Reviews

Anne Lister is a landowner, an entrepreneur and a traveler in 18th and 19th century Yorkshire. Her secret is learnt by others from her four million coded word diary hundreds of years later. The film unveils the mystery, tells her lesbian life and her courage in love and secularism.

Anne has an angular face with firm eyes. Dressing in black clothes and hat reflects her masculine character. The whole story narrates the ups and downs of Anne's blazing love life. Her true love is pretty Mariana and their relationship lasts several years. Their kisses, touching and sex make you blush. She wants to be a real couple with Mariana, and live with her for her whole life and take care of her as her husband. But Mariana trifles with Anne's affections. Mariana is closeted and does not want to reveal their relationship to the public. In the end, she marries to an old man. Anne is miserable and heartbroken after she realizes Mariana does not want to be a real couple and live with her.

Lovelorn failure does not stop Anne. She has lots of accomplishments in her career, better than many men. She never stops her persistent pursuit for love. Finally, she finds the one who suits her, and they live together. Anne Lister's distinct personality impresses me. The strong lady never shrinks back. She deserves respect and admiration.

This movie is based on my favorite novel of the same name. It's a special and thought-provoking story, about redemption and humanity. You are presented with a vivid and mysterious view of Afghanistan.

Amir and Hassan have grown up together in Kabul in Afghanistan. Amir is the young master of the house, the only child in the rich family. His mother dies in his delivery. Amir is smart, quiet and sensitive. He likes writing, and expresses his emotion in words. His father's recognition and love is important for him. Hassan is the son of the servant. He is loyal and brave. Amir's father loves him even more than Amir.

Amir wants to be the winning kite runner to gain his father's love and accomplishment. Hassan helps him, but he runs into an evil boy on his way home. Amir witnesses Hassan being raped, but he does nothing. Amir avoids meeting Hassan anymore after that day. He does not know how to face Hassan. Because of this, he even lies to his father that Hassan steals his birthday gift. Even if Hassan knows everything, he is still loyal to Amir. He admits the theft. As Amir wishes, Hassan and his father move out.

Amir and his father escape to the US due to the war with Russia. Amir graduates from university in the US, becomes a writer and gets married. Amir's life looks like getting smoother in America, away from the flames of war in Afghanistan. However, Hassan and his childhood never disappear from Amir's memory. The memory becomes even clearer with time. This tortures Amir. It is Amir's secret deep in his heart. His guilt tortures him all the time.

Because of a call, Amir is back to Afghanistan. He finally knows his father's secret. Hassan is his brother. He finally understands all the things his father did were for redemption. Amir deeply regrets what he did to Hassan. Unfortunately, he has no chance to make up for it, because Hassan dies. Amir overcomes difficulties and even risks his life to rescue Hassan's son, Herabo. Herabo, the pitiful boy, is raped by the Taliban. He is autistic because of the hurt in his body and heart. Finally, Amir adopts Herabo and takes him back to the US.

The movie draws in the viewer's heart. It is about friendship, family, betrayal and redemption. It also expresses the complaints of the wars and Afghanistan ethnic and religious issues. The author of the novel was awarded the first United Nations Humanitarian Award because of this book. I really feel it is a pity that the only Oscar this movie was nominated for was Best Original Soundtrack. It is the number one story in my heart.

This might be the most famous gay movie. Jack and Ennis's faces and their touching story are known by thousands of people around the world.

In 1963, one bright summer in Western Wyoming, two young cowboys named Jack Twist and Ennis Delmar work together to herd cattle on a mountain. Jack is more talkative, and good at riding horses. Ennis lost his parents at an early age and is shy. One day, on a very cold night, they drink too much and Jack and Ennis sleep together under the effect of alcohol and hormones. The two 19 year old young men fall in love with each other. They have the best time of their lives that summer.

Under the pressure of society, Jack and Ennis go back to their normal lives. They have their own families and live in different places. They meet each other again 4 years later. Time does not dilute their love. They miss each other so much. In the following more than 10 years, they date regularly. Unfortunately, Jack passes away in an accident.

After Jack's death, Ernest goes to Jack's parents' farm. He wants to take Jack's ashes back to Brokeback Mountain where they met each other. In Jack's room, he finds "a secret": their shirts which they wore before are neatly set in the same clothes rack. It makes Ennis suddenly cry. He realizes how much Jack loved him, and also how deeply he loves Jack. The witness of their love is Brokeback Mountain.

I believe if an afterlife exists, they will reunite again with their deep love.

Kate Blanchett successfully acts a contradictory woman, the hero, Jasmine. Jasmine is an enviable, pitiful and unsavory woman. Actually Jasmine is a microcosm of mammonist and ghoulish society. Jasmine is beautiful, elegant and attractive. She and her husband have an extremely luxurious life in Manhattan. They move among the upper classes. Their pompous life ends with her husband's affair. Jasmine is badly crushed and angered by the betrayal. She loses her mind and exposes her husband's business fraud to the FBI. The man commits suicide in prison and all their property is confiscated by the government. Jasmine loses everything in one night because of her call. Her wealth, husband, stepson and everything she owns are gone in the blink of an eye. Enviable Jasmine now does not have any penny and no life skills. Perhaps she only has a beautiful face left. Her superficiality and dishonesty let her lose her sister and boyfriend's love. She destroys the possibility of finding happiness by herself. Till the end, Jasmine still lives in her previous life and memory. She cannot face the fact, and lives in that past luxurious life in her mind all the time. It's pathetic.

The film is based on Ron Woodruff's real life. It is a story of an AIDS patients' battle with the disease and life.

1986, Dallas: Ron is diagnosed with advanced AIDS, and he is told he has only 30 days to live. Unfortunately there are no approved drugs in the US at that time. Ron starts to do research on medication out of a strong willingness to survive. He visits doctors in other countries and buy lots of AIDS drugs and alternative therapies. He does this business and takes the drugs back to the US. In the beginning, he just sells some drugs for money. But later on, more and more AIDS patients reach out to him. Rayon is one of them. With Rayon's help, Ron establishes an organization called "Dallas Buyers Club". They provide drugs to their members - AIDS patients. The club gets bigger and bigger and attracts many AIDS patients around the world. In the story, Ron is fighting against the FDA. He is brave and is struggling with that. Ron passes away in 1992. He lives 7 years after he was diagnosed AIDS with only 30 days to live.

I think this movie definitely deserved an Oscar award. The story is so special, interesting, thought-provoking and touching.

The hero and the supporting actors are very impressive. I believe they lost a lot of weight to play AIDS patients, and almost totally changed their real appearances. I really like Rayon. Jared Leto's acting is vivid. The friendship of Ron and Rayon is so touching in the end. Ron's roar and horrible sadness with Rayon's passing away reflects AIDS patients' hopelessness and helplessness.

I am happy to see the progress of medicine and society in my life. AIDS can be treated and the discrimination has been corrected. However, we still have a long way to go. I think Ron Woodruff would be pleased if he saw the progress nowadays.

Can you image the love between a 40 year old woman and a 15 year old boy? It's a bit kinky, isn't it? But it happens in this story. It is Hanna and Michael's special love story in Germany in the 1950s.

How can you describe the chemistry between Hanna and Michael? Hanna seduces Michael. She shows him her naked body and teaches Michael about sex. An interesting aspect of the plot is that Hanna always asks Michael to read books to her. Most scenes in the first half of the movie show Hanna and Michael lying in bed naked while Michael is reading.

It is dramatic that they meet each other again several years later in court. Hanna is the defendant in the trial. She is accused of being a prison guard in Nazi Germany. Michael is a legal intern in the audience. Hanna confesses all the crimes she is accused of and even crimes she did not commit just because she does not want others to know she is illiterate. This is a shame for her! Finally Hanna is sentenced to life imprisonment. Actually Michael could help Hanna to clarify the facts, but he does not. He chooses to keep silent. Maybe Michael feels guilty of his silence. He sends tapes of his voice reading books to Hanna. This gives Hanna the hope and courage to live. She learns how to read and write! She starts to write letters to Michael, but never gets a reply.

Finally they see each other after several years. Hanna is released from prison, but she is already an old lady with grey hair. Her lonely heart needs Michael's love. But this last hope failed. Hanna ends her life in despair.

This is a film full of profound, original and challenging insights. I think the movie reflects the abnormal society in Germany after the Second World War. Perhaps the "weird" love and psychology could only happen in an unhealthy society. Kate Winslet portrays a lamentable and impressive Hanna.

The American Civil War and slavery are always popular topics for movies and novels. I like this theme and this film is the most interesting one I have seen so far. I really feel it is much better than 12 Years a Slave which was awarded an Oscar in 2014.

The plot is a bit bloody and violent. I think it uses dramatic license and doesn't reflect the real world for slaves. However, it is an attractive film that always makes you want to know what will happen next.

The main character is Django, the slave. Another important and interesting character is Dr. King. Dr. King gives Django freedom and wants him to be a bounty hunter. Django's only condition to do this is to rescue his wife who is a slave as well. Django and Dr. King arrest and kill several people and get lots of money for that. Django overcomes difficulties and dangers, and finally he rescues his wife. Dr. King dies while helping him.

Another impressive character is Steven, the slave-owner's black butler. He is cunning and treacherous. He even helps whites to punish the slaves. The acting is very vivid, and leads to me wanting to slap him when I saw his face in the movie.

I think the selling point of this movie is the vivid plot that shows how the slaves suffer physical and psychological torture. How cruel the society is for them. You will definitely be shocked, angered and even afraid when you watch the bloody scenes in this movie.

Rosamund Pike gave an amazing performance. It's a pity that she did not get the Academy Award. The amazing and unbelievable Amy is so impressive in the film.

The plot is suspenseful and intriguing. Actually it's a story about marriage, and shows the darkest side of a marriage. According to an old Chinese saying, marriage is like a besieged city. The people outside want to go inside, and the people inside want to escape. You never know the truth of marriage unless you experience it yourself.

Amy is perfect in other's eyes and is charming with admirable parents and a beloved husband. However, all the happiness changes on the morning of their 5th wedding anniversary. Amy disappears from their home. Their home, the site of her disappearance, shows evidence of a fight. Has Amy been kidnapped or was it a robbery? It becomes a mystery, with Amy being missing for several days. This event even becomes news in the town after her husband posts the news through social media.

During the police's investigation, it seems Amy's diary is releasing the truth behind her disappearance. In her diary, police find out she has suffered in her marriage with Nick's violence and disloyalty. All Nick's bad behavior is verified by the police. Moreover, Amy financially supported Nick to open a bar. All the evidence shows this is a murder! The husband killed the wife, because he had an affair and wanted to gain sole ownership of their property. However, Nick denies any involvement. Is the truth that their marriage is a tomb of love? It would not be an attractive film if the story ended there. It becomes more complicated with Amy's ex appearing and Amy's return in the end. Did Amy just want to escape from the marriage for a while? What happened between her and her ex? The film reveals the secret step by step. You will feel a chill down your spine. People in love should be honest and trustful of each other and help each other to be a better person. It seems this principle should be applied to marriage. However, the director wants to show another side of marriage to the audience. Like Amy, who has dual personalities, we have to think about another angle of marriage. Life is not always sweet.

This film is the most unique, special and imaginative story I've seen so far. It is a story about perfume, and the legendary life of Jean-Baptiste, an olfactory genius.

Jean-Baptiste is born in a smelly fish market. He grows up in an orphanage till he is 8 years old and is sold to a tanner to work. It's a dog's life, but Jean-Baptiste survives. He is born with a special skill: he can recognize everything from its smell and he enjoys smelling. I think his nose is even more sensitive than a police dog's.

Jean-Baptiste becomes a perfume maker thanks to his specialty. The world is made up of thousands of smells for him. He wants to keep the smells forever, especially the aromas of beautiful girls. He hikes to the south of France and learns how to make perfume for several years. He obsesses over smell. He is a freak. Finally he makes the greatest perfume in the world with 13 girls' bodies and lives.

Like the scene in the beginning of the movie, Jean-Baptiste should be put to death. However, the ending of the story is very dramatic! He opens his perfume in the execution ground, and suddenly everyone in attendance admires the smell and Jean-Baptiste. I feel this is a kind of irony of human nature and society.

Jean-Baptiste's perfume conquers the world, but it cannot free him. The ending shows him and his perfume being devoured in the place where he was born.

I think death is the best solution to get real freedom for Jean-Baptiste. Only perfume and smelling are in his world, no love and no beloved. Jean-Baptiste is a tragic character. It looks like an exaggerated story. In fact, it is an interpretation of love and hate.

Perhaps you can guess from the name of the film that it tells the story of a scandal and hidden secrets. The highlight of the movie is the impressive acting skills of the two heroes, Kate Blanchett (Sheba) and Judith Olivia (Barbara). This film was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe in 2006.

Barbara and Sheba are colleagues in a public high school. Sheba is a new art teacher, who is elegant and attractive for the students. Barbara is the opposite. She is serious and very tough. The students are very afraid of her. You can smell from the plot that Sheba is Barbara's prey. They become closer after Sheba's scandal is revealed. Actually Barbara exposes Sheba's relationship with her student, a 16 years old boy. She tricks Sheba into trusting her. She wants to own Sheba to fill her lonely life.

Sheba finds Barbara's secret and sick behavior in her diary. She realizes she has been tricked and controlled by Barbara. The story seems to have ended, but Barbara will not stop her seeking. She starts to find her next prey.

Sometimes the complicated world is like a weird story. You never know what is hidden under the peace.

This film is based on a true story from the 1980s. The hero is Bobby Griffith, a 17 year old teenager, and the most favored child in his family. He lives with his parents, three siblings and grandma in Walnut Creek, a beautiful town in California.

The peaceful life of this happy and traditional family is suddenly broken by Bobby's sexuality. Mary Griffith, his strong mother is a devout Christian. She believes being gay is a sin and that gay people will go to hell. Due to her conviction, she tries every effort to change Bobby's sexuality. She does not think about accepting and helping her son. You can imagine Bobby's helplessness and fear. He feels ashamed to be gay, but like nothing can change.

Bobby has a wonderful time with his boyfriend David in another town. David is luckier than Bobby, his parents accept his sexuality. David encourages Bobby to change Mary's mind. But it doesn't work. Bobby faces two choices: go back home as a "normal" man or leave the family. In the end, the family refusal and David's betrayal makes Bobby give up on himself. He jumps from a bridge and dies.

Bobby's death is like the explosion of a bomb in his family. His mother cannot let it go for several months. She finds Bobby's diary, and she feels deep regret and remorse. With this tragedy, Mary finally really understands her son and other gay people. She becomes a famous fighter in the gay rights movement in the US. I understand she also tries to save and help more young lives like her Bobby.

The Bible asks people to be kind and tolerant. Bobby may still be alive if society in the 1980s was more supportive and accepting of gay people. Looking back, gay rights have been become more important and focused in the past 30 years. Many milestones have been established and achieved with the efforts of many Bobbys and Marys. They should be respected by society.

You may have watched several good, impressive gay films before. But you might feel they are overly dramatic and far away from your life. I promise you Bridegroom is the most special and touching gay movie I have seen. Actually, it is a documentary. The real story was found by the director on Youtube in 2012 (It Could Happen To You). Bridegroom, the love story of Shane and Tom is also a precious memory for Shane.

In the film, the hero, Shane Crone pays tribute to his partner Tom who died in an accident in 2011. All "actors and actresses" are themselves including Shane and Tom's family and friends. It's a documentary about Shane and Tom's childhoods, their acquaintance and their life. The film is tearful and heartbreaking because it does not have a happy ending. Tom dies young at only 29 years old.

More heartbreaking is that Tom's family refuses to accept Shane. As Tom's lover, he cannot attend Tom's funeral. Although Shane's family and friends accept and support him, his sadness cannot be described in words. His world crashes with Tom's leaving.

Shane and Tom, like other young people, are cheerful and optimistic. I also feel they are lucky, because they can meet their soul mate and true love in the big world. Shane is brave, and he can tell the world his story and about the tragedy.

The world should be diverse and colorful, like the gay symbol - the rainbow flag. This small film may influence the audience and make a meaningful impact on society.

Julie and Julia are the two heroes of the movie, but they never meet each other. Food - the love of food - connects their lives. In two eras, the two parallel story lines intersect with Julie's cookery book. There are no ups and downs in the film, but the plain story has the magic to be impressive and memorable. It still inspires me to improve myself even after several years. Julia is a government clerk. Her job is to answer hundreds of phone calls every day. Life is stagnant and boring. The only thing that makes her happy is cooking. She has a great idea: to cook famous TV chef Julia Child's 524 French cuisine recipes in 365 days. The task is not as easy as she imagines. Julia experiences difficulties, failures and almost gives up. However, she persists. Like Julie, a middle age American housewife living in Paris, she never gives up her pursuit of her dreams. Julia succeeds; she and her blog become popular. The real success of her one-year assignment is gaining self-awareness and finding out the meaning of life and love.Julie and Julia's story tells us that nothing is too late. You just need to start and persevere. A small change and challenge will make your life quite different. What are you waiting for? Take action and move nearer to your dreams.