Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of Heaven 

A stirring epic set just before the Third Crusades, this film delivers a message about virtue, life, and religious freedom and tolerance. I thought Orlando Bloom did a great job as Balian of Ibelin, a French blacksmith with an English accent.

Plot: Balian's wife and child are dead, and he has lost all hope. A great knight named Godfrey, back from the Crusades to seek his son, finds Balian. He reveals that he is his father. Godfrey show him the true meaning of knighthood and takes him on a journey to Jerusalem. A fragile peace prevails in Jerusalem during the Second and Third Crusades through the efforts of its enlightened christian king, Baldwin IV. King Baldwin wears a silver mask to cover up the leprosy that he has. Greed and religious fanaticism fuel some of the Crusaders who attack the Muslims. Saladin, the Muslim leader, leads an attack on Jerusalem after being attacked first by the Crusaders. King Baldwin's vision of peace, a kingdom of heaven, is shared by a handful of knights, including Godfrey, who swear to uphold it with their lives and honor. Godfrey knights his son after being mortally wounded. He passes on the sacred oath to protect the weak and helpless and work towards building harmony so that a kingdom of heaven can flourish on earth. Balian chooses to accept this task and inspires others to do so.

This movie has great visual flare. The war scenes are brutal and stunning to watch. The characters, however, are a bit one-sided. The bad guys are bad and the good guys are good. There isn't much character development except for Balian. And he is too remarkable, which means it's unbelievable. From his origins as a poor blacksmith, he becomes a great knight. He knows battle tactics and agriculture and seems to know everything else. He probably was only trained just for a few weeks during his travel time to Jerusalem. The movie just shows a few seconds of his sword fighting training.

The movie paints a fascinating picture of what the Crusades were like. Although, it's not entirely historically accurate, it does provide a good idea of what must have happened during those times. Since I'm interested in church history, it was fascinating to watch for me. Jews, christians, and Muslims have fought for Jerusalem for at least 2,000 years, and they are still struggling over it today.

My rating: B, 86.

Kung Fu Hustle

Kung Fu Hustle 

Imagine a kung fu movie that is a mixture of old Bruce Lee movies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix, Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, and Looney Toones, and you have a pretty good idea of what this movie is like. The action in this movie is fast and furious. It also contains the most comical fighting sequences I have ever seen in my life. Everything in this movie is over-the-top crazy. You see old Chinese guys that don't look like much suddenly turn into superhero kung fu masters. An old cigarette smoking lady can run like the road runner and has a scream that can topple buildings.

If you like kung fu and comedy, you'll probably enjoy watching this because it's totally insane. Don't watch it for the story though. This movie is kinda hard to take seriously.

My rating: B, 84.

Sung Ho and Me

Picture 022, originally uploaded by David Kim.

Sung Ho (Mikey) and I are wandering across the beach. You can check out more pictures on my flickr.com account by clicking on this picture.

Mikey and Mickey

Picture 012, originally uploaded by David Kim.

Sung Ho loves Mickey Mouse.

Mikey, Mickey, and Me

Picture 024, originally uploaded by David Kim.

That's Mickey Mouse on my head.

Running Around at Zuma Beach

My nephew, Sung Ho, and I are just running around having fun. You can view all my videos on my vidilife.com site by clicking on the link below.

Driving in Style

Picture 038, originally uploaded by David Kim.

Check out the superdark tint job on our ride.

Sarah and Her Whip

Picture 037, originally uploaded by David Kim.

This is my beautiful wife and our wicked fast whip, a 240 hp 2004 Honda Accord EX V-6. I wash it every weekend.

Sunlight Dancing on the Water

Picture 017, originally uploaded by David Kim.

Sung Ho and I walking off into the sunset.

Walking Back Home

Picture 015, originally uploaded by David Kim.

A walk to remember.

Sung Ho visits Pepperdine

Picture 029, originally uploaded by David Kim.

Sung Ho's so smart that I thought he would like to visit Pepperdine University. I thought he'd be inspired more at this beautiful campus.

Mikey and me

Picture 008, originally uploaded by David Kim.

We're having fun just running around the beach and kickin' up sand. You can see more pictures by clicking on this pic and then selecting "David Kim's photostream".

A Day at the Beach

Picture 004, originally uploaded by David Kim.

On Saturday, January 28, 2006, Sarah and her nephew, Sung Ho (Michael), and I went to Zuma Beach in Malibu, California to have a nice day at the beach. We had fun just kickin' it there and playing around. It was a nice day warm winter day to just walk around and enjoy the fresh air. You can check out more pictures by visiting:

www.flickr.com/photos/davidmkim/

Band Camp. 

American Pie Presents: Band Camp

Talk about Hollywood trying to squeeze every last dime out of a successful series, sheesh! I wish this film wasn't made or at the very least, I wish I didn't see it. As Stifler's younger brother would say, "This movie sucks donkey dick."

Now, I know why this film went straight to video. It's really bad.

Anyone who has seen the first three American Pie movies know that Stifler was a totally ubnoxious arrogant jerk. Sure, he was annoying, but there were times when he got into a lot of trouble that actually made the movie funny, like when he had to eat dog crap in American Wedding.

Stifler's younger brother wants to follow in big brother's footsteps. He puts pepper spray into the school's band during graduation. The guidance counselor, who played the Sherminator, sends him to band camp as punishment so that he can learn to get along with people. At first, Stifler causes a lot of trouble and everyone hates him. He tries to make a video called Bandeez Gone Wild. Later on, he starts falling for the band leader. He erases all the video clips of the band camp geeks getting their freak on at the end when he develops a conscience.

This video just didn't have the first 3 films' hilariousness. This film just goes to prove that merely telling raunchy jokes does not a good comedy make. Younger brother just can't measure up to big brother.

This film has a cheesy sugary-sweet ending, but most of the characters were just not likable. The band leader's best friend was a scary looking goth chick. Yuck! Baby Stifler's geeky roommate had the hots for her and then performed the nasty with each other. I thought it was unrealistic until I remembered stories I've heard about kids doing stuff during church camp. I was a good kid. I just slept at church camp. Apparently some kids weren't sleeping since they were getting too busy at the coeds' cabin.

The Asian hip hop wannabe and the Fat Albert lookalike were just embarassing to watch since their acting was reprehensible.

The face off competition between Stifler and the rich blonde jerk was like a really bad version of "You Got Served" band camp style. The kid ran off after everyone cheered for Stifler when he played the bagpipe. Come on! This sux!

For some reason, gross pranks just weren't as hilarious as the first three films. When Stifler jizzed into the bottle of sunscreen and the other guys put it on their face, it was only somewhat funny. It was missing that elusive comic ingredient needed to make it laugh-out-loud funny.

Also, when Stifler put his tiny weinie into an oboe and got it stuck, I was not laughing when perhaps I would have in the other films. I guess I was too tired and bored from all the other non-funny scenes in the movie, that I forgot it was funny.

This movie might be okay for really immature teens who aren't able to see real "R" rated movies. Otherwise, it's a huge disappointment. It shouldn't carry the American Pie name. There's only one guy, Eugene Levy, who is from the movie. Everyone else didn't want to be part of it. Even the original Stifler wasn't in the movie. It's always lame when they show someone else who is supposed to be the original character. Why'd they even think it was necessary to show some random guy just so that they can make a scene where little brother talks with big brother over the phone?!

My rating: 59, F+.

The Girl Next Door 

Girl Next Door (2004)

This is a teenage boy's dream come true. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen. Although there are a lot of over-the-top moments, the movie just fails to capture the heart of its audience. It tries to imitate to many other flicks like Risky Business. It's mixed themes of raunchiness and introspection just doesn't produce a great blend.

Plot: A good kid who is the class president and over-achiever tries to raise enough funds to bring a smart Cambodian kid, "Sam Young", to study at his school because he believes that Sam Young is a genius who could one day find the cure for cancer. He gets accepted into Georgetown and his parents are proud of him. He wants to do something wild and crazy, but his straight upbringing prevents him from acting out on his desires to give in to senioritis. He prepares for a speech to win a scholarship for exceptional moral fiber.

One day, a beautiful girl moves in next door. He sees her changing in the window. She catches him watching her, but it turns out, she actually likes him. They go out and have a great time. He loves the way her wild and crazy nature pushes him to experience the euphoria of life. She loves him because of how he cares for her. His porn addicted friend shows him a tape that proves that she's a porn star. At first, he's distraught, but he realizes that he's profoundly in love with her. Later on, her sleazy producer comes to take her back to make more films. The kid and his buddies drive to the Las Vegas porn convention to bring her back. The producer guy gets revenge by stealing the $25G that was in trust to bring Sam Young to the States. The kid and his posse come up with a plan to make a sex ed video during their prom to raise the necessary cash.

Although there are some suspenseful and funny scenes, the style of the film in which the movie was made just did not win me over. It just wasn't light-hearted enough for a sex comedy. That sleazeball producer gave me the creeps, especially in the scene where he drives the kid to a remote and secluded area and forces him to commit fellatio. Fortunately, he was just kidding, but relieves some of his stress by smashing the kids' face.

The nerdy kids get a couple of porn stars, including Sung Hi Lee, to be their prom dates. They then make a porn tape about sex ed. They thought this was necessary because they had to watch all the bad sex ed videos in school that were made during the 70's. Amazingly, the videos sell like hotcakes and the kid becomes rich and buys a Z4 BMW. When he attends Georgetown, his girlfriend is there waiting for him every day after class.

My rating: C, 74.

Meet the Fockers

The Fockers 


I thought this was one of the funniest comedies out there. I haven't seen Meet the Parents yet, but I'm going to. This was a very light hearted comedy that could have been a family comedy if it wasn't for all the toilet humor.

Ben Stiller plays Gaylord "Greg" Myron Focker. He and his fiance, Pamela Byrnes (Teri Polo) are going with his future in-laws, Jack Byrnes, played by Robert De Niro and Dina Byrnes (Blythe Tanner) to meet his parents played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand.

Jack Byrnes is an ex-CIA agent and is very suspicious of Greg. Greg is contantly under the surveillance of his fiance's dad. Despite the constant intimidation, Greg and the Byrnes take their RV to meet his parents in South Beach, Miami, Florida. The Fockers are rich hippies. Mr. Focker is a retired lawyer and Mrs. Focker is a sex therapist for the elderly. It was very funny to watch the stuffy Byrnes family and the carefree Fockers family interact.

Mr. Byrnes is so strict that he's teaching his baby grandson to be a genius by using sign language. Greg screws things up when he has to babysit for a little bit and says a curse word. The baby's first word turns out to be "ash...hole". How'd they teach such a young baby to say that?

Mr. and Mrs. Focker were constantly getting frisky with each other. I thought it was hilarious when Greg walks in on his parents having fun in bed. Mr. Focker's face was covered with whipped cream from rubbing his face all over Mrs. Focker's bosoms.

After all of Mr. Byrnes' constant watching over Greg, he finally learns to accept Greg and his family. Greg and his fiance get married, and Mr. and Mrs. Byrnes finally get into the RV to have a little fun of their own.

This was a good-humored light-hearted comedy with occasionally hilarious scenes.

My rating: B, 88.

Bewitched 

I'm embarassed to have even seen this dumb movie. I liked the old Bewitched tv show when I was a kid, but this odd tribute to the old show is simply a disgrace. Instead of doing a modern remake of the show, the geniuses at the studio thought that it would be interesting to make a clever twist. The movie is about a loser actor (played by Will Ferrell) who wants to make a comeback after a series of bad movies with a remake of the television show, Bewitched. He wants to use an unknown actress so that he could claim the spotlight. He finds Nicole Kidman and asks her to play Samantha on the show. Nicole turns out to be an actual witch who wants to foresake her powers as a witch and live a simple mortal life. Don't ask me why anyone would want to give up such a great lifestyle. I'd love to have those kinds of powers. I daydream that I have those types of powers like Samantha from Bewitched or that half-alien girl who could freeze time from the old show, "Out of This World".

So, Nicole Kidman turns out to be an actual witch who wants to live a normal life as a mortal, just like Samantha from the tv show. She is scouted by Ferrell to play as Samantha on a show called Bewitched, which is about a witch who wants to live a normal life. Wow! That is so clever. Not! I'm being sarcastic. That's not inventive. That's just a plain stupid idea. The studio thought that this would rake in big bucks with a turd of an idea like that?!

Will Ferrell is funny in other movies like Elf, but he wasn't funny in this one. He plays an immature actor who throws tantrums, but his character was not likable at all. Nicole Kidman plays a ditzy witch who is charming, but even her acting abilities couldn't save her from this awful plot.

There are very few funny scenes. Actually, I don't remember anything that was funny. Most of the scenes were too contrived. Nicole Kidmans' father appears time to time to give her unwanted advice. I think it would be freaky if you were shopping at the market, and your dad's face just popped up on all the food labels to talk to you. He also is an incorrigible playboy that wants to screw every woman he sees.

There were a lot of mistakes in this movie, that even I caught, like in one scene where Farrell rides a bike and parks it in front of his trailer, and then the bike disappears when the camera pans back to him as he's walking back.

This movie is just unbelievable. Nicole Kidman falling in love with Will Ferrell? Come on!

My rating: F, 53.

Mom!!! Why'd You Give Away All My Clothes?!!!

Okay, she didn't give away ALL my clothes, but she gave away about half the clothes I have. When I moved out and got my place with Sarah after we got married, I left a bunch of my clothes in my old bedroom at my parents' place. And yes, I lived with my parents until I was 30. There's nothing wrong with that! Anyway, I left a lot of my clothes in my old room, because I wanted to save some space at my new place. I was going to get them later when I needed them. My dad wanted to turn my room into his office. My mom must have mistaken what I said when I said, "I don't want them now". She thought that I didn't want them at at all. When I went to get some of my winter clothes, she said that she gave them all away. Aaggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet she purposely did that so I would have to buy new clothes. I hate shopping for clothes. I've always had my mom and sister choose clothes for me. Now, Sarah is starting to buy clothes for me. I don't want to buy new clothes, so I'm just going to stick with what I have. I don't care if I have to wear the same clothes all the time. I really don't care about clothes too much. I wish the world was like the garden of eden where we're all naked.

My mom is good at throwing away my stuff. She has always been throwing away my stuff since I was a kid. She gave away my kid clothes, toys, games, books, and other junk. She threw away my papers from time to time too, including important documents! I like to keep everything I have and she loves to throw them away. Moms!