sat and watched harry potter and the goblet of fire, all i can say it was the most boring harry potter film, it went nowhere fast the plot looked like a rip off of labyrnth ( sorry spelling),

it stuttered and there very little narration.

im so glad i missed it at the cinema.

Have to admit iv only ever seen the harry potter films with my sister and gf,im not a fan of them or the story really.Last night me and my lovely Yoshie and Yoko watched Cutie Honey the Live which was pretty cool this time a foreigner getting to grips in finding of Cuties Secret and Lost time which was a pretty colourful episode with the main character this time being a professional actor but he only gets a role in a superhero stage show,his life comes to an end in a bizaar accident but gets added time by the referees to live a few more hours and makes good use of it to show his skills.

Tonight's film was Hong Kong thriller On The Edge.

Triad member Harry-Boy is actually police officer Harry Sin, who has been undercover for the past eight years. When the gang boss Don Dark is finally caught and arrested, Harry's covert operation is over and he returns to the force as a regular officer. But the pressure of living and working under an assumed identity and a set of rules and values diametrically opposed to those that got him into the police force in the first place eventually takes its toll, and Harry has trouble trying to re-establish his own identity. His fellow colleagues snub him and feel they can't trust him while his former Triad brethren still believe he is a traitor. And to top it all he is paired with a grizzled veteran with a heavy handed approach to getting results that Harry felt first hand during his time with the Triads. When Harry finds himself under arrest for apparently still working with the Triads, it is only a matter of time before Harry finally snaps...

Immediate comparisons between the plot of this film and the Infernal Affairs trilogy are inevitable yet are enough differences for On The Edge to stand out its own. The main difference is that this film concerns itself chiefly with the aftermath of Harry's eight year life with the Triads with the key moments of the operation told in flashback form. Sometimes this gets a little confusing as the transitions are often random and sudden but thankfully Harry was given different hair colour for his Triad role to make the change evident. Also there was no undercover Triad equivalent within the police force which was the major twist in Infernal Affairs.

Nick Cheung delivers a sterling performance as Harry, convincingly relaying the various changes in his character, his struggle to resume a normal life after spending so long as another person and the crumbling effect the pressure of being rejected by all around him as he struggles to grasp onto the remaining fragments of his identity. The ever reliable Anthony Wong is his usual irrepressible self as the no-nonsense cop Lung and Francis Ng brings the requisite edge to his portrayal as Triad boss Dark Don. the glamour is provided by Rain Li.

A tightly directed Hong Kong thriller that probably could have done with an extra 20 minutes to flesh out the decent into madness by Harry but this has enough to keep the viewer interested and highly entertained.

Other than the fun HSM 3, I also saw Liam Neesons Taken. Apart from the ludicrously over the top action which was like a throwback to the 80's action flicks, it wasn't to bad. Its like the Bourne films without the finesse or class.

Just watch Japanese live action movie Musashi starring Joe Odagiri.Pretty good film,Joe is excellent as Ginko and the supporting charachters do a fine job in their given roles.Based on a Manga,its a story of a young bugmaster and his travels.Cant really explain about it as i got lost in the middle of the film with the story as it tends to go back and fourth between the past and the present,espicially with Ginko and his story with Niu who seems to have a big hold on him ever since she helped him as a young boy.The CGI is pretty good and well acted but i still felt comfused with what was going on and the rather abrupt ending didnt help matters but on the whole a pretty good movie.

Watched the fantastic Hong Gil Dong and its continuing story with hong and his ambition to travel overseas but has a choice to make to either do what he feels will make his future better or avenge a fallen theif and become a hero for the poor in Korea and after much deliberating he does the right thing at the end of the episode.Great comedy moments in the show and mixes in great special effects with fantastic action and acting.Easy to see why it is a popular show in korea.

Last night I watched French film Right Now (A tout de suite).

Based on true story and set in the 1970's, Lili is a 19 year-old art student from the bourgeoisie who on a night out meets a Moroccan man named Bada, with whom she is quickly and deeply attracted. A few days later, Lili receives a phone call from Bada at the scene of the bank they have just robbed where one of his partners has been shot dead. Bada and his partner Alain seek refuge at Lili's family's house where they instruct her to call Alain's girlfriend Joelle to pick them up. needing to getaway quickly, Lili opts to join them on; but after an idyllic start to their global journey - which takes in Spain, Morocco and Greece - things start to go awry and Lili is soon left on her own, thrown into one unfortunate situation after another.

Shot in black and white, this appears to embody all of the preconceptions people have about French cinema being arty and pretentious; yet it suits the mood of the film perfectly and strongly reminds the viewer that this is set in a time since passed. It would certainly lose a lot of its allure if it had been shot in colour. It also plays a huge part in conveying the loneliness and distress of the plight of Lili in the third acts of the film, emphasising the bleakness that surrounds her as she has to try and cope in a foreign country alone.

Isild Le Besco, for me, is not the most glamorous actress (although others disagree) but she is completely mesmerising and a natural in front of the camera (with a great body too which she has no problems showing off ), and her modest looks enable her to bring a touch of authenticity to her portrayal of Lili, which gives weight to the film's almost documentary like feel. Despite not receiivng the same amount of screen time or attention as Le Besco, the rest of the cast are competent in their roles, although Ouassini Embarek as Bada does little else but look totally disinterested throughout the whole film.

Right Now is an incisive tale of love, naivety, duplicity, survival and ill-fated hope that packs a punch which will no doubt be lost on those who will find this too arty and dour for their tastes. Not a film to enter into lightly but it is rewarding and engrossing thanks to Le Besco's powerful performance.

Watched 16 Blocks on BBC last night.

It stars Bruce Willis as an ageing cop who has to escort a witness 16 blocks to the court house, but 'other forces' are trying to stop him. It was a pretty good film and Bruce Willis played the aging cop character very well.

Watched two very different films today.

First was Hairspray which I taped off SKY cos my Mum wanted to see it. Surprisingly enjoyable and very accessible considering it originated from the diseased mind of John "Pink Flamingos" Walters.

Very catchy songs, good narrative and strong performances from debuting Nikki Blonsky as Tracy, Michelle Pfiefer as the lead protagonist Velma and even John Travolta as Tracy's mum (I actually forgot it was him by the end). The only weak links for me were the bland Zac Teflon and Amanda Bynes whose character was too one dimensional and didn't allow her to show off her comedy talents.

Otherwise, worth a look if you want a more satirical version of Grease.


Second film was a powerful drama from mainland China Seventeen Years.

After two single parents married, teenager Toa Xiolan grew up with her exact opposite stepsister Yu Xioqin: the former is outgoing, free spirited and laid back while the latter is studious, academic and aspirational. When a petty amount of money goes missing, Yu plants the money under Toa's pillow incurring the wrath and scorn of her parents. In a fit of anger when confronting Yu about this, Tao hits Yu in the head with a metal pipe, the injuries from which Yu does not recover. Tao is sent to prison.

Seventeen years later, Tao is rewarded a few days release from prison to return home for New Years to see her family as a result of her good behaviour. Understandably Tao is very nervous about meeting her family again and her confidence is given a serious blow when there are not at the bus station to greet her. Meanwhile, a prison-officer Chen-Jie is on her way home to see her family for New Years and since she is heading for the same region, she decides to accompany Tao home.

Director Zhang Yuan has been the bad boy of Chinese cinema with many of his films on the receiving end of censorship, Government interference of outright bans. This was his "return to the fold" movie which was free of any outside disruption; complete with permission to film in a real Chinese woman's prison.

This bleak but moving insight into life under a totalitarian regime does a great job at highlighting the basic enforced tenets of the oppressed Chinese people: namely the desire for all parents for their kids to excel at their education and enter into worthwhile employment. Unfortunately, too much pressure is put on the young to succeed academically and for those who are less adept, their meagre standings and indifference are seen as rebellious, subversive "non-conformist" attitudes which leads to a clash of wills and applied strictness from the adults.

The other aspect depicted here is the incredibly strong sentiment of the Chinese concerning the importance of family being together at New Years; the oriignal Chinese title is Guo nian hui jia which translates to "Going Home for New Years". For both Tao and Chen-Jie this opportunity is seen as a substantial reward for their efforts in prison but as the tale unfolds we see that the anticipation of a family reunion for both women is vastly different. It is this dichotomy that makes up the "road movie" part of the story as Chen-Jie helps Tao find her way home, not understanding Tao's concerns until she witnesses the uneasy reunion for herself.

With the film centred largely around Tao and Chen-Jie,the two actresses needed to deliver and they did just that. Li Jun is exceptional as the once vibrant Tao who loses her vitality and becomes a shadow of her former self while serving her time in jail; and Li Bingbing (who was in The Forbidden Kingdom with Jackie & Jet) in her debut delivers an impressive first entry as the officious prison captain who is slowly reminded of the frailties of the human condition outside of the prison walls.

A moody but impactful film that chips away at a totailtarian regime to remind us of the importance of being human.

Last nights film for me waas Versus starring the awesome Tak Sakaguchi.I watched this quite late as Yoshie hates this type of movie so we watched it and its still as fantastic as it was when i watched it a while back.Tak is a priosner who escapes jail along with another inmate,both soon come into contact with a gang who find out along with Tak there is something very strange about the forest they are close by.Tak and a young lady (who is very cute and looks dead on like a friend of mine) escape while they give chase.Eventually all chaos reigns as zombie apon zombie rise from their graves and the violence,blood and crazinness begins.Some stand out moments include a guys face being caved in with a single punch and having his eyes removed (fantastic camara view with the hole in the face),a great twist at the end and the 2 cops who were hilarious ^-^.Im going to watch the 2 side stories and the prequal to this movie at a later date.Great film,Tak is one of my faverate actors in this kind of movie.