Sundays at Tiffany's (2010 Movie)

The right choice isn't always the best choice.

Dear Entertainment Diary,

Hello Again. So I'm a huge fan of James Patterson, the author, who is known for his detective style novels. Though I haven't read that many of his writings. But I really love how his way of pulling of tricks of the killers or how the cops/detectives/Alex catch the crooks but there's one of his many best selling novels that caught my attention.

Sundays at Tiffany's. OK. I haven't finished the book, yet (I was reading it thru my mobile phone) and I was in the middle of reading it but I finally got tired of it and just decided tow watch the film.

I just love how the story goes where there's a girl with her imaginary friend who in the end, after leaving her for 20 years, came back for her and became her partner.

I know, in real life it can't happen, but who knows? Love has no limits. It knows no boundaries.

To tell you the truth, when I was done watching the movie, I just don't get the connection of the place, Tiffany's (I think it is an ice cream shop?), where our 2 heroes used to spend their Sundays together as children, in the movie. The place was only shown once, and it was in the start, and it was never shown ever again.

The child actress who played young Jane is so good that I fell in love with her the moment she cried while Michael was leaving her on her own in the elevator during her 10th birthday.

As I said earlier, I did not finish reading the book but I have a good guess that its ending is not as bad as the ending of the film. I mean, I liked the films ending but it did not go through my feelings that well. It's not properly executed that while I'm typing this post, all in my mind is to read and finish the book.

I love the actors who played in the movie. It's just that I still don't appreciate how they perform and give their own interpretation of the book.

The laughs, the sadness, and the touch in the heart is there. It's just that I'm not satisfied. I feel that it's lacking something. Something that Jane was looking for while picking her Bridal Dress, like when she was picking her wedding flowers, etc.

Now what I want is to finish the book, or probably want to wait another remake of the book where everything we need to know about the book, the whole story, the info, and where we can find the answers that satisfy us in all the questions that built up while watching the film.

Cast (wikipedia):

Alyssa Milano as Jane Claremont

Eric Winter as Michael Friend

Kristin Booth as Jacqueline

Emily Alyn Lind as Young Jane

Ivan Sergei as Hugh Morrison

Stockard Channing as Vivienne Claremont

Gage Munroe as Young Michael

charmed.wikia.com

imdb.com

podnapisi.net

Read more »

X Game (2010 Japanese Horror Film)

Dear Entertainment Diary,

Wew! So finally, I  have seen few moments ago the film that introduced me to the series Liar Game, Liar Game Season 2, Liar Game the Final Stage, and Liar Game: Reborn. I was so psyched up while watching this film! 

I hate how Japanese film directors directed their segments in the anthology film The ABCs of Death but I felt alive when I watched this film which brought my faith back to them. I am wanting to see this film since last year and at last, someone uploaded it on dramacrazy.net and I am very thankful to him/her.

Moving on to the film. The film gave me the chills, the scares, gores, the suspense and the thriller that I was expecting. What I did not expect was the story. I expected a lot different but what I saw was better than  thought. There's a story behind the film unlike what I thought that it just full of penalty execution and stuff. The film also mixed up some comedy to lighten the viewers from the mood of being scared. 

What I think about the film:

To tell you the truth, unexpectedly, I got startled on one scene of the movie and damn, my brother laughed at me. I love how I felt that I was watching real people being punished and not some actors only acting n the film. I love how they shot the film. I love how I sympathize with the players and felt sorry for Chie and Hideaki and  love how hated the 2 assholes Takeshi and Tetsuya.

What I hate is the effect! Yes, the gore is there, the environment of fear and bullying, the suspense, and the unexpected ending, but the effects of the smoke and fire were all plain obviously darn FAKE! Ugh. I wished they did better. 

Aside from the effect, everything else fall into their respective places and you just have to stay back, relax, and enjoy the film. The acting of the actors were not stand outs but they are still believable and acted their part  good. 

I thought that this s a copycat of SAW series and I was not wrong. HAHAHA. Both are for revenge although with different purposes, causes, and effects. When I said unexpected above, characters were also included. It is in the end of the film will you realized that a character in the film isn't introduced without a purpose! Even if he/she only appeared a couple of minutes before the climax. You might be surprised, they are important parts of the film.

Plot:(from aisanwiki)

Four young people find themselves in a classroom and forced to participate in the "X Game". Games include "Thumbtack on a chair," "Pencil Guillotine," "Clip," "School Lunch," "Slap," and the "Death Penalty". Who is behind the games? Will these young people make it out alive?

So, the plot did not say anything that can spoil the viewers, right? So I'll just say that this is a kind of film where the plot revolves around revenge! Never heard of that? Yeah... So the "contestants of the game" played 13 rounds  of draw lots kind of game which give them the punishment they need to receive... Another thing about the film, I like it for discouraging bullying! Yep. I hate bullying and I hope bullies can learn a thing or two from this film!

Cast:(from asianwiki:)

Hirofumi Araki - Hideaki Kokubo  

Ayaka Kikuchi - Rikako Myojin  

Haruka Nakagawa - Tomoe Koizhumi  

Masashi Mikami - Tadashi Ishimatsu

Shota Chiyo - Tsuyoshi Shinjou  

Meguru Kato - Tetsuya Yoshiike  

Kazuyuki Aijima - Detective Murota  

Shingo Tsurumi - Professor Akama

Now,  can't wait for it's sequel, X Game 2 which was just released last year so 'm not so sure when will someone upload it!

the images was taken from it's asianwiki page. I don't own the copyrights for it.

Read more »

Insidious (2011 Film)

Dear Entertainment Diary,

So, this afternoon, we watched a pretty scary film entitled "Insidious". Yes, I watched it with my family. It's like a bonding thingy especially we were so bored in our house.

Moving onto the film, I liked it. We all did. The atmosphere, the effects, the dialogues, the acting of the actors and actresses especially the little ones were all superb. Despite being a low budget film, it didn't fail to let the freak out of us. To tell you honestly, I actually screamed in the part where the man with a fire in his face first showed up. As if I was the one who really saw it in front of my cute face! OH MY! And that's what I like about scary films. I want to be horrified to death. Scream and shout at the top of my lungs and stuff. 

About the film:

The film is not the kind of horror films about haunted houses. This time it's about haunted bodies. Yes, you heard it right. This ghosts in this film didn't want to occupy any house but they want to oown a living vessel to feel alive again. They crave for life. 

It's about a boy who didn't know for himself that he is a dream traveler. That he has the ability to astral project while he is sleeping. But, Dalton, the boy who can travel through dreams, went into a coma state when he traveled too far away from reality to the spiritual world in which he thought were only dreams. He was drawn by different evil spirits to "The Further" so they can occupy his body and feel free to live again. Now, the problem was, can they take Dalton back to reality and stop the evil spirits especially the man with a fire in his face to take and own his body?

 The film also amused us especially the twist and turns in the end. I actually hated that part but I have to admit that it was the best part of the film. What happened to Elise was so unexpectedly horrible which made it great! So unexpected that I even felt sorry for her. The end of the film openly finished, making the viewers wonder what really happened next. 

Now, since they announced that there is gonna be a sequel I'm pretty hypes and excited to watch it now and it will be released in August, I think?

Again, Insidious is a pretty great film. It's very startling and I advise you to not watch it alone. :)

Cast: (from wiki)

Patrick Wilson as Josh Lambert
Rose Byrne as Renai Lambert
Ty Simpkins as Dalton Lambert
Andrew Astor as Foster Lambert
Barbara Hershey as Lorraine Lambert
Lin Shaye as Elise Rainier
Leigh Whannell as Specs
Angus Sampson as Tucker
Heather Tocquigny as Nurse Kelly
Corbett Tuck as Nurse Adele
Ruben Pla as Dr. Sercarz
John Henry Binder as Father Martin
Josh Feldman as Young Josh(uncredited)

Insidious Entities:

Kelly Devoto as Doll Girl 1#
Corbett Tuck as Doll Girl 2#
Joseph Bishara as Lipstick-Face Demon
Philip Friedman as Old Woman
J. LaRose as Long Haired Fiend
Caslin Rose as Ghoul / Contortionist (uncredited)

Images sources:

wikipedia.org

tumblr.com

Read more »

The Incite Mill - 7 Day Death Game (Japanese Film)

I was looking for a good Asian horror film to watch and as I was browsing, I saw a film entitled The Incite Mill and found out that Tatsuya Fujiwara, the guy from Battle Royale films and Death Note Live Action Films, is included as a cast. I immediately looked it up in asian wiki and read the plot.

PLOT: (from asianwiki.com)

"Ten people gather together at a complex named “Ankikan” after hearing of a short term job paying 112,000 Yen ($1,236 USD) per hour. The ten people are informed that they will be monitored 24 hours a day for 7 days straight in a psychological experiment. They are then sent to individual rooms with a different weapon located in each room. Once they are locked in they learn the rules of the psychological experiment. 1.) Each person must return to their room by 10 PM. 2.) At the end of 7 days or when there are only two surviving members left alive the experiment will end. The next day a person is found shot to death. Now, what looked like a dream job will turn into a nightmare ..."

I'm telling you this film is one hell of a thriller and startled me three times. The only thing I dislike about the film is that the term of events and some scenes didn't knock me out. Some scenes and twists  are very disappointingly expected. Or is it just me probably because I watch Detective Conan and some mystery films, tv series and stuff as well as reading some detective novels and make this things very usually expected? By watching the beginning of the film, I already knew who the planted character in the game or the experiment is. I knew who killed who (not all, though), and who are faking their deaths, but I've got to say that this film also contains turnarounds which makes me like it a lot and make me more excitingly thrilled. 

This is another Battle Royale themed film, which makes it as the 4th media I have watched with the same element. This reminds me of future diary where everyone must kill to survive. The giving of weapons remind me of Battle Royale where the students were also given to protect themselves, useful or not, tho.  They are also being telecast just like in The Hunger Games and in Battle Royale.

The death scenes aren't that gory unlike other films which let us see disgusting stuff to make our hairs raise. The actors are great too, very convincing portrayal, for me. I read that this is based on the 2007 novel with the same name. This is also a mystery/detective thriller which contains mystery novels by famous writers such as Agatha Cristie and more.

If you're into detective movies and thriller and stuff, I highly recommend this film to watch. I think it will at least keep you guessing until the end though I told you already some things about it.

I also found out that the US remake of Batte Royale isn't gonna happen anymore because of the release of The Hunger Games. The producers will just feel that they will copy the "Games" which is sad because we know that Battle Royale was released first... :/ SAD because it is one of the greatest films ever made.

Cast: (from asianwiki)

Tatsuya Fujiwara - Yuki Satoshihisa
Haruka Ayase - Shoko Suwamei  
Satomi Ishihara - Biyoru Sekimizu  
Tsuyoshi Abe - Takehiro Osako  
Shinji Takeda - Sousuke Iwai
Aya Hirayama - Wakana Tachibana  
Masanori Ishii - Munehiro Nishino  
Takuro Ohno - Setsuzin Maki  
Nagisa Katahira - Sawako Fuchi  
Kinya Kitaoji - Yoshi Ando

Images source:

asianwiki.com

Read more »

Liar Game: The Final Stage (Japanese Movie)

Since I can't sleep yet, I decided to update my blog about the recent film I watched, Liar Game: The Final Stage.

Previously, I have already published 2 blog posts about Liar Game, which are about it's 1st and 2nd Season of the show, and if you know how to count, yes, this is my 4th post about it. I mean 3rd.

Yesterday morning, I watched the last 2 remaining episodes of Liar game Season 2, and I got disappointed, not because it's not good nor it's not worth a watch but because the answers that I was looking for weren't given to me in the end. On my post about the 2nd Season, I have a list of questions that I want to be answered and I was hoping that I'll get the answer in the end of the series. Darn it.

Technically, season two ended when when the 2nd half of the 4th round disclosed (Round 4 is divided into two parts) Obviously, to advance to the next round, which is also the Final Stage, Nao's group must win and have at least 4.3 billion yen to get 3 tickets for Nao, Shinichi, and Fukunaga. They won, yes. Nao and Shinichi beat Ryo, they saved all the players including Ryo, but to save her, they need to give a bar of gold to the other team. They did, eventually, but Nao needs to drop out of the game because the money they earned in the end of the game is not enough to cover 3 tickets to go to the Final Stage, hence, Shinichi and Fukunaga were the only ones who'll advance. And the twist is revealed. Yokoya, who was one of the main villain in the 1st season was also playing in round 4 and he was the only one who won but decided to drop out of the game.

The film is just the continuation of  the 2nd Season. Nao was then again invited to enter the game, being persuaded "again" by Mitsuo, saying that she is the only one who Shinichi trusts and is needed for him to win the game. Little did Nao know that the ticket was from Yokoya who dropped out of the game.

In the film, there is only one game, "The Garden of Eden", where the players will all win if they all trust each other and by all of them voting only Red colored apples. We can see that Eto is back and he admitted in the end that he only joined the game again for Nao. Fukunaga is still the same jerky-nice-whatever mushroom looking person as he was in the past. Of course, during the game, Lies and Deception were still present but surprisingly, Nao really learned something from the previous rounds and fought back, apparently, with some help from Shinichi. It actually was very easy for them to play this game if it wasn't for the person who is the unknown sole, well, I should say most, traitor of all, they called him/her, Player X. He is very brilliant all through out the game, deceiving and punishing the other players and earning himself huge amount of money easily but Shinichi is cleverer than X. Now, the question is, will they all reach the end of the game by making all the players vote with the same colored apple?

Here are the questions from my Liar Game Season two and the answers:

• Will they make it to the final stage, or should I ask, will this season show the final stage or should I watch the movie Liar Game:  The Final Stage to know and answer this damn question?

A: Obviously, this question is whack. Go figure it out yourself. LOL.

• Will Nao and Shinichi end up being lovers in the end? I've been asking this question since watching last season and got disappointed.

A: Ugh. the question that I'm craving to know what the answer is. Sadly, when I was watching the latter part of the movie, I actually thought that either one of them would confess or say something about them falling in love. BUT, Shinichi said the sweetest line of the movie in this part. "Can you live with my lies?" Darn it, I got goose bumps and hoping Nao will respond "I love you too" and stuffs, but no, she needs to be this sweet girl who is very naive. UGH. So the answer is, it's still unclear if they are dating. LOL.

• Is Ryo and Shinichi were close friends in the past or are they related to each other?

A: No. They were not close in the past but were just classmates in college and also treat themselves as rivals. Although Shinichi always had the top notch grades and was the first ranker in their class, Ryo managed to beat him in one of their assignments which made him angry and ran away from the university especially after when their professor said that Ryo has something that he is, well, now was, lacking.

• Why is the LGT Secretariat didn't play as the dealer during the Round 4?

A: I don't know why but I still hate the dealer's eyes.

• Why is the dealer in round 4 looks so weird? Why is she wearing too much make-up? She looks like a clown.

A: She did not appear in the film, or is she the one accompanying Eri, the LGT Secretariat? I dunno, the faces of the 2 girls who was with Eri were unclear.

• Why is the final stage called as Garden of Eden and what is the importance if the apple being shown in some of the episodes?

A: Because the theme of the Game is just like what happened in the Garden of Eden from the Bible. You'll understand if you watch it :D

I realized that this is just like one of the Liar Game's episodes which is more lengthy than the others and, differently, theatrically released. I think it's still good but more serious, I mean, the comical theme isn't there anymore. I barly laughed unlike watching the series because of the stupidy of the characters. Since there is only 1 game, the psychological stuffs ain't that psychological, lesser, unlike in season 1 and season 2. I was actually hoping for a final stage with several parts/games but it's still good. Nao isn't that of a push over anymore in this film. Another thing is I think that the scenes were very expected. I can see what'll happen but then again, it's not bad. One of the best Asian movies I actually watched. :D

The casts:

Erika Toda - Kanzaki Nao

Shota Matsuda - Akiyama Shinichi

Seiichi Tanabe - Arata Sendo

Kosuke Suzuki - Yuji Fukunaga

YosiYosi Arakawa - Jiro Nishida

Mari Hamada - Mai Sakamaki

Soko Wada - Koichi Eto

Yuki Akimoto - Norika Momose

Kento Nagayama - Satoshi Kuji

Kazuma Suzuki - Norihiko Yokoya

Megumi Seki - Yukina Takeda

Michiko Kichise - Eri

Ikkei Watanabe - Mitsuo Tanimura

Are you wondering if they beat the game in the end as well as the main boss of the LGT Office?

Watch it. HAHAHAHA! :) Go, it's worth a watch.

I still find Eri so cute in this movie. She still looks like my mom. LOL

Now, there's Liar Game: Reborn, a second film about the Liar  Game which I think that the game will be born again, though Erika Toda isn't there to play as Nao, disappointingly. (I'm a genius), and  Alice in Liar Game, a spin-off drama.

Images sources:

asianwiki.com/Liar_Game:_The_Final_Stage

Read more »

Liar Game Season 2

So I am currently watching the Season 2 of Liar Game (I have a post about its 1st Season in the past). 

Truth be told, I enjoyed watching its previous season and now, I'm loving it more probably because the current season is way funnier especially the facial expressions of the casts and more importantly during the scenes where they are explaining the tricks, schemes, or even the game/round. Many characters from the previous season returned to reprise their roles especially Erika Toda and Matsuda Shota as the two protagonists Nao Kanzaki and Shinichi Akiyama respectively, and including Michiko Kichise as Eri, as the very beautiful LGT Secretariat.

Liar Game Season 2 is about the a continuation of the the game that they thought they had already escaped two years earlier. The Liar Game players are already living their own lives like as it was before the damned game started and they thought it is already finished since they know who was the one started it and made them compete involuntarily. But one day, Nao received an invitation from the LGT Office stating that the round 4 of the game is going to begin. She hesitated on joining at first since they did everything to escape from the previous round and also because Shinichi is nowhere to be found. Nao later decided to join the game again after realizing there is something she must do, "to help and save the new players from the LGT". On the way to the venue, she met a mysterious player who is introduced in the semi-beginning of the episode as a psychology teacher Ryo Katsuragi. When Nao reached her destination, she is then teamed up with Fukunaga (also a previous player who they befriended/fought with) and Shinichi who participated in the game again to know who the real person/s behind the Liar Game is/are.

I haven't finished the series yet and currently in episode 4 that's why I can't tell many things about it but I can assure you that if you watch this series, you'll enjoy it as much as you enjoy watching the 1st season. More plots are being weave and added since the beginning and the psychological stuffs are getting more interesting than  the previous. The stupidity of the characters, as well as the harshness of explaining the logical schemes made by the characters or being full of themselves are more comical. So far, the only difference between the 2 seasons is Nao now knows (tongue twister?) how to fool people all by herself unlike in the first season where she can't even lie without the help of Akiyama.

Right now, several questions are clouding inside my mind.

• Will they make it to the final stage, or should I ask, will this season show the final stage or should I watch the movie Liar Game:  The Final Stage to know and answer this damn question?
• Will Nao and Shinichi end up being lovers in the end? I've been asking this question since watching last season and got disappointed.
• Is Ryo and Shinichi were close friends in the past or are they related to each other?
• Why is the LGT Secretariat didn't play as the dealer during the Round 4?
• Why is the dealer in round 4 looks so weird? Why is she wearing too much make-up? She looks like a clown.
• Why is the final stage called as Garden of Eden and what is the importance if the apple being shown in some of the episodes?

These are some of the questions clouding up inside my head and I desperately wanna know the answers but right now I can't watch it cause I need to rest. LOL

Nothing much more to say since its just like its previous season. Same theme, genre, and all. :)

Images sources:

http://matsuda-shota.livejournal.com

mechodownload.com

Read more »

The Power of Words

"CHANGE YOUR WORDS. CHANGE YOUR WORLD."

While twittering, I found a great short-film tweeted by one of the people I follow who also follows me. The person who tweeted it is Mr. Brent N. Hunter (@brentnhunter), "It's not what you say, but how you say it". Just reading his tweet, I got curious and viewed the video. I saw it's title "THE POWER OF WORDS" uploaded by purplecontent in YouTube on February 23, 2010 and currently has over 14 million views and just a few hundreds more til' it reach 15 million. 

ABOUT:

The video is about a blind beggar, an old man, sitting in the street, and waiting for people who come by and throw some coins at him. His sign says "I'm Blind Please Help". A few throw some few coins, sometimes, the coins even miss the can so he needs to feel where it fell  or went and put it in the can manually. In his situation, as a blind old hobo, it's so hard to find the coins just by feeling it. But then a lady dressed in all black passed by but came back, sat in front of the beggar, picked up the sign and wrote something on the other side of the card board while the beggar is feeling and touching his dark green shoes. After writing, she put the sign back and left. We can see now that a lot of people are throwing and giving a plenty of coins to the beggar and he doesn't even have the time to pick it all up. The lady in black came back and the beggar notice her when he touched and felt her shoes again.

The old man asked him:

"What did you do to my sign?"

Then the lady replied:

"I wrote the same but with different words"

and the old man thanked her.

The girl wrote "IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY AND I CAN'T SEE IT". 

The video then ends with a caption : "CHANGE YOUR WORDS. CHANGE YOUR WORLD."

The Power Of Words

It is such an inspiring video. Only a minute and a half and it says a lot. You see, even words can change and bring a difference and the result is better. After watching the short-film, I felt the urge that I should write this on my blog and now, I just wrote it. :)

Thanks to Mr. Hunter, if it wasn't for him I may have not seen this video and this post wouldn't be posted. 

Watch it and learn something from it. :)

Image source:

http://tdbok-leadershipcentral.blogspot.com

Read more »