Together With You

Together (Together with You)

Chinese, English subtitles

2002, 119 minutes

5 Stars

If you love violin music, this is the movie for you! If you loved King of Masks, this is the movie for you! If you love a good love story (not a romance), with laughs and tears and marvelous music, watch Together. The story is about a poor father from the countryside who has a young boy who is a prodigy on the violin, and how the father takes him to Beijing to enter him in a contest, and get him the very best instructor. The characters they meet, how everyone grows, the lessons of life that are learned combined with sumptuous scenery, wonderful costumes, all come together with a marvelous soundtrack and make for a movie of pure enjoyment with a perfect ending. (Spoiler Alert: keep a tissue or two handy;-)

For trailers, click here.

Kung-Fu Master

Kung-Fu Master

Chinese, English subtitles

2010, 95 minutes

4 stars

Rated R

First off, Rainy Day has NO idea why the R rating, unless it's for violence but kids get more of that in their daily dose of gaming or television. If you are looking for history, or intellectually stimulating dialog, this ain't it, Babe, this ain't it. If, however, you're looking for some fun kung-fu, then pop the disc in and enjoy. I'm sure there was a story line to it that Rainy Day knew (or thought she knew) at one time, but basically it's just one long fight with many antagonists to our one protagonist. Watch it with your kidlets, or grandkidlets, or even the neighbor kidlets, and enjoy the gaffes. 

For the trailer, click here   

For a short piece on the real Shaolin Kung-Fu, with some interesting comments, go here

Immortals are such boors!

Immortals

English, Subtitles for Hearing Impaired

2011, 110 minutes

0 Stars

Rainy Day must confess – she has never been a fan of Greek mythology; however, every so often, she tries to read a book, see a movie, something to possibly ignite the flame of passion so many others have for the old myths. This movie didn't do it. Hard to follow, hard to watch – very dark (both visually and thematically), all those half naked men were, well, boring after the first few minutes. So much gore – impaling, roasting, gutting. Rainy Day thinks the Ancient Greeks should have sent some of their folks to China and learned how to put on an interesting combat scene. Not worth the investment in time or money.

Who Killed Rosie Larsen?

The Killing (Who Killed Rosie Larsen?)

English, Subtitles for Hearing Impaired

2111 TV Series

5 Stars

This is a dark and moody police procedural that takes place in Seattle. (Mostly filmed in Vancouver BC). Based on a TV series from Denmark – Forbrydelsen or "The Crime" –one day per episode, centers on the lead detective, Sarah Linden, who's trying to leave Seattle to get married and start a new life but is unable to walk away from one. Intertwined in the investigation are the stories of the Mayoral candidate, and Rosie's mother, Mitch. As the Vancouver Sun said, "The Killing is a reminder that quality television may be hard to find at times, but it's worth the effort." The end of the series will air this coming Sunday – it will be difficult not to cheat and watch it.

Rainy Day assures you, it does NOT rain in Seattle as shown.

Perhaps a Legend, Perhaps not.

Legend of the Liquid Sword

1993, 90 minutes

Cantonese, English Subtitles

0 Stars

Rainy Day doesn't normally like to give negative ratings, and feels somewhat bad she is doing so now. She thinks the story may have been great fun, with marvelous kung fu fight scenes; however, the subtitles were white, and after 20 minutes or so of trying to read white subtitles against a very light background, she gave up and pulled the DVD from her player. Perhaps your eyes are better, or maybe you understand Cantonese (in which case, Rainy Day is somewhat jealous;-), and you will enjoy the movie. (NOTE: the subtitles show up somewhat better on the computer than the tv.)

Trailer   

Dark Shadows Continue to Haunt

Dark Shadows – Disc 4 of 6 seasons

English

5 Stars

Rainy Day is really enjoying this first season of Dark Shadows. She loves the cheesy sets, when the actors flub their lines, call people by the wrong name, etc. The biggest surprise is the boy, David Collins played by David Henesy. Rainy Day doesn't care much for child actors, and when she finds one who can actually act, and is a delight to watch, she figures she struck gold. She also thinks it is a shame he got out of the business; however, as young David Collins he was a sullen brat, sneaky, and somewhat deadly. He had the most expressive face, and the ability to go from bad to good to bad again in a flash. Something many adult actors spend their lives trying to accomplish. So, Rainy Day is looking forward to Disc 5 and all the others.

Barnabas Collins Lives!

Dark Shadows, Disc 1 of 6 seasons

English

5 Stars

OK, Rainy Day admits it, she is a sucker for the classic TV series, Dark Shadows. When it ran back in 1966 on, she seldom got to see it, and only recently have the discs been available on Netflix, so guess what she is enjoying? The first disc, episodes 1 – 9, takes place before Barnabas Collins arrives at Collinswood! A rather dark and moody soap opera, it broke several traditions, Rainy Day thinks – the first being the introduction of the tormented vampire, Barnabas. The second being the format. Unlike many of the 'traditional' soap operas which spend over have the show telling what happened the day before, Dark Shadows does no such recap. Rainy Day can hardly wait for all of them, before the Johnny Depp movie comes out!

Trailers and excerpts of the original series can be found here.

Good and Evil are Never Far Apart

Winter in Wartime

Dutch, English Subtitles

2008, 103 Minutes

5 Stars

This movie was reviewed earlier, by Carole, a friend of Rainy Day. This is Rainy Day's review. This is a coming of age story, about Michiel, who lives with his family in Nazi occupied Holland. He is an innocent boy of 13, swept into the war during it's last winter of 1945. His friends are part of the resistance, but have kept him out, at least until they are arrested and killed. He finds the British pilot, wounded, and hiding, and with the help of his sister, helps him escape. His father, mayor of the town, is arrested and executed, his uncle steps in to help. The Nazi soldiers are portrayed as what many were—young men following orders, not ideologue's of the Reich. Rainy Day is fairly sure it is historically accurate to the time and place.

Trailer.