Day 30 - In the Heat of the Night (US)

"Mr. Colbert, a wealthy man from Chicago who was planning to build a factory in Sparta, Mississippi, is found murdered. White police Chief Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) comes under pressure to quickly find his killer. African-American northerner Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), passing through town, is picked up at the train station between trains with a substantial amount of cash in his wallet. Gillespie, prejudiced against blacks, jumps to the conclusion that he has his culprit but is embarrassed to learn that Tibbs is an experienced Philadelphia homicide detective who is simply passing through town after visiting his mother. After the racist treatment that he receives, Tibbs wants nothing more than to leave as quickly as possible, but his own chief, after questioning whether Tibbs himself is prejudiced, has him stay and help. Leslie Colbert (Lee Grant), the victim's widow, already frustrated by the ineptitude of the local police, is impressed by Tibbs's expertise when he clears another wrongly accused suspect whom Gillespie has arrested on circumstantial evidence. She threatens to stop construction on the much needed factory unless Tibbs leads the investigation. Unwilling to accept help, but under orders from the town's mayor, Gillespie talks a reluctant Tibbs into working on the case."

A wonderful film from 1967 both Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger are really good actors. They keep this film interesting and compel the viewer to like the too. There is great character development especially with Rod Steiger's character. The film depicts a time in which most people try to ignore it but they can never hide from history. This film also features one of the most popular lines in movie history "They call me Mister Tibbs!" a powerful line delivered by Sidney Poitier

2.9/5


Cast

Sidney Poitier as Virgil Tibbs (also starred in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)

Rod Steiger as Chief Bill Gillespie (also starred in The Hurricane, American Gothic)

Day 29 - Metropolis complete verison (Germany)

"In the future, wealthy industrialists rule the vast city of Metropolis from high-rise tower complexes, while a lower class of underground-dwelling workers toil constantly to operate the machines that provide its power. The Master of Metropolis is the ruthless Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel), whose son Freder (Gustav Fröhlich) idles away his time in a pleasure garden with the other children of the rich. Freder is interrupted by the arrival of a young woman named Maria (Brigitte Helm), who has brought a group of workers' children to see the privileged lifestyle led by the rich. Maria and the children are quickly ushered away, but Freder is fascinated by Maria and descends to the workers' city in an attempt to find her."

It is an 2 and a half hour black and white German film. It inspired the creation R2D2 from Star Wars and is considered one of the best films made.
I don't agree it have has really nice parts but some of the actors moves were too hectic and all over the place when they didn't need to be. The "man machine" in the film was really nicely designed and I enjoy several pieces of architecture that they created for the film. Also the mad scientists was really nice but could have been better. Several characters were introduced but they continue with most of them. They could have more depth to the story, you would think that a 2 and a half movie will actually have more depth.

2.3/5

Day 28 - The Secret Reunion (South Korea)

Sorry it's late, I fell asleep

"Ji-won is one of numerous North Korean undercover spies living in South Korea as ordinary citizens, until he's called to fulfill his mission: the assassination of Kim Jong-il's second cousin who wrote a book that the North Korean government deems as a great betrayal to the Fatherland. However, one of his fellow spies, Tae-soon, betrays his orders by switching his allegiance to South Korea, and Ji-won mistakenly becomes the target for both countries.
Lee Han-gyoo is a dedicated agent of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) who tries to foil the hit. Despite having insider information, he doesn't notify his agency superiors, and only involves his team in the mission. Unable to prevent the assassination, and with the loss of his fellow agents in a gun fight, he becomes the sole scapegoat for the agency and gets discharged.
Six years later, Lee is now a private investigator and bounty hunter who locates runaway mail order brides, while Ji-won works in construction. Due to a coincidence, Lee gets saved from a mob by Ji-won; they both recognize each other instantly but keep it to themselves. With an ulterior motive for their previous unfinished business, Han-gyoo talks Ji-won into working for him and sharing living quarters - as Ji-won accepts Han-gyoo's offer in order to spy on him, thinking that Han-gyoo is still an agent. While confronting Tae-soon for betraying their home country, Ji-won learns his true reasons behind it. He also learns that Lee was actually fired from NIS for not reporting the information to his superiors that could've prevented the loss of both civilian and agent lives. As a result, he must make ends meet as a private investigator in returning runaway foreign brides to their husbands and shutting down a ring of corrupt businessmen that are ripping them off. During that time, a former associate of Han-gyoo reaches out for his help."- wiki


A nice spy thriller from South Korea, though I have a problem with Ji-Won. I don't think they gave him any real depth until the end of the film. They should have better character development with him but he barely seemed to change since the first time we meet him.
The angles and shots were good as was the lighting. With this thriller there is a touch of stupidity which gives a little humor to the movie despite it's dark turns. This is a spy thriller that may leave you thinking.

2.9/5

Day 27 - Kikujiro (Japan)

"As summer vacation begins, a boy named Masao (正男) sets out on a journey to find his mother, accompanied by an ex-yakuza, a bad mannered and downtrodden man named Kikujirō (菊次郎, played by Kitano). After Kikujiro gambles away all the money, the duo gets a ride from other travellers across the country. Along the way they meet a small but colourful cast of characters."

Truly a bizarre yet cute film from a director known for his violent movies, Beat Takeshi. This film was scored by the legendry anime composer Joe Hisaishi which added a good child like quality when there needed to be some. I overall enjoyed this film, the characters may have been outsiders in society but they were entertaining to say the least.
Beat really did a good job acting wise and directing the child actor in the film. Anyone in film knows that children and animals are the hardest things to direct. So I respect Kitano for co-staring in a film with a child actor.
Though it is bizarre and not really marketable to western audiences. It still is a great movie for those that like foreign films and good road trip films.

3/5

Cast

Beat Takeshi aka Kitano Takeshi as Kikujiro/Mister (also starred in Outrage, Brother, Dolls)

Day 26 - Nineteen (South Korea)

"After graduating from high school Min-seo (Seung-Ri) fails to get into college. He spends the next year cramming for his entrance exam once again. Jeong-hun (T.O.P) is a university student fresh out of high school school.
Late one evening, a high school girl dies. Earlier that evening, Min-seo filmed the girl in an internet cafe without her knowing. Min-seo, Jeong-hun, and another girl named Eun-yeong (Heo Lee-Jae) - who went to the same high school as the dead girl - all become murder suspects in the death of that girl. All three of these young suspects are 19 years old. They don't know each other, but quickly become fugitives from the law. To clear their names they work to uncover the truth behind the girl's death ... "

Very nice film, it's cute. It doesn't have the best acting in the world and the direction wasn't that good either. The camera angles were horrible and I feel like it was rushed so certain characters didn't have enough depth. It was a simple movie made for TV but I mean take pride in your work. I didn't like T.O.P's acting or rapping.
Besides that the film has a great meaning and I enjoyed it for the most part


1/5

Day 25 - Captain Phillips (US)

"Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) takes command of the MV Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container ship from Port of Salalah in Oman, with orders to sail through the Gulf of Aden to Mombasa, round the Horn of Africa. Wary of pirate activity off the coast of Somalia, the captain orders strict security precautions on the vessel and carries out practice drills."


Not bad, really. Tom Hanks proves that he is a serious actor, I don't see why he was snubbed at the golden globe's. Also I would like to say that Barkhda Andi also did a great job acting in his debut film. He deserved the golden globe's best support actor nomination. The other Somali actors did really good as well but nothing else is really noteworthy.

Though there have been attacks on the films historical accuracy. I like how the film is made but the direction sucked. The camera angles are all over the place like you would suspect the director of the director of The Borne Supremacy. It didn't really evoke emotion like it should have been. In that factor it's not that good of a film.

2.4/5

Cast

Tom Hanks as Richard Phillips (Also starred in Big, The Money Pit)

Barkhda Andi as Abduwali Muse

Day 24 - Twilight Gangsters (South Korea)

"For eight years three grandmothers saved their money for a VIP tour packages to Hawaii. The grandmothers have all had difficult experiences and used their dream vacation as a beacon of hope in their lives. Jung-Ja (Na Moon-Hee) was once imprisoned and suffered the ordeal of giving up her son for adoption. Young-Hee (Kim Soo-Mi) has finally broken free from her cheating husband & heartbreak. Shin-Ja (Kim Hye-Ok) is a widow with a son that steals her money. Yet the three grandmothers have finally saved enough money for the dream vacation."- AW

A nice film that shows off a different set of characters than normal, the elders of society. It is very nice but it feels like it was missing something. Now don't get me wrong these three women are very good actresses and are quite entertaining. I was sort of helping for an American ending but I know better so don't expect a true happy ending despite the fact that the film feels is a comedy that does show serious moments as well.

2.5/3

Cast


Na Moon-Hee as Jung-Ja (Also starred in Crying Fist, Mission Possible: Granny K, and the drama Padam Padam)

Kim Soo-Mi as Young-Hee (Also starred in Born To Sing, Marrying the Mafia Series)

Kim Hye-Ok as Shin-Ja (Also starred in My Dear Enemy, My Tutor Friend, Green Chair)