Sunny's Diary

Parental Guidance (2012) - This family comedy stars some of the (supposedly) big names in Hollywood, i.e. Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, and Marisa Tomei. It strategically set the release date to fall during Christmas holiday so that the family can go watching this together. The film is about grandparents who tried to connect with their daughter and their grandchildren by offering to take care of the kids when their parents are away. Of course, the mishaps would happen for the comedy sake. However, the plot is too thin and the joke is hardly ever funny. The storyline is too predictable and there is hardly any effort on acting. All in all, it is another cliche of the family comedy film.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Based on the 1937 novel “The Hobbit” by J. R. R. Tolkien, this epic fantasy film adaptation is the first of the trilogy to be released in the same way as its predecessor trilogy in the Tolkien’s universe “The Lord of the Rings”. The story is set 60 years prior to the event in “The Lord of the Rings” and it tells the adventure of the young hobbit Bilbo Baggins who is hired by the wizard Gandalf to accompany thirteen dwarves on a quest across Middle-earth to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug, the dragon. The story tells how Bilbo gets the hold of the “One Ring” and it is great to see one of the nasty characters - Gollum - coming back to live on a cinema screen. The film was shot with the new High Frame Rate 3D technology at 48 frames per second (while the industry standard is 24 frames per second) which rendered a spectacular 3D effect. However, I felt that the film looks unreal and moves faster than it should be. I guess I will have to watch it more to get used to the new technology. Anyway, the cinematography of the film is top-notch - the scenery is extremely breathtakingly beautiful and the computer graphic is impressively real. The story may be slow at first but the speed picks up after the adventure begins.  I really love the “Riddle in the Dark” scene between Bilbo and Gollum. It is witty and enjoyable. All in all, it is a great film and I can not wait for the sequels of the film entitled “The Desolation of Smaug” set to release in 2013 and “There and Back Again” in 2014.

Warm Bodies (2013) - Based on the peopular novel with the same name by Isaac Marion, this romantic comedy film tells a stoy of “zombie romance” with some references to William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet where the main character “R” is a zombie who falls in love with “Julie” a beauiful girl who happens to be the daugther of a general who has an order to kill zombies and protect humanity. Even though the plot is predictable and the stoyline is unrealistic, the film is full of comic moments thanks to the great screenplay by the director Jonathan Levine (whose credit includes the smart and wity film 50/50). All in all, it is an enjoyable film to watch without having to care much about the story. The film is scheduled to release on Februry 1, 2013 which marked a one-and-a-half-month advanced screening of the film, one of the longest I have ever attended.

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012) - This is the third installment of the computer-animated comedy film series Madagascar. The film is full of energy and hilarious moments with the inclusion of new absurd characters like Captain Chantel DuBois, the leader of the Animal Control, and the European Circus animals. Even though the plot is predictable and the storyline is silly, the film is enjoyable to watch.

Killing Them Softly (2012) - Based on the 1974 novel “Cogan’s Trade” by George V. Higgins, this crime film tells a story of a hit-man hired by a mafia to clean up the mess of the amateur robbery of the mafia’s poker ring. The film stars Brad Pitt as the hit-man. The film is extremely slow and tedious with unnecessary slow-motions and strange camera angels. The story is simple but the script makes it to be over-complicated. Brad Pitt does not do anything much in term of acting rather than speaking softly and acting cool which does not help making the film less boring. Even though the critics love the film and praise it as a great “dark” comedy, I don’t feel any enjoyment watching the film so I have to agree with the general movie-goers who give the “F” grade to the film based on CinemaScore market research.

Life of Pi (2012) - Based on Yann Martel’s 2001 novel of the same name, the film is directed by the critically acclaimed director Ang Lee. It tells a miracle story of survival of a 16-year-old boy who suffers a shipwreck in the middle of Pacific Ocean and is stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. The film looks amazingly wonderful in 3D especially all the ocean scenes. The cinematography is brilliantly beautiful. The story is interesting but it might not reach the philosophical depth providing by the book. All in all, it is an enjoyable to movie with spectacular visual feast.

Playing for Keeps (2012) - The film tells a story of a former professional soccer star trying to reconnect with his 10-years-old son by helping coaching his son’s soccer team only to find himself to be a subject of desire for all of the different kinds of “soccer-moms”. The film stars Gerard Butler in a leading role with Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Judy Greer, and Dennis Quaid in supporting roles. Even with all the stars’ power, the acting is not good. The plot of the film is as stupid as it could be. The film looks down on the viewer’s judgement of good versus bad behavior. All in all, the film is bad starting from the script to its execution.

Anna Karenina (2012) - Based on Leo Tolstoy’s 1877 novel of the same name, this version of the film tells the tragedy story of Anna Karenina, a Russian high-society married woman who falls in love and commits adultery with another man. The film is directed by Joe Wright and starred Keira Knightley as the main character. This is another collaboration between Wright and Knightley (the first and second collaboration are “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement”, respectively). The film used an innovative style of story-telling by combining a stage-like performance into the set. The cinematography is beautiful but the film as a whole seems to be tedious and boring.  All in all, the film is not for everyone, you can either love it or hate it.

Chasing Ice (2012) - Directed by Jeff Orlowski, this documentary film tells the story of climate change by following the acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog and his team of the Extreme Ice Survey to show the tangible evidence that climate change is real. The film won numerous awards including the excellence in cinematography for U.S. documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. Indeed, the film has a collection of breathtakingly beautiful scenery and a number of stunning video clips of the melting of the glaciers. The film delivers a very powerful and undeniable environmental message that will definitely raise the concern for the viewers.

Learn more about the film and how you can get involve at the official website of the film: http://www.chasingice.com

Rise of the Guardians (2012) - Based on The Guardians of Childhood book series and The Man in the Moon short film by William Joyce, this 3D animation adventure film tells a story of “the Guardians” (including Santa Claus, Tooth Faiy and Easter Bunny) who have to come together to fight against the darkness force of the Nightmare King. The 3D production of the film is vibrantly colorful. Even though the storyline is predictable (and unreasonable), it has enough homors and action scenes to make it enjoyable as a family friendly animation film.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part 2) (2012) - I can’t believe that it has been a year since I watched the The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part 1). This film is the second part of Breaking Dawn and it is the fifth and final installment in the series The Twilight Saga. All things must come to an end and the end of the series could not get any better. The story was now concluded with the forever happy-ever-after for Bella and Edward Cullen. However, before the franchise concluded, the film delivered one of the most entertaining and action-packed Vampire fighting scenes ever with a lot of heads ripping-off and an array of super special powers. The acting of the cast is still as stiff as it has always been. But with the satisfying action sequences, the film could be the best film of the franchise in my opinion. Good bye, the Twilight Saga!

Red Dawn (2012) - This action war film is a remake of the 1984 film with the same name. It is a story of a group of teenagers adapting themselves to fight against the overnight foreign invasion into the United States. The fictional war story is ridiculous and seems unreasonable (but it could nevertheless happen in the film). The script is disjointed and tedious. The acting is mediocre. The only interesting thing in the film is its fighting sequences that seem real enough but still lack credibility. After all, it is just a Hollywood fantasy war film that is boring, except for the time of bombing…

Skyfall (2012) - This is the 23rd film of the James Bond 007 spy series. The film commemorates the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film series. The name of the movie “Skyfall” is taken from the fictional Bond family estate in Scotland. The story is about resurrection of retribution of a couple of the characters in the film. The plot is interesting. The cast delivers a fine performance, especially Javier Bardem as the film’s main antagonist. The action sequences are well performed and the cinematography is wonderful. All in all, it is one of the best Bond films in recent years.

P.S. I also really like the main theme song which shares the same name with the film performed by the British powerhouse singer Adele. The lyrics and the melody really suits the emotion o the film.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012) - This comedy-drama film is adapted from the novel with the same name. It is a story of a guy with a (mild) mental illness issue trying to rebuild his life after being put in the mental institution for 8 months. The guy meets the mysterious girl who has a mental issue of her own and they are doing something that may positively change their lives. The plot and the storyline of two crazy people people trying to help each other and falling in love during the process is very interesting. The ensemble of the cast delivers a fine and believable acting, especially the lead characters (Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence). The film is enjoyable to watch.

The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) - Directed, written and starred by the famous American hip-hop musical artist RZA, this martial arts action film tells the same old story of good versus evil, setting in the 19th century China. The film might have one of the most Asian cast members in an American movie. If you are familiar with the original Chinese Kung-Fu style series or movies, you will notice that the film takes all the cliche elements possible from the genre. The story is predictable. The acting is stiff and painful to watch. Various action sequences are enjoyable but they are too extremely violent with blood splattering and head/guts flying all over the place. All in all, the movie is not pleasant to watch in any aspect.