Children of Men, Casanova, & Infernal Affairs II & III

Children of Men is a little religious-y for my tastes, but it's also an outstanding film. Clive Owen is very strong in the lead, but the real star is Alfonso Cuarón's direction. The three long takes, during the first car chase/battle, the birth, and the final assault on the apartment complex are quite amazing. So much so that I was a little disappointed to read that the two battle scenes were not done without cuts.

Casanova begins my little very recent scandal minifest. Completely unintentional. I had no idea that Heath Ledger was going to die when Casanova hit the top of my queue. It's fluff. Utter, utter fluff, but it's got a cast of great actors. Well, Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt, and Lena Olin. And man is Lena Olin gorgeous. She's 50 in this film, and holy crap, she is hot. Sienna Miller is attractive, and Heath Ledger is very passable, but the move depends on Irons, Platt, and Olin. I watched it on Blu-Ray on my new 42" 1080p LCD. It looked very pretty.

Infernal Affairs II & III are the second and third films in my recent scandal minifest. For those of you who haven't heard, apparently, Edison Chen is a little bit of a dick. And now, I've seen his. And more of Cecilia Cheung than I ever would have expected. I mean, except in my wildest dreams. Ever since I first saw her in King of Comedy, the quite excellent One Nite in Mongkok, and the only watchable for her Lost in Time, I have wondered what she looked like naked... well, I wonder no longer, as a few days ago, photos leaked to the net that Edison Chen took of him having sex or just naked pictures with Cecilia Cheung (who is clearly at least a little drunk), Bobo Chan, and Gillian Chung. Apparently, he sent his computer and phone in to get serviced and the pics were taken and then uploaded. There is also a video and photos of Maggie Q and maybe some other actresses, but those haven't leaked, as far as I know. Yep, you can go find the pics online if you want to see it. Of course, this is enormous in Hong Kong, as they're fairly famous, but of course, this isn't big news in the US yet. I, unlike a lot of people out there, do not blame the women at all. It's clearly Edison's fault, for being an idiot. You should know that you never, ever, ever send a computer with naked pictures off to get serviced. Seriously, just a dick move there. And ruining these women's career's is enough for me to hate you forever. So you better hope that it doesn't happen, Edison, because I will make sure you never work again. Anyway, Infernal Affairs II & III have Edison Chen as the young Andy Lau. So that's my rough link to that scandal. Infernal Affairs II is the prequel, and III is the sequel, both of which have parts that were included in The Departed. II is far weaker, and III is actually pretty good. I just really didn't like what they did in II, as I knew what was going to happen and Chen and Shawn Yue were not nearly as good as Andy Lau and Tony Leung. If you are interested, watch Infernal Affairs I & III. Skip two.

Actually, the entire post was more about making a post that will get hits forever, because I've mentioned hot Asians, naked, and Heath Ledger. Google hits, here this post comes!