Storm War/ music videos/ Man of Tai Chi

May 20 Storm War: Actors: I saw this TV movie a few months ago.  I only watched it because Wes Brown was in it.  If you type into the search engine on my blog, I wrote about him quite a bit. On imdb.com, that's the title.  When I watched it on the Space Channel, it was called Weather Wars.  It also stars Stacy Keach (the jail boss on Prison Break), Jason London (Party of Five) and Erin Hill (from the short-lived show Free Ride.) Indigo was also in it.  She played Rona in Buffy season 7.  She was a slayer-in-training, the black girl with the dreadlocks.  I didn't recognize her in this TV movie until I looked her up. Story: It kind of reminded me of the movie 2012 where there is a mass destruction of things.  I think there was a good story because of climate change in the news, and it was interesting because of a conspiracy and on-the-run storyline. It starts off with a 1999 flashback of news footage.  Senator Aldrich (Lance E. Nichols) is this 50s year old African-American guy.  He bumps into a homeless guy Marcus (Stacy Keach) and seems to recognize him from somewhere.  Marcus presses a button on a cell phone and a storm occurs.  It starts raining red water.  Good graphic. The cop David (Jason London) enters his apartment and finds his brother Jacob (Wes Brown) there.  They are estranged from each other.  David quit science to be a cop and Jacob thought he quit to get their dad mad. They show Samantha (Erin Hill) who calls the FBI about the cause of the storm. Later Samantha then tells David and Jacob about their dad Marcus Grange: "I know your dad.  I was a lab assistant for him.  When they pulled his funding for his project, he swore he would get revenge."  Now there's motive. Marcus gets the lights to go and off at the Pentagon when Senator Aldrich is there.  Lightening strikes the Pentagon and there are fires there. David, Jacob, and Samantha all think it's Marcus.  The lights flash a morse code message of fear. Samantha: This mas was killed and capsized by the water.  Another scientist was murdered when the temperature decreased so much he froze to death. They are at the church and finds Marcus.  They then have to find Senator Aldrich before he goes to give a speech because he's a target. The FBI stops the three, and they're all running in a parking garage.  There is action and suspense as they run and hide. Throw in some comedy with Bledsoe (Roger J. Timber) who is David's cop friend.  He is an overweight black guy in three scenes.  All three scenes have him holding a donut in his hand, even when he's at the gym.  lol.  There is also a little comedy with the security guard talking to his wife on the phone, as he is working at the energy company. David calls Bledsoe to create a distraction for him to stop the FBI from chasing them. Marcus gets on TV and says to Alrdich: "You put the dollar ahead of my experiment.  If you didn't cut the funding, you could do what I could do to control the weather." Alrdich and his daughter Chloe (Indigo) the recognize the homeless guy and finds a bug in their suitcase.  The Washington monument is destroyed due to the storm. Jacob, David, and Samantha go to the energy company and they manage to get the pressure to go up with their high frequency transmitter.  The Guard sees them on cameras and points gun at Jacob and Samantha.  David points gun at the guard.  Samantha throws transmitter at Guard.  They run to car and drive away as Jacob opens the transmitter to analyze it. David calls Blesdoe again to help find where Aldrich is.  Cut to Marcus in a nice suit and the Security checks his old camera.  He enters the White House.  Marcus takes the camera into pieces.  He presses a button and it's a bomb. David, Jacob, and Samantha run into the building. David: This isn't justice.  This is murder. Lightening strikes Chloe and falls down and dies.  The FBI arrest them.  Aldrich researches them and they all talk in this undisclosed military location.  Aldrich trusts them.  There is a montage of them working and researching. Jacob then types in his diary: "I can convince dad to give himself up.  If FBI gets him, I will never see him again."  (This reveals character.) David and Samantha bond. David: Dad tried to mold me into him, but Jacob wanted to be like him. Samantha says she met Marcus through summer internship. David: Jacob likes you. Samantha: He's not my type. Jacob sees David leaves Samantha's room.  A hail storm is occurring.  There is a little subplot of a reporter and camera guy stuck in the storm.  Jacob finds Marcus and drives away to get him.  David notices he's gone.  The military triangulates Jacob's sim card. They work on an electromagnetic pulse to absorb the energy surge. Jacob finds Marcus and calls David to tell him where he is. Marcus points gun at Jacob and hangs up. The storm freezes everything.  Special helicopters can fly to the power plant. Marcus: I thought your brother was the one, but I was wrong.  I'm sorry. The military shoots the rocket missile into the sky. Marcus: We can rule the world and sky as father and son. He gives his hand to Jacob. Jacob takes it. They shake hands and then Marcus falls. Jacob grabs his hand and holds onto him and loses his grip.  Marcus falls down. Cut to Camera Guy filming Reporter as they're stuck in the van.  They escape and enter the sewer and pull the lid cover over them. The storm's receding. Aldrich: Now let's get that bastard Marcus. David and Samantha are back on the computer. Military boss: His brother is in there! The guards pull David and Samantha off. The power plant is falling apart. Samantha: The energy is lowering. The military lets them go. They manage to get a visual on the plant to see if Jacob and Marcus have made it out. The news reporter interviews Aldrich: "Marcus has been located and neutralized.  Jacob went missing. 6 months later, Samantha and David are dating.  They are at the grave yard and the grave stones are for Jacob and Marcus. Jacob is alive and looks on. Music videos: "Mirrors" by Justin Timberlake: I finally saw the 8  min 21 sec video.  I thought the song was okay, but the video was good.  It had this movie feel to it.  You can see the story of an old woman alone in her room, and her dead husband watching her.  There are flashbacks of how they met and are at a fun house full or mirrors.  In the last 3 min. of the video, JT finally appears in it and he's dancing with this room full of mirrors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuZE_IRwLNI "Suit and Tie" by Justin Timberlake: I saw the last half of this on TV.  Today I saw the 5 min 31 sec video.  I like the song.  The video was in black and white, and it had this 1920s feel to it with the clothes and the setting.  I like the choreographed dancing to it.  I also like the dancing in the puddle of water because the water splashes makes the dancing look more captivating. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUsVbTj2AY May 22 Man of Tai Chi: I was reading the Globe and Mail yesterday and there was an article about Keanu Reeves making his directorial debut in this movie.  It's based loosely on stuntman Tiger Chen whom Reeves met when filming The Matrix trilogy.  Reeves spent 5 yrs developing this script. "He said the main character, played by Chen, is a stuntman and martial- arts expert, struggling to maintain his traditional values and beliefs against the pressures of modern society.  Reeves also acts in the film, playing the villain who lures him into underground fighting and the promises of money, glamour and power." Reeves: "I loved the responsibility of telling a story.  I hope I get the chance to do it again."  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2016940/?ref_=sr_1 Fight genre: Me: I was like: "No, that's my movie!"  It's like The Vertex Fighter.  Wait a minute, this happened a few times before.  When I saw the Never Back Down trailer, I thought it was like my movie, but when I saw it, I see that it's different because it was sent in high school. Then I saw the Fighting trailer starring Channing Tatum, but then I saw the movie.  It was different because it was regular fist fighting and not MMA. Tai Chi is different because the lead character is Asian and a stuntman.  These movies are in the fight genre.