The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I watched the film yesterday after working a press screening of the new Will Ferrell movie Kicking & Screaming at the Universal CityWalk in Hollywood. If you enjoy British humor in films like the old Monty Python movies, then you'll like Hitchhikers. I only saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I really enjoyed that film...so therefore, I should've liked Hitchhikers, which I did. Do you like my generalization? I didn't think so. I'd give a more thorough review on the movie, but I won't. Except to say it's both cheesy and adventurous in a wacky, Spaceballs sort-of-way.

MR. & MRS. SMITH: For those of you who live near the City of Industry in California, the scenes that were filmed in the old IKEA store along Gale Avenue (the IKEA store is now located near Eastland Mall in Covina, but why the hell am I bringing this up when more than half of you who visit this journal page don’t even live in the United States? Haha) takes place at the end of the film. It’s an action scene, where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie—who is friggin' sexy with those pouty lips and yellow sunglasses she has on (see the image above right)—engage in a fierce gunfight with a group of commandos inside a furniture warehouse, called KOSTMART. Don’t know what the story to the film is (actually I do, somewhat, but I probably shouldn’t mention it since I can get in trouble for talking about the ending ‘cause I worked on two of the test screenings for this film), but it seems like it will have lots of action, as shown with the final action sequence, and with all the car chases, gunfire and explosions that I heard from out in the theater hallway before my co-workers and I entered the auditorium to prepare distributing surveys. Will I watch this movie when it comes out in theaters? Maybe. There was a set piece resembling a rock formation built on the parking lot outside of IKEA last year, and I’d like to see the action sequence (presumably a rock-climbing scene) that takes place at this locale. Anyways, that’s all for now. Late.

KUNG FU HUSTLE! I watched the movie on um, DVD last night...and I thought it was pretty good. As usual, the action scenes were cool, and the climax reminded me of something straight from DragonballZ, haha. Did they have to have those gratuitous butt shots of that one FOB dude though (in case you haven't checked my main website out yet, I'm Asian...so I can use that acronym, lol), especially since none of the female characters show T & A? Oh well. I like how the 'chosen one' theme was played out in this film. And yes, it had several funny moments (like the Axe Gang breaking out into a dance number after slaughtering another gang outside a police house. Actually, that's pretty sadistic...which makes it funnier). Quite entertaining... Then again, I'm a lousy film critic. (Just read my previous entry: "I’m 9 days late, but on April 3rd I watched Sin City. So what did I think? It was good.")

I’m 9 days late, but on April 3rd I watched Sin City. So what did I think? It was good. In the words of one of my female co-workers who also saw the film, it was a 2-hour "wet dream" for guys, hahaha. And that’s not far from the truth... On one hand, you have extremely-gory violence—with Nick Stahl’s character (the Yellow Bastard) getting an arm and ear blown off and his crotch shot in the beginning of the film (by Bruce Willis), and him getting his tallywacker literally ripped off and his head pummeled into mushy goo by someone’s fist (again, Bruce Willis) at the end—and on the other, gratuitious nudity. And not only do you have the Kill Bill/Monty Python and the Holy Grail-like violence (there are moments when Marv, played by Mickey Rourke, is slashed by someone’s clawed fingers, gets shot numerous times, and even gets run down repeatedly by a car, and yet all he does in response is put some bandages on or gets sent to an emergency room, only to leave the emergency room and continue his quest for revenge. Borrowing a line from Monty Python...it’s "just a flesh wound"), but you have hot chicks like Jaime King and that one actress from Spy Kids (Carla Gugino) walking around topless as if that was as common as wearing pajamas when you sleep. Oh—and to add more to Sin City’s family-friendly atmosphere, you have a cannibal (played by Frodo, err Elijah Wood) who proudly hangs the heads of his previous meals (a bunch of prostitutes) along a wall. And this cannibal meets his nice little fate by getting eaten alive by a dog. Ahh, poetic justice. And the nicest girl in the film (Jessica "I look good in brown or blonde hair with blue polk-a-dots sprinkled on" Alba) is a stripper. Go figure.

Aside from the awesome violence and girls walking around topless and in a thong, Sin City also has some nice cinematography. I heard Director Robert Rodriguez did his own DP (director of photography) work... All he needed to do was make a small cameo in Sin City and he’d be a triple threat. But he didn’t, so oh well. Anyways, that’s all. I feel like watching Spy Kids now.

Kingdom of Heaven. I watched the new Ridley Scott film at a press screening in Pasadena yesterday... It was good, and you can obviously say that it's an unofficial sequel to Gladiator, haha. But I still like Gladiator over this one, since that film was more original (to me, at least. I still haven't seen Braveheart), and Hans Zimmer's music on the 2000 Oscar winner was definitely a lot more memorable (no offense to the dude who did KoH's score). Also, Kingdom of Heaven would've seemed a lot better had it not been the umpteenth sword-and-sandal epic to come out over the past 5 years...behind Gladiator, Lord of the Rings (specifically The Two Towers and Return of the King), Arthur or King Arthur or whatever and Troy. But still, the film was a'ight.

DON'T get me started on Orlando Bloom and him being the Typecast King, though. Why is he the Typecast King, you ask? Well let's put it this way: He wields a sword in almost every film he's been in over the past half-decade or so (with the exception of 2001's Black Hawk Down), and he played a blacksmith in both 2003's Pirates of the Carribbean and Kingdom of Heaven. 'Nuff said.