Broken Emraces, Moll Flanders

Broken Embraces was so so so good that I thought my heart would burst. Almodovar did it again. I love the man and his way of storytelling, his visuals and how actors such as Penélope Cruz become excellent under his direction (I don't like her otherwise). The music, the cinematography, the editing all of them were just to my taste. Perfect film.

Meanwhile Moll Flanders continues to underwhelm and despite the fact that it might have been an interesting story, it is told in such a matter of fact way that everything becomes stale somehow. I'm still not giving up on it though. Let's see how long I can last.

Two Hearts in Hungary - End, Moll Flanders, The Silence of the Lambs, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark was so so. It didn't have Del Toro's brilliance although he obviously put some ideas in the film and the creatures were sufficiently scary. All in all the best thing I liked about it was Katie Holmes (which is something since she usually is just the opposite for me). This one was just a so so purchase and I was not scared.

The Silence of the Lambs now this is a good film. Great leads, very good editing especially towards the end, a good story (the was better though) and all in all a satisfactory viewing experience, even after all these years (nobody had  a mobile phone in the film)

Two Hearts in Hungary was very short, almost like a novella. And it was just average Cartland but I still liked it a lot.

Moll Flanders is an interesting experience. I appreciate the writer but am not fond of his prose. And I see his point of view but do not want to passionately explore. It is one of those books that does not bore me enough for me to drop it off but I can't say I'm enjoying it either. Let's see what will happen to our Ms.Flanders who is not very scrupulous so far.

Wolf Creek, Allah Beni Böyle Yaratmış - End, Two Hearts in Hungary

Wolf Creek directed by Greg McLean is a very good horror film. I was completely into it and it had some good surprises too.

I have finished Allah Beni Böyle Yaratmış on the way to work this morning and it was OK I suppose but PuCCa is starting to lose her luster...

I have started Two Hearts in Hungary by Barbara Cartland. I love her, I can't help it, ever since my childhood I love her novels and this one didn't dissapoint even from the very beginning. This book contains three novels and I plan on reading them in separate times.

The Woman, Chronicle, Paris - Manhattan, Seven Below, The Heart of Me, Gone Girl - End, Allah Beni Böyle Yaratmış

This weekend I was once again cooped up at home and it was just what I needed. I felt a bit under the weather. So I have watched films and read.

The Woman - directed by Lucky McKee. This one was good, very good. Not only the gore was organic looking but also the acting and camera were all top notch. Acting was great too and all in all I'm very happy.

The Heart of Me - directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan. Now this one was depressing. I like Helena Bohnam Carter and Paul Bettany. And they were doomed lovers in this film and I felt down after watching it.

Paris - Manhattan - directed by Sophie Lellouche. This is a cute French rom com and I enjoyed it very much. But the lead female actor Alice Taglioni was too pretty for the part. Other than it was good.

Seven Below - directed by Kevin Carraway. This one was bad. I actually fell asleep for about 5 minutes somewhere past the middle and it didn't make any difference. Generic and a waste of time.

Chronicle - directed by Josh Trank. I liked it very much. First of this was a good example of docu-fiction type filmmaking. The actors were very good, the story extremely well told. I felt for the characters and were rooting for them.

Gone Girl ended as marvellous as it began. I like this writer and find her getting better with each book. My favorite parts are where she writes about Middle America and her observations. I also like the little touches like when a character eats a sandwich, the tomato slips down and falls on her tigh. These all appeal to me but I also like the twist without making it TWISTy. Everything in it made sense but in a hyper real way. It is nice to read books like that.

Now I have started a different book by a less talented writer. Internet phenomenon Pucca's third book is titles as Allah Beni Böyle Yaratmış (lit.Translation God has Created Me Like This) Although it is not as good as her first book, I like this one better than the second one so far. It also makes me laugh.

The Princess' Man - End

Yes, I just couldn't help myself and finished the last four episodes last night despite this being a work day. At first it was because I sort of got upset with the show turning crazy on me and I simply wanted to get it over with (I have new horror films to look forward to) but tears flowed unexpectedly at the last episode, without even realising it I invested in these characters and found their trials too too sad. But the show surprised me with a happy ending - and it was not bittersweet happy, it simply was a good old happy ending for our couple, probably the only possible way out. I'm sorry for the real princess and her husband but at least she got a baby out of it (and it was one of the most adorable TV babies I have seen, he kept smiling to everyone). Yes it was a night of tears and it's worth feeling sleepy today (I'm listening to Beethoven Piano Sonatas and they are so good)

Meanwhile Gone Girl is going great. This simply maybe her best novel. 

The Princess' Man Eps. 19-20, Kahperengi - End, Gone Girl

The Princess' Man turned deliciously wacko at the end of Episode 20. Not only Se Ryung severed ties with her father (hahahahaa, as if in Joseon era Korea) but also they ran away - to the brothel no less!!!- with Sung Yo. And as it was getting wackier and wackier I decided not to fight sleep and dosed off. But then when I woke up I decided to rewind and watch the remaing portion where Myun finds the brothel (no surprises there) and after he made his soldiers trash this and that Se Ryung agreed to return to the palace in order to save Sung Yo (who was out trying to contact soldiers who used to report to his father for his big idea of blasting the palace with cannons). Se Ryung faced her father (who is in a bad mood since his son is coughing blood) and he said she is not his daughter anymore and will not marry Myun but wait, just before she thought everything is finally going her way, her dad the King decides to give her to Myun as a slave!!!!!

Seriously show, you should have ended at 16 episodes and left while I was still enamoured with you. Now you are only a source of entertainment of different kind, one that I feel so bad after...

I have finished Kahperengi which was a short novel and it was very entertaining. Now I have finally started Gone Girl (arrived yesterday) and so far it is as good as I thought it would be.

And how great Fazıl Say plays Beethoven (especially Appassionata and Dawn).

The Princess' Man Eps.17-18, Kahperengi

The Princess' Man is going to well that it is hard - but not impossible - to stop. At the end of episode 18 an attempt at Suyang's life was not successful and Sung Yo is exposed to Myun (in a very dramatic scene that served as a cliffhanger) meanwhile poor Se Ryung is between her father who is extremely evil and one of the worst villains ever but her father nonetheless and she has some good memories with him- and her boyfriend who is a good guy through and through but ruined by her father and wants to take revenge by killing him.

She cannot give up either one poor thing and now that Song Yu is wavering in his resolve to kill Suyang and die - he has foung his sister in law and niece who are dependant on him + he is very much in love with Se Ryung despite being in extreme denial and I think he truly wants to run away with her and live as a family (she gets along so well with sis in law and niece) but there is a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, even if he gives up the need to kill and make him suffer, his late father wanted him to continue to oppose Suyang, well he was not the king then and he didn't kill the majority of their allies but still, his political opinions were as they were and now they weigh on his shoulders.

Meanwhile practically everyone who opposed Suyang and planned the assasination is now arrested and put in jail, including the teacher and Jung (I would normally have loved this character but the actor is too old for the role and not my type at all, not to mention that his performance is among the weaker ones). Ex Princess and Jung just became a true husband and wife and now they are apart with him on the way to death.

Ex king, despite abdicating the throne and giving everything he wanted, is still in danger solely because his being alive gives encouragement to people who want to overthrow Suyang. Poor thing has to escape somehwere. The good guys here are not a strategical match for Suyang and his evil advisor Han (this actor normally plays good for nothing comic side kicks and it is weird to see him in the role of villain, and it doesn't help that they have made bad job of dying his eyebrows)


Meanwhile Kahperengi is really good. I'm even curious about what is going to happen...

Also thank God the books and dvds I have ordered have arrived (my Manager kindly brought them from UK) and they all look a treat!!!!!

The Princess' Man Eps.16, Django Unchained, The Thompsons, The Valley of the Broken Cherry Trees - End

What have I been reading?

Nothing much, twitter and The Valley of the Cherry Trees by Lensey Namioka. It is one of the seven short adventures of a ronin samuari detective and his art loving sidekick. It was enjoyable but nothing special.

Now I'm thinking of starting Kahperengi (lit.translation Colour of Bitch - it is some sort of a pun since it has only one letter different when you spell brown in Turkish ) by Hande Altaylı. This lady is the wife of a famous journalist/columnist in Turkey. Her books are easy reads maybe Turkish equivalent of a sombre chick lit. Anyway this one is even a TV show now, and her first two novels were not bad so I decided to give it a try.

I have finally watched Django Unchained and liked it a lot, better than Inglorious Basterds but not as good as Kill Bill. I love Leonardo and he was so so good as one of the villains. Actually I think he was the best actor among them.

I also watched this horror film called The Thompsons directed by some people called The Butcher Brothers (??) anyway it was entertaining since it had the clean cinematography I like a lot. Otherwise it was not anything special.

Meanwhile The Princess' Man is going great. There is love, revenge, tears, blood and a scary villain. I do not want to be spoiled but I couldn't help but check out some sites and found out that the baddie actually is a historical character - who lived to his old age (I wish I never knew that)

The young king suprised me with making a great decision. Saving lives are more important than being a king. Seriously what is so great about power anyway? No one really, truly has it or can have it. It is better to be a person who loves and feels compassion. Good thing you did young king. Applause.

Sung Yo is in such a precarious place right now. He wants to take revenge and I think that wish is easily understandable. It probably was not easy to see your father assasinated and then see his head on display. Losing your brother and be the victim of attempted murder over and over and over again. But he is a good guy in his core and it is not easy for him. The greatest thing is that his genuine friends and mentor (and his ex girl friend) do want him to stop and live his life. And I agree with them. The best would be to move on and just wait for these evil people to get what they deserve. Actually the best would be able to be forgive them.

Se Ryung finally woke up to the fact that her father is an evil man who lied to her and she is not giving in to him yet. She refuses to be coronated as princess. She is loyal to Sung Yo and has found new resolve when she found out that he is alive.

Now is it too much to ask a happy ending for these two?

The Princess' Man Eps. 5-6, The Law of Similars - End

The Princess' Man keeps getting better. I do like the so far tragic love story and the court intrigues. Well there isn't a sageuk without court intrigues no? This time Prince Sayong is our chief villain and he is mid to high on evil scale.
Se Ryung keeps lying to Seung Yoo because she sort of promised her father (in exchange for his life) but this sort of got old after 6 episodes. At least Seung Yoo now knows that he is in love with her - she woke up to the fact that she loves him long before.

Meanwhile Princess got married to Jong Jun who is not a bad guy and genuinely likes her but she has a lot of worries this one. Her father is very ill (well he passed away at the end of episode 6) and her brother is too young and weak to manage the kingdom all by himself. Sayong lords over their heads and they cannot to anything about it. So the marriage is not consumated yet but I have hopes for this couple.

On the evil side Shin Min's dad threw his lot with Sayong and they decided to marry their children. Shin Min is aware of everything but doesn't inform Seung Yoo that the girl he fell for is Sayong's daughter and Shin Min's intended. We know Shin Min is going to betray Seung Yoo since we are in a giant flashback but still so far he acted honourably and despite the fact that he clearly likes Se Ryung, he is emberrassed about the whole situation. The only hint of his future betrayal is that he keeps all these from Seong Yoo. Yes, he promised Se Ryung not to tell but the circumstances have changed so much since that promise was made.

Well the king passed away and just when Sayong started to implement his supremacy by getting the young king sign a decree apointing him as the effective ruler until the king comes of age (I doubt this is the reason, surely this little king could have been more than a puppet, he is about 15-16 something, not younger than 13 at any rate but he is not made to be a king, at least not so far. I remember how stupid Jumong was at the beginning and he turned out alright) BUT the dead king had a deal with Seung Yoo's father and his younger bro (who is also bro of Sayong since these guys are all brothers) to keep a decree he signed before his death appointing Old Dad as the highest authority until kid King is fit to rule. Sayong had to bow down (since I think the majority of the military is under Old Dad's influence) but he swears revenge!!!!!


The Law of Similars is finished and I liked it very much. It is not a literary masterpiece or anything but it affected me more than I thought it would since I never even looked at the Lives of the Noble Romans!!!!

The Princess' Man - Eps I & II

The Princess' Man is a great drama so far. I have had trouble stopping at two episodes. I already like the female lead Moon Chae Won (she was also in War of the Arrows and she is the baddie in Brilliant Inheritance) and the male lead is Park Shi Hoo who doesn't look like much in the photos but very likable on screen. He is not really my type but he can act and his chemistry with MCW is insane.

The drama is moving very fast for a sageuk. I wish that it was recapped by dramabeans since one of the things I really like is to watch the show and then read the recaps and dramabeans is by far the best. I'll have to search the net for find some decent recaps...

Meanwhile I'm loving The Law of Similars.

LOVE, Başka Dilde Aşk, Kramer vs. Kramer, Live Flesh - End, The Law of Similars, The Lives of the Noble Romans (edited)

Well,

LOVE this one is a modern day Taiwanese fairy tale and includes the main rom com tropes. I loved it of course but hesitate to recommend it since it is ridicilous.

Kramer vs. Kramer This one does not get old. Gets to me everytime no matter how many times I have watched it and I have cried rivers in this viewing too.

Başka Dilde Aşk (lits. translation: Love in Another Language) Well this one was not a good film but the story was interesting, the leads likable and good actors so I have watched it. The love story between a call center employee (the film needlessly delved into call centre labour problems) and a deaf librarian - also amateur rower-.

Live Flesh has ended and it was really good. I love Ruth Rendell. And I have started two books, one is The Law of Similars written by Chris Bohjalian and the other is an edited version of  Lives of the Noble Romans by Plutarch. Apparently Plutarch wrote this as a companion piece to his Lives of the Noble Greeks and the version I have doesn't have everyone. Well with this interest in Roman history and seeing that the first noble Roman is Romulus, I'm thinking of giving this a try.

Now The Law of Similars is very interesting. The story takes place in Vermont and it is about a homeopath and an assistant district attorney - widower with a 4 years old kid-.

Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin was amazing. Definitely a treat and I'm happy that I agree with all the positive reviews. Actually to me it was even better than the anime. Technology allowed the film maker to really work all the moves, including the signature Kenshin move.

Meanwhile Live Flesh is getting better with each page. There is the escalation I like a lot in Rendell novels and I'm very eager to find out how things will turn out.

Tokyo Twilight

Tokyo Twilight is yet another late period Ozu films that is dark, hard to watch and doesn't really end happily. It was a difficult watch more so because this time I was more involved with the characters (more than The End of Summer that is).

Shaolin

Shaolin  As a complete suprise, I loved this film. The so so to negative reviews, Andy Lau and done to death subject matter kind of threw me off. But I purchased it any way (Tse completist here) and last night I have watched it.

Now maybe it is because I missed them so much but this film reminded me of pre China HK films. Benny Chan is never an iconic director (not like Johnnie To or WKW) but I like his films with their big explosions shown again and again (milked to the last drop in Shaolin), corny melodrama and lots of action.

The film is about redemption and it also critiques imperialism in their divide and conquer methods. Of course these two with Buddism (I think Buddha was one of the prophets) worked for me so well. And I have a fondness for melodrama which made me cry cry cry throughout the whole thing.

Also it presented an interesting study for me. Acting, imho, is a talent either you are borne with or not. It is something different from star quality and/or on screen presence. Some actors are naturally gifted and also work hard on this and become better with each film. Some actors are naturally gifted but they do not work hard and sail by (Nic Tse is one such actor) and some actors do not have the natural talent but work hard, Andy Lau (our protagonist) is such actor. He has amply star quality, a likable and commending screen presence but he doesn't have the natural talent. This didn't prevent him from working hard at acting, even though he could have sailed by on his already lucrative acting and singing career. I don't like this guy but he is very good in some films (Running Out of Time, Running on Karma, Needing You - I guess Johnnie To knows how to get a performance out of him, and Infernal Affairs where I appropriately hated him as I was supposed to) and in Shaolin he did a very very good job and I felt so much sympathy for his character. Nic Tse is handsome and his performance worked for me. It is good to watch two type of different acting and to enjoy them both.

All in all this seemed like an early 90s HK film with better cinematography. I enjoyed it very much. But is it a good film? Nah, not really.

Ruler of Your Own World - End, I, Claudius - End, Detention, Flashdance

Well all weekend I just charged myself up and didn't even go to watch Django Unchained, despite the fact that I was very eager for it to be released here.

Instead I watched Grey's Anatomy (not a good episode), The Good Wife (good episode) and Scandal (great episode) and various old Big Bang Theory episodes and a couple of Entourage episodes.

I have managed to squeeze in a couple of films

Detention I have no idea why I watched this one. I was expecting some sort of a horror film but it was one of those smartass satire types of films. I should have stopped watching it.

Flashdance well a flash from the past, I remember loving this when I was a kid (and I didn't understand any of the plot etc.) it was suprising that I still liked it most probably due to nostalgia.

I have finished I, Claudius and now very curious about Roman history. I'm thinking of slowly delving into it. Its scope is very wide and I have never been a history buff.

And I have started Ruth Rendell's Live Flesh which turned out to be one of those books you can't let go. I was almost going to go past the lunch break, it was that exciting.
I have watched and liked Live Flesh the film by Almodovar which is an adaptation -rare for Almodovar - of this novel but so far it is more of a reimagining than adaptation. Let's see futher into the novel whether there are more similarities or not.

Now I remember Chabrol's La Cérémonie being a very good adaptation of Rendell's A Judgement in Stone and a French film called Bridesmaid which was a great adaptation and now that I have checked imdb for accuracy I have found out that this is also a film directed by Claude Chabrol and the French title is "

La demoiselle d'honneur" looks like Mr.Chabrol is doing good work with Ms.Rendell's novels. 

I'm not really sure what to watch tonight. Maybe I'll give those long unwatched HK films a try. It is interesting -to me - how quickly my love for HK films died as the local cinema gradually and inevitably (since SAR is now under Chinese rule and will completely become Chine in 2046 + the Chinese market is lucrative) turns into Chinese. The only film I'm eagerly waiting to watch is The Grandmaster which got lukewarm reviews.

The Ruler of Your Own World ended nicely. But it kind of dragged at the later episodes. Despite the fact that I liked this couple and rooted for them, I didn't see any point in watching them being cute for 3-4 episodes. At least it was a happy ending. 

Ruler of Your Own World - Eps. 12-13-14-15

Well I have not done four episodes a night. But finished whatever remained of episode 12 and moved on from there. BokSu is getting sicker by the day and MiRae has found out and try to help him. But Kyung doesn't know although she suspects something. At least everyone is out of jail and Glove Cop are off BokSu's back.

Meanwhile Kang's wife showed him some spunk and this sparkled an interest on her (well I don't really care about this storyline)

I, Claudius continues to be really good.