House of Flying Daggers

I finally got to see House of Flying Daggers on Saturday since we were staying in because of the blizzard. The cinematography, special effects and action were everything I expected from director Zhang Yimou ("Hero"). The visuals were gorgeous. The casting was pretty cool, too. Taiwanese pop idol Takeshi Kaneshiro plays Jin. Hong Kong star Andy Lau Tak Wah plays Leo. Beijing born actress Ziyi Zhang (or Zhang Ziyi) plays Mei; American audiences probably recognize her best from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Hero" and "Rush Hour 2". It's a Romeo and Juliet-style tale set during the decline of the Tang Dynasty and focuses on the mysterious rebels House of Flying Daggers. It's an action-packed (tragic) romance; I enjoyed it a lot.

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Last night we watched Aladdin's Magic Lamp, which was visually intriguing, almost like watching fairtyale paintings come to life. It's a Russian film of the well-known tale of Aladdin and his Magic Lamp. The first time we tried to watch the movie, we ended up watching it in French with English subtitles. That was interesting. lol This time, we got it to play in English (dubbed).