Vinko’s Thoughts On…

My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie Body of Lies at UA Cinema, Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

I went into this movie thinking it was going to be a movie along the same line as Spy Game with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. I came out presently surprised by the execution of what could have been a typical story that had been told over and over again. As always I will not review the plot or any spoilers but describing the plot of the story.

I saw a lot of symbolism in the movie, retelling the Middle East story with a slight anti-West slant. Russell Crowe purposely gain 50 pounds for this movie, so that his character, Ed Hoffman, was more believable as a paper mover. I felt Crowe’s character symbolizes United States and its politics; you can read more about my views on these politics in my recent post, American Principals. Leonardo DiCaprio played the lead character, Roger Ferris, whom I feel symbolizes the hidden voices of the West who question the policies of their respective governments. While Mark Strong plays the head of the Jordanian General Intelligence Department, which I feel symbolizes the other side of Middle East, the side who are not openly against the West, in particularly United States.

If you go to see this movie, you will have to be prepare for a lot of dialogue and less than the usual actions from a “spy spoof”. With an opened mind you may get to see a different side of the current events in the Middle East.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it on iTunes
	Waste your time elsewhere

My Rating:

This evening I saw the movie Mamma Mia! at AMC Theater, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong.

I had not had much expectation for this movie. I didn’t even had it in my Must See Movies list. But I was presently surprised.

I believe much of my enjoyment was the direct results of the actors in the movie. They sure went all out and included some of the biggest in the industry: , and even Tom Hanks pitched in as one of the Executive Producer for the movie.

Reportedly the female lead, Amanda Seyfried had never heard any of ABBA’s songs prior to staring in the movie.

I went to the record store prior to going onto the theater to see if I recognize any of the songs. Since I was of that age (grew up in the 80’s), I did recognize most of the songs, but I did not find any of the songs that good. My opinions changed during and after the movie, where I found most of the songs to be catchy and enjoyable.

Like in Music and Lyrics and all musicals, the actors in this movie sang their own songs. Not that any of them were any good, but you will hardly notice as the lyrics become part of the dialogues.

Pierce Brosnan was surprisingly, at least to me, good. He wad kind of out of character. Not playing the typical Remington Steele, Thomas Crown or James Bond character.

The multiple Oscars awards actress, Meryl Streep was no exception. She was her typical but much much older self.

Overall this is a very enjoyable movie with a present mood throughout the movie, if you want to feel all happy coming out of a movie, then this is definitely the one to go see.

Rating Legend:
	Not to be missed
	Wait for the DVD
	Buy from iTunes Store
	Rent it on iTunes
	Waste your time elsewhere