Planned Next Four Movies

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, 2009
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132620/?ref_=nv_sr_2

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, remake 2011
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568346/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The Girl Who Played With Fire, 2009
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1216487/?ref_=nv_sr_2

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, 2009
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343097/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1




The 2011 movie was a remake of the 2009 movie and I figured that since it is a series, I might as well watch all 4.  :-)  This is going to take a bit.  I hope it is on Netflix streaming!

Movie Review - "Albert Nobbs" 12/21/2011

Movie Review for "Albert Nobbs" released December 21, 2011.

Trailer:

Criteria:

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

"Albert Nobbs" is about a waiter named Albert Nobbs in Dublin.  However, Albert Nobbs is more than what he appears - he is a she.  She (female name never given in the movie) started out as a child out of wedlock and was given to a woman named Mrs. Nobbs to be cared for.  When her mother died, the support money and education stopped.  Albert had to help support Mrs. Nobbs and ended up buying a hand-me-down suit to work as a waiter for an event nearby.  Albert got paid pretty good for the job and so decided to take it up for a living, because it is hard for a woman to get a decent wage job in the late 19th century.  It is even hard for a man to get such a job in that time, as we see with another character named Joseph Mackins.

One day, a painter named Mr. Hubert Page comes to help the hotel where Albert works and, through lack of beds, Albert is exposed (to Hubert) to be a female. Albert was wearing a corset to keep her breast from showing and revealing her gender.  Hubert then also reveals to Albert that he is a female also [hidden underneath the house painter's clothing].

Hubert tells Albert of the life she lives: a house, a wife, a simple life.  Albert then starts to think about it and dreams about such a life, away from being a waiter at the hotel.  Albert takes a fancy to one of the staff ladies at the hotel, named Helen Dawes, who has her eyes set on the 'handy man'/boiler-guy Joseph Mackins.  Joe tells her to string Albert along, get as much money out of him as she can, and then they could run away to America.  She finds Albert strange but never thinks of him as a suitor, though it is shown that Albert would be a better spouse than Joe would be.

SPOILERS:

It comes down to the fact that Joe got Helen pregnant, Joe didn't want to be a father, and Helen just could not let Joe go.  Even when Albert proposed and said that he would take care of Helen and the child, Helen still wanted to be with Joe.  Helen even said that she did not want to be with Joe anymore, so he left, but she was tempted to chase after him [because he was eye-candy].  And Albert dies without getting her dream of a normal life.

It is pretty sad that a woman would have to go to such extremes to survive the world.  True, if it was a man-only kind of job, then I guess the extremes would be taken to get that job.  However, the scene from Mulan (1998) comes to mind:

How often would people kill, humiliate, or degrade a woman who is cross-dressing just to survive?  How often would people actually be kind like Shang and spare her life?  [Mind you, I am not going to get into the topic about cross-dressing for non-survival situations.]

Also available on streaming through Netflix.

Rating:

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

I find this movie to be a bit hard to swallow but I know that Albert was doing that just to survive.  I find it sad that the girl tried to stay with the man who treated her horribly (because he was the child's father) over going with the 'man' who would have treated her properly.  [Good guy chasing pretty girl who is chasing a bad boy, kind of thing.]

Not recommended for children.

Movie Review - "The Adventures of Tintin" 12/21/2011

This review is for the movie "The Adventures of Tintin", released December 21, 2011.

Trailer:

Criteria:

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

Viewed 5/27/2014.

Finally a family-friendly movie for me to watch!  Well, there are a few snags with this movie but that happens in all movies, right?  Can't be 100% family-friendly with what is out there unless it is like Barney or Sesame Street, right?

Anyways, this movie came out December 21, 2011.  This is an animated movie based on a comic strip.  I had never heard of the comic strip or of the characters before this came out, so I had little to go on in that aspect.

The opening credits supposedly tell about what Tintin did previously, catching bad guys and saving artifacts while working on a journalist post.  It made no sense at first to me because I hadn't heard of the characters beforehand but, during the movie, it made a lot more sense.  I was just glad that the opening credits did not have a "this is what is going to happen" kind of feel/reveal.

Plotline:

A young British journalist (like twenties or thirties?) named Tintin and his white dog Snowy buy a model ship "Triple Mast. Double Deck." of the ship The Unicorn.  The captain of the ship was Captain Haddock.  Tintin ends up getting tangled in a vengence complex between Haddock's decendant and a pirate named Red Rackham's decendant.  Everyone is looking for three copies of the model ship The Unicorn because there is a treasure map (more or less) hidden in the models' masts.

Of course, the models are not in the same place and so Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock need to go on an adventure to go find the third model, while Rackham's decendant is chasing them to get it first.

SPOILERS: It all comes down to a fight between Haddock and Rackham's decendant over the scrolls.  The loser goes to jail and the winner gets to go find the treasure. :-)

Character Development:

Everyone stays the same except Captain Haddock.  Captain Haddock goes from this blundering fool obsessed with the alcohol bottle to one who is ready to stand up for his inheritance, maybe with a bottle nearby.  Closer to the end of the movie, he actually uses some bottles as weapons against Rackham's decendant - launching them at his opponent.

Content:

There is alcohol (and alcohol abuse) and smoking in the movie.  But isn't that the life of a pirate or a sea captain, sad though it is?

Also, some "violent" action but nothing graphic and gory.

I found a clip of the original comic show "The Adventures of Tintin".  If you are interested, here it is:

Comparing the 2011 movie to this 1991 comic show, I think that they did pretty darn well creating the movie.  I think that the movie was better than the show, more character development and all that, but the show was not bad (from what I can see).

I found it interesting that this was a Steven Spielberg [E.T., Saving Private Ryan, etc.], Peter Jackson [Lord of the Rings], and Steven Moffat [Doctor Who] film.  I did not see Moffat's name in the credit, though, but he was a help in the screenplay writing.

Between all three of these artists, they came up with a wonderfully moving movie that kept the viewer interested and gave the viewer a sense of wonder.  It was well made and also was almost accepted as "real" though it was an animated movie.

Rating:

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

4.5 - Pretty darn good movie but not 100% recommended, especially for those that have children.  Or if you do have children and want to watch this, I suggest sitting down and talking with them about alcohol and alcohol use/abuse.  Other than that, a very good movie.  Well made.

Movie Review - "Olympus Has Fallen" 03/22/2013

Here's a fairly new movie to review, since I just watched it yesterday.  Why not review it if I've recently seen it?

"Olympus Has Fallen", released March 22, 2013.

Trailer:

Criteria:

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

Plotline:

Let's make this simple and say that the plotline is that the countries of North Korea and South Korea are at war and the President of the USA wants to help gain peace in the area.  While he is meeting with the South Korea Minister, terrorists attack and kidnap the President in the safety bunker underneath the White House.  Now, the question is how to get the President out of there alive?  And can they keep the terrorists from getting all the codes to Cerberus, the self-contained computer system that can trigger or un-trigger nuclear warheads, which would let the USA be vulnerable to nuclear attack or send off USA nuclear attacks?  [No, the trailer says nothing about Cerberus because that's just "fluff".  But it is kinda part of the main part of the storyline.]

Mike Banning (played by Gerard Butler) was the head of Secret Services to take care of the President but when he was unable to save the First Lady [on a bad December night with icy road conditions and a car tilting off a bridge], he loses his job as the head of the Secret Services.  So now he is pushing paperwork in the Department of Treasury.  But when the terrorists attack, he grabs his gun and runs towards the White House.  Lots of shooting, lots of fighting, and Banning ends up being the last guy standing upright for the USA Secret Services against the terrorists inside the White House.  "Olympus has fallen" says one of the SS guys before he dies and the Speaker of the House (played by Morgan Freeman) becomes Acting President while they try to figure out if the President is still alive.

Summary SPOILERS: Banning finds and rescues the President's son Conner and goes to take out the terrorists, whom we find out had someone in the SS and who will go to all extremes to get the codes for Cerberus.  Banning saves the President, the Vice President is killed by terrorists, and all terrorists are killed (one way or another) by Banning.  Banning gets his job back as head of the SS to protect the President.

Also on streaming through Netflix.

Rate:

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

4.5 - Awestriking and wonderful.  I might watch it again, but not one of those "must buy" movies.  I loved Butler's acting in this movie, but he's always awesome.  :-)  [But not much to talk about since this is in the category of "Die Hard" with a younger actor.]

Movie Review - "In The Land of Blood and Honey" 12/23/2011

Movie review for "In The Land of Blood and Honey", viewed 5/26/2014.

Trailer:

Criteria:

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

I watched this movie on Memorial Day morning, finished around eleven or so A.M.  It was very difficult to watch, much less get the guts to review it.

"In the Land of Blood and Honey", released December 23, 2011, is about the Bosnia-Herzegovina war in the early/mid nineties.  The main male character (Danijel was a Serbian soldier, son of one of the Serbian generals and is also a higher-up leader.  The main female character is a Muslim woman (Ajla) who is captured during the Serbian war.  Danijel and Ajla had met at a club before the war started and had a wonderful time dancing, but once the war broke out, it was "them versus us" kinda thing.  She a Muslim and he a Serb?  Not a good combination in the war between Muslims and Serbs.  Trust, love, fighting for what is right, etc. is what is brought up in the movie.

Context:

Rated R for the violence of war: soldiers raping captured Muslim women, soldiers beating the captured Muslim women, soldiers killing Muslim men (near their homes, lined up in front of a ditch with a bulldozer to bury them, etc.), soldiers demolishing cities, soldiers killing a toddler due to the child not shutting up [not seen but talked about over the toddler's dead body], etc.

There is also consentual nude sex scenes but it wasn't sensual to the viewer.  Made the viewer wonder if the Muslim woman actually was doing it to survive the Serbs.

Character Building:

During the whole movie, there was the relationship between Danijel the Serb and Ajla the Muslim.  At first, Ajla didn't trust him but then he stood up for her against the other soldiers.  We are given a sense of "I love her" exuding from him but, when another soldier rapes her (while Danijel is out) following Danijel's father's order, Danijel kills the soldier but does not do anything against his father.  His father says that Ajla will betray him but the mutual respect between Danijel and Ajal seems to be strong.  Danijel goes back to Ajla and ties her up, with a gun in his hand.  He asks if he did the wrong thing by trusting her but she says no.  They have make-up sex and seem to be alright.  He even trusts her to know where he will be after the raid on some NATO troops and Muslim civilians but as he is walking out of the church, the church explodes behind him.  He looks up from the ground in front of the church to see Ajla's sister standing nearby.  Automatically, he assumes that Ajla told her sister about the church so he confronts her.  One would think that the two of them would be able to hash it out and make everything alright between them but that lingering doubt instilled in Danijel by his father, and the brainwashing of the Serbian forces, makes Danijel act contrary to his "I love her" feeling.  [SPOILERS: He shoots her dead.]  I was surprised that he didn't cry and shoot out his own brains after murdering her, but I guess his character changed from a caring man to a cold man of war.

The other characters also seem to get a bit of a character change due to the war.  Some of them became bitter or just struck with grief.  Others were doing all they could to survive the atrocity of war.  I'm just glad that, though Danijel did not kill himself after her death, he did give himself up and admitted that he was a "Criminal of War".  We don't get to hear what happens to him afterwards but that's how it goes.

This was a very depressing movie because it makes one realize that life is not all "fun and games" and that there are wars out there.  It might not be nuclear meltdown war, but it is still war.  People do not stay the same when there is a matter of life and death on the line.  People do not stay the same when it is a "me or them" situation.

But why must soldiers go to the extreme of raping, outright murdering, and whatnot during war?!  Or even not during war, why must we be so destructive?

My thought, from "The Fifth Element" (1997), that deals with this idea of war:

"In the Land of Blood and Honey", however, did not have the whole "Love Conquers All" idea.  It was more of a "Here's life in the war time. Take it or fuck off" kind of idea.

The trailer is HORRIBLE for this movie.  Idealize the romance/love aspect for the trailer and barely touch on it in the movie?  Bad judgement for creating the trailer!

This is on streaming through Netflix, if you want to watch this.  I watched the full English movie because I did not know the difference but there is a "native language" version of it in the Theatrical Version on Netflix if you are interested [I found that out after I had watched the film].

Rating:

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

Recommended but I will not watch this again.  It is too heavy for me.  Much better showing of war than movies like "Pearl Harbor" (2001) because the love was not idealized and the war was raw/unadulterated.

Movie Review - "Don 2" 12/23/2011

Another review!  Now that I've seen "Don" (2006), I was able to view "Don 2" (2011), and that's what I did.  That's what this movie review is about: "Don 2".


Trailer:

Criteria:
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.




This movie came out December 23, 2011 in India.  The languages, similar to the movie it sequels, are Hindi and English.  Therefore, I watched this with English subtitles.  [NETFLIX HAS THIS, and "Don" (2006) ON STREAMING!!!]

Oh where do I start...! I'm going to save this and go back to get a copy of my "Don" (2006) review, since this is the sequel.  I'll be right back, though you won't get the sense of the time split.
Okay, anyways, "Don 2" was a better movie than "Don", I think.  


 Storyline:
It has been 5 years [2006 to 2011, that's right on the money!] since Don dealt with DeSilva/Vardhaan and gained control of the Asian drug empire.  He also got away from Roma at that point.  Since it is now the past, I might as well say what happened at the end of "Don" (2006).
  

DON (2006):

DeSilva was a DCP police working against Don and with Vijay [the look alike, same actor].  It turned out that DeSilva was Vardhaan {I quote myself: "We learn that DeSilva is not who he says he is and that he knows a lot more about the drug trafficking business than he originally leads the viewer to believe."}, Don catches DeSilva/Vardhaan for being a drug lord [two of the potential guys to inherit a drug trafficking empire from Boris after the USSR broke up into smaller countries], and we also find out that Vijay is dead.  DeSilva had injured Don during a chase and captured him, to which Don said "Do not capture me" as a warning because Don never forgets what his enemy has done.  DeSilva finds a look-alike named Vijay and has him undergo surgery to look like Don.  As Vijay is recovering, the attendants find that Don dies under care, so there is no backup.  Well, it turns out at the end of the movie that we find out that Don was the one who survived, not Vijay, though the movie hinted that Don died.  Don managed to switch the two of them while Vijay was recovering from surgery and, while Don/"Vijay" seemed to "be recovering from surgery", "Don"/Vijay died.

Roma was a main figure in the "Don" (2006) movie.  Her brother Ramesh had worked for Don but, wanting to get married and have a respectable life, he decided to leave.  Don found out and killed him.  Kamini, Ramesh's fiancee, tried to help DeSilva and the police catch Don but Don saw through that and killed her too.  Roma was distraught so she decided to go and join Don, for her brother's revenge.  When Don first met Roma (before the chase that put him out of commission for a bit), Roma tried to kill him with a knife/letter-opener.  He said that she was a wild cat and that he liked her.  She worked with him, though she kept looking for a chance to kill him.  She finds out that DeSilva switched Vijay for Don and that, what we were supposed to think, Vijay is playing as Don.  She develops a soft spot for him during the rest of the movie, especially since Don/"Vijay" seems to be kind and doing the best for a young boy named Deepu that Vijay watched over {Deepu's father Jasjit was set up by Vardhaan years ago and was injured, Deepu's mother was killed by Vardhaan when the DCP didn't let him do his robbery task}.  Yes, Deepu is reunited with Jasjit thankfully.  Anyways, Roma thought that Vijay was being very brave for trying to act as Don just for this kid's sake.

After Don and Jasjit caught DeSilva/Vardhaan for the thing with Jasjit's family and for the drug trafficking and whatnot, they found out that Don was injured so he was to be taken to a hospital.  As he about to be taken away, Don says one thing to Roma - "I also like wild cats".  Roma realized then that Don was Don, and not Vijay like we were led to believe, but he was out of her reach already.

Anyways, it has been 5 years since that whole situation.  Vardhaan has been in jail and Roma has joined the DCP to try catching Don.  Don has been her "white whale" and so Roma has put her life on hold to try figuring out how to catch him, though one of her coworkers has a huge crush on her.
Don has been trying to get into the European drug trafficking ring but the drug lords do not want that.  One of the main leaders, Coogan, has asked the other guys if they should take Don out and they all say yes.  So there is a hit set on Don and we see him turn himself in.  Turns out he turned himself in to a specific area just to get Vardhaan out of prison for help to make a daring move.  They get out of jail and set up the plan to rob a bank [DZB - Deutsche Zentral Bank ] of their dollar printing plates.
 One of the guys who works in DZB, the Vice President?, made a corrupt deal with Singhania {Don's former boss, Vardhaan's rival} to make a certain person the president of the company.  His name is Diwan.  So, why not go mess with their lives, use a video to blackmail the guy? 
Diwan doesn't want to be blackmailed so he gets a hit on Don also.  Don convinces the group (Diwan's hit men) to join him to get 5 times the amount of money that Diwan promised.  Either that or Don would have to kill them before they could attempt to kill him. Mercenaries are so materialistic, so the guy and his gang go  with Don.
They get all they need for a bank robbery including a guy to crack the security system, a fire truck (and firefighter outfits), explosives, and whatnot.  And then they go to rob the bank.  Of course, Vardhaan and the hit guys become wary of Don [Vardhaan told the leader that Don does not care about their safety, he'd rather let them die than get them out alive], and turn on him once they get the plates that they were going for. 

SPOILERS:  Don (with his genius plan)  is able to walk away from the whole situation with the printing plates and a paper of  national immunity in Switzerland with Vardhaan back in jail and the hit men dead.  His security hacker did what he was told so was able to live and be rich, though at one point the movie wants to convince us that he was doing against Don's will.  Roma survived, Diwan was killed, the drug lords that wanted him down were arrested by the police, and now Don can print lots of money without them being a counterfeit {so loaded with cash}.


Music:
Not as great as "Don" (2006) had but still alright. Enough to give the movie an interesting soundtrack but nothing extraordinary.  That's one thing that the 2006 film had over this one, the music.  This one was more of a "Ocean's Eleven" kind of movie instead of a 70's film remake, so that might be why there was no real Bollywood type music. There was one that was kinda interesting and kinda awesome but no where near the 2006 film's music.

{Start at 1:50 for the song.}

 I could not find the song by itself with English subtitles, so there's part of the song.  Of course, this is the title song for the movie, so it is pretty much saying that Don is back.   As the line for the movie says, "Get Ready for the Return of the King".  :)


Context:
Not many sexual references or drug references because that was not the plot line.  Sure, there were questions about feelings between Roma and Don but that was just "do you care about me" kind of things. Violence, yeah, but that was to be expected with the "let's rob a bank" plot.
Watching "Don" (2006) before this definitely made me learn about him before this movie so I was able to predict what he was going to do, which was nice, but the thing with the security-whiz was kinda unexpected for even me. :-)  I liked that a lot.  It showed that Don is very very smart.


Characters did not change during the movie, though they did play into Don's plans.
Also, this was a 2 hour 28 minute movie.  Not as long as the 2006 movie but a bit  long-ish.  Not boring at all, though.



I must say that  Shah Rukh Khan is amazing. He played Don in both the 2006 and the 2011 movie.  I have watched a few youtube videos about him and it seems that many people think he is the "King of Bollywood".  From my perspective, I know for sure that I look forward to viewing more of his films!  Very handsome, very debonair. :-)



RATE: 
5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

I liked this movie a LOT.   I cannot think of anything wrong with this movie {but I will say that stealing is bad}.  Great characters, great action, great genius, great filming.  Wonderful film!  I might even buy this one on DVD some time in the future to watch again!  :-D   But, you should watch "Don" (2006) beforehand because it really rides on the information that the 2006 movie gave us.

Movie Review - "Don" 10/20/2006

One of the movies that came out in December of 2011 was a movie called "Don 2", a sequel of another movie.  Well, according to research, "Don 2" (2011) was a sequel to "Don" (2006), which was in turn a remake of "Don" (1978).  I wanted to go back to watch the 1978 movie, which looked kinda cool, but could not find it free.  I might buy it eventually for $9 off of Amazon or ebay, but not right now.  So, to start off this series, I started with "Don" (2006).

Trailer:

Criteria:
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.


"Don" was released on October 20, 2006 in India.  This is a blended-language film, English and Hindi.
It was difficult to find "Don" (2006), and much more difficult to find "Don" (1978), especially with English subtitles.


The main storyline is about a drug trafficker named Don.  Years previously, a guy named Boris created a drug trafficking empire (after the USSR broke up into smaller countries).  Boris had two potential guys to "inherit" the company: Verdhaan and Singhania.  Boris was killed, so now it is a matter of Verdhaan [not seen in years] and Singhania.  Singhania has a guy named Don, who takes care of Singhania's business.  Don is known as "the most dangerous and cunning criminal of them all".  We get a glimpse into who Don is but then the DCP DeSilva chases him down after a deal and Don is captured.  {DCP is a rank in the Indian police force - Deputy Commissioner of Police.}   DeSilva decides to try putting a dummy, guy off the street named Vijay, in Don's place and learning about the business.
SPOILERS: We learn that DeSilva is not who he says he is and that he knows a lot more about the drug trafficking business than he originally leads the viewer to believe.

Between the look-alike's relearning the business and dealing with DeSilva, there is action galore!  Bomb in a suitcase blowing up two guys, a van exploding, high speed chases with the cops having their lights on, etc.

SPOILERS: In the end, DeSilva is caught for what he has done in the past and we find out that Vijay is not who he says he is.  I would love to tell you who it was, but that is beyond the boundaries of conservative spoilers, changing the whole way that you view the movie (kinda like how "Saw" #1 suddenly says that the kidnapper was forced into the situation too).



Being unfamiliar with Bollywood, I got to learn a bit about the Hindi faith, Indian traditions (saheb = sir/mister), music used in Hindi movies, etc.

Music:
Did you know that many Hindi movies have the songs talking about what is going on in the movie, or has "dream sequence" breaks?  I found that kinda weird that they kinda just started dancing and singing every so often.  Not very often.  There were like five songs with STUPENDOUS choreography.
Here's a song that kinda shows what I'm talking about, with English subtitles:

The music was well placed and well done, especially for keeping the attention.  :-)

Content:
There are references to sex, but no actual sexual acts {though there are hints about Don's lady worker named Roma, like her getting out of the pool in a swimsuit}.  There are quite a few murders, in a very talented manner on Don's part [taking a 4-man against 1 situation and walking out alive].  Drugs, though, are the biggest "negative" content - they have a room full of bags of cocaine, there are drug dealings that the viewer sees, and a bit of tobacco and marajuana.  One scene, after running away from the cops, Vijay and a lady named Roma (works with Don) are at a party and they give Vijay/Don some Bhaang to drink - milk brewed with marajuana plant extract, and then Vijay/Don gets some paan to chew - "a stimulating and psychoactive preparation of betel leaf combined with areca nut and/or cured tobacco. Paan is chewed and finally spat out or swallowed." {wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paan }.  Aside the paan and Bhaang, the dealing the cocaine, a decent content movie (no graphic sex).


The plot line was fairly simple but the twist revealed at the end of the movie makes the whole plot absolutely interesting, making you debate on what happened in the movie.  What seems to be true is not always necessarily true, again.  Why I cannot remember that for the movie viewing, it might be because videos are a take-what-you-are-given kinda thing.  Maybe that's why the twist at the end of the movie gives so much "wow" to the movie.

The characters did not change much at all, except one of the gals started to fall for Vijay/Don whereas she previously hated him and wanted him dead.  All the characters really were just surviving and whatnot.


Oh, the movie was about 2 hour 48 minutes long.  It was long but it was a good viewing.  :-)




It is getting late and I'm having typing issues.  Ready for bed!  :-D

Anyways, let's get a rating:
4/5 - Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.
I definitely think that this is a very very good movie, but the drug trafficking is not a positive focus for a movie.  The characters were not tripping and driving drunk, but they were with drugs because of the nature of the main character.  The main character was not necessarily a "protagonist" but merely the main focus of the movie.  Very good movie but could have a bit better.  If you are into foreign films, I suggest this one to watch {if you have the time, of course}.


5/25/2014 EDIT
I have to make a change to this rating.  I have the songs stuck in my head since I published this on the 18th.  I have thought about this movie a lot, since it really struck my fancy (aside the drug trafficking and whatnot).  I have decided that it was unfair to the movie to strike down the rate due to the plot-line of drug trafficking.  Take it for what it is - a good movie with good action and very entertaining.  I may have to go to a 10 star rating system but "Don" (2006) for now is at a 4.5 rating instead of a solid 4 rating.  It is good enough to be near 5 stars but that theme [since my criteria says "Go see it! Wonderful movie all around - characters, music, theme, storyline, etc." for 5 star] doesn't allow it to be a full 5 star movie.
So, instead of 4/5 like I said on 5/18/2014, this movie review is now a 4.5/5 star rating.  Same review and opinion, just a bit more addicted to the music. :-)

Next Movie to Review

Well, a movie came out in December of 2011 entitled "Don 2".  This is the sequel to "Don" which came out in 2006.  The 2006 "Don" was a remake of the Hindi movie "Don" which came out in 1978.  Now to see if I can get a hand on the 1978 version, which seems real cool with the 70's Cadillac in the first scene, with English subtitle.
~Gracie Mae DeLunac

Movie Review - "Pina" 12/23/2011

Another movie review by Gracie Mae DeLunac (aka Margem).  This time, the movie is "Pina" released on December 23, 2011.


Trailer:

Criteria:
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.



This was a documentary movie about dancing and about a dance choreographer (Pina Bausch).

Okay, it took me five individual viewings (piece by piece) to get me through this video.  It was nice to see some dancing and to see that people can bend in ways that I cannot, but I had a major difficult time trying to watch this movie.  I fell asleep at least once watching it, to tell the truth.
Mind you, I am not a documentary film enthusiast, but I try to keep an open mind for what I'm watching.

Entertainment wise, I was having an issue trying to understand why the choreographer would have made her dancers dance in such a way.  Are you trying to portray love, anguish, freedom, or just "I can dance"?  I was lost on the emotions.

I think it is great that people can use dance to express themselves but this did not tell me anything, personally.

Interesting to watch the dances, especially the dancing with water one, though there was nothing conveyed to me.



Rating:
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
Nothing conveyed as to why the dancers would dance as such or who Pina Bausch was.  For those that like watching dances and for those who like watching documentaries.

Movie Review - "We Bought a Zoo" 12/23/2011

The newest review by Gracie Mae/Margem will be "We Bought a Zoo", released December 23, 2011.

TRAILER:

Criteria:
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.


Well, here we are doing reviews again.  Today, I streamed "We Bought a Zoo" which was released in December of 2011.  I really enjoyed this movie.  This one was a tear-filled movie, but it was very well done and very lovely.  Basic plotline is that an adventure writer's wife passes away (6 months before the movie takes place) and he's trying to cope with being a single father to a 14 year old son that is despressed about life and a 7 year old daughter.

The son, Dylan Mee, gets expelled from school for theft.  He also is shown to have really great artistic talent drawing [with pen or charcoal] and drew a decapitation photo for his art class' wall muro (on paper).
The daughter, Rosie Mee, doesn't seem to have issues with their current situation except the fact that the neighbor next door has parties often with drinking and loud music - "their happiness is too loud".
The father, Benjamin Mee, keeps having issues about everyone giving him pity and feeling bad for his situation.  He also keeps seeing places that reminds him of his deceased wife, which makes life uncomfortable for him.
With all of these factors, Benjamin decides to move his family to start a new life.  Dylan of course is upset that he is going to be taken from his home and his friends, but Benjamin decides that it would be the best for all of them.
After looking through a lot of houses, they find one that is in a nice location and has the kind of space that Benjamin wants.  One catch, though, about the place: a zoo is on the property.

The zoo was closed to the public two years prior and the state kept the place 'barely surviving'.  If no one bought the place (house, zoo, everything) and became the zoo's owner/keeper, the animals would have to be euthanized and the zoo staff would lose their jobs.  Though he knew it would be a large undertaking, Benjamin realized that Rosie liked the place a lot and so he bought the house and the zoo.

Throughout the movie, there are struggles with the loss of Mrs. Mee, struggles to keep the renovation on going to reopen for the summer, and struggles between the single dad and his kids.

SPOILERS: The zoo reopens with a better result than that they thought, the father was able to get his kids happy and communicating with him, Benjamin is able to acknowledge that he loved his deceased wife and that he needs to move on, and the other struggles are generally resolved.




Music -
Mellow and with the program, barely noticeable.  Accented what needed accents but did not drown anything out.  There was a Bob Dylan song "Buckets of Rain" and Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl", but I don't think I recognized the other songs.


Relationships - 
I liked how Benjamin and Dylan were able to sit down and be frank about their relationship. It was good to see that parents and children can, potentially, talk real about what is going on.  It gives one hope for parent-child(ren) relations.

I like the fact that though Benjamin was mourning the loss of his wife, he still tried to be the best dad that he could be, looking out for the health and happiness of his children.  I liked that he was a very real character and that, though he had enough money to buy a zoo, he was still trying to do the best that he could:  Benjamin worked on his father-child(ren) relationships, the relationship with his brother, the relationships with the zoo's staff, and dealing with the stress of sporatic zoo issues.  I also loved the fact that he was able to have a good goal in mind (restoring the zoo to open it again) and that he was willing to go for it - his adventure. Mind you, I would not be so willing to dump money into a zoo if I didn't have experience in dealing with animals before.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars were used in the restoration of the zoo, and not all of that was the zoo's money.



Themes - 
Father/child(ren) relationships: Well done, giving hope that sitting down and talking/listening can actually fix a lot if both/all parties are willing to be serious and to the point.  Attention to the son allowed the son to go from drawings of decapitation and utter pain/despair to drawings of snakes, flies and tigers [from scared/freaked/stressed to good/creative/positive].
This movie is a reminder to parents to look out for the best for their children, for their happiness and their well-being.  If Benjamin had deserted his children for the zoo, his character would have SEVERELY been damaged.  Even though he was dealing with the zoo and his own widower issue, he always tried to keep his kids foremost in his mind [Benjamin even at one time drove a18.4 mile round-trip to get butter for corn-on-the-cob because his kids wanted butter, though upon getting back found out that Dylan found some at home.].

Human/animal relationships: Care for the animals was emphasized because it was a zoo, but the staff told Benjamin that he just had to learn how to talk with the animals.  He had to learn how to be real with the animals - talk with them, don't use baby talk.  One of the tigers (17 yr old "Spar"), at the end of his life, trusted Benjamin because he had tried to keep this tiger going with bringing in a vet, getting expensive medicines, etc.  Dylan says to Benjamin, regarding the tiger, "You did your best, Dad.  He knows that."  And it was absolutely sad to hear that the tiger had to be put down, but it is nature to deal with death.
Something about Spar's death seemed to connect with Mrs. Mee's death - the death of a human or animal maybe be painful but they should be remembered.  It wasn't until after Spar's death that Benjamin was able to move on from his wife's death.  Maybe it was because Dylan was talking with him when Benjamin realized that Spar should be put down, that Benjamin was able to connect with his son from then on, or maybe it was Benjamin realizing that life and death are hand in hand.  Who knows, but it was something to note.


Tears!  This movie was very emotional for me.  I cried when Benjamin missed his wife. I cried when Benjamin and Dylan connected. I cried when the tiger was giving up hope.  I cried when Benjamin was telling his kids the story about how he met their mom at the coffee shop.


One good thing that I took from the movie is the idea of "20 seconds of courage".  The idea is that you should give it 20 seconds of courage to do something that needs to be done.  "Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage, literally just twenty seconds of embarassing bravery, and I promise you something great will come of it."



Must say one thing that caught my fancy: at one point, Benjamin's brother is seen walking through the zoo in very 'city like' clothes and rubber boots.  Benjamin's brother being an accountant, dressed as such, with that city gait, was just hilarious especially when Benjamin asked if he had looked like that when he first arrived.  Yes, says one of the staff.  "Wow.  That's humiliating."  I thought that small scene was just amazing.
Also, it was funny to see the bear walking the nearby town's street, though not as dramatic as the trailer makes it to be.  I just started laughing because it is so weird to see a Grizzly just walking down a street at your car.




Okay, rate.
5/5 - Absolutely amazing movie.  Well presented, well rounded.  Good emotions and good themes.  And to top it all off, it is based on a TRUE STORY.
Highly recommended!  (Oh and Matt Damon plays as Benjamin Mee, the dad, and he did a wonderful job in the part.)