“The Air I Breathe” is a thought provoking film with an amazing script. The acting was superb and concept is unique.

“Where does change come from? And how do we recognize it when it happens?”

The film intricately ties together four stories of love, pleasure, happiness and sorrow. What would you do if you realized that your life has become a giant trap? How would you escape your monotonous life? What if you could see the future but had no power to change it? What if the woman you love is married to your best friend?  I was very intrigued by the film and as I watched the credits (YES I WATCH CREDITS) I noticed that the characters names were literally “Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow and Love”.

After some research I found out that movie is based on an ancient Chinese proverb. Apparently each character is supposed to be one of life’s four emotional cornerstones.  Forrest Whitaker is a timid business man struggling with his everyday life. He symbolizes “Happiness” and his quest to find it. His story ties into that of Brendan Fraser: A gangster who can see the future. Mr. Fraser symbolizes “Pleasure”. Throughout his whole life, Brendan has been able to see the future but have no power to change it. This suddenly changes when Sarah Michelle Gellar walks into his life.

Before we continue let me just say that I LOVE SMG. I was a huge fan when she was BUFFY the Vampire Slayer. Moving on, Sarah portrays a fragile pop star who finds out that her future will be controlled by a ruthless gangster known as “Fingers”. Her story is that of “Sorrow”. Finally last but not least is “Love”, in which Kevin Bacon tries to save the love of his life. The catch is that this woman is married to his best friend. It is said that our lives are a constant struggle of these four forces. This film is an excellent example of these forces at work.

This film was direct by Jieho Lee. Who is that you ask?? Apparently Mr.Lee went to Harvard Business School as a compromise with his parents. They would not allow him to be a filmmaker without “insurance”. Wow you gotta be pretty talented to go to Harvard as “insurance”. I don’t think he’s a big name yet but if he continues to make movies like this I’m sure he will get far. The movie is good and I’m still thinking about it…

The film did have its shortcomings but they were minor. A lot of questions are not answered and the characters seem almost too eager to fulfill their destined roles. I was so into the movie that these minor flaws didn’t bother me. I don’t feel like destroying a movie today. ^^

In conclusion, “The Air I Breathe” is a great film that is thought provoking as well as aesthetically pleasing. It’s a unique film that anyone can relate too. wriXeL gives “The Air I Breathe” a 8.36.

Also John Cho & Emile Hirsch are in this the movie. I f*cking love John Cho… wow Kal Penn looks hilarious..

Awesome trailer right?

I try to watch movies without any expectations but after watching this trailer its hard not to expect a lot.  I was ready to be disappointed with the film, but to my surprise the movie actually met my high standards.

The story follows a young man, Michael Angarano, as he accidentally gets involved in an age-old feud between 2 power warriors. The story is corny and predictable but still entertaining.  Sometimes the story seemed rushed but overall it was well paced.  Many moments of the film reminded me of my favorite nickelodeon show, the AVATAR. Some scenes also reminded me of things I’ve seen in Lord of the Rings.

If you’ve never watched “AVATAR” I highly recommend watching it.  The show is intended for younger audiences but if you can look past some corny dialogue its actually a great show.

AVATAR OFFICIAL SITE

FB also featured two beautiful actresses that I have never seen before.

Actresses: Li Bing Bing & Liu Yifei.  (Which one is prettier?)

What you don’t care about the story? How’s the Kung-fu? He is a small sample of what’s in store:

The kung fu was cool but its nothing you haven’t seen before. Both Jet Li & Jackie Chan did an awesome job with their martial arts and acting.  I found Jet Li’s Chinese accent to be a little overwhelming during certain scenes.  This was a minor issue and didn’t really affect the movie.

In conclusion, Forbidden King is fun, light hearted movie with great kung-fu action. The story is ordinary but still engaging. I would recommend this movie for parents looking for a suitable movie to watch with their kids.  It’s great for younger audiences but amusing enough so you aren’t pulling out your hair.

wriXeL gives the Forbidden Kingdom a 7.38 out of 10

I had low expectation for this movie but I was pleasantly surprised. The movie revolves around a rebellious teen named Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) and his career as a amateur fighter.  The movie begins with Jake getting beat up by a martial arts Champion, Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet). Jake not only gets his ass kicked but is humiliated in front of the whole school.  In his quest for revenge Jake attempts to learn MMA (mixed martial arts). In the process he finds a mentor and learns that life is more than just fighting.  Besides from Jean Roqua, I didn’t recognize anyone in the cast.  I think using no name actors made the film more believable.

I felt that the title of the film was misleading.  The movie emphasizes that you can always “change your position” in fighting and also in life.  You have options and you can shape your actions to influence the world around you.  The film stresses each person’s individual struggles and how one must overcome them.  I feel that the title “Never Back Down” doesn’t full encapsulate the movie in its entirety. “NEVER BACK DOWN” sounds like a meat heads workout motto.

The Marketing budget for this movie must’ve been really small because 80% of the people that I asked didn’t know of the film.  The trailer could have also been a lot better.

Some parts/dialogue of the movie were so excruciatingly corny that I burst into laughter.  I think the movie should have either gone “PG” or “R”.  Go straight up Disney, or step it up to Fight Club level.  It was stuck at a PG13 level that didn’t appeal to any audience.  It had situations that young-ins couldn’t relate to and older audiences were probably cracking up at the obscurity.

In conclusion, NBD felt like a modern day Karate Kid and despite its shortcomings I enjoyed the movie a lot.  The MMA (mixed martials arts) was cool and it was entertaining.

wriXeL recommends NBD and gives it a 7.3 out of 10.

PS.  wriXeL would like to Thank KanZen.

Appleseed Ex Machina is a unique Anime movie featuring high tech CG graphics.  The film was produced by John Woo and directed by Shinji Aramaki.  John Woo heavily influenced this movie with his over the top martial-arts combat, gun-usage and aerial stunts.  Shinji Aramaki is best known for his futuristic visions on exoskeletons, mecha and CG design.  His work in AS: Ex Machina is truly remarkable.  With these two all-stars on the project the end result is top-notch actions sequences and beautiful CG designs.  I saw the film on blu-ray and I have to say that I was blown away by how good the movie looks and sounds.

This movie is the 2^nd part of a trilogy.  The story focuses on Deunan & Briareos, 2 “ESWAT” soldiers who protect the city of Olympus.  The movie follows a typical “Save the world” scenario with a couple plots twists throw in for good measure. The story is probably the weakest part of this movie but in the grand scheme of things, the story is the last thing you’ll be thinking about ^^

In conclusion:

If you haven’t noticed yet, I really like this movie. Appleseed Ex Machina is an Anime action-junkies ultimate fix. There is never a dull moment and the visuals will leave you breathless.

wriXeL gives Appleseed Ex Machina its highest score so far with an 8.2 out of 10

As usual I made a video. ^^ This video features clips from the movie complemented by music by Crystal Method.

I hope you like it!

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Cloverfield is a unique monster movie that sets itself apart from others in the genre. JJ Abrams has once again produced amazing work. The whole concept of a monster attack from the first person point of view is brilliant. Although this brilliant idea works for the majority of the movie…in some scenes it just doesn’t. A lot of the film’s strengths were also its weaknesses.

I am content with the Cloverfield monster. You clearly saw what it was and yet you STILL didn’t know what you were looking at. The monster didn’t look cheesy or fake. Not only was the monster scary but the little creatures that fell from it were ever freakier. The special effects for the movie were wonderful! Building explosions looked real and the military action sequences were very convincing.

The main problem I had with Cloverfield was the first person point of view.

Motion SICKNESS WARNING.

I last experienced movie motion sickness during “The Blair Witch Project”. I felt like throwing up then, and during Cloverfield I felt like throwing up again. Maybe it was JJ Abrams idea to have you feel as nauseated as the people trying to escape. If you’re made of the tough stuff and aren’t affected by motion sickness then ignore this comment. If you are weak sauce like me, you’ve been warned.

There were a couple scenes in the movie I that I really liked. A great scene in the movie was when the girl exploded (By great I mean gross). I remembered her from “Mean Girls” and I thought she deserved better than that. I mean come on she was Janis Ian. It was deliciously scary when the “little monsters” were attacking them in the train tunnels. It reminded me of the “Descent” and how scared I was then.

I had a couple small issues with some scenes in the movie. Robert Hawkins loses his brother during the film and has a small meltdown. After 20 minutes or so he pulls himself together and runs off to save Beth. I’m sorry but if I lost my brother I don’t think I would be able to function for a quite some time. I’d be too damn devastated to try to be a hero. Towards the end of the movie they save, Beth McIntyre. Her apartment almost collapses, she gets impaled on a metal beam and she then survives a helicopter crash. Holy shit, only in a movie folks. J

The humor didn’t work during the movie. People are dying around you and you have the inclination to pop a joke? No. They should’ve cut this out. It generated a few chuckles in the audience but I think it brought the audience back to reality and back to realizing that they are watching a monster flick. The same comedian, Hud, also FILMS the entire attack? Bull shit. If I was under attack I would be running as fast as hell to get out of there. What was his motivation to keep filming? “So others will know how it went down?” Yea right, a real person would say, “Fuck this I’m getting out of here”

A lot of people had issues with the ending but I thought it was good. Although they died in an abrupt fashion, they died together and they got to say what they wanted to say. At that point if they survived I would’ve been pissed.

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Here is a quick summary (in nice bullet points for all you lazy people):

PROS

- The monster doesn’t disappoint. It was actually pretty cool.

- Special effects were wonderful.

- It was unbelievably realistic. You felt as if you were trying to escape from NY,

- The movie had a lot of cool NY landmarks I recognized.

- The ending was good in my opinion.

CONS

- Motion Sickness Warning. I seriously thought I was going to hurl.

- Super Human survivability. Some people just don’t die! J

- The humor just didn’t work with the film.

- The acting was decent but I think they could’ve shown more sadness and desperation.

Bottomline:

Coverfield is definitely a unique experience. If you can overcome the motion sickness and ignore some weak acting/humor you are in for a terrifying experience. The special effects are topnotch and monsters kicks ass.

Cloverfield gets a 7.3 out of 10.

I’ve been looking forward to I Am Legend (IAL) ever since I heard about its development. I have always been a fan of “Zombie” movies and IAL proves to be an entertaining addition to this genre.

Although IAL was good, I had two big problems with the movie.

Zombies:

The CG Zombies weren’t that scary. They were freaky at first but later on in the movie they just look silly. If you have ever watched “28 Days Later” you know what a scary zombie looks like. If “IAL” had incorporated scarier zombies I think the movie would’ve been a lot better.

The Ending:

I won’t ruin anything but lets just say the ending wasn’t special. It didn’t leave you feeling good, scared, or even happy. It left you feeling robbed. After finishing the movie I had thought, “Wow, did the movie just end?”

Bottom Line:

I AM LEGEND is a positive addition to the Zombie Thriller Genre. Will Smith delivers and Oscar worthy performance and many scenes are amazing. However, the Zombie special effects were problematic the ending leaves you desiring more. The movie was good but could’ve been legendary.

For more info go to: http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=40381

I can see a resemblance? It might just be my hormones talking…

I wonder who will play Ken?