Yes Man
By Yirone Huang
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Yes Man is an American comedy film directed by Peyton Reed. The film is based on a true story written by Danny Wallace. Yes Man allows main actor “Jim Carrey” to be a comedy champion again. When the movie was released last year on December 19, it became the highest-grossing film in North America, where the film revenue was $ 18.3 million in its first weekend.
The movie narrates a Los Angeles bank employee Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) whom has become very depressed and pessimistic since he divorces his ex-wife Stephanie (Molly Sims). Therefore, he loses his life goal ignoring his friends. He refuses everybody’s consideration and concern. When he meets his old friend (John Michael Higgins), he tries to persuade Carl to attend the “Yes!” seminar, which will help him to improve his personality.
After the seminar, he changes his attitude becoming a “Yes Man”, which means Allen must says yes to any opportunity. When he meets a homeless man, he practices this action by giving him a ride and some money. To Allen’s surprise, he says yes, because he hopes he can be a successful person. Because of his positive attitude, he meets Allison (Zooey Deschanel) accidently. He feels he is a lucky man, so he continues to say yes to everything. However, one day his girlfriend finds out his special personality. She gets so mad, because she thinks he is a liar. She doubts that when everything he says yes, does really mean he wants to say yes. Therefore, they get fight often. At the end of the film, he knows what he really wants and he wins his girlfriend’s heart back.
The film has big cast. Many audiences say the film is very inspiring, making people think twice about their life’s attitude. When people get a chance, people should cherish the opportunity. However, they need to know what they really want.
Picture source: Photobucket
Source: IMDb & Official Website
Final Destination 3
By Yirone Huang
Death will come back again
Final Destination is a series of horror films. The main link between these series is that the main actor can forecast what will happen in the next minute. The first Final Destination directed by James Wong was released in 2000. The second one directed by David Ellis was released in 2003. The third one directed by Wong, was released in 2006. The fourth film will be released in September, 2009.
The first film narrates leading man Devon Sawa (Alex Browning), who has the ability to predict what will happen in the next moment after his dream. One day, he and his classmates want to take a plane. Whilst Sawa waits for the plane, he takes a nap. In his dream, he predicts his plane will explode, when it takes off. When he awakes in shock, he tells his classmates about his dream. However, they don’t believe him, only his close friends. As a result, the plane explodes in the air. Nevertheless, this event is not over, because Death will come back again.
The second film talks about Clear Rivers (Ali Larter) who can forecast what will happen in the next second. When she is in her friend’s car on the freeway, some terrible sights flash into her mind. She sees they will have multiple serious car accidents in the next moment. She tries to save her friends. However, it is too late to warn them. Finally, in this serious car accident, only six people survive. The ending is like the first film, Death will come back and take their life again.
In 2006, the third Final Destination film was released. This time the story is more and more suspenseful. The main story shows Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), her boyfriend and older sister going to a theme park to have fun. When they get on the roller coaster, they don’t know that Death is waiting for them around the corner.
Final Destination is a character film series. The producer uses good sound effect in this film. Final Destination 4, which will be a 3D movie, is coming soon.
Picture source: MSN Picture
Source: Yahoo Movie & IMDb
Romantic Epic “Australia”
By Yirone Huang
Trust yourself, believe your decision
Australia is a romance epic film directed by famous auteur Baz Luhrmann. The screenwriters are Stuart Beattie and Ronald Harwood. The film set from 1939 to 1942 during World War II and took place in Northern Australia cites including Darwin, Kununurra, and Bowen. The movie was released during November 2008 in Australia and United States. In late December 2008, the film was released worldwide.
The film begins in 1939, when a pretty lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels from England to northern Australia, where her husband works. She suspects that her husband has been stationed in Faraway Downs for so long because she feels there is a third person in their marriage. Lady Sarah is a fastidious girl, she hopes everything around her is good, because she can’t tolerate defective things. Therefore, to protect her prestige she decides to go to Australia, attempting to find the evidences. When she arrives in Faraway Downs, to her surprise, her husband is murdered by someone who uses a glass lance. Because of her husband’s death, she needs to sell Faraway Downs to retain her livelihood. At the same time, she finds out Faraway Downs’ cattle station manager Neil Fletcher (David Wenham) is trying to gain control of the farm. She flies into a rage, where she makes up her mind to renew Faraway Downs. However, she faces a big problem where she has no idea about how to take care of the estate. Therefore, she calls Drover (Hugh Jackman) for help to move the cattle. In the process, she meets a young aboriginal boy, Nullah (Brandon Walters), who possesses magical ability. The boy inspires Sarah’s motherly love, so she wants to protect him. To the audience’s surprise, Drover and Sarah don’t get on well at the first meeting. However, after a few days, they also change their attitude and become a sweet couple. During this troubled time, she learns to solve problems by herself, becoming more and more independent.
The film has a big cast including Oscar movie winner Nicole Kidman who worked with the director in Moulin Rouge. The main actor Hugh Jackman plays Wolverine in the X-Men Origins film.
Picture source: Yahoo Picture
Source: Australia Official Website & Yahoo Movie
Classic “Titanic”
By Yirone Huang
Classic Movie Forever
Titanic is a 1997 romance and disaster drama, directed and written by James Cameron. The film narrates Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) who fall in love, despite they are in totally different social classes. Unfortunately, this couple faces a terrible situation, they are aboard the misfortune ship which is called RMS Titanic. The main characters and the film’s love story are fictional, but some characters are based on real historical personage.
The film uses flashback to present the beginning of film, focusing on the 101-year-old Rose Dawson Calvert (Gloria Stuart) who talks about the story from her memory. In 1912, Rose boards the ship from Southampton, England to New York, America, with her fiancé, Caledon “Cal” Nathan Hockley (Billy Zane) and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater (Frances Fisher). Because her family is bankrupt, her mother hopes Rose can marry Cal, who is in the upper class of society. However, it is not Rose expectation, but she knows she does not have any chances to change her mother’s decision and she feels upset for her future. Thus, she attempts suicide by jumping from the stern of the ship. Accidently, Jack intervenes. He successfully persuades Rose to stop her harmful behavior. At the same time, they fall in love with each other and Rose decides to leave the ship and go with Jack when it arrives in New York. Nevertheless, good times do not last long, when the ship’s crew find out too late that the ship will collide with an iceberg. Because of this accident, Rose and Jack are separated for their whole lives. Even though Jack finally dies, Rose knows Jack will always live in her dream.
This film has a big cast, which won eleven Oscars Awards, including Best Picture and Best Movie. In addition, the movie became the highest-grossing film in North America. The total worldwide revenue is $1.8 billion, thus the film is also the most successful movie ever.
Picture source: Wikipedia
Source: IMDb
The Story of a Murderer “Perfume”
By Yirone Huang
A murderer story about perfume
The film “Perfume” is based on a best-selling 1985 novel, by German writer Patrick Suskind. Perfume is a horror film directed by Tom Tykwer.
The story narrates a young man who possesses a powerful olfactory sense, performed by Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw). The film is set in 18th Century France, where Grenouille suffers from abnormal psychology. He murders more than a dozen women to create a perfect scent.
In the beginning of the movie, Grenouille is born in a French fish market where he is abandoned and he grows up in an orphanage. When he was a child, he becomes a genius of smelling. After many years, he makes a delivery to a perfume shop. To Grenouille’s surprise, the owner Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman), teaches Grenouille how to capture smells and how to create perfume. Baldini is a master at creating fragrances. Baldini is very patient and teaches his employee about all kinds of perfume scents. When Grenouille finds out he has a lot of interest in collecting and preserving special scents forever. To him, special scents are very attractive. From then on, he starts to murder women who possess special scents, because he desires to collect all fascinating smell. Therefore, he becomes a serial murderer.
The film uses a lot of character features to make people feel more jumpy. Also, the director employs sound effects to make the audience feel excited. Many people give this film good feedback, because the film style of horror is very effective. Nobody would expect that perfume will cause somebody death.
Picture source: Soundtrack
Source: Perfume Official Website
Valuable Friends “Eight Below”
By Yirone Huang
Brave sled dogs
Eight Below is a touched and adventure movies, directed by Frank Marshall and written by David DiGilio. The film narrates eight brave sled dogs wait for their master who is trying to find out a way to rescue them in Antarctica. Eight Below was inspired by a true story from a Japanese researcher.
Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker) is a tour guide in Antarctica, where he works in the National Science Foundation. He has a pack of sled dogs, which help him to find the right direction in the snow. One day, Dr. Davis McClaren (Bruce Greenwood) goes to the Antarctic base and presses Shepard to take him to Mount Melbourne to find a meteorite from the planet Mercury. However, Shepard tells him it is too late to go there, because of the treacherous route. If he does want to go to Mount Melbourne, the only way is by sled dogs. On their way, they know a serious storm will be coming, so they immediately try to call back to base, where no one answers. At the same time, Dr. Davis falls in water and gets terribly hurt. Fortunately, the brave sled dogs return them to the base.
When they return, they decide to immediately evacuate because a storm is coming. All the team members get on the plane, but there is too much weight in the plane to carry both people and dogs. Thus, they decide to return to carry the sled dogs later. When they get home, they find out it is too difficult to go back to save dogs.
At the end of the film, after five months, Shepard tries his best to figure out a way to rescue his valuable “sled dogs.” During this period, sled dogs need to live by themselves. How are they surviving? If you are interested, I encourage you go to see this adventure movie. The film is very moving, because people can know how important relationship between dogs and human are.
Picture source: Yahoo picture
Video source: Youtube
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
P.S. I Love You
True love lasts forever
By Yirone Huang
P.S. I love you is a 2007 American drama film directed by Richard LaGravense. The film is based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Irish writer Cecelia Ahern. This novel was the bestseller for 19 weeks in Ireland. The film makes people believe true love lasts forever.
Holly (Hilary Swank) is a beautiful, smart woman and she is married to Gerry Kennedy (Gerard Butler) who is the love of her life and he is a passionate, funny and impetuous man. Nevertheless, good time never lasts, Gerry suddenly suffers from serious illness, which takes his life away. To Holly’s disappointment, the only one who can help her is the person who is no longer there, she has no idea how to live without her husband. No one understands Holly better than Gerry. Suddenly, she loses her goals in life. Because she is so upset, her friends, Denise Hennessey (Lisa Kudrow) and Sharon McCarthy (Gina Gershon), and her mother try to encourage her to find her new life and right direction.
When Holly has her 30th birthday, she receives a series of 10 letters from Gerry day by day, she is so surprised. All the letters end with the same sign-off: “P.S. I love you.” Before Gerry passes away, he tries his best to arrange to have the letters delivered to her after his death. Each message leads Holly’s life to go on, bring encouragement to her and sending her on a new adventure of live. The messages include various tasks to make Holly more comfortable. With Gerry’s letters, they guide her in a right view and make her renew her life. Finally, she joins in a fashion course and finds out she has talent of designing woman’s shoes. Then, she becomes more confident in herself.
The film makes most people cry, because the story is so touching. Believe what you love, respect what you choose.
Picture source: Google image
Source: P.S. I love you official website
Fireproof
By Yirone Huang
Never leave your partner behind
Fireproof is based on Christian belief. It also is a love drama, which is directed by Alex Kendrick. The film has strong inspiration; it makes people understand how to stay married, lead an honest life and let your faith in higher power help guide you in the right direction.
The film narrates a heroic firefighter Caleb Holt (Kirk Cameron) who faces marriage problems, because he thinks his wife Catherine (Erin Bethea) does not respect him. His wife thinks she is not a significant person for him anymore and he does not care about what she really wants. Therefore, she decides to divorce him. They have been married for seven years. He still loves her, so he tries to reverse her decision.
As a result, he asks his father, John (Harris Malcolm) for help about his impending divorce. His father said when he got married, he also faced the same problem. However, he overcame it. Then, his father challenges Caleb to wait 40 days before divorcing. He gives his son a book called “The Love Dare”; he tells him he must follow the book’s guideline and try to do something good for Catherine every day. At the same time, Catherine’s peer, Dr. Gavin Keller (Perry Revell) tries to woo her. Keller does not know that Catherine is married until Keller meets him at hospital. When he knows Catherine has husband, he changes his attitude.
However, Caleb does not take the challenge very well every time he wants to be nice to his wife. To his disappointment, she always insists on rejecting him. Caleb feels down, he wants to give up his father challenge. He asks his father how to make Catherine change her mind, even though she ignores him. His father tells him that he needs to wholeheartedly love his wife, rather than being perfunctory. During this period, he thinks twice, finally, he figures out how to stay married. At the End of the film, Catherine forgives him and she is willing to love him again.
In this film, people can better understand how to stay married and their thoughts become more optimistic. When facing marriage problems, people should come down and think about your partner side. Make your partner feel s/he is important.
Picture source: Blogspot
Video source: Youtube video
Source: Fandango Website
A Fairy Tale “Penelope”
By Yirone Huang
A pig nose girl
Penelope is a romantic comedy film directed by Mark Palansky. It is a fairy tale, which narrates a girl who has a pig nose. She has spent all her life trying to break a strange family curse made on her nose.
Generations ago, the Wilhern family had a son who fell in love with a girl who was their servant and her mother was a witch. Although they wholeheartedly loved each other, they couldn’t get together. Finally, the man married another and the girl committed suicide. When the witch found out, she got mad and made a serious curse on the Wilhern family, she cursed the family’s next daughter to have a pig nose.
For generations, the family only had sons, until five generations later, when Penelope (Christina Ricci) was born. When she was born, she suffered from the pig nose curse. However, her parents wanted to break the pig nose curse on their daughter, they thought if they could find a man who born to a blueblood family which means a person from wealthy family it might help Penelope to break the curse. Nevertheless, the fact is not what they thought, Penelope needs to love herself, and then she can break her curse.
In the story, Penelope has no confident in herself, because of her pig nose. Her parents, Jessica (Catherine O’Hara) and Franklin (Richard E. Grant), try to make a blind date for her. Because they think as soon as they find a blueblood boy, they can break the curse. Unfortunately, every man runs away at first sight, including Edward Humphrey Vanderman III, a spoiled and ruthless man. At the same time, a tabloid reporter named Lemon (Peter Drinklage) wants to get a photograph of Penelope. Therefore, Vanderman teams up with Lemon and they try to get a picture of Penelope’s pig nose. They mistakenly take Johnny (James McAvoy) ,an unrepentant gambler, for Max (Nick Frost), who wants to help Lemon and Vanderman snatch a photograph of her for money.
As soon as Max
sees Penelope at first sight, he falls in love with her. Nevertheless, Penelope’s parents find out he does not born in blueblood family. At the same time, Vendorman says he wants to marry Penelope. So, they decide to let her daughter marry Vendorman. In wedding ceremony, Penelope figures out she does not want to marry him, because she loves herself. At that moment, she breaks her curse by herself. By the end of the film, Penelope finds Max and she tells him how much she loves him.
The film tells a truth, if people do not like themselves, nobody will care about them. As a result, everybody should think they are a significant person.
Picture source: Yahoo Picture
Source: Wikipedia
Magical Remote “Click”
Magical Remote Control
By Yirone Huang
Click is a 2006 American comedy movie, which was directed by Frank Coraci. The story focus on life of young architect, Michael Newman (Adam Sandler), who is workaholic, he wholeheartedly wants to pleased his ungrateful boss and earn a well-deserved promotion. As a result, he doesn’t have enough time for his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and his children.
When he meets Morty (Christopher Walken), a loopy sales clerk, his life is totally changed, because of a magical remote control. It allows Michael to bypass his distraction and unhappy times. When Michael enjoys skipping and scanning past his family and his friends, he doesn’t know the magical remote gradually takes over his life where soon everything is out of control. When the film ends, he loses his whole life and his wife’s love, he is so regretful. Fortunately, the story he goes though is just a dream. After that, he becomes more and more caring about his family and his friends.
Audiences think Michael is eager to bring good quality lives for his family; however, he ignores what his family actually wants. For example, he gives his children a promise that he will help them to build a wood house. However, in his mind, he just wants to make a bundle. Therefore, he is very hard-working; he stays at the basement every night to draw his blueprints. He totally forgets his promise and children’s feeling.
In our daily lives, most people will face this problem, where they don’t have time for their family, when they miss a lot, they will understand more what they want to cherish. Therefore, people should more concernded about their family and friends.
Picture source: Msn Images
Source: IMDb Website & Wikipedia
