"Headhunters" from Norway

3.5 Potatoes

"Headhunters" (2011) - Hodejegerne by Morten Tyldum, a crime thriller from Norway, is a must-see!


This film was released at AFI last year and now in theaters in LA. 
Stylish, gruesome, suspenseful and very intelligently written. There are a lot of
surprises throughout the film, some humors are not to miss.


I really enjoyed it. Oh by the way, the guy who plays Clas Greve,
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, is Ser Jaime Lannister from the HBO series "Game of Thrones" if you are wondering where you've seen him.

Synopsis: An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary. (IMDb)

USA: In Theaters Now

Snow White and the Huntsman

2.5 Potatoes

I just saw the pre-screening of the "Snow White and the Huntsman" (2012) by Rupert Sanders. Stunningly beautiful cinematography, beautiful costume and Charlize Theron's witchy Queen were mesmerizing, yet tough chick Twilight Snow White... not so.
I thought the Huntsman needed some acting lesson but hey one of the Avengers of course can save anyone right? Sorry for the son of the Duke, Duke of the dude to be, couldn't be the magical prince from faraway land.

A bit confusing to watch, great poster.


USA: In theaters June 1st, 2012

"The Brotherhood of War" - Tae Guk Gi

4.5 Potatoes

I just read comments on the post "The Man from Nowhere" (2010) - Ajeossi and promised to post the info on this film "The Brotherhood of War" (2004) - Tae Guk Gi by Je-gyu Kang.

The story is about the 2 brothers who are separated by the Korean War. It shows how people can easily brain washed during the time of misery and anger.

The film stars Bin Won and another Korean star Dong-jun Jang. The director also directed the film "Swiri" (1999) - SHIRI, an amazing spy movie. Both films are MUST-SEE.

Highly Recommended.


Synopsis: Jin-Tae (Dong-gun Jang) shines shoes, hoping to save enough money to send his younger brother, Jin-Seok (Bin Won), to university. Their mother runs a noodle shop and wishes the best for her two sons, even though things have been tough since her husband died. But all bets are off when the Korean Warerupts and Jin-Seok is unwillingly conscripted into the war, which forces Jin-Tae to enlist just so he can save his brother. (NETFLIX)


USA: Available on DVD

"Drive" with Ryan Gosling

3.5 Potatoes

I just saw the new film "Drive" (2011) by Nicolas Winding Refn. No expectation nor knowledge about it before I went to the screening. Only one thing I knew about this film was that the director won the Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

Surprisingly, I really liked it. The movie had a touch of the 80's cheesiness and I also thought the film was somewhat influenced by Claude Lelouch's "Roman de Gare" (2007), especially the driving scenes and the music which goes along with them. But that didn't bother me really. I thought the film was well executed and Ryan Gosling is an actor that truly can act without dialogues.

Highly Recommended.


Synopsis: A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong. (IMDb)




USA: In Theater Everywhere on Friday 09/16/2011

"Point Blank"

I am so glad to hear that the new French movie "Point Blank" (2010) - À Bout Portant by Fred Cavayé is going to be released in Los Angeles and New York this month.

It is an action thriller movie starring Gilles Lellouche who is now a rising main role actor who has been in fact in the movie industry for a long time and was known for the best co-star often supporting the main character in the movie. Other cast include Gérard Lanvin and Roshdy Zem.


Synopsis: Samuel Pierret (Gilles Lellouche) is a nurse who saves the wrong guy -- a thief (Roschdy Zem) whose henchmen take Samuel's pregnant wife (Elena Anaya) hostage to force him to spring their boss from the hospital. A race through the subways and streets of Paris ensues, and the body count rises. Can Samuel evade the cops and the criminal underground and deliver his beloved to safety? (IMDb)

Synopsis (FR): Tout va pour le mieux pour Samuel et Nadia : lui est bientôt infirmier et elle, attend son premier enfant. Mais tout bascule lorsque Nadia se fait kidnapper sous l'oeil impuissant de Samuel. A son réveil, son portable retentit : il a trois heures pour sortir de l'hôpital dans lequel il travaille un homme sous surveillance policière. Le destin de Samuel est désormais lié à celui de Sartet, une figure du banditisme activement recherchée par tous les services de police. S'il veut revoir sa femme vivante, Samuel doit faire vite.. (AlloCiné)


Official Site: http://www.pointblankmovie.com/

USA: In Theaters in L.A. and New York,  July 29, 2011

"The Man from Nowhere"

3.5 Potatoes

To make up the bad movie start this weekend, I quickly went into my DVD-to-Catch-up piles.Tonight's pick was "The Man from Nowhere" (2010) - Ajeossi 아저씨 by Jeong-Beom Lee with Bin Won. I added this movie to my Netflix list because I like Bin Won.

But surprisingly it was a good movie! Typical Korean action thriller and violent as usual, but there was a nice touch of heartfelt feeling to it, if you know what I mean...

Bin Won's true action without body double is HOT.

If you like Korean action movie, it is Highly Recommended.



- Violent and Gritty

"GANTZ"

I saw the trailer of the Japanese movie "Gantz" in theater last December. Unfortunately I missed the US release in January, because I wasn't interested in seeing it back then...
But I just saw "Another Gantz" on TV and now I want to see the theatrical version!


Synopsis: Gantz (ガンツ Gantsu) is a Japanese manga and anime series written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. Gantz tells the story of Kei Kurono and his friend Masaru Kato who die in a train accident and become part of a semi-posthumous “game” in which they and several other recently deceased people are forced to hunt down and kill aliens armed with a handful of futuristic items of equipment and weaponry. (Wikipedia)