Tag Archives: film

May 9 2010

Iron Man 2 (2010)

image from movies.yahoo.com

My mom and I, together with a cousin watched IRON MAN 2. This movie date was in celebration of Mother’s Day. I enjoyed the first IRON MAN immensely in 2008 and I cannot let the opportunity pass with the second film.

As I remember it, the first IRON MAN movie ended with the billionaire Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey, Jr) revealing that he is in fact, IRON MAN. And so, the second film starts with Tony Stark being pressured by the US government, press and the public to divulge the secret technology employed by the armored superhero.  He refuses to do so for fear that information will fall into the wrong hands. To complicate matters, Tony is suffering the deadly side effects of the palladium element which is necessary for him to be the hero-in-suit and while he believes that he is dying, a new and powerful enemy is just around the corner to wreck havoc.

Whenever I watch fantasy and sci-fi movies, I don’t have expectations. I just go to the movie house to get entertained. And IRON MAN 2 gave me just that. I’ve always liked Robert Downey Jr because he is such a good actor. I like the characters he portray and he performs effortlessly. Gwyneth Paltrow is such a stunner. I like the chemistry between her and Downey. On the other hand, I liked Scarlett Johansson’s character with all that kicking ass and martial arts. Such a femme fatale! Oh yeah, Samuel L. Jackson’s presence is also an added attraction and Mikey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko is awesome.

I’m curious as to the plot of the third installment. 🙂

Mar 27 2010

The Young Victoria and “Only You”

I have been searching for a DVD of The Young Victoria but my efforts proved futile. I’ve always loved period films and dramas so this film has caught my interest. I’ve seen the trailers and various videos at Youtube to satisfy my curiosity. I found this particular music video created by a fan. What I love about it was the music used.

“Only You” is performed by Sinead O’ Connor. It is the love theme of the said motion picture. The lyrics depict the love between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The lyrics can be found here. I thought, “what a wonderful love song – the story behind it is moving and beautiful. Who wouldn’t wish for that kind of love?”

Mar 8 2010

Film: My Love By My Side/Closer to Heaven (Korean, 2009)

image from allkpop.com

After the long wait, I finally got a copy of “My Love by My Side/Closer to Heaven.” Readers may find my impressions on the film biased as I’m known to be a fan of Kim Myung Min. 🙂

The film is about a heart-wrenching love story between Jong Woo (Kim Myung Min) and Ji Soo (Ha Ji Won).  Jong Woo is afflicted with Lou Gehrig’s disease but with good humor and strong pride while Ji Soo is a funeral planner who loves him in spite his condition. Both come to terms with Jong Woo’s illness as it slowly takes control of his muscles and eventually his whole body, rendering him paralyzed.

Kim Myung Min and Ha Ji Won gave outstanding performances. Ha Ji Won is one of the best among the Korean actresses. But I would like to sing praises to of course, Kim Myung Min, because of what he did in this film. To be able to realistically portray a man who suffers from a degenerative disease, he lost weight from 72 kg to 52 kg. Kim Myung Min was really brilliant in his performance and was so immersed in his role. I especially love his eye movements when he was paralyzed already from neck down. He conveyed his emotions through his eyes. This is what I love most about Kim Myung Min, every part of the body is so expressive, he is able to communicate even with the subtlest movement.

There is only one thing that bothers me: I just felt that the film focused more on Ha Ji Won than Kim Myung Min. All right, all right, it’s the KMM fanatic in me. But I can’t seem to shake off the feeling that it was more of Ji Won’s film rather than Myung Min’s. Oh well…

4 out of 5 Stars