Change Your Image
symeon_chiam
Nevertheless, the best prize is always a surprise, henceforth, wandering into the cinemas without having any knowledge of the real deal, but only knowing the genre, tagline and trivia would bring in a whole lot of different emotions, and that is what is regarded as being in the cinema.
Reviews
Knocked Up (2007)
Favored for months to come!
This film by Billy Ray (director of the 40-Year-Old Virgin) could actually go into one of those perfect educational films for sex without responsibility. =P Starring Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl as Ben Stone and Allison Scott each; it describes how an up and about entertaining journalist made the gravest mistake of her life at the peak of her life. Having just attained a promotion, she decided to take her sister out to a night club to party the night out while having been both deranged and derailed in her thoughts out of drunkenness; she met a happy go lucky slacker Ben Stone whose life achieving ambition is to create a website to advertise nude scenes of actors and actresses. He call that the Flesh of the Star, just so for your knowledge.
Having been high on alcohol, the both of them ended up on a casual one night stand without protection out of a misunderstanding (she actually meant, hurry up wearing the condom; rather than hurry up without the condom, but the phrase of hurrying up when tied alone is insufficient for a guy to interpret further at such an intensifying moment). And so it happens, and so the tadpole met its home and thenceforth we get a worrying Allison with the positive urine pregnancy test kits all over her room.
That was weeks after the one night stand and having discovered such through the embarrassing moments of nausea, vomiting and early morning sickness whilst at her job; she has no way out other than to call up the guy who is responsible for the baby creation. The news weren't that easy, and for slacker Ben, it's never casual to receive such a shocker. But he did! And the confirmation is true when he accompanied her to the obstetrician and gynaecologist for a detailed transvaginal ultrasonography. Ooh wala boom! There's the intrauterine gestational sac! Then there begins the responsibility, the heavy communication and the inter-relationship communication and conversation. The beginning of life full of need to dos, don'ts and quarrelling towards two differences takes on an interesting journey. As each individual from two totally different life prospects, professionalism and career meet at the crossroads, there are bound to be sacrifices, give and takes and as well as understanding. Allison lost her job, take on the prospect of being barred from the local entertainment pub, suffering from the upheavals of responsibilities of being a mother-to-be and having a rather irresponsible and selfish husband. Whilst Ben, out of all the new and sudden changes tries his best to adapt to a life that he never knew he would be drafted in, he could never, no matter what, seem to satisfy Allison.
The argument brought about so much attention towards the possibility of raising up the child by one parent's on and on the verge of divorce; but Ben is not without a heart. In showing that he really cared and want to take up the responsibility after being proved by Allison's sister on how big a loser he is, he took up all the baby books read them, got ready for the much anticipated labor, argued constructively with her doctors who can be rather harsh and getting things organized when Allison progress into her final days of reaching labor. All of this sacrifices were of much value to Allison, to which she finally put on a smile and patted herself out of comfort and a sigh of relief to which she believes that Stone is the guy, the rightful husband and the responsible father to share with for the rest of her life.
The outstanding comedy in both this immensely funny individuals can be very realistic and rather interesting. The story goes with the flow and the expected can be rather out of the blues. Out of all the commendation for the movies, it deserves its best remarks for it's another classical follower of its former 40-Year-Old Virgin.
The Heartbreak Kid (2007)
Fairly Entertaining
Ever made a simple mistake in your life which turned out to be otherwise? No
I don't mean the opposite of a simple mistake which is a right choice; but what if it turned out to be the extremely worst mistake that you have ever committed? Well, frankly, this movie describes just what it takes when you committed something wrong without the primary intention. Ben Stiller plays Eddie in this comedy-freak romance movie when he, out of peer pressure decided to tie the knot and settle down. After all, as long as it gets, he has been single in all of his life and to meet a charming lady, the next one that is who would actually respond to his signals; he would jump on it rather than to sit on the fence and wait. All this, and thanks to the wonderful advise from Eddie's father, who is also the real life father of Ben Stiller.
He did just that when the seemingly fabulous and sexy Lila chanced upon him and he proposed just within a matter of a few weeks. Lila agreed to the proposal and they got along just fine during the wedding. All hell starts to break lose when they start off with their honeymoon vacation. With multiple loads of irritation that begin to hurdle its way to Eddie's life, he soon begins to understand that something is just not right. Despite that being so, it is not easy putting up with the aggressive Lila, both in social outside life and on the bed.
Eddie's thoughts were confirmed when during their honeymoon, he met an interesting charming lady, Miranda; to whom he realized to be his actual long life partner, the perfect soul mate. She melt his heart and she is totally nothing like that of Lila. Miranda was in the same vacation hotel as both as Eddie and Lila as it is an annual thing to celebrate her parent's wedding anniversary. All of them (Miranda's family) took a liking for Eddie as he charms them with his ways of thinking and his entertaining jokes. They took to believe that he is just down for a vacation and understood that he is just another single guy wandering alone, and they all knew that the both of them, Eddie and Miranda would seem to be the best and right couple.
The inevitable escape from the hotel room by Eddie soon became fairly easy when Lila got herself sun-burnt out of her own fault. That kept Lila in the house while Eddie walked in and out without much of an anticipation or fear. Both the new couple got along rather well and indeed, the typical friendship blossomed into somewhat of a more intimate relationship. But that was without a wonder anyway, until Eddie's secret start to leak out. As he tries going along to cover up one of his past secrets, another would jut out to which in the end of everything; would he be able to do that one sole thing to make his life fulfilled? Would he have the guts to sign a break up with Lila (who would definitely kill him) and patch things up with Miranda (after the discovery that he is a married man, to a lady with an erm
heavy bush)? I ain't spoiling it much for you, but if you like Ben Stiller as a comedy man, together with his dad Jerry Stiller (who is also a famous comedian if you have no idea), then you would just simply enjoy this 18-SX film.
Dan in Real Life (2007)
Sweet!
This movie has its role in many things and I love it simply for its realistic values and plays in many ways. It's flawless and it's true and for the truth of all, it's a reality in many people's life. I could simply give this movie a rating of 9 if I want to, but it's simply so good, that I have to offer more.
Steve Carrell, our famous guy in Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty and yes! The 40 Year Old Virgin packs and delivers this movie with a blow with his innocent and argumentative look when he gets angry! Oh no, literally! It is that good! Dan lives a hard and demanding life especially after his wife had pass away. She left him with three girls to take care of, one preschool and two teenagers of the extreme age. It is never easy to stay with one single woman in your life and everyone can have a say for that, but Dan lived with three, each with their own personalities, demands and behavior.
While taking an annual drop-by visit to the parents', Dan met a wonderful lady, Marie (Juliette Binoche). They spent their initial time together in a bookstore when the latter mistaken him for a bookstore keeper. They reached out for some coffee and Dan mastered most of the conversation, while Marie listened on without intervention. As he rattles on his thoughts and dominantly took up most of the time; Marie never showed any signs of boredom, which triggers Dan that this must be the right next-lady for him to get to know and to further develop feelings for. But time and tide wait for no man, and this wonderful girl Marie had to take her leave, only to be met at the following scene and introduced to Dan as his brother's girlfriend.
In many ways, this film reminds me of a lot of truth and life and to top it all, this movie delivers with a commanding wealth of humor and how should I put it? Ahhh yes! Whimsical truth!
Seasons change: Phror arkad plian plang boi (2006)
Interesting Movie!
Pom (Witawat Singlampong), a high school student gifted in playing the jazz drums was granted the opportunity to study in a music college. He accepted the offer immediately without telling his parents who were all this while thinking that he is a pre-med student. His aim was not just to be a musician per se, as he has indefinitely fallen in love with Dao (played by Yuwanat Arayanimisakul) , a young beautiful lass who is skilled in playing the violin. Pom's parents had high hopes for him to be a medical doctor despite the fact that his interest lies more towards music. To Pom's parents, there is no future and a secured career upon graduation from music school, hence the common thinking.
Despite him secretly doing so and getting into the college, he couldn't avoid it all as his father's best friend, Dr Prasert was there during his daughter's (Aom - played by Chutima Teepanat) enrolment day in the same music college. His efforts of avoiding Dr Prasert came to an abrupt end when he noted him directly face to face. Having feared that Dr Prasert would give his secret out, Pom sought Aom's help to keep his true identity as a student in the music college a secret. As Pom tried his best to get near to Dao, luck was never on his side, and though he could only play the jazz drums well, there was no luck in him as well to show his capability on rocking on those sets to impress Dao. That was about to change when two other boys from the music college, Ched (Ratchu Surachalas) and Chat (Chalermpol Tuntawisut) bumped into him one day while trying to find a room to practice their electric guitars. They found Pom drumming away in the sound-proofed room and joined him ignoring the fact that he booked it first. Though even then, Pom did not had any difficulty in making friends as they clicked well and soon formed a band which they called it the Ass-holy.
Pom's final push to be able to get near to Dao and get himself noticed by her was to join the orchestra as a tympany player. Though being involved in the drumsets training by the nervous yet rhythmic-minded Prof Jitaro (Kazuki Yano), he was keen nevertheless to give orchestra a go to calm his raging hormones. The orchestra conductor was Rosie (Prof Jitaro's girlfriend and played by Panissara Phimpru).
Well Pom got into the orchestra, but found that playing the tympany was no small deal as he soon learnt the true nature that belies an orchestra. To wait for his turn to come in, and that wait can be so long that he could soon be found reading Naruto comics, picking up fallen notes for his friends, arranging posters and pictures while the musical piece is being played. He soon got bored with the style but ran a triple job to help his bandmates - Ched and Chat, Prof Jitaro with his drum recordings to make a proper thesis and Rosie with her orchestral group.
Even though his dreams of getting to Dao is a far-fetched one, he never did gave up his hope on Dao, though most of his time was spent with Aom who also got into the orchestral group. Pom was still determined to get close to Dao until he made the final decision to leave his group band. The decision was ultimate as he needed to concentrate on the intensive practise for the upcoming end of term orchestral performance. Ched and Chat decided to hold a mini-farewell party for him and they jammed their electric guitars and drums in the courtyard of the college. Dao and Aom were amongst the students that turned up. That was when Dao became impressed with Pom and started to get near towards him and talked to him. To bring u into a lighter note, both Dao and Pom came from the same high school and Pom has since developed a crush on her though the true fact belies that Dao don't even know of his existence. But the chance opened up... viewers would then be keeping a significant thought in their mind-play, that what-if Aom were to find out that her routine daily role has been substituted by Dao. Well, that's not that hard to guess... What would be a nice romance triangular relationship movie without that most cheesy and conflicting part in the movie? More problems cropped into Pom's mind as he found out about the Hungarian scholarship that Dao is aiming on. The scholarship is offering two students to further their musical learning and practise cum performance in Budapest itself. The application of the scholarship and confirmation of it alone requires Pom's dad's signature in which his dad has no idea about him studying music. Aom is flunked into a series of sadness and frustrations as she felt cheated by Pom; amidst her inborn skill of playing out of tune and having not being able to make it into the list of the scholarships offer.
The director, Nithiwat Tharathorn definitely has a great sense of humor and a huge understanding about teenagers and human relationships, that I have to say, coz the very least that he could have done in the movie has already yielded so great a laughter and tears, five viewers would willing to shed and share. Even the soundtracks are worth keeping a mind in as they blend in so well with the movie and there is without a doubt that you will want to be in that movie itself as you will be given a great intense emotional feel of how the relationships are played out altogether. Significant!
The Hills Have Eyes II (2007)
Enjoyable
Having little remnants of memories from what one could tell by the sequel (if you haven't watch the first part), you would get a rough idea that an American family traveling along the highway decided to take a stop at Sector 16 (which is a top-class army confidential area used for testing A-bombs) and that by dawn, half the family were already dead. Their disappearance, mysterious; their deaths, terrifying and brutal. A search and destroy mission was called on and later, scientists were sent to scavenge the area for clues. And yeah, whoever made it in there, will never get out again, the initial beginnings of this movie focuses on the rapid elimination of the team in site. Prior to their deaths, they radioed in for supply from a training base camp, located not far away.
Upon their deaths, viewers are given a slice of how war in Kandahar would seem like in the training camp. A bunch of new recruits were being tested on their battle stints and wits, where of course, being amateurs, they failed the test miserably. Their sergeant was the least happy needless to speak considering the amount of stuffs his recruits know about survival and teamwork. Well then, that will pave much for the ongoing story as you get a glimpse of each and every of the victim's behaviors. Having received the transmission on the lack of supply in Sector 16, they were the first team out to send it over. What they found was a desolated and an abandoned campsite. Having scoured the area for a few, they noticed a reflected sunlight beam from one of the hills coupled with weak radio transmissions calling in for distress. A search and rescue team was dispatched while leaving behind two other soldiers (PFC Napoleon and PFC Amber) to aid in calling for reinforcements and possible medivac.
The setting was clear and simple, the objective sharp yet somehow altruistic, but what seemingly appears to be like an easy mission turns out ghastly for the group of soldiers when undesired mishaps started to occur. PFC Mickey got himself plunged towards a covered mine and fractured his ankle causing him to be aborted from the mission, PFC Napoleon and PFC Amber discovered a victim (probably from the prequel) in the stink-hole, they then discovered their missing rifles and severed intercom plus a roasted truck (their one way ticket out from no man's land). What happens later confirms their disadvantage in coping within that hill itself. PFC Amber got mugged by one of the nuke-mutated alien, PFC Mickey got in just in time to fire a shot at that alien, PFC Mickey then gets pulled in from one of the hill-holes as a revenge by the alien - which is a small hole mind u, and the alien only got hold of one of his legs, pulling him through and inside into the hole leading to a comminuted fracture of his pelvis I would suppose... Gory! That's enough to send the girls in the cinemas screaming and hiding their heads behind their boyfriend's while some who don't have any, made use of their popcorn packs or their jackets. At this time, the rescue team had already discovered what they initially set out to, a dead scientist which is enough to warrant them a trip back down. However, the worse was yet to come as a smooth journey up does not equate to one down.
What seems to be rather convincing in this horror flick turned for the worse when their leader of the group, yes the sergeant gets killed accidentally (I hate these accidental stuffs, but of course, it's a human mistake) through a friendly fire shooting in which one of the PFCs thought that he was shooting at the mutated beings. From then on, it was the pick of the creatures on which victim to fry first. The remaining small team found the earlier commanding officer, Colonel Reeding lying by a crevice with his major stab wound through his thoracic cavity. Amazing that he was still alive when they found him especially after being stabbed and thrown from a great height. He warned them about the creatures which eliminates all the man and keeps the woman for breeding to keep up with their numbers. Having said that, he showed them the way down the hill, by shooting himself in the head and falling of the mountains. That was a wee bit uncalled for yet it was rather silly to be considered for such an act...
The thrill and the horror kept drawing nigh as the team decided to get down the hill by entering to the danger zone itself - the abandoned mine. Their options vanished when one of their team-members PFC Missy was captured and taken into the mine. The horror trails from one end to another which progressively reduces the group members to mere nothingness. The first hour was spent on seeing the misery of the victims on how they suffered from being killed in the most unattractive manner and besides, the director did not fail on showing you a rape scene on PFC Missy for the purpose of breeding, and the earlier introduction of the movie on the previous prequel victim who delivered a baby and gets axed. How interesting. The later part of the movie gives a grant for the viewers when the victims turned the tables on their predators. Ghastly, inhumane and evilish desires reek out from the victims, evidently by their way of crediting retribution to the loathsome creatures.
Phii khon pen (2006)
Beautiful!
Spirit of the Victim focuses on a lady, May (or Ting) - played by Pitchanart Sakakorn - which has an inborn skills in acting. The initial scene portrays an enthusiastic May in an acting class which unknowingly will take her to altogether a new dimension of life. While fooling around with her skills and showing it off to her uncle (who mans a local coffee shop), her talents were noted by a police officer - Lieutenant Te, played by Kiradej Ketakinta - who offered her a job to re-enact the events leading to death of victims whereby perpetrators and suspects denied allegations towards their crime. She acted with such randomness and talent that her inborn desire to play in each scenes were well-recognized by various police officers from different regions around Thailand. She was soon publicized in newspapers after reaping in a successful reenactment which allowed the police officers to catch the killer. From one scene to another, her task gets more and more complicated as well as recognized. She literally enjoyed her role as she portrays the anguished spirits who were killed mercilessly. Though initially unwilling to be part of such role-plays, she became convinced when the lieutenant explained to her that it would bring more help rather than a portrayal of mocking the dead victims and their spirits.
Part of all the objectives of this movie is the same as other horror stories, that is the depiction of hatred and anger of the deceased when their earthly body could not be recovered. Their spirit lies restlessly in the world tormenting those who venture deep enough to disturb them, or sometimes at all, play a part in their misery. As May became more popular, it became obvious that any roleplay, no matter how difficult or complicated it would be, that she will be the first to be called up. It was not until the recent Miss Thailand (in this movie) and former 2nd runner up of Miss Universe, Meen (played by Apasiri Nitibhon) was found murdered in an inhumane and brutal manner and left to rot. Her body was not found, but part of her skin tissue was discovered - lodged in the longbath filter cover with prints all around her room that resembles that of Dr. Jarun (Meen's lover). As all the evidence pointed to Dr.Jarun (played by Chokchai Charoensuk), it was definite that he would be put to death but not without first being allowed a given trial and a reenactment as he denied the allegations. The actress who was supposed to play the role of Meen was a female police officer, and of course surprising enough to the viewers that it should have been May. May was called up by the lieutenant and was told that she was not the person chosen to be part of the roleplay. Frustrated, May prayed to Meen that if she were to allow her to be part of the acting, that she would act it out with all her heart's desire to reveal the guilty individual who killed her. The female police officer was found dead mysteriously the next day following the prayer and May was called up for the act.
As overjoyed as she is, she kept to her promise and sought out all forms of resources about Meen, ranging from her video footage of her dancing the Leika (traditional Thai dance) to her behavior - she put all her efforts into playing it to perfection. To sharpen her instincts to act just like Meen, she paid a visit to the death scene and was treated to a mystical horror dream when she fell into a deep sleep. She was given the heads up by Meen's spirit that her lover was not the killer, but it was someone else in which it was not revealed. Having the repetitive disturbance, she took matters into her own hands and found out about Fai (played by Penpak Sirikul), Meen's best friend (even before she took to the fame) and also a plastic surgeon. While retreiving information from Fai, the spookiness evoked further from the scene when Fai revealed to May the true story and demanded May to fulfill one of her desires as a return for the information. Having fast-forward further, Fai was revealed as a lesbian who is obsessed over Meen and now, May (which resembles Meen upon heavy make-up). Out of jealousy for Dr. Jarun and anger over Meen who chose Dr. Jarun as her lover and not her, she unleashed an evil beyond description to murder Meen. Attempting to murder May also, she was saved by the lieutenant who bust into the house just in time to fire a shot on Fai. What seemingly became a tensed atmosphere was relieved immediately when the build up storyline turned out to be just an act to reenact the murder scene as Fai was deemed as one of the proper suspect of Meen's death.
The movie was well crafted with an inch of a smart thriller inserted into the genre to bring about a lively spark of curiosity about the storyline. Viewers would find themselves heavily confused over the true nature of the story in the beginning and even towards the end. The movie is made in such a way that whenever the mystery begins to unravel itself, it proves to be false and that the venturing into more complicated method in solving the crime yields more scenario to allow the director to insert more craftiness and ingenuity in scaring his viewers. I would recommend this movie to those who are interested in a handful of scary detective movie. After all, the settings and the location of the film were real and the events reenacted in this movie of the death scenes are based on the local true happenings and not on legends.
Sing see (2007)
Poorly written
Right, as for my first few sentences of this movie, my advice to you is that there is literally no point in attempting to watch this movie. The plot is overly simple with no intentions or objectives, crudely to put it in a way rather amateur and the comedy that the director is attempting to make, sorry to say this, but it's just rather unattractive. Though there is a meager storyline and the hype about liondance, there just isn't any significance in it as one were to compare between the trailer and teasers with the movie per se. I applaud the movie for its efforts however, on the costume designing - the actor as well as the lions. Having watched a heap-load of Hong Kong comedies filled with random acts and jokes, especially by Chow Tsing Chee, I had to admit that none could have been more random and weakly acted out as his earlier productions. How wrong was I when I took on the wrong choice by watching Dancing Lion.
The storyline revolves around a group of family members played by Francis Ng, Anthony Wong, Teresa Mo, Lam Chi Chung etc. which simply put - inherited the family business of lion-dancing which has been handed down from generations to generations. The problem starts when few of the community would accept such traditional play that their business was heading towards a possible extinction. Drawing on all the latest trends that appeals to the youth and the young people nowadays, the lion-dancing business which is commonly seen within grand-openings of businesses and Chinese New Year; were extended further to cover the needs of the new generation of Hong Kong people. Viewers are then taken towards the movie aspect of seeing lion-dance in clubs, funerals and football match viewings. They took onto the streets in almost every corner banging their instruments away and creating a lot of noise that at one point, the community around voiced out their complains over these problems that are disrupting their peace.
Having confined towards this problem, Francis (I can't recall their act names) was forced uninterestingly to continue teaching a bunch of kids about liondance. It was all a bunch of hoax as you would see that the children spent most of their time lazing around rather than practicing. Professionalism was questioned by his partner, Lam Chi Chung, though Francis seemingly was unperturbed. To him, as long as there is money, he will keep the business running without applying any form of business ethics. His aunt however, Teresa Mo went into the slimming business by producing what is known as the "lion milk" which apparently functions as a slimming drug whenever one would take it. I don't know how she was able to gain so much support from the people around, but then again... the setting of the movie initially was already pointless, so what's with the queries anyhow? Within the family, only one of the members kept himself true towards business ethics and the true culture of lion dance - the granduncle played by Anthony Wong. Though he was capable of many things and giving advices, none of the members would listen to his long-winded poetic stories as they meant nothing to them when fortune was knocking on their doors. It was not until later when they became more susceptible to his advices when a friend of Francis Ng introduced him towards a game TV, faved by many viewers in Hong Kong. He promised that he would pay him a huge amount of money if they were capable of answering his questions. They were successful up till the last test when his aunt was purposely called in to expose his behavior in the house. Things got out of hand as the mockery between them started and what seemingly supposed to be a teasing, turned out to be a heated quarrel which was directly screened on air. The amount of lies heaped up was poured out unwittingly and to the viewers rage, the group of family members were thrown into depression and an attempt of suicide.
It was then when their grand-uncle, who was taking some time off in Beijing, returned to Hong Kong and advised them on the true-roots of liondance. The poorly crafted story of the movie sent Francis to a deep sleep and when he awakes, he found himself a huge group of his trainees (the children) all ready to hit the roads to perform. Having agreed on an earlier arrangement to perform for a philanthropic billionaire businessman (also the grand-uncle's best friend), they went to the venue only to get a glance of another group of lion dance team performing there. Their opponents were from the Northern Province of China, whereas that of Anthony's drew its roots from the Southern Province. Both agreed on a competition to fight to the last in order to gain back what was once fame and tradition.
The movie literally has no beginning and ending, as it tails from one section to another with no continuity. It's short and it's poorly crafted that I would not recommend this to anyone. Please by all means, if you've planned to watch it, to avoid it.
The Letters of Death (2006)
Simply the Best!
Twenty-nine people shared a common thing in this horror trail they were all classmates to an isolated student Chotitham (nicked as Wan) in which his name was never known to all except the main actor, but he's forgotten anyways. He should have wished he knew if he were to understand the significance of it linking to the puzzle.
In the earlier introduction of this movie, the viewers are introduced to the main actor Sayree who befriends Wan when they were classmates in their old primary school. He teams up with Nataya, in this mind-boggling yet puzzling movie. Drawn back to time, each of the actors remaining memories entail us to a fragmented story on how Wan was introduced to the class as a new student. He was round, disheveled, messy, geeky-like with a thick specs and no one really liked him initially, especially he being a smart and hardworking student and shaming the rest of his classmates, and furthermore bearing more weight on them as the teacher soon came to like Wan more. Each of his classmates were unperturbed about his presence and shared in the act of making his life miserable through the teasing initially, followed by bullying and later on, even attempting to take his life. In the genesis of it all, Sayree was the only student in the class who helped Wan in all his hardships, taking most of his time off by befriending him and showing him that someone really cared by helping him to get up whenever he was ganged up and beaten. In the following events before Wan disappeared from his classmates lives for good, he was tripped off the stairs while being chased by a few of his classmates. Having suffered severe injuries to his face and legs, he was never seen again from then on and the perpetrator of the cause was not revealed until towards the very end of the movie, though each and everyone one of them played a small role in that indescribable act.
More than a decade later, in each of the scenario, the same classmates each received a mysterious letter with an incomplete hangman cartoon followed by a puzzle that they have to fill it up and upon completion (in which no one was even successful), was required to send the letter to another 29 random individuals, in which death will escape the successful person in decoding the puzzle. Death would then be passed on to the new receivers of the letter. It never ends! Failing which and the receiver of the letter will find death creeping in his door amidst seeing Wan's spirit before he draws his last breath. Its ugly! But then again, one would wish that their death would be so seemingly mind-letting. Yeap, it's after all a chain-letter movie, not the one we would have believed that it would actually turn out being more than just a fantasy to get people off by sending and spamming over the internet. This movie takes it to a new level.
Having already recorded a strikingly 21 mysterious death at the juncture of the start of the film which occurred from time to time; most of which were jumping off buildings, hanging themselves off the ceiling, getting pierced, stabbed, or work accidents and car accidents; the remaining few were drawn into conclusions about the letter that they each received over time. Their suspicions grew as much as their anger and patience. Further research into the sudden appearance of the letters revealed that the deaths would occur from the order of the name-list in their yearbook. The amount of the drawings such as how we would play hangman over the guessing of the words, would appear by itself. Hence, of course, each of the victim would be given a certain amount of time to undone the terrifying puzzle before death finds them. But the question remains, how many more will suffer such perilous and mystical death as a sacrificial source and fuel to buy time for Sayree and Nataya to figure out the major fuss about the puzzle AND once they've sorted the puzzle out, would they then send these letters out to many more innocent souls?
Fascinating continuance of the story-line with proper flashbacks at proper timing to reveal the bits and pieces of the missing puzzles. Each of the viewers will get proper cues towards the plot of the story. Amazing amplification of the scary parts, not only by the typical sound and visual effects, nor the commonly routine things we do without contemplation, but it's just more than that. The film did not fail to show how messed up Wan was after his meager life was spent in spits and more inferiority complexes. How his life was changed for the worst and how avengeful he gets from the intrusive thoughts that he puts the blame on all of his classmates. Wanting them to die in the most sadistic manner, he puts all of his anguish, sufferings and evil desires into the letter before hanging himself. It would have assumed that his spirit dwells within the little note. Be careful while you watch, lest it catches you off-guard at the least expected time, won't wanna jump off your seats now would you? That would be embarrassing! I know I did.
TMNT (2007)
Kewl dude!
Oh yeah! You saw it right! =P The turtles are back, without a doubt! Caught the movie poster on the 3D screen over at Queensbay about a month back and wasn't even aware that this movie was being produced. It was unbelievable that finally the animated screens are finally thinking of starting to create a movie that was worth watching. Worth it? Why not? TNMT has been regarded as an all time favorite since my childhood days. There was this saying that Pizza Hut gained popularity because of TNMT, that more branches had to be constructed throughout Malaysia and competitors such as Dominos and Shakeys then came out to show who has more half shell powers =P I recall the time when I would sing the theme song, amongst the best favorited by many, me especially despite the availability of other superheroes. Though many others were never regarded as number one by me. I played all their video games, collected all their toys and even have toy sizes replicas of them. Used to love playing them in the waters and even on the sand. Mom however made me give it to charity later... which I hardly parted with. After a few months from that incident alone, I quickly lost interest in TMNT, partly because the TVs never did show it on screen anymore, and also I didn't have them to play with any longer. But deep inside me, I'd wish that one day, I'd grown back to love it again... =P For long since I've last caught up with the turtles, this movie focuses on the aftermath of Shredder's defeat (the turtle's nemesis) alongside with his two hotshots - Bebop and Rhino (I can't recall his name). Karai them came into the picture (who led a team of the foot ninjas) and in this movie was played by Zhang Ziyi. With Karai as a new edition in the turtles cartoon, things began to quickly change for them. Upon Shredder's defeat, all of the turtles were turned into laybacks, well not all, though some of them like Raphael took it into his own hands to proclaim justice for NYC, the place they snigger in. He was quickly known as the Night Watcher. Leonardo, the leader of the pack was sent by Master Splinter (yeah the rat sinseh) to one of the Southern parts of America to relearn his innate ability as a leader after he became too self centered with the leadership. Donatello took up a voluntary job as an IT consultant whereas Michaelangelo took up a voluntary job as an entertainer for kids. Ahaha... you will get all of these in the first introduction of the movie.
April was played by Sarah Michelle Gellar (our sweet Scooby Doo actress and our evil Cruel Intentions actress as well...). With Leonardo's absence, Raphael was the only turtle in the group to seemingly have the best of the remaining three, in the sense of skill, determination, power and agility; as seen from his heroic acts at night by taking on a prowling job to catch robbers. For almost four years (or was it months) with Leonardo's absence, the whole turtle gang seemed to have gone towards the brink of extinction through their hiding underground. It was not until April who found Leonardo in the South American jungles where he played hero, almost seemingly like what Raphael was doing in the city. Upon urging him, he did came back finally; but the link between Raphael and Leonardo was a harsh one. The former could not bear to be led and did not understand the true reason why Leonardo was Master Splinter's favorite student and appointed to be a leader for the gang (aside from him being the eldest).
Every hero needs an enemy as they say; and in this movie, according to the Yaotl Legend which occurred about 3000 years ago; an esteemed general desired for world domination (typical typical). He was so bloodthirsty and eager that he would live to kill all who opposed him. In the hunger for power and immortality, he obtained the knowledge of gaining what he desired most during his lifetime in that century where (it only occurs once in 3000 years) the planets in our solar system would align with each other and bring on a power beyond human abilities. But with the trade of the immortality he gained, he sacrificed his fellow family generals (who all turned into stone) who were also his siblings and opened the portal to where 13 beasts escaped from it which plaqued humankinds from generations to generations. 3000 years later, now; the immortal general ordered Karai and her foot ninjas to reverse the curse by recapturing all the 13 beasts and used April (her subordinate) first prior to that; to regain possession of all the stone generals.
The fight started between the turtles and the stone generals when they came to life and realized their immortal brother (chief general) was about to betray them of power and authority when he told them his plan of reversing the curse hence ending his own life and also their lives back to the portal.
The good guys then turned out to be the turtles of course, and the immortal general alongside Karai and her team of foot ninjas who pledged to serve the general alone; whereas the bad guys were the stone generals. Kinda out of balance but you will enjoy the movie nevertheless.
Back to the general movie alone - the soundtrack is totally changed and revamped; the best of all it could have been - now the nasty turtle kinda soundtrack (hehe...), cool 3D-image and visual effects, moderately well-touched storyline (though I am not particularly sure of whether it follows the comic specifically) and of course you won't be disappointed with their ninja kicks and ninja punches, need I mention more about how they skilfully fight with their weapons then?
The Reaping (2007)
Could have been better!
Most of us who've frequented the cinemas often enough, or at least once or twice for the past one month would have noted a trailer depicting a trail, similar to that of the Old Testament's Ten Plaques that struck the heart of Egypt with the increasing disobedience and ego of Pharaoh (notably noted to be 1400 BC as according to the movie). These ten plaques could be found in the book of Exodus in which Moses, a prophet of God who was chosen to lead HIS people out from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. Moses was to be the person to talk to Pharoah to let God's people go; however along the process, GOD made Pharoah continuously refuse to do so by harderning his heart. This was so, that God can reveal his power to the Egyptians and to keep HIS side of the covenant made through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the book of Genesis. With each visit to the palace, Pharaoh's refusal to let God's people go was followed by a plaque.
In this movie, the Reaping (horror/thriller), director Steven Hopkins adapted the whole event of plaques directly from the Bible (except there was no Moses and Pharoah involved). Witnessing the whole of the biblical events in a small town called Haven, one of their smartest townsmen Doug was summoned to give a conclusion to this problem. Having had this task at hand, Doug sought the aid of Katherine Winter (Academy Award Winner Hilary Swank) who lost her faith in God sometime ago and is out to prove that there is no such thing as a miracle in this world. She has so far completed a huge number of tasks at hand which was thought by many specialist religious officers to have dealings with miraculous touch or religion connections. She turned these beliefs into scientifical explanation and even during the movie itself, a scene showed her explaining all the ten plaques in order with scientific reasonings. Presuming that it was her own, I felt that this was going a bit too far in exaggerating the explanation. However, taking the whole movie as a MOVIE itself and nothing to do with religious intervention; I felt it was rather weird of the writer to try to explain God's finest miracles through his imagination.
By the way, to clear the confusion of movie-goers, Christian and non-Christian alike, please do no take this movie for real, cause the explanation through scientific manner is just an assumption for the purpose of entertainment. The plaques are real though and so did the splitting of the Red Sea! Back to Katherine; she lost her faith in God after something went wrong in a mission trip to Africa in which she brought her husband and her only daughter there to aid Father Costigan (played by Stephen Rea). They were there for the purpose of religion and providing medical aid. However, while they were there, they experienced a one-year duration of continuous drought and that the locals believed that they were the ones who needs to be blamed. They sacrificed Katherine's husband and daughter to appease their gods and as the event reveals itself, she lost her faith and mentioned in her lines that the day she gets to sleep in peace was the day that she did not prayed. She lost her faith and backslided from then on... reminds you of some other horror movies based on biblical chapters? Kinda! Though she was not seen arguing over what happened to her; she was merely depicted as a person who did not want to hear any advice on religious topics, unless you would want her to solve it with scientific explanation.
All her works throughout the years after her lost, she has been successful until now. This introduction itself should be enough to keep you on your toes, though for some who have seen the trailer and saw the part when the girl's mother, Maddie asked Katherine - Are you here to kill my daughter?, where she upon hearing this replied - No! and Maddie responded - Why not?
From the trailer itself, it seemingly cast a strong possibility that the person who caused the plaques was the girl (Loren) and that the town folks wanted her dead so badly; even her mother. Most of the story-line deployed into this movie are fictitious... so take it lightly OK? Coz the moment you start to criticize the facts in this movie, you will start to doze off literally... ahahaha...
Other than that, the story-line was not that great, pretty easily predictable (not if for the sound effects, we wouldn't be that in such a great suspense), and it ain't that fascinating, but worth your money's worth (only if you are a student and have ur student ID with you) if you desire to watch it over the weekends. The visual effects of the plaques however, were simply fabulous; all the artwork, the efforts and the creativity must have gone into it; needless to say, requiring a whole deal of setups and money as well. Hilary Swank was fabulous in this movie, though it won't win her another Oscar unless she would wanna pull it out again, with something like Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and of course Hilary Swank). Idris Elba who played Ben in this movie (Katherine's previous Teacher Assistant, and now her colleague) acted well as a supporting actor, I felt, which give this movie a good headstart.
Shooter (2007)
Great popping and head-shots!
Don't mention about the trailer... Even I've never really seen it =P... but the movie is basically what the poster is showing you or trying to tell you. A shooter who shoots with marvellous marksmanship and shoots at an extreme distance which is considered impossible for many. The character Bob Lee Swagger, or Swagger for short is played by Mark Wahlberg, a highly skilled sharpshooter arduously trained by the United States Army. He was sent for (in this movie intro) a peacekeeping mission which turned awry and became a shoot-to-kill mission, in what appears to be a dramatic shooting event, after which they were left to battle out for their lives. His partner and best friend, Donnie Fenn (his spotter) was killed on that mission.
Despite having escaped from that dangerous escapade, he seek no revenge but lived out his life in a mountaineous region blanketed with trees with his dog, though he never will be able to forget the tragic incident which led him to retire prematurely. Hunting quickly became his only hobby and favorite pastime and not until 3 years later when the US Army sought his help back then again. This time, the Secret Service (apparently) went to him with a CMH medal to show their loyalty to king and country, to protect the country from enemies, foreign and domestic. The viewers are then introduced to a Colonel Isaac Johnson who earned that CMH (Congressional Medal of Honor - America's top award medal bestowed on those who went above and beyond their call of duty to save lives or show their loyalty to King and Country) for something in which he claimed that he did something silly. Swagger was persuaded to join in for a mission in which intel received and reported claimed that an expert sharpshooter was hired to take down the President of the United States (POTUS) during his welcoming speech in an event which took place in Philadelphia where the Archbishop Desmond Mutumbo (Dean McKenzie) was there to visit America and gave his speech. After some encouraging words and self-conscience instilled into Swagger by the Colonel as what all defenders of the country would do if they were him, he finally gave in and travelled to certain parts of America to sweep out potential given sites for the presidential speech which will be held (prior to this, they weren't sure which would be the favorited spot). What they wanted him to do was to sweep all the potential sites to see where would the sharpshooter most likely be if he were the killer. The "enemy" was suppsed to be the best and highly skilled brought in from another country for the assassination. What all seem to be like a well-versed mission, came something wrong when no actions were done by the Secret Service to pull out the assassin, instead they got a low-life fake cop to punch Swagger with 2 bullets from point blank. Falling to his great height from the stake out building, the story in this movie then starts on how he tried to salvage his own life through the streets of America; hunted severely not being able to go to a hospital.
With his time spent in the Army, it was clear that the skills he picked up along the way did him good, like what he mentioned in a line in the movie. First we were trained to kill people, and then we were trained to keep ourselves from not getting killed. He managed to survive through the ordeal after getting shot, in which many would have thought that he would have died from torrential bleeding. Recovering from the typical method of not being able to get himself hospitalized is quite normal nowadays for US Army and any other civilians alike in movies when they are being hunted especially. But the beauty is that you learn creative things and how to improvise the simplicity of things to be used as a medical aid. I did learn something interesting, but of course, applying it would be ridiculous. You watch for yourself =P Aside from the thin plot which raises few eyebrows, the way the movie was crafted to build up the suspension on the usage of sound and visual effects was superb. For counterstrikers, you would simply love this movie; needless for me to even start to involve people who are interested in headshots, guns, bombs, improvisation skills on home-made weapons and martial arts? For statisticians and strategy-lovers, Shooter has it all in a pack to appease your appetite for lots of killings, shootings, planning, strategizing and well, maybe a bit of a romance left intact.
This thriller/action movie may not be the best in comparison to the Die Hard's serials, but it's definitely more realistic in comparison to the Transporter 2 (I'm still 'awed' by the flying Audi that has the capability to do backflips and somersault to detach the electronic bomb planted below).
Mukhsin (2006)
A Local Beautiful Love Story
The movie starts off in a classroom setting where not surprisingly, our main actress, Orked was seen in a Chinese Language class. Later in the film, she was asked on why (by Mukhsin) that she was sent to learn Mandarin. Her answer was simple for a child she is; coz she's already known the Malay Language well.
It's a bit of a romance one may thought of it, but once you've stopped yourself from reading too much critics and go for it, you'll notice the typical elements of Malaysia. The movie basically focuses on 10 year old Orked who met 12 year old Mukhsin in a game of which many would think of it as a boy's game. Running out of players, Mukhsin (who was new in that village) was forced to allow Orked into the game, in which she eagerly showed the male side of her. Orked is no such ordinary girl as she depicts more of the male behavior as you will see in the movie, defending Mukhsin from much violent encounter with her school-bullies, throwing one of the bully's bag out from the school bus window, throwing punches and kicks on Mukhsin's brother where after he teased Mukhsin and so on and so forth. Both were awesome buddies, and stick closer than that, but with a slightest of misunderstanding in which most of us would all respond to in the same way, parted the both of them until the day when Mukhsin left town.
Now the movie depicts the first love between Orked and Mukhsin, they started out as friends, but slowly evolving into somewhat more of a closer relationship and then towards BGR. You would notice, the changes Yasmin made in the movies for each of the main actor and the actress when they go through love. The different character was portrayed with eagerness and mild humor. The scenes were all in random but it depicted so much reality in it that you'd be stuck on the screen for a long time. You will love the movie for what it is, and not because that you want to be patriotic to the local scenes, coz it means much more.
As the movie envelopes around the two love birds, it also manages to find its lens towards Orked's parents, her mother who was educated in England, speaks very good English and in which, her husband and the caretaker in the house with very much attempt tries to speak back their own kind of English, which was humor all the way indeed. Let me just explain to you why humor can be such a prominent thing in this movie. And that explanation or description that you may portray can be given in only one word and that is RANDOMNESS. Often more than not, we don't learn to laugh at ourselves, and when we do, we do it at the expense of others. It is just like what the movie Just Follow Law by Jack Neo would have mentioned - Often when we are ourselves, we don't see the person in us we are, but when only when we are in another person's body, then only would we learn to see who we really are. And that is how humor applies as well, more so than just dignity.
The movie was filled with such randomness that the typical facts of our routine lives as we carried it out could be all the way filled with laughter if we want it to be.
The other focus of this movie was on how Orked's neighbor, a couple in which the husband is no longer loving to his wife, and wanted to find another. Pak Koboi as what he's nicked after was seen polishing his motorbike daily and would take it out for a ride with his newly found girlfriend. The producer did not fail to show you perhaps why the husband wanted to find another wife. The wife was a real hurler or KPC as we Chinese would call it, having interrupting on other people's business and sending her own daughter to tease Orked in words only adults would use. After all, what goes around, comes around, and that's probably why bad things kinda want to happen to her. In every time, being nice to people around you won't hurt at all, unless you have an ego to protect, but then again, what's it worth? The movie also centers around Mukhsin's brother, Hussein who would go out to town everyday until very late at night, smoking, drinking, and also finding 'girls'. He's the total opposite of Mukhsin, but that's all perhaps because of family problems. Both the brothers were staying with their aunt and the parents were far away from them. I will not reveal more of the story line as it would spoil much of the interest in wanting to find it out for yourself, but the slightest of all elements in which the producer wanted to send a message across to the viewers is the life of us all. She wanted us, me at least to view life from our own perspective when we are not ourselves. Movies in a way, take us out from our own body, places us in the character's position, and use our empty mind then to view on the happenings of it. Depending on the type and genre of the movie, you will be mesmerized by how a good movie such as this would portray and imply a significant impact on you.
Just Follow Law: Wo zai zheng fu bu men de ri zi (2007)
Follow my Four Bs please!
Just Follow Law is a comedy/drama and focuses mainly on two of the characters, one upstairs - Tanya Chew (played by Fann Wong) and one downstairs - Lim Teng Zhui (played by Gurmit Singh aka PCK). Tanya Chew is a business scholar working for WAS and is the manager for the E&P Department whereas Ah Zhui is a technician working under her. Both the scenes that revolves around the main two characters would reveal much of the intention of what producer Jack Neo wants you to know and that is - for some things in life, it is not whether CAN OR NOT but whether you DARE. Tanya Chew is portrayed in this movie as a cold-blooded superior executive boss who loves ordering people around, having a lot of IQ but having nothing when it comes to EQ. Stepping on people's toes, being tactless and implying authoritarian behavior in front of her downstairs, she still do keep a certain good value (although mostly indirect being unable to display her affections), and that is being filial to her mother and having a deep heart for all her downstairs in not wanting them to fail and lose their jobs. But, such affections turned into commotions when it comes just right out from her mouth, making her being the person who least have PR skills. Have I also mentioned that she is hot-headed? Oh well, yeah, she is! =) As for Ah Zhui, being a technician he is, the first few scenes displayed his attitude as being carefree, a rule-bender (and he's really happy with it), a task-avoider and well it all sums up as being lazy. Ironically, he wants the best for his daughter, which can be seen in sending his daughter (only child) to tuitions and piano lessons. As can be seen, when asked to fix the neon lightings for the company, his first response was to 'call the contractor-lar'. Fann Wong was eager and smarty pants enough to retaliate - 'so I pay the contractor your salary?' and his reply was to avoid being the main person to 'kena arrow' by pointing to Bamboo - 'eh your joke lousy lar'... He leads a very simple life, wanting nothing more but eagerly anticipating for the payday to arrive and when it does, spend generously on food and basic necessities. They are not well-off, staying in small lots, but at least they are happy with their ongoing life, wishing for a better tomorrow.
A freak accident happen after an argument between Tanya Chew and Ah Zhui when the main blame dawns upon Ah Zhui for using masking tapes to prevent one of the boards (enclosing a heap of mess in the parking lot) from falling after running out of nails. The boards fell (and so did the minister in the heap of mess) during a photography session with the China minister upon his visit to WAS. Ah Zhui's bonuses were withdrawn, but he needs the money to fulfill his promise to his daughter, and that is to buy her a piano for her lessons and practice. Due to this argument alone, and how Tanya looks down upon him, Ah Zhui with relentless effort got himself involved in a car-chase with Tanya and what happens then was an unexplainable tragic incident.
They both exchanged souls while in the hospital and then like what they would explain and describe, Ah Zhui's body - I am Tanya Chew, Tanya is not Tanya, Ah Zhui is not Ah Zhui, Tanya is Ah Zhui, and Ah Zhui is Tanya, and I am Tanya Chew, can't you see that? Even I am confused! But speaking of which, with obvious fact, one is upgraded to a luxurious life with plenty of money and vacations to spare and spend while the other gets downgraded to a small simple life in which of obvious fact, a high achieving scholar like Tanya would probably not have experienced before. The consequences was a definite nonadjustable havoc, but watch as you will laugh coz that's where all the fun part is. Both learned about themselves when they are in another person's body and learn to help one another to again save their 'ca-cheng'. Tanya learns the most important lesson of all and that is even though the fact is clear cut about the hierarchy system in almost any companies or job description, you will never know when you will need the person's help and needed it most. Anyone can be your hero for the day or otherwise. As for Ah Zhui, well he learned about himself alright, not being able to pay for her daughter's medical fees, not being able to fulfill his daughter's desires and needs (buying a piano for her to practice, and having to borrow money for her daughter's tuition fees and piano lesson) and not being a good father to his daughter. He began to see all of these and appreciate what he once took for granted. His incapability in carrying out even the simplest of task made him aware of his status, not only towards his daughter, but to his friends and to himself.
Wild Hogs (2007)
Mild-mannered comedy of the month!
Four middle-aged guys - Doug (Tim Allen), Dudley (William Macy), Woody (John Travolta) and Bobby (Martin Lawrence); on a brink towards boredom, having achieved almost nothing since they left their youths decided to go on a road trip of their lives. Taking on their dirtbikes and a group in which they called themselves the Wild Hogs, the leader of the gang, Woody came up with an unorganized and untimely plan on hitting the streets of America from town to town with no specific destination, no specific objectives, no specific schedules and no idea of totally what will happen as they journey across the interstates meeting up with circumstantial events and head up for the time of their lives.
Four of them were good buddies, inseparable from both their group names and also their friendship from young. Doug who is now a dentist earning his bucks from his own private clinic found it difficult to relate to his son. He lives an uninteresting life of work, work and more work plus his caution of his health-line depicted by his LDL levels and his diet. Though he's got himself a family, he's displeased with the way that he is living his life. Dudley, a computer programmer (noticeably to be a geek to come up with that level) is unmarried, dateless and yes, he is smart enough to create a computer that speaks and obeys commands - sometimes, maybe a little bit over-obeying which we all seem to have noticed from the trailer; but then again, he's got no guts to even approach and talk to a girl though he do has some certain extent of his social skills which may seem fun. Erm, and yeah, that's about it for his life. Bobby, on the other hand, is married with 2 kids - a screamer and an Eskimo hoe... rite... you'll know why later... he seems to have lost control over his two kids whereas most of his uninteresting life (that being writing an unending book and whatever's left of his life) is mostly controlled by his wife. His old work, and so is it now, after being recalled into it by his wife is a plumber. And finally for Woody, a successful man working in a high society organization and who also married a super model wife faces a crisis of the implication of his high powered spending capacity. He's officially broke! With nothing to lose, all 4 of them - a workaholic, a nerd, a submissive guy and a broke man - this gotta just form a cool team for a roadtrip with a lot of silliness and laughter. There is basically no plot for this movie as it is an undetermined roadtrip with no where to go, but that makes things even better - if any of you who could remember the movie Without a Paddle, the idea of the movie is very much something like this. But I would have reasons to believe that this would be far better in terms of the number of laughters you will get and the surprises you will see. After all, with Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence in there, I don't see why not this movie for a selection of comedy! There is a small hidden message in this movie and if you are witty enough to pick it up from amongst those laughters - you will notice that a true friend will cling on no matter what goes wrong and that to achieve something that is seemingly so impossible, you just have to get up and face the reality and the consequences right in front of you, though at many a times, it may seem that things will get ugly. Coz who knows, if you're lucky enough, you'll get off, though you'll have to experience maybe a few bruises that will kick in on your face, but it's all worth it! But some experiences don't really work in terms of winning a girl by being brave - that being said, facing a gang of 50 muscle guys all by yourself to save your most beloved's diner. Ahahaha...
Tim sum fun si wong (2007)
Lame at times, but reflective!
Okay, I have to admit this! I simply love and enjoy Hong Kong movies for a fact, and those of Taiwan as well... Simply because their story lines are simple to understand, catered to me, as an Asian, humorous, depicts real life events and at the end of the day, it's not that we are simple-minded, it's just that such movies tell of the ongoing routine things in our life. The purpose of making a production of such movies is to tell us and show us who we really are... I like the saying that always go that whenever we are in our own body, less is known about ourselves, but whenever others people judge, we accept not, until we adopt another human body and see through our own personalities, then only would we understand the true person we are. But that's not the moral of this movie's storyline... I will tell you in a while though.
This movie starts off with the introduction of two famous artistes, Sampson (Sammy) and Yan Cheng (Kevin Cheng) with their respective fan-based groups. Both are over-time opponents in the music and dancing industries, and this also applies true for their fans. Each of these artistes have their own true characters in which it would take no time to unravel. Sampson loves to party all night long, indulges in sexual sin, desires for intimate relationships and would go boogy all night whenever he loses control over himself. A lusty individual in which not many people would have seen, not even his fans or his wife (which was kept a secret to many). However, due to his capability to adapt through time and appeal to his fans through the help of some of them; he eventually gained remarkable popularity. His fans increased in numbers and most of which who were former fans of Yan Cheng. Yan Cheng on the other hand is a quiet and a peaceful individual who shares his interest not to numbers, but to the true love of music. You would find him a gentle person with no grudges against his opposite number, which is the main cause of leading him to lose his fans; nor was he angered with Sussie for initiating a lot of disastrous plans for each of his concerts. As he would say in the movie, he would not mind even then to sing if there is only one fan who supports him. To him, nothing matters as long as he can show his talents through the industry that he is in tune with.
Charlene Choi plays Sussie, a leader of Sampson's fan-based group in whom would go all heels for him and do anything to gain him his popularity and play prank on Yan Cheng to lead him to his downfall. She would demand a formality of oath-taking and the kissing of Sampson's poster before adopting the newbies to regular members of the fan group. How intriguing, or should I say disgusting! Ahaha... you will find out why once you watch it. Sussie has a childhood friend who stays with her after his parents passed away - Kim (played by Leo Ku). Kim as depicted in this movie, was secretly in love with Sussie but did not have the courage to speak his mind and his heart. Being overly sensitive and remarkably nice at the same time, he would go at all ends to ensure Sussie's safety and happiness. He shares most of her hobbies and interests, especially that one with the cheerleading of the fan groups; and yes, even playing pranks on Sampson's opposite number.
Things however got awry when Sussie was taken in as a new assistant for Sampson where their first assignment was to travel to Beijing for a contest on Beijing's Best Singer Award. Sussie was deliberately forced on by Sampson (who I would have all the reason to believe at that time being sexually deprived and being banned from having visitors to his room after the incident with another hot chic singer) though she managed to escape from the room untouched. Unknowingly to the both of them, Sussie had switched on her cellphone to record the incident until of late when she finds out her guilt and would want to turn over a new leaf. The decision lies strictly and predictedly on getting Sampson on his knees and losing his final award of course, but then again, watch the REAL thing to enjoy! The moral of the story lies most on the personality of Kim (Leo Ku), whom being so extremely nice to Sussie; when questioned by Sussie on why so; he remained speechless. Now that's not the way to get things through a relationship; furthermore, it's really his loss when in actual fact, he's been given an ample time of opportunity to tell her that he loves her. But of course, having known her from childhood up till now, that three words would have become a hard rock phrase to utter, hence explaining the 'above and beyond the call of duty' actions of his to help out Sussie whenever she is in trouble, in hoping that one day, just one day, that Sussie will take notice of him through his actions. He took her fall, he took her troubles and he took her sadness into his but the girl did nothing to appreciate his personality as a whole openly from top to bottom; not until now (the last part of the movie). Kinda irritating to learn that, but then again, the first step lies on the guy's side! =)
Sunshine (2007)
Typified space-shuttle action
Though some reviews in the newspapers would give much credit to this movie, I on the other hand, do not really agree with its uniqueness. With almost much similarity towards Armaggedon, the mission is similar in many ways; we're all gonna die from a huge rock which will come into contact with Earth with regards to Armaggedon whereas it is from the dying out of the sun's energy that will freeze us all on Earth in the movie Sunshine. A team of drillers in Armaggedon was sent to the heart of the rock to drill a hole deep enough so as to place a detonator within it and blast it off before it hits the third rock from the sun. With Sunshine, the mission is to place the detonator in within the heart of the Sun (apparently it is automated to detonate by itself after finding its own way to the epicenter and core of the Sun)... Right... Facts of physics are at least adhered, in which they kept the sun from being too strong so as not to melt any devices that would go near it (and by that I would mean a few million kilometers no doubt). After all, that's the main idea for the movie... Sun's losing it's shine, and we're all gonna die unless someone would go up there and do something.
Well they did, 7 years ago, a spaceship known as Icarus went up there in a mission to carry out what I just mentioned; but failed seemingly without any contact thereafter. 7 years later, another team of astronauts, scientists, physicists and navigators were sent up there again with the new spaceship of Icarus II to carry out of what's left behind. Halfway there, they found Icarus I and decided on whether to stop by and check it out or to deploy their payload in the sun. Problems and mishaps happen time and again, after all, where would be the suspense then if they don't keep it that way. Hence, you would have expected that in any spacecrafts movie, need I mention things like Apollo 13, Armaggedon and even Star Wars? Ahahaha... but that aside, that shouldn't be the main critics of this movie, as you will need that for suspense, however a sense of originality ought to have been kept and used.
If you were to notice, people up there have to sacrifice their lives for others, by probably staying behind (like Bruce Willis who did so in Armaggedon), which indirectly allows for less people, more share of oxygen supply to lead them towards their destination to carry out their mission. Somehow, things go real bad halfway into the movie, and viewers will be introduced to various kinds of explosions, shortages of supplies, damages, human errors and stupidity over their political leadership in within the ship. All of this would bring about a good suspenseful and tearful enough movie to keep you on your seats and your face warm with tears. Oh, you would feel touched alright, if for the sake of those who has never had the chance of viewing Armaggedon. You should probably get some tissues, coz yeah, some of the deaths you will see will provoke you while some will give you the affirmation that the character is worthless anywayz and it's a bore to have them along, or harsh to have them in the team. I didn't actually stick to my seat tight enough as I had to pay the waterbills twice during the movie thanks to the Large Ice Lemon Tea. Skipping portions of movie is not a habit of mine, unless the movie is not really that good. See... I don't really fall asleep, it's not too good enough to create an awareness to others that the movie is not that good... Ahahaha... kidding kidding... =) But then again, you would have expected the ending anywayz, even from the beginning. No one would have survived the sun for that matter of fact unless you are one of those Fantastic Four Heroes, and to leave a bomb strong enough to explode, the sonic frequencies would be enough to send the ship out of orbit. Furthermore, to protect yourself from the sun, you would need a stronger and wider shield, which upon deployment (in this movie the shield and the payload bears the same structure with dual functions) would leave you defenseless. It's gonna blow no matter what; and with the awry errors going on each and every time, you would have definitely predicted the ending.
Other than the typified story-line of a few heroes and smart-dudes from the earth sent for a mission where sacrifice seems more than a possibility to save mankind (hence igniting a fear within you that you should not be too smart or too clever u know, coz you will be chosen as an object of sacrifice for the lesser beings ahahaha) - coupled with a no-no failure of the mission to hype up the movie strength and ratings plus no further contingency plans -- the CGI is rather amazing which kinda makes you love the explosions that were created, and I really really was taken aback when I saw Dato' Michelle Yeoh broke down in tears. Her death was so uncalled for! Ish!! Anywayz, I would have depicted her as a hero and dominant actress as so forth she has been in all her previous movies. This is something different! In comparison to Armaggedon, let me spoil it for you, everyone DIES... for the good of the billions of people on Earth. So appreciate it!
Hannibal Rising (2007)
The Birth of Cannibalism
Set in the 1950s World War 2 scene during the German invasion of Europe, a kid's heart was torn apart as he slowly witnessed the massacre of his family members (who sought refuge over at a lodge from their château) right in front of his eyes. And if that's not enough, wait till you find out more. A small group of German SS soldiers wannabe, whom detached from their main company upon the lost of a battle; looted all they can from the surrounding houses and the military equipment, whatever's left of it. Having put into a situation of restriction due to the multiple road blocks organized throughout the streets; the MP's were given a direct order to silence all enemy soldiers and looters of war. Receiving this news over the radio truck they were in, about 7-8 of the small squad of looters set for a small lodge where the boy and his family sought refuge. Prior to this, all but he and his sister were killed in a small battle confrontation just outside the lodge.
Back to the small squad of these German fighters which puts the storyline on the run - they took over the lodge with much ease and decided to keep the children for negotiations of hostages if they were caught by the opposing army. Time went against their patience and their physical capabilities, as the blizzard gets stronger and the security around them heightens. Their decision of hunting soon became impossible due to the strong winter storm, in which upon then, to survive from the lack of food amount, they murdered the little girl and carried out an act of cannibalism. It is during this scene that the audience will be sent back in time to view the flashbacks from what Hannibal dreams every night he closes his eyes. About a fraction of everything, he was not capable of remembering the full picture as he was semi-conscious.
But that's all about the main plot of the story which is more than enough to throw the little boy's mind into confusion initially, depression and sadness, loneliness, solitude and weakness. He faced a hardship much more severe than any of whom could have felt. Such innocence were wrecked and turned into an evil beyond human description. He made a pact and promised Mischa that he would avenge her. Despite all the movies which depict hatred, evil and vengeance, this movie (author) crafted the implications with such beauty, suspense, evil and hatred that you would feel the edge of your seat moving in every murder scene.
The little boy spend most of his growing up years in his own house which was converted into a monastery and an orphanage. Even at his years of growing up, he had already shown much enthusiasm and eagerness towards revenge, being self-satisfied over his act. He managed to escape from the orphanage and discovered from his mother's documents; his uncle's address in France with a photo of he and his Japanese bride, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li). He left for France and it wasn't long that he came to the knowledge of his uncle's passing away about a year ago as a victim of war. While staying with his aunt, he learnt the technique of the Japanese samurai in which he eagerly applied this new skill of beheading and displaying the head on his first victim who tried to embarrassed his aunt.
His hatred grew stronger upon his needs and desires to find out the murderers of his sister, and most of the remaining scenes would show you his adept cannibalistic skills and basic instincts in eliminating his enemies in a most spine-chilling yet skilled manner. Though claimed a thriller, it contains a strong inch of horror in each murder scene, enough to send you appreciating the comforts of the arm-rester of your seats. A killer with plenty of instincts but no guilty-conscience and furthermore without any reaction towards anything, he was described as a monstrosity towards the population that displeases him; those who owe him and the ones he loved. But then again, he's had no more room to love...
Highly recommended for those who've watched the older prequels of Hannibal movies - Red Dragon and Hannibal.
The Hitcher (2007)
Sequential Suspenseful Actions
Director Dave Meyers introduced this thriller cum action movie with great suspension from its trailer alone that grips you at your own seat. Nah, not really! The trailer wasn't that appealing to me prior to watching the REAL thing. In fact, I'd thought it would probably end up something like Highwaymen in which there was a leak somewhere, I suppose in the plot of that movie.
Introducing Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton alongside Sean Bean (Boromir in LOTR for most of you), the movie is nothing like what the trailer would realistically imply on you. Don't live and leave with the trailer, go watch the real thing! It's definitely way better a horror/thriller, IMHO, compared to any other highway movies that I can think of.
Taglined never pick up strangers Grace and Jim (both collegiates on spring break) planned for a vacation in ermm... I can't remember the name of the island, but from the sound of it, it sounds like fun, and furthermore, it's near a lake or was it a beach? Not much of an emphasis placed on their destination, while along the way there, they met with a near-death encounter on the interstate highway. The sceneries blend in well to create an atmosphere of fear with heavy pouring rain, a car that seemingly might get flooded from the look at its age, slippery road condition, and darkness (yeap, bad things seem to happen every time @ night). Oh well, but anywayz, a guy (Sean Bean) who later introduced himself as John Ryder was trying to hitch-hike after his car broke down in the middle of nowhere and with the above condition blending in. Creepy, girls are useful mind readers at this particular time, and this movie alone proves all of that. She senses that this Ryder guy was eccentric even from the first place, wheares the guy, whom as kind as he want to be, was more than ever willing to help this guy by picking him up. The first time, he listened to his girlfriend and drove off (with difficulty - hence suspension came in; go watch the movie and you will know what it is). The second time however (somehow when a serial killer targets you, they never leave you alone, they will always be there tagging you everywhere you go, knowing your every move and sensing your every single time), Jim who was alone was persuaded (more like instinctual) to pick him up from the gas station (Ryder found a Biggy to get him there from where his car had stopped) and they met up at the station again.
The storyline then continued from there, with Sean Bean (Ryder) being the, well of course, the serial killer who kills for the sake of killing and feeling high. There's probably something cynical about him anywayz in the first place, as he mentioned - Never mind, I wouldn't pick me up anywayz to Jim when he apologized in the gas station for stepping the pedal after stopping. There's plenty more of killings and shootings (but not as professional as compared to the Shooter movie), done in such a gory manner with blood splashing everywhere, from the throat, from the mouth, from the head and well just everywhere, depending on where the site of incision is in the first place =P. Okay... but the gore and the sudden appearance of the killer, his hands, his legs or whatever; is just enough to scare the guts out of you. In fact, I had quite a number of 'jump-from-the-seat' events during this movie, probably because I was too relaxed, maybe that's why (yeah, trying to create an excuse for being scared, hehe...).
Though the plot is meager for highly esteemed critics, it has enough to prove its thriller objective. It's good enough to thrill, I mean... there's nothing more one can expect, other than this guy who would never stop tagging his targets until they're dead. Somehow with many purposefully slip occasions by the killer on his victims, it kinda reminds me of a movie in which the killer prefers their victims to come hot on the plate... struggling, running, crying, begging, filling with fear and some sorts, it kinda buffs off some of the viewers - in fact, a middle aged couple sitting next to me kept talking throughout the movie on why the heck the girl didn't shoot the chain, when the killer will come out, what will happen next; all of which never seemed to happen, and yes! They bugged me!! Ahahaha... but I was a good boy, I just kept quiet and watched my movie =P This movie got me glued to the screens for as long as it lasted as you just can't wait to get to the ending.
Not spoiling the storyline further, I suggest you go for this movie - which you would never be short of jumping out of your seats (watch it alone), or short of running those pulse (when you aren't exercising).
Xiaohai bu ben 2 (2006)
Valuable Movie
We are often typified by the similar fact of reality TV shows from all around the world, but such as this one brought up by Jack Neo is one of which that typify our daily routine living which we have not one second thought of it. We often would not have thought of how our lives were, not until we come across by actually visualizing it.
This movie, I Not Stupid 2 is not a sequel to its prequel which was screened some time ago. Its different in terms of continuity, but the set of moral values and the objective of this movie stays almost the same.
Filled with good humor from the common Singlish and Mandarin language plus additional dramatic moments and good moral values, this movie is definitely one of its kind that notifies us not for the sole fact of entertainment, but also to shake us up and reveal to us the reality of the lives Singaporean and perhaps even Malaysian lives in.
This movie centers around two rich and successful parents and their kids Tom and Jerry who live around a life, though wealth but not a bed of roses. This brings us to understand how hard it can be to actually communicate with parents who sticks up their priority of career in hand. On the other extreme, yet, Cheng Cai, Tom's friend who lives in a meager situation with his father faces a hard time of learning things the harsh way. Growing up from a violent and rude background, he finds nothing much of good virtue to learn from his father. He certainly projects a character of confusion and notoriety towards his circle of friends, but one good value of his is loyalty to his friends.
The movie also never fails to project onto the characters of the teachers, inclusive of one which strictly goes by the rule, one who dwells in the living of 'when I was your age, this was what I get, and yet another one who finds the importance of his students by looking at their good values. We understandably get a grasp of how the modern society clashes with the ones of previous generations. Such understandably brings about a good standard, yet unwittingly an entertaining time for all of those who wishes to laugh (on the Singlish) and cry (on the moral values) at the same time.
The actors did a good job for this movie and the credit should not center around Jack Neo alone, but towards all the younger cast especially for producing such an impact in this movie. A job well done!
Derailed (2005)
I myself didn't see it coming...
I picked this movie from my friend's DVD collection and thought of giving it a look as it was rated thriller-action. I have never seen much of Jennifer Aniston's work in such genres as she was usually known for her sitcom/drama Friends, comedy Along Came Polly, Rumor Has It, or the romance-comedy Bruce Almighty combo. The beginning of the story sets the pavement of the basis of Chuck's family life and typically it was not really a bed full of roses.
His life was routine, typical and scheduled until he bump into Miss "Lucinda" where a hi-bye infatuation turned into a series of dating and romancing which ultimately leads to the bed for the night. Aniston's expression and acting contributed to the wonderful confusion and inconception of the minds of viewers and kept the secret of the twist of this movie right till the end. Unless of course, one has a predilection to watch multiple thriller movies and rakes the fun of predicting the endings. Everything was au naturale until when they were about to romp, a man pulled a gun directed onto Lucinda's head (this is where our Mr LaRoche steps into the movie). Vincent Cassel acted brilliantly in his part and he actually made me disliked him throughout the show. His way of executing the evil act and an evil guy coincides with all the scenes beautifully and flows well.
There was no pause in the movie as well the beginning you watch it, not a moment of breather. The twist in the end, of course, not spoiling it, is one of the best mind confusion so far in the genre of thrillers that I've come across. The script was well written to prevent the revelation towards the end, well kept and well preserved. Well Done!!
The Sentinel (2006)
Simply lovin' it
I handpicked this movie after a friend told me about the actors who will be appearing in the scenes. Michael Douglas as Pete Garrison in a tension-action-thriller movie where he as a Senior Secret Service Agent is framed for treason against the POTUS. It hit him right before his eyes, just that he did not sense it coming. After all, we all know that Secret Service Agents are trained in a way that they can sense remotely dangerous aura coming against them. Putting it such a way kinds of tell you that the enemy must be smarter, superior and faster in thinking compared to our main actor.
This is where the exciting part kicks in and this is also where the thinking part starts if you have not caught the tag-line and the synopsis offered by their official website yet. The tension starts with the killing of one of the Secret Service Agents who is a close-knit friend of Pete Garrison. This enhances my point of how terrorizing it is going to become next. Aside from the chasing and running that is going on in the movie, there are also what we call 'behind the scenes' illegal romance between Pete and the First Lady happening which ultimately and controversially seems to be a life-saver rather than a threat.
The chase was intense with Pete using simple everyday gadgets with the Secret Service agents trailing him down but to no avail. After all, he is the most senior in the whole academy. His acute mind led him to the killers and there was when he subsequently retrieved hints about a major disaster plan. The final parts were filled with intense fighting and awesome display of gun-fighting. I especially liked the part of how they pop the bad guys on the head with superior thinking. Over this matter, seniority shows and like any military or academy shows, you will definitely like this.
Happy watching!
Failure to Launch (2006)
Sweet!
I picked this movie based on the main cast thinking that it would turn out fine with the long list of wonderful movies both actor and actress have in the past. Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker...
It's not that kind of romantic movie where you wish that would make you tear towards the end of the movie. It's more towards the hilarious side where you get the itch to tickle once in a while especially for the squirrel, dolphin and the vegetarian iguana (I kind of forgotten what animal that is) which have the predisposition of juicing our main actor. The way this movie and its script is made obviously would not kick it off highly if it were not for the smart picking of the cast.
The beginning of the show put us in a spot where we know how Tripp dump his girls after having fun with them for a while until the commitment issue arises. He likes staying in his parents house for obvious reason in the first few scenes, besides who wouldn't. He obviously did not have any bypass smart plan until it came to where he meets Paula who has a friend and house mate named Kit (Zooey Deschanel who is obviously adorable, she has matured much since her movie The New Guy).
The sarcastically funny scenes kick in when Tripp meets Paula where a string of dates, encounters, 'conflicts' and mishaps (with Kit) starts to jump in. The cast did a good job but I felt that the movie would have pulled it off better if the scripts were written in such a way to add in more spice towards the humor section.
She's the Man (2006)
Simply delightful!
I caught this movie right in my eye when I was passing by a hall of posters in the nearby cinema. The tag line was sort of confusing and immediately after reading it, I thought of the possibility of it being similar to National Lampoon's Dorm Daze. I liked that movie, aside from having a huge collection of such genres, I decided to hit it to the cinemas right after my exams for a tension releaser.
Delightfully, I came out smiling from cheek to cheek and had an equally great amount of laughter at bits and points of the movie. Amanda Bynes definitely kicked it off better than Keira Knightley in Bend it Like Beckham. Being both a male and female actor is definitely not that kind of easy especially having to face the similarities of life, coupled together with the reactions that the actress have to respond to. This movie requires a great deal of confusion to confuse themselves and us viewers at the same time. The only way of pulling it off is through this movie.
The principal is obviously sickly hilarious in a serious manner, the girls are equally sexy and beautiful and so are the actors. I'd recommend this movie to all who needs a weekend relaxation and don't worry, you will get laughs throughout the movie. It is a definite guarantee.
La monja (2005)
Huh?
Most of my points given to this movie would be from its cinematography, its music and its special effects. The acting wasn't so bad, well at least not as bad as some that I have experienced before. The starting was well, it put most of us viewers into a lot of thinking on what will happen next. Anticipation is the key to horror flicks and also to a successful one. We didn't really get a lot of jumps in this movie. Some may agree with me on this, while some may disagree as there were no kick at all in this movie. The only probable kick in the movie was counteracted by loud music to make it look scary. Few fell for that.
The story starts with the introduction to the boarding school, and part and parcel of the story slits in between. Often we get confused too with the characters at play. There are just too many and it is hard to differentiate as the cue was not as clear. Sometimes we mistook the daughter and her friends for the 6 girls in the convent. It took us quite some time to clear the confusion and by that time, the movie has already taken us aback to another scene. The killing is gory and bloody enough so I'm not going to complain much on that.
The only thing that it loses out is the ending part when the major twist of the story was really a surprise, which also brings the movie down as it yet again confuses all of us. If in the beginning they were trying to make something clear to us about the main character, it must have been rather vague. Unlike the twist in Sixth Sense, Two Sisters and Scream sequels, this has totally no suspense and meaning. The audio cues were too soft most of the times and I don't think I really get the interconnection between the nun and the girl. Perhaps she is on a mission to seek revenge for her mother's suicide (after being compelled not to report to the police about what the group has done in the convent).
Oh well, I recommend this movie if you just want to have fun for the weekends.
Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002)
Bad Shape
I was wondering every single time when it is going to finish and have to bring myself to fast forward a movie for the very first time just to get it over with and done for.
As a Chinese myself, I don't find the comedy that funny. Not that I am discouraging Hollywood from spoofing Asian movies, but at least they could have done it far better. Even amateurs could have done better, this more like reminds me of the orientation I had to go through while in university, when we were required to come up with a skit, which we ultimately made it to look totally silly that wins laughter not for its content but for the way it was done.