Mongol by Sergei Bodrov (2007, Germany / Kazakhstan / Russia)

The gorgeous backdrop (of what appears to be mostly China) is truly captivating in this historical piece. Sergei Bodrov managed to achieve an epic feel of realism through marvelous casting and non-annoying use of CGI. The battle scenes were superbly shot, and every character was well-acted. The deliberate pacing, though jarring at times, was good and moved the plot well enough. The love angle was a bit weak and feels forced and was my main beef with the film. Otherwise, I look forward to the next 2 films in this prospective trilogy.

3.5/5 stars
IMDB

Lilja 4-ever by Lukas Moodysson (2002, Sweden / Denmark)

A movie set in the armpit slums of Russia. A story about Lilja, a young girl who is about to be abandoned by her single mom, and how she copes living alone in the ghetto. It is a movie which will motivate most viewers to greatly sympathize with characters like Lilja, propelling them to do extreme stuff like volunteer in their local orphanage during weekends... or something.

The film is extremely gritty. The characters there are thrown into very unforgiving circumstances, to which they are presented with almost no way out.

4/5 stars
IMDB

August Rush by Kirsten Sheridan (2007, USA)

A story based on the classic Dicken's novel, Oliver Twist. It's a love story between 2 talented musicians who had an incredibly romantic encounter one night conceiving a son who was orphaned (won't go into detail, just have to watch the movie to find out why). Life's bleak and realistic circumstances broke then apart and extraordinary circumstances reunited them again many many years after.

To me the show was trying to teach us all a lesson about finding one's solace, in this case it was music.

The soundtrack to the film is nothing short of beautiful. Almost every scene was complimented with euphonic instrumental arrangements. The movie had a tendency to be quite corny in some areas but somehow always makes up for it soon after.

If everything else isn't appealing to you, it has Jonathan Rhys Meyers doing his own vocals and instruments in the movie, that to me is one significant selling point.

3/5 stars
IMDB

Eastern Promises by David Cronenberg (UK / Canada / USA)

A gripping mob tale with all the inner workings of a good film. A good, unique plot with a nice setting in London, a great cast of actors, some intricate camerawork punctuated by a nice score, and a dash of bloody violence makes this a fine thriller by Cronenberg. Viggo Mortensen is outstanding in his role as a Russian driver cum hitman. It's obvious he's done research and spent some time with some Russian tough guys before this film. His mannerisms and speech were great, with an icy cold stare and some badass prison tattoos.

The fight at the bathhouse is probably one of the best hand to hand combat ever filmed for a non-martial arts movie, in the likes of the hammer fight in 'Oldboy'. This is one of the best films of 2007, and Cronenberg has got his own unique style and tone down on the film. I'm definitely looking forward to catching up with his filmography. For some reason I've been avoiding watching his movies so far, with the exception of 'Spider', but that's going to change soon.

4/5 stars
IMDB

The Detective by Oxide Pang Chun (2007, Hong Kong)

Gritty supernatural HK thriller set in Thailand. It looks good, but lacks any real substance, not to mention the supernatural element is really tacky and cliched and for the Pang brothers, it's pretty much beating a dead horse by this point. The scares weren't scary and it's really evident the Pang brothers desperately need some kind of inspiration, from the kind of shit they've been churning out lately. Andy Lau wasn't bad, but not even he and a handful of pretty chicks could save this movie from making viewers fall asleep.

2/5 stars
IMDB

American Gangster by Ridley Scott (2007, USA)

Ah, what a waste of time. Ridley Scott should have done better with a drug kingpin movie. Instead he focus too much time on the buildup of the story on the two main characters, which ultimately led to a slow movie with a boring payoff. Interesting characters, but I think I've seen this kind of cop/villain film before. Watch out for the director's cut though.

2/5 stars
IMDB

Sunshine by Danny Boyle (2007, UK / USA)

I felt a little let down after watching this movie. Definitely not Danny Boyle's best movie. In fact I couldn't believe he basically made a crazy space monster movie, choosing to abandon character development and a believable plot in the last act. Anytime you have a pseudo-religious wackjob as your villain, it's usually a good sign the plot is turning to shit. Cliff Curtis was cool while he lasted.

2.5/5 stars
IMDB