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It has been said that the only person to fear is an unloved one. Precious Jones (Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, film debut) is sixteen and is about to have the second child by her mother’s boyfriend, who is also her father. She lives at home with her mother Mary (Mo’Nique, SOUL PLANE) who belittles her at every turn and treats her like a servant. She’s obese and practically illiterate. She’s ridiculed for her appearance simply walking down the street. She’s been beaten down by life so hard that she barely speaks.

Then she is given an option to attend an alternative school, where they will prepare her to take her GED. Her teacher, Ms. Blu Rain (Paula Patton, HITCH), isn’t some miracle worker teacher. She’s just the first person in Precious’s life to care even a bit. In class, the students write about themselves and their lives. Ms. Rain encourages them to think. Mrs. Weiss (Mariah Carey, WISEGIRLS) is Precious’s social worker. She’s a woman who has probably heard a thousand stories like Precious’s, but something about this sad girl really touches her.
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I will say some things in this review that some readers might find blasphemous. Stephanie Meyer’s book is unread by me and after this film production I have no desire to run out and read it. While TWILIGHT was a passable soap, the sequel is a mopey melodrama that drags through one sulky sequence after another. I know it’s a tale of first heartbreak, but none of it rings with any real emotion.

Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) can’t be without each other, they say. Bella wants to become a vampire so she can be with her Edward forever, but he is not ready to have her lose her soul over him. After an incident where Bella is hurt, Edward decides that to protect Bella he must leave her. Bella is devastated. Depression takes over.
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John Woo attempts to bring the legendary Han Dynasty Battle of Red Cliff to the screen. It is the most expensive Asian produced film to date. For U.S. audiences, we receive an edited version of this four hour plus epic. Having not seen the longer version, I can’t say if this is good or bad. Some of the film’s problems seem to be due to this missing hour and a half, but not as much as one might think. Even at 2 ½ hours, this is still epic filmmaking.

Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang, FAREWELL, MY CONCUBINE) is the Prime Minister of the Han Empire. Some believe that he isn’t simply content with controlling the young Emperor (Ning Wang), but wants to rule himself. He claims he wants to unite all of China, but his thirst for power is endless. With a million soldiers he issues a crushing defeat to Xu Kingdom leader Liu Bei (Yong You, TRIANGLE). Liu Bei’s chief strategist Zhuge Liang, or better known as Kongming, (Takeshi Kaneshiro, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS), suggests that they align with the Wu Kingdom, which is lead by its young ruler Sun Quan (Chen Chang, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON). Sun’s army is lead by the calm warrior Zhou Yu (Tony Leung, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE), who happens to be married to Xiao Qiao (Chiling Lin, Chinese model), the woman Cao Cao has desired ever since their one and only meeting as children.
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