, all of them... rules and regulations and bosses. You made me like I am. Now just where am I supposed to fit in? Old Man, I gotta tell You. I started out pretty strong and fast. But it's beginning to get to me. When does it end? What do You got in mind for me? What do I do now? Right. All right.
[Gets on knees, closes eyes and begins to pray]
Luke: . On my knees, asking.
[Peeks up with one eye, waits. Then opens eyes and crosses arms]
Luke: . Yeah, that's what I thought. I guess I'm pretty tough to deal with, huh? A hard case.
[Clicks tongue]
Luke: . Yeah. I guess I gotta find my own way.
[Headlights shine through windows, backs up]
Dragline: Luke?
Luke: [Shakes head and smiles] Is that Your answer, Old Man? I guess You're a hard case, too."

"What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men. "

"You run one time, you got yourself a set of chains. You run twice you got yourself two sets. You ain't gonna need no third set, 'cause you gonna get your mind right.

Boss: Sorry, Luke. I'm just doing my job. You gotta appreciate that.
Luke: Nah - calling it your job don't make it right, Boss.

Dragline: He ain't in the box because of the joke played on him. He back-sassed a free man. They got their rules. We ain't got nothin' to do with that. Would probably have happened to him sooner or later anyway, a complainer like him. He gotta learn the rules the same as anybody else.
Luke: Yeah, them poor old bosses need all the help they can get.

Dragline: Where'd the road go?
Luke: That's it. That's the end of it.
Convict: Man, there's still daylight.
Dragline: About two hours left.
Convict: What do we do now?
Luke: Nothin'.
Dragline: Oh Luke, you wild, beautiful thing. You crazy handful of nothin'.

[Discussing God and the rain]
Luke: Let him go. Bam, Bam.
Dragline: Knock it off, Luke. You can't talk about Him that way.
Luke: Are you still believin' in that big bearded Boss up there? You think he's watchin' us?
Dragline: Get in here. Ain't ya scared? Ain't ya scared of dyin'?
Luke: Dyin'? Boy, he can have this little life any time he wants to. Do ya hear that? Are ya hearin' it? Come on. You're welcome to it, ol' timer. Let me know you're up there. Come on. Love me, hate me, kill me, anything. Just let me know it.
[He looks around]
Luke: I'm just standin' in the rain talkin' to myself.

"Oh come on. Stop beatin' it. Get out there yourself. Stop feedin' off me. Get out of here. I can't breathe. Give me some air."

Dragline: Why you got to go and say fifty eggs for? Why not thirty-five or thirty-nine?
Luke: I thought it was a nice round number.

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Trailer