First five films I've seen since joining Netflix last week

Irréversible: Test yourself to see how open-minded you are. Keep telling yourself that it's just a movie (and French) and maybe, maybe you'd be able to make it to the end. 3 stars

Say Anything...: Only a few movies in this genre (teen romance/comedy) that are this genuine. Cameron Crowe's directorial debut. 3 stars

Bad Santa: It's a unique Christmas flick that has just enough entertainment value to recommend. 3 stars

Happiness: Rough and choppy. The music ended abruptly between the scenes and the editing wasn't much better either. Despite all that, I'd highly recommend it because I thought the roughness was intentional, the acting was brilliant, and it’s a much better film than Todd Solondz's previous film, Welcome to the Dollhouse, which I hated. 3½ stars

Alfie: Surprisingly fresh and entertaining. It took me a while to get used to the lead character (Alfie, played by Jude Law) talking directly to the camera and I imagined that it had to be hard to do that while staying in the character and interacting with the others. Beautifully shot and stylized especially when portraying his relationship with Nikki (Sienna Miller, Law’s real life fiancée). The locations, the clothes, and Law’s accent gave it a feel of a British romance/comedy. Susan Sarandon had the most telling and the best line in the film when she said "He’s younger than you." Ouch! 3½ stars

By the way, Mick Jagger's "Old Habits Die Hard" is nice but the song that I really like is "Alfie". Also check out Patricia Barber's jazz version of "Alfie".

And The Best Film of 2004 Is...

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: 4 stars

The reason that Roger Ebert picked "Dark City" to be the best film of 1998 is mainly because of, and I quote, "a great visionary achievement". He compared its visual to such classic as "Metropolis" and "2001: A Space Odyssey". While I agreed that the visual was exceptionally stunning, it was the concept of how the human memory might be the key to the survival of the alien-kind that fascinated me.

There are other films in recent years that use our memory (loss) as the backbone of the plots. Sometimes it's a comedy like "50 First Dates" and sometimes, it's a serious human behavior study such as "Memento".

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is by far, one of the most inventive films dealing with human memory. It's not a memory loss story line per se. Instead, it's a story of a man wanting a portion of his memory (of his girlfriend) erased. Right in the middle of the procedure, he changed his mind and decided to keep the good memory of her. The only problem is that the man himself (Joel, played by Jim Carrey) stuck in his own memory, unable to stop the procedure and therefore, starting a game of cat and mouse in his memory maze.

Normally, seeing a movie is a film study for me in that I'd notice all aspects of film making such as camera angles, music score, or mis-en-scene. "Eternal Sunshine" is the exception because of how brilliant the plot is. It's much more fun and interesting just to watch and absorb than making a mental note on the production. Sometimes, the difference between a good film and a great film is that you "watch" a good film but you "experience" a great film. Being stuck in Joel's memory maze and attempting not to get erased is something to be experienced.

Why is memory so important? Let's go back to "Dark City"; the aliens may have it right after all. Our memory is one of the keys to our survival. It’s the memory of your parents, your first date, or your first born child that makes you who you are. Without it, we are reduced to just another insignificant life form with nothing to cherish from the past and not much to look forward to in the future.

Two for the price of one (Martial Arts vs. Drama)

Ong-bak: Don't call yourself a martial-arts flick fan if you haven't seen "Ong-bak". Its plot was nonexistent, the acting was terrible, and the production was below average but I swear I've never seen Muay Thai being portrayed as exhilarating and as elegance on the big screen.

Tony Jaa (Ting, the hero of the film) has collaborated some of the kung fu style into his martial art (after all, he grew up idolizing Bruce Lee) but if you ever wonder what Muay Thai is all about then "Ong-bak" is the movie to put on your must see list.

Some of the stunts in the film should be simply described as insane. This Tony Jaa dude has given a new definition of the word "Badass Buddhist". I'm not worthy! 3 ½ stars

P.S.: I'll admit that the only reason I rented "P.S." was because of Laura Linney. I've been a big fan since I saw her in "Primal Fear", opposite Richard Gere and Edward Norton. My expectation of this film was based on the plot I heard a little bit about and I thought - hey, how bad could it be with my favorite actress and the interesting storyline of a rebirth of a main character.

What "P.S." turns out to be, however, is anything but what I described above. "P.S." isn't a plot-driven but a dialogue-driven film from the beginning to the end. There are only a few films out of hundreds I've seen in the past years that its dialogue is this engaging, "Before Sunset" is another one that comes to mind.

I was pleasantly surprised by how smart, complex, and truthful the dialogues are. It's smart because you feel how the conversations grab you and you have no choice but be involved. It's complex because it's coming out of the complex characters that experience the internal struggle and try to express their feelings. And it's truthful because the characters are believable and you can relate with their problems and THAT makes you chuckle and sob along with them.

I already know that Linney is an excellent actress but Topher Grace (Eric from "That '70s Show") more than held his own - acting with the veterans like Linney, Gabriel Byrne, and Marcia Gay Harden.

Dylan Kidd, who also directed another dialogue-driven film "Roger Dodger", did a wonderful job in making a 97 minutes film fly by like a lazy Saturday afternoon with a good book. 3½ stars

5 reasons not to see "Saw" or: How I learned to stop caring and empathize with "The Jigsaw Killer"

1. If you look like an average white guy and you go and cheat on your wife who looks like Monica Potter then you deserve all the pain and humiliation.

2. The Jigsaw Killer's motive is disingenuous. Actually, the whole movie is disingenuous. The setup in "Saw" was full of loopholes (though I have to admit that it looked promising in the beginning) and by the time the payoff rolled around I didn't care one way or the other.

3. I can easily list 10 wonderful films on DVD or in theaters right now that deserve to be seen more than "Saw".

4. Not enough screen time for Alexandra Chun *meow

5. "Saw 2" is in pre-production and we all know that bad horror flicks almost always get the sequels.

Oscar blew it (again)

I know you can't please everybody but Oscar, as usual, got it wrong.

How is it possible that Martin Scorsese, who's one of the best American directors of our generation, never won an Oscar for the Best Director?

In 2001, how did "Gladiator", the most overrated movie of all time, beat out "Traffic" and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"; the films that are clearly more superior? Hell, even "Erin Brockovich", which released on the same year was a much better film.

For the Best Picture, I haven't seen "Finding Neverland" and "Ray" but it should be a capital crime that "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" isn't on the list. The other three nominees are well deserved.

I think it's pretty cool that they recognized Catalina Sandino Moreno from "Maria Full of Grace". I doubt that she would beat out Hilary Swank or Imelda Staunton but it's a great recognition for the first time young actress (just like when Keisha Castle-Hughes from "Whale Rider" was nominated).

I love the nominee list for the Best Supporting Actress. Great performances by all.

For the Best Directing, Oscar once again blew it by leaving out Michel Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I haven't seen "Ray" (Taylor Hackford) or "Vera Drake" (Mike Leigh) so I’ll preserve my comment.

I've watched quite a few foreign films this year but none of them are on the list for the Best foreign film. I guess I have more homework to do.

Sexual Peak: What's your experience?

According to Tim Curry's character in "Kinsey", men wont' reach their sexual peak until they're 40. I told a friend with a big smirk that it means I have 4 more years to go before I reach my prime. Woo Hoo!!!

Well, my friend went an extra mile by looking up some real researches and managed to ruin what I have to look forward to. This is what she wrote to me...

"I looked it up and men peak due to heightened hormone levels between 17 and 25 depending on the sources that you read. Women peak between 30-35 because of 2 different factors 1) hormone levels are highest at that age 2) women become more comfortable with their sexuality and more secure with themselves and feel less guilt. But, women are less likely to take advantage or experience this heightened sexuality if they a) have kids b) are on medications, like antidepressants, which ladies home journal (?) or some other web page claimed that 1 in every 5 women are on them - I highly doubt that though!"

OK, I wasn't serious about being ruined by this discovery. As a matter of fact, I found this to be informative since I was never aware of that big gap between the male and the female's sexual peak. I also wonder whether the reasons mentioned for not taking advantage of this phenomenon are accurate for the majority of the females.

Hi-Yah!

Three recent kung fu movies have received excellent praises from critics and audience in the US. They are "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hero", and "House of Flying Daggers". Guess which one is the real McCoy and the only one I'd recommend?

As a Thai kid grew up in Bangkok, I, just like many boys in the city, was addicted to reading Japanese anime and watching kung fu movies from China or Hong Kong and reading the kung fu stories. Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" perfectly represents what I'd imagined while reading those stories. Lee was serious when he said that he intended to direct this film based on his experience and understanding, watching/reading the genre.

"House of Flying Daggers" started out great with a promising plot, breathtaking fight scenes and beautiful landscapes. Unfortunately, the movie took a turn for the worst once it decided to abandon all other aspects of the film and turned into an uninspired, sappy love triangle movie. The issues were left unresolved and I was left with a disappointment of another movie with great potential but couldn't deliver.

"Hero" is a camera work extravaganza and that's about all it has to offer. It's something nice to look at for about 10 minutes and then you start to think - Okee Dokee, let's see some plot or acting or something. Then by the end of the film, it will make you want to scream - how many more times do I have to see Broken Sword and Flying Snow get friggin' killed?

"Hero" is pretentious and fragmented. Its plot is boring and uninventive. What a waste of one of the most beautiful cinematography works I've ever seen.

The thing about Michael Moore

"Always the message, never the messenger" ~ moi

When Moore makes movies, he's a film maker. Whatever content he chooses to put in his film is totally up to him. He never hides his agenda. He puts the information out there and we, the audience, use our critical analysis and accept it based on our own knowledge and experience.

Some people wouldn't go see Moore's films because they refuse to put money in his pocket for his cause (whatever the heck that means). I think it's accurate to assume that these people have been watching all the great indie and foreign films as supposed to some slasher/violent or some low standard Hollywood type of movies that don't offer any value.

“Bowling for Columbine” and “Fahrenheit 9/11” are excellent movies that deliver important messages. You don't have to be a liberal or a conservative to go see them because I know many conservatives who have seen Moore's films, you just have to be an audience who appreciates good films and are willing to be informed.

Start the new year with love

ASIAN TSUNAMI DISASTER

I came from Thailand 16 years ago. My hometown is Bangkok, where I was born and raised. Though, I and many of us in the US weren’t directly affected by the disaster, someone’s fathers, mothers, sons, or daughters have lost their lives and the survivors have suffered. One of my very close friends lived in southern Thailand, the area that was hit. I haven’t been in touch with him since he went back to Thailand a few years ago. I have no way of contacting him. Yong, I hope you’re ok. And if you, or someone who knows him happen to read this then please leave me a comment and/or an e-mail where I can get in touch with him.

While many of us can’t be there in person to volunteer, we can donate to the charities that already have their people and resources to help relieve the disaster. In the world community, we’re all neighbors and we’ll let the people who suffer know that we care about them and will do whatever we can to help.





American Red Cross through amazon.com