Simply put, superhero movies don't get any better than this. This sequel is even better than the first, which usually doesn't happen in movies. Videogames tend to get better with sequels but not so in movies.

Spiderman 2 has more of everything the original movie had: more action, better special effects, more character development, drama, romance, and humor. The first movie seemed tame in comparison to the second.

This was a total visual rollercoaster ride. But, it had more than just great action and eye-candy computer generated effects. This movie had much more heart to it than other movies in its comic book hero action sub-genre. I liked it even more than Batman Begins, which is a much darker movie. The biggest difference between Batty and Spidey is their net worth. Bruce Wayne is a billionaire's kid. Peter Parker can't even afford to pay his rent.

The story takes place, appropriately, 2 years after the end of the first film. Peter Parker is still a very likeable nerd who is a reluctant hero. He struggles with leading a double life. He's a superhero crime fighter, a college student, and works as a free-lance photographer and a pizza delivery boy. He is totally burned out. He always looks tired. He can't keep up with his homework and his grades suffer. He's always late for work and meetings with friends. He has reached the lowest point in his life. He decides to quit being Spiderman.

Unfortunately, a danger emerges that only Spiderman can handle. A brilliant scientist, Dr. Otto Octavius, who is hired by Peter's friend, Harry (son of the billionaire scientist and founder of Oscorp who was the Green Goblin in the first film) tries to invent a machine capable of harnessing fusion energy. He miscalculates and the fusion energy starts sucking in anything metallic. Dr. Octavius' wife gets killed. The tentacles he attached to his spine which he used to place Trillium, an element used to create fusion energy, gains control of him. The tentacles had its own A.I. and the inhibitor chip used to control it was destroyed in the accident. He becomes Doc Ock (Doctor Octupus). Those tentacles of his were super powerful. I don't know how Doc Ock himself developed super powers. When he fell to the ground from a building, he should have died. Apparently, having super tentacles makes him strong all around.

The fight scenes between Spiderman and Doc Ock are one of the best CG special effects I've ever seen. Doc Ock's super tentacles are more than a match for Spidey. He gets beat up pretty badly.

Between the action sequences, Peter goes through a lot of angst and faces tough choices. He remembers what Uncle Ben told him about how sometimes when you have to do what is right, you have to give up your dreams. Even though he loves Mary Jane, he can't be with her because he doesn't want his enemies to attack her. There's a lot of emotional sequences between MJ and Peter.

These types of movies won't win any Oscars for acting, but I thought the acting was great given the context of the movie. The acting is as good as it will get in these types of movies. How else were they supposed to act given fictional superheroes? The movie shows that it doesn't take itself to seriously with a lot of one-liners during the action scenes. There's also a lot of character development in the main characters and the characters are complex. They're not one dimensional like in other comic book films. Doc Ock was struggling with doing what was right. He said that the intelligent had a responsibility to do good for the benefit of society. Supervillains all seem to be cheesy. Doc Ock was less cheesy though because he didn't have as much over-the-top monologues between his schizophrenic personalities and had a less goofy costume than Goblin. In the end, he snaps out of the tentacles' mind control and sacrifices himself to save New York.

Mary Jane also becomes a runaway bride and decides to risk being with the one she loves even though it poses an extreme danger to her. She's probably going to get kidnapped again in the next film.

Also, Harry discovers his father's secret chamber full of bombs and his Green Goblin outfit.

This is one of the best popcorn movies you'll ever see. It's an amazing blockbuster. I hope Spiderman keeps improving in the sequels to come.

A, 92.

Spider-Man 2 

Spiderman

Spiderman 

This was a great comic superhero movie. The special effects were amazing. It's one of the best superhero movies ever made. It's right up there with Superman 1 and 2. Batman Begins was also very good. The other Batman movies sucked big time. All the other superhero movies were also a waste of time.

But, this movie stands out. It's also a pretty good love story between Peter Parker and Mary Jane "MJ".

I didn't like the Green Goblin, however. Like most supervillains, he was really cheesy. It would have been so much better if he didn't act like such a joker. Stan Lee should have just sticked with making comicbook heros instead of voice acting. I thought the acting was good, except for when the Goblin was going schizophrenic and talking with himself. The part where he was looking and talking to himself in the mirror was goofy. He reminded me of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. I like when the villains are portrayed in a more darker light than when they come off as Batman villain clowns.

Spiderman, however, had a good sense of humor. What I didn't get was how a super spider bite can give you super powers. If that bit you, then you'd be super dead. Then, that spider can turn someone else into another human spider.

In the end, why didn't Peter accept MJ's love even though he loved her so much? Does he want to be like the 40-Year Old Virgin or something? I guess he didn't want to make the same mistake Superman did in Superman II. Although Superman had an even weaker disguise. Come on, glasses??! I guess it was because he remembered Uncle Ben's advice, "With great power comes great responsibility."

A-, 90.

American Pie 2

American Pie 2 

If you like raunchy crude humor, then this is the movie for you! This movie cracked me up! There were so many hilarious situations that made the movie into one long laugh-fest.

It was almost as good as the original film. The first American Pie should become a classic. This movie is in the same category with Porky's and Revenge of the Nerds.

This movie begins with friends from the original movie reuniting after their first year in college. They decide to stay at a cabin by the lake and they get jobs painting homes to pay for their cabin. Their only ambition is to get laid.

Okay, so the plot is dumb. This movie is just about crass humor, which I think is the funniest kind of humor. Come on, everybody loves dirty jokes.

There were a lot of embarassing situations that the main kid, Jim (Jason Biggs), went through that would cause most people to kill themselves from shame. In the first scene, he gets caught by his parents and his girlfriend's parents having sex. This was similar to the first film's scene where he gets caught masturbating with a sock by his parents. The first film was the best since it pushed the envelope in terms of what can be shown in main stream movies.

There were a lot of forced situations, but they were still funny. That Stifler guy is a jerk, but every movie needs one, right?

This time, Jim accidentally superglues his hand to his penis, because he mistakenly grabs it instead of the lubricant while watching a porno flick. Then, his dad waits with him at the hospital. After everyone finds out, would you be able to show your face in public ever again? But Jim seems to be able to get over this situation. This should be an encouragement to anyone who goes through totally embarassing situations.

Everyone in the movie seems to be totally focused on sex. Are people really like this? All my friends seemed to be good kids. Maybe, I just didn't know what was going on. I thought they were all Christian nerds, until I heard some juicy gossip about them later on. I guess things like this really do happen in real life since you hear about how something like 3 out of 4 teens these days are not virgins.

This movie is not about the acting nor the story. It's just about the jokes. In this respect, it delivers what it sets out to do. I give it a B, 84.

Happy Birthday, Sis!

My sister Christine's birthday party. Her birthday was on January 7, 2006. We had a party at her house on Jan. 8. We also celebrated Sae Woon's birthday which was on Jan. 1, 2006. We like to kill two birds with one stone. It's very efficient. You can also check out more pictures by clicking on the link below.  

My wife, Sarah, and her friend, Kang Mi (Christina) at our house for dinner. This was on Thursday, December 29, 2005. Sarah made salad, pasta, and other good stuff. Kang Mi (Christina) was one of Sarah's bridesmaids.  

War of the Worlds

War of the Worlds. Oh no! 

This was interesting to watch at first. Then, it went all down hill from there.

This was Steven Spielberg's retelling of the classic novel by H. G. Wells. It stars Tom Cruise. And as you may know, Tom Cruise runs in nearly every movie he's starred in. He runs a lot in this movie. I used to like Tom Cruise until he started getting weird in public. Now, we really know he's a jerk. It's a shame the movie sucked, because I usually like Spielberg movies.

The special effects were good, but the story just didn't add up. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, not even science fiction fans. I can't believe it did as well as it did at the box office. I guess there weren't that many good movies out last summer.

It may be a good social study of panic and mob behavior. I couldn't believe how the crowd acted when they saw Cruise and his kids in the minivan. They wanted it so bad, that they tore through the windshield with their bare hands. I guess things like that do happen when people are desperate. We've all seen similar things happen like in Hurrican Katrina.

What didn't make sense was how those aliens planted those tripod machines underground a million years ago. Then, the aliens came back when they were ready to invade earth. The aliens came down in lightning bolts to go underground to operate those machines. And humans never noticed those machines down there before?

The aliens start killing everyone in the beginning by zapping them into dust. Then, the aliens wanted to harvest humans for food and energy. What was the point of all that killing in the beginning then?

Warning. Spoiler ahead. Do not read if you still want to watch this dud of a flick. After going through all that trouble, the aliens start dying off because of germs. It was great in the book, but seemed so random and anticlimactic in the movie. Come on.

How they heck did that bratty kid come back in the end? It was almost disappointing to see him back again.

David Kim's movie rating: D, 63.
Special effects: Nice building explosions.
Sociological studies on mob behavior are about the only redeeming thing about the film. The characters were hard to love. The story was not compelling.

Cinderella Man

Cinderella Man 


I thought this was a great movie, and I highly recommend watching it to anyone. This was much more than a boxing movie. It's similar to Rocky, but has more depth to it.

The movie is based on the life of James J. Braddock who became a hero during the Great Depression of the early 1930's. He is played by Russell Crowe. Renee Zellweger plays his wife. It's directed by Ron Howard.

Braddock was the light heavyweight champ until he broke his hand. He and his family lost everything during the Depression. They didn't have enough money to buy food or pay for the heating bills. During all those difficult situations, he never compromised his values. He was like a saint. When he got a second chance to fight in the ring, he overcame all obstacles for the sake of his family. This was a truly moving film. Just like Cinderella though, you know what happens in the end.

David Kim's rating: A, 92.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

Don't ask me how I'm watching all these movies all of a sudden. I'm just addicted to movies now. I guess movies have replaced my videogame addiction. . .for the time being. Now, I'm a zombie at work. I need to get some more sleep.

I thought director Tim Burton did a great job of retelling Roald Dahl's classic children's fairytale story. I don't think it will ever replace the original film, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" starring Gene Wilder. That film has been embedded in my mind ever since I watched it as a kid. The freaky boat ride and the catchy oompa loompa song is forever etched in my brain.

Tim Burton's film was weird, whimsical, and wonderful just like the rest of his films. The story is a bit darker than the previous film, thanks to Burton's style.

Entering Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory is like entering Wonderland. It's weird and magical and nothing makes sense.

Willy Wonka, played by Johnny Depp, is a big weirdo. He reminds me of Michael Jackson. He acts real feminine and looks freaky. He has a sort of gray skin tone. He doesn't really seem to be able to relate or socialize with people in the outside world. He's lost in his own little world.

I think this film is very similar to the original film. It had more similarities than differences. Thanks to modern technology, the visuals of the film look fantastic. The colors are very bright and surreal. The old film's technicolor was awesome too.

The story is pretty much the same as the old film's, but I think it's closer to the book than the old one was. All the memorable scenes from the old film are here in the new film, except with a modern twist. This film had a slightly different ending than the first film though. I think the ending gave this film more meaning than the original.

Charlie, played by Freddie Highmore, was a great kid. I think he did a superb job of acting, especially near the end when he had to choose between his family and the chocolate factory. He was very likable. The other kids did a good job too. They did their job well of acting like spoiled brats. You almost wanted them to get what they deserved. Yet, in these litigious times, how can you do that to kids without being sued for everything you've got? It's almost unbelievable how they walked away looking like that. Maybe they were on their way to see their lawyers afterwards. Are those kids ever going to be back to their normal bodies later? I don't think any hospital can fix them up.

Deep Roy did a good job of playing all the Oompa Loompas. He must have been very busy getting into all those different costumes. I kinda got tired of looking at his face though. It was a good way to save money on casting, but he wasn't easy on the eyes.

I love Willy Wonka's Nerds candy. You can still buy them today. Too bad you can't buy any of the really cool candy you see in the movie.

This is another great Tim Burton movie. The film has his signature trademark style to it. Too bad it's geared more towards kids than adults.

When are they going to make a sequel about "Charlie and the Glass Elevator"?

David Kim's movie review: B, 87.

Serenity

Serenity 



Here's my movie review for "Serenity". Serenity is based on the the t.v. series, "Firefly". It's a space cowboy movie set 500 years in the future. The earth has become no longer inhabitable. Humans have learned how to terraform other planets in the universe to make them livable. The Alliance is a type of intergalactic government that seeks to bring order and unity to all the civilized planets. The Alliance wants to make every planetary society a type of utopia. There are other planets that seek to be independent. They want to be free to live as they see fit. A motley crew of space cowboys on the ship, "Serenity" lead by Captain Mal, fly around the galaxy like Han Solo.

One of the members on the ship, River, has strange psychic abilities and kick ass fighting powers. She was a secret experiment by the Alliance. Her brother, the ship's doctor, helps her to escape.

The Alliance try to stop Captain Mal, River, and the rest of the Serenity crew. River had developed schizophrenia from the experiments that the Alliance conducted on her. Her crazy behavior eventually leads them to search for the answers to her nightmares. The Serenity crew eventually discover a shocking secret that may change the course of the universe forever. . .



Anyway, I thought this was an okay movie. I didn't think this movie even came close to the Star Wars movies like some critics say. There were some fun space chase scenes, but not many. I just felt like it was closer to a made-for-tv movie than a blockbuster hit. I think it would have helped if you saw the Firefly series before watching the movie in order to know more about the story. I didn't really feel any emotional connection with any of the characters. The spaceships kinda sucked. The Reavers, gross humanoids that eat people alive, were scary but not that interesting.

The fight scenes were also blase. Nothing special. There seems to be a fascination these days with small young girls who kick butt when they fight. It may be due to the influence of Japanese anime. For some reason, in the future, people use Japanese Kanji as the main written intergalactic language.

Also, what's the deal with people just falling to the floor when walking on a ship that is spinning out of control hurtling towards a planet? I would think that if a space ship is out of control, it would be worse than when someone is walking during an earthquake. Come on. We need more attention to details like this to make movies more believable. You can't just shake the camera and make people think "Oh no! We're losing control!"

There was humor in the movie too, but it was dry. It was mostly just witty one-liners. There wasn't anything too funny. There was less comedy than Star Wars and Star Wars wasn't a funny movie either.

I give this movie a C, 77. I was going to give it a B right after watching it, but while writing this review, there were too many flaws with this movie for it to be a good one.

Xtreme Downhill Skateboarding

Don't try this at home! It's very dangerous. I twisted my ankle when I bailed and it was sore and swollen for days.

Leave this stuff to the professionals.

"Skateboarding is not a crime."

David Kim's Movie Review

Whenever I get a long break (in this case, a 3-day weekend), I try to catch up on all the movies I haven't seen during the year. I love watching movies, but I only go to the theater about once a year. Then, I do a movie marathon all at once.

This weekend I watched "King Kong", "The Chronicles of Narnia", "The 40 Year Old Virgin", and "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children".







Kong 


"King Kong"
David's Ratings: Both thumbs up, A, 91.

I thought this was a great movie. The movie was visually stunning. It was a remake of the classic 1933 movie. It was also similar to the one made in 1976 starring Jessica Lange. Thanks to modern technology, this version is the most fun to watch. We all know how the movie ends. Naomi Watts' character, "Ann", does not end up marrying the big monkey.

It started off slow, but the story grew in suspense perfectly. The middle of the movie was a nonstop rollercoaster ride. There were several great chase scenes all linked together very well.

There were a lot of unanswered questions in the movie though. What was King Kong going to do with Naomi Watts if she wasn't pretty? Was he going to play with her like a doll until she died? It didn't look like he was going to eat her. I think he just ate bamboo trees. I don't think he liked people at all, except for Naomi Watts. He probably shook all the previous virgin sacrifices to death. I don't think anyone could survive that kind of shaking. I can't believe she wasn't crushed when Kong had to catch her several times during the T-rex fight scenes.

When they finally captured Kong, how the heck did they carry him back to New York? There were only about half a dozen of them left when they got off the island. There was no way five or six guys can lift Kong up on the boat and take him all the way to N.Y. It would have been fun to see them transport him back on the boat.

I felt bad for the blonde girl who was tied up at Kong's show in NY. He just threw her across the theater when he found out she wasn't Naomi Watts.

All in all, it was a great action movie filled with great special effects.







Narnia: Aslan about to eat Edmund 


"The Chronicles of Narnia"
David Kim's rating: C, 75.

This movie was based upon my favorite novel series as an elementary school kid. This was based upon the first of seven books in the Narnia series, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". I was more fond of the memories of the book than this movie. Maybe it's because I'm an adult now, but I just don't like movies where kids are the heroes. I think this would be a great movie for kids though. It is a fun movie, but it does appeal to children more than adults. The special effects were good. The computer generated animation was better than those found in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, but not by much.

C.S. Lewis, the author of the series, was the preeminent Christian apologist. Christian symbolism can be found in all of his fictional works, including his "Space Trilogy". He was good friends with "The Lord of the Rings" author, J.R.R. Tolkien, another Christian author.

It is obvious to see that Aslan, the great lion, symbolized Jesus. Aslan sacrificed himself in the mischievous boy, Edmund's, place. The White Witch represented Satan. Aslan was resurrected soon after his death.

I don't know what was so special about the wardrobe. It just happened to be a gateway to Narnia. In Narnia, time moves differently than in our world. The kids were there for about ten years and when they went back home, only seconds had passed.

I thought the animation was well done. I just think that when the girls were riding on top of the lion, they should have been bouncing a lot more than they were. It looked like the girls were hardly moving at all and they were talking effortlessly. I thought that looked so fake.

Kids will absolutely love this movie. Unfortunately for adults, the talking animals and stuff will keep them from relating. Adults can relate to Shrek 2 better than this, because Shrek has a lot more inside jokes. This movie leans more towards the Winnie the Pooh side than Shrek.







Virgin 


"The Forty Year Old Virgin"
David Kim's rating: B, 82.

This was a nice little comedy about Andy, a man who was a 40-year old virgin. It had its funny moments. It had its awkward and uncomfortable moments. It would even be a good comedy for the whole family if not for the subject matter. It had its laughs, but it just didn't have the guffaw-inducing funniness as in American Pie.

Andy was a nice guy, but just didn't have a way with women. He just wasn't comfortable with having sex. His co-worker friends at Smart Tech, kinda like Circuit City, tries to help him get laid. Later on, he meets a hot young grandma and falls in love. He realizes that all this time, he was just saving himself for her.

Andy looks like Brian Dowdy's brother to me.

If I didn't marry my wife Sarah. I might have ended up being like Andy.







Final Fantasy 7 



"Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children"
David Kim's rating: A, 93.


Okay, first off, you have to have played the original Final Fantasy VII game on the Playstation I. The original was made in 1997. This movie is actually a sequel to the game. If you played and finished the game, then you will absolutely go bonkers over this movie. You will appreciate the movie so much more if you played this. I think people who love anime and action movies will also like this movie.

Final Fantasy is probably the most well known and most well respected role playing game (RPG) in video games today. At the time of writing of this review, Final Fantasy XII is the next game to be released sometime towards the end of this year. Out of this greatly beloved series, Final Fantasy VII is arguably the most revered. It can even be argued that FFVII is the most important game in recent times. In 1997, the whole world was blown away by the way this game brought story telling and animation together in a video game. This game took me about 80+ hours to finish. People who finished this game, spent quite a significant chunk of their lives playing this. They were really emotionally invested in the characters. I cried when Aeris died and when Tifa was stabbed by the evil Sephiroth during the CG cutscenes in the game.

This movie totally brings all the characters back and brings joy to all the FFVII fans.

The graphics and animation in this game is superb. The format of this movie is in Sony's Playstation Portable UMD (Universal Media Disk). Don't ask me why it's called "Universal" when it can only be played on the PSP.

The fighting and action sequences are one of the most stylish you will ever see. FFVII is heavily influenced by movies like the Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I'm not sure why or how they can fly like that in the movie. The characters must have leveled up significantly since the original game, 'cuz they couldn't fly like that before. Oh well. It is cool to watch even though it is unbelievable.

The main character, Cloud Strife, is so cool. He rides a bad ass motorcycle and carries enormous kick ass swords. He's a reluctant hero that is haunted by the past. He keeps having flashbacks of the friends he lost, Aeris (Aerith Gainsborough) and Zack.

This movie is just pure eye candy. The story is okay. It's interesting, but kinda confusing in the way most Japanimation sci fi is.

The movie takes place two years after the end of the game. These mysterious silver haired dudes try to bring back Jenova, an alien life form, that they call "Mother". People are being affected by a strange disease, called Geostigma. The Shinra Corporation had found a way to use the planet's energy source, called the Lifestream. However, in doing so, they have been killing the planet. When someone dies, his spirit gets sucked up into the Lifestream. When Cloud and his buddies defeated Jenova, Jenova effected the Lifestream like a virus.

The silver haired dudes try to bring back Jenova, in what they call "Reunion". They think that people are viruses that are destroying the planet. They want to destroy all the humans on earth. They get children, who are most vulnerable to Geostigma, to become their helpers in time for the great arrival. Cloud and the gang try to stop them. When Zadaj, the main bad buy, gets Jenova's DNA, he turns into the wicked Sephiroth. Sephiroth is back! Cloud and Sephiroth get into an awesome sword fight. You'll just have to see what happens next.

Lugeboarding Down Grand Ave.

I'm going down Grand Ave., and boy, is it a bumpy ride. I had a hard time holding on to the camera and controlling my longboard at the same time. I'm insane in the membrane. I love going fast.

Speedin' Down 1st Street

This time it's brighter and there aren't any idiot cars out there trying to run me over. Watch my clip entitled "Extreme Skateboarding" down below to see what I have to go through every other day. This time it was a sweet and relatively smooth downhill bomb run.

Happy Together

Okay, guys. I know that this is super cheesy, but I'm happy being with my wife, Sarah. I wanted to show us both spinning around, but since there was no one else to tape this, we decided to improvise. Is this video something that we should have just kept to ourselves?

SK8TING Down Grand

I'm skateboarding down Grand Ave. in downtown LA. If there weren't all these cars around, I'd totally go down the hill all the way.

I love going downhill fast. Danger is my middle name. I think it would be awesome if they closed down Grand Ave. just so I could skateboard down the hill.

Berendo Street Baptist Church (BSBC) Kids

We're making crafts on Christmas day with our Berendo Street Baptist Church (BSBC) sunday school kids.

Christmas Lunch with UCSD Friends

This is real life footage of our lunch gathering after we ate. Sorry, I missed taping all the exciting parts of our meeting, if any.

Christmas 2005 Album

I've uploaded all the pictures that I took during Christmas and posted them on my Yahoo Photo Album. I've saved them all under Christmas 2005. Click on the link to see the rest. You can also see all my Yahoo Photo Albums by clicking "Back to My Photos" when you're there. Please do not post weird pictures of me by photoshopping them and putting them all over the interent. Other than that request, please feel free to enjoy them.

You can also check out some of my pictures on my Flickr site. It's:

www.flickr.com/photos/davidmkim/

or

www.flickr.com/people/davidmkim/

Don't forget to bookmark my site, people. I can't believe you guys forget my website everytime I ask you to check it out. It's:

www.davidmkim.blogspot.com

I've added a few more pictures to Christine's album on my Yahoo Photo Album. There's a ton of pictures so I think I'm just going to try to save them to a CD. Sorry. I just don't think I can upload that many. It takes too long. Click on the link to see more of her pictures.