The Grand Budapest Hotel - 歡迎來到布達佩斯大飯店

The Grand Budapest Hotel (歡迎來到布達佩斯大飯店) is an 2014 film. The movie stars Ralph Fiennes. After that, there's a huge list of supporting people. The film is directed and written by Wes Anderson




Ralph Riennes plays the head concierge of The Grand Budapest Hotel. The story is told through the eyes of a writer in 1985 of a 1968 trip. On that 1968, he finds out about how The Grand Budapest Hotel was in 1932 and how it is what it is now. Back in 1932, The Grand Budapest Hotel was popular destination in the fictional European country is it in. The plight for which how current owner came to own The Grand Budapest Hotel is quite an extraordinary one at that.

This movie is pretty awesome. I first caught it via Blu-ray and at various other times when it was shown on HBO. I must admit that I almost always watch a few segments here and there. No matter the place in the film, I get caught up in it. The story is super hard to describe or even lay out. They are in a fictional country and other fictional type elements, but it is based in Europe in 1932 so it has a very familiar feel. Yet it looks like a bygone era just out of reach.

If you want a quarky movie with lots of interesting elements and a intriguing story, look no further than The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Zhong Guo Box Office - March 29, 2015 - 中国票房榜

Zhong Guo Box Office - Week Ending: March 29, 2015

Weekend of March 29, 2015

Rank	Film Title
1	Kingsman: The Secret Service (王牌特工:特工学院)
2	失孤 (Lost And Love)
3	Taken 3 (飓风营救3)
4	Cinderella (灰姑娘)
5	Big Hero 6 (超能陆战队)
6	一万年以后 (10000 Years Later)
7	可爱的你 (Little Big Master)
8	兔侠之青黎传说 (Legend Of Rabbit：The Martial Of Fire)
9	Paddington (帕丁顿熊)
10	狼图腾 (Wolf Totem)

Source: Ent Group - retrieved March 30, 2015

Jack Reacher - 神隱任務

Jack Reacher (神隱任務) is an 2012 film. The movie stars Tom Cruise. The supporting cast include Rosamund Pike and Jai Courtney. I watched this film via my Amazon Prime membership.

Tom Cruise plays Jack Reacher. Reacher was an expert and very decorated MP during his years in the armed forces. Retired and back in the states, one of the folks he investigated as an MP has done something wrong. The defense lawyer, Rosamund Pike as Helen Rodin, has some daddy issues and takes up the case. Right when Jack Reacher starts his investigation, he's a target and Helen eventually digs too deep too. Will Jack get to the bottom of this and save the day?

Of course! It is a Tom Cruise film. Jack Reacher seems to be a combo of Tom Cruise's MI:4 and Knight And Day characters. Before Tom Cruise had back to back sci-fi stint movies (Oblivion and Edge Of Tomorrow), he took on Jack Reacher. Jack seems to know it all and than doesn't, than does again. Which made for an intriguing film. The addition of Rosamund Pike kept my interest. As a lawyer with daddy issues, she does well in portraying someone on a mission to be herself.

I had this movie in my Amazon watchlist for months. MONTHS! I just didn't want to watch it on my iPad as I do for most stuff. I finally found time to watch it on my real TV and I am sure glad I did. It's a pretty picturesque film shot partly in Pittsburgh.

Hong Kong Box Office - March 22, 2015 - 香港票房榜

Hong Kong Box Office - Week Ending: March 22, 2015

As of this writing, Box Office Mojo has not released the numbers for the Hong Kong Box Office for this weekend. So we use two other sources, which are weekly reports vs. weekend reports.

Weekend of March 22, 2015

Rank	Film Title
1	Cinderella (仙履奇緣)
2	可爱的你/五個小孩的校長 (Little Big Master)
3	The Divergent Series: Insurgent (叛亂者:強權終結)
4	雛妓 (Sara)
5	Run All Night (一夜狂逃)
6	The Imitation Game (解碼遊戲)
7	台北夜蒲團團轉 (One Night in Taipei)
8	Kingsman: The Secret Service (皇家特工:間諜密令)
9	Chappie (超人類:卓比)
10	The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (黃金花第2大酒店)

Source: Ent Group, HKFlimArt, and WMOOV - retrieved March 25, 2015

12 Years A Slave - 自由之心

12 Years a Slave (自由之心) is an 2013 film. The movie stars Chiwetel Ejiofor. The extensive supporting cast include Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lupita Nyong'o, Paul Giamatti, Sarah Paulson, and Brad Pitt. The movie is based on 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup.



Based in pre Civil War days of the United States, Solomon is a free man who plays the violin. When he's tricked into slavery, Solomon endures 12 years as a slave. During this time from free man to slave, Solomon is beaten, sold, and exchanged between masters. All the while, we she glimpse into the lives of what slaves had to endure. From brutal beatings to sub standard living, slaves were treated poorly. Solomon finally finds freedom again, but the scares of slavery will live on forever.

The movie was well made and told a very compelling story. As much as this was about Solomon, it was a commentary of the how humans will forever be its worst enemy. Humans treating other humans right isn't part of nature. When another human can gain an upper hand, they will. And this movie shows that in spades. I've seen this movie repeated on HBO the past 6 months and I stop and watch a little every time. Be it 1 minute or 15 minutes, I find myself drawn to it. However, I was hard press to include it in my favorite movies of 2013. You should watch it too.

Zhong Guo Box Office - March 22, 2015 - 中国票房榜

Zhong Guo Box Office - Week Ending: March 22, 2015

Weekend of March 22, 2015

Rank	Film Title
1	Cinderella (灰姑娘)
2	失孤 (Lost And Love)
3	Taken 3 (飓风营救3)
4	Big Hero 6 (超能陆战队)
5	Jupiter Ascending (木星上行)
6	澳门风云2 (From Vegas To Macau II/The Man From Macau II)
7	狼图腾 (Wolf Totem)
8	Paddington (帕丁顿熊)
9	可爱的你 (Little Big Master)
10	封门诡影 (Nowhere To Run)

Source: Ent Group - retrieved March 23, 2015

Neighbors - 惡鄰纏身

Neighbors (惡鄰纏身) is an 2014 film. The movie stars Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, and Dave Franco. The movie was made for $18 million and grossed over $268 million worldwide.



Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play a young married couple that just had their first baby. The vacant house next door is rented out the frat run by Zac Efron and Dave Franco. When a huge party goes on they call the police, a story of revenge starts. The frat has the upper hand most of the time and makes for interesting comedy.

This movie is silly funny and raunchy in some parts. What you would expect from a party movie with frat boys. Since the days of Animal House, the tradition goes on, but each generation will put their spin on.

This movie did so well a sequel is in the works. If you don't want to miss out on the sequel, watch the movie that started it all.

Taiwan Box Office - March 22, 2015 - 台灣票房榜

Weekend of March 22, 2015

Rank	Film Title	Weeks
1	The Divergent Series: Insurgent (分歧者2：叛亂者)	1
2	Cinderella (仙履奇緣)	2
3	Kingsman: The Secret Service (金牌特務)	6
4	Run All Night (一夜狂奔)	2
5	The Imitation Game (模仿遊戲)	4
6	The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (金盞花大酒店2)	1
7	Chappie (成人世界)	3
8	The Gunman (全面逃殺)	1
9	來自星星的傻瓜PK	1
10	Still Alice (我想念我自己)	7
11	Predestination (超時空攔截)	3
12	12金鴨 (Golden Ducks)	1
13	大囍臨門 (The Wonderful Wedding)	5
14	加班遇到鬼 (O.T.)	2
15	親愛的 (Dearest)	3
16	Fifty Shades Of Grey (格雷的五十道陰影)	6
17	熊貓總動員 (Little Big Panda)	1
18	Focus (決勝焦點)	4
19	我們家 (Our Family)	1
20	Vinodentro (魔鬼品酒師)	2

Source: Yahoo! Movies Taiwan - retrieved March 23, 2015

Foxcatcher - 暗黑冠軍路

Foxcatcher (暗黑冠軍路) is an 2014 film. The movie stars Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo. The supporting cast include Vanessa Redgrave, Sienna Miller, and Anthony Michael Hall. The movie is based on a true story.



Tatum plays the Mark Schultz, a Olympic gold medalist from the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Carell plays Jon du Pont, a heir to the du Pont fortune. Jon takes up an interest in US wrestling. Jon has built a nice training facilities on his property in Pennsylvania, named Foxcatcher. Jon recruits Mark to Foxcatcher. Mark's older brother Dave, played by Ruffalo, is also a Olympic Gold medalist. They eventually get to the Foxcatcher camp together and compete in worlds and Olympic competitions. Eventually Jon goes a bit haywire and shoots Dave three times one day, killing him.

This movie was really interesting because it was based on a true story. A bit of a tale of old money and world of wrestling. The acting in this film by Carell and Ruffalo is off the charts. I really believed Carell was someone else and Ruffalo a seasoned wrestler. The movie is very slow and really plays to the slow moving relationships of the three main characters.

Hong Kong Box Office - March 15, 2015 - 香港票房榜

Hong Kong Box Office - Week Ending: March 15, 2015

As of this writing, Box Office Mojo has not released the numbers for the Hong Kong Box Office for this weekend. So we use two other sources, which are weekly reports vs. weekend reports.

Weekend of March 15, 2015

Rank	Film Title
1	Cinderella (仙履奇緣)
2	雛妓 (Sara)
3	Chappie (超人類:卓比)
4	The Imitation Game (解碼遊戲)
5	Stand By Me: 多啦A夢 (Stand By Me: Doraemon)
6	Kingsman: The Secret Service (皇家特工:間諜密令)
7	Focus (千騙萬化)
8	Selma (馬丁路德金:夢想之路)
9	賭城風雲2 (From Vegas To Macau II/The Man From Macau II)
10	Fifty Shades of Grey (格雷的五十道色戒)

Source: Ent Group, HKFlimArt, and WMOOV - retrieved March 18, 2015

Chef - 五星主廚快餐車

Chef (五星主廚快餐車) is an 2014 film. The film stars Jon Favreau. The supporting cast include Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Downey, Jr.



Favreau plays the head chef of a local restaurant in Los Angeles, Carl Casper. The store owner likes Carl to stick to the tried and true classics. When a critic visits the restaurant, the store owner prevents Casper from serving a special menu. The critic is served the tried and true classics. The critic gives Casper a not so nice review for being boring and a twitter war ensues. Casper quits after the store owner prevents him from serving the critic a special menu for the second time. Enter the food truck. They start on it and get it up and running. Casper returns to his roots, Miami with food truck in hand.

This movie plays on all the "foodie" culture of this current era. From the days of blogs writing about the best tacos in town to the multi-verse of social media these days, this movie tries to touch on it. Because it references so many current tech when the movie was being made, some of the tech is now "out dated". And will become more so as time passes. Fortunately, the movie concept of a food truck and a chef's integrity play larger than the tech. Casper is a pompous and arrogant chef that is selfish enough to have a son pining for his attention. In a moment of clarity, he does show signs of being a good man. Someone that could think beyond himself. That is what will keep you watching.

Since I like food and have had my share of food trucks my whole life, I do recommend it. It's an endearing story that will not stand the test of time. Watch it soon. In a couple of years, it'll be like those movies that make "myspace" references as if it was da bomb.

Zhong Guo Box Office - March 15, 2015 - 中国票房榜

Zhong Guo Box Office - Week Ending: March 15, 2015

Weekend of March 15, 2015

Rank	Film Title
1	Cinderella (灰姑娘)
2	Big Hero 6 (超能陆战队)
3	Jupiter Ascending (木星上行)
4	澳门风云2 (From Vegas To Macau II/The Man From Macau II)
5	狼图腾 (Wolf Totem)
6	Paddington (帕丁顿熊)
7	天将雄师 (Dragon Blade)
8	将错就错 (The Right Mistake)
9	封门诡影 (Nowhere To Run)
10	北京,纽约 (Beijing, New York)

Source: Ent Group - retrieved March 17, 2015

Draft Day - 超級選秀日

Draft Day (超級選秀日) is an 2014 film. The films stars Kevin Costner. The large supporting cast includes Jennifer Garner and Denis Leary.

Costner plays Sonny Weaver, Jr., the General Manager of Cleveland Browns. They trade up from their seventh overall pick to the top pick. Sonny is not expected to draft the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Wisconsin quarterback Bo Callahan. But he would rather shore up the defense with linebacker Vontae Mack of Ohio State. Sonny stars his research of both players and takes other offers. To top it all off, there's Sonny's ex-wife, deceased father, semi-senile mother, over reach owner, and a girlfriend in the workplace scenario all thrown in for some extra drama.

If you're a football sports fan. You'll enjoy this. It's like a amped up version of NFL live but behind the scenes. Costner puts on a quiet performance in this. Not a lot of emotion and more going through the motions. There's lots of sports politics.

If you're expecting Moneyball, look elsewhere. This movie is much more drama filled and condensed to a 12 hour time frame.

Taiwan Box Office - March 15, 2015 - 台灣票房榜

Weekend of March 15, 2015

Rank	Film Title	Weeks
1	Cinderella (仙履奇緣)	1
2	Run All Night (一夜狂奔)	1
3	Kingsman: The Secret Service (金牌特務)	5
4	The Imitation Game (模仿遊戲)	3
5	Chappie (成人世界)	2
6	大囍臨門 (The Wonderful Wedding)	4
7	Still Alice (我想念我自己)	6
8	Predestination (超時空攔截)	2
9	Focus (決勝焦點)	3
10	Fifty Shades Of Grey (格雷的五十道陰影)	5
11	加班遇到鬼 (O.T.)	1
12	親愛的 (Dearest)	2
13	The Penguins Of Madagascar (馬達加斯加爆走企鵝)	5
14	It Follows (靈病)	1
15	Mommy (親愛媽咪)	3
16	Whiplash (進擊的鼓手)	7
17	Into The Woods (魔法黑森林)	4
18	Vinodentro (魔鬼品酒師)	1
19	Sagrada - The Mystery of Creation (高第聖家堂)	1
20	奇人密碼:古羅布之謎 (The Arti: The Adventure Begins)	5

Source: Yahoo! Movies Taiwan - retrieved March 16, 2015

My Top Ten Favorite Movies of 2013

2013? Clearly we are in 2015 already? Yes, I know, I watch them there movies at a very slow pace. I normally have to wait for them to show up on Blu-ray or on HBO for me to watch the movies. Which gives me that really delayed reaction for making a top films of 2013 list. I just haven't seen them when the foo foo award season kicks off every year. According to Box Office Mojo, there were 687 films released in the US in 2013. Crazy!! I ain't watching that many films unless its my profession. And its not, this blog is a hobby. You can check out the bakers dozen of top money making films of 2013 here.

Here are my top films of 2013 of which I've seen at least 46 of!

#1 - Iron Man 3 (鋼鐵人3)


#2 - Oblivion (遺落戰境)


#3 - The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (白日夢冒險王)


#4 - Now You See Me (出神入化)


#5 - Thor: The Dark World (雷神索爾2:黑暗世界)


#6 - Fast and Furious 6 (玩命關頭6)


#7 - The Way Way Back (三分男孩)


#8 - World War Z (末日之戰)


#9 - Riddick (超世紀戰警:闇黑對決)


#10 - Star Trek Into Darkness (闇黑無界:星際爭霸戰)


Retrieved from Box Office Mojo on March 13, 2015

Blended - 當我們混在一起

Blended (當我們混在一起) is an 2014 film. The movie stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. The supporting cast include Bella Thorne, Shaquille O'Neal, Terry Crews, Joel McHale, Kevin Nealon, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Dan Patrick. The movie reunites Sandler and Barrymore for the third time, after The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates.

The movie is about Sandler as Jim Friedman, a widowed father of three children and Barrymore as Lauren Reynolds, a divorced mother of two children. When Jim and Lauren go on a blind date, it goes horribly wrong, leaving the two with strong feelings of "hate" for each other. Fast forward, they both somehow get on a trip to Africa, meeting in the lobby of the hotel. Because the vacation is together, they are forced to spend time together. AND....you can make out the rest of the plot based on the title of the movie.

This is an Sandler film. It has Sandler written all over it. If you're not a Sandler fan, you will not like it. Sandler doesn't care anymore about new fans, he's milking it with his old fans and those like me growing older with him. And I like that he doesn't make apologies with some recent bombs like Jack and Jill and That's My Boy. I for one don't miss a lot of Sandler movies. So, watch it if you are an Sandler fan. I am and I enjoyed this movie.

Hong Kong Box Office - March 8, 2015 - 香港票房榜

Hong Kong Box Office - Week Ending: March 8, 2015

As of this writing, Box Office Mojo and EntGroup have not released the numbers for the Hong Kong Box Office for this weekend. Trying HKFilmart.com, which is a weekly report vs. weekend report.

Weekend of March 8, 2015

Rank	Film Title
1	雛妓 (Sara)
2	Chappie (超人類:卓比)
3	The Imitation Game (解碼遊戲)
4	Stand By Me: 多啦A夢 (Stand By Me: Doraemon)
5	賭城風雲2 (From Vegas To Macau II/The Man From Macau II)
6	Kingsman: The Secret Service (皇家特工:間諜密令)
7	Focus (千騙萬化)
8	12金鴨 (12 Golden Ducks)
9	Penguins Of Madagascar (荒失失企鵝)
10	Fifty Shades of Grey (格雷的五十道色戒)

Source: HKFlimArt and WMOOV - retrieved March 13, 2015

Nightcrawler - 獨家腥聞

Nightcrawler (獨家腥聞) is an 2014 film. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal. The supporting cast include Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, and Bill Paxton. The movie is not based on the Marvel X-men character of the same name.



Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a thief that is scraping by life. A chance encounter of a car accident on the highway exposes him to the world of filming accidents for money. Bloom is a natural of breaking down social mores for his own gain. Translating this to the filming world, Bloom gets good footage and sells to the lowest ranked news station, where the programming is run by Russo. Bloom builds a career out of this, eventually buying better equipment and a faster car. When Bloom films some major action of a home invasion, Bloom will go to any lengths to further his agenda.



Jake Gyllenhaal is an amazing actor. He does such a good job in this movie. The character is presented as scum of the world, yet your left pulling for him as the movie goes on. Even when he does things that break normal boundaries. The character is creepy and driven. Two qualities that Jake was able to transform into something that made you want to keep watching.