The most anticipated film is probably The Avengers, where superheroes like Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Hawkeye get together to fight the villains. But Rihanna movie debut in Battleship is also long-awaited, at least by her fans. Last but not least, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will be back as Men in Black, after 10 years from the last sequel. Before watch the movies, check out all the wallpapers in this post!

Now, you need to prepare your pocket to watch all the box-office movies. Not to mention that summer is not just about movie time, but also school break and holiday season! You might need cash loans for some advance cash, so you can enjoy this year’s summer.

The Avengers 2560 x 1600 Wallpaper

The Avengers 1280 x 853 Wallpaper

Battleship 1920 x 1200 Wallpaper

Battleship 1600 x 1000 Wallpaper

Dark Shadows 1440 x 900 Wallpaper

Dark Shadows 1920 x 1280 Wallpaper

Men in Black 3 1600 x 1200 Wallpaper

Men in Black 3 1280 x 1024 Wallpaper

The Dictator 1280 x 1024 Wallpaper

What To Expect When You're Expecting 2250 x 1500 Wallpaper

What To Expect When You're Expecting 1500 x 750 Wallpaper

Here are, based on my personal opinion only, 15 of the most successful Asian actors/actresses in Hollywood industry. Note that the list is limited to Asian persons only, with the exception of those who were born in U.S from both Asian parents. So, no Asian-American descent in this list:

15. Aishwarya Rai

Born: 1 November 1973 in Mangalore, India

Has been known since the last 15 years as Bollywood’s top actress, and also one of the most beautiful women in the world, Aishwarya Rai still needs to prove her existence in Western world (assuming that she wants to). After critic and box-office success from her first English film, Bride & Prejudice (2004), her next Western films were a flop. The fact that Asian actors from India are less-favored by Hollywood, compared to the ones from China or Japan, also doesn’t help her, as she’s yet to play another English film since 2009.

Hit Movies: Bride & Prejudice, The Last Legion, The Pink Panther 2

14. Freida Pinto

Born: 18 October 1984 in Mumbai, India

Nobody knows Freida Pinto before Slumdog Millionaire (2008), whether it’s Indian or Western audience. The question is, where will she go after that Academy Award winning film? Almost four years after Slumdog Millionaire, she has already took part in couple of box-office hits, although her roles in not as prominent as her first English-language film.

Hit Movies: Slumdog Millionaire, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Immortals

13. Ken Jeong

Born: 13 July 1969 in Michigan US (his parents were immigrants from South Korea)

After attained his medical degree in 1995, Dr. Ken started his showbiz career by guest starring in some television series. Need a long time until Hollywood’s producers gave him a noticeable roles, which he got in Knocked Up (2007) and as the gangster Leslie Chow in The Hangover (2009). It’s probably difficult at his age to get a lead role in the future, but a least he has managed to get a part in some blockbuster movies.

Hit Movies: Knocked Up, The Hangover I-II, All About Steve, Despicable Me (voice), Zookeeper, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Community (TV Series)

12. Bai Ling

Born: 10 October 1966 in Sichuan, China

Bai Ling made a breakthrough in English language film in Red Corner (1997) where she acted alongside Richard Gere. In 1999, she changed her citizenship to US. It’s too bad that Bai Ling’s acting talent has to be clouded by her controversies. Shoplifting, disturbing public peace, nipple slips, bisexual, and alcohol problems are some of her bad images, which she claimed as a creation of Hollywood’s pop-culture. This is probably the reason why even though she got a lot of parts in big movies, only few of them are important enough to be remembered by the audiences.

Hit Movies: The Crow, Red Corner, Wild Wild West, Anna and the King, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Crank: High Voltage

11. Joan Chen

Born: 26 April 1961 in Shanghai, China

After starred in few Chinese films, Joan Chen moved to the United States at age of 20, where she studied filmmaking at California State University, Northridge. She came to international attention for her performance in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor. Joan Chen was mostly cast as an exotic Asian beauty in Hollywood films, which she later felt tired of, and decided to move to directing instead of acting.

Hit Movies: The Last Emperor, Twin Peaks (TV series), Heaven & Earth, On Deadly Ground, Judge Dredd, Lust, Caution

10. Gong Li

Born: 31 December 1965 in Shenyang, China

Although has been known internationally since the 90s, especially for her beauty and acting talent, Gong Li avoided Hollywood’s offers for years, due to a lack of confidence in speaking English. She made her English speaking debut in 2005 when she starred in in Memoirs of a Geisha, which received many positive reviews. Until now, she’s still very selective when choosing her English-speaking role.

Hit Movies: Memoirs of a Geisha, Miami Vice, Curse of the Golden Flower, Hannibal Rising, Shanghai

9. Hiroyuki Sanada

Born: 12 October 1960 in Tokyo, Japan

Senior actor that has played in countless Japanese films. His international breakthrough came when he got the role of Ujio in The Last Samurai (2003). This recognition granted him numerous parts in Hollywood movies, which unfortunately none of them are as lead role.

Hit Movies: The Last Samurai, The White Countess, Rush Hour 3, Speed Racer, Lost (TV series), 47 Ronin

8. Zhang Ziyi

Born: 9 February 1979 in Beijing, China

Unlike other Chinese actors/actresses that started their career in many Chinese/Hong Kong movies before moved to Hollywood, Zhang Ziyi didn’t play in many of those films. At the age of 19, Zhang was offered her first role in Zhang Yimou’s The Road Home (1999), before rose to further fame in 2000 with her role as Jen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which she won several awards. She’s known as an actress who carefully picks her role, that’s why she haven’t played in many movies.

Hit Movies: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Rush Hour 2, Memoirs of a Geisha, TMNT (voice), Horsemen

7. Michelle Yeoh

Born: 6 August 1962 in Perak, Malaysia

Her role as Wai Lin in James Bond – Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) catapulted her career into international recognition. The American audiences got to know her better from martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). In 2008, the film critic website Rotten Tomatoes ranked her the greatest action heroine of all time. In 2009, she was listed by People magazine – as the only Asian actress – as one of the “35 All-Time Screen Beauties”

Hit Movies: Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Memoirs of a Geisha, Babylon A.D., The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Kung Fu Panda 2 (voice)

6. Ken Watanabe

Born: 21 October 1959 in Niigata, Japan

Ken Watanabe was introduced to most Western audiences by the 2003 film The Last Samurai, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Hollywood producers also loved his performance and gave him contracts in various roles, including as tragic hero, martial artist, and even antagonist part. With his strong charisma, Ken Watanabe is probably the best Asian actor for character play at this moment.

Hit Movies: The Last Samurai, Memoirs of a Geisha, Batman Begins, Letters from Iwo Jima, Inception

5. Chow Yun-fat

Born: 18 May 1955 in Lamma Island, Hong Kong

Being the biggest star in Hong Kong during the 90s, Chow attempts to regain the same success in Hollywood were unsuccessful. His first two films, The Replacement Killers (1998) and The Corruptor (1999), were a flop in box office chart. Chow had often wished to be regarded as a serious dramatic actor in Hollywood. Unfortunately, he often landed in roles that stereotyped him as an Asian action hero. However, his American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), became a winner at both the international box office and the Oscars.

Hit Movies: Anna and the King, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Bulletproof Monk, Curse of the Golden Flower, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Dragonball Evolution

4. Lucy Liu

Born: 2 December 1968 in New York, US (her parents were immigrants from Taiwan)

Although born in America and began acting in 1989, Lucy Liu’s career started off slowly. She got her first breakthrough in 1998, when she played Ling Woo in Ally McBeal, where the character was specifically created for her. After this role, she never found any difficulty of getting an important part, whether in movies or TV series, which made her as one of the most successful Asian actresses. One good thing about her born in US is that she never hesitates to done any nudity, unlike other Asian models that still influenced by their conservative cultures.

Hit Movies: Ally McBeal (TV), Payback, Shanghai Noon, Charlie’s Angels 1-2, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, Chicago, Kill Bill 1-2, Kung Fu Panda 1-2 (voice)

3. Bruce Lee

Born: 27 November 1940 in San Francisco, US (from Chinese father and Chinese-German mother)

Bruce Lee only starred in one Hollywood’s production, that is Enter the Dragon (1973). He died in young age from unknown cause, during the dubbing work of Enter the Dragon. His success can’t be measured only from his Hollywood film, as he was more of an iconic figure, especially to the Chinese people. He is widely considered by many commentators, critics, media and other martial artists to be the most influential martial artist of the 20th century, and a cultural icon. Inspired by Bruce Lee, many Chinese youths learn martial arts and later try their luck in movie industry.

Hit Movies: Enter the Dragon, The Green Hornet (TV series)

2. Jet Li

Born: 26 April 1963 in Beijing, China

Chinese martial artist and wushu champion, Jet Li first role in a Hollywood film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), but his first Hollywood film leading role was in Romeo Must Die (2000). However, it seems that American audiences prefer Li’s role in Hong Kong movies that released internationally (Hero, Fearless), instead of his Hollywood’s movies, which mostly considered as shallow and only exposed his martial arts ability.

Hit Movies: Lethal Weapon 4, Romeo Must Die, Cradle 2 the Grave, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Expendables

1. Jackie Chan

Born: 7 April 1954 in Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

Jackie Chan gained recognition in US from worldwide release of Hong Kong action film Rumble in the Bronx, back in 1995. He could made his Hollywood debut much sooner as he received some offers, but Chan refused to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles. Jackie Chan is a unique actor known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative and dangerous stunts, which he mostly done by himself.

Hit Movies: Rush Hour 1-3, Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights, The Karate Kid (2011), Kung Fu Panda 1-2 (voice)

So, that’s my list of the most successful Asian actors/actresses in Hollywood. Do you have other suggestions?

Plot:

Violinist Samantha (Jennifer Love Hewitt), an American music student in London, is always taken for granted by her live-in partner Ian Wyndham (Paul Nicholls). Shortly after a painful fight with Ian (and nearly broke up), Samantha dies in a terrible accident.

Miraculously, the next day Ian gets an opportunity to live the fatal day all over again. What will Ian do? Try to love Sam like there’s no tomorrow, or even try to changing the events with hope to prevent her death?

Release Date: January 23, 2004
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Directed by: Gil Junger (10 Things I Hate about You, Black Knight)
Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Paul Nicholls, Tom Wilkinson, Lucy Davenport
Budget: n/a
Gross Revenue: n/a (not distributed in US theaters)

Review:

Have you ever taken someone for granted? And if you only have one day, what will you do to make up to that person? That’s the main theme of If Only. Well, the plot about “second chance” and Brit guy dating American woman probably sound cliche to you. Moreover, you might also doubt the cast. I mean, who the heck is Paul Nicholls? And when Jennifer Love Hewitt ever played a good film? At the very least, you’ll recognized Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson, but he only played a small role as cab driver in this movie.

Well, don’t let all of that fool you. This is a good movie, even if the story, including the ending, is so predictable.

The first 1/3 of the film introduces you to the pair, which will probably make you hate the Ian character, as he neglects his beautiful, funny, kind, and sexy girlfriend. But after Sam died in accident, you will suddenly share Ian’s sorrow, and feel pity for him. Imagine Ian’s surprise when he wakes up the next day with Sam is still alive, and he can redo the events from the previous 24 hours.

Ian’s efforts to change events and love Sam like there’s no tomorrow is arguably the best part of If Only movie. The scenes are romantic, warm, and filled with smiles and tears. So touching that you’ll probably view the world in different perspective, and embrace the time you have with your loved ones.

Unfortunately, as good as it is, there’s a big flaw in the script. Instead of “one more day” for Ian, it feels more like “one more week!” Started with wake up in the morning, he then attended company meeting, celebrated in bar with colleagues, searched Sam around town, then took her to the village by train, hiking, made love in a cabin, back to the village and drink in a pub, back to London, back to the apartment and get dressed, photocopy a lot of music sheets, and then attend Sam concert at 7 pm. Meaning that all of those activities were done in about 12-13 hours! Many viewers probably ignored this, as it isn’t the point of the movie, but for me, it’s just bugging.

Lastly, if you love romantic movie, this one will suit you well. Moreover, if you love Jennifer Love Hewitt, this is probably her best performance ever. The acting was okay, although not extraordinary, but she’s beautiful, convincing, and sing several nice songs in this film.

My Rating: B-

IMDb user rating: 7.0/10

Rotten Tomatoes meter: n/a

Metacritic: n/a

Entertainment Weekly: n/a

MRQE Metric: n/a

Your Ratings: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Note that ratings and gross revenue are based from when this review was written, so the values might already changed by now.

Plot:

Cheating is when you’re in a committed relationship and have sex with another person. It’s not cheating if you live in different area codes, if you are too wasted to remember it, or if you are with two people at the same time because they cancel each other out. But it is definitely cheating if you videotape it and mails the tape to your girlfriend.

This is what happens to Josh Parker (Breckin Meyer), who have been together with Tiffany (Rachel Blanchard) since they were kids. He then accidentally sent the sex tape of him with college friend, Beth (Amy Smart), to Tiffany. Josh must now drag two college buddies, and one not-so-eager-kid who happens to own the car, on a raucous 1800-mile road trip from Ithaca, New York to Austin, Texas to save his lifelong romance.

Release Date: May 19, 2000
Distributor: DreamWorks
Directed by: Todd Philips (Old School, Starsky & Hutch, Due Date, The Hangover, The Hangover II)
Starring: Breckin Meyer, Seann William Scott, Amy Smart, Paulo Costanzo, DJ Qualls, Tom Green, Rachel Blanchard
Budget: $16 million
Gross Revenue: $68,525,608 (US), $119,754,278 (worldwide)

Review:

Started with American Pie (1999), early 2000s is the time where there are so many teen-comedy movies which filled with violent humors and vulgar scenes, mostly contain nudity. Van Wilder, Not Another Teen Movie, Tomcats, Say It isn’t So, and of course Road Trip, are some examples of them.

The key to watching this kind of movie is easy, that is do not expect anything but laugh. The jokes are gross and not smart, the dialogues are unmemorable, the events are beyond logic, and the plot is….none. Like I said, the main point of success for black-comedy is on how to make the audience laugh, and this is where Road Trip has successfully done. The script is no more than a setup to create a wacky and bizarre moments, creating a hilarious visual gags during the whole movie.

The strong elements are always the characters, which are naturally funny, especially Kyle (DJ Qualls) and Mitch (Tom Green). Unfortunately, the main character itself, Josh Parker, is very dull and boring. It’s weird that the guy that actually cheating and sent his own sex tape to his girlfriend is looked like the only “nice guy” among the other male characters in this movie.

Anyway, this movie is obviously not for everyone. Whether a viewer will find if it’s fun or absurd is depend on his/her personal taste. Also, even though titled as Road Trip, there are not many road trips moments and experiences that you can learn from this film. You should check at travel tips website if you want to know more about road trip.

My Rating: C+

IMDb user rating: 6.4/10

Rotten Tomatoes meter: 58%

Metacritic: 55/100

Entertainment Weekly: B

MRQE Metric: 58/100

Your Ratings: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Note that ratings and gross revenue are based from when this review was written, so the values might already changed by now.

Before we go on to the special offer, let’s take a look about the company first. Satellite Solutions Network. Inc. is the official retailer of DISH Network (one of the top satellite TV service providers), with over 12 years experience in satellite TV industry. Of course there is no doubt to use their service if we see their existence in TV industry, even on these days that require every retailer to provide a good service for the customers.

Now, Satellite Solutions Network have an offer for the new customer that want to order DISH network. The company will handle everything include the installation of the equipments that is needed to use the service, since every new customer will need a small satellite DISH, at least one receiver, and a remote control for each TV. What I am sure that will make you smile is you do not need to pay anything for the usage of standard equipment needed, only a monthly fee for the DISH service.

Besides that free installation charge, just like I have mentioned above, it is a good news for you who are the big fan of blockbuster movies, cause they offer The Blockbuster Movie Pass for free if you order DISH Network now.

What you can do with The Blockbuster Movie Pass are:

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So what are you waiting for, just visit their homepage at www.satellitesolutions.com and get $75 cash rebate for all the other promotional offers if you order DISH Network now.

Plot:

A beautiful Mind is a semi-biopic of the famed mathematical genius John Forbes Nash, Jr. (Russell Crowe) and his lifelong struggles with his mental health. Nash enrolled as a graduate student at Princeton in 1948 and almost immediately stood out as an odd person. He devoted himself to finding something unique for his doctorate, a mathematical theorem that would be completely original. His only reliable friend during Princeton time is his roommate, Charles Herman (Paul Bettany).

Soon, John Nash becomes a professor at MIT where he meets and eventually married a graduate student, Alicia Larde (Jennifer Connelly). Over time however John begins to having delusions and lose his grip on reality, eventually being institutionalized diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. As the depths of his imaginary world are revealed, Nash withdraws from society and it’s not until the 1970s that he makes his first foray back into the world of academics, gradually returning to research and teaching. In 1994, John Nash was awarded the Nobel prize in Economics.

Release Date: December 21, 2001
Distributor: Universal Studios (US) and DreamWorks (non-US)
Directed by: Ron Howard (Cocoon, Apollo 13, Ransom, Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons)
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Christopher Plummer, Josh Lucas
Budget: $60 million
Gross Revenue: $170,708,996 (US), $313,542,341 (worldwide)

Review:

Although based on real-life story, the elements in A Beautiful Mind are actually something that we’ve seen often in Hollywood’s drama. A brilliant youngster gets bullied in university, a genius who’s also mentally-ill, and a love story between beautiful hot lady with a nerd, are some cliches that you can easily get from other movies. Fortunately, this film offers much more than that. Director Ron Howard was successfully mixed all those elements into a combination of drama, thriller, and romance, with some fun scenes here and there.

The movie is started with a rather slow pace, tells the story of young John Nash when he was attending Princeton as graduate student. Only with his roommate Charles Herman that support him, Nash desperately seeking for a breakthrough in mathematical theorem. Besides to make the audiences understand the whole personality of John Nash, this first third half of the movie also filled with math talks, which might be fun for some of you.

The mid-part is the best part of the whole film. It’s started with the romance between Nash, now a professor in MIT, with one of his student, Alicia Larde. As John Nash is a very “weird” person, the love-story is filled with many awkward yet sweet moments, sometimes added with funny dialogues. Later after they married and Alicia is pregnant, Nash started to show signs of paranoid. He, who secretly works as a spy for US government, feels that his life is endangered, that some Russian agents are tailing him. At this point, audiences will wondering who’s right, doctor who says that Nash is having a delusions and actually never a spy, or John Nash himself is right and he’s actually an agent who’s trying to stop the next nuclear war.

Whichever one is true (as I won’t spoiled for you who haven’t seen the movie), now the life of John Nash is devastated. He then must fights with himself and regains his senses, so he can start to rebuild his relationship with his wife, as well as his career in education.

Russell Crowe was brilliant in this movie, as he can made the character very believable. Not only as a delusional schizophrenic genius, but also how he turns his character from a young graduate student until becomes a Nobel Prize winner 47 years later!

A Beautiful Mind also comes with few flaws, as we always expecting from Hollywood’s biopic. They’re basically come from some over-dramatic scenes, especially from the romance part, such as the way John and Alicia even started seeing each other wasn’t very realistic, and why Alicia would stay with John after he becomes distant (the real John Nash and Alicia Larde were actually divorced around the time Nash was hospitalized, and only remarried again in 2001).

It’s nice to see a mathematician takes the main role of a movie, especially if it’s a real-life genius and Nobel Prize winner like John Nash, which the brain kinda makes me envy, as I still need to access an online calculator to do a simple algebra .

My Rating: B+

IMDb user rating: 8.0/10

Rotten Tomatoes meter: 78%

Metacritic: 72/100

Yahoo! critics: B+

Yahoo! users: B+

Your Ratings: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Note that ratings and gross revenue are based from when this review was written, so the values might already changed by now.

So, for you gadget and computer freaks, here are my list of 15 of the coolest hackers in movies. Leave a comment if you have other opinions.

15. Milo Hoffman (Antitrust/2001)

Actor: Ryan Phillippe

At first, he’s a programmer being rented by a satellite company, and later he finds out that the corporate using the satellites to spy on competitors. A movie that’s probably hated by hacker community as it pictures hacker as corporate watchdog. We have to envy Milo though, as he can date Claire Forlani and has Rachael Leigh Cook as co-worker.

14. Angela Bennett (The Net/1995)

Actress: Sandra Bullock

Angela Bennett is a young and beautiful computer expert who becomes involved in a web of computer espionage. Only hours before she leaves for vacation, she discovers secret information on the disk she has received from a friend that turns her life into a living nightmare. Another hacker that’s described as an introvert and anti-social, luckily, she’s hot.

13. Gus Gorman (Superman III/1983)

Actor: Richard Pryor

Gus is a bumbling computer genius who works for villainous multimillionaire Ross Webster to destroy Superman. Webster then orders Gorman to use his computer knowledge to create kryptonite. After the computer fails to analyze an “unknown” element in kryptonite, he improvises by replacing the unidentified element with tar, garnered from a pack of cigarettes!

12. Boris Ivanovich Grishenko (GoldenEye/1995)

Actor: Alan CUmming

Boris is an evil genius in the James Bond film GoldenEye. He is a brilliantly talented computer programmer and hacker who has hacked the United States Department of Justice. We can easily remember him from his catchphrase, “I am invincible!” whenever he succeeds.

11. Lyle (The Italian Job/2003)

Actor: Seth Green

Lyle is a computer technician that joins a team of thieves who plan to steal gold bullion from a former associate who double crossed them. The reason why he made it to this list is not because he was able to hack the LA traffic system, but because the possibility that he’s the real inventor of Napster (if you believe what he says).

10. Kate Libby (Hackers/1995)

Actress: Angelina Jolie

The movie tells the adventures of a group of gifted high school hackers and their involvement in a corporate extortion conspiracy. The main hacker is actually Dade “Zero Cool” Murphy, but since Kate “Acid Burn” Libby is played by Angelina Jolie, we have to pick her.

09. Matthew Farrell (Live Free or Die Hard/2007)

Actor: Justin Long

A group of cyber terrorists plan to hack FBI computers and takes over several U.S. technology infrastructures. Computer geek Mat Farrell works with immortal cop John McLane try to prevent that from happening. The character himself isn’t that interesting, but since the actor Justin Long was known as Mac personality in the campaign ads, this movie is like a free advertising for Apple!

08. Luther Stickell (Mission: Impossible 1-4/1996-2011)

Actor: Ving Rhames

Who says that hacker must be a skinny and introvert nerd? Luther is a muscle-bound expert computer hacker who works for the fictional “IMF” (Impossible Missions Force) division of the CIA, and he’s the only character besides Ethan Hunt that appears on all four Mission: Impossible movies.

07. David Lightman (WarGames/1983)

Actor: Matthew Broderick

Lightman is a young hacker who unwittingly accesses WOPR, a United States military supercomputer programmed to predict possible outcomes of nuclear war. He gets WOPR to run a nuclear war simulation, originally believing it to be a computer game, which later causes a national nuclear missile scare and nearly starts World War III. This movie was notable for coining the term “firewall” in reference to computer network security.

06. Neo (The Matrix Trilogy/1999-2003)

Actor: Keanu Reeves

I don’t know whether Thomas A. Anderson (aka Neo) can be categorized as a hacker or not. He lives in a world where machine and computer try to subdue human population, and “hacking” has a new definiton in this movie. However, many agree that The Matrix contains many references to the cyberpunk and hacker subcultures.

05. Trinity (The Matrix Trilogy/1999-2003)

Actress: Carrie-Anne Moss

I actually hesitated to enter two characters from a single movie in this list. However, since we lack of women hackers (especially the hot one), I decided to pick her anyway. Like the series’ other main characters, Trinity is a computer programmer and a hacker who has escaped from the Matrix, a sophisticated computer program in which most of the human race is imprisone. She’s also Neo love interests.

04. Kevin Flynn (Tron/1982)

Actor: Jeff Bridges

If you want un-serious movie about hacker, then Tron is the one. When Flynn attempts to hack into the ENCOM mainframe, he’s literally abducted into the world of computer and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is the help of a heroic security program. How cool is that?

03. Cosmo (Sneakers/1992)

Actor: Ben Kingsley

Rarely we seen an Oscar winner willing to play as a hacker (Jeff Bridges hasn’t got his Oscar when he played in Tron), and if there is one, then it must be a special role. In this movie, Cosmo is the master villain who believes that who’s controlling the information, he controls the power. This is his cool quote:

“The world isn’t run by weapons anymore, or energy, or money. It’s run by little ones and zeroes, little bits of data. It’s all just electrons.”

 
02. David Levinson (Independence Day/1996)

Actor: Jeff Goldblum

David is an MIT-educated computer expert working as a satellite technician in New York City. How we can deny that he’s an expert hacker if he was able to hack and send virus to alien’s mother-ship to disable their shield, which gives chance to human to fight the invaders.

01. Stanley Jobson (Swordfish/2001)

Actor: Hugh Jackman

A super hacker previously convicted by the FBI but now is trying to stay clean. Now he is targeted for recruitment into a bank robbery because of his hacking skills. He is easily become a hero for the nerds as in the movie he shows that he still can hack a computer while having a gun pointed to his head and simultaneously receiving a blow job!

That’s it for my choice of 15 of the coolest hackers from movies. Those films mainly teach us one thing, that is important to keep your data and computer save. The most susceptible way of losing data is if you keep them on a small device, such as memory card, external hard drive, or USB flash drive. That’s why you need to install USB flash drive encryption software for those devices, so if in any case you loss it, your date can’t be opened and used by other people.

Plot:

Although has the title of The God of Cookery, celebrity chef  Stephen Chow knows very little about cooking. However, he disguises as a brilliant chef who sits in judgement of those who would challenge his title. He finally loses his title when a jealous chef reveals him to be a con-man and humiliates him publicly.

As this new chef takes on the God of Cookery’s role, the former God tries to pull himself back on top again. With the help of his no.1 fan, Miss Turkey, he opens up street restaurant. When his fame started to rise, he begins his campaign to challenge his rival and find once and for all who is the true God of Cookery.

Release Date: 1996
Distributor: CN Entertainment (Hong Kong)
Directed by: Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle), Lee Lik-chi
Starring: Stephen Chow, Karen Mok, Vincent Kuk
Budget: n/a
Gross Revenue: HK $15,887,000

Review:

As both an actor and director, Stephen Chow only been known in western cinema since the last decade, thanks to Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kung Fu Hustle films (2004). Chow’s mo lei tau (literally translated as “nonsensical”) comedy genre is new for western audiences, thus very highly regarded. However, before those movies, Chow has produced some good works for Hong Kong cinema, and The God of Cookery probably the best one.

I won’t talk about this movie’s plot, because story is obviously not an important aspect of Chow’s comedy. The best part of The God of Cookery is obviously the humor, which is filled by comical-style slapstick. True that the jokes are silly, and often absurd, but they were all set at the perfect timing, which added with the natural funny expression from the actors.

The movie also acts as a spoof, both for kung fu (like the scene with 18 brass-men of Shaolin) and for cooking (it’s actually a parody of Japanese cooking show Iron Chef). The scene where Chow and his rival demonstrate the mixing of martial art and cooking to create “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall”, a famous dish from Chinese cuisine, is one of the most interesting scene I’ve ever seen in a comedy genre.

So, as this is an “unusual” movie, you can easily love it, or hate it. However, even if you dislike this one, you must still admit that this is new and won’t be found on any other films.

My Rating: B

IMDb user rating: 7.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes meter: 84%

Metacritic: n/a

Yahoo! critics: n/a

Yahoo! users: n/a

Your Ratings: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Note that ratings and gross revenue are based from when this review was written, so the values might already changed by now.

Plot:

Harvey Bellinger (Beau Bridges), his wife Lydia (Rosanna Arquette), and their two teenage kids live a well off life in suburbia. This changes, however, when their seventeen year old son Colby (Mathew Botuchis) installs video cameras around their house, and starts a website to broadcast the family’s actions live on the internet.

When the whole family find about this, they are angry and appalled. But when they realize that money can be made with the internet live feed, the Bellingers start acting crazier, eventually leading to Harvey blowing up the house to get rid of the cameras.

This is a sexy comedy that pushes reality TV to the limits.

Release Date: 2006
Distributor: n/a
Directed by: Eric Steven Stahl (Safe House, Final Approach)
Starring: Beau Bridges, Rosanna Arquette, Mathew Botuchis, Shiri Appleby, Baelyn Neff
Budget: $6,200,000
Gross Revenue: n/a

Review:

When his stepsister Audrey deliberately smashed his laptop , Colby decided to have a payback. He install a webcam in her sister’s room, and then create i-see-you.com website to broadcast the live feed. In no time, the new website received thousand hits, and starts generate some money for Colby. Sense a lot of profits, Colby then puts video camera all over the house, including in bathroom and his parents’ room.

This is where the movie gets funny. All family members doing their daily activities without knowing that the world is watching. Natural thing that they do, and we’d probably often did too, can be look gross and embarrassing when it’s broadcasted to the world.

As predicted, the website receives much more traffic, and media pays serious attention to thing that they called as the real “family entertainment”. Soon, the Bellingers are recognized as celebrities, which make them realized what Colby is doing to them. Smells the money, they decide to continue the live feed. What started as natural daily life now turns to merely an act.

This second part of the movie is what I think as pointless and not believable. I can’t believe a father can let her teenage girl doing breast implant to attract audience, or let the world watch his wife seduce a foreign man. Moreover, I also can’t believe the website still has an increasing visitor, even when they know that the Bellingers “know”, which makes the show is no longer a “reality”.

However lame this movie is, it’s probably still gonna be appreciated by bloggers and webmasters because of its original idea, especially because there aren’t many films about website in Hollywood. By the way, if you’re a webmaster of software developer, you might want to try this prototype development tool, which has the function to design your software or website mockups within minutes.

My Rating: C+

IMDb user rating: 5.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes meter: 31%

Metacritic: n/a

Yahoo! critics: n/a

Yahoo! users: B+

Your Ratings: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Note that ratings and gross revenue are based from when this review was written, so the values might already changed by now.

Plot:

When Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) returns to her hometown in Northern Minnesota after a failed marriage, she needs a good job. She turns to the predominant source of employment in the region – the iron mines. It’s an industry long dominated by men, in a place unaccustomed to change. Encouraged by her old friend Glory (Frances McDormand), one of the few female miners in town, Josey joins the ranks of those laboring to blast ore from rock in the gaping quarries.

The last thing the miners want is women competing for scarce jobs–women who, in their estimation, have no business driving trucks and hauling rock anyway. When Josey speaks out against the treatment she and her fellow workers face she is met with resistance–not only from those in power but from a community that doesn’t want to hear the truth. Through many struggles, Josey will find the courage to stand up for what she believes in–even if that means standing alone.

Release Date: October 21, 2005 (wide)
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Directed by: Niki Caro (The Vintner’s Luck, Whale Rider)
Starring: Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, Sissy Spacek, Woody Harrelson, Sean Bean, Michelle Monaghan, Jeremy Renner
Budget: $30,000,000
Gross Revenue: $18,324,242 (US), $23,624,242 (worldwide)

Review:

Once again, we’re “forced” to see the Hollywood’s version of real life’s struggle. Fortunately, this time the result is quite good, put aside few over-dramatized scenes and anticlimax solution.

North Country focus on the story of Josey Aimes, a single mother with two children who has to received harassment and discrimination from her male co-workers, because she has a job in all-male working environment. When her pleas for the treatments that she and her other female miners received weren’t heard by the company and the community, Josey has to take a drastic measure, that is to bring the whole broken system to the court.

The first part of the movie, which describes the struggles that Josey had to face, both in the mine and the city, is absolutely brilliant. Charlize Theron once again gives her best performance as a woman who almost single-handedly face the corporate, the town’s people, her ex-husband, and even her own father. She manages to make us feel the scary sensation of having to make a big decision which can cost everything, including her relationship with her children.

The court part of the movie is where Hollywood gives to much of its touch. The plaintiff’s attorney, portrayed by Woody Harrelson, commits every procedural violation that could possibly be conceived. The arguments by both sides are often absurd. The solution is also quite not believable.

Well, it’s probably just Hollywood’s way to make the story more entertaining, as the true story itself probably boring (the actual case itself only settled after 14 years!). So, despite that this film brings good messages, you should only see North Country movie as pure entertainment, as you’d probably will see some holes in the plot, plus some “unreal” scenes here and there.

My Rating: B-

IMDb user rating: 7.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes meter: 69%

Metacritic: 68/100

Yahoo! critics: B

Yahoo! users: B

Your Ratings: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Note that ratings and gross revenue are based from when this review was written, so the values might already changed by now.