Marthian80

This movie is about an old Chinese man, named Quan Ngoc Minh (Jackie Chan), with a troubled past who is emotionally shattered after losing his daughter to terrorist bombings in London. Meanwhile, Irish Deputy Minister Liam Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan) founds out that the bombing was claimed by a group who calls themselves the Authentic IRA. Liam immediately goes to angrily confronts his subordinates over the bombing, demanding who was responsible for killing civilians. Quan, desperate to seek revenge, sees Liam on an interview on TV and decides to confront him. He goes to Belfast and manages to get a talk with Liam, demanding the names of the bombers. Liam says he doesn't know who they are and Quan is kicked out but not after he leaves a small bomb in the place... After this attack, Quan starts threatening Liam more and more to give him the names of the bombers. But Quan is not Liam's only problem because his hands are getting dirty with the recent bombings and his IRA past...

The best this movie has to offer are the two main stars. Jackie Chan is excellent as an older man with a troubled past. And he still can kick some butt to, even in his 60's! His switch from silent old man to guerrilla fighter was a bit sudden but well done. Pierce Brosman is also great as an ex-IRA member who's slowly drowning in the political problems and the new IRA that start to get out of control. The action scenes are few but when the action get's going it is great. There is also a lot of political thriller elements that are also well done, but now we also get in the problems I have with the movie.

My main issue is that it struggles with what it wants to be. On the one hand you have Jackie Chan's character seeking revenge and turning into a 'Rambo' character, including setting traps and fighting in the woods. And on the other hand you have Pierce Brosman's character up to his neck in a political swamp with lot's of backstabbing and shady business going on. The two stories and scenes (action vs. tense political drama) are so different that it feels like two different movies that clash with each other constantly. Add to that the weak supporting cast and the not so interesting story of Chan (we all have seen 'father-takes-revenge' stories, right?) and you have a movie that is a bit 'meh' at times. The constant switch from cool Jackie Chan action to intense political drama is a bit abrupt for me, making it difficult to follow at times.

It's not a bad movie and I recommend it if you like political thrillers, but don't go in expecting to see a 'standard' Jackie Chan beat 'm up flick.

Finally came around to watching the most popular movie about mr. Zuckerberg and the founding of his little website..

The film opens with Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) at Harvard University in 2003. Mark was just dumped by his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara) for being a jerk. His reaction to this is to post insulting things about her on his blog while simultaneously hacking the University database to illegally download pictures of all the female members and drinking lots of beers. With the help of his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) he uses the downloaded pictures to create the website "Facemash" (which ranks two girls and the user picks the hottest), which is so popular that in a short time it crashes the whole University computer network. The University is not pleased but Mark's website did draw the attention of three Harvard upper-class members, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and their business partner Divya Narendra, who have an idea for a social network featuring exclusive Harvard members and aimed at dating. They ask if Mark likes to join their project as a programmer. Mark agrees to work on their project but then starts to create his own online social network called 'thefacebook', funded with the help of Eduardo and leaves the Narendra and the Winklevoss brothers in the dark of what he is really doing. When he launches thefacebook website it immediately becomes a success, which infuriates the Winklevoss brothers who blame him for stealing their idea. Things get more and more tense when thefacebook grows and Mark draws the attention of playboy and Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), who would like to work with him and make it a billion dollar project..

Overall this is a good movie; I really liked the chemistry between the main characters (Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield, who stole the movie for me) and it's story kept me watching even though you already know what happens (I guess everybody knows what Facebook is during this day and age). The supporting cast did a fine job as well and I was surprised by the performance of Justin Timberlake (or was he just acting as himself..? ). The message of the movie is clear (the young techs are coming!) and it leaves it to the viewer to make up your mind about Zuckerberg true intentions.

What bugged me the most in this movie is that they portrayed Zuckerberg as a lonely nerd and that he was still lovesick about some girl he dated years ago. The real Zuckerberg was in a relationship during the time this movie takes place and he married his girlfriend in 2012, which is a huge difference with the Zuckerberg we see in the movie. It's also interesting that they tell the story in a flashback style with the courtroom being the present time but it's sometime a little bit difficult to follow what event happened first. But despite this it's a fine movie with good acting, some comedy moments and an interesting story about how one of the biggest websites ever was founded.

Check out this film if you like dramas with some comedy elements and are interested in Zuckerbergs story and the rise of Facebook. But don't expect it to be 100% accurate. (as is usual in biography's)

I went in this movie thinking it would be a 'feel good' movie about a young drummer getting to make a career. This movie does tell that story, but there is not much to feel good about after the credits roll..

The movie is about Andrew Neimann (Miles Teller), a promising student on the drums at Shaffer Conservatory of Music, who wants to be as good as legendary drummer Buddy Rich. Andrew is currently drumming in one of the school bands but he wants to get a place in the schools studio band that is conducted by the most respected professor of the school: Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). One day Fletcher suddenly storms in the room where Andrew is practicing with the band and after listening to (and insulting) each student briefly, he invites Andrew to come to his class. Andrew starts as an assistant drummer and quickly learns that Fletcher transforms into a drill sergeant from hell when conducting and the whole band is trembling in fear when he accuses one of the players being out of tune. However, when the band takes a break Fletcher does strike up a friendly conversation with Andrew talking about his family and gives him a chance to be core drummer. Andrew is made temporary core drummer after the break but when he struggles to keep up the tempo of the song "Whiplash", Flitcher hurls a chair at him, slaps him in the face and throws the details of his personal life back in his face as insults. Despite this abuse, Andrew still wants to be the best drummer of all time but will the ridiculous high standards and physical abuse of Fletcher be to much for him to handle?

This movie was exceptional since it tells a story we all have seen before (promising student climbing to the top) but without the typical feel good element usually found in these movies. Fletcher is an absolutely dis-likable figure who believes his harsh way of teaching is justified because it's the only way to find the next great jazz musician. That he destroys many good students careers (or even lives) in the process does not concern him at all, he cares only about meeting his ridiculous high standards. I felt sorry for Andrew in the beginning, he tries really hard, but Fletcher keeps pushing him further and further that I was hoping he would simply find another teacher. But he keeps destroying his own life, sacrificing everything to meet Fletchers demands and turn into a huge jerk who is so full of himself that he alienates everybody around him, including his other band members and his family.

The greatest thing about this movie is the exceptional great acting from J.K. Simons and Miles Teller. Simons plays an angry Fletcher so well that i felt uneasy myself when he is getting mad at Andrew because he plays 'out of tempo'. Teller also plays a great role, starting as a likable student and turning into a jerk with delusions of grandeur. And while I don't listen to Jazz, the music used in the music was really great. The only 'problem' of the movie was that after the first act, there were no likable characters! This made it both interesting and hard to watch, and kept me hoping for a happy end... It's hard to talk about the ending without spoiling but I will say that it can be viewed both as happy and not so happy. (if that does make any sense..)

Definitely a must see if you like movies with strong character performances and stories about people developing from student to "greatness".