Eat Pray Love

Yesterday I watch a DVD entitled "EAT PRAY LOVE" is a comedy-drama which Directed by Ryan Murphy. Starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup, Viola Davis. Stars Julia Roberts as a divorcee who embarks on a journey to rediscover herself. Eat, Pray, Love is based on a book by the same name, which is written by Elizabeth Gilbert. The book Eat, Pray, Love itself is very captivating and the movie is also a good adaption of the book. In Eat, Pray, Love, Julia Roberts goes on a quest to rediscover herself after she realizes that her marriage has failed and her life is crumbling down. Julia Roberts first goes to Italy to eat and the purpose is to taste good food, she then goes to India to pray in an ashram and then her last destination is Bali to look for love. I haven't got chance to watch this film at local theater so I bought DVD of it last night. It's too late for me to review about this film but all I want to write here is. I enjoy the movie, she (Julia Roberts) still give good impact on acting... she's really good. This film also taught me about how to find the balance in living. Give and take. However at the end of the story I've learn something.. "I learned to let go of the illusion that we can possess. I learned to let go and remember happiness.

"To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life."

The Best Director goes to.. "The Convert"

54th Asia Pacific Film Festival held last night at the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taiwan. There were 56 films from 18 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including 12 Taiwanese ones, vying for awards at the festival, with the figures hitting record highs.

The late Yasmin Ahmad of Malaysia won the Best Director award for the film “The Convert.”
The Best Feature Film award was won by the Indian film “Janala,” directed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta.
The Best Leading Actor award was went to Hamid Farrokhnezhad for the Iranian film “The Fateful Night,”
The Best Leading Actress award was won by Anita Linda, for her outstanding performance in the Filipino film “Lola.”
The Best Documentary Film award was granted to a Hong Kong's “Music and Life,” directed by King-wai Cheung.
The Best Short Film award was won by a Taiwanese film, “Sleeping with Her,” directed by Wen Chih-yi.
The Best Supporting Actress award went to Oh-Woo Jung, a Korean actress, for “Enlightenment Film,”
The Best Supporting Actor award was received by Sounitr Chatterjee, an Indian actor, for “Angshuman's Film.”
The Best Movie Music award was won by Sandee Chan for her performance in the Taiwanese film “Monga,”
The Best Arts Director award was received by Cheng Po-jen and Huang Mei-ching for their work in the film.
The Best Music Effect award was received by Duu-chih Tu for Japanese film “Rail Truck.”
The Best Photography award was captured by Mong-hing Chung for the Taiwanese film “The Fourth Portrait.”
Jackie Chan, a heavyweight Chinese actor, won the Outstanding Film Achievement award.

For the record, the late Yasmin Ahmad is the first Malaysian to win the award as Best Director. Malaysia's past winners were the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee for Best Actor in (Anakku Sazali (1957), Maya Karin for Best Actress (2004) and Datin Seri Tiara Jacquelina, also for Best Actress (2005).

Note:
In October 2010 Muallaf (The Convert) unlisted for major nominations like Best Director, Best Storyline, Best Actress and Actor even Best Photography at 23rd Malaysia Film Festival... isn't ironic??? "the bacterium across the sea is seen, but the elephant on eyelid is not seen"

Banlieue 13 - Ultimatum

Directed by Patrick Alessandrin

Produced by Luc Besson

Written by Luc Besson

Starring : David Belle, Cyril Raffaelli

Distributed by Europa Corp (France)

Release date(s):

France:February 18, 2009 (French Version)

UK:October 2, 2009 (English version)

Running time 96 minutes

Country : France

I must admit this is the best film of 2009 I ever seen. I enjoy myself watching this film on DVD. It never been screen in Malaysia but available on DVD and Bluray. Banlieue 13 – Ultimatum also known as District 13 – Ultimatum (UK released). Good actors, great storyline plus amazing soundtrack make this film almost perfect! I rate this film as 4.9 out of 5.

Plot:
Damien and Leito return to District 13 on a mission to bring peace to the troubled sector that is controlled by five different gang bosses, before the city's secret services take drastic measures to solve the problem.

Full synopsis:
Banlieue 13, two years later. The government has changed, not the rest ... The wall of isolation - ever higher, ever growing, ever further - has spread around the cities ghettos and gangs that are proliferating have increased their influence. The traffic is now divided among five ethnic neighborhoods, each headed by a fearsome gang leader. More than ever determined to settle the problem, the secret services voluntarily fire to powder. Damien (Cyril Raffaelli), cop martial arts expert, and Leito (David Belle), able to squeeze in every corner of the suburbs, make new team. Their goal: to save the city from chaos. Their program: tough fighting and race for defying the laws of gravity ... - This synopsys was pasted from twitchfilm.net and is posted as is - zero editing. Three years after the events of the original film, the authorities are attempting to return law and order to ravaged District 13. However the death of gang overlord Taha Bemamud at the end of the previous film has left a power vacuum, and total control of the area is now being fought over by five rival territorial gang lords who want to step into Taha's position of overlord over District 13. Damien and Leito return to District 13 on a mission to bring peace to the troubled sector before the secret services of Paris take drastic measures to solve the problem.

Mood : Cool!

P/S : Thanks to Mr. Saiful aka Papun for recommend.. it's worthy!

Departures - Okuribito

Departures - Okuribito, I didn't know about this film until I read an article from Yasmin Ahmad. I search on the net about the film for more info. Yesterday after work I rush to dvd store and look for this film but fails. I am dying to watch this film. Today I must visit Speedy Video (HMV) and grab this dvd and watch at home this weekend. As far as I can see now.. I love the way they design poster for the film. I also not few scene has been snap in 'jpeg' files are superb. Departures (Okuribito) is a 2008 Japanese film by Yojiro Takita. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2009 Oscars and has earned $61,010,217 in Japan as of 12 April 2009.

Narrative

Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a cellist in an orchestra in Tokyo, loses his job because of dissolution of the orchestra. After quitting as a professional cellist, he decides to sell his cello which he had recently purchased for 18 million yen, then deciding to move back to his old hometown, Sakata, Yamagata, along with his wife. One day, he finds a classified ad entitled "Assisting departures" for an "NK Agency". He goes to the job interview thinking it is for a job at a travel agency. But at the interview, he discovers that NK is an abbreviation for "encoffinment", and he is instead to assist the "departed". The interviewer, the President of NK Agency, immediately decides to hire Daigo after confirming that Daigo is able to "work hard." The salary is 500,000 yen per month with an additional 20,000 yen bonus for the interview. With no other job prospects, Daigo decides to accept the offer. However, when he comes home to his wife, he finds himself unable to admit the type of work he will be doing, so he dissembles, saying that he is to be employed in the 'ceremonial occasions industry.'
Daigo has a hard time at his first day of work, being made to act as a corpse in a DVD explaining the procedure of encoffinment. More harrowing still is his first assignment which is, in preparation for the wake, to clean dress and apply cosmetics to the body of an aged lady who has died alone at home remaining undiscovered for two weeks. Beset with nausea at the sight and smell of her collapsed body, but in need of the money that is paid at the end of each day, Daigo sets out in his new career. Daigo completes a number of assigments, and experiences the joy and gratitude at his work of those left behind. He starts to feel a sense of fulfillment in his work when his wife, Mika, (Ryoko Hirosue) finds the training DVD and begs him to give up such a "disgusting profession." Daigo, however refuses to quit, so his wife leaves him. Even his old friend, Yamashita (Tetta Sugimoto), learning of his job, tells him to get "a proper job", then avoids him because of his refusal.
Not long later however, Daigo's wife returns announcing that she is pregnant and pleads with him once again to find a different source of income. At this moment the telephone rings with a new assignment. Yamashita's mother, Tsuyako (Kazuko Yoshiyuki), who ran the local bathhouse on her own, has died. In front of Yamashita, his family and Mika, Daigo prepares Tsuyako's body for her wake and earns the respect and understanding of all present. Then one day, a telegram is delivered to Daigo's house, with notification of the death of Daigo's estranged father. Daigo refuses to see his dead father, but Mika and Daigo's co-worker convince him to go. When Daigo sees his father, he notices that he has left only one cardboard box of belongings, despite the fact that he lived 70-odd years. Funeral workers come to get Daigo's father's corpse, but Daigo decides to personally encoffin his father. As he encoffins him, Daigo finds a "stone-letter" he had given to his father when he was little; the stone-letter was grasped in his father's hands. When Daigo is finished, he recognizes the father he remembered and cries. As his father is carried away in a coffin, Daigo presses the stone-letter to Mika's pregnant belly.