X-Men: The Last Stand

Hugh Jackman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Halle Berry
Ian McKellan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Famke Janssen
Anna Paquin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kelsey Grammer
Rebecca Romijn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .James Marsden
Shawn Ashmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Aaron Stanford
Vinnie Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Patrick Stewart

PG13           104min           2006

X-Men: The Last Stand finds us returning to the world divided : humans and mutants and mutants. The humans have developed a "Cure" to the mutant phenonmenon and this divides mutant kind. Some mutants want the cure and other feel that human should be more tolerant. Magneto feels humans will impose the cure on to mutant kind and Professor X feels than mutants can make their own choice and humans must be defended from humans.

This one has the conflict reaching its boiling point and the pot boils over. There will be casualities on all three sides. Finding no real resolvtion found. To me the movie felt rushed and ending abruptly. Its still entertaing and a well told story. It felt like the closing chapter of the series where the pull out all the stop to appeased the fan base.

Character not making to this sequel is Nightcrawler. Stay until the end, there is a surprise at the end. Leaving a door open for a 4th. Hopefully they will add the only noticable character not shown, Gambit. You check X-Men and X2: X-Men United.

I give it a 3/5 Gs.

"Mission: Impossible 3"

Tom Cruise
Ving Rhames
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Keri Russell
Michelle Monaghan
Laurence Fishburne
Maggie Q
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Billy Crudup

PG13           126min           2006

Tom Cruise returns for the third installment as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible 3. This time around the mission is to save his love Julia played by Michelle Monaghan form Philip Seymour Hoffman. If at first you think Cruise vs Hoffman, that doesn't seem fair; put your mind at ease Hoffman plays a convince bad guy. You believe Hoffman'sduality.

This one is better than the first two and the stunts are stunning and they leave you a little disbelieving. The story is intriguing and fast paced. It has very few slow spots. Once the action starts it give you enough time to catch your breathe.

If there is an agent really alive doing these things I really hope he is on our side. Mission: Impossible 3 is a great way to start the summer season. You check out Mission: Impossible and Mission: Impossibble 2.

I give it 4/5 Gs

"Memoris of A Geisha"

Ziyi Zhang
Ken Wantanabe
Kôji Yaksuo
Li Gong
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

PG13           145min           2005

“Memoirs of a Geisha” is the tale of a poverty stricken little girl’s rise to one of Japan’s premiere geisha, and the fall of them after the war.

“Memoirs of a Geisha” so intimately tells the history of Geishas in a tale that makes you come to care for the art form and not the bastardize form that cropped up after the war. It’s a prevalent ignorant misconception that, most of the world and, I held to until I watched the film. It’s an enlightening film that even though it’s long is informative and entertaining as while.

American’s fascination with the art form has lead to many misconceptions. Geisha are not high priced prostitutes. They are skilled entertainer, trained in the traditional Japanese arts, music, dance, and storytelling, taking years to prefect. This movie is based on a book that is fiction, the facts are truthful and that’s what makes it so interesting. That it’s a tale of a lost art form that will never live and be as mysterious as when in this film. Before its fall it was practiced by few, mastered by fewer, and hired by the elite privileged.

“Memoirs of a Geisha“ gives a rare insight into this world that its barely see in today society. Geishas are still around but that don’t a the skilled and dedication that the “geisha” in this film portray. It makes you want to have a true geisha entertain you. A true geisha was expensive to have entertain you and its lead to the decline of them.

Even now if you see a geisha on the street its more than likely a tourist dressed as one. A true geisha into today’s society is rarely see and that’s what adds to it mystique. Only the few can hire them, and you may not see the true spectacle that is Geisha.

The DVDs extras are a welcomed addition to the film. It in forms you of just how hard it was for the actors to pull off their feats to portray geisha. How hard it was for the film crew to recreate Japan at the turn of the war. It will make you appreciate “What it meant to be geisha?” even more.

If you appreciate art this movie is a deeply personally journey to watch. Looking at this film give shows a lost form at its height and its decline. The geisha in its purist form is gone with the 8-track player. It’s outdated put can probably still be found it looked hard enough, but never to the grace and beauty portrayed in this film.

Watch it. Let your mind go and take in this film. Realize “What it meant to be Geisha?” and appreciate another art form lost to man’s destructive behavior.

I give it a 5/5 Gs.

For more information of the art form of Geisha:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisha