Come to think about it, maybe I should have read about the Japanese version of Elevator to the Gallows before I hit the play button. Meiko (Kichise Michiko) and Dr. Tokito Takahiko (Abe Hiroshi) are lovers. She’s the wife of Temiyako Takamitsu (Tsugawa Masahiko), president of a large medical company and Doc Tokito’s boss.

Meiko and the doctor plan to murder the husband and make it look like a suicide. It looks like they are going to get away with it but Tokito is trapped in the elevator. Meanwhile, his car is stolen by another couple – Mikayo and Kunie (Kitagawa Keiko and Tamayama Tetsuji). Meiko sees the car drive by with Mikayo in the passenger seat and she thinks that the doctor has another woman.

The couple checks into a villa using Tokito’s name and he is implicated in the murder that takes place. All the while, Tokito is still trapped in the elevator. Now the police is chasing after him for the wrong murder.

It has all the elements of a good thriller except it was not executed well. I can’t blame the cast members for this fiasco because their portrayals were spot on. There were some parts of the movie that dragged on unnecessarily. Good thing Kitagawa Keiko and Kichise Michiko were in it. They made the move less boring for me. Elevator to the Gallows is not a good thriller. But at least it is a good treatment for insomnia. I really felt that I was heading to the gallows indeed.

It was ten years ago when Tom Adkins Sr. (Jon Hamm) lost his son Tom Jr. (Ty Panitz) at a diner. He felt guilty about it and his inability to give up the search for his missing son. Because of his constant absence and guilt, his marriage with Barbara (Rhona Mitra) has suffered and on the brink of divorce.

50 years ago, a young father Matthew Wakefield (Josh Lucas) lost everything, including his home. His wife couldn’t handle the pressure and committed suicide, leaving him to take care of their three kids. He decided to leave his kids with relatives but they would only take the normal ones. They said that John (Jimmy Bennett) would just be a liability because he’s mentally challenged. So Matthew had to find a space for the two of them and started to work at a construction site.

Matthew became friends with Diploma (James Van Der Beek) and Swede (Holt McCallany) and got in an affair. It was during this time when John was abducted. At this point, Stolen jumped back to the present where the body in a box was proven to be that of John Wakefield.

The similarities of the two cases made Tom Sr. more driven to uncover the truth behind the murder of the Wakefield boy. He hoped that the disappearance 50 years ago would lead him to the kidnapper of his son.

And as it turned out, the case of John Wakefield and his son were connected. Dawson did it. As Tom Sr. closed both cases, he was able to come to the realization that he lost his son forever. He also made up with his wife.

The characters in Stolen were well developed and the actors did a solid job with their acting. Jon Hamm and Josh Lucas were perfect as tormented fathers. The two stories were smartly weaved together and didn’t feel forced. It is a good, well-written movie even if the ending felt a bit rushed.

Law Abiding Citizen has a great start. As a black ops think tank, Shelton can think of ways to kill his target. His actions are deliberate. This is one of the reasons why I enjoyed this movie. And you’ll find yourself cheering for him.

Then in the middle of Law Abiding Citizen, the intelligently drafted script turned into a Hollywood nightmare. Improbable things began to happen. All that character development in the beginning has gone to waste. And don’t get me started with the ending, which is perhaps the worst one I’ve seen so far.

Gerard Butler fits the role given to him. He is the perfect anti-hero and you’ll sympathize with him. The opposite can be said about Jamie Foxx, who plays prosecutor Nick Rice. That guy can’t act and should eat more rice. You can’t get any emotions from him at all. At one point, I wanted Rice to lose his daughter so that he could feel the pain that Sheldon had to go through.

One of the things I liked about Law Abiding Citizen is Leslie Bibb. She played Nick Rice’s assistant Sarah Lowell. I hoped she had longer screen time than her boss.

Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler): I’m gonna pull the whole thing down. I’m gonna bring the whole fuckin’ diseased, corrupt temple down on your head. It’s gonna be biblical.

I don’t want to t believe that Sheldon was blown up by his own bomb in the end. Aside from Foxx and the crappy ending, Law Abiding Citizen is an entertaining movie. If ever you’ll be watching this movie, my advice is to skip the final 15 minutes or so.

Kate Beckinsale stars as U. S. Marshal Carrie Stetko, who must track a killer within three days before the last plane departs from the international research station. During her investigation she discovers more dead bodies. Time is running out and she still doesn’t know the motive and the person behind the murders.

Robert Pryce (Gabriel Macht), an U. N. agent, comes out of nowhere and offers to help U. S. Marshal Carrie with her investigation. Other interesting characters in Whiteout are Dr. John Fury (Tom Skerritt), the retiring physician of the research station; and the two pilots Russell (Alex O’Loughlin) and Delfy (Columbus Short).

Let me repeat what I said in the first paragraph. I watched Whiteout because it stars Kate Beckinsale and the movie didn’t disappoint me. You would have thought that there’s no way Kate will show some skin in a movie set in Antarctica. But Whiteout had Kate Beckinsale stripping off all layers of her clothes to take a shower in the first part of the movie. That’s the only unpredictable part of the movie.

Dr. John Fury (Tom Skerritt): I never meant for anyone to get hurt, but Haden got greedy.

Whiteout went downhill after the Kate Beckinsale shower scene. Everything played out the way you’ll think they would, even the twists in the plot. So the canisters from the Soviet plane didn’t contain radioactive materials but diamonds. The Aussie pilot is the killer and the old doctor is his accomplice. You could have guessed it even without these spoilers.

Whiteout is a fun way to spend summer. You’ll feel the coldness of the Antarctica when you watch the movie. Just make sure you’re prepared to see all white on the screen. Aside from Kate Beckinsale, I have nothing good to say about it. But Kate is enough reason to watch this shit.

The murders were not so random at all when the police, with the help of Soon Jeong’s ex-husband Detective Oh Seong-ho (Moon Seong Geun), found how the victims are connected to the death of her daughter Min-ah.

Princess Aurora is a twisted story of a mother’s love. Uhm Jung Hwa is perfect for the role as she plays the deranged mother who was driven to do evil things for the love of her daughter. It shows that our world is neither black nor white and how thin the line is between just and insanity.

If you don’t want to be spoiled then don’t read beyond this point.

The first victim in Princess Aurora is the step mother of Min Ah’s friend. She is a mean step-mother and mistreats her daughter whenever the dad is not around. Min-ah told this to Soon Jeong the day before she died.

The restaurant guy bumped her car when she was on her way to fetch Min Ah. It was his fault because he went the wrong way in a one-way street. He was mean and sexist. He’s lucky because he’s the only one to survive among the victims.

Choi Sin Ok (Hyeon Yeong) is Soon Jeong’s co-worker who left Min Ah outside of the shop because she didn’t want to be late for her reservation at the spa.

Min Ah rode a taxi but when she told her that she’s short on the fare, he stopped the taxi and dropped her off. This was when the killer got Min Ah.

As you can see, the victims deserved what they got. As a mother, she wants to avenge her daughter’s death that drove her to her current state of mind. She was caught when she was torturing the killer’s lawyer and was sentenced to serve her time in a mental institution.

But this was all part of Soon Jeong’s plan. Min Ah’s killer is also in the mental institution because he pleaded insanity to escape jail time. Her ex-husband was also part of her plan and helped her by bringing in a blade hidden inside a bible. Her final act was killing Min Ah’s killer and then committed suicide. Then in the final scene of Princess Aurora we see the ex-husband detective stalking the lawyer.

It is about a group of shallow, rich kids (Amber Heard, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jon Foster, just to name a few) and their just as shallow parents and older acquaintances headed by Laura (Kim Basinger) as Graham’s mom who’s depressed because her husband William (Billy Bob Thornton) is having an affair with a reporter Cheryl (Winona Ryder). Then there’s Les Price (Chris Isaak), Tim’s womanizing dad.

The Informers wanted to portray the self-indulgent 80’s when AIDS was still non-existent. Aside from Amber Heard’s nudity, I didn’t find anything entertaining from this movie. The acting was decent with the late Brad Renfro giving the most outstanding performance.

One thing that’s lacking in the movie is character development and motivation. Except for Renfro’s character, I didn’t care about the other characters. When Christie (Amber Heard) died on the beach, you won’t feel sorry for her at all.

The Informers is about several relationships gone bad and tried to set them all up for a big climax but it ended abruptly. Problems left unsolved and the story remained superficial. There was no wow moment. Everything about it was forgettable except for Amber Heard’s body. Too bad it was Brad Renfro’s last movie.

Susan Sloan (Cameron Goodman) to a topless Christie: Nice Shirt.

The Informers had lots of nudity; therefore kids should not watch it. I also advise adults to avoid this one if they don’t want to waste their time. Winona tricked me into watching this one. I hope no one else makes the same mistake that I did.

P.S.

Winona Ryder didn’t take her clothes off in this one.

Right from the start you’ll have the feeling that Lee is up to no good and you’ll anticipate every move he and his gang will do next.  Insadong Scandal does feel a little bit like Ocean’s Eleven and The Thomas Crown Affair but that should not stop you from watching this movie.

But the similarities stop there.  The characters were well developed. The story explained why Lee and the others turned on the scheming Bae.  Kim Rae Won was successful in his portrayal of the mastermind of an elaborate plan to take down the Queen Bae.

Uhm Jung Hwa in Insadong Scandal was completely the opposite from her role in He Who Can’t Marry.  As Bae, she was fierce and totally dominated everyone in the movie.

Insadong Scandal shows the dark side of the Arts industry where forgeries are rampant.  There might be an instance where forgers are copying a fake without their knowledge.  Hopefully nothing like that is happening in the real world or else what we take for an original work of art might turn into a brilliant counterfeit.

Insadong Scandal might have borrowed some inspiration from Hollywood movies but it maintained the unpredictability factor that I enjoy from most Korean movies I’ve seen.  The twist in the plot surprised me and hopefully I didn’t spoil much of the plot for you to enjoy it as well.

The action scenes were done nicely.  Jason Statham is this generation’s Steven Siegal.  His moves are fluid and I have to admit, it was entertaining.  The Transporter surely knows how to kick ass.  There were car chases but they are not as good as in the first Transporter movie.  One scene I liked was when the Transporter rode a bike through a sweat shop to chase a car. The Transporter on a bike is probably the only fresh idea that is found in this movie.

A Transporter movie is not complete with the girl package.  Natalya Rudakova plays the kidnapped daughter of a ranking Ukrainian government official.  Jason Statham must deliver her to Odessa but things get complicated when her father sent people to intercept them.

Frank Martin (Jason Statham): Do I look like a man who came half-way across Europe to die on a bridge?

Of course he didn’t die on a bridge.  Frank Martin can’t go far from the car or else he will explode.  So he jumped the Audi on top of the train where the bad guys are holding the girl.  If you think that’s unbelievable, he topped it by driving the Audi from the roof of the train, jumped and went to the inside of the other train.  That’s how he saves the girl.

I hope that the creators of the Transporter franchise are not planning to make another one.  Transporter 3 is full of clichés but it was saved by good action sequences.  If you haven’t seen the first two Transporter movies, you might not like this one.  This is definitely made for fans of the franchise but please let this be the last one.

Also in this fast paced cop movie are Forest Whitaker, Chris Evans, Cedric the Entertainer, Hugh Laurie, and Jay Mohr. Rappers The Game and Common played two hoodlums in Street Kings. Like Reeves, everyone made this movie believable.

Street Kings is about cops helping out cops. When Reeves was implicated in the killing of his former partner, he uncovered the truth. Then the shit hits the fan and it reached the top of the ladder. I have guessed who was behind the killing during the middle of the film but I was still glued to my seat, waiting for the final scene. And I was not disappointed at all.

I laughed so hard when Hugh Laurie first came on screen. It was an E.R. scene where Reeves was brought in after he was shot during a bust. I thought I was watching an episode of House. That scene was priceless.

Captain James Biggs (Hugh Laurie): You were the plan. No one else could touch him. Once your eyes were opened, there was no other outcome. Decisions were made, Tom, by powerful men with powerful secrets. They were afraid of Jack. They asked me to help. One day, you will pass the chief in the hall and he will give you a nod. And you will know why. Because you were right, Tom. We do need you.

Actually Keanu Reeves needs to do more movies like Street Kings. It shows his depth as an actor and he should not be stereotyped as Neo or Ted.

They played two thieves that have the perfect plan for a heist. Just like any heist movies, things can go wrong.

In the case of Thick as Thieves, there were things that are visually wrong. There were scenes taken in New York and in a blink of the eye they’re in Europe. Its editing made my mind twitch. The lighting made it look like a low budget movie.

The chemistry between Morgan and Banderas is good but the relationship between Banderas and Radha Mitchell was as far from believable as possible. Plus, the story felt like it was written by someone who has watched a lot of thrillers. Yup, there were a lot of twists in the plot but was I surprised? No.

The ending hinted of a sequel. For God’s sake please no more of this. I can endure only one Thick as Thieves.

*Spoiler*
Gabriel is an undercover cop. Before the heist, Alex was taken by the mob leader. So during the heist, Gabriel double-crossed Ripley and brought the egg to save Alex. Ripley was taken by the cops only to be walk out of jail because the charges were dropped. Then while looking at mob photos, Gabriel learned that who he thought was the mob boss turned out to be Alex’s own dad, Ripley’s supposedly dead partner.