I couldn't go see a movie so this is on Better Luck Tomorrow

When most people think of cinema set in Orange County, they think of fun, exuberant comedies, and laugh-out-loud whiney teenagers with no real problems. Better Luck Tomorrow breaks out of this persona immensely with its dark, crime-related plot.
The movie’s opening scene is of two Asian boys (almost every character in the movie is Asian) crawling around a lawn with their ears to the ground in a panic. The narrator of the story is protagonist, Ben Manibag: a picture-perfect high school student with all the certifications and extra-curricular activities to get him into any college he’d like. The first scene then cuts to a few months before, when everything was normal. Ben and his best friend, Virgil, are on their way to getting into Ivy League schools when they get caught up with captain of the tennis team and of every club in the school, Derek. Crimes turn from innocent juvenile acts like handing out cheat sheets, to the drug-dealing business, and to stealing. All the while he participates in his “gang’s” activities, Ben maintains his nightly studying, club attendance, and straight A’s. When he realizes how far he’s gone, it’s too late and there’s no turning back.
Better Luck Tomorrow is a nice break from the wasteland of high school related movies we get in theatres today. Instead of setting the movie on an ugly-beautiful character, a popular kid, or Hilary Duff, the movie is set on a character with no specific traits to make him especially stand out with any real importance. He doesn’t have the problems of an every day high school student; he has the kind of problems that aren’t often shared about in everyday society. He’s got the problems that normal people wonder about, and can’t imagine ever having to deal with.
One of the best parts about this movie is how the director, Justin Lin, incorporates Ben’s studying with each of his eventful days. For each day, Ben picks a vocabulary word to memorize and repeat throughout the day to prepare for the SATs. Each vocabulary word foreshadows the next event in the movie, which gets you on the edge of your seat. It was a very clever tool for Lin to use, because it’s not picked up on the first day.
The fact that Lin developed a whole story based on Asian-American teenagers may seem farfetched, but indeed is executed well. His point was not at all about race, but only the fact that problems can come to anyone. When drug and crime movies are made, they are not interbred with Asian-Americans, but Whites, African-Americans, and Latinos. What makes this movie so strong is that these “Chinese Mafia” characters are those “nerdy Asian kids” in the back of your class. This is proven during a New Year’s party towards the end of the film when character Steve says, “So this is where the Asians hang out” and Derek replies with, “the library was closed.”
Better Luck Tomorrow is definitely not your average high school flick. It breaks the barriers of movie genres, and blows its audience away with ideas we don’t often think about. Lin is not afraid to be ambitious with the storyline and even with a surprise ending. All in all, I would give Better Luck Tomorrow my vote on owning.

Paradise Kiss the movie

Originally a series of manga, Paradise Kiss is one of the most creatively thought-of story lines ever. A group of fashion students need a model for their final runway show, and they find just the one when they run into Yukino Hayasaka. A stubborn, sheltered book worm, Yukino realizes a whole new side of herself while understanding the limitless world around her.

The tranformation of Paradise Kiss from a book to a movie was incredible; everything i remembered from the book was the same in the movie, and there were still interesting new things to spice the story up. For instance, in the movie Miwako has a "medicine" from Arashi and Hiro that makes her feel better everytime she's blue. Most all details from the book were transferred to the big screen, like outfits, facial expressions, and thoughts. Excellent movie THUMMMMMBZSZZSS UP

Mean Girls

Despite the fact that Lindsay Lohan is the key character in the movie Mean Girls, it's unbelievably good (it's not that I don't like lohan's acting, it's just that all her movies blow). This teen flick is about a home-schooled girl from Africa who transfers to a big high school for the first time. She soon learns that, at an American high school, intelligence will get you no where and everything will be judged by what you wear and who you hang out with. Lohan learns the price of popularity in this hilarious tale.
What I loved so much about Mean Girls was that the writers were'nt agraid to 'go there'. They dissected the stereotypes of high school and played them out so well; it was offensive in a way where you're like "hey, that's just wrong, but it is very, very funny." Some parts seemed like they would be written from a teen's view (like when they're getting a sex talk, and the teacher says "don't have sex. you will get pregnant and you will die") That may be why it did so well in the box office.

Se7en

Another disgustingly creepy movie, Se7en, or Seven, depicts a story of a misunderstood man (Kevin Spacey) committing murders in accordance to each of the seven deadly sins. Each murder is very brutal, yet very well thought out. Greed, gluttony, sloth, lust, and pride all lead an interesting trail for the two investigators on the case (Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) to follow. The two remaining sins, envy and wrath, provide an amazing twist at the end.



Se7en is one of those movies that's got some of the most disturbing visuals and scenes, but you completely disreguard how revolting it is because of how well it accentuates the plot. It's a very well thought-out movie.
Filmed in a dark nature, Se7en is refreshingly creative and gives me hope that good movies still exist.

Ichi the Killer (Koroshiya 1)

This wonderfully gorey film pushes the taste of disgusting foreign movies way beyond the envelope. That is precisely why I love it. Imagine the mercilessness of Hostile, and then imagine what it would have been like if the director had actually shown the gruesome things that the shots led up to. In Ichi the Killer, Takashi Miike really shows his one-of-a-kind director style of showing actual revolting torture (like suspension with having hot oil poured over you needles stuck in your face) and still having an interesting plot. There is one scene where the anti-hero cuts off his tongue and offers it to someone. It's stuff like that that make you think "holy crap, I know they can show that, but why the hell would they want to?"