The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Not having watched the second of the Fast and the Furious franchise, I happened upon the DVD of the third one of the series so I decided to watch it anyways. It's still a complete movie in and of itself so that was still alright. I read horrible reviews about this movie but still ventured onwards. I was pleasantly surprised afterwards because it's the sort of movie that just gets the viewer involved with the nice cars, rap music, cute girls, and the adrenaline pumping action scenes of car racing and drifting. A troubled teen is sent to Tokyo where he stumbles upon a scene not yet seen in the USA, which is car drifting. He gets involved with the wrong crowd yet again and ensuing car races and action follows. I had fun watching this movie and even more so than the first of the series. If you enjoyed the first one, then you won't be disappointed in this one. 8/10

Election 2

I bought the DVD to the sequel of "Election" because I thought that the first one would've been excellent, according to the reviews that I read about that one. Fortunately, I bought if before watching the first one because I might not have bought the sequel if I had already watched the first one. The sequel deals with another election which takes place 2 years after the first film. It deals with some of the characters inroduced in the first movie. This one is mainly about Simon Yam and Louis Koo. Without watching the first movie, there would be some confusion. Anyways, this one is a lot better than its predecessor. It has suspense in the scenes as well as a lot more action. Although, the action is less than in other of Johnnie To's movies and it doesn't have his signature cool scenes. Nick Cheung is once again my favourite character in the movie and Louis Koo plays his role well. 8/10

Election

You know that I'm a huge fan of director, Johnnie To. I've read a lot of raving reviews about this movie too. Does this movie live up to the expectations that I have and that I've read about it? It was a different type of movie compared to Johnnie To's recent efforts such as "Throw Down", "Breaking News", and "PTU". It had none of the sylish cinematography, the gritty gun fights, nor witty scenes found in those movies. It dealt primarily with the election of a new Triad leader of a society in Hong Kong. There was more scheming and plotting than action, or so it felt that way. There were some violent scenes when the members of the opposing gangs were trying to take the baton that is given to the Triad boss. I didn't feel any suspense in those scenes though. I didn't sense much urgency in retrieving the baton either. I think the movie would've been better if there was at least one great trademarked Johnnie To action sequence but alas it is what is. Nick Cheung's character was my favourite. He's like a younger Donnie Yen. It is still a movie that you should watch because the sequel is much better and if you don't watch this one, you'll be missing out. 7/10

Brokeback Mountain

I've read the hype and know of all the Oscar nominations about this movie. I'm sure most of you have heard about this movie directed by Ang Lee. A couple of cowboys meet each other while herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain and we are exposed to their trials and tribulations about their homosexuality and how they deal with society. I was expecting lots from this movie but I didn't get much out of it. I don't see why it had they hype that it did. Well, I guess there aren't many movies that deal with homosexuality out there that is mainstream so that's why there was such a buzz. But I think it was all unwarranted. Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger played the gay cowboys and maybe that was the reason. Overall, I found it quite slow and the story wasn't all that great. 6/10

Casino Royale

Everybody was panning the new Bond played by Daniel Craig before they even watched the movie but after seeing the movie, they all fell in love with him, according to most articles that I read. I haven't been a huge James Bond fan. I have seen most of the Bond movies though. I didn't care one way or the other who was playing the new Bond. I kind of like Pierce Brosnan but after watching this new reincarnation, I think that Daniel Craig pulled it off pretty well. With Brosnan, the stunts that were performed in this movie, wouldn't have been the same. There is only so much that stunt doubles can do. Taking us back to how James Bond came to be, is the premise of Casino Royale. They even managed to put No Limit Texas Holdem as the card game that is spotlighted in this movie. I don't think they had that in the original Ian Fleming book. I'm a fan of No Limit Texas Holdem too so you know where I'm leaning towards in this movie. This movie basically introduces the audience to James Bond, which happens to be a new Bond. It shows how he came to be double agent that we know of in the future films. It has all the elements of other Bond movies such as bad guys, nice girls, expensive cars and gadgets galore. I found moments of suspense and there were lots of action such as car chases. The opening sequence is something to be seen when James Bond chases a guy on foot. You got to watch this for me to do it justice. If you're a fan of James Bond and even if you aren't, you'll be a fan of this movie. 8/10