Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story #MoviesMall

Homeless to Harvard #MoviesMall

Thora Birch stars as Liz Murray, one of two daughters of an extremely dysfunctional Bronx family. As a young girl, Murray lives with her sister, their drug-addicted, schizophrenic mother and their father, also a drug addict who is intelligent, but has AIDS, lacks social skills, and is not conscientious.

She is removed from the home and put into the care system as her father cannot take care of her. At 15 she moves in with her mother, sister and grandfather who sexually abused her mother.

After a run-in with her grandfather, she runs away with a girl from school who is being abused at home. After her mother Jean Murray (1954-1996) dies of AIDS, which she got from sharing needles during her drug abuse, she gets a 'slap in the face' by her mother's death and begins her work to finish high school, which she amazingly completed in two years, rather than the usual four.

She becomes a star student and earns a scholarship to Harvard University through an essay contest sponsored by The New York Times.

There Was A Little Boy #MoviesMall

There Was A Little Boy #MoviesMall

Wealthy Gregg and his wife, English teacher Julie, were happy parents until their little boy Robby was stolen while she took a bath. Their lives have taken off again, but they keep hoping and feeling guilty.

Fifteen years later, when Julie is pregnant again, the high school principal appeals to her educational idealism to take under her wing Jesse, a boy who is gifted as a mechanic and artist, but can barely be convinced to keep in school by his single devoted and devout mother Esperanza, who is sick and such a bad provider he has to steal. They alternate between getting on and clashing; Jesse even breaks in to steal a ring from Julie for his girlfriend Nilda. the finding of a Saint Blaise pendant in Robby's crib finally puts Julie on the kidnapper's trace- it leads via parish priest Ramirez, who is now in a home for the demented, to a devout Esperanza...

Vanessa: The Movie #MoviesMall

Vanessa: The Movie #MoviesMall

Vanessa lives with her step father who is mean to her and abuses her. Having coped with the atrocities for too long, Vanessa leaves home.

She lands on the streets with nowhere to seek shelter. She goes frantic looking for a roof above her head and is ready to the meanest possible job, even sell her skin, but with no respite. So, she chooses to commit suicide. When she is about to end her life, a stranger comes to rescue her in the nick of time. Vanessa soon finds out that life is not that bad after all.

Killer Elite: Action Movie Based On A True Story #MoviesMall

Killer Elite: Action Movie Based On A True Story #MoviesMall

"Killer Elite" is inspired by a story that ingeniously finds a way to explain why two teams of ex-SAS men would want to kill each other. That doubles the possibilities for casting, and here Jason Statham and Clive Owen, who in fact have no reason to dislike each other, are engaged in a deadly game of international murder. Robert De Niro plays a hostage taken by a sheik of Oman, who uses him to settle a score neither team has any reason to care about, so basically what's at stake is their professionalism.

Incredibly, this story is claimed to be based on fact. Author Ranulph Fiennes' novel is allegedly based on experiences he really had, and indeed the author of just such a book makes an appearance in the plot. I suspect the factual basis may be at a few degrees of separation from the pure action plot, but you never know; recent movies like "The Debt" suggest spy organizations can get involved in events that seem lifted from fiction.

The story: De Niro plays Hunter, the mentor of Danny (Jason Statham). Both were skilled professionals. Danny has had one of those epiphanies where a man of action decides the killing must stop and has retreated into seclusion in a remote quarter of the Australian outback. There he lives with the beautiful Anne (Yvonne Strahovski), who strictly speaking, is not particularly essential to the plot. Danny's past life follows him to the outback, after Hunter is kidnapped by the oil sheik. The sheik wants revenge against the killers of his sons, he knows Danny is the best in the world, and he correctly calculates that only the need to save his beloved teacher would lure him back into action.

The sons, it turns out, were murdered by four SAS men. Danny's assignment is tricky: He is to kill them, but make it look like each death is accidental, so no one will suspect the sheik. Diabolically clever. On his team are Davies (Dominic Purcell) and Meier (Aden Young). Meanwhile, Spike (Clive Owen) leads a shadowy group known as the Feather Men, whose mission is to protect ex-SAS men from retaliation. Their task is to shield the four targets from Danny and his boys. Got that?

This is actually a pretty good thriller, based more on character and plot than on action for its own sake. The need to construct killings that look like accidents adds to the interest. I find myself asking, really, how likely is it that one, let alone all, of these events could be stage-managed so precisely? Yet we learn that spy organizations are often behind "accidents."

Jason Statham is once again a hard-boiled man carved from solid macho. Clive Owen, who by disposition and facial expression seems more like a good guy, is also sufficiently cold-blooded. Do you ever find yourself looking at a movie involving steel-eyed killers with Brillo stubble on their chins, and wondering if they would possibly seem as menacing if they were clean-shaven?

De Niro is good here, in a role that perhaps offered some small inspiration. My impression is that he feels he's paid his dues, and his attention is now involved in his Tribeca activities. He still has his power when he chooses to use it.

The movie is a first feature by Gary McKendry, born in Northern Ireland, who previously directed many commercials and the 20-minute short "Everything in This Country Must," which was nominated for an Academy Award in the live-action short category. This is an impressive debut. He has the instincts of a storyteller, and understands that action is better when it's structured around character and plot, and doesn't rely on simple sensation. "Killer Elite" is rather pure in its storytelling, because at the end, we might be hard-pressed to divide the characters into good and bad guys.

Source: Roger Ebert

Boss of Bosses Movie #MoviesMall

Boss of Bosses Movie #MoviesMall

This Mafia film is somewhat true in the name of the film itself, but unluckily it hides the truth about life's reality - the bad side of the real-life individuals.

Pretty average for the type of film it is. Palminteri has his usual commanding performance, yet even he cannot get far beyond the mediocre dialog and the overly dramatic and stereotypical plot devices. In fact, he and the very good supporting cast is what pulls this up to a watchable level.

Big mistake to show the killing of Paul Castellano up front, then the rest as a sort of flashback. Most of us know he eventually dies anyway, but it's a completely pointless way of handling it. The maid/mistress is not that much of a sympathetic character as she gives in too easily to becoming a mistress, but that's probably what actually happened.

It's awfully tiring to see these mafioso thugs being constantly portrayed in a flattering manner, using the old excuse of poor upbringing and wrong friends as the reasons for their life of crime, and then of course they are always generous to the downtrodden. But these films never remind us that the downtrodden are the ones they use to gain their riches.

A Beautiful Life: The Movie #MoviesMall

A Beautiful Life: The Movie

When it comes to story, I don’t mind cliché and formula. Sometimes storytellers get so wrapped up in trying to find an untold story that they forget to be engaging. Sooner or later, plots will start sounding similar and characters will seem borrowed from other works. It’s an inevitability that should be embraced, because there is plenty of room for innovation within the clichés. What distinguishes stories from one another is how the story is told, which brings us to A Beautiful Life. This film is a perfect example of cliché variables thrown together in the hopes of creating something greater than the sum of its parts. Regrettably, the writing and direction isn’t strong enough to keep it all together, wasting the few strong performances the actors offer.

A Beautiful Life revolves around three main characters: Maggie (Angela Sarafyan) is a runaway teen, escaping a mysteriously abusive past. David (Jesse Garcia) is an illegal immigrant dishwasher, hounded by immigration agents. Esther (Bai Ling) is an exotic dancer with a heart of gold. They all have their individual challenges to overcome, but they also have personal dreams, like getting an education, bringing family members to the United States or becoming a professional singer. In the meantime, the characters make do with what they have, getting by with each other’s camaraderie and finding the beauty of the moment and hope for the future.

Another half hour of movie would have gone a long way in fleshing out A Beautiful Life. In its current form, the story only develops Maggie’s plot, but not fully. All of the beats feel forced and the characters she meets are plot utilities rather than living, breathing people. For instance, the story requires David and Angela to begin feeling romantic towards each other, so they simply do without any kind of foundation to suggest that they like each other. Later, Angela is helped by the most overzealous local librarian (Debi Mazar) in the world. Whenever Angela walks into the library, the librarian is inexplicably falling all over herself to assist Angela in an odd, almost fairy godmother-esque manner. Other characters also have interesting stories, but only develop half their story arcs, leaving audiences wondering why their stories were included at all.

There are a handful of excellent performances with special recognition going to Angela Sarafyan and Bai Ling. Sarafyan acting is strong enough to carry the film and her performance during a difficult scene where she’s sexually aroused while being beaten is fearless. While Bai Ling could have had a little more screen-time, she makes the most of her scenes and flexes her acting chops. Considering she accepted the role the day before filming and didn’t have time to read the script, it’s truly impressive what Bai Ling was able to do with the role. She even believably pulls off a sexy Jazz tune during a stripping routine. Of course it’s difficult to recognize the wonderful performances because most of the material they have to work with is difficult to enjoy.

The script is a few drafts away from where it needs to be. Dialog is stilted, characters are unbelievable and scenes are forced. Characters get into fights with no natural impetus. One moment they’re discussing the prospect of eating peanut butter spaghetti, the next they’re kicking chairs and breaking plates. Watching the actors do what they can with their lines and blocking typically inspires sympathy, because their talent is there; the writing isn’t.

A Beautiful Life is a mixed bag that’s mostly full of things you don’t want. The direction and writing are the biggest culprits. While there are a few shining moments – Angela Sarafyan and Bai Ling are a pleasure to watch and are absolute knockouts – there simply isn’t enough quality to recommend this film.


Release date
2008
Running time
1:21:26
Language
English
Actors
DANA DELANY (Desperate Housewives) DEBI MAZAR (The Insider Batman Forever) BAI LING (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Red Corner) JESSE GARCIA (Quinceanera)
Directors
ALEJANDRO CHOMSKI (Today and Tomorrow Paul Auster)
Category
Drama

Source: René S. Garcia, Jr.

Little Lights: MMFF Animation Category Finalist #MoviesMall #mmffnewwave2015 #LittleLights

Little Lights: MMFF Animation Category Finalist #MoviesMall #mmffnewwave2015 #LittleLights

Manila, Philippines – “Little Lights” is a story about being born with a lack of light. More importantly, it shows what happens when we, as individuals and as a community, discover what it means to be empowered by our differences and similarities.

A physically weak but strong-minded firefly named Charlie is forced to face his fears. Charlie struggles, not only to overcome his fear of darkness, but also to find his place in his discord-riddled firefly community. But, in spite of his own weaknesses and the indifference of his fellow fireflies, Charlie sets out to become stronger, eventually leading his loved ones to safety when danger arises.

Told using a combination of unique visual and musical artistry, Little Lights aims to inspire others to find their own light and to not be afraid to share it.

Little Lights is a passion project that started with two artists, Rivelle Mallari and Regie Espiritu, who envisioned telling a story by combining the art of animation and a musical scoring.
Now, the Animation film is made available again to be seen in selected theatre this December. (Pls. see screening details below)

About the Director:
Rivelle Mallari is a magna cum laude graduate of University of the Philippines Diliman in Bachelor in Arts in Film and Audio Visual Communication. Ever since, she loves arts specifically animated films


About the MMDA New Wave Section:

Mr. Emerson Carlos, Chairman of MMDA, supports the MMFF’s New Wave Section and believes that this will create a venue for promising filmmakers to showcase their creativity and their talents.

Now on its third year, the Animation Category of the MMFF New Wave is continuous in its support of the thriving art of animated filmmaking in the Philippine film industry. Its objective is to cater and recognize the country's pool of talents in producing animated works that reflect not only the technical prowess of artist, but also their creativity in telling stories through visual narratives.

MMFF New Wave 2015 will run from December 17 to 24 at SM Megamall, Glorietta 4, and Robinsons Place Manila.

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW:

Please contact Pat
Patricia Cabredo - 0927 2222697


For more details:

MMFF New Wave: MMFF New Wave

Little Lights FB: Little Lights

Haider Movie: A Bollywood take on Hamlet is set in politically restive Kashmir #MoviesMall

Haider Movie: A Bollywood take on Hamlet is set in politically restive Kashmir #MoviesMall

Vishal Bhardwaj's Haider goes where Bollywood rarely treads: the movie based on William Shakespeare's Hamlet goes beyond clichés on Kashmir and its characters aren't trying to be entertaining.

The movie tells the story of Haider (Shahid) who finds out that his peace-loving, life-saving doctor father (Narendra Jha) has been arrested by the Indian Army. He returns from Aligarh (where he was studying poetry, a passion he shares with his father) to realise that his mother (Tabu) and uncle (Kay Kay Menon) are behind a conspiracy that resulted in his father's disappearance.

We have seen in Maqbool and Omkara how wonderfully Bhardwaj takes up the bard's plays and weaves them passionately into a completely different cultural milieu. With Haider, Vishal does better.

The film paints Kashmir in a haunting colour, so true to the troubles there. The usual whites and dark hues of frames are there in the Valley (usual in cinematic sense when you portray dark emotions) but even the colourful frames blaringly outline the feelings of revengeful, hurt and disturbed souls.

Bhardwaj and Kashmiri journalist Basharat Peer co-wrote the film's screenplay and they must be praised for their courage to speak strongly about what is happening in Kashmir. Haider goes beyond Bollywood's Pakistan bashing for Kashmir's troubles and speaks about the alleged atrocities of the Indian Army on Kashmiris. Haider jokes about 'chutzpah'--pronounced as 'chootspaa' in the movie--and equates it to AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the security law which gives armed forces immunity from prosecution while operating in the militancy-hit areas but has been criticised by human rights groups).

As for performances, Vishal Bhardwaj brings out the best of Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor, a journalist in the movie. Shahid looks a little out of place in the beginning but the traumatic role rubs onto him with time. Shahid's acting in Haider could well undo his several Bollywood mistakes (read Phata Poster Nikhla Hero and the likes).

Tabu plays the role of a traumatised and hurt soul who is searching for peace and love wonderfully. Kay Kay Menon is mesmerising with his menacing and conniving looks. Narendra Jha is impressive as the doctor who in his bid to save lives ends up being branded as a militancy supporter. Even the smallest of characters, faces that appear just for a shot, impress you as much as the actors with full-fledged roles. In one scene, Shahid meets an old woman at a government office where they have both come searching for their missing family members. The woman shows the picture of a young man and Shahid shows his father's picture: the traumatised-and-caring look on the woman's face as she touches Shahid's head is striking.

Bhardwaj picks the drama of human follies from Shakespeare's works and places them in a completely different scenario, but he stays true to the emotions of the bard's works. The director ensures that the emotions of a troubled soul (Haider), subtle sexual undertones of the mother-son duo relation, the eternal human follies of treachery and adultery are showcased on the canvas of his cinema.

The music and background score go hand-in-hand with the narrative and scaringly haunt you throughout. The romantic number Khul Kabhi To seems a bit misplaced and is distracting. The ending to the song, however, brings you back to the traumatised cinematic experience that Haider is.

Haider Movie 2014 - Shahid Kapoor - Shraddha Kapoor - Tabu - Full Promotion Events Video

Haider Full Movie: Click this link: HAIDER FULL MOVIE

Source: SwetaKaushal

Life Is Beautiful #MoviesMall

Life Is Beautiful #MoviesMall

Raj works in Toronto and lives with his friend Prem who hates him for invading his tiny apartment. After Raj's application for Canadian residency is rejected, he plots the perfect plan to attain the Citizenship within a year, he marries a stranger, Pia.

And as much as she hates it, she is forced to move in with him, as his wife. They live together, they fight, they laugh and soon a strange connection develops between them manifesting into a newfound friendship. The plan seems to be working fine, but the real complications begin on a stormy day when destiny brings Linda in front of Raj, a woman who comes into his life and changes it forever. A story of love that redefines the rules of relationships beyond social barriers and takes these four characters on a journey filled with love, loss and lots of laughter.

Life Is Beautiful full movie

I Am Slave #MoviesMall

I Am Slave #MoviesMall

I Am Slave is the story of one woman's life from the time she kidnapped at 12 yrs into modern-day slavery til she manages to get her freedom

I Am Slave, starring Wunmi Mosaku, is a powerful story of imprisonment, cruelty and despair, but also one of hope and humanity.

The story starts when Malia, is snatched from her father during a Muharaleen raid on their village. Sold into slavery, she spends next six years working for a Sudanese family. After 6 yrs she is sent to London where the slavery continues.

Stripped of her passport and living in fear of what might happen to her family in the Sudan and fearing that she will not be able to cope with freedom should she speak out, Malia is trapped.

With the help of a complete stranger, she summons up the strength to make a dramatic escape back to Sudan to the father who never gave up hope that she was alive and who never stopped searching for her.

I Am Slave Full Movie

Lost In The Sun Movie #MoviesMall

Lost In The Sun Movie #MoviesMall

The story of John, a small time crook, who finds an unlikely accomplice in Louis, a newly-orphaned teenage boy. As their open-road adventure progresses and John drags the kid on a string of robberies, the pair forge an unexpected and powerful bond.

I loved the story that it unfolds the plot into inspiring bond between father and son. Given the scenes that really captured my imagination that a father-love is everything.

Read the full review of this movie: Scott Tobias

A small-time crook has a secret in “Lost in the Sun,” but it takes nearly 90 minutes of secondhand outlaw behavior to get it out of him in writer-director Trey Nelson’s somnolent road picture. By then, the audience is likely 80 minutes ahead of the big reveal and perhaps wondering why some obvious questions aren’t being asked. Sprawling the drama out across the arid expanse between Texas and New Mexico — and catching seemingly every “magic hour” exterior along the way — Nelson seeks a more tender variation on the traditional Middle American crime spree, but the central relationship between a ne’er-do-well and an orphaned teen rarely rings true. A perfunctory release in theaters and on VOD on Nov. 5 will be the farthest this broken-down Josh Duhamel vehicle stands to travel before stalling out.

“There are certain things I just can’t change about myself,” confesses ex-con John Wheeler (Duhamel), and he’s certainty right about that. Past mistakes have condemned him to a life in permanent exile, where he sleeps in his car and dodges the shady characters who want the protection money he owes them. It’s safe to assume he’s alienated everyone who ever cared about him and it’s equally safe to assume that his time in prison hasn’t exactly burnished his resume. Backed into this desperate corner, the only way he knows how to survive is to wave his handgun at the clerk beyond the counter and hope there’s enough in the cash register to last him a few days.

When John turns up at his ex-girlfriend’s funeral, he turns his attention to her orphaned son, Louis (Josh Wiggins), who’s set to take a bus to his grandparents’ house in New Mexico immediately after the ceremony is over. It doesn’t take much for John to convince the boy to skip the bus and accept a ride with him instead, but needless to say, they take the scenic route getting there. Though he remains properly suspicious and resentful of this stranger, Louis perks up when John teaches him lessons in adulthood like how to drive and how to shoot a gun. Those skills come in handy later, when John needs a wheelman for a series of armed robberies.

The bond that develops between the boy and the stranger hovers somewhere between twisted affection and Stockholm syndrome, but Nelson doesn’t make it stick. Their feelings for each other vary from scene to scene, with Louis acting like a hostage in some and a willing partner-in-crime in others. John proudly likens himself to great American outlaws like Billy the Kid and Clyde Barrow — Louis gently reminds him that those guys got shot — but the comparison does “Lost in the Sun” no favors. Dragging a sullen boy through a handful of low-yield stick-ups does not a criminal legend make.

The film breaks the monotony a little when the fugitives pair off John and Louis with a like-aged mother (Lynn Collins) and daughter (Emma Fuhrmann) who show both the possibility of a healthier life. But soon enough, Nelson puts them back on a road to a New Mexico farm that seems so far away, perhaps they followed Bugs Bunny’s lead and took a wrong turn at Albuquerque. “Lost in the Sun” doesn’t have the pop of a crime thriller, much less an exploitation movie, but the absence of psychological complexity makes it listless as drama, too, with a disengaged Duhamel moseying about like Timothy Olyphant’s understudy.

The one bright spot in this grinding dirge is Wiggins, a gifted child actor who continues a run of good performances this year in the indie drama “Hellion” and the inspiration dog movie “Max.” Even with his company, though, it’s still a long road to get the expected solution to the pic’s only mystery.

Film Review: ‘Lost in the Sun’

Reviewed online, Chicago, Nov. 3, 2015. Running time: 96 MIN.

Production

An Entertainment One release of a Floren Shieh Prods., Two Ton Films, and Cargo Entertainment production. Produced by Clay Pecorin, Aimee Shieh, Clay Floren. Executive producer, Russell Geyser. Co-producers, Chris Robert, A.J. Shah.

Crew

Directed, written by Trey Nelson. Camera, Robert Barocci; editor, Michael Choi; music, Daniel Hart; production designer, Michael Bricker; supervising art director, Gary Barbosa; set decorator, Nazanin Shirazi; costume designer, Steven Chudej; sound, Erik Duemig; supervising sound editor, Gisela Fulla-Silvestre; re-recording mixers, Robert Hein, Josh Berger; assistant director, Meg Beatty; casting, Karry Barden, Karmen Leech, Paul Schnee, John Williams.

With Josh Duhamel, Josh Wiggins, Lynn Collins, Emma Fuhrmann.

Click the link: Lost In The Sun

Action Movies Scott Adkins Wu Jing I FIGHT FOR CHINA HD Chinese War English #MoviesMall

Action Movies Scott Adkins Wu Jing I FIGHT FOR CHINA HD Chinese War English #MoviesMall

Great things have long been expected of Chinese screen fighter Wu Jing - a multiple time Chinese national wushu champion who trains under the same master as Jet Li - particularly since his breakout performance in 2005 effort Sha Po Lang (released in the US as Kill Zone) opposite Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung but, for a variety of reasons most of which having to do with poor management and poor selection of roles, the on screen success has never really arrived for the talented fighter in the way many expected. And so now he's trying something a little different.

Having already turned in work as a fight director and co-directing Legendary Assassin, Wu is now stepping behind the camera for the first time as a solo director on a Chinese military themed action film titled Wolf. And who's the white guy on set? That'd be Scott Adkins in a key role. Adkins - as fans of the Undisputed series know very well - is one hell of a fighter himself so an Adkins versus Wu fight is very definitely something to look forward to.