Rise of The Planet Of The Ape
Sep 8, 2011 Overheard
Okay, a quick one here. ; )
Rise of the planet of the apes was so entertainingly good that I get to see why so many friends of mine gives it a thumbs up, where I was initially sceptical in how a movie about primates can be understood by them whereas movies concerning shiny robots or wizards with glasses failed miserably.
From the charm of the baby ape to the predicament of the scientist losing those closest to him, the movie succeeded in taking the viewers for a ride, although one does question at the end of the movie, what next?
Certainly the movie has its fair share of criticism and plotholes, but I guess I can’t take away it’s plaudits of being an entertaining movie and a worth-every-cent-paid show.
Now, do they really have that serum?
I’d like to give my cats some of ‘em.. Um, and as for you, go get the movie!
ADV: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (trailer) & why I’d apply if I could.
Jul 11, 2010 Reviews
I came up with a top 5 list of reasons why I, or anyone for that subject matter, would even think about becoming a sorcerer’s apprentice:
1) Because I get to conjure magical light orbs around my mesmerising fingers.
2) Because I get to change cars faster than my current job can ever pay for (Not that I even have a driving license to start with!).
3) Because I eventually get to meet Dragons! (And hopefully survive after the encounter.)
4) Because I can use my powers to make the world a better place and not just do card tricks.
5) Because it’s fun!
Don’t see that it’s fun? Check this out:
AND here’s the top 5 list of reasons why you should catch it in theaters!
1) You’re tired of Vampires & Werewolves.
2) You want something different from Harry Potter.
3) You’re a fan of Jay Baruchel, lead actor in She’s Out Of My League.
4) You’re a fan of Nicholas Cage, fresh off his sombre Kick-ass role!
5) It’s fun!
So “Catch The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Movie starting from 22nd July 2010 and join the Walt Disney Studios Singapore official Facebook and Twitter page!”
Tags: Dragons, Jay Baruchel, Magic, Movie, Nicholas Cage, Preview, Sorcery, Trailer, Wizardry
Kick-Ass, the kicks ass movie review.
Apr 26, 2010 Reviews
It was a Shawshank Shaw Bugis Redemption yesterday, but that’s just sugar-coated gloss over my blunder of booking a movie at the wrong time slot and collecting the tickets on a wrong day.
I bought 2 Saturday tickets, when I actually intended to watch the movie on Sunday, me and D (wkwkwkwk, I’m still getting into this naming of persons in their initials as seen in many many blogs).
That I drew out the tickets without any initial flags or alarm raised by the box office, is amusing enough. Fair enough both parties didn’t realise the mistake early on.
Fortunately the box office Auntie was kind enough to allow us to change to the current date so that we were able to watch the movie as intended. What a kind and nice Auntie~
Kick-Ass!
No, not the Auntie, but the movie that we watched was Kick-Ass!
I’ve read a few glowing reviews of it and though I’ll expect any comic-book adapted movie to be sub-par most of the time, Kick-Ass truly kicked ass!
The profanities flew by as fast and furious as the punches and gore hits you, and you’ll be forgiven for thinking it’s just another mindless, action-thrill ride, but despite the ‘superhero’ setting of it all, the show remained very much human.
And that’s what I loved about it, that the leading characters are all limited by their human potential, and that the real superhero lies not in super powers, but rather a change in the mindset of the person.
It begs the question “What would you do? Would you help someone in trouble?”
I know I would, and I know I’ll probably get beaten up, ass-kicked and stabbed too — *spoiler alert* just like what our main character suffered in his first Superhero impression — but what really matters is that you stand up and fight for the weak, right?
Like how James Cameron plays ‘Avatar’ in listening to the plight of the Amazon natives.
It’s like they’re trying to send us a message. That they can take whatever they want, but this.. this is our — oh wait, wrong movie. Back to Kick-Ass.
There’ve been a couple of these ‘human’ superhero movies in recent years, and most notably Batman and Ironman, rich fellas with gadgets to play with, and also who can forget the affable Watchmen with their naked blue Dr Manhattan.
And does anyone recall Mystery Men, with Ben Stiller in that movie? I loved that too, though it wasn’t a big hit with the mainstream movie-goers, and I thought it was a delicate story then.
With Kick-Ass, it’s not just a delicate story. It is brutally kind, heartfeltly heartless, crazily cracked-up and humanly superhuman.
Take away the profanities, the explosions, the human-microwave torture and it’ll still be a great movie to catch. If there’s one up and coming prodigy to watch out for, Hit Girl, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, is it.
So what if she’s just 11 and sprouts the F language more than you’d hear from your next-of-kins? Welcome to the real world, dear Parents. That your child’s just playing World Of Warcraft or Audition SEA quietly in their room, oh boy.
Nicholas Cage in his withdrawn role, does what he does best, and that is to fill the movie with deadly coyful vengeance and a nonchalant upbringing attitude, a breathe of fresh air from his National Treasure and other supernatural movie days.
Meanwihle Aaron Johnson, who played Kick-Ass, the character, turned out to be the perfect cast for the fragile ambitious boy-grows-up role, with Matthew Vaughn directing impeccably. The tight editing and crisp soundtrack deserves a special mention because the ambience and mood it provides elevates the movie experience greatly.
There just never seem to be a dull moment, and every new scene throws the equilibrium of the show into unpredictability, and it’s this unexpected turn of events that keeps the show fresh and exciting, and in short, ass-kicking!
Need more tidbits of the movie, check it out over at IMDB yo, and don’t miss out on this movie.
It’s goooooooooood!
Tags: Exhilirating, Kick-Ass, Movie, Redemption, Review, Shaw
My Sister’s Keeper, movie review. Not bad, really not bad.
Apr 6, 2010 Reviews
I’ve watched a couple of movies lately, Clash of The Oh-It’s-So-Good Titans, It’s Complicated, The Men Who Stare At Goats, The Green Zone, and rewatched My Sister’s Keeper again.
These are all really good movies, entertaining in their own rights, and never quite disappointing, but the latter has never failed to move me with every repeat viewings. No I don’t get that same level of experience like when I’m taking on Avatar, but the nostalgic flashbacks that I get of my own first hand experience of living with someone who’s terminally ill, well that’s how My Sister’s Keeper keeps me glued.
Watching the girls’ battle against their mum’s will, seeing how the older brother gets mildly alienated in the process, and how the father keeps up the strong front of trying to keep the family strings together, well in very simple words, it’s all admirable and reinforcefull.
Nevermind that I didn’t quite like Cameron Diaz playing the Mother role and couldn’t really evoke as much eagerness, sadness and force as, say a certain Renee Zellweger or Sandra Bullock, but she did not bad on the whole.
Overall the movie moves back and forth in time and narration of the various leading character leads the shifts and tells you a story of love and release and how a Mother’s love can be strangling, despite all the care and concern — because sometimes, you need to learn how to let go.
In short, My Sister Keeper is a show of how Mother comes to accept her child’s passing, only during her dying moments, not without a purposefully court scenes just to show her so.
The thing about this movie is that I loved the strengths and weakness of each characters, and particular the understanding and accomodating nature of the Father’s character. Comparing from an Asian context, I wonder how many Asian fathers would react like how Jason Patric did. It’s simply and admirably charming.
So go ahead, if you’ve yet to watch a sappy lovely drama of family strengths and acceptance, go give My Sister’s Keeper a chance and who knows, maybe you’ll find your own strengths and weakness and learn to embrace them as well.
Now that’s not a bad thing right?
Tags: Illness, Movie, My Sister Keeper, Release, Reviews, Strength
High Fever — It Just Won’t Go Away
Jan 9, 2010 Me, Myself & I
I’ve been strucked, badly, by a unique high fever and I feel harrased by it, but all in a good way.
Strangely, my fever is blue, with dark strips, with a bright yellow, gleaming gaze, and bioluminescence all around.
I wish to not get cured from it, for I yearn to feel the sorrow, the tragic and the respite of it all over again, and again, and again.
Why should I get medicine or a cure anyway?
Actually, I like it as it reminds me how lucky I am or some of us are, and that nothing should be taken for granted.
At times like these you think of the higher powers and the environment around you.
At times like these you wonder if others who went through the same thing would have felt the same as you.
At times like these you remind yourself to keep working hard and to never give up, and if you never give up, you’ll never lose.
That’s right, no matter what comes at you, it’s all mere obstacles which you can easily ward off, and with a little help, you’ll even win in the end.
I’m having the Avatar fever.
And I’m glad I’m not alone, as I’ve found a niche community of fans who’ve ‘felt’ an overpowering sense of change within them after watching the movie.
Indeed, to some it’s just a movie, or a story with blue monkeys, but for us it’s more than that.
It’s harrowing to have to detach our subconcious mind from Pandora as soon as Leona Lewis belts belts the end song.
I know that all good things will imminently come to an end.
I’ll just bask in the joy and escapism that it provides, while it lasts, like falling in love, over and over again, except now it’s a fever, Avatar fever.
When was the last time you fell in love?
AVATAR: Hitler Learned The Movie Sucked (Funny)
Dec 28, 2009 General
In the words of one of RDA’s gun-totting guy during the opening few minutes of the Avatar movie, “That is just so wrroh-ong!”.
You wouldn’t want to enrage the man like this:
LMAOSFSVVFLLL!!! (Translation: Laughing My Ass Off So Funny So Very Very Funny La La La!!!)
Russians Are Smart — Except Yuri In 2012, The Movie.
Dec 14, 2009 Reviews
Seriously (yet again I try to be serious) I have a bad feeling that it’s not going to be China that’ll dictate the next global currency, but only because the Russians are quietly (and probably silently feeling amused at the current ongoing economic turmoil) planting their seeds of power.
Those who lay dormant quietly are the ones to be wary of, right?
How else could you explain the rise of online music and online movies retailers who sell these entertainment wares at dirt cheap prices, and yet hollywood or the RIAs barely lifts a finger at them?
Actually, Russian law says its legal, so its legal. Aha, silently untouchable…
Anyway, I just recently watched 2012, the movie, with Bangau and I think it’s a solid 2 and half hour of entertainment, of human emotions and reactions and how much worth the value of life can be measured at, during dire situations.
Like so what if you’re Mr President or some filthy rich Billionaires, ‘cos what good is money or status when you’re staring death in the face?
Indeed 2012 follows after his previous movies like ‘Day After Tomorrow’, ‘Godzilla’ or ‘Independance Day’ but on a grander, and much more fatalorrific (yes, that’s fatality + horrific) scale than before.
But like what Yuri faced towards the end of the movie (where he fell while trying to shove his son beyond the closing gates), it was imminently staring into a freefall abyss as the plot and cinematography became that little bit too cheesy for me, though I guess that Hollywood needed its heroic climax no matter how cheesy and predictable it can get.
However there was nothing cheesy about hurtling off the back of a crashing airplane on a yellow and voice-activated Bentley (I think), cos that’s just uber cool.
I liked it, the movie, but it didn’t impressed me as much as reading the rave reviews that it’s been receiving over the world wide web, so I give it a 7.9 out of 10, for being amply good entertainment on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
You know what else could be good entertainment on a Sunday afternoon? Zipping around the expressway in one of these:
You know if you’re going to impress anyone, THIS could do the trick.
Thanks to a Mr Pavel Zotov (W000~ Russians~), his niche idea, a luxury car rental company, has been driving sales pretty well that he’s considering to bring in more of them cars, like Lamborghinis for example.
Strangely I’m not a car fan (and not harbouring any interest in getting a car license explains it) but somehow the thought of going around in a speedy, blazingly fast machine is quite tempting.
Forget about the Lancers or the Skylines, we’re talking Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bentleys, among a few.
If you’re a car enthusiast, there’s nothing unenthusiastic about these supercars.
Well if a car is rented for one day, which is $388 onwards, like why not? Instead of paying half a million or even millions to get one, this is wayyyyy more economical.
Of course there’s nothing economical about lavishly spending such obscene amount for a day of entertainment, and I don’t think I’m even gonna be renting one anytime soon (or ever!), but it’s just tempting.
And I get tempted easily.
A Christmas Carol, The Movie
Nov 12, 2009 Reviews
No, there’s no quitting of jobs or quitting of smoking in this post, but Scrooge’s better quit that miserly attitude of his, but we all know how the story ends right?
So what makes Robert Zemeckis’ “A Christmas Carol”, a novel by Charles Dickens, any special than all the other directors’ versions? Allow me to introduce 3 things…
1. The Robert Zemeckis touch.
The Pursuit of Happiness, Contact, Forrest Gump and Back To The Future. These are shows which have been given that ultra special Robert Zemeckis touch and you can bet that his version of “A Christmas Carol” is going to be a thrilling and entertaining ride, unlike any Disney movie that you’ve watched before.
However, like any Disney movie you can be sure that it’s going to be entertaining and enriching story. I’m pretty sure that I’ll enjoy the movie throughly when it opens on 19th November 2009.
2. The Jim Carrey moment.
I thoroughly enjoy every movie that has Jim Carrey in it, and I can’t stress how funny he can be when he’s in his element, so don’t mind that I’m a little pro Jim Carrey here.
Anyway, the last film that I saw Jim Carrey in a Christmas movie was when he became the grouchy Grinch in “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” in 2000.
In his first ever project with Disney Pictures, Jim Carrey is back — although you’ll only get to hear his voice(s) as the highly talented actor takes on a myriad of characters in Disney’s “A Christmas Carol”.
He is the voice behind Mr Scrooge (in all the various age and time), Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Future.
If you enjoy Jim’s antics and comedic nature, then get ready for Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” as it opens on 19th November 2009.
3. Disney Pictures
What can I say? Anything that goes by the tag of Disney Pictures is bound to be a lovely episode of drama and comedy, but if you think Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” is a show for kids, think again.
There is plenty of occasion for the plot to go scary and creepy, but with Jim Carrey in it, I think it’ll be a lot more tolerable.
If you can’t wait to catch the movie, then here is a trailer from youtube to whet that apetite…
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL” OPENS IN SINGAPORE CINEMAS 19 November 2009!
Tags: Jim Carrey, Movie, Preview, Robert Zemeckis
Paranormal Activity, the Movie: So Far So Good.
Oct 28, 2009 Reviews
I can’t remember the last time that I watched a horror movie, because I have a particular dislike against this genre of movies, but ‘Paranormal Activity’ or PA attempts to change all that. Hmmm, what could possibly be so good about it?
See these people, they are scared s***(something that rhymes with wit and bit and does not smell pleasant at all) and just watching this trailer (youtube) about Paranormal Activity (the movie) has already increased my anticipation towards the extremely low budget movie.
I don’t like horror movies, but this one is definitely an interesting experience.
If grown Ang Mohs can squirm and squeal like that, I think I’ll be bringing along diapers and pacifiers, in case, when the movie opens up here in Singapore on 12th November.
12th November!???!? That’s a long wait indeed, but one that’s surely worth it, if trailers and audience reviews are to judged by — even Bangau is anticipating this horror movie, and it’s unusual for a bird to get excited by a movie, at all!
Originally paid with $500 each, the 2 main characters’ acting adds depth and everything else to it. Since I’ve yet to see the full movie, I don’t know how the director’s handywork is going to be like, but hopefully it’s not another shaky, wobbly Blair Witch moment, like Cloverfield was — ‘cos these movies make me dizzy!
I admit, I get motion sick terribly easily and I’d be the last person you’d want to get on a boat with. In fact, I’m always the last person to get onto any boat and pretty much the first to leave! Bah~
So considering that a $15,000 budgeted movie ranked in tens of millions of dollars, I suppose bringing along one or two vomit bags is justifiable.
12th November. Jot that down.
Tags: Movie, Paranormal Activity, Review, Scary
Boy Was I So Wrong About..
Oct 26, 2009 Me, Myself & I, Reviews
1. Liverpool VS Man Utd. Awesome, fabulous, gritty, deserving victory for my Reds. More to come from this later. Me: Elated.
2. Pandorum, the movie. Looking at director, Christian Alvart’s portfolio, I thought this would be another disappointingly rehashed version of Ridley Scott’s Alien, but this has got to be one of the better, if not totally awesome, sci-fi thriller since… Alien itself! Good show, not bad. Guess what’s better than watching this movie? Catching it with Dils of course, who was kind enuff to catch up with her bro for the weekend over sushi and unagi meals at Shin Tokyo (Yew Tee Point), yummy! Me: Gleeful.
3. 9, the movie. I saw the trailer for this 3D adventure and it played Coheed & Cambria’s song in the background (one of my favourite, and which I think is their best song, from their 1st commercial album release), and I thought this is one hell of a good show, but after the first 10 minutes of it’s introduction, everything felt bad. The animation and 3D character models are all good, even the lightings and texture, but something about the storyline didn’t quite excite me. Bad build-up, poor plot, and weird pacing made it feel as if it’s a student’s final year project instead. And it even contained characters made of .. rice sack? Very final year project indeed. Me: Disappointed.
4. Balloon Boy. Okay, so I wasn’t really wrong when I had a hunch that this was probably an elaborate hoax. Nothing much to say now that the verdict is out right? Poor boy. Bad daddy. Me: Neutral.
5. Skopets lose. First loss of the season in division 2 for us last Saturday. Had to rush back to Jurong from work and it definitely took longer than expected. Captain and goalkeeper wasn’t too impressed with my promptness, or the lack of it. Wandering around in midfield was good, but the eventual shift at the wings tire me. Wasn’t feeling 100% fit, to run up and down, especially after midweek’s flu bout, and couldn’t do much to reverse the scoreline. Oh well, sometime you lose (oh, yes, that concerns you too Man Utd!). Me: Disappointed.
6. Quitting in 3 months, back then. Like why so soon right? Quitters don’t achieve anything (like duh~) and I think I’d prefer to bow out in better times instead, like when I see that there’s an able replacement and the system in the office is all roaring flawlessly. So is the foot still out the door? You betcha, but I don’t think it’ll be moving anytime soon now. Me: Decidedly Undecided.
Things Change. People Change. Luck Changes. And the world goes round and round and…
Oh well, can’t get it right all the time eh?
Tags: Liverpool FC, Manchester United, Movie, Pandorum, Skopets
