Sweet Escape Joys

Showing posts with label MOVIES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MOVIES. Show all posts


Bird Box is a 2018 American post-apocalyptic thriller film directed by Susanne Bier from a screenplay written by Eric Heisserer, based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Josh Malerman. The film follows a woman, played by Sandra Bullock, who, along with a pair of children, dubbed Boy and Girl, must make it through a forest and river blindfolded to avoid supernatural entities which cause people who see them to die by suicide. Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar, Danielle Macdonald, Lil Rel Howery, Tom Hollander, BD Wong, Sarah Paulson, Colson Baker and John Malkovich also star.

A tense mother, Malorie, sternly informs two unnamed children, a girl and a boy, that they will be going on a dangerous journey down a river in a boat. She strictly instructs them to not remove their blindfolds—or else they will die.
Five years earlier, Malorie is pregnant and is visited by her older sister Jess while painting. Before going to a routine pregnancy checkup, they briefly discuss a strange news story regarding mass suicides throughout all of Europe particularly Romania and Russia; however, Malorie dismisses the news story as irrelevant. While they are leaving the doctor's office later, Malorie sees a woman bashing her head into a glass panel, and realizes that the mass suicides from the news are now happening mere feet away from her. As panic and chaos erupt in the city, they attempt to escape in Jess's car. While Malorie is distracted by a ringing cell phone in the back seat, Jess briefly sees something that frightens her. She crashes the car in an apparent attempt to harm herself. Injured and horrified, Malorie is unable to stop her sister. Visibly affected by what she has seen, she steps in front of a large truck, killing herself.
Malorie runs in the chaotic crowd from something no one can see or understand. She is rescued by strangers and joins a band of survivors hiding in a house, although one of her rescuers commits suicide in the chaos. As media communications go off-line, they try to figure out what has happened. One survivor named Charlie surmises that demons are the cause. They all concur that simply seeing the creatures can cause humans to go insane and commit suicide. They cover the windows to shield themselves from the chaos and creatures outside.
As time passes, food supply concerns give rise to the discussion of leaving their safe house. Malorie, Charlie, and a few fellow survivors, Tom, Douglas, and Lucy, decide to go to a nearby supermarket to get supplies. They black out the windows in the car and use the car’s proximity sensors and GPS to navigate their drive to the supermarket. During the drive, they encounter some of the creatures but manage to drive off, arriving at the store. Inside the store, Malorie finds pet birds which she decides to adopt. Douglas gets drunk and suggests that the group stays permanently in the supermarket, but others reject this idea. Hearing someone call for help, they open a loading dock door to let a man into the store. As the door opens, the birds begin to screech and flap their wings, indicating that they can detect the creatures without seeing them. The man in the loading dock attacks the group as he has been controlled by the creatures in order to infect other humans. Charlie sacrifices himself to save the others, who are able to make it back safely to the house. Later, Lucy and Felix steal the car, effectively abandoning everyone at the house without any means of transportation.
Soon thereafter, Olympia, a pregnant survivor, lets a wandering survivor, Gary, into the house against Douglas's protest, and the group locks up Douglas in the garage as punishment. Gary speaks of infected survivors who are insane and are compelled to force unaffected humans to look at the creatures. When both Olympia and Malorie go into labor, Gary reveals himself to be one of the insane people he described. He attacks the survivors in the house and proceeds to remove all the coverings from the windows. Gary murders Douglas and forces Olympia and another survivor to view the creatures, resulting in their immediate suicides. Tom barely manages to kill Gary and save Malorie and the two newborns, leaving all the other dead survivors in the house.
Five years later, Tom and Malorie are living together with the children, whom Malorie calls only Boy and Girl, when they receive a transmission from a survivor stating that they are well and safe at a community downriver. Tom wants to go to the safe community, but Malorie fears it is a trap. Shortly after the transmission, Malorie flees with the two children when a group of infected survivors finds them in the house in which they are hiding in and attempt to kill them. Tom manages to kill all the infected, but while doing so he looks at the creatures which causes him to kill himself.
Malorie decides they have to seek better shelter. Blindfolded, she takes the children, who are also blindfolded, and the pet birds to a rowboat next to a river. Their journey is harrowing and dangerous. After surviving raging rapids, an insane infected man, and even capsizing, they make landfall. The entities tempt the children and Malorie to remove their blindfolds by mimicking the voices of loved ones but are unsuccessful, and the small family eventually reaches the community.
Malorie learns that the compound is an old school for the blind, and most members of the community are blind, making them immune to the entities. She also reunites with Dr. Lapham, the doctor who attended her during her pregnancy checkup a few years prior. She finally gives the children names, Olympia for the girl and Tom for the boy, and releases the birds that have long kept her family from harm. - wikipedia.org


Watch Bird Box click here

MY SAY: This movie creeps me out a bit. Though not seeing what you're being scared of is not a unique plot, the issue of the main character regarding family and relationships makes this movie worth watching too. Got teary and mind-blown at the ending... why i didn't thought of that end, the unaffected! haha, Anyways, good watch but i won't repeat it.
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Step Up: All In (also known as Step Up 5: All In) is a 2014 American 3D dance film directed by Trish Sie and the fifth installment in the Step Up film series. The film was released on August 8, 2014.

All-stars from the previous Step Up installments come together in glittering Las Vegas, battling for a victory that could define their dreams and their careers.- wikipedia.org


Watch Step Up All In click here

MY SAY: This is the fifth movie of Step Up - movies about passion for dancing. I love all the Step  Up movies because I'm a frustrated dancer,wanted much but just didn't blessed with groovy feet! hehe... Anyways, love the moves and the beats.
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In a futuristic dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions: Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), and Erudite (the intelligent). Members join a faction based on their preference but are initially given a suggestion by an aptitude test. Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) has grown up in Abnegation, the faction that runs the government, yet has always been fascinated by Dauntless. Her father, Andrew (Tony Goldwyn), serves on the ruling council along with the head of Abnegation, Marcus Eaton (Ray Stevenson).

Every year, 16-year-olds undergo a serum-based aptitude test that indicates the faction into which they would best fit, and informs their choice at the Choosing Ceremony. Beatrice takes the test with a Dauntless woman named Tori (Maggie Q) as her proctor. Her test shows attributes of three factions (Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless), meaning she is Divergent. Tori records her result as Abnegation and warns her to keep the true result a secret, telling her that since Divergents can think independently and the government therefore cannot control them, they are considered threats to the existing social order.

The next day at the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice's brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) chooses Erudite, while with hesitation, Beatrice chooses Dauntless. After the ceremony, Beatrice meets Christina (Zoë Kravitz) and Al (Christian Madsen), two Candors who chose Dauntless, and Will (Ben Lloyd-Hughes), an Erudite who also chose Dauntless. The Dauntless initiates are given tests such as jumping from a moving train and taking a leap of faith from a tall building into a large dark hole. During these tests, the initiates meet Eric (Jai Courtney), a brutal leader of Dauntless, and Four (Theo James), the transfer initiates' instructor. Beatrice volunteers first to jump off the building and leap into the hole, which has her branded as First Jumper. After the jump, when Four asks her name, Beatrice decides to shorten it to "Tris." 

Tris initially struggles in Dauntless training, ranking 32nd out of 33 after the first evaluation, but slowly improves. After being forced to fight her enemy Peter (Miles Teller) and being hospitalized, Tris almost fails out of Dauntless, but redeems herself by playing a key role in winning a capture-the-flag game. 

After the physical stage of Dauntless training, the initiates are put into simulations in order to face their fears. Tris' divergence allows her to excel at these tests, but Four, who strikes up a relationship with Tris, warns her to conceal the reasons behind her success and to solve the challenges the way a true Dauntless would. 

Tris visits her brother, Caleb, in Erudite, who tells her that Erudite is planning to overthrow Abnegation and become the ruling faction. On her return to Dauntless headquarters, Tris is attacked due to her success in training, with Peter, Al, and Drew attempting to throw her into a chasm. She is eventually rescued by Four. The next day, Al pleads with Tris for her forgiveness but she refuses and calls him a coward. Later, she is shocked to learn Al has killed himself by jumping into the chasm.

In preparation for her final test, Four takes Tris into his own fear simulations, where she finds out that one of his fears is taking orders he doesn't want to do. She also finds out that his real name is Tobias, and he is the son of Abnegation leader and head of government, Marcus Eaton. After the simulation, Four and Tris realize their feelings for each other and make out. When the day of the test comes, Tris passes without revealing she is Divergent. During the post-test celebration, the Dauntless are injected with a serum which is said to be administered as a tracking device, but which is revealed to be a mind control serum.

Controlling the heavily armed members of Dauntless through the serum, Erudite manipulates them into attacking Abnegation. Divergents are unaffected, so Tris and Four have to blend in and act as though they are affected by the serum. During a raid at Abnegation, Eric spots that Four is not under mind-control, and Four and Tris are caught and separated. Tris' mother Natalie (Ashley Judd) appears and rescues Tris, but dies while doing so. During the escape, Tris is forced to kill Will when, under the effects of the serum, he attacks her. To stop Erudite's plan, Tris, her father, brother, and Marcus sneak into the Dauntless headquarters. Seeing that Peter is not under the serum, Tris orders him to take them to Erudite's operations room. Her father sacrifices himself in a shootout. Tris goes in alone and finds Four, who is now under a more advanced form of mind-control that works even on Divergents. After a fight she manages to wake him from his stupor, knowing he cannot shoot her while looking at her face, for that is one of his fears. Erudite leader Jeanine (Kate Winslet) is about to start the protocols that will make Dauntless kill every Abnegation. Before Jeanine pushes the button, Tris intervenes by throwing a knife that stabs Jeanine's hand. Tris can't make Jeanine abort the program and Tris can't kill her since she knows the code. Instead, she injects Jeanine with the serum and orders her to stop the program. She does and when everyone is released from mind-control, she realizes it and tries to kill Tris. Tris knocks her out and escapes Dauntless with Caleb, Peter, Four, and Marcus on the train, intending to ride to the end of the tracks.- wikipedia.org


Watch Divergent click here

MY SAY: This is the first of the Divergent series authored by Veronica Roth. I think it's one of these so-called 'underrated' movies. The plot is really good even the actors I love them most especially Theo James who portrayed Four (he's so damn HOT!). Maybe it's just the timing of the movie which coincides with another great movie from novel- The Hunger Games. A must-watch series!
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The Wind Rises (風立ちぬ Kaze Tachinu) is a 2013 Japanese animated historical drama film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli. It was released by Toho on July 20, 2013 in Japan, and by Touchstone Pictures in North America on February 21, 2014 and the UK on May 9, 2014. The Wind Rises is a fictionalized biography of Jiro Horikoshi (1903–1982), designer of the Mitsubishi A5M and its successor, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero; both aircraft were used by the Empire of Japan during World War II. The film is adapted from Miyazaki's manga of the same name, which was in turn loosely based on the 1937 short story The Wind Has Risen by Tatsuo Hori. It was the final film directed by Miyazaki before his retirement in September 2013..

In Japan 1918, Jiro Horikoshi, a young boy living in a provincial town, dreams of being a fighter pilot, but his poor eyesight forbids it. After he reads an aviation magazine, Jiro dreams he meets the famous Italian aircraft designer Giovanni Battista Caproni, who tells him that building planes is better than flying them. 

Five years later, Jiro is traveling to Tokyo by train to study engineering. He meets a young girl named Nahoko traveling with her maid; when the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 hits, Nahoko's maid breaks her leg, and Jiro carries her to Nahoko's family. He leaves without giving his name. 

Jiro graduates in 1927 and begins work at aircraft manufacturer Mitsubishi, assigned to a fighter design team. He is sent to Germany to carry out technical research and obtain a production license for a Junkers aircraft. He argues with German soldiers and witnesses a night raid by the Gestapo. He dreams again of Caproni, who tells him that the world is better for the beauty of planes, even if humankind might put them to ugly purposes.

In 1932, Jiro is promoted to chief designer for a fighter plane competition sponsored by the Navy, which ends in failure. Disappointed, Jiro visits a summer resort where he meets Nahoko again. They become engaged, but Nahoko has tuberculosis, and refuses to marry until she recovers. A German visitor privately critical of the Nazi regime, Hans Castorp, assists the romance before fleeing arrest by Japanese authorities. 

Nahoko suffers a lung hemorrhage, worrying Jiro. Wanted in connection with Castorp, Jiro hides at his supervisor's home while he works on a new navy project. Nahoko recuperates in an alpine sanatorium, but cannot bear being apart from Jiro, and returns to marry him; Jiro's hosts hold a traditional wedding. Jiro's sister, a doctor, warns Jiro that his marriage to Nahoko will end badly, as tuberculosis is incurable. Though Nahoko's health deteriorates, she and Jiro enjoy their time together. 

Jiro leaves for the test flight of his new prototype, the Mitsubishi A5M aircraft. Sensing that she will soon die, Nahoko secretly returns to the sanatorium and leaves letters for her husband, family, and friends. At the test site, Jiro is distracted from his success by a gust of wind, sensing Nahoko's death. During Japan's involvement in World War II, Jiro visits Caproni in another dream and tells him he regrets that his aircraft were used for war. Caproni comforts him, saying Jiro's dream of building beautiful aircraft was nonetheless realized. A group of Zeros fly past and their pilots salute Jiro. Nahoko appears, exhorting her husband to live his life to the fullest..- wikipedia.org


Watch The Wind Rises click here

MY SAY: Hayao Miyazaki is one of world-renowned animation director, screenwriter, manga artist, and producer. Most of his works are known not only in Japan but throughout the globe. He is known for his masterpiece like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro (how cute indeed!), Princess Mononoke among others. I like every movie he made because of the stories which mostly depicts his patriotism to his native land and beautifully crafted each to share lessons in life.
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5 Centimeters Per Second (秒速5センチメートル Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru?) is a 2007 Japanese animated feature film by Makoto Shinkai. The film was finished on 22 January 2007.[2] The first part of the film was debuted on Yahoo! Japan as streaming video to Yahoo! Premium members from 16 to 19 February 2007.[3] On 3 March 2007, the full length featured film had its theatrical premiere at Cinema Rise in Shibuya, Tokyo.[4] The film consists of three segments: Cherry Blossom (桜花抄 Ōkashō?), Cosmonaut (コスモナウト Kosumonauto?), and 5 Centimeters per Second (秒速5センチメートル Byōsoku 5 Senchimētoru?), totaling about an hour of runtime. As in Shinkai's previous works, Tenmon composes for this film's soundtrack. The DVD was released on 19 July 2007. A novel of 5 Centimeters Per Second has also been released, expanding on the film.[5] On the July issue of Afternoon in 2010, a manga adaptation started serialization, illustrated by Seike Yukiko.

The story is set in Japan beginning from the 1990s and ending in modern day, with each act centered on a boy named Takaki Tōno. The first act takes place during a time when cell phones are uncommon and email has not yet reached the general population. 

Act 1: Cherry Blossom

Takaki Tōno quickly befriends Akari Shinohara when she transfers to his elementary school. They grow closer to each other due to similar interests and attitudes; for instance, they both prefer to stay inside during recess due to their seasonal allergies. As a result, they form a strong bond; they speak to each other using their given names without any form of honorifics, which is a sign of deep friendship and familiarity in Japan. (This fact is lost in the movie's translation to English and other languages, which reduces the implied closeness of their relationship.)[citation needed] Upon graduating from elementary school, Akari moves to Tochigi, due to her parents' jobs. The two keep in contact by writing letters but eventually begin to drift apart. When Takaki learns that his family will be moving to Kagoshima, he decides to personally go see Akari, since they will be too far apart to visit each other at all after moving. He also prepares a letter for Akari containing his feelings. However, Takaki loses the letter during the journey and a severe snowstorm continuously delays his train for several hours. As the two finally meet and share their first kiss, Takaki realizes they will never be together again. Stranded in a shed due to the snowstorm, they fall asleep after talking late into the night. Takaki departs the next morning, and the two promise to continue writing to each other. As the train rolls away, Takaki decides that the loss of his letter is not important anymore after the kiss, while Akari silently looks at her own letter addressed to Takaki. 

Act 2: Cosmonaut

Takaki is now in the third year of senior high in Tanegashima, where the Tanegashima Space Center is located. Kanae Sumida, a classmate of Takaki, had fallen in love with him ever since meeting him in middle school but has never had the courage to confess her feelings. She tries to spend time with him, waiting long after school for the chance to travel home together. However, Takaki appears ignorant to Kanae's feelings and only treats her as a good friend. Kanae observes that Takaki is always writing emails to someone or staring off into the distance as if searching for something far away. It is later shown that Takaki's emails are not being sent to anyone, and that he has had recurring dreams which feature Akari. After a failed attempt to tell Takaki she loves him, Kanae eventually realizes that he is looking for something far beyond what she can offer and decides not to, though she acknowledges that she will always love him. 

Act 3: 5 Centimeters Per Second

It is 2008. Takaki is now a computer programmer in Tokyo, while Akari is preparing to get married to another man. Takaki is still longing for Akari to the detriment of his lifestyle, which is acknowledged by an ex-girlfriend. A depressed Takaki later leaves his job, being unable to cope with his feelings for Akari. Akari goes through her old possessions and finds the letter addressed to Takaki. Takaki and Akari have a dual narration, both recalling a recent dream depicting the events of their last meeting in the snow and hoping to watch the cherry blossoms together again. One day while walking down a road, Takaki and Akari appear to pass and recognize each other at a train crossing, where they had decided to watch cherry blossoms together thirteen years ago, right before Akari's sudden moving to Tochigi. At opposite sides of the tracks, they stop and begin to look back, but the passing trains cut off their view. Takaki waits for the trains to pass and sees that Akari is gone. After a moment, he smiles to himself and continues walking.- wikipedia.org


Watch 5 Centimeters Per Second click here

MY SAY: When it comes to animated movies, this one is my most favorite because of the story and of course, the graphics! So amazing! Also i love the theme song used in this movie by Masayoshi Yamazaki -" One More Time, One More Chance". Have it linked to you here.
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In September 1939, Władysław Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish pianist, has his radio station rocked from German bombing with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland and the subsequent outbreak of World War II. Hoping for a quick victory, Szpilman rejoices with family at home when learning that Britain and France have declared war on Germany, but the German army defeats Poland and captures Warsaw. Living conditions for the Jews deteriorate, as they are allowed a limited amount of money and later must wear armbands with the Star of David. By November 1940, they are forced into horrid and humiliating conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto, where Szpilman's family—including his father and mother —witness how the SS raid an opposite apartment and kill everyone there. Soon the family are rounded up for deportation to Treblinka extermination camp, but Szpilman is saved by a friend in the Jewish Ghetto Police.
Szpilman becomes a slave labourer working on the "Aryan" side, where he survives a random mass execution. Szpilman learns of a coming Jewish revolt and helps by smuggling weapons into the ghetto, narrowly avoiding a suspicious guard. He then manages to escape and goes into hiding with help from non-Jewish friend Andrzej Bogucki and his wife Janina. In April 1943, Szpilman observes the rise and fall of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising from his window near the ghetto wall. A year goes by and Szpilman is forced to flee after a neighbor discovers him. In a second hiding place provided to him, he is shown into a room with a piano but forced to keep quiet, and suffers jaundice.
In August 1944, Polish resistance mounts the Warsaw Uprising, attacking a German building across the street from Szpilman's hideout. A tank shells his apartment and he is forced to flee and hide elsewhere as fighting rages around. Over the course of the next months the city is destroyed and emptied of the population and Szpilman, entirely alone, searches desperately for shelter and supplies among the ruins. Eventually, he is discovered by the Wehrmacht officer Wilm Hosenfeld, who learns that Szpilman is a pianist and asks him to play on the grand piano nearby. The decrepit Szpilman plays Ballade in G minor, which moves Hosenfeld, who then allows Szpilman to hide in the attic of an empty house and regularly brings him food. As the Germans are forced to retreat due to the advance of the Red Army in January 1945, Hosenfeld meets Szpilman for the last time and promises to listen to him on Polish Radio. He gives Szpilman his greatcoat to keep warm and leaves, which is almost fatal for Szpilman when he is shot at by Polish troops liberating Warsaw, who apprehend him and realize he is Polish.
Elsewhere, former inmates of a Nazi concentration camp pass a Soviet prisoner-of-war camp for captured German soldiers and verbally abuse them, with one ranting that he used to be a violinist. Hosenfeld, now a prisoner, asks the violinist, if he knows Szpilman, which the violinist confirms and asks if Szpilman can return the favor. The violinist brings Szpilman to the site, but it is only a grassy field. Later, Szpilman performs Chopin's Grand Polonaise brillante to a large and prestigious audience.
The epilogue states that Szpilman died at the age of 88 in 2000, while Hosenfeld died in Soviet captivity in 1952. - wikipedia.org
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In 1947, banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, based on circumstantial evidence, and is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences at Shawshank State Penitentiary. Andy quickly befriends contraband smuggler Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), an inmate serving a life sentence. Red procures a rock hammer for Andy, allowing him to create small stone chess pieces. Red later gets him a large poster of Rita Hayworth, followed in later years by images of Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch. Andy works in the prison laundry, but is regularly assaulted by the "bull queer" gang "the Sisters" and their leader Bogs (Mark Rolston).
In 1949, Andy overhears the brutal chief guard Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown) complaining about taxes on a forthcoming inheritance, and informs him about a financial loophole. After another vicious assault by the Sisters nearly kills Andy, Bogs is beaten and crippled by Hadley. Bogs is sent to another prison and Andy is not attacked again. Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) meets with Andy and reassigns him to the prison library, to assist elderly inmate Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore); a pretext for Andy to manage financial duties for the prison. His advice and expertise are soon sought by other guards at Shawshank and from nearby prisons. Andy begins writing weekly letters to the state government for funds to improve the decrepit library.
In 1954, Brooks is freed on parole, but unable to adjust to the outside world after 50 years in prison, he hangs himself. Andy receives a library donation that includes a recording of The Marriage of Figaro. He plays an excerpt over the public address system, resulting in his receiving solitary confinement. After his release, Andy explains that he holds onto hope as something that the prison cannot take from him, but Red dismisses the idea. In 1963, Norton begins exploiting prison labor for public works, profiting by undercutting skilled labor costs and receiving kickbacks. He has Andy launder the money using the alias "Randall Stephens".
In 1965, Tommy Williams (Gil Bellows) is incarcerated for robbery. He joins Andy and Red's circle of friends, and Andy helps him to pass his General Educational Development examinations. In 1966, after hearing the details of Andy's case, Tommy reveals that an inmate at another prison claimed responsibility for an identical murder, suggesting Andy's innocence. Andy approaches Norton with this information, but the warden refuses to listen. Norton places Andy in solitary confinement and has Tommy murdered by Hadley under the guise of an escape attempt. Andy refuses to continue with the scam, but Norton threatens to destroy the library and take away his protection and preferential treatment. After Andy is released from solitary confinement, he tells Red of his dream of living in Zihuatanejo, a Mexican Pacific coastal town. While Red shrugs it off as being unrealistic, Andy instructs him, should he ever be freed, to visit a specific hayfield near Buxton to retrieve a package.
The next day at roll call, on finding Andy's cell empty, an irate Norton throws one of Andy's rocks at the poster of Raquel Welch hanging on the wall. The rock tears through the poster, revealing a tunnel that Andy had dug with his rock hammer over the previous two decades. The previous night, Andy escaped through the tunnel and the prison's sewage pipe with Norton's ledger, containing details of the money laundering. While guards search for him the following morning, Andy, posing as Randall Stephens, visits several banks to withdraw the laundered money. Finally, he sends the ledger and evidence of the corruption and murders at Shawshank to a local newspaper. The police arrive at Shawshank and take Hadley into custody, while Norton commits suicide to avoid arrest.
After serving 40 years, Red receives parole. He struggles to adapt to life outside prison and fears he never will. Remembering his promise to Andy, he visits Buxton and finds a cache containing money and a letter, asking him to come to Zihuatanejo. Red violates his parole and travels to Fort Hancock, Texas to cross the border to Mexico, admitting he finally feels hope. On a beach in Zihuatanejo, he finds Andy, and the two friends are happily reunited. - wikipedia.org
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In 1939, the Germans relocate Polish Jews to the Kraków Ghetto as World War II begins. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), an ethnic German businessman from Moravia, arrives in the city hoping to make a fortune as a war profiteer. Schindler, a member of the Nazi Party, lavishes bribes upon Wehrmacht and SS officials. Sponsored by the military, Schindler acquires a factory for the production of army mess kits. Not knowing much about how to run such an enterprise, he gains a collaborator in Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), an official of Krakow's Judenrat (Jewish Council) who has contacts with the Jewish business community and the black marketers inside the Ghetto. The Jewish businessmen lend Schindler money in return for a share of products produced. Opening the factory, Schindler pleases the Nazis and enjoys newfound wealth and status as "Herr Direktor", while Stern handles administration. Schindler hires Jewish Poles instead of Catholic Poles because they cost less. Workers in Schindler's factory are allowed outside the ghetto, and Stern ensures that as many people as possible are deemed "essential" to the German war effort, saving them from being transported to concentration camps or killed.
SS-Lieutenant (Untersturmführer) Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) arrives in Kraków to oversee construction of the Płaszów concentration camp. Once the camp is completed, he orders the liquidation of the ghetto and Operation Reinhard in Kraków begins, with hundreds of troops emptying the cramped rooms and arbitrarily murdering anyone who is uncooperative, elderly or infirm. Schindler watches the massacre and is profoundly affected. He nevertheless is careful to befriend Goeth and, through Stern's attention to bribery, Schindler continues enjoying SS support. Schindler bribes Goeth into allowing him to build a sub-camp for his workers, so that he can keep his factory running smoothly and protect them. As time passes, Schindler tries to save as many lives as he can. As the war shifts, Goeth is ordered to ship the remaining Jews to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Schindler prepares to leave Kraków with his fortune. He finds himself unable to do so, however, and prevails upon Goeth to allow him to keep his workers so he can move them to a factory in his old home of Zwittau-Brinnlitz, away from the Final Solution. Goeth charges a massive bribe for each worker. Schindler and Stern assemble a list of workers to be kept off the trains to Auschwitz.
"Schindler's List" comprises these "skilled" inmates, and for many of those in Płaszów, being included means the difference between life and death. Almost all of the people on Schindler's list arrive safely at the new site. The train carrying the women is accidentally redirected to Auschwitz. Schindler bribes the camp commander, Rudolf Höß, with a cache of diamonds in exchange for releasing the women to Brinnlitz. Once the women arrive, Schindler institutes firm controls on the SS guards assigned to the factory, forbidding them to enter the production areas. He encourages the Jews to observe the Sabbath. To keep his workers alive, he spends much of his fortune bribing Nazi officials and buying shells from other companies; he never produces working shells during the seven months his factory operates. He runs out of money just as the Wehrmacht surrenders, ending the war in Europe.
As a Nazi Party member and a self-described "profiteer of slave labour", in 1945, Schindler must flee the advancing Red Army. Although the SS guards have been ordered to kill the Jews, Schindler persuades them to return to their families as men, not murderers. In the aftermath, he packs a car in the night and bids farewell to his workers. They give him a letter explaining he is not a criminal to them, together with a ring secretly made from a worker's gold dental bridge and engraved with a Talmudic quotation, "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire". Schindler is touched but deeply ashamed as he leaves, feeling he could have done more to save lives, such as selling his car and Golden Party Badge.
The Schindler Jews are awakened by sunlight the next morning. A Soviet dragoon announces that they have been liberated by the Red Army. The Jews walk to a nearby town in search of food.
After a few scenes depicting post-war events such as the execution of Amon Goeth and a summary of what happened to Schindler in his later years, the Jews are shown walking to the nearby town. The black-and-white frame changes to one in color of present-day Schindler Jews at Schindler's grave site in Jerusalem, where he wanted to be interred. A procession of now-elderly Jews who worked in Schindler's factory set stones on his grave—a traditional Jewish custom denoting gratitude to the deceased. The actors portraying the major characters walk with them. Ben Kingsley is accompanied by the widow of Itzhak Stern, who died in 1969. A title card reveals that at the time of the film's release, there were fewer than 4,000 Jews left alive in Poland, but more than 6,000 descendants of the Schindler Jews throughout the world. In the final scene, Liam Neeson places a pair of roses on the grave and stands over it. - wikipedia.org

MY SAY: This is the first movie I've seen tackling the holocaust during the World War II.
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The film revolves around the Bellas, an all-female a capella group from Barden University. Reeling from a humiliating loss at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, the group struggles to find new members the next year. Beca, a Barden freshman, has no desire to go to college, but is forced to attend by her father, a professor at the university. Wishing to instead move to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a DJ, she takes up an internship at the school radio station, where she meets fellow freshman Jesse. When Beca's father finds out that Beca has not been attending classes, he offers to let Beca go to Los Angeles if she joins a club and proves that she wants to be involved. After some persuasion from Aubrey, the group leader, and Chloe, she joins the Bellas, along with a group of other women who do not fit the Bellas' typical mold.
At practice, Aubrey's controlling nature gets on the nerves of the other girls. She is constantly critical and insists that they use the same set list the Bellas have been using for years, which clashes with Beca's contemporary style. Meanwhile, Beca hangs out with Jesse—who has joined the Treble Makers, the Bellas' main rival—despite Aubrey's warning to the group not to get involved with Treble Makers. Beca plays several of her own mixes of contemporary songs for him, and he compliments her for her talent. He then tries to get Beca to watch the ending of The Breakfast Club, his favorite movie, after Beca tells him she does not like movies because they bore her and she never gets to the ending.
Despite their issues, the Bellas attend the regional a capella competition. On the way to the venue, the group stops for gas where Fat Amy is hit by a burrito by Bumper, a member of the Treble Makers in their own bus. After the other girls clean her up, they continue on to the venue but run out of gas since Fat Amy forgot to actually put any in the bus. They're then forced to call the Treble Makers to drive them to the venue. In spite of their bland set list, the group manages to place second at the regional a capella competition.
At the semifinals, Beca notices how bored the audience is with Aubrey's traditional arrangement, so she provides impromptu back-up, mash-up vocals. The Bellas come in third in the competition behind the Treble Makers and another group. Even though the audience was pleased, Aubrey was not and Beca quits the group. The Bellas make it into the Nationals after the other group was disqualified because their lead singer was discovered to be in high school, not college. They get together after Spring Break, but this time, Beca is not included.
During this time, Beca begins working as a DJ at the university radio station, playing her music on the overnight shift, and also steadily distancing herself from Jesse. She finds a copy of The Breakfast Club and watches it. She realizes how much she needs the Bellas in her life. Her father convinces her to rejoin the Bellas, who she finds falling apart. The now complete again Bellas have a heart-to-heart and decide to kick things up a notch with Beca's 21st-century mash-ups. At the National Competition, the Bellas sing a piece arranged by Beca, including "Don't You (Forget About Me)", the theme from The Breakfast Club. The Bellas win the competition and Beca and Jesse reunite with a kiss. -- wikipedia.org

MY SAY: I've always loved musical movies and Pitch Perfect is one underrated movie here in the Philippines. In fact, I've only seen it once in TV ads, and never heard anyone talking about it except me and my chingu, JenJen. But, this one's a very good movie. The acapellas' more edgy, yet the soul of the songs used are still intact. I like the fact that they were singing without instruments just their voices which I think is one great way to know one's singing prowess. I so love their rendition of mash-up song by Bruno Mars 'Just The Way You Are' and Nelly's ' Just A Dream'. Also, I enjoyed the 'Riff-off'. It is the clash of the music groups in Barden University through spontaneous performance of songs under a chosen category, in other words, 'dugtungan ng kanta ito!' but in a hard way, since it must be acapella and group effort. The winner will be the crowd's favorite. hehehe. This Glee-like movie is worth watching for. =)


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When the Heffley family attends a pool party at the local pool to start off the summer, Greg (Zachary Gordon) is found playing Twisted Wizard 2 on his PSP. The family meets a former trouble-making friend of Rodrick who is now a model student after attending a military school known as Spag Union. Greg's father, Frank (Steve Zahn) wants him to do something outdoors by swimming. Manny (Connor & Owen Fielding) calls Greg over to the baby pool. He laughs and says he is peeing. After Greg watches other toddlers urinating in the pool, to his horror, the show begins with Greg speaking to the audience about summer and that he and Frank have nothing in common. But at least if he stays a step ahead, Greg claims that he has a shot at a great summer. 

On the last day of school, Greg attempts to get his crush Holly Hills to put her phone number in his yearbook in addition to signing it. However, she is forced to leave before she can write the last two numbers. Meanwhile, Rodrick, who is advertising his band at Greg's school, falls in love with Holly's sister, Heather Hills.

Sometime later, Greg's best friend, Rowley Jefferson, takes Greg to the local country club, which Greg takes a liking to instantly due to the seemingly free food, the sparsely populated pool, and the fact that Holly teaches tennis there. While at the club, he arranges a tennis match the next day despite the fact that he and Rowley have never played tennis. When Greg returns home, he finds his father has offered to sign him up for an internship at his job, but Greg makes up a hasty lie about having a job at the country club to get out of it and to go to the country club every day. The next day at the tennis match, it becomes painfully obvious that Greg and Rowley have never played tennis, and Holly teaches Greg personally.

At a party at Warren's, Greg's dad decides to get a dog for the family and to sign Greg up in the Wilderness Explorers, (a parody of the Boy Scouts of America) to teach him responsibility after hearing it worked with Warren's sons. At the same party, Rodrick finds out that Greg does not have a job, and blackmails Greg into sneaking him in to the country club to see Heather, though his attempt to talk to her ends horribly. The next day Susan starts the "Reading is Fun" club for the local boys and later that day Frank gets the dog, which his youngest son Manny names "Sweetie" and who proves to be a handful after walking the dog through the town.

Rowley invites Greg on a family trip to their beach house near the Boardwalk. When they visit the amusement park, Greg convinces Rowley to go on the Cranium Shaker despite Rowley's conservative parents telling them to not go on scary rides. Rowley's parents find out, and Rowley feels guilty when they too him that they are disappointed in him. Greg attempts to email his mother asking her to help him leave, but accidentally emails everyone on Rowley's dad's contact list. Panicking, Greg tries to escape by calling his parents, but accidentally contacts the police, which leads to Rowley's father being violently attacked, and an arrangement for Greg's father to take his son home shortly afterward.

Later, when Greg asks Rowley to take him again into the Country Club, Rowley lies and states he's not going there, but Greg sneaks in, pretending to be a member of the Jefferson family. After falling from the high dive naked, he runs into Holly and her sister and manages to get Löded Diper a gig at Heather's 16th birthday party. He meets Rowley, who tells him he had lied to protect Greg's feelings because his parents didn't want to invite Greg. He and Greg make up, however Rowley's father becomes infuriated that Greg has built up a massive smoothie bill and tells Frank, who then finds out Greg does not have a job and is forced to pay himself. Much to Greg's horror, he intercepts a promotional package from Spag Union directed to his father, and Greg fears that he is going to be sent there by bus.

Rodrick says his last chance is the "Wilderness Weekend" where he can attempt to impress his Dad while out on a camping trip. However, their troop proves to be weak compared to Troop 42, led by Warren, who pitch their tents where Greg's troop was about to stay, forcing them to put their tents next to the bathroom. Greg and his friends overhear Stan and his sons mocking Greg's father and plan to set up a trap for revenge involving a nest of ants. However, Warren's expensive tent gets destroyed, and Greg discovers that Troop 42 has not been camping but living off of excessive conveniences. When Greg steps up and takes the blame, Frank is impressed and finds out about Troop 42's conveniences, angrily confronting Warren as a phony. Frank later takes Greg to a hotel and reveals he never liked camping. He tells Greg that he will not send him to Spag Union and that he is proud of him.

At Heather Hills' Sweet 16th birthday party, Löded Diper performs a rock version of Justin Bieber's "Baby" during an attempt to win over Heather. However, they end up ruining the party. Greg apologizes to Holly, however she states she is happy as she felt that her sister deserved it. Then, Holly holds Greg's hand, implying that she likes him. The next day, They all go swimming at the county club pool to end the summer, with Greg calling it the "best summer ever." -- wikipedia.org

MY SAY: If your finding one cute story about friendship and the 'kalokohans' of being bata, you should try the Diary of Wimpy Kid series. This one is actually the third and I've already seen the first two-Diary of Wimpy Kid and Rodrick Rules. The series reminds me of some childhood experiences like joining a club because your crush was also a member, going to new school and trying to gain friends and sorts like that. It's funny and the story can be easily digest by children like me. (walang kokontra! hehehe). Plus, Rowley is soooo cute that I wish I have a brother like him! Dog Days is a feel-good movie for the whole family. =)
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Pi Patel is named "Piscine Molitor" by his parents after a swimming pool in France. He changes his name to "Pi" when he begins secondary school, because he is tired of being taunted with the nickname "Pissing Patel." He is raised a Hindu, but at 14 years old, he is introduced to Christianity and Islam, and starts to follow all three religions. Eventually, his family decides to sell their animals and move to Canada due to political concerns in India. Pi's family embark on a Japanese freighter to Canada carrying some of the animals from their zoo. A few days later, the ship meets a heavy storm and Pi believes to hear an explosion; Pi is accidentally the only one who makes it onto a lifeboat—the freighter together with crew and Pi's family sinks. After the storm, Pi finds himself in a small lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, a spotted hyena, an injured zebra, and a mother orangutan who lost her child in the shipwreck.
As Pi strives to survive among the animals, the hyena is the first to succumb to hunger, and begins to eat the injured zebra alive, eventually killing it. To Pi's distress the hyena also kills the orangutan after it had a fight with the Hyena. After killing the orangutan the Bengal tiger, who is named Richard Parker, kills and eats the hyena. Pi is left as the only other survivor. Pi finds food and water supplies on the boat, and builds a raft for himself to stay at a safe distance to the tiger. As the tiger becomes more and more hungry, Pi begins fishing for fish like dorados and flying fish to ensure the tiger has enough to eat. After many days at sea Pi realizes that he can no longer live on the tiny raft and that he must train Richard Parker if he were to live on the lifeboat.
After an indeterminate time at sea, the pair encounters a mysterious island, seemingly constructed of edible algae supporting a forest and a large population of meerkats. Following a period of recuperation, Pi finds a human tooth inside the fruit of a tree and becomes afraid of the island after discovering that the algae is carnivorous, he doesn't allow himself to leave without Richard Parker. The lifeboat eventually reaches the coast of Mexico and Richard Parker escapes into the nearby jungle without looking back at Pi, which hurts his perception of their friendship.
While telling his story to a reporter, the adult Pi (now father and husband in his 50s) mentions that the Japanese freighter company wanted to hear his eyewitness account about the sinking of the freighter. They do not believe his story, so he tells them a different one in great detail—with humans on the lifeboat instead of animals. This story tells him being adrift on a lifeboat with his mother, a sailor with a broken leg, and the ship's cook, who killed the sailor and Pi's mother and cut them up to use as bait and food. Parallels to Pi's first story lead the reporter to believe that the orangutan represents his mother, the zebra represents the sailor, the hyena represents the cook, and Richard Parker is Pi himself. Upon asking the reporter which story he likes better, the reporter tells him that the one with the animals is the better one, which is the story the freighter company took as the truth. -- wikipedia.org
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