Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Directed by David Yates, still starring the same original cast.. Additions including Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge (the evil, evil woman) and Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange (also and evil, evil woman).

The Dark Lord's back. With the Ministry of Magic trying to deny and cover it, Harry was accused as a liar, a mad boy. But apparently Dumbledore was already a step ahead, gathering the old Order of the Phoenix, which consisted of veteran aurors whose purpose was to fight and destroy Voldemort and his allies. The Ministry did not stay quiet, they placed Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts, and she instantly placed new rules and basically ruining Hogwarts. And Voldemort was trying to take what he couldn't take years ago..

I cannot explain how much I love the Harry Potter movies. I just LOVE the books and nothing can beat the excitement and hype that I feel when I'm waiting for the next HaPot (and LoTR. Aaahh the good ol' LoTR days.. how I miss them) movie to come out. And I gotta tell ya, this one is IT. It's THE BEST. It's Movie of the Year. It's.. just.. GREAT. Movie 1, 2, 3 are just the weakest, 4 is good and solid and this one is absolutely the best so far. So well-made, had a little indie touch and oh so dark. Although the acting could still be improved but hey, who cares for that little detail when you've got Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman and Jason Isaacs all in the same scene? I am SO becoming a Gary Oldman fan. The movie is quite different from the book, but I think changes are necessary for the movie to become 150-minute long and still connected, understandable and enjoyable. This one did it, man. Just so great. I cried reading the book and I cried watching the movie. Sorry, can't help it. So people, go see it. You have to. Everyone has to. By the way, what's the story of David Yates getting this job? He used to work on TV movies, TV series and all of a sudden, boom, 'Here, David, direct a Harry Potter movie.. In fact, two of them.'? But yea, kinda glad he did this one because he sure made it very dark and in the beginning of the movie, you won't feel like watching a HaPot movie. So indie. And apparently his (well, according to IMDb.com) trade mark is the use of hand-held camera, which you could see in the beginning of the movie. And how pretty is Emma Watson? Seriously. Okay okay, scherzi out.

Really tempted to give a 10, but.. Just can't, yet. Maybe when Daniel Radcliffe's acting got better, I would. But for now..
9.6 / 10.
Highest Rolled Reel score so far.

And please.. this time.. A.M.P.A.S., for your consideration.

Bushi no Ichibun

Directed by Twilight Samurai's Youji Yamada, starring Takuya Kimura and newcomer Rei Dan. The English title is Love and Honor, eventhough that's not really the literal meaning.

Shinnojo Mimura was stuck in a dead-end job, a food taster for the King. One day he tasted a sashimi but apparently the fish was out of its season, thus poisoned. He became blind and unable to continue his job. He counted on his wife and other people and became dependent, a thing he despised. On an advice of his aunt, his wife asked for a powerful samurai's help to maintain her husband's economy status, apparently with strings attached. Rumors started to fly around and Mimura was on the verge of losing his love.. and honor.

Do you know Takuya Kimura? I certainly hope you do because he is absolutely THE MAN. I don't care if anyone says that he's just another typical Japanese boyband member because he's not. He's a good actor. He has that kind of presence on screen.. a thing not every actor has. Especially a Japanese one that young. He rarely makes films (mostly works on TV series) and I'm so happy this one didn't disappoint. The story is very simple, no fancy samurai-fighting included, and Takuya's performance was very enjoyable. And Rei Dan suited her part well.. Hope to see her more often. The film is slow-paced, like most Japanese films, but this time it worked. The simplicity of it made it enjoyable. And it had a touching end that conluded the film perfectly.

8.5 / 10.

Die Hard 4.0

Directed by Len Wiseman (aka Kate Beckinsale's husband, aka the man behind 'Underworld'), starring the ever so great Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Cliff Curtis, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Maggie Q.

John McClane (THE John McClane, ladies and gents) was asked to escort a young hacker to the DC. Turned out the young hacker helped (without even realizing it) a mad man's mission to perform 'fire sale', basically annihilating a whole country. That'd be the US.

John McClane is back, people! For those of you who have seen and loved the old Die Hard trilogy, well, needless to say, you have to see this one. For those of you who are new to it, don't worry, the storyline stood on its own.. The only negative thing is you most probably you won't be able to feel the excitement and giddiness (is that a word?) when Bruce delivered that ever so famous line once again. Anyway, this is an action movie, probably an uber-action movie, but I loved it! Man, it's John McClane! It's Bruce Willis! Some scenes were just painful (I mean, "Die already, man!") but all in all, it's Die Hard people, come on. For those not really into action movies, give it a chance. ;) Oh, one thing that really surprised me: Timothy Olyphant's face. So evil. God. SO evil.

8 / 10.

"Yippee Ki Yay motherfucker." (of course)

Shrek the Third

Directed by Chris Miller and Raman Hui, story by Narnia's Andrew Adamson. Still featuring the voices of big players.. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Justin Timberlake, Julie Andrews, Rupert Everett and John Cleese. (Cameos including Larry King and John Krasinski!)

Shrek's father-in-law fell sick and asked Shrek to replace him as the ruler of the kingdom of Far Far Away. Panicked and worried, Shrek went off with buddies Donkey and Pussy to find the only living heir to the throne (him aside, of course), planning to make him the king. Aside from that, Fiona also had a surprise for him that left him feeling very uneasy and burdened all throughout his journey. And let's not forget Prince Charming, who was trying to find and make his 'happily ever after' come true.

To be honest, I coudn't really remember the last two movies although I remember not liking the second one because it relied too much on the parodies. Well, this third installment was quite okay. Some scenes were plain hilarious! Although I still can't believe they're going to make five Shrek movies. I mean, wow. But okay, this one is funny, I like JT. Go see it if you need a little laugh.

7 / 10.

Transformers

Directed by the action blockbuster guru Michael Bay, starring (the quite 'it' boy of today) Shia LeBouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight and Bernie Mac.

Some time long ago in a far-off planet called Cybetron, a war was erupted between the Autobots (lead by the wise Optimus Prime) and the Decepticons (lead by Megatron), both fighting over the control of Allspark, sort of like 'the one ring..' that could that could bring a great power. Turned out the box was buried in the northern part of Earth. Years later, teenager Sam Witwicky found his life and destiny linked to the great outer-space war between the robots.

Never saw the trailer and I didn't have high expectations because I don't really like action movies in the first place. But Oh. My. God. You've got to see this movie, people! Okay so its a 150 minute-long movie but who cares? This is all you need and more! Watching this movie made me realize how GREAT Hollywood's visual effects are now. I mean seriously, most of the scenes were so real! Didn't look like CGI at all! MAN! And the movie was damn hilarious. Shia was meant to be Sam.. He was really good and really suited the part. The whole movie is exciting, full of action and oh so great. Big robots turning into cars! Big robots fighting one another! MAN! Go see this movie! I saw it twice already! It's just so entertaining.

9 / 10.

"My car has been stolen! I'm in pursuit!"

Bridge to Terabithia

Directed by Hungarian Gabor Csupo, starring The Reaping's AnnaSophia Robb, Josh Hutcherson and Zooey Deschanel. From the people who brought you The Chronicles of Narnia.. (that's what the trailer said, right?)

Leslie Burke was a new girl in school, her family just moved to Josh's neighborhood. A little eccentric and tough, Leslie stood out from the other students. She liked to write fairytales and able to 'escape' her reality and immerse into her own imaginary world. Soon, Leslie and Josh became best friends. Everyday after school they would go to their 'place', in the woods near their home, and live in their imaginary 'kingdom', fighting weird animals that dared to threat their kingdom, Terabithia. All those things made them forget about the real world and only care about their imaginary life.

I thought it was gonna be Narnia, you know? With the whole special effects, grand battle scenes, kingdoms, etc. Turned out it was.. well.. far from that. Very little special effects, little story, little plot and my friend kept screaming "My Girl! This is absolutely My Girl!" which could be right. ;p The movie was slow-paced and to tell you the truth, I didn't really like it. The only good point is probably.. keep your mind wide open.

5 / 10.

SPOILERS
By the way, the poster? A trick. A lie. No such scene. And don't be fooled by the trailer.