Reviews and Summaries

Queen Seon Deok

2010-02-09T05:05:00.000-08:00

I really love this Korean drama, Queen Seon Deok. Queen Seon Deok is about a woman who is the eldest daughter of a King. She had a twin princess who was living in the palace. Seon Deok was forced to leave the palace minutes after she was born. Lady Mishil is the main antagonist of the drama series. She wittingly did everything just to prevent the fate as shown by the stars that the eight star, represented by Queen Seon Deok, is the one who will destroy her.

The Kingdom of Silla is the place where Queen Seon Deok must reign. She was named Deok-man when she left the palace. When she banished with the caretaker of the King as her foster mother, she lived in the desert to stay away from a man sent by Lady Mishil to kill her. Queen Seon Deok was able to save the life of her sister who left the palace to look for her husband. With all the unique historical events in Queen Seon Deok, there is no doubt that this drama series will be a hit of the viewers around the world.

Band of Brothers

2009-11-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

November 11 is Veterans Day, that is. I am going to focus my post on World War II veterans. Remembering war films regarding World War II, my favourite is Band of Brothers.

Here are the things that I could remember about the movie:

1. I remember Dick Winters. He was a great leader for the soldiers who finally won the war at the Europe theatre or area. He always personally lead every operation and later on became a battalion commander.

2. Bastiogne. Is this is right? Correct me if I am wrong. I am referring to that very very cold place in Germany that made the soldiers quiver to death aggravated by the cleverness of their enemies. They dug holes in order to fit in for a night's rest.

3. Bull. He was the soldier who was missing overnight. It turned out that he was trapped in an underground after a tank has been running ahead of his comrades. When he was trapped, he met a father and his daughter who were also trapped in the area. They helped each other to kill an enemy. The next day, Bull's comrades located him.

4. The radio man. I am not sure if I am referring to Shifty or what. But I am referring to the soldier who is really a joker.

There are other memorable scenes in the movie Band of Brothers but the things that I shared proved to be unforgettable. The places shown in the movie are also attractive. The war at Carentan is very interesting. Besides, I cried when some talented jews were imprisoned at a labor camp and the people around the community kept mum about it. The said prisoners hurled for food rations when they were finally freed by the soldiers led by Dick Winters. Good movie. Memorable.

Surrogates

2009-10-11T22:54:00.000-07:00

What are the things the come in your mind upon watching Surrogates? Here are few things about my answer on the question:

1. The world and its people are aware of robots' life.

2. Mankind is under attack through robots and their existence.

3. People might be isolated by machines or robots.

4. It is difficult to live with machines or robots.

5. It is proper to post "only humans allowed" when robots or machines co-exist.

6. Jonathan Mostow, the director of the film wants to protect humanity in the film's story.

7. The tag line: How do you save humanity when the only thing that's real is you? is very mysterious.

8. Bruce Willis' acting is still very good.

9. Machines or the surrogates are beautiful.

10. Humans must rule planet earth no matter what.

Reviews: My Favorite Part of Hannah Montana Movie

2009-08-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

I was not a fan of Miley Cyrus at first, but later on, I got amused of her total performance and energy as she belts out her songs. Hannah Montana The Movie even got me hooked for the first time. And my favorite part of the film is the one in the video below.

It was in this time when she was supposed to be sent to New York but instead sent to the hometown of her father. It was also in this part that she was called Smiley Miley, and where she learned and felt about her father's family. The place is so lovely, and the view of the white horse running is very amazing! It was so funny that at first, she did not want to stay in that place, but later felt the love of her own family. Love it!

What I learned from the movie? It is just family is still the best people in the world no matter what. We may reach and achieve what we love, but we still belong to the same people that made us great. For Hannah, her family is a bunch of talented singers which made her very talented too.

Alien In The Attic

2009-08-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

Alien In The Attic is one of the latest and best movies to be shown in theaters. The movie was directed by John Schultz and screenplay by Burton and Goldberg. Carter Jenkins, Austin Robert Butler, Ashley Tisdale, and Ashley Boettcher topbilled this adventure and family film. Basically, it is about a family with children who are smart and close to each other. The story started when the family organized a vacation in one place. The kids met with their cousins also and other members of the family. The Pearson family enjoyed the vacation so much that the parents were not aware that something strange was happening within the house.

The kids fought against the aliens in the attic who plotted invasion. The aliens had ambition of taking the whole world as their own. Ricky, who was the boyfriend of Bethany Pearson move under the spell of the aliens and was made their puppet until such time that the kids planned hard to defend their family. Their grandmother, Nana Rose comes also under the spell of the aliens, however she was able to help the kids fight against the aliens. The kids are so wise that they were able to control the aliens to fight against each other using remote control gadgets. Later on, the aliens were defeated with the help of one of their kind companion, a little alien whose heart is also good. After all, the story portrayed that family relationship is still important than anything else and whatever trials would be won over through cooperation and love.

Bangkok Dangerous

2009-08-18T21:19:00.001-07:00

Nicholas Cage gave justice to his role as an assassin in Bangkok Dangerous. In line with that, there are three points that must be realized upon watching the film. First, there is much violence shown in the movie but it was balanced with portraying the importance of conscience and love. Nicholas Cage played an anonymous assassin in the story. He went to Bangkok, Thailand to kill three enemies of his employer. As a hired killer, he has rules to follow, never show interest, do not ask questions, and erase any trace of the job-which he defied at the last part of the movie. Despite his mastery of killing individuals, he changed his mind at the last moment when he realized that he was made the target of other assassins already. Second, meeting a pick-pocketer named Kong is the turning point of the story from violence, to respect, friendship, and then to heroism. Kong was almost killed by the anonymous assassin, but when he pleaded for his life, he was saved from death. Later on, the assassin trained him for self-defense in case there will be problems in their mission. Only two targets were killed by the assassin because the third one was saved by the circumstances when Kong mentioned that such third target was a good man.

Finally, the irony of silence and violence is depicted in the film. It may be dangerous to be with a person who saw blood as a finalization of one's job, a girl fell for the assassin. Such girl was a deaf-mute but was able to give life of the dangerous and boring life of the assassin. Aside from the fact that Bangkok, Thailand is a beautiful country, there is one thing that makes it unforgettable: Bangkok Dangerous proved that love is still the ruling and ultimate feeling in this world amidst chaos and betrayal.

James Mawdsley: The Heart Must Break

2009-08-17T21:38:00.001-07:00

As a dedicated human rights activist, James Mawdsley wrote a book that provides more room for protests against the oppression done by military junta in Burma. He visited the country for three times in order to question the leadership of the military over the people in the locality. There are many lessons learned in the book. First, I agree with Mawdsley that there is more to life that deserves review by a person. Life in the university is fun, but the outside world beyond United Kingdom requires a generous and resolute heart and mind to protect those who are oppressed, feed the poor, help the needy, and stand for democracy. Second, there are varied elements of pain, laughter, confusion, regrets, curiosity, poverty, hardships, and even happiness that are embedded in the book. Life in prison was no fun for Mawdsley, but his cause always reminded him to stay focused and be a survivor. Third, Burma is a beautiful place based on the story of the author. An imaginary mind starts to work upon reading the third to the last chapter of the novel. I realized that it is possible for a citizen from a rich country to try living in the outskirts of a third country because he considers the poor and oppressed locality therein as his brothers. Indeed, Mawdsley is a person who knows what he is all about.

The book also focused on the freedom and responsibility of a person to take a move for the benefit of the people in Burma. It could be remembered that Mawdsley do not want to be a member of any group having the same work as he had because he wanted his freedom and protect his own thoughts. Unlike becoming a member of a non-governmental organization whose interests must align with its financiers and supporters, James remained to be alone for freedom's sake. In other words, he would not allow anyone to dictate his moves especially those who would just spoil his cause. Besides, he endured numerous days of torture and fear ignoring the filthy prison cells that made him live like an animal. Essentially, Mawdsley was able to earn respect and support from his family despite the fact that his activities are extremely dangerous. Finally, the author is also intelligent enough to make his captors smile at him with shame and confusion. With the hope of helping the people embrace democracy, he never lose courage and faith just to magnify his good intentions.

Hokku Poems in Four Seasons by Yosa Buson

2009-08-07T01:32:00.001-07:00

Yosa Buson wrote a poem that used senses in order to share experiences in life. The poem revolves around four seasons such as spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The value of self-confidence has been given importance in the poem and the author is confident enough to mention that at spring time, she finished the poem already. The venue of the poem is in Kyoto and the images talks about ordinary persons found in the community. The image of the bridge has been given life and longer daylight during springtime was mentioned. The way life is moving is also tackled with so much respect on the loyalty of time to its own pace.

The spring season was changed into summer and it was known to a noble man. When the spring day halted, summer blossomed into quietness of the day. In the same way, the author welcomed the season with candor as if it beautifies the whole place through the peony flowers. Yet, autumn is the saddest season for the author for it was the time when a special person died. The feeling of loneliness was emphasized then. Essentially, there was also peace during autumn despite the tragedy that came amidst it. The sight of the snow has been discussed in the poem when the season of winter was made its closure. The idea of hope was planted in the author’s heart while accepting all the things that happened.

Heaven and Earth

2009-07-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

The movie is somewhat historical since it is based on a true to life story. It is based on the memoir written by Le Ly Hayslip on account of her life from childhood until such time that he conquered what life has to offer. Obviously, the story mainly happened in Vietnam wherein the author lived and survived during the series of war and bloodshed. Basically, the plot of the story is inherently brutal. What could you expect during war time? It may be hard on the part of Le Ly Hayslip, but she definitely endured and learned many lessons.

The genres of the film include drama, history, adventure, and biography. It is a story of survival and the ability to embrace truth and life itself. The value of true love is difficult to measure in the story since the primary purpose of the author is to survive her difficult ordeal. It is not less than two times that she almost died from the hands of her tormentors. Oliver Stone shaped this movie as honest as he could endear life between death scenes. The village girl Le Ly Hayslip loved her family so much that he would do everything to run away from poverty, bloodshed, terror, betrayal and pain. She was married to an American soldier who taught her to improve life, only to kill himself out of misunderstanding and pride. All things considered, the movie is superb and will make us realize that life is precious more than anything else. Having one Golden Globe award, the film is worth our time.

Shinjuku Incident Movie Review

2009-07-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

The movie is directed by Derek Yee and played by Jackie Chan as the lead star, Naoto Takenaka as Inspector Kitano, Daniel Wu as Jie, and Masaya Kato as Eguchi. The plot of the movie comprises more of drama blended with action. The story is also interesting as it triggers the mind of a person who knows much about illegal immigrants in Japan. The values that are developed in the movie are loyalty, camaraderie, deep understanding, survival of the fittest, and word of honor. The actors played well their parts especially the yakuza gang and their leaders.

The Shinjuku Incident movie directs its way to the life of a Chinese illegal immigrant in Japan. Jackie Chan plays Steelhead who is a tractor mechanic from Japan who entered Japan illegally to look for his long lost girlfriend. His character was supported by a friend Jie who also stayed at the busy place Shinjuku district in Tokyo. They worked for crappy jobs just to earn a living while staying in the country until such time that Steelhead found out that his girlfriend already married a yakuza leader named Eguchi. When Eguchi's life was in danger, Steelhead saved his life and they later agreed to revenge for the incident. For several reasons, Steelhead could no longer leave his friends within Shinjuku despite chances given to him. A police inspector named Kitano became his friend when he saved the former's life. The gang life in Shinjuku district became so dangerous that when Steelhead's friends got hold of power and influence, they gained several enemies from the rival gang. In trying to live life in the legal way, Steelhead tried to advise his friends to change their wrong attitude. But as fate dictates, blood flooded in the area as their rival gang tried to kill them all. Inspector Kitano got hold of important information about the yakuza before Steelhead died.

Lars and the Real Girl

2009-07-16T23:18:00.000-07:00

My perceptions and presumptions about people who order sex dolls are not limited on the morality of the person but on how he was raised as a child. In most cases, people who perform something unusual are a reflection on his childhood days. This perception and presumption was supported by the movie Lars and the Real Girl wherein Lars fell in love with a doll because of his unhappy childhood. In my case, if a family member or a friend ordered a sex doll, I will not judge the person right away. I will deal the matter with reasonable thinking and focus on the reason why the said act happened.

Lars constructed a social identity for Bianca by means of introducing her as his girlfriend, as if she was a real girl. The fact that Bianca is just a doll was lost when the townspeople accepted her character as if she was a real girl. Since Lars treated Bianca as a real girl and allowed her to grow by working as a model and attending meetings, he painted a scenario that Bianca is an active and normal girl who loves him. Hence, the social identity of Bianca is a girl who is willing to love him while reaching for her dreams.

The townspeople accepted Bianca as a real girl despite the fact that she was a doll. They also accepted her as the girlfriend of Lars which made Lars able to interact with them well. Aside from that, the people in the town allowed Bianca to work as a model in a clothing store and attend social activities. When Bianca was sick and later on died, the people in the town also offered flowers and support for the couple, Lars and Bianca.

About family and romantic relationships, our moral presumption is that boy-girl relationships must be acceptable in the society in such a way that parents and family members agree to the relationship. The girl must be hardworking, attractive, and intelligent. In the human race, the person who knows how to interact well with other people is always accepted in the society. People base friendship and camaraderie with how a person agrees to the norms and practices of the community he or she belongs. A person is also considered dignified when he has pride and wit to run his life. For example, in the movie Lars and the Real Girl, the attitude of Lars in buying a sex doll named Bianca in the Internet made people think that he was insane. But when he introduced Bianca to the people and the latter's acceptance made Lars capable of interacting well with them, he became a dignified person and was accepted as a real man. Sexuality is based on the quest of becoming a real man and capable of performing responsibilities in the family and the society as a whole. The people in the community believe that the presence of Bianca in the life of Lars made him a better person. Buying sex dolls is not really an immoral act, and what is important is how the act touches the lives of many people. The relationship of Bianca and Lars is not really immoral. Their relationship is based on the norms of the society and the difference is only the fact that Bianca is a doll and not the real girl. But it still depends on the way people think and perceive in a given situation. I believe that the movie reinforced the belief that femininity (and females) is best represented by silence and passivity. I believe that the movie offered a view of femininity (and females) that is vibrant, active and engaged in their abilities and lives. I choose this description in the film as an assessment because it was proven in the movie that a vibrant, active, and hard working girl is mostly accepted in the society. Like Bianca, any girl who works hard and interacts well with other people is a likeable person.