Tag: redemption

Movie Review: Shaolin (2011) ~ 4 Stars

shaolin-posterartShaolin

Released: 2011

Watched: late September 2016 via Netflix streaming

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Directed by: Benny Chan

Starring: Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse with an appearance by Jackie Chan

Short Synopsis (via IMDb.com):  After ambushing and killing his rival, losing everything in the process, dispirited warlord Hou Jie turns to a Shaolin monastery seeking salvation.

My Thoughts

My husband caught part of this movie on our Dish Network DVR, but was unable to find another airing of it to re-record the whole movie.  Neither was it available On Demond from Dish Network.  I did find it, however, available via Netflix streaming.  We streamed it on a lazy Sunday evening.  We’d spent much of the day being lazy thanks to a gentle fall rain which ended in a spectacular sunset:

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I didn’t realize until after finishing the movie that this was a remake of Jet Li’s classic Shaolin Temple (1982), which I have not seen (or don’t remember watching) but will remedy that lack in the near future.

While I enjoyed the story and the martial arts in Shaolin, what struck me most was the performance by Andy Lau.  I’ve now added at least four more of his recent and highest rated films to my Netflix queue.  Many of the supporting actors turned in good performances as well.

Many of the themes resonate with my Christian upbringing and lead me to further research and reading into Buddhism.  I need to foster tolerance and understanding, embrace our similarities and understand our differences.  Knowledge is power and tempered with love and compassion, can make the world a better place.

Movie Review: The Railway Man (2013) 3.5 Stars

The Railway Man (2013)

Watched via Netflix BluRay February 2015

3.5 out of 5 stars

Plot Synopsis (via Wikipedia):

During World War II, Eric Lomax (Firth) is a British officer who is captured by the Japanese in Singapore and sent to a Japanese POW camp where he is forced to work on the Thai-Burma Railway north of the Malay Peninsula. During his time in the camp as one of the Far East Prisoners of War, Lomax is tortured by the Kempetai for building a radio receiver from spare parts. This is apparently due to his falling under suspicion of being a spy for supposedly using the British news broadcast receiver as a transmitter of military intelligence. His only intention, in fact, had been to use the device as a morale booster for himself and his fellow prisoner-slaves. The torture depicted includes beatings and waterboarding.

Years later and still suffering the psychological trauma of his wartime experiences, with the help of his wife Patti (Kidman) and best friend Finlay (Skarsgård), Lomax (Firth) decides to find and confront one of his captors who had escaped prosecution as a war criminal. He returns to the scene of his torture after he has tracked down Japanese officer Takashi Nagase (Sanada) “in an attempt to let go of a lifetime of bitterness and hate”.

My Thoughts:

I believe I put this movie in my Netflix queue upon finishing the book Judy back in late November.  The book told a more horrific story of the British POWs held by Japan after the fall of Singapore, but Continue reading “Movie Review: The Railway Man (2013) 3.5 Stars”