The Snow White Murder Case

Rate 8.2/10

Cast

• Mao Inoue as Miki Shirono
• Gou Ayano as Yuji Akahoshi
• Misako Renbutsu as Risako Kano
• Nanao as Noriko Miki
• Shihori Kanjiya as Yuko Tanimura
• Nobuaki Kaneko as Satoshi Shinoyama

A female employee in a cosmetic company, Noriko Miki (Nanao), was found dead after a company party. She was stabbed and burnt not long after the party. Her co-worker, Miki Shirono (Mao Inoue), also disappeared after the party. She was last seen running to a train station. Yuji Akahoshi (Gou Ayano), a TV producer, tries to investigate Noriko's death and the disappearance of Miki Shirono.

This movie's great! The case seems simple but it gets complicated when the story changes every time a witness was interviewed. Each person has his/her own point of view which is very interesting to watch. And this movie also emphasizes the use and effect of a social media which open my eyes how easy it is to lead the masses through social media. The actors did good, you can feel their needs and emotions naturally. Overall, a very good movie.

Image source: http://tiff.no/sites/tiff.no/files/snow_white.jpg 

Following

Rate 8.5/10

Cast

• Jeremy Theobald as The Young Man
• Alex Haw as Cobb
• Lucy Russell as The Blonde
• John Nolan as The Policeman

An unemployed writer, The Young Man (Jeremy Theobald), tries to find an inspiration to write a novel starts following strangers around the town. At first, it's just to find about how random people live their lives. But, things get complicated when he finds himself keep following the same man. That man, Cobb (Alex Haw), confronts The Young Man when he realized that he's being followed. Things get messier when Cobb invites The Young Man into his life as burglar.

One of the best movies I've ever watched. Intriguing right from the start, the plot is superb. Lots of twists and turns halfway into the movie. Each character is a mystery and you have to really pay attention to each scene to understand what's going on. A lot of flashbacks which makes it a little bit confusing, but at the end of the movie you'll finally understand the whole story (a little like Memento). Very recommended.

Image source: http://www.vortexcultural.com.br/images/tumblr_m5h6fpiOKu1qfyybu.jpg

Focus

Rate 7.1/10

Cast

• Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon
• Margot Robbie as Jess Barrett
• Rodrigo Santoro as Garriga

Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie), an amateur swindler, tries her luck by tricking Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith). Failing miserably, she finds out that Nicky is a very skilled con artist himself. Jess finally joins in Nicky's crew of professional swindlers and soon becomes romantically involved with him. Nicky, thinking that involving her too far will bring no good, let her go after they catch a big fish. Three years later, they meet again and things get complicated. 

The plot of the movie is nice, though a little bit predictable. Some scenes move too fast, others too slow. There isn't much action for an action movie. The characters, the plot, the  scenes, everything seems to be neither very good nor very bad. It lacks something, it feels like there's no soul in the movie. You watch it, you enjoy it, but you're gonna forget it right away. It's not the kind of movie which you'll be excitedly talk with your friends about it. It's good, but not that good.       

Image source:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3b/8b/8a/3b8b8a38c3a8f11cf902d545cf9c652c.jpg

Cold Eyes

 

Rate 8.2/10

Cast

• Seol Kyeong Gu as Chief Detective Hwang
• Jung Woo Sung as James
• Han Hyo Joo as Detective Ha Yoon Joo
• Lee Jun Ho as Detective Squirrel

Ha Yoon Joo (Han Hyo Joo) is a new member in an elite surveillance unit of Korean Police Forces led by chief detective Hwang (Seol Kyeong Gu). While she's training, a professional bank robber group is on the move. Yoon Joo's surveilance team is then assigned to track down the bank robber group and its leader, James (Jung Woo).

This movie attracts my attention right from the beginning. A very good plot with great characters, intense actions throughout the movie. It keeps you wonder what will happen next. Highly entertaining for action movie fans.  

Image source:  http://filmpulse.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Cold-Eyes-Poster.jpg

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Rate 7.8/10

Cast

• Colin Firth as Harry Hart (Galahad)
• Taron Egerton as Gary Unwin (Eggsy)
• Michael Caine as Arthur
• Samuel L. Jackson as Valentine 
• Sofia Boutella as Gazelle
• Mark Strong as Merlin

Kingsman, a secret spy organization, has lost one of their spies in the hands of Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson). Needing a new agent, each spy in Kingsman has to bring a candidate to fill in the vacancy. Harry Hart (Colin Firth) chose Eggsy (Taron Egerton) to be his candidate. While Eggsy carries out a series of training, Valentine starts to find out about the existence of Kingsman and tries to find them.

This movie is great, amazing casts (as expected from Michael Caine and Samuel L. Jackson), the plot is interesting although you can guess the rest of the story from the opening. It's fast-paced and a little bit like Bond movies for the gadgets and classy agent style. It's action-packed right from the beginning, but I can't deny that I hate some of it for its large amounts of blood. It's a little bit too gory for me. If you enjoy lots of action, then this is the one for you. 

Image source:http://www.joblo.com/movie-posters/kingsman-the-secret-service-06 

Tazza: The Hidden Card

Rate 7.8/10

Cast

• Choi Seung Hyun (T.O.P) as Ham Dae Gil
• Shin Se Kyung as Heo Mi Na
• Kim Yun Seok as Aw Kwi
• Yu Hae Jin as Ko Kwang Ryeol
• Lee Ha Nui as President Woo
• Kwak Do Won as Jang Dong Sik

Ham Dae Gil (Choi Seung Hyun), is a very skilled hwatu, a Korean card game player. When he leaves his small town to Seoul, he enters the world of gambling. But his skills are useless when he's faced with groups of swindlers. His life turns and twists with every card players he's faced. 

The movie starts off fun and turns dark very quickly. The plot is great, the story is fast-paced but easy to follow. And T.O.P turns out to be a really good actor despite his background as a Kpop idol. The actors in this movie are perfect although I don't really like Shin Se Kyung for having the same traits for every single character she played. But, overall this movie is highly entertaining from the start until the very end.

Image Source : https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Tazza,_The_Hidden_Card.jpg

Now You See Me

Rate 8.3/10

Cast

• Jesse Eisenberg as J. Daniel Atlas
• Mark Ruffalo as Dylan Rhodes
• Woody Harrelson as Merritt McKinney
• Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves
• Dave Franco as Jack Wilder
• Melanie Laurent as Alma Dray
• Morgan Freeman as Thaddeus Bradley
• Michael Caine as Arthur Tressler

Four magicians, Daniel Atlas (Eissenberg), Merritt McKinney (Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Fisher, and Jack Wilder (Franco) are mysteriously invited to a meeting in an apartment. A year later, and they reappear as famous and successful group of magicians called The Four Horsemen. At one of their shows in Las Vegas, they rob a bank and give the money to the audiences. Only thing is, the bank is actually robbed for real. An FBI agent, Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) and his partner, Alma Dray (Laurent) of Interpol are send to investigate the case. But they couldn't solve the case and there's no proof that The Four Horsemen really steal the money. Stuck in the mystery of the case, they seek help from a professional illusion exposer, Thaddeus Bradley (Freeman). The investigation leave Dylan and Alma to keep wondering which is illusion and which is reality.

I really really love this movie. It keeps me wondering who is the real bad guy the whole time. And the plot twist! Ah, the twist! It fooled me all right. I knew that there will be some twist at the end of the movie, but I didn't know that it would be that kind of twist. Arrrgh I felt stupid somehow after watching it. I don't want to spoil the movie for you, so you better watch it for yourself.   

Image source : http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml

21

Rate 8.2/10
Cast

• Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell
• Kevin Spacey as Micky Rosa
• Kate Bosworth as Jill
• Laurence Fishburne as Cole Williams
• Liza Lapira as Kianna
• Jacob Pitts as Fisher
• Aaron Yoo as Choi

Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), a student in MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), is accepted in Harvard Medical School. But Ben can't afford the $300,000 fee. Micky Rosa, one of his professors, recognizes his intelligence in class and invites him to his secret team. A small team of students which trained to win black jack by counting cards. Interested in the large sum of money he could get, he joins the team. Rosa takes the team to Las Vegas where they make thousands of dollars on weekly basis. Ben, drowned with his non-stop winnings doesn't realize that Cole Williams, a security chief, has been watching him all the time.

I watched this movie years ago and it's still one of my favorite. I love the storyline and when I know that it actually based on a true story, wow it blew my mind. A group of students won thousands of dollars in a casino by counting cards? They must be real geniuses. And this movie portrays it really well. Although I admit, I don't understand the part where they start counting and stuffs, but I can enjoy it. And I think that's the importance of a movie, to make people actually enjoy watching it. So, if you haven't watched this movie, you should. 

Image source : http://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/22/21-(2008).html