Hua Mulan (2009)

Hua Mulan (2009)

Hua Mulan is the most famous Chinese folklore. Thus, there are many versions of this classic story. Sad to say, this isn't one of the better ones. Vicki as Mulan was not a wise choice. She doesn't look like the type of responsible, mature girls. She's more of the impulsive wild child like Sun Shang Xiang. Although both Sun and Hua are women fighting in a war, they differ. Sun is royalty who fights with no risk of being discovered she is a girl. Hua is disobeying the capital rule of fighting as a girl. I was so disappointed with mulan. She is no way a drunkard, or desperate lover. Sure, Vicki did well in the fight scenes, but the emotional parts are too boring. Chen Kun can't act. He looks ugly, not as handsome as his character in Painted Skin. The storyline is borderline trash. Vicki masquerading as a servant to get close to Chen Kun? White man Vitash seems to join in the fun somehow. Chen Kun turned out to be a prince. Vicki got discovered so early. None of these is really historically accurate. Sure, you can take some creative liberties, but this is STRETCHING the truth.

The Ugly Truth (2009)

The Ugly Truth (2009)
"It's a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humourless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys... I'm playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy?" The Ugly Truth star Katherine Heigl there, talking to 'Vanity Fair' in 2007 about Judd Apatow's 'Knocked Up.'

Fast-forward a couple of years, and stone me, if Heigl's not playing another shrewish, humourless and uptight media-professional, in yet another opposites-attract romantic comedy. Is this her idea of progress? If she's atoning for her early role in 1994's American remake of 'My Father, The Hero', in which her 14-year-old character wears a white, one-piece thong bikini while claiming her dad Gérard Depardieu is actually her lover in order to appear more womanly to boys, then perhaps it is. But right now Heigl's range is proving slightly more limited than John Wayne's, who at least played both a Mongolian *and* an ancient Roman with a Madison County accent.

Heigl plays Abby Richter, a Sacramento breakfast TV show producer, and the kind of frightening valkyrie who background-checks her dates. This glamorous professional remains inexplicably single - until the execs pair her up with shouty shock jock Mike Chadway (a dodgy-accented Gerard Butler) to boost the ratings with his lame 'Men are from Bars, Women Need a Penis' shtick. Chadway's 'Ugly Truth' segment claims to spill the beans about the sexes while advising pent-up women to flick the same. "Men are simple, they cannot be trained! You wanna win a man over, you don't need ten steps, you just need blowjobs!" While women who want 'relationships' are advised to talk dirty, dress like Streetwalker Barbie and "get a StairMaster". Given that Mike has already called Abby a "dog" and a "lesbian", what happens next is frankly extraordinary: the shriekingly strange control freak falls for her neighbour, the young orthopaedic doctor Colin (Eric Winter), and challenges Mike to be her very own Cyrano-in-an-earpiece. And, well, we all know how 'Roxanne' turned out. (Or not: Mike doesn't actually get off with Colin.)

If one were to take a buzzsaw to The Ugly Truth, its arterial spray would drip down the wall to form the coagulated word 'Generic'. Among 37,000 similar rom-coms, it is markedly close to 2001's 'Someone Like You', in which Ashley Judd uses roommate Hugh Jackman's womanising outlook as raw material for her sexist advice column. And then falls in love with him. This lack of any originality whatsoever wouldn't be so insulting if there existed any actual chemistry between the leads; if the supporting cast weren't as slight as snowflakes (wimpy Colin is barely even human); or if, with its trash-mouth, oral-sex gags and casting, it didn't so desperately and transparently want to be a Judd Apatow movie. Just one without the insight. Or soul. Or wit. Or anything. Why is Mike in love with Abby? "Beats the s*** out of me, but I am." And that, boys and girls, is how you tidily dispose of character development when your script ain't worth a fart.

Its leading lady exec-produced this (rarely a promising sign), and so did her mum, but this film seemingly exists only to utterly humiliate Heigl via three farcical set-pieces; the lowlight of which sees her remote-controlled vibrating sex knickers (a gift from Mike, with the honest-to-goodness words "this isn't for you, it's for your bean") being 'accidentally' activated while she's out having dinner with clients. Meg Ryan's got nothing to worry about but Nora Ephron should sue. "Thanks for coming tonight" says Mike. "For dinner. That kind of coming." Sure, we get it. Who wrote these gags, David Brent? Well actually, a trio of women wrote this film (two of them also being the brains behind 'Legally Blonde', 'She's The Man' and 'The House Bunny'), demonstrably proving that chauvinism isn't the sole preserve of one sex.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Errors in geography: The film avoids identifying its setting as either Britain or America. Conveniently, Mr. Fox's species Vulpes vulpes is found in both countries. The human town has some very British details including a round red post box (American would be square and blue), the station wagon has a right-hand drive, and the humans have British accents. (Even if the setting is England, the animals' American accents are permissible as an element of fantasy.) The beaver's species is given as Castor fiber, the Eurasian variety (the American variety is Castor canadensis). However, the wolf's mountain looks more like a place in America or Canada, and more conclusively, there is an American opossum among the animals. There are no native opossums, nor any marsupial relatives, anywhere in Europe, so an opossum cannot be from the same region as Castor fiber. Even more confusing is that on the wackbat-trophy you can read the name "M.K. Silvery-Marmoset", an animal only found on very limited places in Brazil.

[Rec] 2 (2009)

[Rec] 2 (2009)
This is a direct sequel to the surprisingly good "Rec",the story takes place where the other one ended,this time focusing more on a Swat team.

From the very start the movie has the exact same feel as its predecessor.The acting is great,special effects even better.

The story is what will make you eventually hate it or love it even more,because the cause of the infected is eventually explained.Im just gonna say that its quite original.

Its not as creepy as the first movie,but its an excellent and original sequel. As a comparison,Rec2 is to Rec what Aliens is to Alien.

If you loved the first one,its a must see!

BBC South Pacific 2009 HD1080p

BBC South Pacific 2009

One Ocean. 20,000 Islands. A Quarter of The World’s Water.

The extraordinary wildlife, culture and history of this immense, fascinating ocean and its myriad islands are revealed in stunning detail in this acclaimed BBC series.

With its coral reefs, turquoise lagoons and dramatic oceanic atolls, the South Pacific is the archetypal paradise. But from the shores of Hawaii to Easter Island and a thousand tiny remote islands, this ocean holds some of the most bizarre and intriguing surprises on Earth…

The incredible photography and discoveries of this series capture the amazing natural sights of the region: from erupting undersea volcanoes to jewelled tropical reefs and from tiger sharks catching albatross chicks to giant crabs opening coconuts. It reveals how the islands’ isolation has helped evolve flesh-eating caterpillars, vampire bugs with antifreeze in their veins, a strange nocturnal parrot with a mating call like a bull frog and the fascinating monkey-tailed skink.

South Pacific also tells of the people whose ancestors journeyed thousands of miles to the islands. Some acquired new survival techniques such as the palolo worm-harvesting Samoans or the Solomon islanders who fish with spider webs and kites, while others developed bizarre rituals such as the Pentecost land divers who leap from 25-metre wooden scaffolds.

With incredible natural spectacles, dramatic footage and fascinating stories, South Pacific will change the way you view this ocean forever.

Synopsis

20,000 islands, one ocean, a quarter of the world's water. Welcome to the South Pacific. Narrated by Benedict Cumberpatch, SOUTH PACIFIC is the documentary series that explores this fascinating part of the world and the wonderful wildlife that lives there. From Hawaii's coastline to Eastern Island, South Pacific explores underwater volcanoes and jewelled reefs, and showcases species such as tiger sharks and flesh-eating bugs, all captured by the most incredible photography and will change the way you see the ocean forever.

SNP - Alaska and Hawaii Bluray 1080i

SNP - Alaska and Hawaii Bluray 1080i
Denali National Park
Get a touch of the tundra in Alaska s Denali National Park, a land as rugged as it is magnificent. Whether you explore Denali by bus, hike or camp out in the backcountry, or take on Mt. McKinley, the highest moutain in North America, surprises await you at every turn. Breathtaking Blu-rayTM is the best way to experience Denali s spectacular scenery as you ride the Denali Star train, meet the sled dogs of Denali at the Kennels, and take a discovery hike into untamed wilderness much as the first explorers did.

Hawaii s National Parks
Hawai `i Volcanoes and Haleakala National Parks are two of the most extraordinary places on the planet. Witness molten lava bubbling from the earth, catch an awe-inspiring sunrise above the clouds, and take a dip into pools of paradise. Fabulous beaches and romantic coastal drives further reveal the astounding contrasts of this lush land.

First trip - Denali National Park - Alaska's tundra, mountains of McKinley. Traveling by train, sled dogs, and walking.
The second trip - Hawaii National Parks - Marine sunrises, beaches and at the same time the hot lava from active volcanoes.

The Beauty of Snakes on Blu-ray Disc Review By Brandon A. DuHame 1080p

The Beauty of Snakes
There are 15 families and over 2,900 species of snakes in the world. They dwell on every one of our planet's continents except Antarctica, making them one of the most common species in the world. Throughout human history they have been both revered and reviled; appearing as symbols of evil in the Bible and as healers in ancient Greece, where Asclepius, a son of Apollo and god of healing, carried two intertwined on his wand. This symbol can still be found in the form of a caduceus, displayed on ambulances and worn by many doctors today.

Most laymen will know that there are basically two types of snakes, venomous and non-venomous. Neither type is particularly prone to attacking humans, and, in fact, most shy away from human contact as much as possible. Snakebites amongst humans tend to occur when snakes are accidentally stumbled upon or provoked in some way. Human deaths caused by constrictors are even far more rare as only a few of these snakes, such as an anaconda are large enough to kill a human, yet many people are still afraid of these reptilian creatures.Animal Planet's The Beauty of Snakes turns its high definition lens on these creatures and documents every aspect of their existence, from mating, birth and feeding, to the way different species move and their interaction with humans. The brilliant macro-photography of Discovery Channel's camera operators -- perhaps rivaled only by that of the BBC -- captures stunning images of these animals both in the wild and in staged settings. Each aspect of the snakes' condition is examined and explained in brief yet informative segments.

The film is resplendent with memorable images of snakes in motion around the globe: an anaconda takes a leisurely swim in the Amazon rainforest; the feared black mamba slithers on a beach in coastal South Africa; a sidewinder makes its way across the hot desert dunes in Namibia. It's a stunning spectacle of serpents, and a wonderful sight for any fan of nature shows.