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Harold Lee and Kumar Patel board a plane for Amsterdam where they hope to smoke marijuana semi-legally and hook up with Harold's would-be girlfriend.
 
The film makes no effort to say that pot is, in and of itself, bad. It's not the weed that's the problem, we're told, it's the way in which it's used that's the problem. Think of it as a smoky spin on the old "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" argument. Things go to pot quickly (ahem) when Kumar decides to try out his new invention "the smokeless bong" in the airplane lavatory. A passenger panics when she sees what she assumes is a swarthy Middle Eastern man (for the record, Kumar is Indian and studying to be a doctor) setting fire to something. Kumar, feeling rather sheepish, tries to tell nervous passengers that it's "just a bong." They, of course, hear "bomb!" When smoke starts leaking out the device, the all-a-dither passengers assume it's poison gas.

But it particularly praises the power of pot. When we see the president of the United States smoke it, we're supposed to like him more. When we see someone tear a joint in two, we know he's the bad guy. And on this point, Harold & Kumar 2 is blatantly evangelical: it presses home the point with the enthusiasm of a wasted used-car salesman, with the fervor of a mellow zealot.

The movie contains several sexual and slang languages, therefore, it may not be suitable for younger viewers. Nevertheless, the movie is very hilarious and it is highly recommended to people who need a laughter in life.

Reviewed by Simeng

The movie 300 is definitely a thrilling experience. The film 300 is based on a comic book, which was fairly popular in the 80's. The movie is cast with Gerard Butler, David Wenham, Lena Headey, and Dominic West. Released by Warner Bros, and directed by Zack Snyder. The movie contains many graphic images of war, by means many of bloody images. 300 is highly recommended to teenagers and adults. Furthermore, 300 is even more thrilling when viewing it in The IMAX Experience.

Reviewed by Simeng

Ultralethal rogue agent Jason Bourne is back on the trail of his elusive identity and still really, really angry at the people who stole his past, killed his girlfriend and just won't stop with the mute, stonefaced assassins out to finish Bourne for good. This time, though, Bourne is finally honing in on the source of all his troubles. This time, it's all about closure.
 
In this movie, there is something that's done only by trained professionals who need to disable or kill someone else — good thing there aren't any group hugs in the offing. Such as jumping off the truck and through an apartment window.

The Bourne Ultimatum shares many similarities to the earlier films within the series. Thankfully, this includes the thick paranoia and tension of Bourne's high-wire act. Matt Damon has come to excel at compelling characterizations of ciphers, most recently in The Departed and The Good Shepherd, and Bourne's struggle with his violent nature comes out even in the action scenes. Which are plentiful and thrilling.

A cat-and-mouse-and-cat foot chase through a Moroccan city is the series' most gripping scene, punctuated by a burst of serene brutality. Many of the scenes in the movie are very dramatic and unforgettable, for example the last car chase is so visceral and immediate you won't believe it until you've seen it, bringing the series ever closer to a satisfying conclusion even an amnesiac could remember.

Reviewed by Simeng

This drama concerns four orphan boys in a Catholic orphanage deep in the Outback. One summer, they're given the chance to visit an elderly couple on the coast, to get their first taste of the sea and the wider world. Radcliffe manages the Australian accent with barely a quaver, and gives a good impression of a much less secure character than we're used to seeing from him. But his face is still curiously blank, rather detracting from the effect of spot-on voice-work and body language. Perhaps it's the role, but he'll need to do more to prove that he has that movie magic outside the Rowling  world.

The standout performance is probably Lee Cormie as Misty, the youngest of the four boys and the most determined to be adopted. While the others frolic around the hills and mess about in boats, Misty focuses on making himself attractive to cute neighbouring couple Fearless and Teresa (Sullivan Stapleton and Victoria Hill) in the hope of securing a family of his own, and impressing the elderly couple who are lodging the boys on the off-chance that they'll put in a good word. By comparison, Christian Byers and James Fraser barely get a look-in, despite a fishing sub-plot and the best efforts of both young actors, and the adults make no impression at all. The movie is a great choice for teenagers of the current age, due to the fact it reflects a life lesson of facing and managing difficulties under crucial circumstances.

Reviewed by Simeng

Enchanted marks a return of sorts to the 2D animation fold for the Disney company, choosing the opulent art form to illustrate the storybook life in Andalasia and cozy the material up to the legacy of princess movies. In fact, Enchanted is nothing but a valentine to the princess lifestyle.

Enchanted tap dances on the edge of the self-referential abyss, sporadically permitting itself a little merry awareness, but hardly loses itself to outright satire. That is, until the end of the film, when Narissa begins to point out how the script is subverting storybook formula instead of allowing the audience the delight of discovery. I also wasn't thrilled with the use of bathroom humor throughout the picture; forever a crutch used by the fraidy-cat studio suits paranoid that kids won't respond to a joke unless there are feces or urine involved. The slumming greatly tarnishes the polish of the piece.

Even served in small bites, Enchanted is too self-conscious to be a true return to "Classic Disney" standards, but it's their most entertaining family film in a long time. A real surprise gift for someone special in the holiday season.

Reviewed by Simeng

Fool's Gold is a big, cheesy, familiar bore. With its garland of set pieces featuring Matthew McConaughey in mortal danger strung together by beach-groovy musical hooks, Fool's Gold feels at times like a third-rate Bond movie set to a Jimmy Buffett album.

The shirtless, flamboyantly mulleted McConaughey stars alongside a burnished Kate Hudson as a down-and-out treasure hunter in desperate pursuit of some bygone booty. His sensible wife, Tess (Hudson), has resolved to divorce him, but he wants her back. Ben "Finn" Finnegan (McConaughey) is also getting warmer in his search for a legendary Spanish galleon said to be carrying a lost treasure known as the "Queen's Dowry," but both his former mentor and a violent gangster to whom he's deeply in hock threaten to rob him of the spoils.

What Finn needs now, aside from getting back with his brainy wife, is a generous patron who doesn't keep trying to kill him. Enter Nigel Honeycutt (Donald Sutherland), bazillionaire, sucker, pushover, who falls for Finn's oily charms after Finn rescues his dim-bulb daughter's hat when she loses it in a high-speed motorboat chase. Nigel also happens to be Tess' brand-new employer -- she's working as a steward on his yacht until she can finalize the divorce and save enough money to get back to Chicago.

While Sutherland, ludicrous in sailing whites, does a wan impersonation of a vague and aimless billionaire, Dziena tramps it up like Paris Hilton. It doesn't really matter, though. Fool's Gold provides an undercooked subplot about a blossoming father-daughter relationship, but Sutherland's main function in the story is to pony up the yacht and (once Tess has come to terms with Finn's coming on board) provide the financial backing for the expedition to go forward after Finn's setback with the hip-hop gangster played by Kevin Hart.

Reviewed by Simeng

As trillions of readers are anxiously aware, J.K. Rowling's seventh and final installment will have to make good on the harsh prophecy that "either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives." In the movie world, meanwhile, the battle lines are just being drawn. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his classmates Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) are in their fifth year of study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And the weight of responsibility being laid on Harry—now quite believably embodied by the increasingly chiseled 17-year-old actor as a teenager with all the moods that come with the hormones—is enough to darken this fifth movie interpretation decisively.

But for all the action—and there's plenty of it, even if it's only a portion of what was crammed into Rowling's 870 pages—the most important stuff is what takes place in Harry's head, where troubling visions, intensifying in clarity and dread, attest to the young man's foretold connection to the evildoer most safely referred to as You-Know-Who. (You know who plays Voldemort, again, too: Ralph Fiennes, embracing his character's malevolent noselessness with regal delight.) And therein lies a conundrum—of busyness and waiting—that The Order of the Phoenix can't magically solve. The advances and setbacks pile up, but time hangs heavy. And that's even after Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy) puts Harry on trial for illegally using magic outside of school and Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) intervenes. After Harry's godfather, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), entrusts his godson with new secrets. And after the students establish Dumbledore's Army in preparation for Voldemortian Armageddon.

In the midst of such earthbound preparations, though, an image of menace upholstered in pink arrives to rock wizards and Muggles alike: the deliciously named Dolores Umbridge. Bullheaded in his insistence that Voldemort has not returned (despite Harry's eyewitness report), Fudge installs Umbridge at Hogwarts to teach a strictly censored and quite useless version of Defense Against the Dark Arts. And she is as shockingly fascistic in her approach to old-fashioned values as she is amusingly dowdy. Rowling describes the woman's voice as "fluttery, girlish, high-pitched." But a festive Imelda Staunton has other plans: her showstopping Dolores slays her charges with pepperminty steeliness. "Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged!" this educator from hell proclaims.

With her wardrobe upgraded to suits and pillbox hats that, in a blander color, might entice Queen Elizabeth II (the Umbridge hairdo appears to be a direct homage), the character is a Pepto-Bismol-tinted bolt of energy—and political commentary—inspiring grand gestures from her co-stars. When Staunton's Umbridge goes up against Maggie Smith's Professor McGonagall, it's a wonder the movie-set walls don't crumble. As that singularly acidic potions teacher Severus Snape, Alan Rickman responds to the new blood by lacing his sneers with an even more flavorful degree of sourness.

Reviewed by Simeng

When a guy marries the wrong woman, finds out on the honeymoon that she's crazy, then realizes he's falling for another woman right then and there. Naturally, he doesn't stop to think for one second that this new infatuation could be as ill-conceived and doomed as the first one, and neither does the movie. Nor does the movie cop to the fact that this guy is a complete jerk. And yet I laughed my head off from start to finish. Eddie Cantrow as a spoiler, but it's so funny that it doesn't really matter if you know about it in advance because the visual pile-up of stuff is that anarchic. It takes place later in the film, Ben Stiller has a Man o' War stuck to his back, Michelle Monaghan is trying to whack the thing off him with a stick, bystanders are screaming, other bystanders are nearby laughing hysterically at his misfortune and a mariachi band is standing by playing loud happy music. Then Malin Akerman comes up to pee on Stiller in what would be an NC-17 way if it weren't for the crazy Muppet-y merkin she's wearing.

Reviewed by Simeng

Even though the movie is originated and centered on an American girl who has to face tough times, such as gangs and family issues, the movie very well betrays the atmosphere of North Toronto Jane-Finch area. The main character of the movie, Raya, has big dreams with her career in dancing and acting. While she is at a dance party, she discovers that a group of males who are very talented in dancing and have actually created the dance group. Raya quickly gets involved with the members of the dance group and with her blessed potential in dancing, she soon became the head dancer of the group.

The movie involves a lot heavy beats and the soundtrack is made from very popular R&B songs. The "Movie is all about going with the beats".

Reviewed by Simeng

Juno provides much of the film's dramatic weight doesn't mean the movie is not funny, though. Juno doesn't have any characters who aren't, at one point or another, funny - even people at the school who just stand there, talking to someone else while Juno looks at them, tend to make for funny visuals. This seems like an obvious thing, but it's surprising how many comedies don't realize that every character has to pull his own weight in terms of making the audience laugh, or else they're just clutter. Juno the film is remarkably free of clutter, both as a comedy and as a story about Juno MacGuff: Everyone involved is funny, and there's very little in the story to distract us from Juno's tentative steps toward adulthood.

Reviewed by Simeng

Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Lions for Lambs holds the same unsophisticated ambitions as his last script, the autumn stinker, The Kingdom. Both films yearn to push across their Middle East fears, only Lambs isn't beholden to Van Damme theatrics and procedural humdrum. It's a more modestly constructed piece, leading with long, curled ribbons of dialogue, preferring verbal gunfire to the real thing.

Lambs is stagy, typically focusing on two characters trying to outwit each other over extended takes, yet it's captured with a reasonable helping of political fury. Robert Redford is swinging for the fences with this one, sharpening the film to a razor point, hoping to hurl it into the heart of the Bush administration or, at the very least, instill the audience with a sense of courage to question their place in the world. It's messy and obvious, but Lambs is blessed with a short running time to sprint through (90 minutes) and is cast with just about the finest quality of talent that can be.

As the Republican senator trying to manipulate the media to keep his political star polished, Tom Cruise is careful not to turn Irving into a total baboon. The actor plays the role with slyness and unravelling patience, hitting emotional beats those in the back row could perceive while also preserving a sense of subtle irritation to the character as he tries to keep Roth on a short leash. Meryl Streep and Redford have the less dynamic roles, but they bear hug the thematic bigness of the picture with the same enthusiasm, hitting the ideal notes of despair that they might be engaged in a losing battle to change the world.

Providing answers to the world's woes is not what Lambs is about. Redford is taking the all-guns-blazing route, pushing the viewer to navigate politics, even media as a whole, for themselves. Perhaps this leads Lions for Lambs into areas of pure cartoon, but I was enchanted with the film's gung-ho sensibility and craving for change.

Reviewed by Simeng 

The plot centres on a well-organized, nebulous group of terrorists looking to bring America to its knees, mostly, like, because they can. Having quickly disabled the FBI, they naturally run afoul of a single NYPD detective with the necessary badassery and gumption to spoil their meticulously laid, nation-wrecking plan.

This movie delivers what it promises: nearly an hour of impressively bone-crunching stunts, fights and chases, capable baddies in the form of Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood) and Maggie Q (from the Mission Impossible III) and some funny back-and-forth between Bruce Willis and Justin Long.

All this would make for a tight, enjoyable time, but for several interminable scenes of guys both good and bad making momentous things happen with magical keyboards, which no amount of high-tech mood lighting and plasma TVs can render exciting. These diversions do their best to turn the movie into a tepid mess, but ultimately, they can't keep the good cop down.

Reviewed by Simeng

A Mighty Heart is exactly what this summer needed, a disappointing serious film to go with the several other disappointing sequels. This movie has Angelina Jolie trying desperately not to look hot. Only there are bigger problems here then her, the first being that this movie is boring. It's not just boring; it's painfully, laboriously boring. It's awful, and almost unwatchable. It's also based on a true story, and the filmmakers never stop reminding us of that. Mariane (Angelina Jolie) and Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman) are reporters for the Wallstreet Journal who set up camp in Pakistan after 9/11. Then in 2002, Daniel was abducted by extremists while traveling to attend a meeting, leaving Mariane to worry and hope for a safe return.
 
The movie is directed by Michael Winterbottom, who is a political director (his The Road to Guantanamo is a fairly open attack on U.S. policy regarding the Cuban detainee facility). It's therefore interesting that A Mighty Heart is completely non-political. The movie tells its story without making statements for or against any of the groups involved. A Mighty Heart's perspective is exclusively that of the individuals caught up in this tragedy. By staying focused on Mariane, it avoids global ramifications. There's an unspoken statement about the necessity for a free press, but that is never verbalized. Why does Daniel put himself in harm's way? Because the story must be told.
 
Despite its curiously stoic tone, A Mighty Heart retains its capacity to fascinate and intrigue. The film provides a lot of behind-the-scenes information about the investigation. It's also circumspect when it comes to representing Daniel's death. We see the reactions of others watching the video but Winterbottom does not feel the need to recreate the journalist's gruesome end. He uses words, not images, to clarify Daniel's fate, and Mariane's unwillingness to view her husband's murder becomes a major point late in the film. This restraint is emblematic of the entire picture. While A Mighty Heart may not be the most complete film that could be made about the story, its insider point-of-view gives it a vantage that a more comprehensive movie might not have.

Reviewed by Simeng

Rowan Atkinson, his face in Mr. Bean's Holiday as a Richard Nixon mask, is still doing his bit to keep classic screen comedy alive. Mr. Bean, the childlike British idiot—he's the walking in as Twit of the Year—tries to extricate himself from the wrong things he creates, which only results in more spectacular disaster. On a holiday to France, Bean eats oysters (shrimp), then gets stranded in the country, which for a while strands the film.

Reviewed by Simeng

The comedy movie Norbit, featuring Eddie Murphy is in theatres February 9th, 2007. The movie describes the roughness an obese lady (played by Eddie Murphy) had to go through in modern society. For example, she was forced to marry a man she does not have feelings for. One of the ironies that the movie contained is that people who are overweight are funny, talented, but they are also dysfunctional. In addition, one of the interesting things in the movie is that the main actor, Eddie Murphy, played four different roles throughout the entire movie; the child of a rough childhood; a lady who is overweight; the man with a fat girlfriend. The movie was also nominated for some big awards in North America. The movie is definitely worthwhile to watch in theatres this winter.

Reviewed by Simeng

Danny Ocean and the gang would have only one reason to pull off their most ambitious and riskiest casino heist—to defend one of their own. But they're going to need more than luck on their side to break The Bank. Ruthless casino owner Willy Bank never imagined that the odds were against him when he double-crossed Danny Ocean's friend and mentor Reuben Tishkoff, putting the distraught Reuben in a hospital bed in critical condition. But Bank miscalculated ... badly. He may have taken down one of the original Ocean's eleven, but he left the others standing and, worse for him, gave them a shared purpose: to take Bank down on the night of what should be his greatest triumph—the grand opening of his new casino, appropriately named The Bank. Their strategy is twofold. First they will ruin him financially by turning the tables on the precept that the house always wins. But that's just money. The knockout punch will be to Bank's personal pride and joy: his reputation as the only hotelier who has earned the Royal Review Board's Five Diamond Award on every single one of his hotels. The plan is elaborate, dangerous and damn near impossible—but there are no limits when it comes to one of their own.

Ocean's Thirteen has definitely shown the ambiguous and the risk taking nature of human beings. The list of stars is massive with the top male actors in the world. Nevertheless, Ocean Thirteen ties in closely with the prior films of Ocean's Eleven and Twelve. So check the series out. All the movies in the series are breath-taking thrillers.

Reviewed by Simeng

The movie Pride, directed by Sunu Gonera will hit the theatres on March 23, 2007. Pride, starring Terrence Howard as a swim team coach, is the main character of the movie. The movie is based on a true story about a high school swim team. The high school team had to go a long way through much discrimination by other teams, due to the fact that most of their swimmers are African-American. Nevertheless, the coach, Jim Ellis (Terrence Howard) helps his team players through the frustrations and obstacles. Pride shows the spirituality that an athlete requires and the difficulties a team player must overcome. The movie is highly recommended for everyone and it is going to blow the roof off the box office.

Reviewed by Simeng

The movie Pursuit of the Happyness is definitely an inspiring movie. The movie described a incredible "father and son" relationship, the father would sacrifice anything for the son, and the son would do the best to pay his father back. I was not surprised that the movie had 6 Oscar nominations, including the best-actor Will Smith. The movie also showed a different aspect of Mr. Smith's acting career by applying his original life role as a father into a movie that inspired thousands of viewers.

Reviewed by Simeng

The movie Regin Over Me is based on a man who lost his wife and children in the tragedy of September 11. The main character of the movie is Charlie (played by Adam Sandler), who lost his family members and also sank into an emotional pit after he received the news regarding the tragedy. In addition, Charlie also lost his memories, he no longer recognized his roommate from university. Another main role is Allen (played Don Cheadle), who is the best friend of Charlie. With the help of Allen and his wife, Charlie soon regains some of his memories about the past. Allen also becomes a main life support for Charlie as he goes through his tough days. Regin Over Me is a very emotional movie. The movie also reflects the strong bonds of friendships. Regin Over Me is a highly recommended movie for teenagers.

Reviewed by Simeng

Semi-Pro is a basketball romp set in 1976, a fictionalized account of the final season in the existence of the maverick ABA. Comedy star Will Ferrell stars as Jackie Moon, the playing coach-owner of the American Basketball Association's Flint Michigan Tropics. Jackie, a strutting, bombastic narcissist with a penchant for outrageous promotion, has dribbled over from the music biz, where he previously prospered as a one-hit wonder with his chart-topping "Love Me Sexy."  Then Jackie learns of the league's plans to disband and merge with (that is, be swallowed by) the NBA, with only the top four teams -- the Nets, Pacers, Nuggets, and Spurs -- becoming NBA franchises while the others disappear overnight. So Jackie decides to improve the team, push to finish fourth, become one of the league's elite quartet, and thus survive. He starts by trading the team's washing machine for a washed-up player named Monix, played by Woody Harrelson, a former bench warmer for the Boston Celtics. Monix does have a championship ring, but he's also got a bad knee.

Semi-Pro is a semi-professional B-movie about semi-professional B-ball, with ABA in this case standing for "Alarmingly Bad Altogether" and a great choice for a family gathering movie with its humours scenes. So check it out during the Spring Break.
 
Reviewed by Simeng

This year, Christmas with the Whitfields promises to be one they will never forget. All the siblings have come home for the first time in years and they've brought plenty of baggage with them. As the Christmas tree is trimmed and the lights are hung, secrets are revealed and family bonds are tested. As their lives converge, they join together and help each other discover the true meaning of family. An all-star cast consisting of Chris Brown, Loretta Devine, Idris Elba, Regina King, Delroy Lindo, Mekhi Phifer, Keith Robinson and Columbus Short lead this family to full of surprises!

In addition, Chris Brown has released a new album named Chris Brown Exclusive! The young and talented R&B has definitely take the world of R&B to a new level. Young Chris is also bringing his acting talented to the big screen too! So everyone show some support, buy the album and check out the movie in theater everywhere.

Reviewed by Simeng

A late-summer Jason Statham movie providing more thrills than many of its big-budget counterparts that suddenly Statham and Jet Li costarring in a chintzy action picture becomes a victim of perhaps unreasonable expectations.

That pairing of titan actors, entitled War, is neither a team-up nor a battle royal; it's actually kind of like a low-budget knockoff, with a far larger cast and a far snakier plot than is warranted by the stars' specific and unpretentious skill sets. It begins with FBI agent Jack Crawford (Statham) losing his partner (Terry Chen) to a mysterious assassin called Rogue (Jet Li). But when Rogue re-appears three years later, involved in a convoluted (or maybe just dull) bit of Asian-mob rivalry between the Yakuza and Triad families, momentum falters. Crawford attempts to navigate the underworld and bring his nemesis to justice, while geeks in the audience become confused by Rogue's inability to absorb Jack Crawford's mutant fighting powers.

For several long stretches, War aspires to some kind of cop-show protocol tone, showing us the ins and outs of various shady betrayals and double-crosses as the fed close in on a vast network of baddies. The movie is cluttered with extra characters, presumably to up the potential humanity and/or body count. Statham, usually the consummate grizzled loner, even has a personality-deficient backup team and an estranged ex-wife.

A few of the side characters have a little more pep. B-movie staple Luis Guzmán spreads his trademark chummy vulgarity, and cartoonish-looking Devon Aoki brandishes blades and guns at every occasion, up to and including placing a lunch order. The film seems to be setting her up for a spectacular final confrontation with one or more of the big action stars, but that moment never comes; the screenwriters startle themselves by creating a non-wife female character and let her drop.

When the boys finally get around to their action, they're a lot of fun. Statham and Li both remain convincing physical performers and the bloody mayhem around them unfolds with a humors efficient brutality, although the net effect might be comparable to eating meals at highway rest stops during a long drive.

Still, some more sustained chases and fights, even second-tier versions, would've been more than enough to warrant a recommendation. As is, War could suffice as entertainment in a lot of low-expectation—on the second half of a drive-in bill, on cable during a rainy afternoon, or as part of a Domestic Films of Jet Li film festival—but its value as a stand-alone proposition is disappointingly low.

Back when Statham was a no-name supporting character in Li's The One, an okay smash-up like War might've seemed like a natural progression, but their action work since has simply been too entertaining for this one to work. Doubtless Li and especially Statham have more and better B-movies in their future; sometimes even for second-tier stars, there's no turning back.

Reviewed by Simeng