On Saturday, we saw Angels & Demons, the new “Di Vinci Code” sequel starring Tom Hanks. If you liked the first movie, I think you’ll be sufficiently entertained by this one. Plenty of mystery, action, a bit of blood, and moderately respectable acting. Tom Hanks put forth a good performance and was looking far more in shape than the previous movie. It probably helps that I love Ewan McGregor, and that he got to express his bad-boy side with a twist at the ending. Liam Neesan is always a treat and, although he has had more ambitious roles, he still oops Stellan Skarsgård mastered his character in this movie. I was pleasantly surprised that there was no creepy “what if” romance between Tom Hanks and the lead female role. The pace of the movie was spot on; in fact, I was actually anxious for the “next move” on multiple occasions. For a piece of work I could really care less about, the movie was quite satisfying. But I’m glad my mom paid for it.

On Sunday night, my mom wanted to see “Ghost of Girlfriends Past”, a cute chick-flick with Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner. Identifying Matthew as a star from Day 1, I was open to this proposition. The movie was funny, heart warming, and ultimately redeeming; qualities all good chick-flicks must possess. Matt and Jenn are cute together and make a great sexually frustrated couple who eventually end up together (surprise!).

I’d heard mixed reviews of the movie, but IMHO the negative ones really only came from hardcore X-men comic book readers who didn’t like the 2nd or 3rd X-men movies either. Really, those people are just asking to be disappointed, or really want a reason to critique and complain about how “unrealistic” it is. Gimme a break.

Anyway, I would say I left the theater feeling satisfied that the movie met my expectations and gave me a little more. There was a solid amount of sci-fi technology stuff, plenty of action and explosions, and Hugh Jackman naked. Really, the latter is pretty much enough in normal circumstances, but here it was definitely an added bonus.

As far as the story-line goes, and me not being much of a “pre-X-men Wolverine expert”, I thought they made a convincing story out of the bits and pieces Logan’s hinted at in the “later” movies. The whole Xavier-showing-up-in-the-field-at-the-end-of-the-escape-route was a little far-fetched (haha, I just did the “unrealistic” thing), but I guess if he was telepathically communicating with one of the kids, it is possible.

So yeah, I liked it. As much as I liked the 2nd and 3rd X-men movies. And I’m excited to see which character they profile next!

3. “Doubt” – It’s cast is probably the most remarkable aspect of the movie, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. The story evolves as a pseudo witch hunt, where the target is the priest of a Catholic school, his supposed victim being the only black student in the school. Without any evidence, Sister Aloysius Beauvier launches an undercover attack on the priest, recruiting Sister James, a young, innocent, willing-to-please, newcomer to act as her cohort. Still unable to prove anything beyond doubt, Sister Beauvier manages to convince Father Flynn that he must leave or she will expose his “secret”. My suspicion that nothing questionable ever happened was validated, in my opinion, by the last line of the movie. My mom left the theater thinking he did something wrong, so my review is really just my interpretation anyway, but I won’t spoil it for you by spelling out the ending.

4. “Valkyrie” – Let me start off by saying that its difficult to take Tom Cruise seriously when he’s wearing an eye patch. This wasn’t his best performance. However, the story was very educational and some of the cinematography was quite breathtaking. If you don’t know the Valkyrie assassination plot, its worth it to learn about the last attempt on Hitler’s life before he took his own, but its easily a DVD rental.

Book reviews to come soon!

1. I learned how to play real Chinese Mahjong. Not the kind you play online where you match pairs of symbols. Its actually a lot like Gin Rummy, at least the version we played. My mom has an old authentic set of real ivory and bamboo pieces that made the game very entertaining.

2. I am not a Monkey. All the placemats in Chinese restaurants told me I was a Monkey growing up, because I was born in 1980. However, they don’t bother to get into the details of the Chinese New Year and the fact that it is actually in February. So, in fact, I am a sheep. We read stories behind all the signs and I think the Sheep actually fits me a little better. At first I was a little irritated because I thought the sheep would be the herd animal or the “follower”, but I guess that’s a very European interpretation.

3. Our humble Christmas morning ritual is really a special tradition. Shen Wei had never spent a Christmas morning with an American family before and was really very gracious and grateful to be included. It was a bit inspiring to have someone with us who’d never experienced a Christmas morning like that before and gave me a renewed sense of appreciation for my family and our intimate gathering.

This holiday I also got to see 4 movies and I guess I could do a little review of each. Spoilers are guaranteed.
1. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” – I had my doubts about this one, just due to the obscure plot about a baby born as an old man who ages backwards and gets younger as everyone around him gets old. However, it does star Brad Pitt and that’s usually enough to get me and my mom into a theater. As my mom observed as we exited the theater, the movie had a distinct “Titanic” feeling, since the entire movie is told from the perspective of a old, dying woman. The story unfolds from a diary of Benjamin Button as his life is recounted for us. It plays out exactly as you might suspect, so I guess you could call it predictable. Benjamin is born old, grows younger and younger until he dies of young age as an infant in his lover’s arms. The acting, I will say, was quite good. Cate Blanchett ages well and carries off all stages of her character’s life. Of course, Brad Pitt reverse-ages VERY well. It was a bit difficult to buy into the fact he was a child caught in an old person’s body when he was young, though. The curiousness and youthfulness of a teenager was not visible in his eyes or expressions, but it may have been completely abstracted by the hours worth of makeup he had to don. All in all, it was a slightly above average holiday flick, but nothing I’d demand you go and see before it comes out on DVD.

2. “Slumdog Millionaire” – Unlike the previous movie, this one I demand you go and see. Now. As soon as possible. “Slumdog Millionaire” is also told as a visual flashback but with much more substance and creativity. Jamal Malik is a young Indian man who is about to win 20 million rupees on the Hindi version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, but who gets arrested after the end of the first episode (which ends right before his last question), being accused of cheating since he comes from the slums of India. He recounts his brutal childhood and teenage years which led him to know the answers to each question as they are presented to him. It is a story of ultimate poverty, liberation , and, ultimately, victory. It is a story everyone should see.

More to come….