Finally the long wait is over! In The Forbidden Kingdom, for the first time we are going to see the fantastic Jet Li and Jacky Chan together. Not so much about the story has been revealed. The plot might not be that unusual and even it is likely quite predictable (but who knows until we all watch it). From the trailer, it is mostly about a young bloke that travelled back in time. With a girl and two warriors, he was doing some sort of "prophecy fulfilling" adventure.

Few weeks to go.

The film The Kite Runner (German: Drachenläufer) is adapted from the book with the same title. I have read the book and it is very enjoyable. The film is, however, something different. It is obvious that it is not possible to include every single scene from the book, and thus the film can not touch the major characters in the same depth as the book. I would say, read first the book before going to watch it and then try to fill out the missing episodes in your own mind.

I also find it is pity to see that not so many are interested in this film. I can't claim I was the youngest in the cinema, but it was clear that most of people are at least thirty something. On the other hand, it is indeed a bit hard to catch some attention when it must compete head to head against blockbusters e.g. I Am Legend. I hope the DVD will be better received.

TV viewing for me since autumn the fall has mostly been the same old programs that I watched in the previous season. I did start out watching Bionic Woman but gave up just before they stopped airing it. I found it too depressing. Too much angst being thrown about.

I stumbled upon Woman's Murder Club just before its season started and love it. It's got Angie Harmon in it, so that's a big plus, but the rest of the cast interact well, it's got interesting plots, that are very funny at times and it's based in San Francisco. So far they've done 10 episodes (out of a planned season of 13), but the writers strike has forced it off the air at the moment. Lynea did find the first four James Patterson Murder Club books at the local library book sale of Friday night, so I know what I'll be reading soon.

The other "new" one I'm going to try is Dexter. Even though it was first broadcast on Showtime (which we don't get), it's going to be aired on CBS next month (again, due to the writer's strike). I hope they don't butcher it too much.

Onto the film. About a week ago, we all watched The Simpsons Movie. As Homer says, why go to a theater to watch this when you could be watching in on your TV at home? So true. So that's what we did. After watching SpongeBob fail to make a good transition to the big screen, I was wondering how well this one would do. I don't know, but watching it on TV feels like a really good long single episode.

But here's the difference. The material is new. The jokes are almost continuous. There is a good plot. They don't try to show every character that ever appeared in the TV shows, in the film. Highly recommended.

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Many thanks to Eugenia for commenting on my previous post and then making these exceptional video's available. There is video of at least of ten of the creatures I photographed on Monday. In comparison, they make my pictures, look like Polaroids from the '80's.

As she writes:

Download the source 720p video file on the right sidebar, rename it as .mp4 and watch it via an AppleTV, PS3 or XBoX360 on your HDTV.

Shot with a Canon HV20 in PF24/Cinemode. Pulldown removed with Cineform NeoHD. Edited with Vegas Pro 8, graded with Magic Bullet. Music and video are licensed separately under the Creative Commons "BY" 3.0 license.

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Breach is a film adapated from the story of O'Neill vs Hanssen. O'Neill is an FBI agent wannabe, given an assignment to watch every single step of Hanssen, an FBI senior agent. FBI believes Hanssen is a double-agent, working for the Soviet but there is no proof. They want to catch Hanssen red-handed, hence the need for constant surveillance. But the fact that Hanssen does so many useful things and goes to church every day casts a doubt to O'Neill. Can he accomplish that task?

Breach is a type of thriller that is quite rare nowadays. Granted, there is almost no puzzle to solve, the plot is pretty much predictable and likely not as cat-and-mouse as one would expect; but it is not polluted with unnecessary explosion-type actions. Sure, it would definitely bore Bourne's fans, but Breach just has different targets. Chris Cooper's performance (as Hannsen) is pretty convincing, he says more with his face and gestures than just his lines. He's supposed to be traitor, yet we can have a feel of his intimate plays running in his mind. Not that it matters, but I wouldn't hesitate to nominate him for an Oscar.

In short: Breach is too good to skip.

Ultimatum is the last of the Bourne trilogy films. Here Jason was back, among others in Europe, on the search for his past. CIA tried to stop him by all means, but due to an internal conflict, some (including Nicky, again) tried to help him. You'll be following his journey and his struggles with a couple of flying bullets, dangerous car chasing, intense hand combats, as well as puzzles solving.

Ultimatum is, without doubt, the best of Bourne ever. Recommended.

One word: it rocks!

(Well, that's more than one, but you get the idea...)