“HARRY POTTER and the DEATHLY HALLOWS Part 2″. BOWING OUT IN GRAND STYLE.

“HARRY POTTER and the DEATHLY HALLOWS Part 2″ PRESS PREVIEW

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END.

This Reviewer won’t be the first to extol.

He definitely won’t be the last.

As a deserving tribute, he’ll keep this epilogue short and sweet.

For most, this is a heartfelt farewell, the FINALE to conclude the entire HARRY POTTER series.

A dash of pomp, a clash of splendor

for sure leading to a fanfare in grand style – befitting of a magnificent ending.

“HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2″ is indeed the eighth installment.

In astonishing 3D for the first time, this is the ultimate franchise that has spawned extreme public excitement and media hype than any other.

For bigwig WARNER BROTHERS, it is a magical pot of gold with the seven films so far fetching more than USD 6.4 billion in ticket sales, DVDs and merchandise.

Kids have grown, adults become older in the HARRY POTTER generation.

From kiddish stuff to darker content as the franchise progresses, “HARRY PORTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS Part 2″ climaxes with an intense battle fought between the good and evil at Hogwarts.

Good will surely triumph over evil, but only after the hero overcomes a crisis of self-doubt and pitches a sacrifice for the greater good.

Stay braced with lots of spell-casting as we watch wizards destroyed, witches die, gigantic Gothic architecture collapse and what have you, as HARRY faces the final bloody meltdown with his evil nemesis Lord Voldemort.

“HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS Part 2″, capably directed by DAVID YATES, shines as the last chapter.

GRACIAS to the veteran cast and creative team for the thrilling and satisfying finish.

Curtain call now.

Take a bow, folks.

Adieu.

“A BEAUTIFUL LIFE” (不再讓你孤單) HONG KONG MOVIE. LOVE means NEVER having to say you are SORRY?

“A BEAUTIFUL LIFE” (不再讓你孤單)

HONG KONG MOVIE PRESS PREVIEW

Let’s say that “A BEAUTIFUL LIFE” could have made a better impression …..

given the fact that a teeny weeny bit of mush softens the heart,

and is naturally good for rejuvenating the human soul.

Besides, true love rises above all odds.

Yet the film falls short of expectations, despite a renowned film director and the stellar cast.

It should have stuck to its Chinese name, literally translated as “I’LL NEVER EVER LET YOU BE LONELY.”

The mood and tone is grim, cheerless and sombre …

and life is definitely not beautiful. as portrayed in the narrative.

Far from it.

Let’s address the latent issues.

SHU QI plays Li Peiru, a big city gal (from Hong Kong) with a bigger city dream.

A good start.

She is fiesty and fiery and would do anything for a quick fix to earn the extra cash.

When the film opens in a karaoke lounge, she is this real estate agent entertaining her client, eking a decent living in BEIJING.

She is having a hapless affair with her boss, a married man and is none the worse for it.

Perchance she encounters a naive albeit honest policeman Fang Zhen Dong (LIU YE) in the lounge and an unlikely relationship develops.

Fang falls hopelessly in love and is almost willing to go the long mile for her.

She instead, uses him as a “problem sponge” to absorb her non-stop whining regarding her many love problems.

He is selfless to a fault, having to care for his autistic younger brother.

She, on the other hand, is selfish and self-centered, trapped in her own dreamy world of easy living.

As time goes by and after a myriad of grueling incidents, they both find solace and true love in each other, only to be defeated by an ugly truth.

The man is slowly sinking into the throes of Alzeheimer’s Disease and their relationship may be doomed even before it can take flight.

ANDREW LAU of the Infernal Affairs fame is the film director.

He could have worked wonders with a more meaningful script.

The opening part featuring SHU QI in a drunken stupor spouting nonsense with LIU YE tends to be a tad too superfluous One can see that the beautiful actress is over-stretching her acting prowess with the dumb lines.

Also, the regular guys, the police colleagues of LIU YE become unintentional stooges providing the occasional comic relief as in the scene where LIU quits the Police Force and everybody salute him in a tearful farewell.

Intended to sear your tear ducts, a scene like this only succeeds to bring forth the shudders.

Oh, come on ……..

More the kind of feature that will appeal to the female gender, “A BEAUTIFUL LIFE” exemplifies the strong chemistry of SHU QI and LIU YE (though they have collaborated on other screen projects).

The 60s film LOVE STORY written by ERIC SEGAL has a classic line, “Love means never having to say you are sorry.”

It is so apt for this movie treatment that “could have been done better”.

“TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT” Movie Review. A RAUCOUS and BAWDY Comedy? You wish.

“TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT” PRESS PREVIEW

Whichever direction the wind blows, “TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT” ain’t going to bring home any Oscars.

Production of this film wrapped in 2007.

Universal Studios unceremoniously shelved the American retro comedy due to a “no-confidence” vote on its youthful content and treatment of cocaine abuse, until its theatrical release now, in 2011.

That’s a lonesome 4 years squirming in “cold storage”.

Not that it’s not a deserving film, it has its merits.

True, the title “TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT” sounds a wee insipid.

Film critics in the West already had a field day lauding it with lukewarm reviews, or gleefully shredding it to bits. But that’s in the West.

Over in the East, things may palpitate in a different way. We have seen worse stuff.

The movie is set in the summer of 1988 and exploits TOPHER GRACE as Matt, an under achieving graduate.

Matt works in the local video store, is clueless about his career path.

One day, his high school crush Toni Fredreking (TERESA PALMER) sashays into the store.

It’s love reborn outright and Matt ditches his uniform and pretends to be a banker in order to woo her.

He continues the deception and they both wind up at a riotous party hosted by the boyfriend (CHRIS PRATT) of Matt’s twin sister Wendy (ANNA FARIS)

The entire film takes place within a single night at two Labour Day parties.

The first caters to middle-class kids with attitude, having a final brawl.

The other is for snooty, up-and-coming executives who already inherited their first million in the bank by virtue of rich parents.

The movie drums an outcry on ambition, life choices and individualism with bludgeoning crudity.

You are treated to the film’s rock and rollicking ’80s soundtrack.

The movie has some fine moments in capturing the fun of the decade with shiny attire, zany colors and retro dance moves.

“TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT” bags some funny moments.

Yeah, everyone can only be young once.

In part a raucous and bawdy comedy, it can be perceived as didactic to some point.

In life there’s always a saving grace when we fall.

We pick ourselves up and simply plod on.

We give ourselves a second chance.

Amen.

SPREAD the MILK of KINDNESS. It’s easier SAID than DONE.

Here’s A PENNY for your THOUGHTS.

DON’T YOU BELIEVE IN SPREADING THE MILK OF KINDNESS?

Kindness can be milked in any of us.

Just give this notion a nod.

Many a time, we are sure to come across a myriad of inspiring pick-me-ups.

In books, online media, whatever,

by budding writers or bored celebrities attempting to fill up pages of their impressive blogs.

They admonish you to be this gentler person, to love, to care …..

by not forgetting to do a good deed, to pass the baton of kindness.

The list can go on.

Yeah, I wish I can be such a jolly person, wondrous and rare.

Yeah, I want to be kind.

Yeah, I wish I can be an angel.

Yet I have witnessed before, religious persons doing despicable deeds such as a pastor absconding with the church’s funds many years back.

Why did he do that?

I thought he was great on the pulpit ….. preaching the Sunday sermons.

I lost faith.

I had watched a husband-and-wife team teaching the gospel and thence, when your back is turned, they would say the most hurtful things.

That’s PAST tense now.

They are no longer my friends,

after so many horrible incidents.

To err is human, ahh?

Maybe I was the complete idiot, always at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

But events like these sapped my confidence and made me the skeptic I am now.

This is truly, a world of oxymorons where you wear two faces

because you never know what to expect – much less, who you can trust sometimes.

Look after yourself well, lest when you fall hard and flat, you are lucky if you get offered any helping hand.

In this busy world where money maketh more money,

everyone is too busy taking care of oneself.

And which idiot says money is not everything?

Maybe so, if your wallet is forever flowing with wads of dollar notes.

Have you been to third world countries and witness mass starvation and deprivation?

There you’ll learn that every morsel of food counts and that wastage is a banned word.

Money is not everything, it can’t buy true love, but it is a means to get to that far end.

In the corporate world, money talks or else, what is smart business all about?

The good guys?

Sure, but you can find them – few and far between.

Family is the only one thing we should cherish and embrace, because blood is often thicker than water.

True friends anyone can count with one’s fingertips.

TODAY, I have come across another wise preaching:

Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace.

Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.

And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

You must love yourself before you love another.

By accepting yourself and fully being what you are,

your simple presence can make others happy.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To hope is to risk pain.

To try is to risk failure,

but risk must be taken because

the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

Often we feel life has done an injustice to us.

We feel that we are deprived of good luck, fortune and happiness.

We crave for what we don’t have and forget to pay any heed to the blessings we have carelessly dumped in our pockets…

So you are swarmed with goodness to gracious.

And you are ready to spread the milk of kindness, chum?