Why is it always so hard to come back from vacation? Especially one as good as I had ... well except towards the end because I got sick. (Darn my weak stomach). I'll write about my trip later and instead review some movies I watched.

On the plane ride there:
(M) Four Brothers. (John Singleton, 2005) Grade: C+

Thoughts: I wasn't expecting much from this film and I didn't get a whole lot from it so it worked out. Four brothers - Bobby Mercer (Mark Wahlberg), Angel Mercer (Tyrese Gibson), Jeremiah Mercer (Andre Benjamin) and Jack Mercer (Garrett Hedlund) - come back into town to avenge the death of their foster mother. In the process one of the brothers die and a corrupt cop and gang are unveiled. I think Mark Wahlberg gave the strongest performance and I found his character the most intriguing. Andre Benjamin from Outkast wasn't bad as well.

(M) Chin Bui But Dzui (Drink, Drank, Drunk). (Tung-Shing Yee, 2005) Grade: C

Thoughts: Pretty typical and silly Chinese film about a girl and a boy. I wanted to like this film because Miriam Yeung was in it but nope just couldn't get over how dumb the whole thing got to be. Oh well.

In Hong Kong:
(M) Yu Guo Oi (Perhaps Love). (Peter Chan, 2005) Grade: A-

Thoughts: A Chinese musical that has been selected as the official Hong Kong submission for best foreign language film Oscar - how could I not like this movie? A bittersweet, although heavier on the bitter, triangle love story set against a movie backdrop. Jacky Cheung is Nie Wen, a director trying to prove to himself he can still make amazing films while attempting to hold onto his relationship with Sun Na (Zhou Xun), his ambitious leading lady and lover. In Nie Wan's newest film Sun Na plays a girl who has lost her memory and enters the circus where she falls in love with the ringmaster played by Jacky Cheung. One day a stranger arrives at the circus played by Jian-Dong (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who turns out to be the girl's long lost lover. Beknownst to Nie Wen, in reality Jian-Dong and Sun Na really were lovers 10 years ago and by Jian-Dong playing the role of the stranger sparks some old feelings between Jian-Dong and Sun Na. Ji Jin-Hee is thrown in there as the narrator of the whole tale. Oh and in between all of this is singing and dancing. I found the movie more on the depressing and sad side, which was a contrast to all the joyful singing and dancing going on. I think Takeshi and Zhou did a great job but Jacky was so intense and his singing so rich and full I found his role the most powerful.

On the plane ride back:
(M) Just Like Heaven. (Mark Waters, 2005) Grade: C

Thoughts: They used a Cure song as the title of the movie and yet I could not love it. (sigh). The storyline was pretty absurd and the characters all a bit unbelievable but darn that Reese Witherspoon is so charming and cute and let's not forget about the always wonderful Mark Ruffalo. I'm still not sure why he picks such bad roles but I guess he really needs that paycheck. Well on the plus sign the movie started and ended with Just Like Heaven so hey not bad.

Oh and I also watched part of this Korean movie called April Snow but fell asleep and didn't see the rest of it or A History of Violence because I got too ill to finish. Oh well.