Anjchang movie blog on blogspot.com

I have not had time to watch many movies in the past year. However, over Xmas break I saw 3 Idiots and thought it was awesome. I can sympathize with the ideals in the movie about wanting to have a better understanding of engineering and struggling against other factors that may inhibit this love for learning. Only once a person gets over fear and external pressure can they truly enjoy what they do. The best thing about the movie is the songs: All Izz Well and Zoobie Doobie are my two favorite songs to watch with the kid.

Tonight we saw The Hurt Locker at LSC. War movies are not my favorite genre, and I was afraid to watch some parts of it. There were more than a handful of intense scenes that required me to shield my eyes. I thought the actor and drama was really riveting, the character development of the main character was fascinating. It is clear that sometimes, people get addicted to doing something they feel is important and they get a high from it. However, once you have a social responsibility, it seems like it can't end well if you give up your passion for a stable life. It was definitely an interesting movie, and shows that there are a lot of tough choices to be made for people who are exceptionally talented.

Recent Trace Buster Buster movies I've seen (my 5 star system): Star Trek ***** yay, spock! yay kirk! yay space! yay big worm holes and time travel. Live long and Prosper. Angels and Demons **** it was a trace buster buster plot, involving some very strange methods of execution. Who knew selecting a new pope would wreak such havoc! Also the first time I've seen immolation. Wanted **** campy and fun, angelina jolie plays a great assassin. Morgan Freedman is terrific in his advisor, infallible role. This was also a trace buster buster plot. Starship Troopers **** Always fun, but I always forget how gory this movie is. I hear the book is much better. THe Big Hit ***** Trace Buster Buster says it all! Up! ***** its a great story, makes you realize that true love is having that person around you day to day, and celebrating that other person. "Every day is a honeymoon!" Sherlock Holmes (The Blue Carbuncle) *** such sporting gentlemen, hard not to like the intrigue and t...

We saw a lot of movies recently. here are some of them from good to horrible. Live Free or Die Hard. So good that I would watch it again. Funny and great. Blood Diamond was tops. Leonardo DiCaprio was a good bad guy, and the plot twists were good. Good character development, you really sympathize for the native guy and his family. I liked the way DiCaprio says "hey bruv". The interplay between people was good. The end could have been more disney, but it was good the way it was. I think the plot would have been better if there was less violence, but it wasn't bad compared to the grisly hooks in The last king of scotland . Iron man was enjoyable, although the girl in the movie was too dumb a character for my liking. the plot was good, and the fight scenes were alright. It is nice to see the sweat of engineering being done in a movie.I was cheezed by the cameo of Samuel Jackson at the end. It was lame, and had no point. Actually some of the bits were supposed to be fun...

DayWatch is the sequel to Nightwatch . It is a gripping story about how the world ends, as the battle between light and dark comes to a turning point. Beautiful and compelling storyline, I really enjoyed it, especially the Russian version. ALso saw StarDust , which was sweet, but too bland. The ideas about true love are okay, but the plot twists are a bit too sophomoric. The character development was a little shallow, although the evilness of the villainous witchsisters was good. It was a good plane movie, but I didn't find the story that satisfying. I enjoyed the theme of finding and recognizing true love, although it wasn't really weirdly humorous enough to become a cult classic, like The Princess Bride .

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.

Saw Titicut Folllies in Chris C's class. I didn't much care for it, it was awful. We also saw Noam Toran's Desire Management, which was pretty good as a provocative piece on how products can be presented in movies. We also saw Object for Lonely Men, that he made while at the RCA. I think I saw it when I was visiting Ian... The best part is the creativity of the piece. I also remember his Accessories for Lonely Menk on remembering a significant other through the traces of their presence. It was definitely a terrific bunch of product designs.

We saw the new James bond movie, Casino Royale . It was totally awesome. Bond (played by Daniel Craig) was such a brash but charming character, his acting was very enjoyable. The new intro used mathematical functions (sine waves and fractals-I'm such a nerd), reminds me of Ian Gouldstone's Corollary animation . Jim really liked Night Watch , but I didn't go. Maybe I'll have to watch it soon, although it sounds scary. Clerks II at LSC, was gross but fun. Some unbelievable scenes. I want the hours of my life back from watching Beerfest . Ofcourse, we also did see Borat , which was fun, but less mindless. It was educational, NOT!

Recently saw The Departed with V. It was very good, and the acting was superb. I really thought Marky Mark was a great character, full of fun and hijinx. Nicholson was a superb bad guy, as always. Matt Damon was great at playing the double cross, and so was Leonardo. Great timing and screenplay, I was riveted. The film was set in Boston, so there were many backdrops I could relate to. Boston is beautiful! highly recommended.

Last weekend we saw Thank you for Smoking at LSC. I think the guy had a lot of common sense in the way he approached what he did. Sure, we all have jobs we might not like, and we all find ways to justify why we work for them. I recently read some excerpts from Wisnioski's "Engineers and the Intellectual Crisis of Technology" and thought it melded perfectly with what the hero does in the movie. After enough inner dissent, we begin to question why we should apply technology and who benefits. Then we can put things into perspective in relation to how societies should function. The LSC classic was Some Like it Hot , which coincided with Buro's birthday. It was a terrific movie, and I enjoyed the acting. Its just funny and serious at the same time, and even in black & white, the action is intense. I liked all the intrigue between the four main characters, and even the bad guys looked great. Oh Sugar! The way they all walk in the movie is great, btw. Makes me want ...

Saw Fearless with Virginia and Rich. It was a wonderful movie, and makes me appreciate martial arts even better. The hero's transformation was very moving, and the fighting scenes were spectacular. It is worth it to try and watch it again sometime. Recently saw Brick with 1W at LSC . It was a good movie. We spent some time afterwards to discuss what actually happened, and I decided that it was an interesting movie, but they were definitely not High School STudents. The whole school plot was a random as a backdrop. It was a melancholy movie, and as they go, it was alright but a little slow. Had to pop in B13 to watch David Belle do Parkour, get the blood pumping again. Also saw bits of the 7 Samurai .