King Arthur: Legend of the Sword - 亞瑟:王者之劍

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (亞瑟:王者之劍) is an 2017 movie. The film stars Charlie Hunnam as King Arthur. The supporting cast include Jude Law, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, and Djimon Hounsou. The movie is a new look at the story of King Arthur directed by Guy Ritchie.

Jude Law plays Vortigern, who kills Arthur's parents to gain the throne. Arthur escapes, found by prostitutes, and raised him with street smarts. Arthur runs into some trouble and falls in with some folks trying to pull Excalibur from the stone. Arthur pulls it and thus begins his story to overthrowing Vortigern.

Short summary because the movie was super complicated. Seriously complicated. BUT it was fun and the story was another realistic take on the legend of Arthur. In this case, taking a more rags to riches and man of the streets. Charlie ends up being a reluctant king who overcomes.

If it comes on TV, I'd stop to watch. Not sure if I go out of my way to watch again.

Gifted - 天才的禮物

Gifted (天才的禮物) is an 2017 movie. The film stars Chris Evans and Mckenna Grace. The supporting cast include Lindsay Duncan, Jenny Slate, and Octavia Spencer. The movie is directed by Marc Webb.

Mckenna Grace plays a 7 year old math genius, Mary Adler. Mary is being raised by her uncle Frank Adler, played by Chris Evan. Frank has home schooled Mary up to kindergarten, but decides she needs school when first grade comes around. Mary shows she's not like other kids and during school, things bore her because she's already ahead of them and not interested in other activities like drawing. At home, Frank works on boats and has a close relationship with a neighbor Roberta Taylor, played by Octavia Spencer. Roberta warned Frank that things would change if she were not homeschooled. The school begins to sense that Mary is gifted, but Frank insist on staying in the first grade class. Eventually, this leads to Frank's mother finding out. All hell breaks loose after that.

Gifted was unexpected. If you watched the trailer, you only know the first bits of the story. What unfolded was a dialogue of the way we raise kids, their purpose if they have ungodly talent, and the court's view on what's good for parenting. In a short neat ~100 minute film, it makes you think. The movie is eventually a heartbreaker, but worth the ride.

Chris Evan is best known recently for his role as Captain America. But this role does take on a similar type of justice and I know what's best attitude. Just no shield and Avengers around.

Replicant - 複製殺人魔

Replicant (複製殺人魔) is an 2001 movie. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme (JCVD) and Michael Rooker. The movie's terminology of replicant is not the same as that used in Blade Runner. The replicant usage for this movie is more in the terms of cloning.

A Seattle police officer, Jake Riley, is on the hunt for a serial killer and almost gets him. The police office rides off into the sunset retiring. The killer likes to stake single mothers and burn them. Over the year plus that he kills, he picks up the nickname Torch based on his last act of burning his victims. Jake has multiple run ins with

The movie was actually pretty entertaining. I was expecting it to suck hard like many recent JCVD movie recently. However, this is within that timeframe that JCVD was still making top quality B movies that didn't need to be a blockbuster, but do well at the box office and make it up on the rental market. 2001 was still during the heyday of Blockbuster Video. Campy as it was, the story was non stop. It just kept going with the pursuit.

I don't recall watching this in the early 2000s, so this is most likely the first time I've watched this. I caught this on my Amazon Prime account. But I don't plan to watch it again. If you're looking to keep something on in the background without a lot of investment in the story, this would be entertaining. Be prepare for all the plot holes and absurd premise of a 1 billion dollar replicant.

I, Tonya - 老娘叫譚雅

I, Tonya (老娘叫譚雅) is an 2017 movie. The film stars Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Julianne Nicholson, and Bobby Cannavale. The movie is an biographical portrayal of Tonya Harding, a USA Olympic figure skater in the early 1990s. Tonya Harding has also openly supported the movie.

Story starts in 1973 when Tonya was 3 years old and showed skating talent at a local ice rink. Fast forward through some childhood struggles with family and money, we get to Tonya meeting Jeff Gillooly, her first husband through the 1994 Winter Olympics. The story takes an extended stop for their love story and her skating career in high school. It dives into more of her relationship with her mom and how hard it was on her. It also show how her "white trash" exterior lead to unfair scores and her constant battle with the system. Eventually, it leads to her landing her triple axle and eventually making both the 1992 and 1994 winter Olympics.

This was a good movie. I was totally waiting for the next step and wanted it to continue. I thought the pace was good and I felt compassion for Tonya at the end of the film. Unfortunately for me, I didn't start to follow the Winter Olympics until Michelle Kwan search for gold during the late 1990s and early 2000s. I was also a young lad in school, whom didn't really follow sports outside of the Lakers, Angels, and Dodgers. I had only heard of those stories because it was unescapable for a certain period time. So, to see this movie presented was a new fresh blast from the past.

However, I won't be watching this again. It was a good one watch I would recommend it to friends my age type of movie.

Lady Bird - 淑女鳥

Lady Bird (淑女鳥) is an 2017 movie. The film stars Saoirse Ronan. The supporting cast include Laurie Metcalf and Beanie Feldstein. The film is written and directed by Greta Gerwig based loosely on her life and departure of her hometown of Sacramento, the capital city of California.

Lady Bird is a Senior in High School and is determined to get out of Sacramento. You follow her life loosely in time from mid school year of her last year in High School to her first week of college. Lacy Bird is actually named Christine but has chosen to give herself a name. Her given name of Lady Bird was has given to herself by herself. Lady Bird applies to New York colleges in hopes of getting in, all the while getting accepted into nearby UC Davis. Lady Bird has a contentious relationship with her mom, whom is very hard on her and not very motivation or positive. We see Lady Bird brief realization that the earth does not revolve around her.

This was a pretty amazing film. I couldn't really do the summary above any justice. You just have to watch this. The movie at its core is a coming of age for its main character Lady Bird played by Saoirse Ronan. Beyond that, it explores Lady Bird's relation with her mom, friends she grew up with, cool kid friends, and seeing your hometown as not the best.

Because the acting the snappy dialogue was so engaging, I didn't want it to end. Each story twist made me want to follow along. Saoirse continues to show she's the next great female actor. Greta's ode to her own coming of age experience is expertly modified for the modern era, even though the story look place in 2002.

All in all, I am going to look for this on digital when I can and watch with my wife. Any movie I want to watch again is good in my book.

Black Panther - 黑豹

Black Panther (黑豹) is an 2018 film. The movie stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, and Danai Gurira. The supporting cast included Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, and Forest Whitaker. The film is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. This is also the 18th movie based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). As of this writing, it's the MCU's second most successful domestic box office performer, on pace to become number 1. The main story is based just a few weeks after the events of Captain America: Civil War.

T'Chaka must now take on the mantle of the supreme ruler of the African nation of Wakanda. In order to become king, there is a ritual of the five tribes agreeing. Each Tribe has a chance to challenge to be King. M'Baku of the Jabari tribe is the only one to challenge. In victory, T'Chaka set on his path to take revenge for both stolen Vibranium and his father's death. Another sinister plot emerges from T'Chaka's father's past mistake. T'Chaka is hurt and his nation is on the brink of collapse. Can T'Chaka recover in time and save his nation?

The movie was pretty good. It was non-stop and kept me on the edge of my seat. The tech was incredible and the people in the movie were all so beautiful. The character that caught my attention was Shuri, T'Chaka's little sister, and the Quartermaster of Wakanda. The tech she created and than had to explain had a James Bond feel to it.

My thoughts on the movie was that it was very hyped going in and it didn't live up to it. I still plan on seeing it in the theatre another time. Another thought I had was that Iron Man's armor could use a little Vibranium.