Please note the last time I wrote up film reviews was June 4th meaning I have only seen these movies over a span of 20 days hence the long review.

(M) Kinsey. (2004, Bill Condon) Grade: B
Thoughts: In the 1940's, Alfred Kinsey took sexual behavior to a whole new level with his book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. The film shows Kinsey's background and discoveries leading up to the release of the book. I found the movie enjoyable but like most biographical stories a bit hollow. Most of the characters were not fully developed and everything was wrapped up too quickly at the end. Liam Neeson and Laura Linney did a great job and I was pleased to see Peter Sarsgaard.

(M) Hei Kek Ji Wong (King of Comedy). (1999, Stephen Chow, Lik-Chi Lee) Grade: C+
Thoughts: Stephen Chow knows how to do parody. He is the man on the subject. King of Comedy is a jab at all those John Woo/Hong Kong action flicks with the gun pointing and doves flying. Granted you have to be familiar with most HK or Asian films to really get it all but still funny and predicatable stuff. Cecilia Cheung is becoming one of my favorite Cantonese actresses.

(M) Cheong Feng (The Mission). (1999, Johnnie To) Grade: B+
Thoughts: Five men are hired by a Triad boss to guard him 24/7 from a hit put out on his life. The film is shot with sharp cinematography and visual framing which uses different angles to show perspective. The scene in the mall where the bodyguards are all focusing on different unseen targets reminds me of a first person shooter video game. As for the acting - top notch with famous HK actors like Francis Ng, Simon Yam, and Anthony Wong Chau-Sang. If you want to start getting into HK films this would be a good intro one.

(M) Saving Face. (2004, Alice Wu) Grade: B-
Thoughts: Hot Asian lesbian sex. Do I really need to say more? This directorial debut from Alice Wu has everything any romantic comedy would have - love, sex, romance, heartbreak ... oh and lesbians. Set in New York City's Flushing area, Wil (Michelle Krusiec) is a surgeon looking for love while avoiding her mother's (Joan Chen) failed attempts at setting her up with nice Chinese men. However things get a bit complexed when Wil's 48-year old mother turns out to be pregant and the father to be is unknown. On top of that Wil just might have met the love of her life Vivian played by Lynn Shen. The relationship between the mother and daughter is sincere and honest and you can't help but cry and laugh with them as they figure out what to do with their lives.

(M) Placard, Le (The Closet). (2001, Francis Veber) Grade: C
Thoughts: I have to say I'm not a huge French film fan. I've seen quite a few countries but France just never clicked with me. Although The Closet was entertaining and slightly funny, I didn't find anything all that memorable about it. Daniel Auteuil plays François Pignon, a man whose wife left him, teenage son won't even talk to him and company about to fire him bascially because he is a bore and a drag. Enter in Belone (Michel Aumont) who gives Pignon the idea of being gay to prevent from getting laid off. The rest of the film is quite preditable but if you have 84 minutes to kill it is worth checking out.

(M) Batman Begins. (2005, Christopher Nolan) Grade: A-
Thoughts: I love Batman, always have always will. So you can imagine my excitement about seeing this film; they might actually get the Dark Knight right for a change. Well this movies wasn't fireworks and magic but it was still pretty strong. First you got actors like Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Tom Wilkinson who all gave strong performance but I thought Morgan and Liam were the strongest. I didn't mention Christian Bale because though he was good in the movie he was no where near great. Katie Holmes was forgettable and the whole Tomkat storyline in the public is so tiring. I only have three complaints about the movie - first, why did Christian Bale have to talk so deep when he was Batman? It sounded so forced. Second, why was the Batmobile so ugly and strange looking? Third, what was up with the cheesy "Oh tell me your name?" line between Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) and Batman? Good grief. Overall great film and I can't wait for the next one because the best comic villian of all will be in it and the real question lies ahead - who will play the new Joker?!?