A Brilliant Conflict

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Collector Karl employs thief Eric to steal the box containing the Heart of Dun Huang, an artifact of some power, carved by Tibetan monks in 1242. The Heart, supposedly, will lead Karl's people to the sharira, the crystallized essence of the holy monk Shen Zhong from the 13th century. This plays out while Yin Fay is performing her circus act in public with her troupe.Tong takes the Heart to the place Dun Huang; Yin and Eric follow. Karl catches up and gets filled in by his forward spy, who had been tailing Tong. Tong and his girl friend Lily find a possible source of knowledge, just as Karl catches them. Eric and Yin make their way to Dun Huang about the same time.Yin and Eric find the next piece of the puzzle: an urn filled with fluid. Karl steals it from them and heads for the final hiding place. He uses the Heart and the contents of the urn to open the place up. So many traps, so little time. The circus/acrobat training turns out to be essential, of course. After securing the sharira, Eric, Yin, and Tong travel to Lhasa to give the sharira and the surrounding gold monkeys to some Buddhist officials.The ending is a bit mysterious and a possible sequel is setup.-----Scores-----Cinematography: 8/10 Some of the acrobatics footage was bad enough that I wish they had dropped it. Other than that, the production values were rather high, and the film looked quite good.Sound: 8/10 Quite good, except for the over the top Foley thrown in for the hits during fighting. Some of the incidental music was really good.Acting: 8/10 Liked the principal actors.Screenplay: 8/10 The script balanced fighting and questing well enough.

I guess it was inevitable that someone would remake INDIANA JONES with a female in the lead. Then again, American TV has been doing this for a few years now, what with RELIC HUNTER and the Angelina Jolie movie TOMB RAIDER.Essentially a starring vehicle for producer Michelle Yeoh, THE TOUCH isn't all bad. Yeoh is good as the Indiana Jones wannabe, and Ben Chaplin is not half bad as her love interest/adopted brother. The inclusion of the two siblings, though, brings the whole thing down.Also, a finale involving heavy CGI and a lot of ridiculous wireworks sinks the movie. INDIANA JONES was immensely popular, and it didn't need flaming arrows shooting all over the place or floors being engulfed by a sea of flames. In the end, the movie was just too bloated for its own good.5 out of 10(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie or full-length reviews of other foreign films)

Over the last 2 days I managed to waste 103 minutes of my life watching The Touch, Michelle Yeoh's movie after Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.While ambitious in many ways, it does not really succeed in any category:spoilers ahead-It tries hard to cater to both, western and asian audiences and fails miserably: The bad guy is your stereotypical blonde caucasian with some semi british accent, surrounded by dumb henchmen (mixed crowd) ... his motivations (going after some artifact) are never explained, though "immortality" is mentioned once-the "love story" (to please the chick audience) is laughable and has no credibility. It is also an utter waste of time.-the action is wanna-be up to date and totally destroyed in the final fight scene, which is, while setup quite nicely with lots of candles and fire, overshadowed by campy CGI effects, a set that looks just like a big soundstage, a totally wasted "sacrifice" (they let a cute female character we never even started to feel anything for die, last minute, no real reason, just so the audience can say "Awwwwwwww") and again, we just keep wondering WHY the characters are doing what they are doing ... -Hmm. Nice landscape shots, always a good idea ... especially when you havesomething as beautiful as the chinese desert .. looks a bit like a cheap version on Monument Valley :) Those shots are again totally wasted, don't do anything for story or setup .. and scream "it could have been better!-Why there is this family of acrobats and what is their point is never really used / explained. Or why they take in that western kid, who just stole stuff. (Why is this kid there anyway?)-The very set-up comedic moments make you squirm. Bad bad writing! -Acting ... was anybody actually "acting" in this? Felt more like line-reading my martial artists ... then again, I doubt that movie was ever going for any Oscars.Well .. i could go on .. but I already spent enough time on that chunk of doodoo ... just wanted to safe everybody else some time ...

I like the story enough, because it's fun. Ben is make it funny especially when he stole the "heart" that is the best part from him.To bad in this movie even the story and the actors is good enough, but the visual effect is bad. I really can see that the fire is make from computer (not like Hollywood usually made), and when they are in the cage they are not looks like in the cage but in the studio.This movie is GREAT from the location, which they made in Tibet and the acrobatic circus.