fearless

Fearless, known in Chinese as Huo Yuanjia and Jet Li's Fearless in the United Kingdom and the United States, is a 2006 film directed by Ronny Yu and starring Jet Li. It is loosely based on the life of Huo Yuanjia, a famous Chinese martial artist who challenged foreign fighters in highly publicised events, restoring pride and nationalism to China at a time when Western imperialism and Japanese manipulation were eroding the country during the last few years before the birth of the Republic of China. Li stated in an interview that this film is his last wushu martial arts epic, a point also made in the film's television promotions and other publicity.

Fearless was released on January 26, 2006 in Hong Kong, on June 23, 2006 in the United Kingdom, and on September 22, 2006 in the United States.

Movie Synopsis

The film starts with Huo Yuanjia fighting three Westerners: a British boxer, a Belgian lancer and a Spanish fencer. Huo defeats all three of them and has a flashback before the next fight with Anno Tanaka from Japan.

Huo Yuanjia watches his father Huo Endi teaching students martial arts and wants to participate, but his father is concerned about his asthma and refuses to allow him to practice martial arts. Huo Yuanjia then sees his father in a leitai match with another martial artist named Zhao, who won the match dishonorably by retaliating when Huo Endi showed mercy on the final blow. Huo Yuanjia felt humiliated by his father's defeat and vowed to regain his family's honor and pride. He practiced martial arts secretly behind his father's back. As the years passed, Huo Yuanjia defeated several opponents in leitai matches and became one of the most famous martial artists in Tianjin. However, as he became increasingly successful and popular, he also became more arrogant and ruthless towards his opponents. His late father, however, advocated the practice of showing mercy and not doing any serious physical harm to opponents.

Movie Trailer

Fearless Trailer

Movie Credit

Director: Ronny Yu

Writers: Chris Chow, Chi-long To

Stars: Jet Li, Shidô Nakamura and Betty Sun

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Crime After Crime

Crime After Crime is a 2011 documentary film directed by Yoav Potash about the case of Deborah Peagler. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011, and will be shown at the San Francisco International Film Festival in April 2011.

The Los Angeles Times listed the documentary as "a must-see film" and The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a tremendously moving story, strong in social commitment and deftly woven out of years of footage." The Salt Lake Tribune called the film "a riveting examination of justice denied through political manipulation and prosecutorial callousness."The film earned the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Film and Digital Media, presented by the Council on Foundations, and the Pursuit of Justice Award, presented by the California Women's Law Center.

The film was funded by the Sundance Documentary Fund, the San Francisco Foundation, the Lynn and Jules Kroll Fund for Jewish Documentary Film at the Foundation for Jewish Culture, the Pacific Pioneer Fund, the Bay Area Video Coalition, the Women in Film Foundation Film Finishing Fund supported by Netflix, the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, and Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco.

In May 2011, the film won the Golden Gate Award for Documentary Feature at the 54th annual San Francisco International Film Festival.

The film has been picked up by the Oprah Winfrey Network for broadcast and home video distribution

Movie Synopsis

n 1983, Deborah Peagler, a woman brutally abused by her boyfriend, was sentenced to 25 years-to-life for her connection to his murder. Twenty years later, as she languished in prison, a California law allowing incarcerated domestic-violence survivors to reopen their cases was passed. Enter a pair of rookie land-use attorneys convinced that with the incontrovertible evidence that existed, they could free Deborah in a matter of months. What they didn’t know was the depth of corruption and politically driven resistance they’d encounter, sending them down a nightmarish, bureaucratic rabbit hole of injustice. The outrageous twists and turns in this consummately crafted saga are enough to keep us on the edge of our seats. Meanwhile, the spirit, fortitude, and love all three characters marshal in the face of this wrenching marathon is nothing short of miraculous. We fall in love with the remarkable triumvirate as they battle a warped criminal-justice system and test whether it’s beyond repair.

Movie Trailer

Crime After Crime Trailer

Movie Credit

Director: Yoav Potash

Stars: Deborah Peagler, Tennille Williams and Joshua Safran

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FAIR GAME

Fair Game is a 2010 biographical film drama directed by Doug Liman and starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.It is based on Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House.

Naomi Watts stars as Plame and Sean Penn as her husband, Joseph C. Wilson.It was released in 2010 and was one of the official selections competing for the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.The film won the "Freedom of Expression Award" from the National Board of Review.

Movie Synopsis

Valerie Plame is employed by the Central Intelligence Agency, a fact known outside the agency to no one except her husband and parents. She is an agent involved in a number of sensitive and sometimes dangerous covert operations overseas.

Her husband, Joseph C. Wilson, is a diplomat who most recently has served as a U.S. ambassador to Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe. Due to his extensive background, Wilson is approached by Plame's CIA colleagues to travel to Niger and glean information as to whether yellowcake uranium is being procured by Iraq for use in the construction of nuclear weapons. Wilson determines to his own satisfaction that it is not.

After military action is taken by George W. Bush, who justifies it in a 2003 State of the Union address by alluding to the uranium's use in building weapons of mass destruction, Wilson submits an op-ed piece to The New York Times, claiming these reports to be categorically untrue.

Movie Trailer

Fair Game Trailer

Movie Credit

Director: Doug Liman

Writers: Jez Butterworth (screenplay), John-Henry Butterworth (screenplay)

Stars: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn and Sonya Davison

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THE FIGHTER

The Fighter is a 2010 biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams. The film centers on the life of professional boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund (Bale). The film also stars Amy Adams as Micky's love interest, and Melissa Leo as Micky's and Dicky's mother. The Fighter is Russell and Wahlberg's third film collaboration, following Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees.

The film was released in select North American theaters on December 17, 2010 and was released in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2011.It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, winning the awards for Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale) and Best Supporting Actress (Melissa Leo). It was the first film to win both awards since Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986

Movie Synopsis

Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is an Irish-American welterweight boxer from a working class family in Lowell, Massachusetts. Managed by his mother, Alice Ward (Melissa Leo), and trained by his older half-brother, Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), Micky has not had a particularly successful career: He's become a "stepping stone" for other boxers to defeat on their way up. Complicating matters, Dicky, a former boxer whose peak of success was knocking Sugar Ray Leonard down in an HBO televised match, has fallen apart since his early success, becoming addicted to crack cocaine. He is now being filmed for an HBO documentary he believes to be about his "comeback".

On the night of an undercard fight in Atlantic City, Micky's scheduled opponent is ill, and a substitute is found who is 18 pounds heavier than Micky. Despite Micky's reservations, his mother and brother agree to the terms so that they can all get the purse. Micky is soundly defeated by the much heavier fighter in an obvious mismatch. Frustrated with his career and embarrassed by his defeat, Micky tries to retreat from the world and forms a relationship with Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams), a former college athlete who dropped out and became a bartender.

Movie Trailer

THE FIGHTER Trailer

Movie Credit

Director: David O. Russell

Writers: Scott Silver (screenplay), Paul Tamasy (screenplay)

Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams

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The Blind Side

The Blind Side is a 2009 American semi-biographical drama film. It is written and directed by John Lee Hancock, and based on the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis.The storyline features Michael Oher, an offensive lineman who plays for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL. The film follows Oher from his impoverished upbringing, through his years at Wingate Christian School (a fictional representation of Briarcrest Christian School in the suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee), his adoption by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, and on to his position as one of the most highly coveted prospects in college football. For her performance, Sandra Bullock won the Academy Award for Best Actress, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. The film itself also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

Movie Synopsis

For most of his childhood, 17-year-old Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) has been in foster care with different families throughout Memphis, Tennessee. Every time he is placed in a new home, he runs away. His friend's father, whose couch Mike had been sleeping on, asks Burt Cotton (Ray McKinnon), the coach of Wingate Christian school, to help enroll his son and Mike. Impressed by Mike's size and athleticism, Cotton gets him admitted despite his abysmal academic record.

At his new school, Michael is befriended by a boy named Sean Jr. "SJ" (Jae Head). SJ's mother Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) is a strong-minded interior designer and the wife of wealthy businessman Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw). After a late night Volleyball game, Leigh Anne notices Michael walking on the road, shivering in the cold; when she learns he intends to spend the night huddled outside the school gym, she offers him a place to sleep at her house. The next morning, when she sees Michael leaving, she asks him to spend the holiday with her family. Slowly, Michael becomes a member of the Tuohy family, even as Leigh Anne's rich friends wonder what she is doing. One even suggests that her teenage daughter Collins (Lily Collins) is not safe around him, much to Leigh Anne's disgust.

Movie Trailer

The Blind Side Trailer

Movie Credit

Director: John Lee Hancock

Writers: John Lee Hancock, Michael Lewis (book)

Stars: Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw

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The Devil's Double

The Devil's Double is a 2011 drama film directed by Lee Tamahori and starring Dominic Cooper, Philip Quast, Ludivine Sagnier and Raad Rawi.

Movie Synopsis

A chilling vision of the House of Saddam Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was forced to become the double of Hussein's sadistic son.

Based on actual events, "The Devil's Double" recounts the remarkable tale of Latif Yahia, an Iraqi army lieutenant who was summoned to Saddam Hussein's palace in 1987 and ordered to become the fiday, or body double, of his notorious eldest son, Uday. Many of his countrymen might have considered this a great honor, but it was merely the beginning of a hellish nightmare for Latif. Under the constant threat of harm to his family, he had no choice but to play the role of silent witness while his nefarious captor indulged in countless brutal and depraved fantasies with no regard for human life.

Movie Trailer
The Devil's Double Trailer



Movie Credit
Director: Lee Tamahori
Writers: Michael Thomas, Latif Yahia (novel)
Stars: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier and Raad Rawi

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IP Man 2

Ip Man 2 is a 2010 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film loosely based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun. A sequel to the 2008 film Ip Man, the film was directed by Wilson Yip, and stars Donnie Yen, who reprises the leading role. Continuing after the events of the earlier film, the sequel centers on Ip's movements in Hong Kong, which is under British colonial rule. He attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun, but faces rivalry from other practitioners, including the local master of Hung Ga martial arts.

Producer Raymond Wong first announced a sequel before Ip Man's theatrical release in December 2008. For Ip Man 2, the filmmakers intended to focus on the relationship between Ip and his most famed disciple, Bruce Lee. However, they were unable to finalize film rights with Lee's descendants and decided to briefly portray Lee as a child. Principal photography for Ip Man 2 began in August 2009 and concluded in November; filming took place inside a studio located in Shanghai. For the sequel, Yip aimed to create a more dramatic martial arts film in terms of story and characterization; Wong's son, screenwriter Edmond Wong, wanted the film to portray how Chinese people were treated by the British, as well as the Western perceptions towards Chinese martial arts.

Movie Synopsis
Continuing from where the first film ended, Wing Chun master Ip Man and his family move to Hong Kong in the early 1950s after their escape from Foshan. There, Ip desires to open a school to propagate his art, as well as to make his living, but he has difficulty attracting students due to his lack of reputation in the city. One day, a young man named Wong Leung appears and promptly challenges Ip to a fight, but is easily defeated. Wong leaves humiliated, only to return with some friends to gang up on him. Ip beats them as well. Stunned and impressed by his skills, Wong and his friends become Ip's first students, bringing more disciples to help the school thrive.

Wong is later caught posting promotional posters for the school by some Hung Gar students. One of them challenges Wong to a fight and loses, but his friends take Wong hostage in revenge and demand a ransom from Ip. Ip goes to the local wet market as directed, but the meeting ends in a confrontation with a growing mob of Hung Ga students. Ip and Wong fight their way outside to meet Jin Shanzhao — the martial artist and former bandit in the first film — who comes to their rescue with his own gang. The students' master, Hung Chun-nam, arrives to break up the fight. Ip introduces himself, and Hung informs him that before setting up a school, he needs to attend a special fighting ceremony to test his skill. Ip, Wong and Jin are subsequently arrested by Officer Fatso for disturbing the peace but are later released on bail. Hung and Fatso are then shown to be acting as reluctant collectors for the martial arts schools (including Hung's) as part of a protection racket headed by Superintendent Wallace, a corrupt officer in the Hong Kong police.

Movie Trailer
Ip Man 2 Trailer



Movie Credit
Director: Wilson Yip
Writer: Edmond Wong (screenplay)
Stars: Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung and Simon Yam

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IP Man

Ip Man (Traditional Hanzi: 叶 问; Chinese: 叶 问; Pinyin: Ye Wen) is an action-movie martial arts from Hong Kong made in 2008 and directed by Wilson Yip with the manuscript Edmond Wong. The film was released by Mandarin Films Distribution in Hong Kong and Cathay-Keris Films in Singapore.

Ip Man is known for cast-cast actors who are Chinese star: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Lam Ka-Tung.
Movie sequel in the series Ip Man, Ip Man 2 was released on 29 April 2010.

Movie Synopsis
Ip Man is set in the 1930s in Foshan, a hub of southern Chinese martial arts, where various schools actively recruit disciples and compete against each other. Although the Wing Chun master Ip Man is the most skilled martial artist in Foshan, he is unassuming and keeps a low profile. As an independently wealthy man, he feels no need to accept any disciples and instead spends his days training, meeting with friends, and spending time with his family. However, his wife is often resentful of the time he spends training and discussing martial arts with friends and colleagues. Though not a professional martial artist, Ip is respected in Foshan due to the abilities he displays in friendly, closed-door competitions with local masters. Ip's reputation is further enhanced when he defeats an aggressive, rude, highly skilled Northern master, Jin Shanzhao, thus upholding the regional pride of fellow Southern stylists and others in Foshan.

The Japanese invasion in 1937 adversely affects the life of everyone in Foshan. Ip's house is claimed by the Japanese and used as their Foshan headquarters. Ip and his family lose their wealth and are forced to move into a decrepit house. Desperate to support his family, Ip accepts work as a coolie at a coal mine. The Japanese general Miura, who is a master of karate, establishes an arena where Chinese martial artists compete with his military trainees. The Chinese earn a bag of rice for every Japanese opponent they defeat. When his friend Lin goes missing, Ip investigates and discovers the matches. At first disturbed by the spectacle, he is further enraged when he sees a fellow Foshan master killed when picking up a bag of rice from a prior victory after giving up in a second match against three karatekas. To further complicate matters, Ip learns that Li Zhao, a former police officer and Ip's acquaintance, is now working as a translator for the Japanese. In response, Ip demands a match with ten Karatekas at once, and defeats them with ease. His skill arouses the interest of Miura, who seeks to learn more about Ip and see him fight again.

Movie Trailer
Ip Man Trailer



Movie Credit
Director: Wilson Yip
Writer: Edmond Wong (screenplay)
Stars: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam and Siu-Wong Fan

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The Legend Of Bruce Lee

The Legend of Bruce Lee is a Chinese biographic television series based on the life story of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. The 50 episodes long series was produced and broadcast by CCTV and had been aired since 12 October 2008. It starred Hong Kong actor Danny Chan as Bruce Lee and American actress Michelle Lang as Linda Lee Cadwell. The production period spanned nine months, with filming taking place in China, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States, Italy and Thailand, with a budget of 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million).

Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee was credited as the executive producer.Other martial artists such as Mark Dacascos, Ray Park, Gary Daniels, Ernest Miller and Michael Jai White are also featured in the series as well, playing the roles of familiars throughout Bruce Lee's life and career.

“The Legend of Bruce Lee”, has seen increasing viewership since its debut in 2008. The first 14 episodes broke China’s former record held by “Chuang Guan Dong”. According to the CSM survey held on 26th October 2008, the first 30 episodes of the series received viewership ratings above 10.35%. The finale episode attained a viewership rating of 14.87%; breaking CCTV’s all time high record set in 2003.

Movie Synopsis

In the story of revenge, Bruce was a young teenager who was the leader of the gang Liu City, who was in trouble and street fights every now and again. Bruce is a student in the style of Chinese boxing, but when his skills are not enough to fend off a rival gang of kung fu, his father had him go to a man named Master Yen, who taught him the Wing Chun boxing. While continuing his training, Bruce and his team facing a group of young street in a rumble and beat them all to a pulp. Apparently, the Master of the youth are not too happy about some street punk beat star pupil, so he sends his brother and several other students to prepare a trap for the City of Bruce and Liu Gang. Bruce was severely beaten and hung upside down outside a tall building, while his friends On Ah Yu and Choi also severely beaten. For Ah Choi, defeated so badly that he died, but An Yu survive. Bruce returned to Macau where he asked him Quan (Snake Style) Fist master that he had met earlier in the film to teach the style of combat. Bruce teaches master this deadly art of 3 Cobras and after using and combining the technique with a Drunken Styles, Bruce was ready to even the score, which he did with the kung fu deadly accuracy. Kung fu rival clans began to see Bruce as a problem, so they asked for help from Mr. Kim, one of the top fighters in kung fu movies and the father of one pupil Bruce beats coma. Mr. Kim learned that attacked her son and sending the best students after Bruce and In Yu, who teaches Bruce to Snake Fist Style. An all out battle ensues as Bruce and the Yu utilize their expertise to past students and right after Mr. Kim and the people responsible for the murder of Ah Choi. Written by Anonymous

Movie Trailer
The Legend Of Bruce Lee



Movie Credit
Genre :Action, Martial arts, Romance, Biography
Written by :Qian Linsen, Zhang Jianguang
Directed by : Lee Moon-ki
Starring :Danny Chan, Michelle Lang, Ted E. Duran, Hazen MacIntyre, Wang Luoyong, Natalia Dzyublo

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