The Mysterious Mind of BlackGargie

It's Official...!

2012-01-31T07:19:00.001-08:00

I'm...quite in shock right now.

Umm...well...I sorta did a test this morning...and umm...well...it came out...positive...?

LOL, though my chat friends were more shocked than I am. When I broke the news, one just went "asdfghjklasdfghjkl", one cried happy tears, while others were pretty much genuinely happy and ecstatic.

Well, I realized I was late, and my nipples had been quite tender lately, but testing it never really crossed my mind, thinking it may be my hormones again and I'd like to see if it would come the next month.

Then this morning they woke me up with the call, telling me with a thick Chinese accent saying, "Aiya, girls nowadays like to drink cold, make their uterus weak, your dad is worried, so we're sending u the herbs, blablabla..." My dad prolly didn't think that this was a good conversation between a father and a daughter, so he had his gf called on his behalf, saying that they wanna send me some chinese herbal meds for me to drink to help strengthen my uterus and stuff coz my dad was worried about why I'm not pregnant yet after being married for a year (good god, what does he want? Me to be pregnant the very next day of marriage?), maybe my uterus not strong.

I sorta end the call with "Good God~ You guys are impossible~" then I was reminded about my late period and my nipples being erect and tender lately, so I test for kicks.

I wasn't too hopeful at first. I was thinking like, "Ah, it's gonna come out negative again, it's gonna be another one of those hormones problem again, it would work coz I have gotten negatives before, but when 2 lines came out instead of 1, I was like "O_O Shit~"

Not the bad "Oh shit, I'm pregnant, nuuuuuuuuuuu~~~~~~~!!!!!!" But more like "Woah, shit...I'm pregnant...? Wow..." It was quite unexpected

I called my hubby on the phone to tell him the news, and, well, at least he didn't faint, but he is quite happy. He was gonna take me to see the docs later aftr his work, just to be sure. Of course i'm happy, but mostly shocked. I'm not sure wat to react, actually. But I wanted to be sure, so I'm gonna wait for my hubby to take me to the doctor.

I could drive myself, but I don't have a car (well, technically I do, but the car's road tax and insurance was not done), and I wanted my hubby with me to share the good news.

When we went to the docs and told her my predicament, I was again asked to do the urine pregnancy test which I've already done in the day time, which I questioned whether it would be really accurate or not since I came here to get a 2nd, more thorough opinion. When she tested it and it came out positive (to my relief, since I thought that the morning one was a fluke) again, I was totally psyched (sorta) and my hubby had a sorta dazed look on his face, prolly thinking about what new responsibilities and things he needs to get for little Jr. He looks so cute being so listless like that somehow.

The doc told us that she can't test any more detailed than this unless she can really see an actual growth, so she issued me some supplements of Vitamin B, Vitamin C and folic acid for the baby and told us to come back in 2 weeks time so that she can give me an ultrasound to see if there was an official embryo growth in my womb. So on 14th Feb (our appointment on Valentine's Day, no doubt), I have to go back to the clinic to get the Fully Monty, so to speak.

When I told my dad the good news after the doctor's visit, he sounds like he's not gonna be sleeping tonight due to excitement. I'm imagining my dad right now wide awake with his eyes O_O like this and a stupid grin on his face and can't sleep all night, thinking "Imma grandpa, Imma grandpa, Imma grandpa" LOL

He was like "OMG, for real? How are you sure? Who's the doc? Is it a lady doc? How old is she? Is she qualified? Which hospital did you go? A clinic? Why a clinic? How can she read your ultrasound, you're not even showing! Are you sure she's good? bla bla bla" and I got so frustrated that I went "DAD! Calm your tits! I'm pregnant and I'm fine and I'm getting that ultrasound in 2 weeks! That's final!"

He definitely is excited alright.

I told his gf, she's happy for me, and I told my godmother and she seemed to guess it bulls eye before I could tell her. My buddies were happy for me (I told them beforehand when I did the self-test coz I was so shocked that I had to tell someone other than my hubby to pacify myself), saying that I'll have a dragon baby (this is year of dragon). My in-laws latched onto me and straightaway tells me the do-s n dont-s of pregnancy and we also told them to hold their tits till the ultrasound appointment.

Both my dad and my in-laws tell me I must avoid cold drinks and tea at all costs, but I don't really get the science behind it. They claim that cold drinks would freeze and weaken my uterus muscles, but the thing is my gut is warm enough with my body temperature to warm the drink once it hits, and besides the drink is in my gut, it's not spreading to my other parts of the body and still freezing.

I just don't see the science behind it. Call me too down-to-earth, but all mothercare books had not one evidence or advice saying that I should avoid cold drinks. And what if my craving demands for it? They can't stop me! If they start yelling at me for drinking cold stuff, I'll prolly go on mood swing mode n say "STFU! It's my craving! You can't stop me!! DX"

But then again, I'll just have to take it with a grain of salt. I guess I'll just cut dwn on it, but wont stop entirely. Maybe just a few sips once in a while.

Keeping my fingers crossed now for my upcoming ultrasound. Suddenly feels so long, and I wish it would hurry so that I can get it over with

I Passed! I Passed!

2012-01-25T07:52:00.002-08:00

Finally~! I have finally got my driving license~!

After hours upon hours of learning, I finally got the right to drive a car~!

It was quite the journey trying to learn how to drive a car. Technically I was supposed to start learning how to drive when I reached 18, but I was in a situation where I either don't have the time or don't have the money.

Finally after getting tired of getting weird looks from others who drove much earlier than I did and the disappointed judging faces I get from interviewers when in regards to whether I could drive that would really be an advantage for my work credentials, I finally took the leap to learn how to drive.

There is a myth amongst the genders that women tend to pass the law easier than the actual driving exam while the men vice versa. That did not apply to me. I failed the law exam the first time after taking the usual 10-hour class, and had to retake the test before I can learn the actual driving. I'm pretty much a disgrace to my gender, but then again, I'm not like other girls.

When I finally started learning to drive, the teacher was not exactly cracked up as I had hoped for. It was an old lady freelancing as a teacher after a sorta retirement age crisis. She smelled and sounded like my hubby's nanny, and she prefers to pay attention to her phone and book more than her teaching.

She doesn't really pay attention to where I go, she doesn't really give me directions as to where I'm supposed to go, and she never really gives a hoot about me learning the hill or the parking except asking me to just go round and round and round the compound with no head or tail and no direction, only taking me out twice on the road, and all the while she keeps criticizing me and brings me down, telling me that I would never make it for the exam at this rate.

After long months of her giving me flack, I couldn't take it anymore. After Christmas, I called the school and begged them to give me a new teacher, preferably a man who knows about cars and knows what he's doing. So they gave me a male teacher, and I gotta tell you, he was WAY better than my old teacher.

For starters, he actually explain things to me, telling me where and when to signal, how many rounds am I supposed to go around the roundabout, doing proper turns without hitting the curb, how to go on the hill and how to pay attention to the gear to get over the hill, how to park the car by judging the markers and the like.

More importantly, he does it systematically, telling me to follow the routes the exam would've done: the ABC route as he calls it. First the traffic light, turn to the hill, scale the hill, doing turns in curbs, going the S route, turn to the parking lot to do the parking, going round the roundabout and try to maneuver to do U-turns on both sides. Then finally go out into the road and go down the open road routes that are decided by the examinor.

He was very patient and teaches me carefully, step by step, and didn't mind me adding the hours to learn, he jokes and engage in small talk, and was systematic and consistent while being funny and sporting at the same time. He's half-Chinese from the mother's side, so he was actually quite in tune with me as a Chinese. He was slightly stricter when the exam date was near and we were doing a 2-hour revision, but all in all he was by far the best between those two teachers I had.

During the exam, I was in pin and needles and quite nervous as hell actually. I was more worried about the examinor I was going to get rather my actual skill itself, really. I was worried that I might get an uptight, silent and strict examinor who would go on a mark-slashing frenzy. But luckily I got a jolly-looking guy for an examinor. Maybe I should've dressed much better and sexier to give me leverage for my exam.

All in all, he was a very talkative guy, and very sporting. He engaged with small talk almost immediately and was very friendly, making me totally forget that it was an exam. I soon just went on almost naturally, doing what I was hard-wired and programmed to do almost every class. Like as if my brain was in auto-mode and programmed into habit and everything was already hard-wired.

When the examinor asked me which route my teacher usually takes me, I wasn't sure what to say coz it's mostly random, but my head was begging him not to give me the hardest outdoor route, and thankfully he didn't. And I was lucky too because there was a school car in front of me, so I just followed it around and did what it did. You can say it's cheating a little, but I needed all the luck I can get. I hit a few snags here and there, which were the once or twice engine-kill, but so far, that was the only marks I've lost.

So, I passed and was eligible for an official driving license, and coincidentally, I was asked to collect it on the weekend, which coincidentally was my birthday. So yay!! Best birthday present ever!!

Watch out, open road! Here comes BlackGargie!

RIP Steve Jobs

2012-01-25T07:52:00.001-08:00

I know I'm a little late in the tribute, and this is going to be a short tribute anyways, so anyhow...

I didn't really know or learn a lot about Steve Jobs, only that he's like the father of Apple or something from his eulogy documentary I watched and if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have an iPod or an iPad2 for my birthday.

When he died, I didn't really feel too bad or anything. But I tend to wonder who would be his successor or whether either of them are able to do as good a job as he did. I gotta admit, from the eulogy documentary I watched, he's actually pretty talented, revolutionizing and refining a lot of things tech that others had done the first time.

And him being part of Disney to create some of the best 3D animations were pretty cool. If it weren't for him, Toy Story wouldn't have existed as well as the subsequent trilogy, or Ratatouille, or The Incredibles (though it's still not my cup of tea) and the like.

My hubby went all the way to buy a sort of biography of him and had finished the book within a week. And there was something interesting that I found out about Steve Jobs concerning the sickness that caused his death.

Apparently the cancer was discovered early and it was benign, so a bit of surgery to extract it and it would've been fine. But instead of seeking immediate treatment, Steve Jobs did what all workaholics do: ignore and deny its existence and refusing to believe he was sick. And by that time, he slowly soon got worse and worse until he finally had to accept the reality that he WAS sick. Sometimes refusing to acknowledge something doesn't mean it'll go away, you know.

No offense, but for such a smart genius...he's not really too bright, is he?

Well, at least he left behind a long legacy. So RIP, Steve Jobs. May you rest in peace

Consumer Fair Returns Again

2012-01-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

Finally posting something for the new year, and of course, the first thing I'd post is the Consumer Fair that has returned last few weeks ago.

It was the usual same old, same old, with our dinner settled in the fair from eating freebies on the try-out stands, another few more other business who tries to cash in for the fair (in which I was attacked by a zealous salesman who tries to sell me beauty cream), and this time having a children-themed for the fair. But the best part of the fair was surprisingly a cool reptile show.

I couldn't resist. I had to go check it out. Here are some trigger-happy shots I've taken while in there:

The display of the entire show, with a projector showing Animal Planet-esque show of snakes and handlers and snake documentaries

Daredevils taking the shots to hold onto huge-ass pythons and boa constrictors

Other snakes taking their naps in their cases, but mostly non-poisonous

When I say reptiles, that includes these creepy crawlers

A handler showing me how to handle the snake...

And I took over with ease

More lizards a-chillin'

A number more other reptiles in display, and from the colour, I'd assume that it's the poisonous kind

Apparently, they included bugs in the mix, and of all bugs, tarantulas were in the list. And I was like "Holy shit!" when the handler took it out.

I decided to be daring and tried my luck in holding the tarantula, and while slow movements assured the spider not to get startled and bite me, I was still apprehensive, and the handlers saying "I dunno, maybe" when I asked if it'll bite wasn't very reassuring. Once the bug was off, I was all goose-pimply

We got an 'angry bird' coming! Well, so says the handler. He's just so cute. I couldn't resist hold him X3

More lizard-loving lurv~!

More snakey shots, who seem to be pretty photogenic

Another snakey lurv

Moar snakey shots of the huge-ass ginormous kind

Another shot for the road, and that snake is HUUUUUUUUUUUGE~!!!

There you have it. Hopefully they come back again for the next consumer fair, coz it was a pretty cool experience. Too bad my buddy and his cousin who came along for the fair decide to forgo this

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year~!!!

2011-12-31T01:46:00.000-08:00

Wasn't really sure what to say about this festive season, other than I got some nice kick-ass Christmas presents, which include a pair of table lamps which I have been dying to get since the last one broke, as well as a full collection of Scott Pilgrim vs The World graphic novels from my sweet, sweet hubby ^_^ I love him so much for that

Usually back home, in the old days before I married into the family, I would be celebrating with only noodles, eggs, cake and milk. Well, that was how I celebrated that one fateful new year anyways when I was home alone with only the TV to countdown with me because my mom decided to go celebrate her own new year with friends without bringing me, since it's for adults. Yeah, made my own bowl of noodles with hard-boiled eggs, a small shortcake as a substitute for a cake and a tall mug of milk, sitting in front of the TV, waiting for countdown, and cheers to the TV as I ate alone.

Yeah, good times.

Other than that, I shall use this picture to illustrate how I feel about the Christmas season and the upcoming New Year:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all~!!!

Ultimate Dream

2011-12-29T08:12:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of dreams. No, not one of those unattainable dreams that you'll prolly only get it in your sleep or fantasy life or something. I'm talking about possible ones, that you can actually attain in real life, or maybe just plausible enough to work.

I've got definitely a long list of dreams I'd like attained, like say:

Going to the setting of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Going to 22, Baker Street where there is an exact replica museum built to mirror Sherlock Holmes' home
Meet Alan Rickman, who lives somewhere in London (someone posted his interview and his address in Tumblr, Imma gonna need to check it out)
Meet the main casts of Harry Potter universe
Meet J.K. Rowling
Go to Universal Studios, which there is in Singapore and London (I think)
Going to New Zealand and set where LOTR magic happened
Go to the hometown of the Sidek Bros in Banting, Selangor where they spent their childhood
Meet the real-life Sidek Bros, etc, etc...

But prolly my ultimate dream, and still is till this day, is going to Japan. And do you wanna know what I wanna do in Japan? No, not going to Akihabara, even though I'd love to check out the otaku scene

First thing I'd do will be to go to Shueisha Publishing, where they published my number one fav manga of all time: Jigoku Sensei Nube. I will go to whoever is in charge to ask for the contact details and address of Takeshi Okano and/or Shou Makura, the master behind JSN even if it kills me.

Then once I'm able to discover their 'hideout', I would meet them and tell them how much I appreciate their art and how they inspire me to be a better manga-ka, and how their creation of Katsuya Kimura had changed me and saved my life, because without knowing Katsuya, I would not have known love, and would not have anyone to turn to to keep my sanity from constant abuse in check.

And then if possible, I would like them to draw a one-shot manga that features me as an OC and becoming Katsuya's love interest. I know, it's a really tall order, but I would do anything, I would pay them anything, if they could just fulfill me this dream. If they can't publish a one-shot for me, at least have me as a random OC who pursues after Katsuya in their current sequel of JSN.

If all else fails, at least draw me fanservice art with their autograph on it.

That's all I ask for.

That is my ultimate dream.

Ahh~ Katsuya~

Annoyance

2011-12-29T01:15:00.000-08:00

Got a bit of an annoyance last night during dinner time.

It had been more than 2 months since I was unemployed and all, but I'm pretty much at ease at the moment, since I'm still trying to learn my driving anyways. Prolly just a few more lesson before I'm ready to take on the exam and score my first time on an actual road.

Then came the annoying question of whether or not I've secured a job.

No, it didn't come from my rents-in-laws. They've already gave up asking after almost a few weeks of asking and probing, and I made it perfectly clear to them that no one is going to hire me because I don't have a driving license and I can't drive.

Nowadays, working in an office almost always requires you to be on the road, and from my previous experience working in my previous company, I knew that driving is really very important, especially when I want to go anywhere on my own leisure but can't because of my inability to handle the wheel.

No, it had to come from my 2nd sis-in-law. As usual.

She was asking whether I've finally got a job. I told her "No" and it just suddenly spark off a torrent of questions from her.

Why not?

Why didn't you get a job?

Where did you apply to?

Which company is it?

Who did you speak to?

What did they ask?

What did you tell them?

Why? What? When? How?

She was bombarding me like a machine gun, and while in all honesty, I haven't been job hunting due to my inability to take the wheel, she had no right to pry into my business, and I wasn't about to tell her that or she would have some excuse to belittle me.

I just gave her an excuse "I don't remember who or where I interviewed with, it's been months since that incident, and I applied everywhere, you can't expect me to remember all of them, and none of them called me in for a 2nd interview anyways". But that seemed to egg her on, and she clearly couldn't take the hint that I don't wish to talk about it anymore.

She kept pestering "Come on, tell me! Where did you went for interview? Who interviewed you? What was the place? Come on, tell me! Why won't you tell me, huh? Huh? Tell me~!"

What the hell is her problem? It's not like knowing about my job interview experiences is gonna change her life or something! Sheesh!

She was really getting on my nerves, but if I respond, it will only make things worse, and prolly egg her on to ask more questions, so as much as I want to yell at her to mind her own business and shut the hell up, I relied on my inhuman patience to keep my trap shut.

And I wasn't about to tell her that there is a possibility that I will be the next in line to run a baby shop business my rents-in-law are planning to set up after they retire, well, not until it's confirmed anyway.

It was technically my eldest sis-in-law's home business but now that they've migrated to London, my rents-in-law decided to run the show instead and she will be their supplier, since the clothes are genuinely manufactured from London and all. It's all in the proposal and in the works, so if it went through, I would prolly be next in line to run the business, and maybe piggyback to sell my manga-s at the same time.

I'm not about to rouse some green-eyed monster outta my 2nd sis-in-law for not allowing their other own daughter in on the dough. So mum's the word

Can't Cheat Death

2011-12-27T13:11:00.001-08:00

This comic is cute, thought I'd share with you guys.

Comic art in minimalistic at its best

The Fun World of Philias

2011-12-13T11:43:00.000-08:00

Grabbed this from Cracked.com and thought I'd share, coz it's damn funny XD

Our Pre-Honeymoon~

2011-12-05T02:00:00.001-08:00

Ah, finally I have the time to actually post the day I celebrated my 1st wedding anniversary, well, 1 month after the fact, sadly. But well, like they say, better late than never.

When we checked in, apparently the deluxe room that we booked ran out, so they upgraded us to the supreme/superior/whatever (or was it executive?) suite, though sadly they only had double beds and not one of those single King- or Queen-sized bed. But I'm sure we'll fit in somehow.

Le entrance of our little pretty love nest, equipped with locks, card key and doorbell, though the doorknob is a bit odd of its position though ^3^

The moment when we went in, it was a super cold chill in the air, like the air-conditioning went on super high mode or something. Well, it's more or less how my hubby wants it, icy-cold, like air-conditioning seems to be free in this country or something. And when you take off your shoes, the cold floor is enough to make you jump about and walk as if you have fire under your feet or something

Capturing my hubby in the photog act

Capturing their big ass mirror

Our wardrobe and its content, which includes nice fancy clothes hangers, an iron with its board, slippers, laundry bags and shoe cleaning racks, extra pillows and a safe

Suitcase rack for our little suitcase, though we're just staying here for a day

Le fridge and bar counter for all our tea and caffeine needs, milk included

Le bed, which was surprisingly big enough for the both of us in one, TV, dresser (sorta), and a coat hanger

Le entrance to the bathroom

The toilet, equipped with the bum basin to wash your ass if you took a No. 2, towel hanger and soap for the washing

The shower

Bath robes for us to wear~ Sweet! I feel classy already!

My favourite part of the hotel room: BATH TUBS!! Inclusive a big mirror and a phone to ring for services. Been obsessed with bath tubs since I was a kid, even though I crashed my forehead onto my bath tub at my family home. I guess bath tubs just intrigue me, though I dunno whether if my horoscope had anything to do with it

The sink with all its facilities

Random snapshot of their framed art

Picture views of the verandah, perfect view

Room service, anyone?

Us, the lovely couple who has managed a year together as husband and wife ^___^

Well, nothing much to say, we just spent most of our time relaxing, swimming (with me doing most of the swimming, coz believe it or not, my hubby doesn't know how to swim), watch a movie at their hotel cinema, ate dinner and breakfast there, and after breakfast, we decided to take a walk and explore the area a little.

Random snapshots from our walk

Walkway down to the swimming pool where I went for my swim the day before

This be the swimming pool, equipped with jacuzzi for a nice warm dunk and the pool deck to enjoy drinks and quench your thirst as you relax in the water

Some little friends to enjoy swimming with

Random shot of the beach, with a sad little lone island over there, making me wonder what exactly resides on that island somehow, like a mystery of its own

Just a random shot of the coconut tree and another with my hubby posing at my request

More random beach shots

Decided to take a shot of this tree. Looks like an oil palm tree but it doesn't have any fruits and the most special thing about that tree was it's actually pale. The trunk and everything looks like the proper colour a tree should look, but somehow the leaves and branches and stalks were all pale green, coming close to white. My hubby was worried that I might catch 'something' from the shot, but as you can see, nothing to worry about

More random shots when we reached the beach cliff

Some shots of the seats that look out to the sea. It must be sad for them to just sit out there in the rain and shine, waiting for someone to use them, to accompany them, to let them feel useful. We both took a seat on that bench, and I felt that I have pretty much done something good, even for an inanimate object

Random flower shot

All in all, while it wasn't super romantic, it was by far the most relaxing and probably the most time I had spent with my hubby on that day. May our marriage last for the years to come

Another Tech Fair in da Howze

2011-12-05T00:44:00.001-08:00

Finally after months of procrastinating, I got down to it and post up pictures of another tech fair I went with my buddy, after our usual lunch date and such, just to check out how it was this time.

Sadly, the tech expo wasn't much, coz it was mostly industrial, not for consumers, but we did see a few other interesting things aside from the boring tech expo

A sort of religious exhibit, which sadly doesn't have much patronage as it should. Well, so much for being one of the most religious countries in the world, you'd think they'd showed up even if it's on a weekday

Some arts and crafts done there, one of them is this wooden water village house...

...a some sort of catapult or a sad imitation of the Nodding Donkey oil rig...

...the Noah's Ark (which apparently no different in the rendition between the Quran and the Old Testament in the Bible)...

...where this is what happens to sinners...

...the BIBD Bank and Yayasan in town...

...and a sculpture of a mosque that looked almost like it was made of cheese or something, prolly could call it the Tower of Cheese-za or something XD

The officiating tablet and signature of the Sultan for this exhibition, and to be honest, if I were daring enough, the signature really is pretty easy to forge

Some exhibits of old school technology and devices they used in the old days

We then decided to go check the tech expo just for fun, and I took shots of a few interesting things that had to show for.

Some smart objects and smart devices they have for sale, but prolly not what I'd buy, since I wouldn't know what to do with it

Random shot of some Chinese tea from prolly a booth from China

Some awesome paper arts

Another Smart screen, but this was more actual educational device than for fun, so even though I wanted to go have fun with the screen and show off my artistic skillz, I couldn't and prolly decided not to anyways

Then later we scoured the other halls to see if there were anything interesting, and came across some of these:

A WRO (World Robot Organization) exhibit, showing budding Bruneian robot builders and engineers, though sadly not the robots in Real Steel like I've hoped for, but then again, you can't expect much from them

Some DIY robots that you can build on your own, though the end results weren't as impressive as I would've wanted

A few kids checking out the area and learning the ropes about robot-building

Obstacle courses and driving tracks to program the robot cars to learn and pass through

We then went into a small exhibit fair where there are brain teasers for kids. It only cost $3 per entry, and it's the only way to get my buddy to join me, so it was my treat

The old school magic trick of having a head on a silver platter, though unfortunately due to lighting, you pretty much give away the illusion. Didn't stop us from trying though

Some cool optical illusions set out for us

This was the toughest optical illusion that we had to crack. Can you find the hidden tiger?

A few other optical illusions that makes my eyes go koo-koo just staring at the picture itself @_@

Some animal models exhibits, courtesy of either Sunlit or its competitor, which are basically mildly impressive styrofoam arts, and some facts and FAQ and Did-You-Knows about the animals where you are given a bunch of questionnaires at the entrance of the fair and you had to hunt for the answers within the facts for some sort of lucky draw. In fact, some other bio facts not involved with those animal displays were even stuck about the floor. It was fun, more or less

There were also a mirror maze for us to go into, and we were offered gloves so we don't hurt ourselves if we bang our hands onto the mirror and break it and get ourselves hurt (not that I want to have 7 years times infinity of bad luck neways, what with the mirrors everywhere). It was interesting to go around those mirrors, reminding me of the old creepy pasta or superstitions about having mirrors put together to form an infinity loop that might invoke spirits or something, but the lights on the floor were a little...well, epileptic, sorta. If they kept it on, that's fine, but it flickers every few minutes and if you have a tendecy for epileptic seizures, this is definitely not the right place to go in to, and it's a bit small too but with the amount of room they have, I can't blame them for not being able to do much. A bit creepy, but it was quite fun

Final shot of my buddy deciding to sodomize a model gorilla -__-;;

So far, it's a pretty good expo, given that the tech side wasn't so much fun, but the others were pretty intriguing, to say the least. I also have taken some videos, so you can go check it out here.

Lucid Dreaming

2011-12-05T00:39:00.000-08:00

Had another few odd dreams few nights ago that can consider slightly lucid of sorts, and I just had to share.

Don't remember much about the first dream, only that I was at my dad's place in the bedroom but my dad is not there, but my mom and my grandma (I think) was there. Then there was a sudden infestation of bugs, snakes and lizard, and the bugs were HUGE, and seem to have some sort of sentient thought or something, and some of them were on my back. And when we got the bugs out of the house and shut the window and then suddenly the bed was filled with snakes and lizards and whatever reptile species there was.

Then I remember trying to throw out a snake somewhere, and the snake was almost going to bite and stuff, then a sort of chameleon was at my feet and it keeps following me wherever I go and I try to lure it to the room where my mom is and close the door but it was really ghosting me and everything and I actually jumped to avoid it when I try to slam the door at it and it was still coming towards me and apparently when I jumped, it reflected on my body and I sorta jumped myself awake.

The recent dream I had this morning had to do with me staying back at some sort of school doing a so-called project, but it's more like staying back illegally to do some sort of ghost hunting or scandal hunting or whatever because I remember having to hide with my fellow friends from whom we think might be the patroller of the school and was relieved to see that it was just our extra friends who came in late, and I remember actually calling home to my mom (I think it's mom, feels like her but at the same time no) telling her I'll be home late for that 'project' I'm working on.

Then I think I went home or something, and the scene seemed to switch to me being in some sort of a Malcolm in the Middle moment and I think I remember arguing with Malcolm's mom and had a brawl that involved trying to hit her but didn't work, then tried to pinch her as hard as I can to hurt her, but ended up making her feel good as if what I was giving her was a massage or something. Then we ended up in the bedroom with Malcolm and his bros complaining about the mom (prolly we were grounded or something), and then somehow we ended up talking about the Sidek Bros comic collection we had, and I was telling him that I don't collect them anymore because the art has gotten worse, and he had the full collection or something, which somehow later down the art, it actually got better again and I ended up considering whether or not I should recollect them again.

Then I dunno why but somehow, I ended up merging Malcolm's world into the Sidek Bros world, then I saw Bun running off with his friends to some sort of big event or situation, and I suddenly worried for him and tell Malcolm and his bros to stay behind while I chase after him, and I ended up in some sort of situation where I somehow had a torchlight and I had to shine it everywhere and the light will guide me to where I have to go, and I was shouting his name "BUN! BUN!" like my life depends on it.

Somehow as I ran, I ended up running into some sort of funeral procession that looks Asian, but I couldn't tell what sort of Asian was this. I just weave around them and they all look so realistic, not dream-like. I can tell somehow that this is a dream, sorta, but it looked almost like it was real, it was real life and it was happening before me. I continued to run about shouting Bun's name trying to look for him, and I finally ended up at a procession that looked Malay of sorts.

Then I could feel myself waking up, I could feel my surroundings and the feel of the bed and the pillow below my head and the blanket around my body. But I didn't want to wake up, I wanted to find Bun. I willed myself to go back to sleep, to return to this world, and for a brief moment I managed to stay in the dream world for a few seconds (in dream world, according to Inception concept, could've been minutes), and I somehow approached this guy who is the head of the procession and asked him if he saw Bun, and he was asking me if I was the girl whom was adopted by the Sidek family (as if it started to move into the plot where my Sidek Bros doujin I drew in high school came in) and asked if I came from the other world. As if he knew I came from the waking world! How weird is that?

Again, I felt myself slipping back to the waking world, and I willed myself to stay in the dream for another few more minutes and suddenly I was approached by Bun's dad and he was telling me that he adopted me so that I can become Adan's bride (he is the village idiot in the original comics) and that I should give up fantasizing on Bun, and the last thing I remembered was protesting, saying that I'm not going to marry a village idiot. That's when I officially woke up.

I dunno whether to call that an inception moment or a lucid dreaming moment, because for a while there, it felt really real to me

I'm A Viking! LOL

2011-12-04T02:16:00.000-08:00

Tried this quiz for fun. Here's my results:

Your Viking Name is...

Jódís Fairthews

(Well, actually, that wouldn't really be your name -- since you're female, your name would be something like "Jódís Björnsdottir". But this is the twenty-first century, and you want to be known for who you are, not for who your father was, right? Right.)

Your Viking Personality: The tougher Vikings might let you on the boat, but generally only when they need ballast. You have a thirst for battle -- unfortunately, you're not terribly good at it. You probably know which end of a sword to hold, but you're not a fearsome fighter by any stretch of the imagination.

You would have a very tough time making a long sea voyage in a Viking longboat. Other Vikings would consider you "one of the guys" if you were a guy. (But even though you're a woman, they still think you're all right.)

You have a fairly pragmatic attitude towards life, and tend not to expend effort in areas where it would be wasted. Due to your gregariousness, you don't strike fear into the hearts of your victims. Try to be a little more surly in the future.

What Kind of Yaoi Fan Are You?

2011-12-03T21:03:00.000-08:00

Tried this quiz for fun, and this is my result:

Original Yaoi Fan!
You are the most common type of Yaoi fangirl to be found. Hearing a show has Yaoi in it is enough to make you watch it, even if it's between two fairly un-important characters. You also probably have a healthy collection of doujinshi and untranslated yaoi magazines stashed under your bed. You don't care if you can't read it. It's guys having sex! But...nothing blatantly pornographic. That's in bad taste.

Wanna try? Go here

A Heart-Breaking Sight

2011-11-28T04:49:00.000-08:00

Was a little down just now. No, not physically down, more like emotionally down, coz I saw something last night that I couldnt do anything about and it brought back old wounds

Last night we had BBQ for dinner, and as usual we invited some friends, and my 2nd sis in law and her family joined in.

Remember I said in my previous journals that she's quite the bitch sometimes?

Well, she was being a bitch to her own 4 year old daughter.

She wanted to record a movie channel from the satellite cable, but her daughter was watching cartoons, so she told her that she wanted to switch for just a moment so she can record the show.

Now it's understandable that the little girl would protest a little, but she only frowned just a little bit, she didn't even complain, and the mother saw her frown and shouted at her, "Don't gimme tht face, you brat! Stop being such a spoiled brat! You're always giving me that attitude!'

I was there and she was scolding her like I wasn't there, like she doesn't care whether she embarrasses her kid or not. Then she told her to "sit your ass on tht sofa or I'll smack you!" and did the threatening hand gesture. I saw the look on the little girl's face. She was terrified and she flinched like as if she was going to be hit by a mallet.

I know, right?

That little girl was born premature and is born with a hole in the heart and going to have a major heart surgery next year. She's a sick girl and can't run or jump too long without going out of breath or turn blue in the face and hands. She cant cry too hard or too much either or she would go blue and would cough until she cannot catch her breath, and she's treating her like she's not her daughter

She loves her sons more than she loves her. That's right, I said it.

Yeah, I was there, I saw the whole thing happen in front of her and it didn't even faze her one bit. When she did that threatening gesture, I had to say something. I told her "Hey, that's enough. You got your channel already, leave it", then she switched back to the cartoon channel for her and stomped off, leaving that little girl to cry like anything

I wanted to scream at her, to shout at her to stop being such a bitch to her own sick daughter, but I didn't want to start a scene on a nice BBQ night because I know she would scream and yell at me to mind my own fucking business and her husband, who's no limp noodle either, would back her up.

How can she do this to such a sick little girl? I mean if this is how she behaves in front of people, imagine what she's doing to her in the privacy of their home

When I say it brought back old wounds, it's coz it reminded me of myself with my mom.

I wanted to tell what I saw to either of my in-laws, but either my dad-in-law will say, "That's how she is, just forget about it" or my mom-in-law will start a fight with her and subsequently my sis in law will start a fight with me

My hubby and I had to comfort the poor little girl, it was heartbreaking...

How I wish we two could adopt her, I'd totally treat her right.

Anything good, they would let the eldest son have it, and needless to say they pamper their youngest son like no tomorrow. What about her? Kicked to the curb like nothing. Her bro is allowed to bully her, and says to people who sees that she deserved because she started it, when in fact it was not the case, and if she ever made the bro cry, she would be bombarded like anything.

Sometimes I would outright say it to my in-laws "If she hates her so much, give her to me, I'll treat her right"

They KNOW she's a sick girl and they KNOW one wrong move and she'll keel ovr, but do they give a fuck? NO~! If they cant even let her just so much as frown, sooner or later they wont even let her express herself, or show any emotion, and she'll grow up with a poker face or worse.

Later on, while we comforted the little girl, my sis in law cooled off and came back to lecture her. She told her "You know why I'm mad? Coz you never do as you're told and you're always having attitude. Don't even put that face at your dad, you know your dad gets angry and hates it if you do that, understand?"

Even the dad also do that! It makes me even more fearful for her!

What's next? Bruises and cuts? Scars? Whip marks?

God, it's like history replaying right in front of me!

It really breaks my heart to see this. It really did. I couldn't stop thinking about last night and almost couldn't sleep. When I told this to my hubby just now, I ended up crying for her. It was that bad.

Is this what she had to go through everyday? Is this what she has to face for the rest of her life?

I really fear for her...

Pony Personality Test

2011-11-24T00:15:00.000-08:00

I took this test for the hell of it when I saw someone did it in dA, and this is what I got

OK...Seriously?!

Full personality description:
You have a knack for drama and overexaggerating things, as well as doing whatever you can to keep from getting your hooves dirty. But, putting that aside, you're also very self-conscious about yourself, are generally very polite (unless someone deserves a little of your attitude), and have impecable manners and sense of style.

Just because you delight in being the center of everyone's attention doesn't mean you give no attention in turn. You're incredibly generous, showering your friends with gifts, spending time with them and doing fun things like shopping and makeovers, and doing everything in your power to help elevate your friends' self-worth. Even though a friend may be more popular than you, you are still willing to help them out with their success, hoping that you'll get your piece of the pie in turn.

You have a tendency to be overly obsessive over small details, sometimes worrying too much about them rather than looking at the whole picture. Your attention to detail does come in handy at times, though. You also loooooove fashion, style, and looking as good as any pony can be! Whatever it takes to look as classy and elegant as possible — that's your motto, because you care how other ponies see you, and want to make sure that your impression is the one that stands out the most.

Skyline

2011-11-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

I downloaded this movie to try and see how bad it is like everyone said it is.

Plot

Jarrod (Eric Balfour), an artist, and his girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson) have flown to Los Angeles for Jarrod's best friend Terry's (Donald Faison) birthday party. They spend the night celebrating with Terry's girlfriend, Candice (Brittany Daniel), and his assistant, Denise (Crystal Reed). During the party, one of Terry's employees, Ray (Neil Hopkins), welcomes Jarrod to L.A., thinking he has moved there to join Terry's special effects company. During a private argument about whether or not they should move to L.A., Elaine reveals that she is pregnant.

Early the next morning, bright blue lights descend from the sky, entrancing anyone who looks at them. The light turns their eyes milky white and makes blood vessels stand out on the skin. Captive in the light, immobilized humans are taken up by the machines. Ray suffers this fate, but Jarrod is saved when Terry tackles him. Jarrod returns to normal shortly after. He and Terry decide to investigate the light from the roof of the highrise, where they see several alien ships descend over the blue lights and vacuum up thousands of entranced people. Locked out on the roof, they are almost captured by flying machines, but Elaine opens the door from inside. She is temporarily mesmerized, but Jarrod saves her.

Back in the apartment Jarrod argues that open water would be a safer place than Terry's condo since there are no machines over the sea, so they attempt to reach the marina by car, splitting into two groups: Terry and Denise in one car, Candice, Jarrod, and Elaine in the other. On the way out they meet an arguing couple, Colin (J. Paul Boehmer) and Jen (Tanya Newbould), also attempting to flee the building. Terry's car is the first to leave, but is stomped flat in the exit by a massive walking lifeform. Denise is killed, but Terry escapes. As he attempts to flee into the garage, he is abducted. The survivors flee into the garage where they encounter a squid-like lifeform and it takes Colin. It corners the rest of the group, then suddenly the building's concierge, Oliver (David Zayas), slams into it with an SUV. Colin is still alive inside the 'squid.' As Jen and Oliver attempt to free him, the machine comes to life again, sucks out Colin's brain, which glows blue, and inserts the organ into its head. As the five flee back into the building, Jen is quickly abducted.

The next day, the United States Air Force launches an attack on the spaceships using X-47B with a fighter screen of Predator_drone aircraft armed with AMRAAM missiles. Only one X-47B gets through, and shoots a nuclear tipped missile at the mothership just as it is destroyed. The detonation rips the ship apart and it falls, but as the mushroom cloud later clears it then slowly begins to repair itself. After telling only Elaine that the mesmerizing light made him feel powerful and that he still has that power, Jarrod becomes adamant that safety must be found outside. Oliver wants to stay in and tries to restrain him. Jarrod's eyes turn milky and his veins start to show again: he lifts Oliver off the floor one-handed. He vows that no one will stop him from protecting his family.

Military helicopters come in and insert squads of soldiers in multicam uniforms. Jarrod and Elaine go to the roof hoping to ride a helicopter to safety. Oliver and Candice still hide in the penthouse, but they are found. Candice accidentally exposes herself to the blue light and is absorbed; Oliver sacrifices himself and attempts to kill an alien (It is later revealed that it was simply burnt badly). The army is thrown off the roof by the aliens and one of the small machine/lifeforms attacks Jarrod and Elaine. Together, they kill it, but with Jarrod badly hurt, both are hopelessly trapped when the aliens have defeated the military and begin approaching them. Resigned to their fate, they look up into the blue light, embrace and are sucked up.

A brief montage shows that cities such as New York City, London, Hong Kong, and Las Vegas have all been attacked and the aliens appear to have won. Inside the alien spacecraft, Elaine wakes up in an eerie blue gloom on a gory pile of lifeless human bodies. Tubes are sucking human brains into machine husks with humanoid exterior, animating them; probes go through the pile looking for what they can find. Elaine sees Jarrod in the pile but has to watch helplessly as his brain is removed from his body. She herself is spared when a probe finds that she is pregnant. Elaine is transported to another chamber where all the pregnant human women are being sent and Jarrod's brain, glowing red in all of the blue, is inserted into a humanoid.

Animating the alien body, Jarrod seems to retain control, and comes to the aid of Elaine and their unborn child. The movie ends with a series of still images between the credits that depict "Jarrod" protecting Elaine and their child from other aliens. Eventually "Jarrod" defeats them, picks his girlfriend up, and runs off with her.

This whole movie is pretty much a tentacle-rape fest. Everyone was right about this movie being really crappy. Well, it's not entirely crappy, since I can give them kudos to the special effects and the design of those tentacle aliens, but the storyline really, really, really needs some work.

But I did enjoy one part of the movie, which are these, at 5 minutes of the end of the movie:

They could've just finished the entire movie plot in 15 - 20 minutes and then proceed from this scene to how they can win this war and defeat the aliens. That would've been a nice touch, and how she overcomes her lover who had been assimilated to a huge-ass alien body, oh, that is just xenophilia heaven, baby!

Seriously, even if you watch this, just skip all the way to the end to this scene. It's more worth it that way

Courage is Stronger than Steel

2011-11-19T06:46:00.000-08:00

We saw this trailer and was absolutely hyped. I mean robots! Robots beating the crap outta each other! That is gotta be some awesome shit!

Plot

In 2020, humans have been replaced by robots in boxing. Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a former boxer who attempts to get money in illegal boxing matches between robots to pay his debts to loan sharks. During a fight, Charlie's robot, Ambush, is destroyed by Black Thunder, a bull belonging to Ricky (Kevin Durand). Having made a bet that Ambush would win, Charlie now owes Ricky $20,000, which he doesn't pay before leaving.

Charlie is informed his ex-girlfriend has died, and he has to attend a meeting to decide the fate of his preteen son Max (Dakota Goyo). Max's aunt Debra (Hope Davis) and uncle Marvin (James Rebhorn) want full custody, and Charlie gives it to them in exchange for $100,000 from Marvin, $50,000 of it in advance, on the condition that Charlie takes care of Max for three months, while Marvin and Debra are away on a second honeymoon.

Charlie and Max meet with Charlie's friend Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly), who runs the boxing gym of her deceased father, Charlie's old coach. There, Charlie buys a secondhand WRB league robot, the once-famous Noisy Boy, and arranges for it to fight the illegal circuit's champion, Midas, at a venue belonging to his friend Finn (Anthony Mackie). Partly due to his inexperience with Noisy Boy's combinations, Charlie ends up losing control of Noisy Boy and Midas destroys it.

Charlie breaks into a junkyard with Max to steal scraps that he can use to put a new robot together. There, Max falls over a ledge, where he is saved from doom after being snagged by a lodged and buried robot arm. After Charlie pulls him back up, Max uncovers the entire robot, called Atom. On Max's insistence, Charlie takes it back to Bailey's gym, where they discover Atom is an obsolete Generation-2 sparring bot built in 2014. Atom has been designed to sustain massive damage, but is unable to deal out much damage itelf. Max convinces Charlie to get Atom a fight, and upgrades it to take vocal commands using spare parts from Noisy Boy and Ambush.

Charlie and Max take Atom to fight an unsanctioned outdoor match against a robot called Metro, and Atom wins, earning back some of Charlie's money. Atom's string of subsequent wins and high speed humanoid boxing maneuvers which are rarely seen from a robot, attracts the attention of a promoter from the World Robot Boxing league (WRB), who offers Atom a professional fight against a robot called Twin Cities. Charlie accepts, and Atom wins again, thanks to Charlie's knowledge of boxing, which allows him to locate a design flaw in Twin Cities. Taking advantage of Atom's subsequent novelty attention, Max challenges WRB champion Zeus, designed by arrogant genius Tak Mashido (Karl Yune) and sponsored by rich Russian Farra Lemcova (Olga Fonda), who accepts, but first tries to buy the upstart Atom.

As they leave the Twin Cities fight, Charlie is attacked by Ricky and his men, who beat him severely, assault Max and steal their money. Feeling guilty, Charlie returns Max to his aunt and uncle so they can protect him, but Bailey convinces him he can be a better father to Max. Debra allows him one more chance, and Charlie takes Max to the Zeus-Atom match. Zeus severely damages Atom — while also getting injured, a first for Zeus. In the last round of the five-round match, Atom's vocal receptors are damaged, and Atom must fight in shadow-boxing mode, copying Charlie's moves from the aisle. Zeus, now controlled manually by a very furious Tak Mashido, expends energy on pummeling the defensive Atom. After Zeus runs very low on power, Atom begins to heavily damage Zeus, even knocking the seemingly invincible champion down once, but doesn't win before the round ends, and the judges declare a winner on points. They favor Zeus, but his reputation is tarnished, and Atom has become famous as "The People's Champion".

This movie is the SHIT, dude! It's like Transformers meet Rocky. Words fail me as to how awesome this movie is. Big robots, big fights, bad-ass designs, and people who are robophilia like me? Who wouldn't go for that shit?? And I absolutely LOVE Atom! Atom is amazing. He's so cute and docile and has this quiet demeanour (nothing to do with the fact that he can't talk), and did I mention he's cute?? Ahaha, he's just like The Iron Giant in retrospect

Seriously, if you love robots and you love Rocky, you'll love this movie!

Hide and Seek

2011-11-19T06:32:00.002-08:00

Watched this movie a couple of times, and just thought I'd like to share it with my ratings:

Plot summary
Following his discovery of the body of his wife in a bathtub after her suicide, Dr. David Callaway (Robert De Niro), a psychologist working in New York City, decides to move with his daughter Emily (Dakota Fanning) to upstate New York. There, Emily makes an apparently imaginary friend she calls "Charlie". Her friendship with Charlie begins to disturb David when he discovers their cat dead in the bathtub, a victim of "Charlie". Meanwhile, David suffers from nightmares of the New Year's Eve party that occurred the night before his wife (Amy Irving) died.
When a family friend, Katherine (Famke Janssen), comes to visit David and Emily, Emily reveals that she and Charlie have a mutual desire to upset her father. Soon, they meet a man and a woman who are their neighbors. David is wary of their unusual interest in Emily. He later discovers that the reason for this is that the couple had a daughter who recently died from cancer and looks like Emily. Later, when David visits the woman, she nervously and ambiguously implies that her husband has begun abusing her in response to their child's death, emotionally and perhaps even physically.

David meets local woman Elizabeth (Elisabeth Shue) and her niece, Amy, who is roughly the same age as Emily. Hoping to cultivate a new, healthy friendship for Emily, David sets up a playdate for her. Amy is anxious to become friends immediately, but the playdate is spoiled when Emily cuts up Amy's doll's face. After Amy runs out of the house, Emily tells David that she doesn't need any more friends.

Despite the unsuccessful playdate, David and Elizabeth hit it off. David invites her over to dinner one night, where Emily acts increasingly hostile towards her. Some time later, Elizabeth visits the house, hoping to make peace with Emily. When Emily tells her that she is playing hide-and-seek with Charlie, Elizabeth indulges her by pretending to look for Charlie. When she opens the closet, someone bursts out and pushes Elizabeth out a second-story window to her death. After the police discover her car crashed near David's house, David asks Emily what happened. Emily claims Charlie caused her death and then tells David the location of her body. A terrified David discovers Elizabeth's body in a bathtub full of blood. David asks Emily where Charlie is, and Emily tells him that Charlie has "just left" the house.

David, armed with a knife, goes outside, where he meets the neighbor who has become friends with Emily. David assumes that his neighbor is Charlie and begins to act aggressively. Becoming suspicious that David has killed his own daughter, the neighbor asks to see Emily, but David cuts the neighbor with his knife. The neighbor then calls the police.

Back in the house, David finds that, although he has been in his study many times (listening to his stereo and writing a journal), the boxes were actually never unpacked. With this, David realizes that he has split personality and that Charlie is not imaginary at all, but that in fact Charlie is David himself. Whenever it appeared David was in his study, Charlie was actually in control. David also realizes that under his Charlie personality, he killed his wife and then made it appear to be a suicide. He also fully recalls the events of the New Year's Eve party the night before his wife's death. Immediately after the countdown to midnight, David noticed his wife slip away. He followed her and caught her having sex in a stairwell with another guest. Charlie was created as a way for David's rage to destroy his wife, something that David himself was too decent to do.

Once Charlie's identity and horrible deeds are realized, he completely consumes David's entire personality, leading him to murder the local sheriff (Dylan Baker), who came to investigate the previous altercation. Emily calls Katherine for help.

Katherine arrives and is pushed in the basement by Charlie. David (Charlie), determined to play a hideous game of hide-and-seek, starts counting; Emily dashes and hides. She tricks Charlie and manages to lock herself in her room. As Charlie tries to break in, she climbs out from the window and runs into the cave where she originally met Charlie. Meanwhile, Katherine takes the gun from the dead sheriff, breaks out of the basement, and finds Charlie looking for Emily in the cave. Charlie pretends to be David and attacks Katherine when she lowers her guard. Emily emerges from her hiding place, begging Charlie to let Katherine go; her distraction allows Katherine to shoot Charlie, killing him.

Sometime later, Emily is preparing for school in her new life with Katherine. But Emily's drawing of herself with Katherine has two heads, suggesting that she now also suffers from split personality.
Apparently this movie has quite a number of alternate endings, which can be shown below:

Endings

This film has a total of five different endings. The US theatrical release had the following ending:

Preparing for school while living a new life with Katherine, Emily draws a picture of herself and Katherine, suggesting that everything is fine. But when the camera cuts back to Emily's drawing, Emily has two heads.

Another four were included on the DVD released in the USA:

Ending #1: The same as the ending in the US theatre release, except that the drawing Emily makes of herself has only one head, suggesting that she is fine and does not suffer from the same disease that resulted in the death of both her parents.

Ending #2 (this is the ending in the International theatrical version): Emily is shown seemingly in a new apartment bedroom, and Katherine's actions mirror that of her mother's at the beginning of the film. She reassures her love to Emily and begins to leave the room. Emily asks Katherine to leave the door open, but Katherine insists she cannot. As the door shuts, a protected window is visible on the door. The next cut is of Katherine locking the door from the outside, revealing this assumed apartment bedroom is actually a hospital room in a children's psychiatric ward.

Ending #3: Same as above in the psychiatric ward. After Katherine shuts the door, Emily gets out of bed and does a Hide and Seek countdown. She nears the closet, opens, and smiles at her own reflection in the mirror.

Ending #4: An ending similar to that in the psychiatric ward, but in this ending Emily is not in a ward but her new home, again playing Hide and Seek with her own reflection.

An additional scene that was planned, but never filmed, involved David briefly regaining control of his body as he laid dying of his gunshot wound and embracing Emily as he died. The producers said it would have been a chance for David and Emily to finally reconcile, following their troubled relationship throughout the film.

According to the commentary, the directors, screenwriters, and producers chose the ending they did for the default DVD and domestic release because it gave the audience a relief at the end of the film. They felt the hospital room endings were too dark and suggested that Emily is being punished for things she did not do. After the Emily character is basically thrown into terror for the last 45 minutes of the film, they felt it was time to give her an emotional break, and the happy ending was chosen, though it is not necessarily 'happy' as she still draws a double head, implying that she suffers from split personality.

It's a pretty cool movie and a surprisingly good twist to the end. I have watch 2 of the 5 endings that existed, which is the official theatrical ending and the #2 alternate ending. Both endings were OK, though the alternate ending seemed to be a more predictable outcome rather than the official ending somehow. I actually kinda liked the alternate ending than the official.

Rating: 8.5/10

The Jacket

2011-11-19T06:32:00.001-08:00

Heard pretty cool reviews on this movie, so I gave the DVD a try

Plot

After miraculously recovering from a bullet wound to the head, Gulf War veteran Jack Starks (Adrien Brody) returns to Vermont in 1992, suffering from periods of amnesia. While traveling, he sees a young girl, Jackie, and her mother in despair from a broken down truck, he helps them and moves on. A man driving along the same highway gives Jack a ride and they get pulled over by the police. Suddenly Starks is found on the deserted roadside with a dead policeman, the murder weapon, and a slug from the policeman's gun in Starks' body. Although he testifies there was someone else at the scene, his amnesia makes him unbelievable. Starks is found not guilty by reason of insanity, and is incarcerated in a mental institution.

Starks becomes subject to the experiments of Dr. Thomas Becker (Kris Kristofferson), a psychiatrist. In December 1992 Starks is injected with an experimental drug, bound in a straitjacket and placed in sensory deprivation within a morgue drawer. While in this condition, he is able to travel 15 years in the future. He meets an older version of Jackie at a roadside diner where she works because it is the only memory he can ever fully hold on to. While in the future, Jackie tells him that Jack Starks died on January 1st, 1993 and so he couldn't be who he says he is. After earning her trust, Starks goes back to the future numerous times to see her and together they try to figure out what causes the travesty.

With his time running out on January 1st, 1993, Starks writes a letter explaining Jackie's bleak future and takes it to her mother early that day, warning her that she will later orphan Jackie when she falls asleep with a cigarette and is burned to death. When he returns from delivering the letter, Starks slips on the ice and hits his head; bleeding profusely, he convinces the hospital workers to put him in the jacket one last time.

Starks returns to 2007, where Jackie has a better life than in the previous version of 2007. Reprising their first 2007 meeting, except this time, she's dressed in a nurse's uniform. She sees Starks standing in the snow and drives past him, but backs up when she notices his head wound. She stops and offers to take him to the hospital where she works. While in the car, Jackie receives a call from her mother -- still alive and well. They drive on, the screen fades to white, and a voice-over reveals that the link to the "previous" future is not lost when Jackie says "How much time do we have?" and the credits start to roll.

An interesting concept of time-traveling and madness and the question of whether any of this actually happened or it was just a trick of the mind, since there have been alternate endings of him waking up in the chamber confused as if realizing that none of it ever happened.

Rating: 7.5/10

When Evolution Becomes Revolution

2011-11-19T06:31:00.000-08:00

Plot

Will Rodman (James Franco) is a San Francisco scientist at pharmaceutical company Gen-Sys who has been trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease by testing a genetically engineered retrovirus on chimpanzees. The virus mutates the chimpanzees, giving them a human level of intelligence. The most successful subject, a female chimpanzee named Bright Eyes (Terry Notary), goes on a rampage because she believes her baby, to whom she secretly gave birth, is threatened; she is killed disrupting a board meeting where Will is presenting the cure. Will's boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) orders chimp handler Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine) to put all the test chimpanzees down; Franklin cannot bring himself to kill the baby chimp and instead gives him to Will. His father names him Caesar (Andy Serkis) and Will raises him in his house. Caesar has inherited his mother's high intelligence and learns and develops quickly. After three years, Caesar has outgrown his surroundings. One day, after frightening their neighbor Hunsiker's children and earning a cut on his leg in the process, Will takes Caesar to San Francisco Zoo where primatologist Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto) treats his injuries and is impressed how Will taught him to sign. When she suggests that Caesar needs more open space, Will begins to frequently take Caesar to the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, but his intelligence begins to sour him to his status as a human "pet." Meanwhile, Will and Caroline have begun a relationship.

Five years later, a desperate Will tests a sample of his cure on his father, Charles (John Lithgow), who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. At first, his father improves, but eventually his immune system fights off the virus and his dementia returns. A confused Charles attempts to drive Hunsiker's car and damages it; as Hunsiker threatens Charles and pushes him to the ground, the onlooking Caesar attacks him. Caesar is forcibly removed from Will's house and held in the San Bruno Primate Sanctuary run by John Landon (Brian Cox), where the apes are treated cruelly by the chief guard, Landon's son Dodge (Tom Felton). Caesar is treated poorly by both the staff and the other apes. However, Caesar also meets Maurice (Karin Konoval), a circus orangutan who knows sign language and can thereby communicate with Caesar. When Dodge brings unauthorized visitors into the facility, one of them gets too close to Caesar's cage and is grabbed by Caesar, who steals a pocket knife that he uses to unlock and escape his cell. Caesar then frees a gorilla, named Buck (Richard Ridings), kept in solitary confinement; with his grateful assistance, Caesar gains dominance over the other apes by beating the dominant ape, Rocket (also Terry Notary).

Meanwhile, Will creates a more powerful form of the virus to resume treating his father, and an excited Jacobs clears its testing on chimpanzees. Results from treating a bonobo named Koba (Christopher Gordon) reveal that it strengthens the intelligence of the apes even further. However, unbeknownst to the scientists, it is fatal to humans: Franklin is exposed to the new virus and begins sneezing blood. Attempting to contact Will at his home, he accidentally sneezes on Hunsiker, and is later discovered dead in his apartment. Will attempts to warn Jacobs against further testing, but when Jacobs refuses, Will quits his job.

After Charles' death, a determined Will bribes the elder Landon into releasing Caesar into his custody; to his shock and dismay, Caesar refuses to leave with him. Later, Caesar escapes from the ape facility on his own and returns to Will's house where he steals canisters of the new virus and releases it throughout the cage area, enhancing the intelligence of all his fellow apes. When Dodge attempts to intervene (one point saying the iconic quote "Keep your stinkin' paws off me, you damn, dirty ape!"), Caesar easily beats him down, and shocks both him and the other apes by shouting "No!" As Dodge attempts to escape, Caesar electrocutes and inadvertently kills him by spraying him with a hose as he holds his stun stick. (In contrast, Caesar halts the apes from beating a more sympathetic guard and leads him to the safety of a cage.) The liberated apes storm the city and release the remaining apes from Gen-Sys, as well as the entire ape population from the zoo.

The apes then force their way past a police blockade on the Golden Gate Bridge, utilizing its thick mist as a visual shield. Caesar specifically orders his apes to refrain from killing disarmed police; however, Jacobs arrives in a helicopter from which a door gunner begins shooting apes, specifically targeting Caesar at Jacobs' behest. The orangutans are lead by Maurice, some of the chimps on the ground by Rocket, the gorillas lead by Buck, and most of the chimps on the rails by Koba. Buck saves Caesar from getting shot, and sacrifices himself by leaping onto the helicopter, which crashes onto the bridge, killing everyone inside except Jacobs; he begs for Caesar's help, but he walks away, permitting Koba to push the helicopter into the bay below. The apes escape into the redwood forest; Will arrives in a stolen police car and is attacked by Koba, but Caesar stops him. Will warns Caesar that in the forest humans will hunt them down, but that he can protect him if he returns home. Caesar, now capable of speech, gently tells him that "Caesar is home"—with his fellow apes. The ending scene shows the apes Caesar, Rocket, Maurice, and other apes at the top of the redwood trees, looking over the San Francisco bay.

In the post-credit sequence, Hunsiker, an airline pilot, arrives at work sneezing blood. The scene zooms onto a filled flight-status display board emphasizing New York, then fades into a stylized flight map animated with blooming trajectories throughout the world, implying the spread of a global pandemic.

Been looking forward to this movie ever since I watched the trailer, and it definitely delivered. I'm surprised that no one really likes Planet of the Apes (I, for one, enjoyed it), but this prequel definitely surpassed its predecessor like magic, especially when the ape is played by the genius Andy Serkis, the man behind super realistic walk-on-all-fours motion capture since his role as Gollum.

I was surprised Tom Felton (amongst other pretty famous stars throughout the movie) was in there, his American accent was pretty impressive but sadly he seemed to unable to escape his bad boy stereotype somehow and ended up getting killed for it, LOL. And the part where Caesar suddenly yell "NO~!" at him, woah, that was epic. I think the entire cinema just went silent for 5 seconds flat before we were laughing and whooping with awe.

A movie that exceeded my expectations and a must-watch, a heartwarming movie of the friendship between a man and his distant 'cousin' and the journey to self-discovery.

Ratings: 8/10

The First Avenger

2011-11-19T06:29:00.000-08:00

Plot

In the present day, scientists in the Arctic uncover a circular object with a red, white and blue motif. In March 1942, Nazi officer Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) and his men invade Tønsberg, Norway, to steal a mysterious tesseract possessing untold powers. In New York City, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is rejected for World War II military duty due to various health and physical issues. While attending an exhibition of future technologies with his friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Rogers again attempts to enlist. Having overheard Rogers' conversation with Barnes about wanting to help in the war, Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) allows Rogers to enlist. He is recruited as part of a "super-soldier" experiment under Erskine, Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), and British agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Phillips is unconvinced of Erskine's claims that Rogers is the right person for the procedure but relents after seeing Rogers commit an act of self-sacrificing bravery. The night before the treatment, Erskine reveals to Rogers that Schmidt underwent an imperfect version of the treatment, and suffered side-effects.

In Europe, Schmidt and Dr. Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) successfully harness the energies of the tesseract, intending to use the power to fuel Zola's inventions. Schmidt, having discovered Erskine's location, dispatches an assassin to kill him. In America, Erskine subjects Rogers to the super-soldier treatment, injecting him with a special serum and dosing him with "vita-rays". After Rogers emerges from the experiment taller and muscular, one of the attendees kills Erskine, revealing himself as Schmidt's assassin, Heinz Kruger (Richard Armitage). Rogers pursues and captures Kruger but the assassin commits suicide via cyanide capsule before he can be interrogated.

With Erskine dead and the super-soldier formula lost, U.S. Senator Brandt (Michael Brandon) has Rogers tour the nation in a colorful costume as "Captain America" to promote war bonds rather than allow scientists to study him and attempt to rediscover Erskine's formula. In Italy 1943, while on tour performing for active servicemen, Rogers learns that Barnes' unit was lost in battle against Schmidt's forces. Refusing to believe that Barnes is dead, Rogers mounts a solo rescue attempt with Carter and Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) flying him behind enemy lines. Rogers infiltrates the fortress belonging to Schmidt's HYDRA organization, freeing Barnes and the other captured soldiers. Rogers confronts Schmidt who reveals his face to be a mask, removing it to display the red, skull-like face that earned him the sobriquet, the Red Skull. Schmidt escapes and Rogers returns to base with the freed soldiers.

Rogers recruits Barnes, Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough), Gabe Jones (Derek Luke), Jim Morita (Kenneth Choi), James Montgomery Falsworth (J. J. Feild), and Jacques Dernier (Bruno Ricci) to attack the other known HYDRA bases. Stark outfits Rogers with advanced equipment, in particular a circular shield made of vibranium, a rare, nigh-indestructible metal. Rogers and his team successfully sabotage various HYDRA operations. The team later assaults a train carrying Zola. Zola is captured, but Barnes falls off the train to his death. Using information extracted from Zola, the final HYDRA stronghold is located and Rogers leads an attack to stop Schmidt from using WMDs on American cities. Rogers clambers aboard Schmidt's jet as it takes off. During the subsequent fight, the tesseract's container is damaged. Schmidt physically handles the tesseract, causing him to dissolve in a bright light. The tesseract falls to the floor, burning through the plane and falling to Earth. Seeing no way to safely land the plane without risking its weapons detonating, Rogers crashes it in the Arctic. Stark later recovers the tesseract from the ocean floor but is unable to locate Rogers or the aircraft.

Rogers awakens in a 1940s-style hospital room. Deducing that something is wrong due to an anachronistic radio broadcast, he flees outside into what is revealed to be present-day Times Square. There Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) informs him he has been "asleep" for nearly 70 years.

In a post-credits scene, Fury approaches Rogers, proposing a mission with worldwide ramifications.

A pretty enjoyable movie. Didn't really exceed expectations, but didn't miss a beat either. It's almost as if watching Batman, but without the riches and the dead parents kinda vendetta. Just a good ol' American who tries to do his duty to society and his country and getting more than what he bargained for. Especially when you wake up after being in cryo-sleep for 50 years. Now that's some culture shock if I see one. A nice tie-in to the post-credits as well as the teaser for the upcoming Avenger movie

Rating: 7/10

Before X-Men, They Were Kids Once...

2011-11-19T06:21:00.001-08:00

Technically, despite watching the trailer, I wasn't really that looking forward to it since I've been disappointed once or twice from all the sequels and stand-alone shows that the franchise have to offer, but my hubby is super interested in it, especially when he tried to bait me with the fact that it's directed by the guy who did that awesome-tastic movie Stardust (which I might blog sooner or later). So I thought since I dragged him to watch Insidious when I clearly know that he hated horror movies, it's only fair that he dragged me to watch X-Men.

Plotline is as follows:

Plot
At a German concentration camp in occupied Poland in 1944, young Erik Lensherr is separated from his parents by Nazi guards. The child's desperate mind remarkably bends a metal gate until a guard knocks Lensherr unconscious. Scientist Dr. Schmidt^[4] who has observed this through a window calls Lensherr up to see him. Placing a metal coin on a desk, he orders Lensherr to use his magnetism power to move it. When Lensherr cannot, despite his best efforts, Schmidt shoots and kills Lensher's mother in front of him. In his rage, Lensherr's out-of-control magnetic power kills the two guards and destroys two rooms, to the scientist's delight. Around this same time, in a Westchester County, New York mansion, a young Charles Xavier meets a young, shape-shifting girl named Raven, scrounging for food in the kitchen. Overjoyed to meet someone else "different" like him, he says she can come live with his family.
In Switzerland in the movie's present-day of 1962, Lensherr forces a banker to trace a bar of Nazi gold to the scientist's address in Argentina. There he finds a tavern patronized by former German soldiers. Lensherr kills the three men after he learns that the scientist has a yacht in Florida. Meanwhile, in England, Oxford University graduate Xavier is publishing his thesis on mutation; his foster sister Raven, a waitress, lives with him. Simultaneously in Las Vegas, Nevada, CIA agent Moira MacTaggert follows U.S. Army Colonel Hendry into the Hellfire Club, where she sees Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, and Azazel. After Shaw threatens Hendry, Azazel disappears with the officer; moments later he is in the War Room, advocating that U.S. install nuclear missiles in Turkey. Shaw later kills him, demonstrating his energy-absorbing mutant power and revealing that he Schmidt, de-aged.

MacTaggert seeks Xavier's advice on mutation, and introduces him and Raven to the CIA, where they convince her chief that mutants exist and Shaw is a threat. Xavier tracks him down as Shaw escapes a battle with Lensherr, whom Xavier brings to a secret CIA science facility run by an unnamed agent (called the Man in Black in the movie's credits). They meet young scientist Hank McCoy, a prehensile-footed mutant whom Xavier inadvertently outs. McCoy and Raven feel a kinship, and McCoy promises her he will find a way to make them look "normal." Xavier then uses a computerized mutant-locating device, Cerebro, to find and recruit mutants for training to stop Shaw. They find Angel Salvadore at a strip club; Armando Muñoz, who will take the code name Darwin, driving a taxi; Alex Summers, who will call himself Havok, confined at an Army base; and Sean Cassidy, who dubs himself Banshee, at an aquarium. Raven takes the name Mystique. Xavier and Lensherr also attempt to recruit Wolverine, who rejects them.

Shaw plans to meet with a Russian general, but instead sends Frost, whom Xavier and Lensherr capture. Meanwhile, Azazel, Riptide and Shaw attack the CIA facility, killing everyone but the young mutants and offering them the chance to join him. Angel accepts. Darwin tries to rescue her as the others attack in vain, and Shaw kills him. With the facility destroyed, Xavier take Lensheer and the youngsters to his family mansion, where they train. McCoy devises protective uniforms and a stealth jet. Xavier helps Lensherr unlock his potential.

President John F. Kennedy institutes a blockade to stop a Russian ship from moving nuclear missiles to Cuba in the real-life Cuban Missile Crisis. Shaw travels with the Russian fleet to ensure that the missiles arrive, knowing it could trigger World War III, after which mutants will rule. The night before Xavier and the others go to the blockade line to stop Shaw, who will undoubtedly be there, McCoy offers Raven his cure for her appearance. After having spoken with Lensherr about mutant pride, she refuses. McCoy, in his lab, injects the cure, which backfires and renders him a hairy, leonine beast. Regardless, he pilots the mutants MacTaggert to the blockade line. Shaw, in a submarine wears a custom helmet to block Xavier's telepathy — which Xavier uses to have a Russian ship destroy the missile freighter. After Banshee locates Shaw, Lensherr pulls Shaw's submarine from the water, but an attack from Riptide forces the jet and submarine to crash.

While the other mutants fight, Lensherr finds Shaw in a psychic blackspot within the sub's wreckage of his submarine. He removes Shaw's helmet, allowing Xavier to take control of Shaw. Lensherr puts on the helmet, then kills Shaw by forcing the concentration-camp coin through his brain.

The two fleets fire their missiles at the mutants, but Lensherr turns the missiles back onto them. In an ensuing fight, Xavier distracts Lensherr and neutralizes the missile threat. MacTaggert fires at Lensherr, who deflects the bullets; one accidentally strikes Xavier in the spine, paralyzing him. Lensherr, remorseful, leaves with Mystique, Angel, Riptide and Azazel. Later, a wheelchair-bound Xavier and the mutants return to the mansion, where he will open a school. Xavier wipes MacTaggert's memory of recent events. Lensherr breaks Frost from confinement, and in his new uniform tells her to call him Magneto.

Watching from the eyes and perspective of a person who has never read the original comics or barely watched the cartoon series before, I would say that this was a pretty fresh experience.

Prof. X and Magneto, or Charles and Erik respectively, are probably absolutely much more different than the head honchos of either side that we used to know. While we know that Charles and Erik used to be friends, to actually see it in action and the way they actually had fun together, sharing each other's happiness, sadness, anger and the like (quite literally speaking, since Charles can get into people's heads and feel what they feel), was actually quite interesting and cute at the same time. A sort of chemistry between them is definitely going on, and it's absolutely, dare I say, a bromance or lover relationship going on =^_^=

Erik had always been a bitter man, that we know as much, but to see him become from a mild-mannered Jew under the oppression of the Germans during the WWII and the Holocaust to a vengeful, crazy-ass killing machine was probably one of the ways to actually know and feel what he feels and know what happened that made him to what he was that we all know of. And who'd've thought that Charles was actually a fun-loving man who flirts with girls using silly stupid scientific lines, and that Raven aka Mystique is actually Charles' adopted sister, and I was also quite surprised that the reason Beast became Beast was because of Mystique's genetics, but then again, how accurate is that is left to the geek experts of X-Mania to know that.

There are plenty of known actors in there, like Kevin Bacon as the main villain, and there's our Mr Devil from Reaper as one of the guys in the Army Council, and then there's Hugh Jackman! LOL! Him cameo-ing in the movie! I know Wolverine is technically immortal and all that, so no surprise that he would prolly exist in Charles and Erik's timeline, but to see him there and tell them to fuck off when they tried to recruit him was just absolute hilarity XDDDDD If they are actually going to tally it with the actual X-Men, this has to mean that they've already met prior to X-Men 1 and neither remembered each other's encounter back then.

The training parts were funny, and I absolutely had a larf when they tried to teach Banshee how to fly using his supersonic waves. The scene was like "Don't forget to scream" *push* "Ack...!!" *plop* LOL That was the most hilarious and fav scene of the training. The rest of the training was pretty hilarious as well, especially the part where they had to train Havok to control his powers and whatnot, and I also like the recruiting parts that included the beginnings of the Cerebro device, aside from the larf from the Wolverine gag.

Though before I knew Charles' dad works as a nuclear scientist, I literally went O_O at the sight of Charles' mansion and was wondering like crazy how the HELL he could afford such a huge ass house and all its other facilities and gadgets as well as build a school for it

Overall, it's quite a good movie. I would give it a rating of 7.5/10 for this movie, and recommendable to watch. If I'm not convincing enough, then I'll get Charles to do it.

WATCH THE MOVIE!

ET Meets The Host

2011-11-19T06:20:00.001-08:00

We were absolutely intrigued when the trailer came out, coz just as J.J. Abrams tend to do, he absolutely blew us away in the suspense department and hooked us in to watch the movie, so we jumped to the first moment to watch the movie when it premiered in the cinema

Plot line is as follows:

Plot

In 1979, Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), a 13-year-old boy living in the fictional town of Lillian, Ohio, has lost his mother in a factory accident. Louis Dainard (Ron Eldard) comes to the wake, but Joe's father, Deputy Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler), blames Dainard for his wife's death since she stayed to cover his shift at the factory while Dainard was drunk, and takes Dainard away in handcuffs.

Four months later, Joe's friend Charles Kaznyk (Riley Griffiths) hires Dainard's daughter Alice (Elle Fanning) to be the lead actress in his low budget zombie movie on Super 8 film. Alice steals her father's car and takes Joe, Charles, Preston (Zach Mills), Martin (Gabriel Basso), and Cary (Ryan Lee) to an old train depot in order for the group to film a scene. During the shoot, Joe witnesses a pick-up truck drive onto the tracks towards an oncoming train, which causes a massive derailment. Recovering from the accident, the kids find the wreck littered with strange white cubes. The kids approach the truck and discover Dr. Woodward (Glynn Turman), their biology teacher, behind the wheel of the truck. He instructs them to never talk about what they saw; otherwise, they and their parents will be killed. Moments afterwards, the U.S. Air Force, led by Colonel Nelec (Noah Emmerich), arrives to secure the crash site while the kids flee.

After days of strange phenomena including pets running miles away, kitchen appliances, car engines, and power lines disappearing, people being abducted, the Air Force deliberately starts a wildfire outside of town. This gives them a pretense to evacuate the entire town to the local Air Force base. At the base, Joe finds Dainard, who tells him that a creature abducted Alice. Joe, Charles, Cary, and Martin sneak back into town and head to their school, where they break into Woodward's stash of confiscated items, thinking he may have hidden in the stash documentation about the creature that might help them save Alice. In the papers, film, and audio recordings found, they discover that the government imprisoned an extraterrestrial (Bruce Greenwood) that crashed on Earth in 1958. The alien only wished to rebuild its ship using the shapeshifting white cubes, and return home, but was instead imprisoned and tortured by the Air Force in order to learn from the creature's advanced technology and intellect. One film shows Woodward, a researcher at the time, being attacked by the alien. This physical contact caused him to form a telepathic bond with the alien, through which he learned that it only wanted to go home. By colliding with the train, he hoped to free the alien.

Colonel Nelec and his men storm the school and capture the boys. They place the children on a security bus and head back to the Air Force base but are attacked by the alien on the way. Nelec and his men are killed while Joe and his friends escape. The kids head through the town, which is now under heavy fire from malfunctioning military equipment as the military attempts to battle the alien. They find the alien's subterranean lair near the cemetery where Joe's mother is buried, along with dozens of missing people who have been trapped there by the alien. In the lair, they discover that the alien was using the town's missing electronics to create an electromagnet around the base of the water tower. Joe manages to rescue Alice, but as they make their escape, the alien grabs Joe, who tells the creature that it can still live. The alien, through its tactile telepathic ability, understands and lets go of Joe, allowing him and his friends to escape. Shortly after, all the cubes as well as loose metal from around the town are attracted to the water tower. The cubes begin to align and a ship begins to take form around the town's water tower. Joe's metal locket, which contains a baby picture of him with his mother, is also sucked upwards and, after a moment, he decides to let it go. After this, the locket completes the pile and everyone watches as the ship takes off toward space.

During the end credits, the full movie that Charles and his friends were working on titled The Case, is shown with an epilogue featuring Charles pleading the film festival judges to select his movie.

As the title of this blog post goes, you can guess it: This movie feels almost like ET meets The Host.

It's pretty amazing to see our Early Edition guy back out from hiding and into acting again, since the last time I saw him was in King Kong (which I totally didn't know it was him until after I devoured 4 seasons of Early Edition). Though he doesn't have too much roles, but when he did, he played his role pretty well.

Often times, we're so used to adults being the main focus of the films, that we tend to not realize that sometimes kids as the main character can make an awesome movie too. We tend to think that if it were kids in the movie, it would be a tame movie with nothing but fluff and stuff. Not this movie.

They cuss and swear just like us, they see things in perspectives that we don't see, and they can do things we wouldn't expect them to be able to do coz we think they're kids and they ended up saving the world, more or less. That's a good drama. Basically super good drama, but a bit kiddier, yet like The Goonies but slightly more adult-ish than that.

The alien is super cool! I may sound like a xenophile right now but it is such a huge yet cute lovable thing! It's like taking hostages underground so that no one will bother him (like The Host) but he didn't really mean to do it or hurt anyone because he just wants to go home (like ET). The way he carried the kid was pretty cool though. I wish I could be able to be carried like that. It looks like fun.

This movie definitely recommendable to watch if you're a big fan of J.J. Abram's works like Lost and Fringe. I'd give this a 8.5/10

Third Time's The Charm

2011-11-19T06:18:00.002-08:00

Last night my hubby and I went to watch the long awaited 3rd installment of Transformers after seeing the awesome-tastic trailer. Keeping our fingers crossed, of course, since we felt a little cheated out of the 2nd movie (though personally I kinda find the 2nd movie OK).

Rather than giving you the plot, here's what one reviewer said that sums up how I feel about the movie:

Transformers 3 is a movie about how wrong you were to hate Transformers 2

Charlie Jane Anders — A lot of people paid a lot of money to hate Transformers 2. The movie made enough money for Michael Bay to bathe in the blood of supermodels every hour, for the rest of his life. But people loathed it.

So with Transformers 3, Michael Bay has made a movie about how dumb you were to hate Transformers 2, and how much you hurt his feelings by dissing his movie. Partly, he does this by making a note-for-note remake of Transformers 2. And partly, he does this by lecturing the audience about how unappreciated he feels.

The good news is, Transformers 3 is a better movie than Transformers 2. But it's not as good as the first Transformers, by any stretch of the imagination. Giant robotic spoilers ahead!

So the theme of Transformers: Dark of the Moon is not by any means subtle, because well, it's Michael Bay. The whole film is about how people do not appreciate Shia LaBeouf's character, even though he saved the world twice. The government people, including a stubbornly non-kittenish Frances McDormand, don't appreciate Shia. Random soldiers don't appreciate Shia. The people holding interviews for crappy entry-level jobs don't appreciate Shia. Even Shia's supermodel girlfriend kind of thinks he's a loser who should get a job. Why don't they understand how special Shia is?

The actual conflict of the film is the opposite of Transformers 2 — in the second movie, everybody desperately wanted Shia to come back and save the world again, but he was too busy being in college and having a normal life. It was your standard "I want to be normal even though I'm really awesome" storyline. But this time around, Shia desperately wants to help save the world one more time, but everybody keeps telling him to go have a normal life and stop trying to help. Shia is forced to go through a slew of humiliating job interviews and stuff, and even his giant robot buddies are too busy blowing up Libya and Eastern Europe to tell him how great he is. Worst of all, Shia's supermodel girlfriend is kind of flirting with her ultra-rich boss, played by Dr. McDreamy from Grey's Anatomy.

The main emotion that comes off Shia LaBoeuf, from the first frame to the last, is a bitchy, indignant rage, interspersed with feeble attempts at ingratiation. Mutt is pissed. This is way worse than the time those monkeys kept grabbing his butt. This time, it's his self-worth and his ability to abseil off a robot's neck to glory that are being called into question, over and over again. Don't they know he got the Matrix of motherfucking Leadership last time around? And a medal from the motherfucking president?

After a few hours of seeing Shia get dissed, overlooked and mistreated, the message becomes clear: Shia, as always, is a stand-in for Michael Bay. And Bay is showing us just what it felt like to deal with the ocean of Haterade — the snarking, the Razzie Award, the mean reviews — that Revenge of the Fallen unleashed.

In case it's not clear enough, Bay throws in another clue: John Turturro's character, who was working in a deli in the second movie, is fabulously rich in the third. He has written a tell-all book about aliens, which everybody dismisses as just crackpot conspiracy theories — but it's still made him millions and millions of dollars. Just the same way that everybody dismisses Michael Bay's last film, even though it made obscene quantities of money.

And because everybody just wants Shia to get a real job and have a life, instead of trying to recapture his former world-saving glory, the entire world risks being destroyed. Because Shia is the only one who can save the day.

It's not really a spoiler to say that the final hour of this film includes a series of scenes where absolutely everybody stands around saying how wrong they were to ignore Shia, and how awesome Shia really is.

That's the reaction Michael Bay is envisioning you'll have by the end of this film: a deep remorse that you ever doubted him, and a profound appreciation for his contribution to the continued awesomeness of the world.

(Meanwhile, the actual plot of Transformers 3 is basically the same as Transformers 2. There's an ancient, super-powerful Transformer, who knows secrets. And there's a super-powerful piece of Cybertronian technology, which will destroy the sun or cause the sky to blow up or something. And Sam is the only one who can save the day. A lot of the same story beats happen, in roughly the same order, in both films.)

To prove to you that you love him, Michael Bay knows that he must turn everything up to 11,000 this time around. He has to blaze a pure, bright after-image of his Bay-ness in your mind, so that you walk out of the theater blinking and spitting up lung pieces and knowing what the fuck Michael Bay is all about. Your eyeballs will be twice as bludgeoned. Your adult diaper will be twice as heavily laden! This time, it'll be in 3D! All of the excesses from the previous two films will be doubly in excess — except for the hip hop Autobots, who are gone.

He does this in two ways:

1) Delivering a few of the smoothest, most gorgeous action scenes he's ever created. There's about 30 minutes of stunning fight choreography, urban destruction and joyriding, buried in this two hour, 34-minute movie. You could edit TF3 down to a 90-minute action film, and most people would agree that it's a decent movie. (Forget the Director's Cut. For movies like this, we need the Bathroom Attendant's Cut.)

Several of TF3's action scenes are definitely better than the confusing mess that was every part of Transformers 2 except for the forest duel. There's a sequence where a giant robot snake tentacle-porns a building that Shia LaBeouf is in, which steals brazenly from Cloverfield and Inception, and yet still manages to make you hold your breath with its audacity and vividness. (On the other hand, large chunks of action are still confusing, nonsensical and bloated.)

2) Making every other part of the movie as obnoxious as possible — and making the transitions as jarring as he can. TF3 feels like three different movies, edited together by a lemur on provigil. There's the weirdest, most unfunny comedy you've ever seen. There's an incredibly solemn political thriller where people uncover the truth about the Apollo Moon landings, and debate the role in our society of giant robots that turn into cars and trucks. And then there's a bloated but occasionally fantastic action film. None of these three films feels like they belong together, but Bay also works hard to heighten the discord.

Why does Bay bog down his pretty serviceable action movie with long stretches of brain-meltingly unfunny comedy, and idiot plot wrangling? It's partly because he wants you to love his work for what it is — all of his work, including all the horrible parts. And it's partly because he knows he's making a kids' movie, and he thinks kids enjoy uncomfortable jokes about gay toilet sex.

But still — the transitions between unfunny humor, heavy-handed exposition and occasionally awesome action are so abrupt and weird, that they draw attention to themselves. It's almost like Bay wants us to witness his movie's tone in mid-transition, like a mechanism caught halfway between a robot gladiator and a mid-priced family sedan.

Because the awkward lurches from one type of movie to another are the message.

Michael Bay wants to slam you off your axis, like a building being knocked sideways by a prehensile robot penis from outer space. So he can awaken you to the truth. When Asian men thrust their crotches in your face — in 3D — while screaming "Deep Wang! Deeeep WANG!", or Alan Tudyk (!) impersonates a gay ex-Nazi manservant in a weird suit, you are being reprogrammed. Michael Bay is flooding your brain with random input, so that a parade of colorful anthropomorphic vehicles can roll into the center of your cortex and turn into a whirl of CG tubes.

It's not an accident that this film draws way more attention to the process of robotic transformation than previous films. By now, the CG is smooth enough that we can see the robots changing shape as they roll/jog across the screen, with no pause to grow legs. Shia and other human characters are constantly being tossed in mid-air and caught by robots, that turn into cars, that the humans are suddenly inside. You can go from a hundred feet in the air, falling without a parachute, to being inside a moving car, in seconds. And now that it's all in 3D, the camera itself appears able to change shape as well, depending on how deep Michael Bay's wang wants to get.

After a while, you no longer even feel the transition between tones — you feel two or three tones simultaneously. Asian men, especially Ken Jeong, are both ludicrous and ominous at the same time. New leading lady Rosie Huntington-Whitely — who makes Megan Fox seem like Katharine Hepburn — spends the final hour of the movie looking as though she's ready to have a nervous breakdown and give a lapdance. The supporting cast from the first two movies is grim and silly at the same time.

Tone is for single-purpose machines. Consistency is for Decepticons. Michael Bay's ideal movie shifts from action movie to teen comedy to political drama with the same well-lubricated ease that his cars become men. By the time you've finished watching Transformers 3, you will speak Michael Bay's cinematic language. Your brain will be as supple and as formless as Optimus Prime.

And only then will you develop a full appreciation for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the movie you scorned.

LOL! Couldn't have worded better myself, Charlie XD

But I have to admit, despite the fact that I have nothing against Transformers 2 (if you put aside the comedy and enjoy it as it is), Transformers 3 is actually much better than the second one.

Absolute cool robots, awesome-tastic action moves, crazy-ass explosion and car chases and whatnot, and totally cool and foolproof plotlines, that was the perfect closure for the movie and all. Though I was hoping they didn't kill off Megatron. Megatron has always been the pivotal villain that shapes the awesomeness and the foundation of Transformers.

The only beef I prolly have about this movie is that there are some unnecessary scenes in there that were prolly too long for my liking, but then again, not too big of a beef really.

A pretty good movie, if you into the closure of Transformers, but I have a feeling that it wouldn't be the last time we'll ever see this franchise

Saw Franchise

2011-11-19T06:18:00.001-08:00

Ask anyone about Saw, even those who never really watched but heard of it, and the first thing that'll cross their mind will be blood, gore, violence and death traps. This is probably one of the most prominent and best slasher film I have ever watched, and by far the longest franchise since Halloween

This one is, by far, still the best of all the series in the franchise. When my BFF and his housemate bought the DVD of this movie, I was absolutely horrified by it. We were like "Oh shit! Oh fuck! Oh gross! Oh holy SHIT! I SHAT BRICKS!!" throughout the entire movie, and the twist at the end was just amazing. It was like "ZOMGWTFBBQ??? How the fuck did THAT happen?? That was totally unexpected!!!" Yes, and gross too, cleverly grossed out. Thank goodness they say it's not suitable for the faint of heart or for pregnant women, because this is definitely NOT your average slasher movie!

When I heard there was a sequel to this movie, I jumped to the chance to watch this. The gore and blood delivered, but maybe not as good as it did in the first movie. Though they really delivered at the twist ending, as they always do, because if the police had listened to him and stayed behind instead of go running off like a lunatic towards the site, he would've actually be able to rescue his kidnapped son. Which is why you really need to pay attention to the wordplay that Jigsaw does when it comes to his games

This movie is all about the test of faith, and how sometimes when you try to train the perfect successor, most of the time, they often end up disappointing you. Which is the case of Amanda who was drafted and trained to become Jigsaw's apprentice. This also involves a lot of word play and psychological connections between this event and that event, and as usual the twists delivers more so than the blood and gore, though I still end up cringing and shouting "Oh shit! Oh fuck! Oh shit!" every time a trap just ends up killing someone. It was, though, a good shock to find out that not only was this test meant for the guy, it was meant for Amanda as well when Jigsaw realized she was getting a little too bloodlust for her own good and designing inescapable prisons, so yeah, kudos to that mind-fuck

Everything here in this movie is pretty much standard issue, though I don't remember much of this part. Only that the gore and blood still delivered, and more tie-ins from the 3rd directly to this 4th, as well as having another apprentice at hand, in which Amanda had never knew existed, which was actually quite a shocker to me, and a revelation that Saw will definitely continue on with more installments

Don't really remember much about this part of the movie either, well, maybe a little, which involves most of the traps needing to have cooperation of everyone instead of just one person die per trap, which is pretty creative, since from here, you can see true human nature in their instincts to survive and willing to let others die just so they themselves might live. The water box on the head thing was pretty smart though when the guy just stabbed a pen or tube or something through his throat so he could breathe through there (which I actually tested the authenticity of it by holding my nose and mouth). The one where they had to get certain pints of blood was pretty much the kicker that made me cringe

Here, Jigsaw's wife played quite the role in it as well as showing more extra backstory for Jigsaw and how he truly came to become the man he was today. Hoffman, as usual, played his game, but with Jill's involvement in this, the story just gets deeper and deeper, and the usual one person per death thing went on as it usually does. I totally went "Holy fuck, I shat brickz" during the part where the lady had to cut her hand off to win the game, and the carousel thing was just brutal, and the part where the son bloody hell pushed the button to kill the guy using acid and melted off his entire gut and just dissolved him in half. Ugh, that was really terrible. Though towards the end where Jill tries to end the legacy by killing Hoffman, since he himself was getting a little out of control, I was surprised he was able to figure out how to stop the reverse bear trap from snapping his face in half but stuffing the trap and lodged in the rail to stop it from opening, but still tore his right jaw a bit. That was quite the Ouch factor

The true final installment of Saw, which I had the courtesy of borrowing it from my kismesis, was, as usual, delivering in the blood and gore, and it's by far the best conclusion Saw has ever produced. They decided to pay homage to their roots and start off with the one death per trap thing, targeting a fraud who claims to have been the victim of Jigsaw and made his name and fame through the lies, and he had to (predictably) pay the price for his sins, while on the sidelines, Hoffman is getting back his revenge on Jill for almost killing him, which then at the end of the movie, came back in full circle towards the movie that started it all with the guy who hacked his leg off as the very first Jigsaw apprentice, locking him in the bathroom that started it all and throwing away the key.

The Saw Franchise have finally come towards its end, and ended it in a full circle back to where it all began, back to where it started, which is a pretty epic way to go, if not for the fact that it still looked like it had room for more of those nasties to continue. But overall it was a fun ride and I'm glad I followed through the entire franchise.

All I can say is: We haven't really truly seen the last of Jigsaw and his game legacy.

Insidious

2011-11-19T06:17:00.001-08:00

When we saw the trailer, it was already awesome enough as the uber spook factor was there. When we noticed that it was produced by the guys who did Paranormal Activity and directed by the guys who did the Saw franchise, we (or to be accurate, me, since my hubby is frit about horror movies) were so damn excited to watch it. When my childhood friends came to Brunei from KK for a business trip, and they were craving for a scary movie, I absolutely jumped to the chance to ask them to watch it, since it premiered since last Thursday. Totally needed an excuse to drag my hubby along to watch it. XD

Plotline is as follows:

Plot

Renai and Josh Lambert (Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson) moved into a new house with their three children. One morning, Renai begins looking through a family photo album with her son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins). He asks why there are no pictures of Josh when he was a child. Renai reasons that he was not good at keeping photos. Dalton tells Renai he is scared of his new room; she calms him down and stacks a few books on a nearby shelf. When she finds the books lying on the floor later, Renai tells Dalton to put them back after he looks at them. Dalton claims that he did not touch them. Sometime later, as Dalton is playing, he hears noises in the attic and goes to investigate. He steps on an old ladder to turn on the light when it breaks, causing Dalton to fall. He starts screaming after looking at a shadowy corner. Renai and Josh help him, then tuck him into bed, confident he only took a minor fall and scared himself. The next day Josh goes to wake Dalton, but he does not move. They rush him to the hospital where the doctors say he is in an unexplained coma. Three months later he is still in a coma and they bring him home to care for him.

Over the next few days, disturbing events begin to occur. Renai believes the house is haunted and confronts Josh about the events. He does not believe her, so Renai shows him a bloody handprint on Dalton's bedsheets. Shortly afterwards, Renai is almost attacked by a mysterious man in the bedroom, which triggers the house alarm. Josh rushes to Renai, but he finds no one else in the room. Josh finally agrees with Renai to move. In the new house, increasingly violent and supernatural events begin to happen again. Josh's mother, Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), believes Renai's reports of the haunting and contacts a friend, Elise Reiner (Lin Shaye), who deals in paranormal activity. The family, Elise and her team go into Dalton's room. There, she sees something on the ceiling and describes it to one of her men, who draws it. It is a dark, demonic figure with a red face, claw-like fingernails and hooves.

Elise explains to Renai and Josh that Dalton has the ability to astral project. This means that he can wander around the parallel spirit world. But Dalton had wandered too far from his physical body, to a place which she calls "the Further", and interacts with the lost souls of the dead and demons. He does this in his sleep, which he thinks are simply dreams. She also reveals that his astral projection has attracted the powerful demon in the drawing, which has drawn Dalton into "the Further" and separated him from his body in the hopes that he can take it over. His human body is still in the real world, but his spirit is inside "the Further". Elise and Lorraine reveal to the couple that Josh also can astral project, and that he was terrorized by a terrifying spirit during his childhood. Josh's mother shows them pictures from Josh's childhood. In each, a shadowy old woman lurks ever closer behind Josh. Elise suggests that Josh should use his ability to enter "the Further" and free Dalton's soul. Skeptical, Josh disagrees, but later relents when he discovers that Dalton has been drawing pictures of his "dreams" that resemble Elise's descriptions. Elise instructs Josh on how to enter "the Further". Josh finds Dalton and leads him out of a disturbing and strange room, narrowly escaping the red-faced demon. Just before Josh himself escapes, he confronts the old woman. He repeatedly yells that he is unafraid of her. The old woman retreats and appears to have been scared off. Josh awakens, as does Dalton.

Later, Dalton, Renai and Lorraine are eating in the kitchen. In another room, Elise notices something strange about Josh. She grabs a camera and snaps a picture of him. Suddenly, Josh goes into a rage and strangles Elise. Renai hears the noise and runs into the room to find Elise dead. She calls out to Josh, but receives no answer. She picks up the camera that Elise used from the floor and screams. She sees, not a picture of Josh, but the old woman. Just then, Josh assures Renai that he's right there and grabs her shoulder. She turns around, terrified, and gasps as the screen cuts to black.

One thing is for sure, this horror movie is absolutely made me shat bricks!

The pacing was good, and the creepy and horror factor starts almost immediately, though in its all subtlety and the build-up was very good. Throughout the movie, you would actually notice that the director actually tried to insert a bit of their trademark Saw franchise that made them famous, the kicker being the Jigsaw Doll on the blackboard.

Throughout the movie, you can catch glimpses trademarks of both movies: the subtle build-up, the camera angles to each room, the gadgets used during the seance and the like. And they managed to even crack a little humour in it, especially at the part where the power blew out and the psychic's assistants kept switching to bigger and bigger lights. LOL! That was quite the larf.

The ghosts and their appearances is also pretty good because it was one of those moments where you KNOW they're gonna show up, but you just get scared the bajeesus out of yourselves anyway. And also there are some freaky ghost experiences where you have to end up looking around like you do with Paranormal Activity because there is just something about things that you can't see that really freaks the hell outta ya. They even have a nice good ol' Saw twist at the ending too, which really screams their trademark style.

Overall, it's an amazing movie that should not be missed. Both guys, together, made a really good team in making prolly one of the best horror movies by far. If you are a Paranormal Activity and a Saw franchise fan, you absolutely MUST watch this as it is absolutely mouth-screaming, body-jumping, bricks-shat inducing movie!!

Overall rating: 9.5/10

Retreat, Hell!!

2011-11-19T06:16:00.004-08:00

When the trailer came out, I was absolutely blown away, and it kinda sorta makes me think of a possible D9 sequel where the Prawns come back to revenge against them, if it weren't for the fact of the title saying "LA" instead of "Johannesburg" XD

Plot is as follows:

Plot
On August 11, 2011, mysterious objects thought to be meteorites crash into Earth's oceans near several major cities. These objects are revealed to be spacecraft, containing hostile alien forces. The U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton arrive in Los Angeles to defend against alien ground forces and assist in the evacuation of civilians, in preparation for a bombing campaign. Among the military's forces are Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), a U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant who had planned to retire, and his new platoon.^[7]

The Platoon Commander, 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez (Ramón Rodríguez), attends a briefing at a FOB (Forward Operating Base). The platoon's mission is to rescue civilians from a LAPD police station with a three-hour time limit before the Air Force bombs the area. They are ambushed by aliens multiple times and suffer casualties. They also encounter a group of U.S. Army soldiers from the 40th Infantry Division, including an Air Force intelligence Technical Sergeant Elena Santos (Michelle Rodriguez). Eventually, the combined team reaches the police station, finding five civilians inside. A helicopter arrives and attempts to evacuate some of the wounded Marines, but it is destroyed by the aliens upon takeoff.^[7]

The Marines commandeer a bus for evacuation. During this ordeal, they learn of the aliens' weaknesses and military tactics, finding that alien infantry have a weak point in the torso and that the alien aircraft are remote-controlled drones. The Marines speculate that there must be a central command center, and that the destruction of this command center would cripple the enemy forces. On a freeway, the bus is attacked and the Marines begin rappelling the civilians off the side of the freeway. One of the civilians, Joe Rincon (Michael Peña), is wounded after firing on the aliens. Martinez is also wounded and sacrifices himself by detonating explosives inside the bus shortly after placing Nantz in command of the platoon.^[7]

Nantz leads what remains of the platoon outside the bombing zone, and they rest at a convenience store. A news report speculates that the aliens have attacked Earth for its water supply. The team waits for the bombing to begin, but nothing happens. They arrive at the FOB, only to discover that it has already been destroyed by the aliens, nullifying the airstrike. They decide to head for another extraction point, where a helicopter should be available to evacuate them but Rincon dies before they reach the new extraction point. As they are being evacuated, Nantz spots a large black area on the ground, where electric power seems to be disabled. Nantz believes the black area to be the location of the alien command center, and that it is hidden underground. Nantz disembarks from the helicopter, his platoon follows, planning to find the exact location of the command center so they can call in a missile strike.^[7]

Going underground, the Marines confirm the presence of a large alien vessel. They return to the surface and succeed in calling in a missile strike. However, the command center remains intact, and rises from the ground. The Marines repel alien forces as more missiles are launched at the hovering command center and, eventually, they are able to destroy it and alien ground forces begin to retreat.^[7]

Soon after, the team is extracted to a temporary base in the Mojave Desert, where they are greeted as heroes for their outstanding bravery. All other cities under attack now plan to emulate their strategy, destroying the alien command center in each city. More forces are being sent to Los Angeles to finish off the aliens there. Despite orders to rest, Nantz and the platoon instead rejoin the fight.^[7]

One thing about watching movies like this is to watch with an open mind and don't put too much high expectations on it before watching to actually enjoy it, because that's exactly what I did and it was actually worth it, better than expected actually.

Despite warnings of it being a PWP movie, it was actually pretty good, and it does have a bit of backstory in between. As my hubby put it, it's like watching Black Hawk Down, but with aliens. I was absolutely amazed at the way they filmed it in almost like documentary style because of the camera-shaking (despite reviews complaining about that), making you wonder how the damn aliens look like, and the crafts and weaponry are just totally kicked ass! Although not as kick-ass as D9, of course

Those aliens kinda remind me of Ridley Scott's aliens, judging by their body structure and exo-skeleton, but with alien titanium armour, and they can handle weaponry, and purrs and talks like Predator. LOL! What a mesh to make XD

There are quite heartstring-tugging moments, especially when Rincon risked his life to pick up a gun to save one of the marines from being shot by the alien, and also the part where they find out just how hard the Staff Sergeant was taking the deaths of the comrades he had lost during his last mission, and how he keeps doing crazy ass stunts as if in a way to atone for his sins of living while his comrades were dead. That was pretty dramatic there, and I actually cried at the part where Staff Sergeant consoled Rincon's son.

It's a recommendable movie. Ignore reviews, trust your gut instincts and watch with an open mind and with not too much high expectation. That's all I can say about it. Overall, I would give this movie 7.5/10

Malaysia Boleh!

2011-11-19T06:16:00.003-08:00

When I saw the trailer playing at the cinemas, I was thinking, "Oh, wow, another Malay historical movie that would probably bore me to death", but when I noticed that there were nice pretty-looking Englishmen and they were playing the roles of the Roman Empire, I was actually intrigued because it is very seldom that foreigners would even want to play a role in a Malaysian film unless that actor/actress themselves are half-Malaysian, so I decided to give it a shot.

By chance, on a girl's night out, I watched this movie with my gal pal. Plotline is as follows:

Synopsis

In the year 120, Roman Empire at that time under the reign of Hadrian, while in China, Han dynasty are a powerful empire and has expanded its rule to the Central Asian countries. During the Roman forces are repairing their vessels in Goa, they asked for help Merong Mahawangsa Rome to accompany the Prince of Langkasuka (said to be located in the north of Malaysia) to China to marry a beautiful princess of the Han Dynasty.

However, pirates of the Garuda clan has a different design. They decide to kidnap Princess of China and make it as a hostage. At the end of irrigation Strait of Malacca, Merong Mahawangsa and the fleet was attacked by Garuda. Thus, the duty to rescue Princess Merong Mahawangsa China and integrate him with the Prince of Rome to find a marriage of two great civilizations of East and West.^[1]

The first thing that popped outta my head after watching the show was "Wow! That was the best, most flashy history lesson I've ever had!" XD

Malaysian historical adaptations and such had always been one of my bane of watching Malaysian-made movies because they are utterly boring, talks too much and have very fake and lame fight scenes.

But this one totally cuts the cake! It has action, comedy, slight romance (albeit humorously) and plenty of blood, gore and blood. LOL! It's absolutely amazing! Though I notice there is a bit of 300-ish there, and my mind was like thinking "Copyright infringement!" And I gotta admit, Malaysia has come a long, long way to get to this point, because their special effects are pretty awesome. Still needs a bit of work to make it look more genuine, but overall, it was awesome and illustrates the story much, much better than before (and if you're a fellow Malaysian, you'd agree that back then, our special effects totally sucked).

I absolutely LOVE the guy who played the Roman Prince! He is like sooooooooooo handsome! Makes me wish I'm the Han Princess~! :p~ And the person who plays as Merong's lover, Embok is sooooooooooooooooooooooooo pretty. Probably the prettiest Malay girl I have ever seen in my life! Though I have suspicions that she looked more Indon than Malay. Maybe she's a mix. If I were a man, I'd tap that! XD

The only beef that I have would probably be Merong himself who speaks Malay rather woodily. Maybe it's because in real life, he's actually a half-English/Welsh-half-Malay and doesn't know a single word of Malay, thus he has to learn his words phonetically. LOL! And weirdly enough the guy who is supposed to play a China admiral needed to voice-dubbed for his Chinese speaking! What the heck! You're Chinese! You should know how to speak Chinese! Not needing a voice dub to help you speak Chinese! Geez, even Merong pronounces his Chinese better than you, albeit stockily, but still! LOL!

A recommendable movie for those who are into Malay history and also for those who support Malaysian-made movies. Malaysia Boleh!

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Narnia Returns

2011-11-19T06:16:00.001-08:00

We actually wanted to watch this movie in the cinemas after seeing the trailer and when it premiered, but we were so caught up with our own busy lifestyle and work that we missed it (also because we weren't sure if it would be any better than the previous two movies, after having being tricked by so many bad sequels), so my hubby decided to compensate by getting the download version of it.

Plotline is as follows:

Plot

One year after the events of Prince Caspian, Lucy and Edmund Pevensie are staying with their cousin Eustace Scrubb. When water pours from a painting of a ship on the ocean hanging in Lucy’s bedroom, Lucy, Edmund and Eustace are transported into an ocean in Narnia.

They are rescued by Caspian and Reepicheep, and taken aboard the Dawn Treader, the ship featured on the painting. Caspian invites them on a voyage to rescue the seven Lords of Narnia whom his uncle Miraz banished.

They first visit the Lone Islands, where people are sold as slaves. Caspian and Edmund were imprisoned while Lucy and Eustace were sold as slaves. Caspian meets one of the lost lords, who reveals that the slaves are sacrificed to a mysterious mist. The Dawn Treader crew rescues them, reclaimed the Lone Islands. The lord gives Caspian a sword originally given by Aslan.

At another island Lucy is abducted by invisible Dufflepuds who force her to enter the manor of Coriakin, a magician. Lucy finds a book of incantations and recites a visibility spell after discovering different incantations such as beauty and snow. They later meet Coriakin who encourages them to defeat the mist by laying seven swords at Aslan's Table. While journeying, Lucy casts the beauty incantation, transforming into Susan. She finds herself with Edmund and Peter and finds that Lucy nor Narnia exist. Aslan reveals himself to Lucy and explains the consequences of doubt.

They later visit a volcanic island. Edmund, Lucy and Caspian discover a magical pool and another sword, while Eustace discovers and steals some treasure. Edmund and Caspian look for him while a dragon attacks the Dawn Treader who turns out to be Eustace. Reepicheep later tries to amend the situation and befriends Eustace. Then they later arrive at Aslan’s Table with three lost lords asleep around it. As they place the swords on the table they realise one is still missing. The star descends from the sky and turns into Lilliandil, a beautiful woman who guides them to the Dark Island, lair of the mist. The crew voyages to the island and discovers the last surviving Lord. He warns them not to think of their fears but Edmund fails, his fear manifesting as a sea serpent that attacks the ship. A sword is thrown at Eustace, stabbing him. Eustace flies away, landing on a sandy island and encountering Aslan, who transforms him back into a boy and sends him to Ramandu's island with the last sword. The mist tries distracting Edmund by appearing as Jadis, the White Witch. Eustace overcomes the mist and puts the sword on the table, awaking the three sleeping lords and destroying the mist; the sea serpent becomes defeated and they rescue the sacrificed people.

Eustace rejoins Lucy, Edmund, Caspian and Reepicheep and they sail to a sea covered in lilies, eventually finding a shore before a massive wave. Aslan appears to them and tells them that His country lies beyond, although if they go they may never return. Reepicheep decides to enter, and Aslan blesses him before he paddled above the wave. Aslan opens a portal in the wave to send Lucy, Edmund and Eustace home, telling them that Lucy and Edmund will never return to Narnia. Aslan encourages them to know Him in their world by another name, and tells Eustace that he may return. Edmund and Lucy bid farewell to Caspian and Aslan before entering the portal with Eustace. The three are returned to the bedroom at Eustace's house.

Although it's not entirely as good as the first installment, it's definitely much better than the second installment, and I actually quite enjoyed it.

The adventures were just as good and exciting as ever, though sadly there were only a few known characters that came back from the second movie, which is Prince Caspian (who have somehow grew his facial hair and I finally understood why are fangirls swooning over him, coz he looks HOT now!), Reepicheep the rat and the minotaur, oh, and the White Witch.

Eustace was really quite the nuisance in the beginning, and he really got on my nerves just hearing him talk, as if trying to reason with himself that this is all just a big dream and he will wake up from it sooner or later, and also behaved exactly as how Edmund behaved back then when he was younger. Of course, he wised up at the end of the movie, which is also pretty much what Edmund had as well, especially after the dragon lesson he had went through and his friendship with Reep.

There were a few good larfs, especially the relationship between Eustace and Reep, and also the part where the daughter of Ramandu showed up ala Stardust style and Edmund and Prince Caspian seemed to be slightly smitten with her, among other things. The adventures were pretty cool and it was actually quite exciting despite the short length of that particular adventure, since they were traveling and only stopping by on certain islands.

The only beef I had was that Peter and Susan are no longer playing the role in this movie, only a couple of cameos here and there, and Aslan has so little roles~!! Gah, he only appears as an apparition, then appears to bust the curse of the dragon off Eustace, then finally just to send them off. Meh~! I wish he had played a bigger part in this movie as he had in the 1st movie. It would be so amazing. My urge to hug that big furball haven't dissipated though, and hearing him say that "You will learn about me in another name" totally proves that C.S. Lewis planted a lot of Christianity innuendo into his stories.

Isn't it ironic that Tolkien and Lewis are BFFs, and Tolkien being the devout Catholic wrote about things that are non-Christianity innuendos while Lewis being the atheist wrote about things that are Christianity innuendo? LOL!

Overall, this movie delivers, and apparently a prequels is in the works, and I am so looking forward to it~! ^_^

Your Mind Can Set You Free

2011-11-19T06:15:00.003-08:00

My hubby and I have always been a huge fan of Zack Snyder's works, especially his awesome-tastic movie 300 ("Tonight we dine in hell~!! Yeah~!!), so when we saw the trailer for this movie and the hoobastank crazy-ass movie sequences and special effects, we were totally looking forward to it. Luckily, at first try (usually it'll take ages before you can get through our cinemas' phoneline), I managed to book tickets for the premiere of this movie. Yay me! XD

Plotline is as follows:

Premise

Snyder has described the film as "Alice in Wonderland with machine guns", including dragons, B-25 bombers and brothels. Snyder's wife and producing partner Deborah Snyder concludes, "in the end, it's about this girl's survival and what she needs to do to be able to cope."^[8] In November 2010, Warner Bros. released the official synopsis for the film.^[9]

Set in the 1950s, Babydoll (Emily Browning), who was sent to a mental institution in Brattleboro, Vermont by her step-father, has only her dreams and vivid imagination to provide an escape from her dark reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, blurring the lines between what's real and what is imaginary.

Although she has been locked away, Babydoll has not lost her will to survive. Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four other young girls - the outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), the street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), the fiercely loyal Amber (Jamie Chung), and the reluctant Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) — to band together and try to escape from their captors, Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm).

Led by Babydoll, the girls engage in fantastical warfare against everything from samurai to serpents, with a virtual arsenal at their disposal. Together, they must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive. But with the help of The Wise Man (Scott Glenn), their journey — if they succeed — will set them free.

Well, crazy-ass special effects and kick-ass action sequences aside, this is actually a pretty good movie and quite a thought-provoking one at that. And I'm not sure if it's just me who notice it but do you realize this director's 1st movie was all testosterone males, then 2nd movie was mostly males, then for this 4th movie (not counting the 3rd movie Legend of Gahool because they're animals) it's all female casts? LOL!

The whole movie is basically showing us the power of the mind, and it was pretty intriguing, to say the least. Being in the theatre and seeing the doctor using the Polish method to cure their patience with music and whatnot, I think Babydoll had taken that into effect and started to escape into her mind to cope with the fact that by seeing the asylum as a performing whore house rather than an actual insane asylum, with Gorski being the mother hen of the pack, the orderly as Blue the pimp, another orderly as the Mayor and the lobotomy doctor as the High Roller.

And during the so-called "dance routine", she escapes even deeper into her mind, which means we are entering her mind within her mind, possibly while she was still imagining herself being in a whore house, the Polish treatment she was given by Dr Gorski using the music therapy made her seep deeper into her mind to imagine even more stuff. So basically whenever there's the music, in the real world, she was being given the Polish treatment, but in her mind, she was asked to do her usual dance routines, in which she didn't know that she was actually escaping deeper into her warped mind. Now that's what I call mind-boggling!

A number of scenes kinda takes homage to popular movies, like LOTR and Kill Bill, and some of the outfits almost screamed "WETA!!" especially the part where it was almost LOTR theme. LOL! It's pretty amazing what your mind can come up with. And the friends that she made were pretty cool too, especially with cute names like Amber, Blondie, Rocket and Sweet Pea and herself as Baby Doll. Amber looked really familiar though, can't put my mind as to who is she in other movies.

I like the mentor who keeps popping out during the dance/therapy scenes, and he tends to say "Oh, and one more thing...", even more so in the ending of the movie where in real life he was just a bus driver that Baby Doll may have caught sight of during her days before being committed to the asylum.

Even though I have kinda expected that ending, I still feel bad that Baby Doll didn't manage to get out of the asylum and had the happy ending she deserves. In fact, during the part where she was about to be lobotomized, the lobotomy doctor said that before she was lost, he saw that last fire in her eyes as if telling him to do it, which means that during the lobotomy session, her mind was still trapped in that fantasy world and she was really imagining that she was saving Sweet Pea and creating the distraction. To her, that world was real, and it was enough for her.

I find it pretty cool though that everything that had happened actually happened, just not as dramatic as it was portrayed in her mind, but it actually did happen, so it's not entirely fabricated or imagined, just not as fantastic.

Overall, I'd give a 8.5/10 for this movie. Very recommendable to watch

Prey On Your Fears...

2011-11-19T06:15:00.001-08:00

I've gotten myself a rather interesting TV reality show 2 years ago called 13: Fear is Real.

Warning: If you don't want to be hit with spoilers, read no further. You have been warned

Basically the gameplay is this:

Thirteen people compete to stay alive as they face their deepest fears in an all-out elimination competition and scarefest. Pitted against each other in situations straight from the horror movies, the 13 will face shocking surprises, psychological scares and lots of "beware of the dark" moments, all designed by a "mastermind" of terror. In addition to frightening them, he will also entice individuals to work in concert with him and against the others, creating a situation in which the 13 will not only look over their shoulders but will also never be certain who is real before them. The death box was introduced, in which whoever possessed it had the power to kill off one to three other players. The death box had to be hidden, used and found in safety, for if someone else knew they had the box, they could accuse them and be sent to the execution ceremony. If there was a false accusation made, the accuser would then have to go to the execution ceremony.

Each week, one or two unlucky victims will be "killed off" (although there is no solid on-screen evidence that they were killed) via frightening challenges and game-playing until only one person is left to win the grand prize of—fittingly—$66,666.

13: Fear Is Real is produced by Magic Molehill Productions, Inc. and Warner Horizon Television Inc. in association with Jay Bienstock Productions and Ghost House Pictures with executive producers Jay Bienstock (Survivor, The Apprentice), Sam Raimi (the Spider-Man films, the Evil Dead films) and Robert Tapert (the Evil Dead films, The Grudge films).

Everything in this gampeplay here is controlled by the Mastermind. Not much is known about the Mastermind, except the fact that he talks with a distorted voice ala Jigsaw style. In fact, in the last episode, it is revealed he had a brown bag with the prize-$66,666. When Ted stumbles to the cabin, he sees the "supposed" mastermind, but it is really a dummy wearing a solid white mask covering the face.

Below here are the contestants and their detailed description (or my impression on them):

The 13 Contestants

Ted Kirner

He works as a trainer, I think and he, of all the contestants, have the most competitive streak. He often trains on his own, doing exercises and stuff like he was going to join some sort of Olympic race or something, and he has the brains and sometimes can be very manipulative to the point of annoying

Steffinie Phromanny

She is a migrant from Laos. I forgot what she worked as, but she definitely stood out amongst the group as the quiet, silent one. She is afraid of drowning and snakes, which was definitely present all round when she was participating in the games. She was brought up to know the spirit world and claims to have minute sixth sense and have experience in ghostly sightings

Ryan Norys

He is the person that stood out the least. I barely even remember him and I don't even remember what he works as. LOL! He's a bit of a dunce too especially when he kept focusing on his surroundings rather than the gameplay when he was sent for executions, which caused him to "die"

Rodney Craft

He is also of a quiet nature kind of guy who tries not to stand out much, but has his level of friends. He played his part well as The Killer and owner of the Death Box, all the way towards the end when he was killed and revealed to the shocked contestants

Melyssa Nocar

If I'm not mistaken she works as a trainer as well, and is rather fit and competitive, but nevertheless she didn't make it to the finals. She shares a deep bond with her fellow girl mates, especially with Erica

Nasser Goins

He is mostly known to everyone as 'Show' because he love to show his musical talents. He works as a concierge and a rapper and is a family man of two and is the most suspicious person as he had accused someone of owning the Death Box due to his paranoia, but accused wrongly and was sent for execution, but pulled through

Leah Lucas

She works as a bartender, which is ironic, because her biggest fear was the dark. She is the most timid and most scaredy-cat of all the contestants, but surprisingly she actually lasted 3/4 of the game

Lauren Harris

She works as a model and is the classic ditzy dumb blonde. Even though she knows that the dumb blondes always end up being killed first in horror movies, she claimed to be the odd one out and believes she'll last. But sadly, as I expected, she "died" first XD

Laura Paul

I don't really remember much about her actually, since she didn't last past 2nd episode. All I remember about her was that she was accused by Show to be The Killer and owner of the Death Box, but was not, yet in the end, she got dragged together into the execution ceremony when she raised the white flag in surrender and got "killed"

Cody Minshew

He is like the weirdest and most odd contestant I've ever seen, since he's got this crazy-ass punk hairstyle that I would not be caught dead in. He is the most easygoing person among the contestants and surprisingly, he works as a ghosthunter, which serves his purpose as being in this gameshow

Adam Wood

He works as a musician and he's got this perpetual "Duh" blur look on his face, almost like a dumb blonde. But surprisingly he pulled through past 3/4 of the show until he was "killed" by the Death Box

Erica Johnson

I forgot what she worked as, but she is probably the most competitive (and vocal) of all the girls and the only girl to manage to last till the finals. After Rodney was dead and the Death Box free for the taking, she quickly became the next Killer. She hates Ted with a passion more or less.

Kelly Marquardt

She is a devout Christian and believe in the Devil's work and stuff like that, although to my opinion, it only just added more to her overtly innocence and simplicity of her mind. She works as a nursing student and trusts people too much, to the point where Cody worries about him because she just wouldn't see the big picture of things

Well, overall, the gameplay went like this:

Elimination Chart
Name	Age	Hometown	Episodes
Name	Age	Hometown	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Ted Kirner	26	Philadelphia, PA	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	RISK	WINNER
Nasser Goins	26	Philadelphia, PA	SAFE	RISK	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	DEAD
Erica Johnson	24	Waycross, GA	SAFE	IMMUNE	RISK	RISK	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	KILLED
Melyssa Nocar	24	Columbus, OH	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	DEAD
Adam Wood	25	Seattle, WA	SAFE	RISK	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	RISK	KILLED
Leah Lucas	21	Philadelphia, PA	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	RISK	DEAD
Cody Minshew	22	Austin, TX	IMMUNE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	KILLED
Rodney Craft	26	Los Angeles, CA	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	DEAD
Kelly Marquardt	23	San Diego, CA	RISK	SAFE	SAFE	DEAD
Ryan Norys	24	Yorba Linda, CA	SAFE	SAFE	DEAD
Steffinie Phrommany	29	North Hollywood, CA	SAFE	SAFE	KILLED
Laura Paul	27	Medford, OR	SAFE	DEAD
Lauren Harris	24	Cherry Hill, NJ	DEAD

KILLED The contestant was killed by the death box while another contestant possessed it.

DEAD The contestant lost the execution ceremony and therefore died (was eliminated).

RISK The contestant won the execution ceremony, saving themselves from being executed.

RISK The contestant was forced into the execution ceremony due to falsely accusing another contestant of possessing the death box.

IMMUNE The contestant was immune from the execution ceremony.

SAFE The contestant became the killer.

DEAD The contestant was executed while in possession of the death box.

DEAD The contestant became the killer, and was later executed.

WINNER The contestant won 13: Fear is Real.

I never really rooted on anyone, really, coz I was more or less too absorbed by the horror and gameplay of it. Here is how the contestants "died":

Lauren - Suffocated from being buried alive
Laura - Face eaten alive by rats
Ryan - Crushed by a falling tree taken down by a chainsaw
Steffinie - Killed by Rodney with the Death Box
Kelly - Chained and burned alive at the stake
Rodney - Sliced in half by a pendulum
Cody - Killed by Erica via Death Box
Leah - Drowned and attacked by snakes in a locked bathroom filling with water
Adam - Killed by Erica via Death Box
Melyssa - Crushed to death in the trunk of a car
Erica- Killed by Nasser via Special Death Box
Nasser - Killed by a minion wielding an axe

I think this reality TV show has potential, especially when it's done by Sam Raimi, one of the masters of horror. But surprisingly, reviews weren't good, saying things like it was too fake, camera angle was lame, horror was too over-rated, minions weren't realistic enough in manhandling the contestants, deaths were not really confirmed, etc, etc...But if they were to make it any more real, they're gonna have lawsuits, cops and angry mob demanding justice. Sometimes it scares you to know that there are some people who are just plain bloodlust.

Anywho, even though there was no indication of a comeback for 2nd season, I think they should give it a shot. It's pretty good by far. I actually liked it. I'd give it a rating of 7.5/10, and should not be missed. It's very nice, seriously

Rango

2011-11-19T06:14:00.002-08:00

When my hubby and I saw the trailer, our first thought was "Ah ha ha, another animation in the works". Then when it came out on the big screen, after exhausting all other movies that were bigger priority to watch, we finally gave in to give this movie a shot

Plot

Rango, a pet chameleon (Johnny Depp), becomes accidentally stranded in the Mojave Desert after his terrarium falls from his owner's car. After meeting an armadillo named Roadkill (Alfred Molina) who is seeking the mystical Spirit of the West, he narrowly avoids being eaten by a hawk. The next day, after having a surreal nightmare, he meets a desert iguana Beans (Isla Fisher), a rancher's daughter, who takes him to Dirt, an Old West town populated by desert animals.

Beans discovers that the water reserves, stored in a water-cooler bottle in the bank, are dangerously low. At the Gas Can Saloon, Rango, using bravado and improvisation to fit in, presents himself as a tough drifter. He quickly runs afoul of outlaw Bad Bill (Ray Winstone), narrowly avoiding a shootout when the hawk returns, scaring Bill. The hawk chases Rango until by luck Rango kills the predator by crushing it under an empty water tower he's accidentally made collapse. In response, Mayor Tortoise John (Ned Beatty) appoints Rango the new sheriff. A skeptical Beans demands Rango investigate the water problem while the townsfolk worry that the hawk was the only thing keeping gunslinger Rattlesnake Jake from returning to terrorize them.

That night, Rango inadvertently gives some mole robbers the location of the bank and tools to break into the vault. When the townsfolk find their water stolen, Rango organizes a posse that finds bank manager Mr.Merrimack (Stephen Root) dead. They eventually track the robbers to their mountain hideout, only for their leader, Balthazar (Harry Dean Stanton), to reveal that his clan of moles, prairie dogs and others greatly outnumbers the posse. Nabbing the covered wagon water-bottle, the posse flees, chased in a ground and air fight before discovering the bottle is empty. Despite the robbers professing that they'd discovered it empty, the posse returns them to town for trial.

After Rango and Beans deduce that the Mayor has been buying all the nearby land around, Rango recalls the mayor telling him how controlling water equals control of everything. He confronts the mayor, who denies he has done anything wrong and shows Rango that he is building a modern city on the old land. With no proof of the mayor's wrongdoing, Rango leaves, while the mayor orders one of his men to call Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy) — who soon arrives, firing shots with his gatling gun tail. Recognizing that Rango is a fake, Jake runs him out of town after humiliating him and making him admit that everything he told the town about himself is a lie.

Ashamed and no longer knowing who he is, Rango wanders the desert and in a daze meets the Spirit of the West (Timothy Olyphant), a cowboy whom Rango calls the Man with No Name. The Spirit inspires Rango and tells him, "No man can walk out on his own story." With the aid of Roadkill and mystical moving cacti, Rango learns the source of Dirt's water is Las Vegas, and that someone has shut off a water line. Realizing the mayor's hand in this, Rango recruits the hill clan in his plan.

Returning to town, he calls out Jake for a duel — a diversion so that the hill folk and the cacti can flood the town with water. The mayor threatens Beans' life, forcing Rango to surrender. The two are put into the bank vault to drown, while the mayor prepares to shoot Jake, whom he calls a relic. However, Rango manages to take the only bullet from the gun and uses it to break the door of the vault, flooding the room and taking out the mayor and his men. Jake, acknowledging Rango as a worthy opponent for saving his life, grabs the mayor and drags him into the desert to take his revenge. The citizens of Dirt celebrate the return of the water and acknowledge Rango as their hero.

Throughout the film, an owl mariachi band provides commentary that breaks the fourth wall. They have a running gag in which they constantly say that Rango will die at some point, though it never happens.

While reviewers say that this movie is a "kid-movie equivalent to a Quentin Tarantino film", which is a little too exaggerated, it is still a pretty entertaining movie nonetheless.

Certain parts of the movie were pretty obvious, like how Rango was actually a pet and all that, and despite knowing some parts of the movie are just plan ridiculous, you can't help but laugh at it and accept it as it is because it's one of those moments that it's "just so stupid it just might work" kind of feel to it. Though I would like to know what's Rango's real name, since he obviously cooked up that name from the word Durango on his cactus juice bottle

The entire movie felt a bit PotC-ish, maybe because Johnny Depp was in it and the director was the guy who did the PotC franchise. Even the white plains where Rango woke up in when he met the Spirit of the West was hilariously like the scene in PotC3 in Davy Jones' Locker or something! LOL!!

I totally LOL-ed at probably every half-ass ideas that Rango cooked up, though somehow it worked to his favour. I LOL-ed at probably a lot of other things too, like Beans having a faulty self-defense mechanism, making her play possum at the wrong time; Roadkill which is...well, SUPPOSED to be roadkill and yet is still alive (XD); the bird who can still live with an arrow shot through his eye (and probably his brain); and probably the most funniest of all, The Spirit of the West, which is a Clint-Eastwood-ish character from one of Clint Eastwood's famous movies portraying his character as The Man With No Name (too bad the voice is not by him though XD). It's like soooooooooooooooo frickin' obvious!!

I am TOTALLY in LOVE with Rattlesnake Jake!! He is probably the most badass, most sexy western cowboy villain ever! And he has a "moustache" too! LOL! He really is badass and all that jazz! I mean especially the part where he slithers around taunting Rango, sarcastically calling him "brother" and also the part where he was about to kill Beans, she was like "Go to Hell!" and he replies "Where do you think I come from?"

Best part of the entire film

This is a pretty recommendable movie for all ages. OK, maybe not all ages, since I don't think kids below 12 would probably appreciate the violence and all that almost swearing and stuff, but still, it's a good watch that should not be missed.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Make Every Second Count

2011-11-19T06:14:00.001-08:00

When we saw this in the trailers, it looked pretty cool, and after hearing that it was done by the talented guy who did "Moon" (which we quite enjoyed) and also hearing surprisingly amazing reviews about this, we went and caught the second showing.

Plot

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a decorated army helicopter pilot whose last memory is of his recent mission in Afghanistan, flying with his team while taking on enemy gunfire. He awakens on a train headed for Chicago with no memory of how he arrived there. His reflection is of a different man and his wallet says his name is Sean Fentress. Sitting across from him is a woman named Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) who seems to know him as Fentress. Before he can understand what is happening, a bomb goes off and destroys the train.

Stevens then awakens inside a chamber, where he is greeted through a computer screen by Capt. Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga), an Air Force officer who tells Stevens that he is inside the Source Code, a program that allows him to take over someone's body in his or her last eight minutes of life. Earlier that day, a bomb exploded and destroyed a train headed into Chicago, the train that Stevens awoke on. Stevens' mission is to locate the bomb, discover who built it, and report back to Goodwin before the bomber can detonate a second larger bomb, a dirty nuclear device, in downtown Chicago, which could cause the deaths of millions of people.

Stevens is sent back to the train, where he locates the bomb in the ventilation shaft above the bathroom. The bomb explodes again, activated by a cell phone detonator. After the bomb goes off, Stevens sees various blurred images that appear to be fragmented memories from Fentress's past. Stevens reawakens in the chamber, where Goodwin and the Source Code's creator, Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright), tell him that the Source Code is not a simulation, but a visit into the past in the form of an alternative reality. Stevens can perform different actions each time and learn from those actions. He is told that he cannot truly alter the past to save Christina or any of the other passengers, but hopefully the intel he gathers can be used to alter the future and prevent a future attack.

Confused and frustrated, Stevens wonders how he got assigned to this project if it felt like just yesterday he was on mission in Afghanistan. He suspects that Goodwin is not telling him the whole truth when she says that he has been with the Source Code project for two months. Stevens catches a glimpse of Goodwin's uniform insignia during one debriefing, and discovers where Goodwin and Rutledge are assigned. Using a cellphone, he eventually discovers that he supposedly died in the war two months ago and that his injured body was apparently appropriated by the Air Force and used by Rutledge to enter the Source Code. He was chosen because his physical attributes are a close match to Sean Fentress, and his particular injuries allow him to be connected to the Source Code system, due to half of his brain still being "active".

Stevens is sent back several more times. Each time he learns more, and each time the bomb goes off he sees fragmented images of what appear to be memories, with warped and curved reflections. During one debriefing Stevens is made to hear an emotional audio statement from his father (Scott Bakula) concerning his death. Stevens resolves to complete his mission, now with the personal goal of saving Christina and the people on the train if at all possible. On one trip he retrieves a gun from the conductor's compartment on the train and eventually discovers that the bomber is an American extremist named Derek Frost (Michael Arden). Stevens is shot dead in the confrontation, as is Christina, and the bomb on the train goes off, but Stevens was still able to gather enough information about Frost to inform Rutledge and Goodwin after he awakes from the source-code. Authorities are able to apprehend Frost and save Chicago before the second bomb is detonated.

Earlier, Stevens had asked Goodwin and Rutledge to give him one opportunity to try and save all the passengers on the train, and then let him die. Despite Rutledge's attempts to explain that the source code "doesn't work that way", Rutledge agrees to the deal. Now that the mission is over, however, Rutledge reveals his true plan - that Stevens is too valuable to the Source Code project - and, unknown to Stevens, Rutledge orders Stevens' memory wiped/erased instead. Goodwin feels morally obligated to obey the wishes of Stevens, and breaks the chain of command to send Stevens on one last attempt to successfully avert the train disaster.

With the information he has uncovered from previous sorties, Stevens is able to defuse the bomb and capture Frost before he can destroy the train. Stevens then sends an email to Goodwin, and later makes a phone call to hear his father's heartfelt voice one last time, telling his father that he was Sean Fentress, a soldier that served with his son and was there when his son died. Frost is arrested by the police and the people on the train are saved. Stevens and Christina kiss in the last seconds before the relived memory ends at the eight-minute mark. At that instant, Goodwin removes Stevens from life support per his request. Back in the alternate reality, to Steven's surprise, he neither returns to the chamber nor dies. Instead, his mind remains in Sean Fentress' body, apparently in an alternate timeline where the disaster was averted. Back in the original timeline, Stevens dies immediately when Goodwin cuts the life support.

Stevens—now in Fentress's body—leaves the train with Christina. While walking together in Millennium Park in Chicago, they come to the Cloud Gate sculpture, and Stevens recognizes the sculpture from the fragmented "memories" he witnessed every time he returned from the source-code. Realizing that he had already seen fragmented images of this "future" portion of the alternate-reality, Stevens asks Christina if she believes in fate.

Still in the alternate timeline, back at Nellis Air Base, Goodwin receives the email sent by Stevens while he was on the train. The message details the averted train crisis, and outlines that it was Stevens and Goodwin and the Source Code project that averted the train disaster. Goodwin, apparently unaware of what had happened in the original timeline, sees reports on television verifying the email's claims of the averted bombing, and overhears Rutledge being briefed about the bomber and the averted train disaster. Rutledge comments that if the bomber had set off a bomb, it would have been a good opportunity to try the Source Code.

Well, all I can say is that this movie totally ROCKS! It's like Dejavu/12 Monkeys meets Quantum Leap in a sense, and it's frickin' amazing!

Jake Gyllenhaal delivered in this movie as the guy who travels in time to see the source of the primary explosion which is a initial stage to a bigger terrorist attack. It's an interesting theory that our brain actually still remains active and retain the last 8 minutes of their memories, and using that technology and another half-dead guy--which I TOTALLY did not expect him to actually be that way until towards the middle of the movie, and also the fact that they weren't technically communicating face to face but via text that was sent through from his brainwaves translated into words on the computer of the screen--created probably the ultimate time machine that does not create a butterfly effect. Or so they thought.

Jake Gyllenhaal aside, there were a few notable people in there, namely Russell Peters who plays as (you guessed it) a comedian (how the heck did he get this role is beyond me XD), and then there is the voice of Scott Bakula, our Quantum Leap guy, which really brings the significance of Quantum Leap in this movie. LOL! What a coincidence!

It seems that the director has an affinity with plot twists because just like his previous movie "Moon" where the character uncovered the clone conspiracy on himself (which I'll prolly discuss about this movie one of these days), while I thought everything ended and I cried like a frickin' baby over his life support being cut off and him dying just like that, Jake's character finds himself now in an alternate timeline where his mind and spirit meshed with the body of the man he was supposed to temporarily take over.

And the kicker was that when you thought everything here is happening in the mind and there is nothing you can do to change the past that has already happened based on the memory of a dead guy, apparently he frickin' went butterfly effect on us as he had saved everyone on the train and the terrorism never happened, but then ultimately creating some sort of paradox where he's both there and also in the Source Code chamber as well. That was some mindfuck!

Overall, I'll give this movie 9/10 for its originality, and highly recommend that you get your ass there to watch it

How Far Are You Willing To Go...?

2011-11-19T06:13:00.002-08:00

We've seen the trailer, it came out in the movies, the clear version for download came out, but it took me months and months of pestering before my hubby decided to get down to it and watch the movie. LOL! Persistence pays off!

Plot

Lara Brennan (Banks) is convicted of murdering her boss after an altercation at work. Following the failure of her appeal, Lara's husband John Brennan (Crowe), a professor at a community college, becomes obsessed with the idea of breaking her out of jail, while their son Luke^[6] ceases to acknowledge her during their prison visits.

While covering Don Quixote with his students, John asks the existential question "If we choose to exist in our own reality, are we insane? And if we are, isn't that better than a life of despair?" John consults Damon Pennington (Liam Neeson), a former convict who successfully escaped from prison seven times. Damon advises John to study the prison, saying "every prison has a key". Damon also warns him that the initial escape from the prison will be easy compared with avoiding capture after the escape. To that end, John must obtain false passports, new social security numbers, and a "truckload of cash" to have a chance of success. Damon also suggests going to an unpopular foreign destination for Americans. John learns Pittsburgh's time to lock-down the city's exits after a call is made to do so: 15 minutes for the city center and 35 minutes for all interstates, secondary roads, and stations or airports.

John contemplates several ideas that don't pan out and is defeated more than once, but latches onto a solid plan and the necessary paperwork after some painful efforts. John falsifies and plants blood work results indicating that his wife is in a state of hyperkalemia, and she is transferred to the hospital. He follows the ambulance and helps her to escape although she is doubtful and reluctant, motivated only by the idea of her son being without either parent.

With the police getting some lucky breaks, they are hot on John and Lara's trail through a series of chases. Throughout the film, John is shown assembling maps, photographs, notes, and other papers on a wall of his house. He tears them down and stuffs them into several garbage bags before leaving to rescue Lara, leaving one bag in the trash outside his home, and the rest in a dumpster some blocks away. As it turns out he did this selectively to misguide the detectives regarding their final destination. They have an uncomfortable moment at Customs, as a Canadian officer examines their passports and glances at the page of photographs showing people to stop. He allows them to pass. The shift changes, and as they walk down the hall, their photos are added to the list. An international flight is delayed, but the police were after the wrong destination. At the end of the film, the family is safe in Venezuela. It is also revealed that Lara is innocent.

For a 2008 French remake, this movie actually rocks!

Russell Crowe totally delivered in his acting in a way that you really truly feel sorry for him and can't help but root for him and feel for his pain. And we were surprised to see Liam Neeson having a bit of cameo in there to help him out with jailbreak. And we were totally surprised as well by the fact that our dear Ms 13 from House is here as a side character as well! We were like "LOL! It's 13!" though we kept calling her 13 to the point where we totally forgot what is her real character name. She's just got that memorable face that everyone knows.

Throughout the whole movie, even though you know that what he was doing was wrong, you can't help but want to root for him as well because you truly want to believe that his wife is innocent. It's almost unbelievable that a college professor could come up with all this, to the point where he was actually able to selectively choose evidence that would distract the police from the right track and a whole lotta guts and luck that got us biting our nails and squealing like anything. And towards the end where it was actually revealed that she was innocent but the evidence is so infuriatingly THERE but not attainable. Agh! I really hate those moments where it's supposed to be a "In your face!" moment, but it isn't.

It was a really engaging movie, despite Rotten Tomatoes giving it quite a low rating (never really trusted it that much anyways), and it is very recommendable for everyone.

Overall ratings: 9/10

Behold the Mighty Thor~!

2011-11-19T06:13:00.001-08:00

Ever since my hubby and I saw the trailer for this movie, we were TOTALLY looking forward to it. It came together with Captain America (the trailer, I mean) and somehow I ended up being more looking forward to Thor than Captain America. So yeah, when the movie came out we were so off to the premiere night. Plotline is as follows:

In 965 A.D., Odin (Anthony Hopkins), king of Asgard, wages war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and their leader Laufey (Colm Feore), to prevent them conquering the Nine Realms, starting with Earth. The Asgardian warriors defeat the Frost Giants and seize the source of their power, the Casket of Ancient Winters.

In the present, Odin's son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) prepares to ascend to the throne of Asgard, but is interrupted when the Frost Giants attempt to retrieve the Casket. Against Odin's order, Thor travels to Jotunheim to confront Laufey, accompanied by his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), childhood friend Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and the Warriors Three: Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Fandral (Joshua Dallas) and Hogun (Tadanobu Asano). A battle ensues until Odin intervenes to save the Asgardians, destroying the fragile truce between the two races. For Thor's arrogance, Odin strips his son of his godly power and exiles him to Earth, accompanied by his hammer Mjolnir — the source of his power, now protected by a spell to allow only the worthy to wield it.

Thor lands in New Mexico, where scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), her assistant Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) and mentor Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) find him. The local populace finds Mjolnir, which S.H.I.E.L.D agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) soon commandeers before forcibly acquiring Jane's data about the wormhole that delivered Thor to Earth. Thor, having discovered Mjolnir's nearby location, seeks to retrieve it from the facility that S.H.I.E.L.D quickly constructed. But he finds himself unable to lift it, and is captured. With Selvig's help, he is freed and resigns himself to exile on Earth as he develops a romance with Jane.

Loki discovers he is Laufey's son, adopted by Odin after the war ended. When Odin, overcome with stress, falls into the deep "Odinsleep" that allows him to recuperate, Loki becomes king and offers Laufey the chance to kill Odin and retrieve the Casket. Sif and the Warriors Three, unhappy with Loki's rule, attempt to return Thor from exile, convincing Heimdall (Idris Elba), gatekeeper of the Bifröst Bridge - the means of travelling between worlds - to allow them passage to Earth. Aware of their plan, Loki sends the Destroyer, a seemingly indestructible automaton, to pursue them and kill Thor. Sif and the Warriors Three find Thor, but the Destroyer attacks and defeats them, prompting Thor to offer himself instead. Struck by the Destroyer and near death, Thor's sacrifice proves him worthy to wield Mjolnir. The hammer returns to him, restoring his powers and allowing him to defeat the Destroyer. Kissing Jane goodbye and vowing to return, he and his fellow warriors travel to Asgard to confront Loki.

In Asgard, Loki betrays and kills Laufey, revealing his true plan to use Laufey's attempt on Odin's life as an excuse to destroy Jotunheim with the Bifröst Bridge, and thus prove himself worthy to Odin. Thor arrives and fights his brother before destroying the Bifröst Bridge to stop Loki's plan, stranding himself in Asgard. Odin awakens and prevents the brothers from falling into the abyss created in the wake of the bridge's destruction, but Loki allows himself to fall to his apparent death. Thor makes amends with Odin, admitting he is not ready to be king, while on Earth, Jane and her team search for a way to open a portal to Asgard so that she can reunite with Thor.

In a post-credits scene, Selvig has been taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, where Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) asks him to study an unnamed device that Fury says may hold untold power. Loki, who is invisible, whispers to Selvig to agree, which reveals to us that Loki is in fact alive and is possessing Selvig.

I've got only one thing to say about this movie: TOTAL KICK-ASS!!

Granted that the movie is all about the Norse Gods, the action sequence and fantasy/sci-fi-ish qualities of the setting in Asgard was pretty amazing. It really speaks for the part of the trailer that Thor said what we mortals call science and old-school people call magic, in their world they are one and the same, because it looks fantasy but at the same time it looks sci-fi-ish in nature.

The hammer is pretty awesome, makes me almost laugh that it kinda sorta reminds me of King Arthur because you have to be worthy to carry the hammer or something. All the actors totally delivered in their performance, even Anthony Hopkins as Odin. It was totally hilarious at the part where Natalie Portman keeps hitting and making road kill out of Chris Hemsworth, especially the hospital part where he was just walking behind her and she just knocked him over! XD And the part where he ate his food like a gajillion quantities and asking for another drink the old Norse way, which is smashing the cup into smithereens. LOL! And the way he smiled at the camera when the assistant wanted to take a picture of him to put in Facebook, and don't even get me started on him wanting a horse in a pet shop. LOLOLOLOL~!!!

Speaking of Chris Hemsworth, that guy is totally CUT!! Muscles all in the right places and that abs and his waist! OMG!! I was just in Droolsville just thinking about him! I literally gave a wolf whistle the moment he came out there half-naked with all that delectable muscles and abs and everything. It was totally awesome~!! AGH~!! What I wouldn't do to have a bite of him right NOW!!!

I absolutely enjoyed the movie. I enjoyed it even more than Iron Man, but then again, that's my opinion. A must-see movie, especially if you wanna know the tie-in of it for the upcoming The Avengers movie

Overall rating: 8.5/10

I Am Number Four

2011-11-19T05:21:00.001-08:00

I was quite intrigued by this movie when I saw the trailer, but sadly it wasn't enough to perk my hubby's interest to get the movie or watching it at the cinema, so when my friend said that she wanted to watch it during Girls' Night Out, I definitely jumped the chance to go and check it out for myself what the hype it was all about.

Plot

John Smith (Alex Pettyfer) is an alien from planet Lorien who was sent to Earth as a child alongside eight others to escape an invading race, the Mogadorians, which destroyed their home planet. He is protected by a Guardian, Henri (Timothy Olyphant), and has developed superpowers due to his extraterrestrial nature, such as enhanced strength, speed and agility, telekinesis, resistance to fire and heat, and the power to generate light from his hands.

The Mogadorians, led by the Commander (Kevin Durand) eventually discover about the nine toddlers and come to Earth in search of them. These Loriens can only be killed in a particular sequence, with three of them having already been slain. John is Number Four. Knowing this, he and Henri move from Florida to Paradise, Ohio, where John befriends conspiracy theorist Sam Goode (Callan McAuliffe) and falls in love with amateur photographer Sarah Hart (Dianna Agron), whose ex-boyfriend, school athlete Mark James (Jake Abel) is a bully who often torments both John and Sam.

During the spring carnival, Mark and his friends capture John and Sarah, whom they believe are in a relationship, and drag them to a cave, where they attempt to beat John up. However, he uses his powers to fend them off and rescue Sarah. Sam witnesses the events, and John tells him his true origin. Shortly thereafter, Mark’s father, the local sheriff, interrogates Henri on John’s whereabouts when his son and his friends were attacked, and notices that he has a high-tech surveillance system.

Henri tells John that too many people are suspicious of them, in addition to John’s random displays of power, caused by his difficulty in controlling them, and that they must leave. However, John tells him he can’t because he’s in love with Sarah. When a Lorien falls in love, it only happens once, and the two lovers become connected forever.

The Mogadorians start searching for John as well as another Lorien, Number Six (Teresa Palmer), who decided to go after the Mogadorians instead of running away from them after her Guardian was murdered. The Magodorians eventually locate John and manipulate two conspiracy theorists into capturing Henri. When John and Sam go to rescue him, they are attacked but manage to fend Mogadorians off. However, Henri is mortally wounded and dies after John and Sam escape with some Lorien artifacts, including a blue rock that acts as a tracking device to locate other Loriens. Sam’s father, a conspiracy theorist who disappeared while hunting aliens in Mexico, has another. While Sam searches for it, John tries to say goodbye to Sarah at a party, only to discover that the Mogadorians have framed him and Henri for the murders of the conspiracy theorists, as well as being terrorists due to the their cutting-edge technology. Mark sees John and calls his father, who corners John and Sarah. He saves her from a fall, revealing his powers in the process, and they escape to their school.

Meanwhile, The Commander also arrives at Paradise, blocking the exits with trucks. He is confronted by Mark and his father, and, after injuring the latter, he forces the former to show him where John is hiding, Mark then takes him to the school, which he knows is Sarah’s hideout.

There, John, Sarah, and Sam are attacked by the Commander and his soldiers, who have brought two giant monsters to hunt the trio. They are saved by Number Six and a Chimera sent by John’s parents to protect him, which can shapeshift and was disguised as his dog. John and Number Six, who can teleport, block energy-based attacks and fight the Mogadorians. They eventually defeat them all, including the Commander, whose energy grenades are overheated by John and explode, destroying his body.

On the following day, John, Number Six, Sam, and the Chimera unite their blue rocks and discover the location of the other four surviving Loriens. They set to find them and rally them together to protect Earth from the Mogadorians, leaving Sarah and a repentant Mark, who has redeemed himself by lying to his father about John’s whereabouts and returning John a box belonging to his father.

Well, all I can say is that this movie kicked ass, though not as much as I hoped for, but still it kicked ass. Despite saying that this movie was actually based on the novel and noticing that there are certain deviations as well as the plot and characters itself, it still pretty much delivered.

Number Four (coding kinda reminds me of Kids Next Door) was a totally bishie boy with the typical blonde-hair-blue-eyed look and you just can't help wanting to just glomp him and have him for "dinner" if you know what I mean >////< I also kinda like the relationship between Number Four and Henri the Guardian. If it weren't for the threat of the Mogs, I'd rather like to think that they would have had a pretty good relationship together that is more than master and guardian :p~ My yaoi mind strikes again... ^^;; This movie is pretty much the usual Superman-ish plot, only with someone who actually comes over to the planet to stalk and kill you, and instead of one person, there are nine survivors from the Lorien that refuged down on Earth. I love how they call their gifts "Legacies" and each develops a different one, so I ended up comparing powers between Number Four and Number Six. I was totally hoping that Sam was one of the Numbers since his father had some pretty close knit connections with the Lorien symbols and such, though sadly he was just a vessel to bring the guys together, and unfortunately both are pure human. I am TOTALLY in LOVE with Bernie the dog, which is actually a shapeshifting chimera. It is just sooooooooooooooooo uber cute. I had a feeling it would transform into its real form or something, but I didn't expect it to be a big-ass pitbull-like creature though, but when he is in his dog mode he was soooooooooooooooooo CUUUUUUUUUTE~!!!!! After its fight with the Lorien monster, I was like "Don't forget your dog! Your dog! Your dog~!!" And I like how the way you die by turning into a pillar of dust that slowly drifts away to space. My friend says it just saves a lot of burial costs XD

Overall it's a pretty cool movie. It's not amazing hell, but still a good watch and worth going big screen for it. One of those movies that makes you wish your lover (especially us girls) would have that sort of power and everything.

Overall rating: 7/10

The King's Speech

2011-11-19T05:20:00.000-08:00

Wasn't really that interested at first when my hubby got this movie in HD, so I just minded my own business and did my drawings while he watched it on TV in our room, but since it was within vicinity, I ended up indirectly watching it too, LOL!

Plotline is as follows:

Plot

The film opens with Prince Albert, Duke of York (played by Colin Firth), the second son of King George V, speaking at the close of the 1925 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium, with his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) by his side. His stammering speech visibly unsettles the thousands of listeners in the audience. The prince tries several unsuccessful treatments and gives up, until the Duchess persuades him to see Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian speech therapist in London. In their first session, Logue requests that they address each other by their Christian names, a breach of royal etiquette. He convinces Albert to read Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy, while listening to the overture from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro on headphones. Logue records Albert's reading on a gramophone record, but convinced that he has stammered throughout, Albert leaves in a huff. Logue offers him the recording as a keepsake.

As King George V (Michael Gambon) makes his 1934 Christmas address, he explains to his son the importance of broadcasting for the modern monarchy. Later, Albert plays Logue's recording and hears an unbroken recitation of Shakespeare in his own voice. He returns to Logue, and they work together on muscle relaxation and breath control, while simultaneously probing the psychological roots of his stammer. The Prince reveals some of the pressures of his childhood: his strict father; the repression of his natural left-handedness; a painful treatment with metal splints for his knock-knees; a nanny who favoured his elder brother - David, the Prince of Wales, deliberately pinching Albert at the daily presentations to their parents so he would cry and his parents would not want to see him; and the early death in 1919 of his little brother Prince John. As the treatment progresses, the two become friends and confidants.
On 20 January 1936 when George V dies, David, the Prince of Wales accedes to the throne as King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), but he wants to marry Wallis Simpson (Eve Best), an American divorcée socialite, which would provoke a constitutional crisis. At a party in Balmoral Castle, Albert points out that Edward cannot marry a divorced woman and retain the throne, Edward angrily accuses his brother of a medieval-style plot to usurp his throne, citing Albert's speech lessons as an attempt to ready himself for power. Albert is tongue-tied at the accusation, and Edward resurrects his childhood taunt of "B-B-Bertie". At his next session, the Prince has not forgotten the incident. In an attempt to console him, Logue insists that Albert could be king and says the shilling of their wager should bear the Duke's head as monarch. Albert accuses Logue of treason and, in a temper, he mocks Logue's failed acting career and humble origins, causing a rift in their friendship.
When King Edward abdicates to marry, Albert becomes King George VI. He needs Logue's help and he and the Queen visit the Logues' residence to apologise. When the King insists that Logue be seated in the king's box during his coronation in Westminster Abbey, Dr Cosmo Gordon Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Derek Jacobi), questions Logue's qualifications. This prompts another confrontation between the King and Logue, who explains he began by treating shell-shocked soldiers in World War I. The King had served in the Royal Navy during the Great War. When Logue sits in St Edward's Chair and dismisses the Stone of Scone as a trifle, the King's clear remonstration of Logue's disrespect for the relics leads him to realise that he is as capable as those before him.

Upon the September 1939 declaration of war with Germany, George VI summons Logue to Buckingham Palace to prepare for his radio speech to the country. As the King and Logue move through the palace to a tiny studio, Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall) reveals to the King that he too had once had a speech impediment but had found a way to use it to his advantage. The King delivers his speech as if to Logue, who coaches him through every moment. As Logue watches, the King steps onto the balcony of the palace with his family, where thousands of people assembled for the speech applaud him.

A final title card explains that, during the many speeches King George VI gave during World War II, Logue was always present. It is also explained that Logue and the King remained friends, and that, "King George VI made Lionel Logue a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1944."

Gotta admit, despite watching it indirectly, I actually pretty much enjoyed the movie.

First thing I noticed was the big stars that were in the movie. There was Colin Firth, amazing veteran actor, and our Geoffrey "Captain Barbossa" Rush, and Guy Pearce as the King's elder brother, as well as a whole Harry Potter casts in play, namely Helena Bonham "Bellatrix" Carter as the Queen, Michael "Dumbledore" Gambon as the King's father and Timothy "Wormtail" Spall as Winston Churchill! LOL! Awesome, innit? Best place to get all British actors is to just grab 'em from Harry Potter~! XD

Colin Firth really delivered in his performance as the King, though it does come to question whether the real King actually behaved that way or just slightly dramatized for movie effects. Kinda weird yet funny at the same time for him to learn his speech by having marbles in his mouth. Geoffrey Rush also was pretty amazing too as he played his role as a speech teacher well, and who'd've thunk that he hadn't really been an actual speech teacher, but more like a psychological motivator for people who were recovering from the war. Colin totally deserved the Oscar awards, but I also feel Geoffrey deserved it too. Ah, well, there can only be one winner

I totally love the ending of the movie. It was really epic. Colin, though a little slow and slightly held back, managed to deliver that speech perfectly without a stutter thanks to Geoffrey being there to be his anchor, and everyone, who knew the King had the speech problem, after hearing him actually delivering a speech with such intensity and feel to it without a single stutter, it was a Kodak moment for everyone. I was utterly nervous for him, wondering whether or not he would blurt out a stutter and by the end of the speech it was like "Wow. You did it. You really did it."

And amazing movie that totally deserved its Oscar awards. Surely a movie that should not be missed, EVER!!

Sinful Indulgence At Its Best...

2011-11-19T05:18:00.000-08:00

From this post onwards, I will occasionally include movies that I have watched way back when (donkey years ago) in the past, starting with this yummy treat movie. Plotline is as follows:

Plot

Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) like her ancestors, drifts across France. In the winter of 1959, she travels to a tranquil French village, where she and her daughter, Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), open a small chocolaterie. The store imbues both wonder and angst within the classical villagers as it opens during the forty days of Lent.

Soon, Vianne's allure and confections enliven a married couple's sex life, encourage an elderly man's secret love, bring rapport with a willful diabetic, and comfort an awkward woman who longs to leave her drunk and abusive husband. Nevertheless, the devout village mayor, Comte Paul de Reynaud (Alfred Molina), sees Vianne as an immoral provocateur and quietly contests against her. The battle peaks when a band of river gypsies camp on the village outskirts and Vianne finds a strong, mutual sexual attraction with the Manush Romani (Gypsy) Roux (Johnny Depp).

This is definitely one of those movies where you'd wish you were there to actually experience the goodness of it all. Kinda like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but much more sensual.

For starters, it's a chocolaterie~! An amazing world of chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate~!! Xd When the mother and daughter started up the shop and started making chocolates for sale, you'd truly, truly, TRULY wish you were there to experience it, especially when you can imagine the smell of chocolate just streaming out of the shop and can't wait to have it tasting and lingering in the tip of your tongues and bath your mouth with that thick creamy goodness! Damn, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

It's interesting to know as well that there is such a culture of people traveling where the wind takes them and bring change to new and exciting places. Makes you feel like it's delicious yet mystique in a way, especially when Viane can tell what you are or what chocolate suits you the best to eat. I totally LOL-ed at the way where this tired woman who had lost its passion in her marriage came to buy just for a try-out, having her husband accidentally eating it and ended up becoming some sort of aphrodisiac and got them to have wild passionate sex and rekindled their flame of passion, which Viane knew it was totally what she needed.

And it's also about trying to open up and accepting new things. The village had always been conservative and quiet, and always content with the way things are going, and were quite adverse to the fact that something new, that was not in their usual norm, entered their lives. Especially our Doc Oc guy who plays as the head of the village who had always gone against her and her "new" ways in which he thinks disrupt the peace and tranquility of the village, but in truth, had been quite beneficial to others people who had decided to open up and go with the flow to discover their true good side of the nature. It was really an in-your-face moments where he finally gave in and started devouring the chocolate when initially he came to destroy them. Makes me wonder how much self-restraint has he got to get to this desperate point.

I was surprised to see Johnny Depp playing a role in this movie at first, and was quite irked at the fact that he only played quite a small role, and as a gypsy no less. Though I find it quite interesting that Viane, who took pride in knowing everyone's signature chocolate, couldn't figure out his signature chocolate. Not sure whether it's because it was truly a challenge that she really had to figure out or JD just said that as an excuse to challenge her and have free chocolate and to flirt with her XD

So if you guys enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and absolutely drooled at the wondrous deliciousness of it all, those who have not watch this movie, you guys should give this a shot. Sensual chocolate at its best

Predatorial Goodness

2011-11-19T05:17:00.001-08:00

When I was a kid, I grew up with movies that are absolute fake effects if you watched with a modern eye now, but still absolute classics. This Predator franchise is one of them.

Predator

This movie totally rocked my socks when I watched it. Arnie at his best fighting against the amazing kick-ass Predators, although at the time of watching Predators, I've always feared it and thought of it as a villain, but actually they were just doing things as their nature and culture dictates. Now when I watch it, I can't help but wanting to root for Preds and don't want Arnie to kill him because they are just so goddamn sexy~!! :p~ It was absolutely horrifying, the first time I watched this, especially the part where the guys get skinned and hung upside down on the tree (using that as homage for AVP was totally nostalgic). Throughout the movie, I was like totally screaming at the soldiers "Stop wasting your bloody bullets and keep your head together!" because they were literally shooting at thin air while Preds could be there at one corner just sitting there, watching them do shit. LOL! Their awesome camouflage suit that bends light to make you invisible was totally kick-ass. The final fight between Arnie and Preds was epic, with the end Preds self-destructing himself before repeating Arnie's question "What the hell/fuck are you?" That was prolly the only time Preds spoke in the movie but it was still pretty epic. Best of all the franchise ever

Predator 2

This one takes place in the urban jungle aka concrete city of the modern world, and Danny Glover also kicked-ass in this movie. Many tend to say that this one is the worse off of the franchise, but I think it's pretty good on its own. I like the way how Preds (played by the same guy who played in the first movie) navigated his way and survived around the city, taking down one crime lord after another, possibly because to him, seeing these violent outlaws were worthy of a prey coz they're bloody violent and armed or something. A bit of Preds' culture was in there too in which he would only attack people who are armed (and don't touch women and children), as shown when a kid tried to offer him candy and when he tried to kill Danny's partner but didn't because he saw that she was pregnant (homage to that in AVP with him not attacking Wesland because he was sick and dying until he actually attacked him was pretty nostalgic as well). His adaptability to be able to forgo heat vision to electromagnetic when he knew he was surrounded by cold was also pretty cool. And towards the end where the Preds head honcho tossed the gun that used to belong to Danny's gramps, it seem to signify that this wasn't the first time that Preds have been on Earth before, which thickens the mystery

Overall, villain or not, the franchise is one of those classics that is amazing portrayed which prolly is the epitome of extra-terrestrial movies, and one that should not be missed, but probably not suitable for kiddies' eyes due to violence, though feel free to let your teen or pre-adult kids have a go with it as an heirloom movie. Preds is totally a kick-ass character and goddamn sexy and fuckable at that! He can slay me anytime! ;p~

Aliens, Aliens and Moar Aliens

2011-11-19T05:16:00.000-08:00

Growing up watching Aliens was something that went hand in hand with Predator as these two were one of my most favourite sci-fi creature feature movies of all time, and above all, classics of my time

Alien

The movie that started it all. The movie that gave me the heebie-jeebies and totally scream in terror at how the aliens were invading the ship and how Sigourney "Ripley" Weaver was the last woman standing to survive the attack. I was absolutely traumatized at the part where the Chestbursters broke out of the guy's chest and went screaming and running through the table and all that shit, and that face of pain of his was deeply cemented in my mind when I was a kid watching it for the first time, oh, and also the android who joined the crew, got a little messed up and spewing white blood and shit. Yeah, that one. And the cat! LOL! The cute little cat! I just love how it's able to survive alongside with Sigourney towards the end. Wish I had a cat like that

Aliens

This is probably my second most favourite movie of the franchise. I was already a little terrified when Ripley had that nightmare of her being invaded by the alien, and the cat was just cute enough to be by her side until his presence was no longer that much of a need for this particular show. I love the part where the andriod played by Lance Henriksen did that fast-moving knife thing that totally made the guy almost jizz in his pants. I couldn't believe that when someone goes to cryo-sleep in space, almost half a century passes on Earth. Almost makes you feel immortal in a sense. The aliens, again, totally delivered like in the first movie, and at least since the special effects were a bit much better than the first, you get to see the alien in more cameos than it had in the first. The part where they detected a shit load of aliens crawling up at the vent was just "HOLY BAJEESUS FUCK!!!" And the Queen was just some crazy shit with her huge-ass tail stabbing through the android. Poor android. I liked his character. Epic ending too as well, with Newt calling Ripley as 'Mom' and both her, the android and Newt went to cryo-sleep together

Alien3

The second movie was nice as it ended there, but it didn't, and once James Cameron left the center stage and someone else took the reigns of filming the franchise, it didn't turn out as well as the fans may have hoped. In fact, this movie by then first-time director David Fincher was critically panned and didn't attract as much die-hard fans of Alien as it should have. Fortunately for me, when it comes to sequels, I'm not much of a picky sucker, and surprisingly, though I'm not in love with this movie, I actually quite enjoyed it. Despite the sad beginning of just-like-that deaths of Newt and the android, landing in a prison facility which is an all-man's land in the middle of nowhere and no other way to run when a stowaway alien bloody hell rampages through the prison gates, as well as discovering that somehow you have mysteriously been incubating the goddamn Queen Bee inside your chest, was proven quite the action dilemma you have there. Despite the deviations of a James Cameron-ish movie, I actually quite enjoyed it. It's like watching the first two, but with something different in the mix. The ending was a liiiiiiiittle bit lame though, but no biggie
Alien: Ressurection

Whoever wrote that damn caption on this movie poster must've been brain dead, because seriously, despite a number of die-hard fans claiming that this is one of the best ever, to me, it totally SUCKED, big time! As if cloning Ripley back to life wasn't bad enough, they had to extract the damn Queen Bee (which, oddly enough, was cloned together with her apparently due to meshed DNA) to try and build their own lame-ass battalion of biological weapons. Then there is the usual alien starting up shit and then finally ended up Ripley finding out that the Queen Bee was genetically engineered to give birth rather than lay eggs, and the first child it bore thought Ripley was its mother and shit.

OK, fine, I gotta admit, that part was pretty interesting, and to say the least, I find the newborn alien quite...cute, in a morbid fascination sort of way (don't judge me).

But Ripley with superhuman powers thanks to alien DNA? Super healing powers? Having acidic blood? Now that is just off the charters that I totally cannot accept. The whole movie is just one confusing screwed up plot and a sad attempt to reboot the system and return it to its former glory. Come on, even Alien3 made more sense than this!

All in all, these are my two cents on this franchise. Feel free to watch the first 3 movies--in fact, it is a must-see classic--but avoid the 4th movie like the plague at all costs, unless you're willing to sit through more than 1 hour watching senseless PWP movies

Fight for Free Will

2011-11-19T05:15:00.002-08:00

When we saw this trailer, we were like thinking, "Wow, this almost looks like the movie 'Dark City'!" We've been quite looking forward to the movie ever since, well, mostly I am. After all, it was based on a story written by Philip K. Dick, the genius behind I, Robot, A Scanner Darkly and Minority Report

Plotline is as follows:

Plot

David Norris (Matt Damon) is a charismatic politician running for the United States Senate. He loses his early lead and is rehearsing a losing speech in the hotel bathroom, where he meets a mysterious woman. Having overheard his speech, she encourages him to be more original and honest. Immediately attracted to each other, they kiss, are interrupted, and Norris must leave to make the speech. Inspired by her, he goes off script and makes an honest speech that is widely praised.

Later, a mysterious man sits at a park bench and is instructed to make sure Norris spills his coffee. He falls asleep and fails in his task. Norris takes the bus to work and by chance again meets Elise (Emily Blunt), the woman from the bathroom, who introduces herself and gives him her phone number before she leaves. Norris is working at a venture capital firm run by his old friend and campaign manager, and arrives to work early. He is surprised to see his boss is frozen motionless and being examined by strange men in suits. They chase him, but no matter where he runs they catch up to him. Norris is taken to a warehouse, and Richardson (John Slattery) decides to tell him about the Adjustment Bureau. They have a plan for Norris and are determined to guide his life and keep him to that plan. The plan was made by someone they refer to as "the Chairman". They warn that if he tells anyone about them, even accidentally, he will be "reset", effectively lobotomised. The plan called only for him to meet Elise once and he is told to forget her and they destroy the phone number. Harry Mitchell (Anthony Mackie) feels responsible having failed to intercept Norris, and tells him more about the Adjustment Bureau.

David fails to find Elise despite his attempts over the next three years. He rides the same bus every day hoping to see her again. He finally does see her one day and they are able to reconnect. The Bureau immediately tries to stop him from building his relationship with her and causes their schedules to bring them apart. David races across town, fighting the Bureau's special abilities to "control his chances" to ensure he will meet Elise again. The Bureau is able to use doors to travel great lengths across New York City during this chase.

Richardson does some research and discovers that David and Elise were meant to be together in an earlier version of the plan. He tells Harry that it wasn't his fault that this mess took place. Harry speculates on whether or not the plan is always correct.

David and Elise spend an evening at a large party, and connect when David tells her why he decided to become a politician after the loss of his mother and brother. They make love that night.

The Bureau decides to have Thompson (Terence Stamp) take authority on the adjustment of David Norris. He takes David to a warehouse and David argues that he has the right to choose his own path. Thompson lets him go and he runs to Elise's ballet recital. Thompson follows and reveals that not only will David's future as President be ruined if he stays with Elise, but her future as a dancer will also be diminished. To make a point he uses his adjustment power to cause Elise to fall and sprain her ankle. David, faced with hurting Elise in the long run, chooses to leave her at the hospital.

Eleven months later, David is running for election again, and sees an announcement of Elise's wedding in the newspaper. He gets in contact with Harry who agrees to teach him how to use the doors so he can stop Elise's wedding and avoid Thompson. He gives David his hat, which empowers David to use the doors, and the chase is on. David finds Elise in the bathroom of the courthouse where she is to be wed and reveals the Bureau's existence to her. They are chased by the Bureau across New York, using the doors as shortcuts, while the bureau uses the plan to track them. When David and Elise find themselves on Liberty Island, David decides to find the chairman to end the chase. He asks Elise if she will go with him, and she accepts. David turns the door handle to the left, which Harry instructed him not to do, and he enters the Bureau headquarters. The couple is chased through the Bureau until they are trapped on a rooftop above New York and they embrace passionately, assuming the worst is yet to come. When they release each other, the bureau members surrounding them have disappeared. Thompson appears, only to be relieved of duty by Harry, who tells David and Elise that the chairman decided to change the plan, because their love proved the plan could change.

I gotta say, this movie is actually quite impressive. I actually love every moment of it.

I like the fact that they have a modern/realistic interpretation of angels and God's plan and whatnot that probably suits the everyday lives of the normal human world as we see it: not the angels with wings and halos on their heads and whatnot, but just people dressed in business suits with top hats as their "halo" and also a bureau building that towered all the way up to almost resemble the Babylon tower of sorts serving as heaven of sorts and everything that goes on around in there is almost treated as a sort of business transaction. Somehow they kinda remind me of that movie "Dark City" or something else that I can't really put my finger on what.

I also like the idea of the ripple or butterfly effect in which anything that was done by the "angels" were pre-ordained and according to plan to ensure that one action may lead to this action and that, and the thing about water that disrupts the all-knowing bureau to catch on to them. It's also interesting to know that this movie concept was that our free will that we tend to perceive given by God, or in this case "The Management", was an illusion and how they explained all the great historical disasters like Dark Ages, Holocaust and the World Wars were due to free will. Unorthodox, but interest concept nonetheless, something to think about.

I totally was intrigued with the idea of how technically he and the girl were meant to be together, and in fact had meant to be together for several centuries, as if they were reborn through so many new lifetimes and still found each other through their deep love and connection for each other. Either The Management just got tired of getting them together all the time or He just wanted to fuck around and see how it is when they were not meant together

The only beef I have for this movie is the end where they were supposed to meet The Management to beg for Him to give them a new plan with them together in it, but never got to see him. Yeah, like how they give an image for God in Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty in the face of Morgan Freeman, I would love to see a face given to The Management. I guess it's just one of those feelings where we all want to know how God truly looks like before our eyes, like how he would truly look in his own image.

A must-see movie that should not be missed. Highly thought-provoking and very recommendable. Overall rating: 8/10

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

2011-11-19T05:15:00.001-08:00

When I saw this movie in the trailer, I was like "WTF?! What is this shit??" in a good way, of course. And finding out the director was the guy did the LOL-worthy Hot Fuzz movie, I totally was into it. Technically we were waiting for it to come out in the cinema, but apparently while the US were having it some time in the summer, we were only getting it in November, in which the DVD and whatnot are officially released! We couldn't wait. Might as well get the official download release and finally got to watch it in all its glory

Plotline is as follows:

Plot

In Toronto, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), the bass guitarist for the band "Sex Bob-omb", begins dating high schooler Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) despite the protests of his friends and bandmates. Scott meets a mysterious American girl, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who has been appearing in his dreams, and becomes obsessed with her - losing interest in Knives. While playing in a battle of the bands, Scott is attacked by Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), who introduces himself as the first of Ramona's evil exes. Scott defeats Patel and learns from Ramona that, in order for them to date, he must defeat all seven of her evil exes.

After learning that popular actor and skateboarder Lucas Lee (Chris Evans), the second evil ex, is coming to Toronto to film a movie, Scott is forced to break up with Knives. Still in love with Scott, Knives attempts to win him back from Ramona. Scott defeats Lee by tricking him into performing a dangerous skateboard stunt which he fails to complete. Scott later encounters the third evil ex, Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh), who is currently dating Scott's ex-girlfriend, Natalie "Envy" Adams (Brie Larson). Todd initially overpowers Scott using his psychic vegan abilities, but is stripped of his powers by the Vegan Police (Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins, Jr.) after Scott tricks him into having coffee with half and half milk, allowing Scott to defeat him.

Scott begins to grow upset with Ramona over her dating history by the defeat of the fourth ex, Roxy Richter (Mae Whitman), as he is afraid of fighting girls. During the second round of the battle of the bands, Sex Bob-omb faces off against the fifth and sixth evil exes, twin Katayanagi brothers Kyle (Keita Saito) and Ken (Shota Saito), earning Scott an extra life upon their defeat. During the battle, Scott sees Ramona together with her seventh and final evil ex, Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman), who turns out to be Sex Bob-omb's sponsor, G-Man. Gideon offers the members of Sex Bob-omb a record deal and a chance to perform at his newly opened Chaos Theater. While the rest of the band signs the contract, Scott refuses to accept the offer and leaves the band. Shortly after, Ramona breaks up with Scott. Scott returns home to get a phone call from Gideon, inviting him to the Chaos Theater to show there are no hard feelings.

Scott enters the Chaos Theater and challenges Gideon to a fight, and professes his love for Ramona, gaining the "Power of Love" sword which he uses to fight Gideon. Gideon strikes Scott in mid-air, making him lose the sword. Knives also crashes the scene (and blocks another attack), to fight Ramona over Scott. Not able to take it anymore, Scott goes to break up the girls' fight, and admits that he cheated on them with each other. He is killed by Gideon before he can apologize. In Limbo, Scott talks to Ramona and they discuss the reasons for each other's actions. Ramona tells Scott that she broke up with Gideon because he ignored her during their relationship. While they were together however, Gideon had a mind-controlling microchip planted on the back of her neck. Scott realizes he still has an extra life, which he uses to escape limbo and returns to life at the moment in time where Gideon calls him. Scott re-enters the Chaos Theater. Scott challenges Gideon again, stating he is fighting for himself and gaining the "Power of Self-Respect" sword, which he uses to defeat the goons. The mid-air strike is repeated, and Scott strikes Gideon. With Gideon once again unconscious, Scott blocks Knives' attack on Ramona, and apologizes to both the girls. Gideon rises to fight Scott again and knocks down Ramona, who betrayed him, but is defeated when Knives and Scott team up to beat him. Shortly afterwards, Nega Scott (a shadow-like version of Scott) appears, but instead of fighting, the two get along quite well and Nega Scott leaves. Free from Gideon's control, Ramona prepares to leave. Knives accepts that Scott will not return her love and encourages him to chase after Ramona. He does, and the two agree to start their relationship anew.

Only one thing to say about this movie: Abso-fucking-lutely LOL-worthy!

Watching this movie is like watching an entire game being played, with cut-scenes and everything. It's hard to believe that this was actually based on a comic book, because this is so wow! I think I remember my hubby telling me (or I read) about this, but I never knew that it was to this extent of awesome-ness. And a few scenes that were taken out from the comic to explain away flashbacks of Ramona's love life was pretty cool. Nice drawing, simple and clean. Makes me wanna get the actual comic. LOL!

I totally LOL-ed especially the part where Knives tried to look for Scott but Wallace told her he has moved, when it was pretty obvious right there that he just literally zoomed and crashed out of the window more or less in front of her. That was totally LOL-worthy! XDDDD I am also quite in love with Wallace (played by McCaulay Culkin's bro!), well, in a fangirl platonic sort of way. He is just so cute with his antics and theories and everything. He could even text Scott's situation even though he's asleep (saying the famous "You know me"), have multiple lovers at the same time, having fetishes for men with glasses and possibly have taken Scott's sister's boyfriends more than once (from how she exclaimed "Wallace! Again?!"). I totally went ga-ga at the part where he was kissing Scott's girlfriend's boyfriend. There was tongue-action! Tongue-action!! Holy crap, my mind just went to yaoi overdrive over that scene. It's a wonder he never tried to seduce Scott. XD

My fav battle between the ex-s was definitely the 2nd (played by ours truly the Human Torch) and 3rd ex (played by pretty boy Superman). Who'd thunk becoming vegan will give you psychic powers? LOL! That said, I can't believe Ramona had dated sooooooooo many ex-s during her life. Ex-s because one of her ex is a lesbian and she was bi-curious at the time. I wish I were that popular, but then again, being that popular totally sucks in terms of baggage left behind by past loves, especially when you have to explain every single one to your current lover and have to tell them that he has to get rid of them in order to date you. ^^;;

Over-exaggerated actions, funny captions and word effects, cool special effects and all out humour and action packed in one. Definitely awesome-cool and should not be missed! One of the best rom-com there is for the budding teens and pre-adults. A total must-watch, especially for gamer geeks out there!

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting~

2011-11-19T05:13:00.001-08:00

I sorta grew up watching The Karate Kid franchise (though to be honest, I can't really recall much of it except the "Wax on, wax off" part). So when they decided to make a remake of the movie with a black kid, it was really intriguing, especially when I see my dad's doppelganger Jackie Chan (seriously, my dad looks like Jackie Chan, especially the nose) playing in this movie as it has a been a really long time since he made an American movie comeback.

Plotline is as follows:

12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and his mother, Sherry (Taraji P. Henson), arrive in Beijing from West Detroit to start a new life. Dre develops a crush on a young violinist, Mei Ying (Wen Wen Han), who reciprocates his attention, but Cheng (Zhenwei Wang), a kung fu prodigy whose family is close to Mei Ying's, attempts to keep them apart by beating Dre, and later harassing and humiliating him in and around school. During a particularly brutal beating by Cheng and his friends, the enigmatic maintenance man of Dre's building, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), comes to Dre's aid, revealing himself as a kung fu master who adeptly dispatches Dre's tormentors.

After Han mends Dre's injuries using fire cupping, Dre asks if Mr. Han could teach him Kung-Fu. Han refuses, but decides to go meet Cheng's teacher, Master Li (Yu Rongguang), to attempt to make peace, but the brutal Li, who teaches his students to show no mercy to their enemies, challenges Dre to a fight with Cheng. When Han declines, Li threatens him, saying that they will not be allowed to leave his school unless either Dre or Han himself fights. Han acquiesces, but insists the fight take place at an upcoming tournament, and that Li's students leave Dre alone until the tournament. The amused Li agrees, but tells Han that if Dre doesn't show up during the tournament, Li will personally bring pain to Han and Dre.

Han begins training Dre, but Dre is frustrated that Han merely has Dre spend hours taking off his jacket, hanging it up, dropping it, and then putting it back on again. After days of this, Dre refuses to continue, until Han demonstrates to him that the repetitive arm movements in question were Han's method of teaching Dre defensive block and strike techniques, which Dre is now able to display instinctively when prompted by Han's mock attacks. Han emphasizes that the movements Dre is learning apply to life in general, and that serenity and maturity, not punches and power, are the true keys to mastering the martial arts. During one lesson in the Wudang Mountains, Dre notices a female kung fu practitioner (Michelle Yeoh, in an uncredited cameo^[4]) apparently copying the movements of a cobra before her, but Han informs him that it was the cobra that was imitating the woman, as in a mirror reflection. Dre wants Han to teach him this technique, which includes linking Han's hand and feet to Dre's via bamboo shafts while practicing their forms, but Dre's subsequent attempt to use this reflection technique on his mother is unsuccessful.

As Dre's friendship with Mei Ying continues, she agrees to attend Dre's tournament, as does Dre her upcoming recital. Dre persuades Mei Ying to cut school for a day of fun, but when she is nearly late for her violin recital, which has been rescheduled for that day, she tells him that her parents have deemed him a bad influence, and forbid her from spending any more time with him. Later, when Dre finds Mr. Han despondent, he learns that it is the anniversary of his wife and son's deaths, which occurred years ago when he lost control of his car while arguing with his wife. Dre reminds Han that one of his lessons was in perseverance, and that Han needs to heal from his loss, and tries to help him do so. Han then assists Dre in reading a note, in Chinese, of apology to Mei Ying's father, who, impressed, allows Mei to attend the tournament.

At the tournament, the under-confident Dre is slow to achieve parity with his opponents, but soon begins to beat them, and advances to the semifinals, as does Cheng, who violently finishes off his opponents. Dre eventually comes up against Liang, another of Master Li's students, who is instructed by Master Li to break Dre's leg. When Liang insists that he can beat Dre, Master Li sternly tells him that he doesn't want him beaten, but broken. During the match, Liang delivers a devastating kick to Dre's leg, along with a series of brutal follow-up punches. Although Liang is disqualified for his illegal strikes, Dre is incapacitated, which would allow Cheng to win by default.

Despite Han's insistence that he has earned respect for his performance in the tournament, Dre convinces Han to use his fire cupping technique to mend his leg, in order to see the tournament to the end. Dre returns to the arena, where he confronts Cheng. Dre delivers impressive blows, but Cheng counters with a debilitating strike to Dre's already injured leg. Dre struggles to get up, and adopts the one-legged form he first learned from the woman on the mountain, attempting to use the reflection technique to manipulate Cheng's movements. Cheng charges Dre, but Dre flips, and catches Cheng with a kick to his head, winning the tournament, along with the respect of Cheng and his classmates, both for himself and Mr. Han.

While there are certain deviations (which are pretty obvious despite the fact that I don't remember much of the original story) compared to the original to this remake, it's actually quite an interesting movie to watch.

Jaden Smith definitely had his father's flair for acting, and I'd give him credit for being able to live to his father's name, and Jackie Chan was at his usual kung-fu best, and his funny little Chinese accent in his English speaking is still evident there. I literally LOL-ed at the part where Jaden thought Jackie was going to catch the fly with his chopsticks like all stereotypical Chinese men who knows kung fu do, but instead used his fly swatter instead. That was one of the hilarious moments.

The minor modification of the "wax on, wax off" technique was pretty interesting as instead of waxing cars, Jaden was told to put on, take off, hang and drop his coat, though the car theme still remained, and they even gave Jackie a back story for his little emo-ness. Though I don't understand what is Jaden's "mom" obsession with him picking up the coat. Maybe it's OCD-ness XD And I like the kung fu moves, especially the fights and bullying Jaden gets from the baddies and also the big final fight during the kung fu tournament. That was pretty kick-ass. Oh, and also the puppy love scenes. That was pretty cute. Ah, young love~ ^_^

Probably the only beef that I have about this movie is the title itself. I mean, it's a total deviation from Japan to China, for starters, and the stuff they learn are kung fu, not karate. Why do they still insist on retaining the name "Karate Kid" for the sake of marketing purposes is beyond me.

All in all, I'd give it a 7.5/10 for this movie, and pretty recommendable to watch for those who never watched the franchise, or those who are die-hard fans of the franchise but don't mind the deviation.

Bombs, Bombs and More Bombs

2011-11-19T05:11:00.000-08:00

Guns, bombs, explosions and every action hero ever existed in the action hero movie business in one high explosive movie that has a plot without point storyline. What can be better? LOL!

Plotline is as follows:

A team of elite mercenaries, the Expendables, are deployed to the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia to halt local pirates from executing the hostages on a naval ship. The team consists of leader Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), former SAS soldier and blades specialist Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), martial artist Yin Yang (Jet Li), sniper Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) and demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture). Jensen instigates a firefight, causing casualties for the pirates. Yang and Jensen fight over a moral disagreement about hanging a pirate, with Ross finally intervening. As a result of his psychological problems and drug use, Ross reluctantly releases Jensen from the Expendables. The team then travels to New Orleans where they are stationed.

Ross and rival mercenary leader Trent Mauser (Arnold Schwarzenegger) visit a church to meet a man, who takes the name "Mr. Church" (Bruce Willis). Church offers them a mission in Vilena, a fictional island in between the Gulf of Mexico and South America, to overthrow a brutal dictator, General Garza (David Zayas). Busy with other things, Trent gives the contract to Ross. Meanwhile, Christmas visits his girlfriend, Lacy (Charisma Carpenter), whom he discovers has left him for another man. He leaves in a fit of rage, while Lacy insists her actions occurred because she does not see Christmas often and does not even know what he does for a living.

Ross and Christmas fly to Vilena to do initial reconnaissance after meeting their contact, Sandra (Gisele Itié), only for the mission to go awry. Ross learns that Garza is backed by ruthless ex-CIA agent James Munroe (Eric Roberts) as well as his henchmen Paine (Steve Austin) and The Brit (Gary Daniels), who manipulate and keep Garza in power by making his people fear him. Sandra is revealed to be Garza's daughter. Ross decides to abort and causes casualties among the army as they escape, but they leave Sandra behind. Meanwhile, a vengeful Jensen approaches Garza and Munroe to help their side.

Christmas visits Lacy again to find that her new boyfriend has beaten her after realizing she was Christmas' girlfriend and believed she was unfaithful to him and about to go back to Christmas. Christmas beats him and his friends, showing Lacy what he does for a living and winning her over. Later, Ross, Christmas, and Yang deduce that Mr. Church is a member of the CIA and that the real target is Munroe, as the CIA could not kill one of their own by sending in the special forces or the Navy Seals. Ross meets mission coordinator and former teammate Tool (Mickey Rourke) to vent his feelings of guilt. Tool makes an emotional confession to Ross about letting a woman commit suicide during the Bosnian War, and how he felt that if he had saved her, he could've saved what was left of his soul. Hearing this, Ross decides to go back for Sandra, telling Christmas and Yang he will do it alone. Yang however tags along; while driving they are chased on the road by Jensen in a shootout. The pursuit ends in an abandoned warehouse, where Yang and Jensen fight a second time. Jensen attempts to impale Yang on a pipe, only to be shot by Ross. A wounded Jensen makes amends and gives the layout of Garza's palace before he was arrested. Ross boards the plane with Yang and finds the rest of team, ready to aid their friend.

The Expendables infiltrate Garza's compound. Christmas, Yang, Caesar, and Toll plant explosive charges throughout the site. When Garza has a change of heart after Munroe tortures his daughter and realized he had changed for the worst, Munroe kills him for his treachery, causing Garza's loyal men to think it was the Expendables who killed him and scatter in rage. The entire team fights and shoots their way through Garza's soldiers. Ross and Caesar manage to destroy the helicopter Munroe was to escape on. Christmas and Yang manage to kill The Brit while Toll kills Paine. Ross and Christmas catch up to Munroe and kill him, saving Sandra. Instead of taking the payment for the mission, Ross gives it to Sandra to restore Vilena. The team travels back to New Orleans and celebrate their victory at Tool's tattoo parlor, with the reformed and recovering Jensen. Christmas and Tool challenge each other to a game of knife throwing and Christmas recites a limerick about his respect for Tool, before throwing the knife perfectly in the center of the board.

Well, all I can say about this movie in the line of watching action movies throughout my life (among other movies), this has got to be probably the most explosive PWP movie I've ever seen since Knight & Day.

Sly Stallone, Jason Stratham, Mickey Rourke, and even Arnie and Bruce (though cameo for like only friggin' 3 minutes tops into the movie) all there, big action heroes, and even some from old school action movies of their time were in there making a comeback. Having them there is already a big huge fucking neon siren telling you that this movie is gonna be a blast, pun intended. And who'd've thunk that Angel from the TV series Dexter would be in there playing as one of the villains, not to mention the behind-the-scenes villain Gary Daniels, one of the famous villain faces of all time.

The story, like Knight & Day, has no plot, no actual storyline other than being thrown into a country on a mission to bring down some kind of dictator, meet some hot-blooded beautiful woman, save the dame, and save the world, something like that. Other than that, you probably only experience things like gun blaring, bazookas pumping, M-16 bullets all over the place, smash and grab and big huge fucking explosions that rival even the fight scenes in Transformers. Basically the whole movie goes like this:

"Talk, talk, talk" "Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta" "Kaboom! Kaboom!" "Bakoom! Bakoom!" "Bang bang bang" "Talk, talk, talk" "Punch, biff, pow, kick" "Stab stab stab" "FUCK YOU!" "FUCK YOU TOO!" "GET DOWN!" "GET DOWN AGAIN!" "DIE, DIE, DIE!!" "Woooooooooooooooooooooooooz~~~~~~~~~~~~KABOOM~!!!" "Da-da-da-da-da-da-da" "Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta" "Talk, talk, talk, laugh, laugh, talk" "Vroom~!"

Yeah, pretty much that way.

So, overall rating, for its crazy-ass action, I'd probably give it about 6.5/10. Those who just like explosions, this is the movie for you. Those who are expecting a nice story behind it, forget it