Anjchang movie blog on blogspot.com

Last weekend we saw The Golden Compass with V&R. It was good to see the realization of the book details on the big screen. The characters were nicely portrayed, but the story was not told as well. My most obvious complaint was the missing last chapter, but there were other details that I was looking forward to seeing, such as the chase scenes with Lyra meeting a nice stranger, and stealing a boat from the gypsies. I missed most the sordid demonstration of that Grumman guy's head in a block of ice, since I was rather curious about it when I read the book. I liked the book so much that I felt that the storytelling in the movie was rather choppy and sloppy. They left out a lot of good stuff. They should have some sort of narration to transition between scenes better. The fighting scenes were rather kewl, and the shots of the panserborne bears were great (although I thought Iorek could have run faster in the external crosscountry shots). I enjoyed the vibration force of the bear...

The revised version of Hairspray is awesome. John Travolta's acting was superb, and so was Christopher Walken. The songs were terrific, and the slapstick humor had me rolling. On the other hand, American Gangster was very bloody and violent. Not for your faint of heart or sensitive person.

In fashion class, we saw Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo? , a movie about Twiggy-ish model in Paris. It was a little surreal, with the musical choruses, and the bizarre fashion. But I think the movie is meant to capture the essence of that era,the 60s, where everything foreign, political, rural, fashionable was in . The movie was interesting and although I don't think I really *got* the movie's whole message, it was visually stunning, even for such an old movie. I got confused about how Polly ends up, but it doesn't really matter. Its clear she is her own woman and she's not just a facade that the antagonist (filmmaker) wants her to be. I enjoyed it, if only because it was so different from anything I've seen before.

Today I caught Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with my good friend J. I wasn't sure that I would like really, because so far many sequels have been disappointing (Pirates 3 which my students were watching last night). Harry has grown older, and the stakes have risen higher in this one. I was at in suspense, even though I knew what had happened cause I had read the book. The Death Eaters and the wizard battles were even better than I had imagined, and also, I thought the movie's bad girl, The Umbridge Woman, was sheer evil! It was amazing what a complete fascist she was, and how she behaved. I was scared! I enjoyed the final battle moments the best, when Harry and Dumbledore are under Voldemort's attack. What awesome magic! :) This is a must see, particularly if you have read the books and seen the previous movies.

Saw the Silver Surfer 2 with V & R. It was awesome. I just enjoy watching the Welsh actor that plays the main character, Ioan Gruffudd . He plays the brilliant Reed Richards, and is engaged to Sue Storm in the beginning of this movie. The character development for him is again about the dual roles he has to play. He has both a sensitive side (and tries to make all the right moves when it comes to his sweetheart (Sue's a lucky gal)), who also has a Super-nerdy side as a brave scientist-superhero good-guy (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic). He also shows some terrific awkward but cool dance moves, but he can dance! Is it me, or does his shy side make him even more handsome [cue Diana King's "Shy Guy" lyrics]? I enjoyed reminding myself of the swashbuckling, principled but mischievous character he played as Horatio Hornblower . I have trouble deciding what makes Gruffudd's characters so cool: 1.he's ultra handsome slim, tall, and built (but shows humbleness)...

Pirates of the Carribbean 3 was okay. Some of it was enjoyable, other parts were too long. I didn't think there was enough Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) pirate acting, and there wasn't nearly enough swashbuckling. I'm a little annoyed that there was too many crossed romances to keep track of. Also, it didn't seem like the resolution in the end was a true resolution, not all the couples ended up together-- or it wasn't a good ending anyway. Also, don't they pay these people to do editing? What's with all the ho-hum pirate arguing over a table, and Sparrow's dad-- unnecessary plot baggage!!!! At least I got to see a pirate wedding-- that was alright, and some interesting naval fighting. Luckily, my Amazon shipment came in, and I also got to see a better movie: Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines. The Italian count was AWESOME!!! He does everything with relish, and also I thought the heroic acts were quite interesting. The plot was full of humor ...

Pan's Labyrinth was dark, but good. I really liked the imagery of the nightmare scenes, and the folklore of the mandrake root. It was interesting because these details were imaginative and detailed, in a way that I felt was very believable. The creature-monster was unbelievably nightmarish, and I am still wondering if the faun was good or bad. what was he eating? The ending scene with the villagers reminds me of Jim's game, Resident evil 4 , "muerte muerte muerte".

The Prestige at LSC. It was great, worth seeing. It was exciting. I really enjoyed the plot, and I don't want to spoil it, but the plot twists are great. I wonder how it compares to The Illusionist. Apparently, the 2nd time is even better, so I might have to catch it on DVD. The suspense was good, and Tesla was a terrific character for us nerds! Also recently saw the end of Love Actually again. The brits make great movies, Guy 101 which won the BAFTA for Short Animation this year.

Happy New Year! It was fun hanging out with all my friends and family. Here's a toast to 2007!

Recently we saw " The Pursuit of Happyness ". It was very uplifting. Highly recommended. The acting was terrific, particularly the look of Will Smith getting happyness. I also thought the cameo of Chris Gardner was cool. It is amazing what we will do to pursue our dreams.