Latest Bellwether Films: 9 May 2010
(Above) Donnie Yen as Yip Man, (below) the actual Yip Man with Bruce Lee
Best Seller (베스트셀러) - Korean personal horror suspense
Accused of plagiarizing a writing competition entry, a famous crime novelist (Jeong-Hwa Eom - 엄정화) goes into retreat to a small house in the country. She meets a strange figure who tells her stories that intrigue. She spends two years collecting her memories, drawing on the horrific stories, and writing her next mystery. The book becomes an instant best seller. Its success, however, is short lived. Key elements of the novel are discovered to have been published a decade earlier. To prove her innocence, she goes back to the house where a yet bigger mystery awaits. Satisfaction rating: Excellent - 84
Burnt by the Sun 2 (Утомленные солнцем 2) - Russian wartime suspense drama
FIVE YEARS LATER. Having been attacked by former ally Adolf Hitler, Comrade Joseph Stalin (Maksim Sukhanov) must mobilize the Soviet population … including the elite military officers he had previously exiled to penal camps. Former Commander Kotov (Nikita Mikhalkov - Никита Михалков), who miraculously survived his death sentence in Stalin’s Purge, finds himself on the front lines as a private in a penal battalion. Meanwhile his now-grown daughter Nadya (Nadezhda Mikhalkova - Надежда Михалкова) risks her life as a nurse to save others. Even former enemies fight together to save their nation and reunite their families. Satisfaction rating: Below Average - 31
Gintama (2010) (劇場版銀魂 新訳紅桜篇) - Japanese speculative-past sci-fi animation
EDO, JAPAN. ALTERNATE EARLY 19TH CENTURY. Samurai Sakata Gintoki lives in an era when samurais are no longer needed. Oppressive aliens called the Amanto have conquered Japan and banned the carrying of swords in public. To pay rent, Gintoki together with teenager Shinpachi and his sister Kagura form the “Odd Jobs Gin” and take on free-lance assignments. In this episode, the Odd Jobs Gin search for Gintoki’s former comrade Kotaro Katsura who has been attacked by a Kiheitai soldier. A Warner Brothers co-production based on the manga and TV-Toyko anime series. Satisfaction rating: Excellent - 91
Houseful - Bollywood domestic situation romantic-comedy
Having been rewarded by his boss (Randhir Kapoor) with the hand of the boss’ daughter (Jiah Khan) in marriage, who promptly runs off with her lover, a casino cooler (Akshay Kumar) concludes that he must find true love to break his bad luck jinx. Through a series of comic mishaps, he finds himself married to two additional women (Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta) - none of whom knows about the others. Naturally, all these chickens come home to roost all at once. Satisfaction rating: Above Average - 71
Yip Man 2 (葉問2:宗師傳奇) - Chinese work place biographical action
1949. Martial arts grandmaster Yip Man (Donnie Yen) moves his family to Hong Kong. He overcomes many pugilistic tests and intrigues from triad-influenced competitor martial arts schools for the unquestioned right to publicly teach the secret fighting style of Wing Chun coupled with upright moral values. His most famous students include Bruce Lee as well as several generations of quality instructors who would spread the art worldwide. Satisfaction rating: Above Average - 79
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World's Favorite Films 2010
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World's Favorite Foreign Language Films 2010
Aftershock (Chinese)
L'arnacoeur (French)
The Borrower Arietty (Japanese)
Ip Man 2 (Chinese)
Pokemon: Phanton Ruler Zoroark (Japanese)
Confessions (Japanese)
My Name Is Khan (Bollywood)
Nodame Cantabile 2 (Japanese)
Blood Brothers: Secret Reunion (Korean)
Doraemon: Mermaid Adventure (Japanese)
Raajneeti (Bollywood)
Little Big Soldier (Chinese)
La Rafle (French)
Les Aventures Extraordinaire d'Adele Blanc-Sec (French)
Io, loro e Lara (Italian)
Liar Game (Japanese)
Our Rossiya (Russian)
Moss (Korean)
71 - Into the Gunfire (Korean)
Housefull (Bollywood)
