Movie Reviews with halochief996: The Hunger Games

Man its been hell after I got back from Spring break. So much homework and stuff to do for school. Very stressful. Man but that's what college is about right?

Yeah anyway well as for as my gaming goes. I've been getting back into Shogun 2 Total War with their new Expansion Fall of the Samurai.

Its addicting, I've already put in a lot of hours. Hopefully I will find Tom Cruise somewhere in this game.

Anyway, also got Resident Evil Operation Racoon City.

Yeah let's just say Resident Evil 6 will be better than this.

Lets get to the big review shall we.

The Hunger Games

Around my school, around my city, on the TV, and even on my computer, this movie has been advertised multiple times. I mean many people have been telling me OMG it looks so awesome. Going to be as good as the book. I mean this movie was hyped up. It looked interesting and also Taylor Swift contributed to the soundtrack with her song Safe and Sound and Eyes Open. I like Taylor Swift.

Plot: The story is based off the novel by Suzanne Collins. I'll be honest,I've never read the book, so I have no idea if the story follows true to the book. Here's the story based off just what I've seen in the movie. Once upon a time there was a country like the United States. Washington D.C. is called the Capitol which is where the main seat of power resides. Also instead of 50 states there are 12 districts. And the rule of government in a way is almost like a mix between republic and dictatorship. Anyway there was a civil war, where some of the districts rebelled, and the capitol and the supporting districts had to subdue them. In the end, the capitol won. Now to prevent another civil war from happening, the capitol has created a contest called The Hunger Games. Basically each of the 12 districts has to pay tribute, by sending 2 people (one male, one female) to the Capitol where they will compete in a contest of survival. Basically 24 kids going at each other with knives, swords, bows, and nature. All in a natural wilderness arena. Bloody, cruel, and intense. The people usually sent in are teens and young adults. This contest is ment to keep the other districts in line and make them understand that the Capitol is in charge and will provide. In district 12, one girl Katniss Everdeen volunteers to compete in The Hunger Games, after her sister is chosen to compete. Also the guy chosen is Peeta Mellark. They go to the Capitol where they are treated like royalty and train for the upcoming game. Will they survive or will they die? I have not read the book, but its an interesting story. I liked it, and it kept me interested all the way.

Genre: Action, adventure, drama, some sci-fi, and some romance. All I have to say its executed well. The action is intense and keeps you hooked. I mean we are talking about teens and young adults fighting for survival and only one of them is can survive. Survival of the fittest. The design of the world is also really remarkable. Each district looks likes a very old run down village or town. I mean food is not really plentiful and each district has their own unique resource that they must provide for the capitol and the other districts. So District 12 is a coal mine town so you'll see carts full of coal, houses made of wood with black smudges, and the people in coal mine gear. Then you see the capitol which is like this futuristic, clean, modern city with interesting clothes. Kind of makes it hard to determine who is a guy and who is a girl with all the elaborate make up and clothes. Presents the idea of a very superficial society. Kudos to the costume designers, visual artists, and setting creators. The only thing that bugs me is sometimes the camera zooms in really close on characters and gets a little shakey when its that zoomed in. But I get used to it. Acting is also superb, dramatic and not really fake.

Overall: I was really annoyed at seeing all the commercials and hearing people talk about this film. I mean heck I know some people who spent their whole spring break reading the book. You know what after watching this film. I kind of want to read the book. I'm also thinking to myself maybe I should've read the book first before watching this film. Oh well it was still a good movie. I'm very impressed.

10 out of 10

Asian Star of the Week

Han Ga-In (한가인, 韩佳人)

Another beautiful actress and model from South Korea. This one too bad is already married, but hey if she was single...Anyway she is pretty.

Well that's it for this weeks blog. See you guys soon and happy gaming.

Movie Reviews with halochief996: 21 Jump Street plus Casa de mi Padre

Well Spring break is almost over for me, and I have to say I had a lot of fun. From playing video games, watching movies, doing some homework, and having fun. Yeah you can say I was productive during Spring Break. Moving on.

Casa De Mi Padre

Did I ever tell you Will Ferrell came to my school. Yeah apparently he visited my school to show off his new Casa de mi Padre. Yeah it sucks that I missed it, but whatever. People told me he was hilarious. I wish I was there. Anyway Will Ferrell is really funny. I mean he is hilarious. Every time I see his movies, I always get a good laugh. When I saw the trailer for this film, I was hooked. I mean its Will Ferrell talking in Spanish. This has to be a funny movie right?

Plot: The plot is pretty easy to understand even without English subtitles. Will Ferrell is Armando Alvarez, a dumb rancher in Mexico. Anyway his brother comes home to Mexico with a beautiful girl to ask his father for his permission to marry. However Armando is suspicious of his brother. And it turns out he is not really in Mexico to get married. Instead he is trying to take out his rival in the drug business, Onza. Its up to Armando to save his family's reputation and undo his brother's wrongdoings. Its a passionate story. Nothing really creative, but its pretty intense. Well it acts like its pretty intense.

Genre: Its a comedy movie. And its pretty funny to a point. I mean at first its hilarious because its Will Ferrell and he is speaking Spanish. But after a while it gets kind of dry and a little boring. I mean the other thing about this film is that it looks like a very cheaply made film. Its on purpose and its pretty funny, from weird mannequins to weird background settings to electronic animals. There is always something to chuckle about in this film, but other than that, the movie soon becomes tiring. And the only thing you can really laugh at is Will Ferrell speaking Spanish. The actors give good dramatic performances, and Will Ferrell can speak Spanish pretty well. Other than that there is some action and romance. And in a way this movie is kind of a musical. There is a lot of singing. And its in Spanish. And Will Ferrell is a good singer even in Spanish.

Overall: An interesting comedy film. I enjoyed the film and got a few laughs. Will Ferrell was pretty funny in this film. Like I said at the beginning its pretty funny, but after a while it becomes pretty much a grind and you will end up having a few chuckles. Of coarse there is some action and romance, but its not serious. More like dramatic. If you want a different kind of movie that is out of the norm. Check this film out.

7 out of 10

21 Jump Street

Channing Tatum, he has some good movies and some bad movies. I kind of see him as an action actor after seeing him in G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra and Haywire. Other than that he is especially good eye candy to girls. Jonah Hill on the other hand is funny and is pretty cool. So combine these 2 actors and you get 21 Jump Street, a pretty hilarious film.

Plot: This movie is based on an old TV show that aired from 1987 to 1991 starring Johnny Depp. From what I've read it was a pretty good show, and the movie is pretty similar to the show. Basically 2 cops, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are really young and immature. After failing to arrest a biker gang member with drugs because somebody forgot to read him his Miranda rights, Jenko and Schmidt are assigned to a new police unit run by Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) on 21 Jump Street. The police unit's specialty is to go undercover as high school students. Its up to Schmidt and Jenko to go undercover as high school students and make a big drug bust before the drug reaches other high schools and makes high school students OD. Its a funny story, and it has some great moments and twists. In a way it follows true to the plot formula that was set by the TV show.

Genre: Its a really funny movie. I had good laugh from beginning to end. I mean there are so many stereotypes about teen life, police work, drugs, school, and parties that makes this movie really funny. Channing Tatum can be a funny guy and Jonah Hill can be a really cool guy. Their acting performances are superb along with Ice Cube (who is also really funny) and the other actors. The few action scenes in the film are also nicely done with really funny events involving big explosions.

Overall: A very funny movie. Channing Tatum can be a really funny guy and Jonah Hill is still awesome. I had a good laugh from beginning to end. Don't take this movie seriously, just enjoy it and laugh at it.

8 out of 10

Asian Star of the Week

Park Soo Kyung 박수경

Another beautiful girl from Korea. Apparently she was Miss Maxim South Korea. She deserves it.

Well that's for this weeks blog. I hope everybody had a good Spring break. Hopefully Summer will come very soon and school will end. 7 more weeks for me.

Movie Reviews with halochief996: John Carter

Safe House

Denzel Washington is a boss. He is an awesome action actor. Ryan Reynolds is not bad. I liked him better when he was more of a comedian. But I guess actors do need to branch out more. Anyway I know this is late, but I kind of wanted to go see it, and since I had a free ticket, I said why not. It was not the best action movie I've seen, but its definitely not bad.

Plot: The plot is pretty simple. Denzel Washington plays Tobin Frost, an ex-CIA agent that has information that is worth a lot of money. And the CIA, MI6, German Intelligence, and other Intelligence agencies want this information. He is captured and sent to a safe house that is maintained by a regular guy named Matthew Weston (Ryan Reynolds). However the safe house is compromised, and Matthew and Tobin escape barely. Its now a game of cat and mouse, as the two try to evade from a hitman squad and figure out who wants them dead. Its an intense story with plot twists, and many questions that keep you guessing until the end. An enjoyable story.

Genre: Its an action/adventure film with some thriller and suspense moments. I will say the action is really intense since the camera is very shaky throughout the movies intense action scenes. I will say it kept my heart racing, but still the camera was way too shaky. On top of that there are scenes where the movie will be fast forwarded to one scene and then goes back to one scene that was totally irrelevant. For example you see Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington talking then all of a sudden you see a scene of how they got to the place where they are talking. And then it goes back to them talking. And then it goes back to a scene before they were talking. Luckily this pattern of scenes is not prevalent throughout the entire film, but when it does show up its a little annoying. Other than that Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington give excellent performances with their acting, along with the other actors in the film. The fight scenes and martial arts are executed well. And the stunts are also well done, I guess camera was too shaky to really tell.

Overall: An enjoyable thrill ride. Although the camera was shaky and there were some misplaced scenes, the movie was enjoyable to watch from beginning to end. Definitely recommend it if you need an action film to watch.

7.8 out of 10

A Thousand Words

Eddie Murphy. That guy used to be really funny. I mean I used to really love his movies. There was Shrek, Pluto Nash, Coming to America, and other films he was great in. Nowadays he's just not in any good movies.A Thousand Words I guess can be added to his list of not so great movies.

Plot:Eddie Murphy plays Jack McCall, a book agent that talks a lot. Like his mouth keeps running and running and never stops. Anyway he becomes the agent for a guy named Dr. Sinja after doing a lot of talking, in order to make a lot of money. Yeah karma happens and a tree grows in the backyard of his house. The tree is basically him. If the tree gets hit with an axe then he gets a cut on his side. If somebody sprays water all over the tree, he sweats a lot. Also when he talks, a leaf falls down, and when all the leaves on the tree are gone, then he basically dies. Basically he has a thousand words, that he must make use of in order to find out what truly matter in life. A plot that sounds interesting, but is poorly executed. I mean the movie makers did a bad job telling this story. Who came up with the lines for this movie, I wonder.

Genre: Its a comedy, but its not funny. Yeah sure I had a chuckle here and there, and I mean I laughed at some parts. But overall was not really funny. I feel wasted my time watching that film. I really didn't get anything good out that film. Eddie Murphy and the other actors give out average performances in the film. Scratch that. Clark Duke who plays Aaron Wiseberger, Jack McCall's assistant, will be funny to some people or annoying to some people. To me he was a little bit annoying.

Overall: I wish Eddie Murphy was in a better film. He can do so much better than this. I mean the movie isn't funny without him talking. If you like Eddie Murphy, or you want a cheep comedy film then go on ahead watch this, otherwise don't waste your time.

5 out of 10

John Carter

Ah sci-fi. One of my favorite genres in movies. Star Wars is one of my favorite movies. Its a classic. Anyway when I first saw the trailers for this film, I was going looks cool and its by Disney. Something similar to the Pirates of the Carribean movies. And then the title showed up. I was doubtful at first, but it turned out John Carter is a badass.

Plot: The story is based off the novel series of Mars/Barsoom by Edgar Rice Burroughs. A civil war veteran named John Carter is captured by US soldiers and asked to help protect a fort against Native Americans. He escapes from their capture and ends up in a cave where he encounters this mystical being that you can call a god (or manipulator of men) and kills it. He somehow gets transported to the world of Barsoom aka Mars. Apparently Mars can sustain life. He is caught up in a major conflict between 2 human nations controlled by the same mystical beings like the one he killed on Earth. Its up to him to put an end to the conflict and stop the gods/manipulators from destroying Mars. Its a very interesting story. I'll be honest I never read the book, so I have no idea if the movie follows true to the book. But other than that I still enjoyed the movie, even though I didn't read the book.

Genre: Its a Sci-Fi Action Adventure movie. I have to say its one well made movie. The special effects and art design of the characters, locations, and world is beautifully created. Not to the point though that I want to see it in 3D. It really looks beautiful and decently believable. The aliens look pretty awesome, especially the lizard-dog character in the movie, who is actually pretty cute. The action is pretty awesome. Its not too bloody, or violent enough to where you can't take kids to watch it, but its enough to the point that it keeps you interested. The acting is descent and pretty good. Not necessarily Oscar worthy, but good enough.

Overall: An awesome Sci-fi Action/Adventure film. I enjoyed it very much. A good Disney film. One movie that you have to see during your spring break.

9.1 out of 10

Asian Star of the Week

Eugene Kim (김유진, 金楢真)

Another beautiful Asian Star. She was part of Korean pop group called S.E.S. After that she acted in dramas, and films. She's pretty hot.

Well hope you enjoyed today's blog. I hope you guys have a wonderful spring break. Take care, and happy gaming.