Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Last Emperor: Review 1 Dec 4 2009
The Last Emperor: Review 1 Dec 4 2009
FILMS INTACT
2002 Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.
Frederico and Sam are two lucky men, Frederico survived an earthquake and has the power to
wrench fortune from those around him: he has the gift, Sam is a survivor of the Jewish holocaust
and manages a casino in the middle of a lava desert. One day, Frederico challenges Sam who
expels him from paradise, taking his gift from him.
Years later, Frederico thinks that he has found in Tomas, the only survivor of an air accident, the
instrument of his vengeance. By teaching him to control fortune, he can use him to return to the
casino and challenge the God of fortune. Together they begin a journey of initiation, a succession
of ever more strange and difficult tests in which the highest bet is the luck of others; luck, which
in this game is captured in a simple photograph. Everything goes well until Sara, a policewoman
who survives a car accident which kills her family, becomes obsessed with discovering what is
behind these clandestine games in which death and luck become enmeshed. In which only one ca
remain intact. This film is really worth watching.
2. After reading the review, how would you judge this film?
a. Bad
b. Fair
c. Not bad
d. Mediocre
e. Excellent
if you are expecting a history lesson. Bertolucci’s epic about the rise and fall of Pu Yi is hard to
follow and confusing at times. But he has done a remarkable job of portraying the Chinese
culture, and he has captured China in stunningly beautiful images. There are some touching
scenes, as when the young Pu Yi’s nurse is taken from him. Unfortunately, the movie is too long
and tends to drag at times.
Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is a washed-up 80’s pop star who’s been reduced to working the
nostalgia circuit at county fairs and amusement parks. The charismatic and talented musician
gets a chance at a comeback when reigning diva Cora Corman (Haley Bennett) invites him to
write and record a duet with her, but there’s a problem–Alex hasn’t written a song in years, he’s
never written lyrics, and he has to come up with a hit in a matter of days, enter Sophie Fisher
(Drew Barrymore), Alex’s attractively quirky lady, whose fl air for words strikes a chord with
the struggling songwriter. On the rebound from a bad relationship,
Sophie is reluctant to collaborate with anyone, especially commitment-phobe Alex. As their
chemistry heats up at the piano and under it, Alex and Sophie will have to face their fears–and
the music–if they want to find the love and success they both deserve.
AADC
Cinta (Dian Sastrowardoyo) is a beautiful, smart and confident seventeen year old. Born in a
loving family, surrounded by caring and supporting friends. Cinta seems to have everything in
the world. She has four best friends, Milly (Sissy Pricillia), Karmen (Adinia Wirasti), Alya
(Ladya Cheryl), and Maura(Titi Kamal) who always protect her. She’s also the object of Borne’s
affection, the most eligible boyfriend at school.
But things are starting to change when Cinta meets Rangga (Nicholas saputra), a cool and
arrogant boy whose presence is never taken into account at school. The unpredictable character
of Rangga has disturbed Cinta. It creates a new and unfamiliar sensation which leads Cinta into a
new and strange world. The next thing she knows, she has fallen in love with someone who has a
very different character and comes from a very different world.
Bit by bit, Cinta starts to change. She becomes a new person, a stranger to her friends and even
to herself. She doesn’t understand what has happened, let alone her friends.
As the hilariously funny tale called The Princess Diaries begins, Mia Thermopolis is just a
regular high school freshman at Albert Einstein High School. Well, as regular as you can be
when you live in a loft in downtown New York with your flighty artist Mom. And as regular as
you can be when your best friend is Lilly, a punky and spunky militant who produces her own
TV show.
As readers can guess from the title, this book takes the form of a diary, written by Mia. Over the
span of a month, she relates her daily woes and embarrassments in heart breaking detail. As with
most teenaged girls, Mia thinks she is hopeless, looks-wise. She’s tall — 5’9″ — and klutzy, and
not so gifted in the chest department.
Then there is school. One of Mia’s biggest problems is the fact she is flunking Algebra and, to
make matters worse, her Mom has begun dating her teacher. Gross.
In the boy department, the cutest one in school has the locker next to hers, but doesn’t even know
Mia exists, even as his snooty girlfriend Lana, a popular cheerleader, torments her. And to top it
off, Mia is developing some sort of weird crush on Michael, Lilly’s computer nerd brother.
Then one day, Mia finds out she is a princess. Okay, I know that doesn’t sound bad to most girls,
but Mia hates the idea instantly. How does this fairy tale come true? Her father is ruler of the
principality of Genovia and since Mia is his only child, she is next in line to the throne. Her dad
sends in the big guns to convince Mia that being a princess is what she is meant to do: her
formidable grandmother comes to New York to give Mia “Princess Lessons”. And as the word
spreads around Albert Einstein High School that Mia is royalty, her life just gets more crazy.
The ending of The Princess Diaries is a twisty one and will leave you joining for more stories of
Mia and the rest of her friends.
Reviewed by Jennifer Abbots
Taken from http://www.teenreads.com
4. . … Mia is developing some sort of weird crush on Michael, Lilly’s computer nerd brother. A
nerd is …
a. someone who is extremely interested in computers
b. someone who is fashionable
c. someone who is charming
d. someone who is nervous
e. Someone who is smart
J.K. Rowling
Bloomsbury 1997
Paperback
ISBN 0747532745
223pp
Judging by this first volume, the Harry Potter books are a fine addition to English children’s
fantasy literature. Harry Potter, orphaned when his parents are killed by the evil wizard
Voldemort, is taken in by his aunt and uncle, who are Muggles — ordinary, non-magical people.
Harry is rather out of place there, but things improve greatly for him when he goes to the
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry — except that one of the staff is in league with
Voldemort.
Part of the attraction of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone comes from the familiar but at
the same time exotic setting of an English public school, complete with houses and schoolboy
adventures, in which Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione struggle to save the world and win
the house cup.
So Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone will be a great Christmas present for kids who
haven’t read it yet — and it is a book that adults (at least those without stunted imaginations) can
read as well.
A book review by Danny Yee © 2000
http://dannyreviews.com/