thankyou61 Reviews

Crazy Racer (2009)

Ordinary citizen vs. gangster boss vs. cops vs. professional drug dealer vs. petty thieves.

[9/10 · 5 October 2013]

Each of these groups has something special that allows them to stay in the game. Skills, intelligence, dedication, luck. What happens a lot here is that a character has triggered a major event without even knowing it. It's definitely similar to Arrested Development's style of humor, where different groups of people, each having an agenda of their own, cross each other's paths.

The humor: It's VERY funny. But you have to be a native Chinese speaker. There are different dialects. Taiwan people speak the Mandarin but the accent is different. You can't possibly understand the oral expressions and appreciate the nuances if you haven't spent a significant amount of time living in China.

The characters are mostly male. Everyone is going after something, often using the wrong method. A good metaphor of life, where we try to achieve something but actually are ruining it. It's entirely plot-driven, not character-driven.

The special effects: Really good. They are unnecessary to the plot, which shows that the director is willing to spend lots of money making the movie look great, to try to get people to watch. Indeed, a movie needs to succeed in all departments to be considered a classic, and this one does.

Who shouldn't watch this movie: it's significantly more fast-paced than other Chinese movies. It's much faster and denser than Infernal Affairs 3, for example. It's intended for a quick-thinking audience. Other people won't even be able to follow the plot, and won't enjoy it.

24: Day 6: 8:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. (2007) Season 6, Episode 15

Blood Brothers

[3/10 · 5 October 2013]

Jack learned about Audrey's death in the previous episode and seems to have forgotten about it. What he cares about in this episode, instead, is the fate of two brothers. One of the brothers is working with the terrorists and the other one is helping them without knowing that he's actually helping the terrorists. So naturally, Jack isn't too friendly towards the "bad" brother, but he's very nice to the "good" brother. They remind him of Graem and himself. Bad brother and good brother, and no matter how evil Graem was, he was still his brother, and there has to be some kind of family love left.

Jack sees in this kid what he can't have. A brother who cares about him and looks out for him. So, for a brief hour, he is able to get past the fact that Audrey is dead, and focuses on helping these brothers.

There is also a Wayne Palmer/David Palmer parallel going on. Sandra mentioned how David Palmer had the patience of a saint. That's a nice touch on a deceased character, that will be lost on new viewers, but anyone who remembers David Palmer from the past seasons will immediately identify this. Actually, this might be the reason why David was killed. At the beginning of season 5, he was standing near the window, hesitating for a long time, which allowed the assassin to snipe him from a distance. Think about it, if David Palmer was walking around and acting impatient, he would still be alive.

Other than the "brothers" part, the episode is a mess. Poorly written. Everything is entirely predictable. No more bombs going off -- boring. Wayne Palmer is now able to talk and think and it looks like he's gonna just leave the medical bay and keep working. I thought the people who planted the bomb were professionals (it took about 20-30 minutes for that guy to even assemble the bomb). Two CTU employees are suddenly kissing, which feels very out of place and stupid. Milo and Mike Doyle are fighting over nothing, but it's good that Bill Buchanan got it under control.

24: Day 6: 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. (2007) Season 6, Episode 14

Another day, another evil president

[4/10 · 19 September 2013]

Vice President Daniels orders a nuclear attack on some Middle East country (not sure which one). This is a lot like last season's Charles Logan ordering to shoot down the civilian airplane with Jack on it.

So it's clear that this Vice President has some agenda we don't know about yet. I think it's almost certainly tied to Phillip Bauer's company, and Daddy Bauer is almost certainly the man behind all of this. Maybe Daniels is trying to start a war and Phillip Bauer's company will somehow benefit from the war. What could it be? What could Daddy Bauer possibly gain from a World War III scenario? My guess is that it has to do with family, possibly Jack himself.

If 24 needs to continue to surprise viewers, it needs to provide a villain who is even more formidable than last season's President of the United States + Jack Bauer's brother combination. Right now we've got the Vice President of the United States + Jack Bauer's father. However, the actors who play these two big villains of season 6 are weaker. Phillip Bauer's actor is okay, looks kinda like Death on Supernatural, and Vice President Daniels's character is poorly played. He makes every phone call with the same kind of cockiness, the "look at me no matter what crisis there is I'll just laugh and enjoy because I wanna start a war" look on his face.

24: Day 5: 3:00 a.m.-4:00 a.m. (2006) Season 5, Episode 21

You're a world-class actor. I would have expected nothing else.

[9/10 · 31 March 2013]

Season 5 has been one great hour after another. The 21st hour, 3:00 A.M. to 4:00 A.M., proved to be not only the season's highlight, but my favorite episode of the entire series. Now, the highest rated episode according to TV.com is an earlier episode where CTU was attacked by terrorists with the Sentox nerve gas. People loved that episode mostly because a friend of Chloe's died. I personally don't care much about that guy, so the episode wasn't significant for me. President Charles Logan, on the other hand, is one of my two favorite characters on the show (only behind Bill Buchanan). This hour is his absolute shining moment.

Basically, in this hour, he prepares to shoot himself in the head. Yes, you read that right, the President of the United States is about to commit suicide. Where else do you get to see such an outrageous story, other than on 24? But this is not why the episode is so brilliant. It's all in the actor's performance. He really, really could act. His facial expressions were amazing, as he sat there in his office, quietly, thinking about everything. What does a man think about when he's about to die in ten minutes? Deep stuff. It's deep, man. And the actor really pulled it off.

Once again, Graem/Graham didn't disappoint. He calmly, but authoritatively, talks to the President over the phone, and basically advises him to kill himself. This man has got some serious balls, and the actor conveyed that very well.

Prison Break: The Message (2007) Season 2, Episode 15

The Company gets a description

[7/10 · 31 March 2013]

The most significant event in this episode is that Lincoln tells the world, as well as us, what "The Company" is. "They are a group of multinationals with corporate interests." "They are working with the highest levels of government, including the president of the United States." I believe Prison Break is one of the earlier shows that came up with this idea. Heroes's version of The Company developed in about 2007 and 2008. 24's version of a group of people who control the government and the President of the United States appeared in 2006 and 2007. Prison Break, on the other hand, had this idea from the beginning, and here, during the 15th episode of season 2, it finally gave "The Company" a formal definition, through the words of Lincoln and Michael.

The characters continue to live in a very dark state, and the cast really look believable in their performances. Bill Kim never gets a break in his life, does he? It's like he has to respond to every event that ever happens in the world. Bellick just keeps getting into trouble and yet keeps finding ways to improve his situation. He's becoming a lite version of T-Bag, who just keeps surviving under horrible circumstances. How does Bellick even know all that about the Alcoholics Anonymous book anyway? Either he is an incredible reader who knows about a lot of books, or he has been in the AA program himself. Either way, it adds tremendous depth to his character. When you think about it, it makes sense that none of the federal agents in Mahone's office knows about this book. They are professionals who don't have drinking problems. When Bellick works with Mahone and provides his "street wisdom", that the academic people don't have, you see the strength of the low-lifes.

Finally, Haywire is still alive. The writers decided to keep him going for a good part of the second season. There's a moment of foreshadowing in this episode. When Lincoln talks about Alex Mahone's history with the fugitives he has gone after before, we see Haywire on screen. Eventually Mahone will find Haywire, and history will probably repeat itself again. Before the inevitable downfall of Haywire, the writers gave him a moment to shine, to kill an abusive father and restores at least some amount of justice to this dark and desperate world.

Kaley Cuoco's appearance in this episode was forgettable. She just doesn't fit in a show with such strong acting. Her character, like most characters on the show, has dark issues. But unlike other characters, she wasn't able to convey that in her performance. This was Kaley before The Big Bang Theory, her big break. Maybe she got better as an actress in that show. I don't know. Actors do get better sometimes. Wentworth Miller also couldn't act when he appeared on Ghost Whisperer and still couldn't act during season one of Prison Break. This year he got a lot better. I believe that working with so many talented actors, especially William Fichtner, has pushed him to develop his skills.

Aquamarine (2006)

Far better than Disney's princess movies

[9/10 · 15 October 2009]

There is no materialism, hollowness and such, which Hannah Montana and Suite Life are full of. The actresses all have a fresh and friendly feel to them. It is very hard to make people (such as my daughter :) ) jealous of the characters' good looks -- because they're so nice. Writing is very enjoyable, with quality dialogs (in the style of early Smallville seasons), and many twists along the way. As a parent, I hope they make more teen movies like this -- entertain and teach good values at the same time. An excellent movie for a sunny summer afternoon.

Just FYI, not every Disney princess movie sucks. The Princess Diary series (as well as the theme song "Breakaway") are very encouraging. But Disney really has gone downhill in recent years, their sitcoms being the best proof. I believe that after you watch Aquamarine, you will be able to tell the good kids/family movies from the bad ones.

The Wire (2002–2008)

Daniels' in denial of The Detail

[10/10 · 8 April 2009]

So many things go wrong in Baltimore today. No wonder why Daniels' in denial.

Daniels' in denial that his best detective always does things behind him.

Daniels' in denial that his wife is incredibly ugly, while his best detective sleeps with just about all the hot women in Baltimore.

Daniels' in denial that the woman he's having an affair with, is also fantasizing his best detective and the man who approved the first wiretap -- Judge Phalan.

No, Daniel's life is not great, but it is real. And The Wire is the only scripted thing that I have seen, that portrays life so realistically. Embrace the cold, cruel and f***ed up reality.