The Men Who Stares at Goats - 2009

Category: Movie

Genre: Comedy / War


Director: Grant Heslov

Writer: Peter Straughan , Jon Ronson

Producer: BBC Films, Smoke House, Westgate Film Services

Cast: Ewan McGregor, George Cloone, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Lang, Robert Patrick, Waleen Zuaiter, Stephen Root, Glenn Morshower, and more.

Tagline: No goats, no glory.

After his marriage fails, a reporter, Lyn Cassidy (McGregor) in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime, after meeting a special forces agent (Clooney) who reveals the existence of a secret, psychic military unit called the U.S. Army's New Earth Army whose goal is to end war as we know it using paranormal powers in their missions.


At first I had fun with all the new age-y feel one can get from the movie. But, I have a feeling its some sort of a new age spoof. There's a lot of quotable lines and special relevance to the Star Wars.. and the Jedi way.. all of which are tagged to the "New Age". Well, just enjoy it... at least it delves and looks into a possibility where soldiers will fight using non-invasive ways. no bombs, no guns.... just love and flowers and indigenous music. Hippie Military eh? Why not? :)

Star Dancer - Beth Webb

Category: Book

Genre: Teens Fiction

Author: Beth Webb

When magic meets destiny. 15 year old Tegen was declared the Star Dancer, whom everybody talked about. The baby who was born on the night of when the stars danced. However it took a long time for their community especially the druids to accept Tegen because she is just a normal girl. The druids were expecting a boy. Then came the challenges as she was given no choice but to learn and work with real magic when the prophesy about evil was about to happen.

REVIEW:

This book is geared for young adults. And it has every reason to. It has witchcraft and goddess in every page. I enjoyed it. Particularly the rituals of the druids and the talk about North, East, West and South spirits. I enjoyed the whole concept of it and it was like being lost in another fantasy world that could be just real....

Quotes:

No demon can ever have the last laugh when a soul's intention are good. Remember that. It is important.

Remember, child, when the world looks as if it is falling apart; all manner of things shall be well.

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

Category: Books

Genre: Classic

Author: Jane Austen

Mr. Henry Dashwood died and left all of his money and estate to his first wife's son John Dashwood. His second wife and three daughters were left with no permanent home and in reduced circumstances and so they were invited to stay with their distant relations at Barton Park. and will journey to a foreign land to start all over again.

This was probably the longest read ever!!! Haha. Aside from being busy... I kind of think this is a long ardous read. I enjoyed her Pride & Prejudice but this one was, let's just say, I wasn't that interested with the way storyline happened.

Quotes:

Elinor: After all that is bewitching in the idea of a sigle and constant attachment and all that can be said of one's happiness depnding entirely on any particular person, it is not meant - it is not fit - it is not possible that it should be so.

Ratatouille - 2007

Category: Movie / Animation

Genre: Animation / Comedy

Director: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava

Writer: Brad Bird, Jim Capobianco

Producer: Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures

Tagline: He's dying to become a chef.

Cast: Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn,

SUMMARY/OVERVIEW:

Remy is a young rat who resides in a French countryside who dreams of becoming a great French chef. During one of his adventures, fate brought him to one f the sewers of Paris and finds himself beneath the restaurant of his cooking idol, Auguste Gusteau. It's a personal adventure of a dream to be in a rat-hating world the fine French restaurant.

REVIEW:

Up for cooking? Wooohoo. Remy the rat gives you an idea how to be in the moment with food, really tasting it, savoring each of the flavor. It's a vivid imagery of a computer generated animation which gives you this realistic view. Voice acting is right for every moment. I love the inspirational storyline and its uniqueness. Its a classic!

great for family and friends.... if you want something fun to inspire you.... :)

QUOTES I LIKE

Remy: No. Dad I don't believe it. You're telling me that the future is - can only be more of *this*?
Django: This is the way things are. You can't change nature.
Remy: Change is nature, Dad. The part that we can influence. And it starts when we decide.
Django: [Remy turns to leave] Where are you going?
Remy: With luck, forward.

Gusteau: Ah, but that is no match for wishful thinking. If you focus on what you left behind. You will never be able to see what lies ahead. Now go up and look around.

Gusteau: [on TV] You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not work, and you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul. What I say is true - anyone can cook... but only the fearless can be great.

Leap Year - 2010

Category: Movie

Genre: Chick Flick / Romance / Comedy

Writer: Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont

Director: Anand Tucker

Producer: Universal Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Birnbaum/Barber

Tagline: Anna planned to propose to her boyfriend on February 29th. This is not her boyfriend.

Cast: Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott, John Lithgow, Noel O'Donovan, Tony Rohr, Pat Lahfan, Alan Devlin and more.

Anna Brady (Amy Adams) is a busy, goal oriented modern woman who managed to make elaborate plans to travel to Dublin, Ireland and propose to her boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) on February 29 (Leap Day) which is an Irish tradition. However there were setbacks and challenges she has to overcome before reaching her boyfriend on time.

It's a fun, light movie. Which is how chick flicks are supposed to be. The endearment, "bub" reminds me of Logan(Hugh Jackman) of X-Men. I like the accent. This movie introduces us to a unique Irish tradition during Leap Year. This is also a great blend of romance and comedy....

I have a crush on Matthew Goode... so yeah.. this is a heads up for me. I enjoyed Amy Adams during Enchanted that its really great to see her again here. :) Her charm and bubbly self never ceases to make me smile and laugh. I seem to like movies with settings as the countryside or Europe. So.. yeah its a good mix of all those. :)

Surrogates - 2009

Category: Movie

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi / Thriller

Director: Jonathan Mostow

Writer: Michael Ferris, John D. Brancato

Producer: Touchstone Pictures, Mandeville Films, Top Shelf Productions

Tagline: Human perfection ? What could go wrong?

Cast: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Boris Kodjoe, James Francis Ginty, James Cromwell, Ving Rames, Jack Noseworthy, Devin Ratray and more.

This movie is set in a futuristic world where humans are living in isolation and they only interact through surrogate robots. One advantage of having one is that it can take form of any look that you desire and it doesn't age. It's a utopian world where crime does not exist until the first murder in years alarms the current world. An FBI agent Greer (Bruce Willis) was forced to go out and leave his surrogate to discover a massive conspiracy.

This is an era where everything is perfect with technology. It shows how one society can be so extremely technologically advanced while others parts of the human self is ignored. I like the storyline it's unique. It's like SIMS coming to life... played on a huge scale. But, it's also a wake up call how technology is unstable if it is not in balance with spiritual progress.

Technology gone haywire.

Memorable Quote:

The Prophet: Look at yourselves. Unplug from your chairs, get up and look in the mirror. What you see is how God made you. We're not meant to experience the world through a machine.

Taken - 2008

Category: Movie

Genre: Action / Drama / Thriller

Director: Pierce Morrel

Writer: Luke Breson, Robert Mark Kamen

Producer: Europa Corp., M6 Films, Grive Productions.

Tagline: Time is running out.

Cast: Liam Nesson, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser, John Gries, David Warshofsky, Holly Valance, Katie Cassidy, Xander Berkeley and more.

Kim managed to convince her father, Bryan Mills (Liam Nesson) to travel to Paris with her friend Amanda. What seemed to be an innocent Parisian travel turned out to be a traumatic disaster! As Bryan Mills, relies with his age old spy skills to save his daughter, who has been forced into the slave trade with an Albanian gang.

It's a great fast paced action-packed movie. Not a huge conspiracy thing but something involving something personal. International human trafficking is largely the issue in the movie. Great direction and great acting by Neeson! :)

Worth watching. :)

Kate and Leopold - 2001

Category: Movies

Genre: Drama / Romance

Director: James Mangold

Writer: Steven Rogers, James Mangold

Producer: Konrad Pictures, Miramax Films

Tagline: This Christmas, chivalry makes a comeback.

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Meg Ryan, Liev Schreiber, Breckin Meyer, Natasha Lyone, Bradley Whitford, Paxton Whitehead, Spalding Gray, Josh Stamberg, Matthew Sussman and more.

Kate (Meg Ryan) and her actor brother Charlie lives in N.Y. in the 21st Century. Kate's ex-boyfriend Stuart who is basically some sort of a scientist who specializes on "time travel" finds a time gap in the Brooklyn Bridge. Stuart goes back to the 19th Century while the Brooklyn Bridge was still being made and took pictures. Leopold who is a duke sees Stuart with his curious little camera he decides to follow him and was then transported to the 21st Century which really baffles him. He meets Kate and Charlie....

I had a ball of a time watching this because of it's "time travel-ish" plot. Although the romantic aspect is kinda predictable. Well.. it's Hugh Jackman!!!! So, i'm definitely enjoying it. Yes, it's not really an intellectual film... and come on let's slack off some of the flaws and just enjoy the movie.. I like the old english lines.... :) also one more reason is that Leopold is so much of a gentleman... that it makes one go wish we were back in the 80's.

Movie Quotes I Like

Leopold: That thing is a damned hazard!
Kate: It's just a toaster!
Leopold: Well, insertion of bread into that so-called toaster produces no toast at all, merely warm bread! Inserting the bread twice produces charcoal. So, clearly, to make proper toast it requires one and a half insertions, which is something for which the apparatus doesn't begin to allow! One assumes that when the General of Electric built it, he might have tried using it. One assumes the General might take pride in his creations instead of just foisting them on an unsuspecting public.
Kate: You know something? Nobody gives a rat's ass that you have to push the toast down twice. You know why? Because everybody pushes their toast down twice!
Leopold: Not where I come from.
Kate: Oh, right. Where you come from, toast is the result of reflection and study!
Leopold: Ah yes, you mock me. But perhaps one day when you've awoken from a pleasant slumber to the scent of a warm brioche smothered in marmalade and fresh creamery butter, you'll understand that life is not solely composed of tasks, but tastes.
Kate: [mesmerized] Say that again.

Kate: I'm not very good with men.
Leopold: Perhaps you haven't found the right one.
Kate: Maybe. Or, uh... maybe that whole love thing is just a grown-up version of Santa Claus; just a myth we've been fed since childhood. So, we keep buying magazines, joining clubs, and doing therapy and watching movies with hit pop songs played over love montages all in a pathetic attempt to explain why our love Santa keeps getting caught in the chimney.


Kate: Why are you standing?
Leopold: I am accustomed to stand when a lady leaves the table.
[So, Charlie gets up]

Karate Kid - 2010

Category: Movie

Genre: Action / Drama

Director: Harald Zwart

Writer: Christopher Murphey, Robert Mark Kamen

Producer: Columbia Pictures, China Film Group, Jerry Weintraub Productions

Tagline: A Challenge He Never Imagined. A Teacher He Never Expected.

Cast: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han, Rongguang Yu, Zhensu Wu and more.

This is a remake of 1984 "Karate Kid". This is about 12 -yr old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) who used to live in Detroit, but then his mother's work made him move to China. He then meets a maintenance man, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) who teaches him the real value of "Kung-Fu".

They changed some of the scenes in this one. The original setting if I can remember was in America but this time they made it in China where Kung Fu is known by everyone. (yes Karate and Kung Fu is different but they wanted to not lose the essence that it's a remake.)

The chemistry that Smith and Chan has actually made the film great. The message was clearer this time.

Movie Quotes I Like:

Dre Parker: So what are we learning today?
Mr. Han: Chi. Internal energy. The essence of life. It moves inside of us. It flows through our bodies. Give us power from within.
Dre Parker: I get it. Like the Force in Star Wars. You're Yoda and I'm like... I'm like a Jedi.

Mr. Han: Being still and doing nothing are two very different things.

Dre Parker: I thought you were just a maintenance man.
Mr. Han: You think only with your eyes, so you are easy to fool.

Dre Parker: How'd you do that out there? You, like, didn't even punch them. They beat each other up.
Mr. Han: When fighting angry, blind men, best to just stay out of the way.