books and films

Spy

Spy is a film I have only started to watch to fill the time on air. Surprisingly to me, I liked it very much and laughed a lot during my viewing. This is one of those buddy actors film where the actors know each other and enjoy working together. And it is a hillarious spy film spoof with a feminist message. I laughed almost all the jokes and loved Melissa McCarthy in the lead (a techie turned field agent) They made fun of Jason Statham's tough guy persona, the villain is female and hillarious, there is an unexpected love story etc. etc. For some reason this worked for me and I recommend.

Aloha

Photo Credit: www.telegraph.co.uk

Aloha is a film no one liked. And with good reason too. Ok this viewer loves Cameron Crowe (I even liked Elizabethtown) and loves Rachel McAdams and liked Emma Stone. Furthermore this viewer thinks Hawaii is heaven on earth (visited the state 3 times). So how come I don't like this film. No because I don't like the male leads Bradley Cooper (how come people think this guy is handsome is a puzzle to me) and John Krazinski (the most prominent trait of this guy's entertainment persona is how much he loves his wife) since I did like some other films starring Mr. Cooper.
This film just misses everything. The jaded man on the road to redemption with the aid of love is a Crowe theme (worked best in Jerry Maguire), the quirky female lead who helps him there is usually a lovable role but here all the mannerisms are exaggerated. And I doubt it is Ms. Stone's fault. The beautiful Hawaii is just not enough to save this one and I'm not even going how Emma Stone's character is Asian. Even I cannot recommend this one.

Memories of The Sword

Photo credit: variety.com

Memories of the Sword is one of those melodramatic martial art films with beautiful cinematography (a la Chinese film Hero). Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon has started this I suppose but that is a superb film with a great script and wonderful action - so it may not be the included in this subgenre. The best film of that ilk would be Ashes of Time by Wong Kar Wai. Anyway this one is a novel attempt and in the end moved me to tears but only because I'm that sort of viewer. I knew that this one doesn't work but the performances were so good and the revenge so out of this world that I actually fell for the whole thing towards the end. Jeon Do Yeon is fantastic and Lee Byung Hun is wonderful and the younger two actors were decent too. It is not that good mostly due to that certain elusive film chemistry I suppose since the film doesn't do anything wrong. I'll recommend only if you like this sub genre.

Assasination

Photo credit: londonkoreanlinks.net

Assasination is a wide scale period film of patriotism, revenge and assasinations. It is entertaining but I have found it overly long and the chracters stretched. It might have been better if this was a 16 episode drama. All the actors were great and the story was interesting, I'm certainly glad to have seen it but I don't think I wanted to watch it again.

Veteran

Photo credit: themoviebeat.com

Veteran is a film I wanted to watch for a long time. Not only due to its popularity but also the lead actors are both interesting. I love Yoo Ah In ever since Sukyungwan Scandal and Hwang Jung Min won my heart with I think that aids film he did with Jeon Do Yeon despite resisting to him for a long time. This film is very entertaining and time flew by as I followed the story of honest cop vs. evil chaebol. It reminded me of a weaker Public Enemy (excellent film with a not so honest cop vs. evil physcopath) and I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. Highly recommended.

The Intern

Photo credit: www.slate.com

The Intern is probably my favorite Nancy Myers film and it is mostly due to its leading actors. I love Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro was as good as ever. Yeah tears were shed but in a good way.

Temptation

Temptation ended up being entertaining with a heavy feminist message. No visual for this since I left it on the plane without taking a photo.