The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan - Review

Amy Tan once notified an interviewer that after the runaway success of her first innovative, The Joy Luck Club, she made an effort to get away from the topic of Chinese-American mother-daughter relationships. On the evidence of her new novel, the try didn't last. The publication has not just one awkward mother-daughter understanding, but three, each one marked by her other recurring topics: Chinese-American identity; the Chinese domination of women; abandonment and the seek for love. ...

Annoying Horror Movie Cliches

If you're an ardent horror movie fan, you've probably encountered them from time to time. I am talking about those annoying horror cliches, which always seem to destroy the credibility of a film by virtue of their ridiculous, unrealistic scenarios. ...

"47 Ronin" Tells Ancient Japanese Tale With Visual Aplomb

In ancient Japanese culture, the "ronin" were former samurai who no longer had a master to lead them. "47 Ronin" tells the tale of a group of these men forced to leave the vaunted samurais after their master Lord Asano (Min Tanaka) was killed through the trickery of warlord Kira (Tadanobu Asano). Lord Asano has a daughter, Mika (Ko Shibasaki), who Kira takes a liking to. ...

"AMERICAN HUSTLE" - A New Film Report

After two hours and nine minutes of this film, I'm reminded of a joke where some fellow goes to his rabbi, and says, "Rabbi! I think my wife is trying to poison me! What should I do?" After talking it over at length, this rabbi says that he'll call the man's wife and seek to find out just what's on her mind. ...

Strictly Come Dancing - A Perspective

As this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing comes to an end for another year - with Liverpool model Abby Clancy and her partner being crowned champions of 2013 - the show's popularity continues to show no signs whatsoever of waning. On the contrary, it continues to go from strength to strength, and invariably commands ratings which completely blow its nearest rival, The X Factor, completely out of the water. ...

"Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" - Once More Into the Mind of Ron Burgundy

After the success of 2004's "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," a sequel was a no-brainer. Unfortunately, it took some time for all the pieces to fall into place, and the concept for the return of Ron Burgundy went through a number of different transformations before the final project took shape. The wait is finally over, however, and fans will welcome this second adventure into the world where news teams are more like street gangs and dogs are the ambassadors of the animal kingdom. ...