~shiata~ LOOK FOR A STAR

movie title: LOOK FOR A STARstarring: ANDY LAU, SHU QI
director: ANDREW LAU
genre: ROMANTIC-COMEDY
release date: 01.26.2009

SYNOPSIS:
It is love at first sight when Sam chances upon a feisty, fast-talking woman with the odd name of Milan (Shu Qi) at a Macau casino. But the catch is, she is a part-time poker dealer and a full-time cabaret dancer, “careers” not exactly congruent with his station in life. Fallen in love against all odds, this mismatched couple soon makes headline in all media which turn Milan into an "It girl" overnight.

Andy Lau is definitely Hong Kong's George Clooney ~ most eligible bachelor. He portrays Sam Ching so fluidly one will forget the serious-persona that Lau is best known for. Ching is a breath of fresh air multi-billionaire ~ not your typical snooty, aged, boring rich man. Shu Qi has evolved from her immature roles to a mature-yet-fun-and-exciting pure-hearted Milan Sit. She works hard to support herself from being a casino dealer to a passionate jazz cabaret dancer at night. Milan is absolutely not your average chick.

hero: ANDY LAU as Sam Ching {multi-billionaire thrice divorcee}
heroine: SHU QI as Milan Sit {average Baccarat dealer, passionate dancer}
cast
Zhang Hanyu as Lin Jiu
Denise Ho as Jo Kwok
Lam Ka-Wah as Tim Ma
George Lam Ella Koon as Chihuahua
Maria Cordero as Auntie
David Chiang as Uncle
Rebecca Pan Pei Weiying as Fanny Po
Lok-Tung as Yumi


HIGHLIGHTS:

• Beautiful, romantic city of Macau.
• Sam and Milan's first kiss in the roof with Macau's city skyline as a backdrop.
• Sam received an SMS from Milan and he'll drop his mobile phone from the 2nd floor office.

LOWLIGHTS:

• I can't say there's any ~ sounds biased but this movie is very entertaining. You will be swept away in the story.

TO LOVE or NOT TO LOVE:
If you're a fan of Andy Lau {and who isn't?} a definite must-see.
If you don't know Andy Lau - this is a good movie to get to know him.
Shu Qi lovers ~ this is one of her better movies. Highly Recommended.

MOVIES LIKE "LOOK FOR A STAR":
Pretty Woman (1991) Richard Gere, Julia Roberts
Love On A Diet (2001) Andy Lau, Sammi Cheng
Gorgeous (1999) Jackie Chan, Shu Qi
The Prince and Me (2004) Julia Stiles, Luke Mably

**Wikipedia.com

~shiata~ INVISIBLE TARGET

title: INVISIBLE TARGET
director: BENNY CHEN
starring: NICHOLAS TSE /Chan Chun
SHAWN YUE /Inspector Carson
JAYCEE CHAN /Officer Wai King-Ho
WU JING /Tien Yeng-seng
genre: ACTION/DRAMA
year: 2007
country: Hong Kong

SUMMARY:
Three cops team up to bring down a criminal gang of seven, who have their own hidden agenda.


REVIEW:
For starters, Nic Tse has been my fave actor since Time & Tide back in 2000, so when I saw this dvd it's only natural to wanna see it.
After watching Invisible Target, a new level of respect has arised since Tse has grown to be one of Asia's versatile young action stars. His stunts are amazing ~ the acting is natural as expected and nobody can steal a scene from him {except a couple of scenes by Shawn Yue}. Tse, Yue and Chan (Jackie's son) carry a warm rapport on-screen that you'll really fall for the characters and their emotional dilemnas. Let's not leave Tien {Jing} out of the equation - his martial arts are exceptional that three men are needed to try to bring him down.

BOTTOM LINE:
A great action-packed movie. Highly Recommended.

MUCH LIKE THESE MOVIES:
New Police Story (2004) Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse
Divergence (2005) Aaron Kwok, Ekin Cheng
Mr. Nice Guy (1997) Jackie Chan


credits ~ Wikipedia.com; IMDb.com

~shiata~ WATCHMEN

movie title: WATCHMEN

starring: BILLY CRUDUP, PATRICK WILSON

director: Zack Snyder

genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Drama

release date: March 6, 2009

Synopsis
Watchmen based on DC Comics of the same title are superheroes retired from crime fighting. It's 1985 and the world is fearful of nuclear war between US and the Soviet Union. Story begins when one of the Watchmen "The Comedian" murdered and fear of other Watchmen murders to follow.
Watchmen are not all sci-fi eventhough graphics and make-up are exquisitely done. Romance and drama between Dr. Manhattan (Crudup), The Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and Night Owl (Wilson) brings life to comic-book-turned-real-life graphics movie.

Highlights

• The Silk Spectre and Dr. Manhattan's trip to Mars
• Awesome graphics of Dr. Manhattan transformation
• Night Owl's gadgets ~ look-out for "Archie"
• Amazing make-up & set

Lowlights

• Nudity ~ was never a fan of women & men nude scenes, however, after a while you will forget that Dr. Manhattan's tool has been exposed almost the entire movie
• Violence ~ graphically portrayed

TO LOVE or NOT TO LOVE

If you're a fan of the comic book, then I know you're thrilled that this graphic novel with it's distinct colorful, almost impossible to re-create graphics is gracing the big screen. If you're not a fan but loves movies - hit the theaters now running unneccessary. SO-SO