Thursday, December 23, 2010

Fmovie - Batanes (2007)



Synopsis - Wiki
Photos - Google

Pam (Iza Calzado) meets Rico (Joem Bascon) an Ivatan, and decides to leave her stressful life in the city to follow him to Batanes to meet his parents Boy and Lydia (Bembol Roco and Daria Ramirez, respectively) and marry him. Pam tries to adapt to the Ivatan way of life but hates the sea that Rico loves so much. Her hatred for the sea intensifies when her husband Rico dies in a fishing accident. Pam is devastated and decides to go back to Manila. But when she sensed that the sea was laughing at her failure, she chose to stay in Batanes to be with Rico's family. In one of her trips to the sea, she accidentally meets Kao Ken Chu, a Taiwanese, whom she rescues during a storm. As they spend time together, the two eventually fall for each other despite language barriers and cultural differences.



One of my Pinay friends have been sending me a few Filipino films to watch. Although I did enjoy Moments of Love and Eternity, Batanes fell a little short.

The beginning was really fast paced but it fell though after the exit of Rico. Afterwards, it was slow and looked like it was shot on a very low budget. I applaud the director for capturing the gorgeousness of the island of Batanes. However,I wanted to see a tighter direction.



The storyline is not bad. It's a case of two people who fall in love who speak different languages. Both had a hurtful past and could relate to each other.

Since the other two Filipino films I've seen starred the lovely Iza Calzado, I didn't mind watching Batanes. I think she can be cute, gorgeous, hot, sexy, all that. She is a good actress. She plays the heartbroken Pam who still loves her deceased husband but finds love with Kao.



The actor who played Rico is good looking! Too bad he had a short role! He plays the husband of Pam. I had to look him up. He is Joem Bascom. I wouldn't mind seeing more of his movies! He is definitely eye candy! I like! Need to see more!



Ken Chu plays Kao. The Taiwanese man who wonders on Batanes and eventually falls for the Filipino beauty, Pam. Ken is a well-known Taiwanese actor/singer.



Worth it only to see how adorable Joem Bascon is. Oh yeah, for Iza Calzado too, she's always great to see!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Cmovie - Devil Face Angel Heart (2002)



Synopsis - IMDB
Photos - Google

Lon is an assassin who is deformed. The only man he can trust is his brother, Kwan. When Lon kills a police officer, the officer's partner tries to go after him, but lets him go after seeing his face. Meanwhile, Lon falls for Wendy, the girlfriend of Lon's sadistic boss, Dragon. When Lon agrees to kill Dragon for Wendy, it's a setup. After the kill, Lon is hit by a car and plunges into the river. A year passes by. A new man named Michael arrives, working for Wendy. Meanwhile, the partner of the cop Lon killed is still on the case. He notices a resemblance of the new man to Lon. Is Michael the same person as Lon? If so, what is the motive?



The movie title is Devil Face Angel Heart because even though Lon's face is scary, he has the heart of an angel. There were several times that he was assigned to kill someone but he let them go because of his guilty conscious.

I am a huge fan of Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu after House of Fury. So I was able to hunt down another movie with the two of them together. This time, Daniel has the lead role while Stephen was supporting.



For me personally, I find Daniel one of the best young actors in Hong Kong cinema. I simply love his versality in his roles.

The movie is focus on Daniel Wu who plays Lon, a guy born with a disfigured face. He is tortured and talked down from everyone except his "brother," Kwan.

He doesn't have a double role in the movie at all. He undergoes through plastic surgery in the movie. Therefore, he is looking like his usual, fine self!



Stephen Fung was my first Hong Kong crush. I've always been a fan of martial arts movies but started to watch more within the past few years. I am hunting down to find all his movies!



He really doesn't have much to do in Devil Face Angel Heart but look cute...and that he does very well :) He plays a cop.



Gotta be an evil person and mastermind and it's no other than Wendy played by Gigi Lai. She is good!



There were a lot of sexual scenes and very graphic and explicit too. If you are bashful and usually shy away from even kisses, stay away from this movie!

Otherwise, worth a watch. I wasn't sure how I really feel about it though. I don't know if it's those types of movies for re-watchings or recommendating to others.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Cmovie - Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010)



Synopsis

A continuation of the 1995 television series Fist of Fury, Donnie Yen reprises his role as Chen Zhen, a role made famous by Bruce Lee in "Fist Of Fury" (1972). The film is set seven years after the apparent death of Chen Zhen, who was shot after discovering who was responsible for his teacher's death in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. A mysterious stranger arrives from overseas and befriends a local mafia boss. That man is a disguised Chen Zhen, who intends to infiltrate the mob when they form an alliance with the Japanese. Disguising himself as a caped fighter by night, Chen intends to take out everyone involved as well as get his hands on an assassination list prepared by the Japanese.



I freaking looooooooove Donnie Yen!!
This man is so underrated.
He is the main reason for my love of the movie.
While some people may compare the fighting style to Ip Man/Ip Man 2. What do you expect????
Chen Zen is Bruce Lee!

Some people are bashing this movie saying that Donnie Yen is too old or he doesn't fit the role or it's too much like Ip Man. Whatever man. Some people don't know how to separate the movie from the actor.

Or maybe I'm a loyal fan. I love kick-ass guys. No wonder I love South Indian films where one guy takes it all. There's a pattern there, right? Uh-hum.



I was extremely ecstatic when I found out the heroine is Shu Qi. She's my favorite HK actress. She reminds me of the the Asian Angelina Jolie, an actress who can act, look sexy and kickass.

I am a huuuuuuge Bruce Lee fan so I am biase on this since Donnie Yen and Shu Qi are both in the movie.
Take it or leave it but I love the movie.



In addition, adding the superhero made me love it more. Go Kato! And on top of that, the outfit that Donnie wears at the end, presenting a bit of Bruce Lee....and pulling out the nunchucks! This made my day!



Oh yeah, not to mention that Anthony Wong is also in the movie. That man is awesome!