[FEATURE] Crossover-- Alice in Wonderland X Harry Potter (Video!)

When I watched Avengers2 in cinema last time, I was so excited that two of my favourite characters -- Iron Man and Thor are in the same screen this time. That reminded me of one winter in my high school, when The Amazing Spiderman and The Dark Knight Rises were on in two weeks in a roll. I am really expecting that spiderman and batman can meet each other in some superhero episode but my idea never came true. So when brainstorming for this feature video with my group mates, a brilliant idea came to our minds! Why don't we do a crossover? And we picked up two characters: The Mad Hatter form Alice in Wonderland and Professor McDonagall from Harry Potter.












Mr Hatter is a popular character in Wonderland. He's mad, obviously, but rather charming. He is very unpredictable but protective of friends. Even though he doesn't have the magic wand, he himself is magic. Then what if he goes to the most well-known magic school in the world-- Hogwarts? What will happen when he meets the First Lady in Hogwarts? Which house will Mr Hatter be sorted into?


The video consists of a brief introduction on the two characters in case anyone never seen these two movies before. Then we shot a mini role play of the classic sorting ceremony in the first episode of Harry Potter series. It is our first feature video, hope you guys enjoy!

[NEW] Adam Jones-- from a sniper to a chef!

New post released 

"A chef assembles a crew together in an attempt to create the best restaurant ever." The extract from IMDb sounds quite boring but let's see the casts first to get excited!

The film features a stacked cast that reunites Cooper with his American Sniper co-star Sienna Miller along with the likes of Jamie Dornan from Fifty Shades of Grey, Lily James from Cinderella, Emma Thompson, Uma Thurman, Daniel Brühl form Rush, Alicia Vikander from Ex Machina...

The movie will be released in US in October this year, so not much details is available online. But as a big fan of Bradley Cooper, the Pixar Four is not gonna miss any movie of him.  The movie is roughly about a Michelin chef is facing a body blow in Paris and trying to rebuild his career!

Here's the official synopsis followed by the poster.

Chef Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) had it all - and lost it. A two-star Michelin rockstar with the bad habits to match, the former enfant terrible of the Paris restaurant scene did everything different every time out, and only ever cared about the thrill of creating explosions of taste. To land his own kitchen and that third elusive Michelin star though, he'll need the best of the best on his side, including the beautiful Helene (Sienna Miller). ADAM JONES is a remarkably funny and emotional story about the love of food, the love between two people, and the power of second chances.


edited by Fanqing XU 43392202

[Feature] Ian McKellen--How do you know him, Gandalf, Magneto, Holmes or cynical Freddie?

He is 76 today and he has created so many classic characters, and been nominated twice in Oscar. McKellen's work spans genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. His notable film roles include Gandalf in The Lord of the Ring and The Hobbit trilogies and Magneto in the X-Men films.

As a fun old man never too old to be on screen, in 2003, McKellen made a guest appearance as himself on the American cartoon show The Simpsons, in a special British-themed episode entitled "The Regina Monologues", along with Tony Blair and J.K. Rowling. Such an honour! You probably didn't remember that McKellen also appeared as Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code.

Besides films, he has created a cynical Freddie in a 2013 English drama "Vicious".

The Da Vinci Code

Vicious (2013)

edited by: Fanqing XU 43392202

[COMMENTS] Goodbye to 'A Beautiful Mind'--In honour of John Forbes Nash Jr.--R.I.P

John Nash, subject of the movie"A Beautiful Mind" and wife killed in a car crash on 23 May 2015, aged 86. He was an American mathematician dedicated to game theory, and a Nobel prize winner in Economics in 1994. This movie won the 2002 Oscar Best Picture. The actor of John Nash, Russell Crowe twittered for the sorry.

The introduction on IMDb of this movie is "After a brilliant but asocial mathematician accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish..." When Nash was in his full flush of success, he was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia. He was given a course of insulin shock therapy, but frustrated with the side-effects of the medication, which made him lethargic and unresponsive, he secretly stopped taking it. Against all his colleagues and friends, he decided to deal with the symptom himself, and with his wife Alicia's full support. Years passed and as Nash grew older, he learnt to ignore his hallucinations and earns the privilege of teaching again.  

End with quote from John Forbes Nash Jr. "I think madness can be an escape. If things are not so good, you maybe want to imagine something better. In my madness, I thought I was the most important person in the world."

On this day, in memorial of him, let us have a review of this classic movie! RIP

<full movie online; http://www.bilibili.com/video/av1862111/>

edited by: Fanqing XU 43392202

[FEATURE] David Fincher & his movies Part II

Weekend is coming! Getting ready for some more movies from David Fincher? Most of the movies in the second part were released almost 10 years ago, but every piece of work was classic!

Zodiac (2007)

The casting that including Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. is attractive in the very first place! It's a classic arrogant series murderer story, with journalists and police involved. The movie was based on the true series killer named "Zodiac" in LosAngeles in 1970s. After he murdered someone, he would send the media a letter, leaving codes, clues to challenge the police. The police were at their wits' end about Zodiac. The case caught two journalists' attention, Paul (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Robert (Robert Downey Jr.). With help of David (Mark Ruffalo) from the police, they started to investigate the truth.

Panic Room (2002)

The next Fincher's movie is Panic Room. Reading the name, you can tell it's a thriller, mystery movie. Many of Fincher's work falling in these genres. Meg (Jodie Foster), a divorced woman and her daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart) moved to their newly-purchased house, which had a safe room in it. There were 16 recorder, 8 monitors, a landline that was unconnected to the outside and an impregnable door. They never expected that they would take refuge in this room, when three men broke in, searching for a missing fortune.

The Game (1997)

The Game is another movie in mystery, thriller genres. I was impressed when I first watched it on TV. I didn't start from the beginning but the  story was so attractive and creative. It is my very first brain-training movie, way before the Inception. Wealthy San Francisco financier Nicholas (Michael Douglas) gets a strange birthday present from wayward brother Conrad (Sean Penn): a live-action game. The game was tailored for Michael and pointed at his dark childhood and marriage trauma. Michael joined the game out of curiosity but later he found out his life was falling apart. He told himself it was just a game, then he jumped from the roof...

Fight Club (1999)

Next coming up are two well-known movie by him, Fight Club and Se7en. They are ranked #10 and #22 on IMDb respectively. Basically it is unnecessary to go into details. Great films, great stars, worth watching!

Se7en (1995)

=========

Have a look back, I cannot imagine that i have watched so many  Thriller, Mystery and Drama movies!! Maybe next time I can do a feature on that!


edited by: Fanqing XU 43392202

[COMMENTS] Nicole Kidman Joins Neil Gaiman’s" HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES"

Nicole Kidman Joins Neil Gaiman’s" HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES"

It looks like Nicole Kidman will be joining the big screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s short story How to Talk to Girls at Parties. 

The movie is being directed by John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus, Rabbit Hole), and Kidman will join the previously-cast Elle Fanning. Also joining the production are Ruth Wilson (The Affair) and Matt Lucas (Alice in Wonderland).

Gaiman’s story was published in 2006, and it takes place in the 1970s and follows a couple of British teenaged boys, Enn and Vic, who go to a party to meet girls, only to find that the girls are very different from the boys' expectations. Enn is a shy boy who is encouraged by Vic to just talk to girls. While hanging out at a party, Enn talks to three very nice but strange girls. As he focuses on "making a move" on the girls, it turns out these girls are not from our planet. Fanning plays one of the alien girls.

Kidman worked with the director in another film she starred in called Rabbit Hole. Producer Howard Gertler had this to say about the casting, and the film: 

“Nicole responded very quickly and enthusiastically to the script when John sent it to her. This is a story that appeals to teens and adults, something John and Neil Gaiman’s work also achieves, and that is why it’s such a good fit. John compares it to Romeo and Juliet, except instead of Montagues and Capulets we have punks and aliens.”

This is a great story and one that has the potential to be a very entertaining film. Fans of Gaiman will be happy to know that the author is very involved with the film development, and has worked closely with the creative team in bringing it to life. 

edited by Israt 43921698

[NEW] Tomorrowland-- it's George Clooney in the Disney Movie

I watched the tailor of 'Tomorrowland' when I watched 'Avengers2'. You knew it was a kind of typical Disney movie-- children, magic, adventure... However, when George Clooney's face pop on to the screen, I felt a little surprises. It makes more sense to my if Johnny Depp took the character, asa he did in 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'Charlie and the chocolate factory'. The stereotype should be that George is always an elegant handsome wealthy man. 

George starred as a former boy-genius inventor.

Britt Rotertson took the role of a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity. 

Bound by a shared destiny, they embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory as 'Tomorrowland'. Written by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

As shown in the trailer, there was so many interesting traps in the inventor's house and to protect himself from the bad guys [kinda similar to Home Alone but more high-tech and imaginative]. Ans the pair of old-boylish inventor and an optimistic teen reminds me of Leon: the Professional. 

BTW, Tim McGraw has also taken one part in the movie, but so far, no idea on the character.

I, myself, is pretty looking forward to this movie, but the strange thing is that real teenagers are not so into this kind of disney producing. Like my cousin, she chose The Imitation Game instead of The Big Hero 6. 

edited by: Fanqing XU 43392202