I found a paperback copy of The Select today at the Salvation Army. If you would like it, let me know and I will send it out.

I watched Almost Famous again last night and enjoyed it a lot more than the first time. I think perhaps my expectations were too lofty the first viewing being a Crowe fan, lover of classic rock and the Oscar-buzz surrounding it. Still not sure it warranted all the raves, but I felt more satisfied on my second helping. Frances McDormand and Philip Seymour Hoffman were both excellent.

Tsotsi = desperado


Today I also saw South African movie, "Tsotsi". What a movie! "Tsotsi" will leave you numb, just physically numb for maybe an hour after you've seen it. The tale of a young gang in the slums of Africa who finds himself caring for a baby after shooting its mother in a carjacking is equal parts beautiful and ugly, touching and disturbing.

This certainly isn't something you should see if you want to relax or are feeling a bit down. Has anyone seen "City of God"? Yes, "Tsotsi" is also unsettling and horrific like "CoG". But it's hard to find fault with Tsotsi. Running time is 94 minutes, but you won't really say it's too long.

The character development, particularly of Tsotsi, is realistic. As I said, this is shocking and brutal but incredibly touching tale. Presley Chweneyagae who played Tsotsi. At first, he was brutal and disgusting guy. But that cause was in his childhood. By and by, he regain his tenderness.

Without a doubt, this is an unforgettable cinematic experience that is more than worthy of your time and your money. Trust me.

As a result, one little baby could change gang's heart. That's why this is wonderful story, even if violence movie.

Today, I saw "Sunshine" in a theatre.

In "Deep Impact", "Armageddon", human always tried to save the Earth, at any cost, and succeeded.

In this "Sunshine", at last sun's flame decreased! Eight astronauts's mission:They carry one nuclear bomb(Manhattan size!!!) to the sun, then they launch it to the sun for rebirth of the sun.

Yes, it is! I guess it remind you of "The Core". But it's not totally like "The Core". "The Core" was crap(I liked Hilary Swank, though). It's like "2001:A Space Odyssey" meet "Event Horizon". Can you imagine that?

I warn you, "Sunshine" is very desperate situation. It's very dark story. But I don't do spoiler, so I don't say about it any more. So, what should I say?

I want to say about excellent casting. Eight astronauts. They came from Ireland, America, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, England, and Japan. Moreover, captain is Japanese! Wow, I can't believe it! In any Hollywood SF movies, I've never seen Japanese actor played spaceship's captain. He is Hiroyuki Sanada, very famous Japanese actor. He played one of Samurais in "The Last Samurai".

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0760796/

If you haven't seen his "Ninja in the Dragon's Den ", check this. This is great and my favorite Kung-Fu vs. Ninja movie.



Other actors&actresses:Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis, Troy Garity, Benedict Wong. They did good acting.

Oh, and one more thing. If you're expecting hard action and spectacle to this movie, I think you get boring in first 90 min. But you should have patience. Because, last 20 min, you'll get very much frightened. :eek:

I love it when Academy Award winners take on roles in bad films. It makes them more human and less iconic. Not that I would consider Hillary Swank an Icon.

In Hillary's defense she is not the first to make a poor a decision while riding on an Oscar high.

Halle Berry made the abysmal Gothika. Angelina Jolie went from Girl Interrupted to Tomb Raider and Helen Mirren will go from Queen to Nic Cage's mother in National Treasure 2: The Quest for More Money. (Or whatever it will be called.)

Had the Reaping taken it's general premise of a former preacher turned debunker of miracles and followed it throughh to an "Everything has a logical explanation" ending the movie would have been quasi-enjoyable.

Instead, it takes the well-worn path of cliche and the film stumbles along trying to figure out if it wants to be a murder mystery, a supernatural thriller, or a faith-based drama about the loss of faith and one womans journey to discovering God's ultimate plan.

I am still not sure what I watched, to categorize it means to give substance to something where it doesn't exist. The Reaping is an empty and hollow film and an exercise in seeing how many jump-scares a writer can fit into one script.

At times the jump scares come in series of threes with the clash of loud music. But they aren't scary because any horror-schooled vet knows that when the God damn music stops suddenly something bad is going to happen.

And bad things happen in spades: from the river turning to blood, to the plague of locusts and a myriad of other manifestations of the end times.

Meanwhile a creepy girl (damn the Japanese for instilling fear of female children into the movie-goers psyche) shows up and everytime she does something goes horriby awry. Harbinger of doom? (maybe) Possible savior to humanity? (plausible) Shitty plot device used to fill in what could easily have been a 30-minute movie? (You got it.)

Undoubtedly some folks will disagree with this review and hail it as a thrilling experience, taut and gripping and the studio will grab the quotes and blurb them in upcoming commercials for the film.

I submit my blurb for such purpose; The Reaping: Avoid it like the plague.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independen...p/trailer/

and

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_search...ywatch/hd/

Has anyone seen this? If not, put it in your Netflix queue IMMEDIATELY. It's only a half hour long or so but it's fantastic. Even if you're not a cartoon lover. I can't detail it for you (I'm driving) but read the descrip in Netflix. It's got the best scene ever of the bad guy obtaining the info.

I've added a link below for the trailer of Eli Roth's Thanksgiving. About as funny as they come. There are some brief flashes of nudity and gratuitous horror film violence. I don't know about you guys but I'll pass on the stuffing next year. Check it out.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nbSKnL4WFJM

Has anyone seen "Breach" starring Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney? It was well done but somehow not as satisfying as I'd hoped.

Based on actual events, it's the story of the capture of Robert Hanssen in February, 2001. He was a spy who is considered to have done the most damage of any spy in recent history, perhaps all of American history. Cooper played the spy and Phillippe the FBI man who helped to bring him down. In fact, the real FBI man acted as consultant for the film.

I'm not sure what was missing, except perhaps surprise... the outcome is known from the start. There was tension in watching Phillippe's character play a cat and mouse game with Hanssen, who is his boss. But somehow, the film left me wanting something.

Chris Cooper, as always, gave a solid performance, as did Philippe. Laura Linney was stoic and solemn as Phillippe's other boss.

I think it's worth watching, but you can wait until it comes to DVD.

Here is the link to Rob Zombie's remake of HALLOWEEN.