
BRIEF MOVIE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CASUAL MOVIEGOERS
Sunday, December 21, 2008
This week's highlight: Australia!

Sunday, November 23, 2008
This week's highlight: The Good, The Bad and The Weird!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008
This week's highlight: Madagascar 2!

Sunday, November 2, 2008
This week's highlight: Quantum of Solace!

Solace offers something rare in the series - continuity. Picking up from clues left over by his former love interest in the last instalment, Bond seeks out the one responsible for her death, and I'm not surprised if he happens to be another megalomaniac hell-bent on destroying the world.
No buts about this one. Go watch it.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
This week's highlight: REC!

Thursday, October 23, 2008
This week's highlight: Tropic Thunder!

Four reasons. One: Robert Downey Jr. Two: It's a parody about Hollywood people. Three: Robert Downey Jr., playing a white actor playing a black character. Four: Tom Cruise's cameo.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
This week's highlight: Max Payne!

Ironically, while the game was highly influenced by cinema, now we have a movie that's inspired by the game. I'm not sure how it's going to avoid being yet another John Woo-inspired B-movie, made worse by the fact that its violent action has been reduced to PG-13 levels a la Die Hard 4.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
This week's highlight: The House Bunny!

There's Rock n Rolla and the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading, but it's likely their humour is of the darker variety. So, hmm...
Saturday, September 20, 2008
This week's highlight: The Chaser!

If your money's not stuck with shares or AIA, you could throw it on Bangkok Dangerous or Babylon A.D. instead, but let the buyer beware.
Monday, August 25, 2008
This week's highlight: WALL·E!

Elsewhere, we've also got another 3D movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The 2D TV original was great. This new one got thrashed by critics. The animation is made in Singapore, so I'm definitely watching, out of curiosity.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Review: The Mummy - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

"You can’t fool the audience by excavating the same mummy thrice (or can you?), so the filmmakers behind the third Mummy moved the supernatural shenanigans to China and made the murderous villain a Chinese Emperor. What perfect timing to release this movie during the Beijing Olympics..."
Read my full review here. Related reviews: The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns.
Monday, August 18, 2008
This week's highlight: Death Race!

Monday, August 11, 2008
This week's highlight: The X-Files - I Want to Believe!

A pretty good weekend
This weekend has been pretty good for two things: the Beijing Olympics and Singapore's National Day.
In terms of the Olympics, I've been a skeptic since day one. China has been experiencing a PR nightmare since the start of the Tibet incident, but not forgetting the "slavery" fiasco and all those numerous toxic products that got recalled left and right. But I really have to give it to them for the awesome opening ceremony that they put together on Friday. The British will have a tough time trying to outdo the Chinese in the next Olympics. I pray for China that the level of quality and dedication displayed on Friday would eventually spread to other aspects of their lives, and not just on sports, kungfu and Zhang Yimou.
I didn't see the whole Singapore National Day Parade on Saturday, even when it was broadcasted on TV. The Olympics opening ceremony set the bar so high that any parade or fireworks in the near future is going to feel inconsequential. So, rather than form a negative opinion about the NDP from watching it, I chose to avoid watching it. But I did see the NDP theme song video that's been playing on TV, sung in English by Singapore and Asia Idol winner Hady Mirza, and in Mandarin by pop star Joi Chua. And it was good. Like really, really good. Sounds less like an anthem and more like contemporary R&B (well, at least for Hady's rendition), it's catchy, strangely romantic but more importantly it's emotional, and emotions will touch more people than any fakey nationalistic ba-rah-rum-pumming anthem ever could. Joi sang it pretty straight, thus I prefer Hady's R&B spin on it.
I'm crossing my fingers that Malaysia's National Day theme song this year will be just as good. I also hope that the recent National Day budget cut's not going to affect its quality though. Uh-oh...
In terms of the Olympics, I've been a skeptic since day one. China has been experiencing a PR nightmare since the start of the Tibet incident, but not forgetting the "slavery" fiasco and all those numerous toxic products that got recalled left and right. But I really have to give it to them for the awesome opening ceremony that they put together on Friday. The British will have a tough time trying to outdo the Chinese in the next Olympics. I pray for China that the level of quality and dedication displayed on Friday would eventually spread to other aspects of their lives, and not just on sports, kungfu and Zhang Yimou.
I didn't see the whole Singapore National Day Parade on Saturday, even when it was broadcasted on TV. The Olympics opening ceremony set the bar so high that any parade or fireworks in the near future is going to feel inconsequential. So, rather than form a negative opinion about the NDP from watching it, I chose to avoid watching it. But I did see the NDP theme song video that's been playing on TV, sung in English by Singapore and Asia Idol winner Hady Mirza, and in Mandarin by pop star Joi Chua. And it was good. Like really, really good. Sounds less like an anthem and more like contemporary R&B (well, at least for Hady's rendition), it's catchy, strangely romantic but more importantly it's emotional, and emotions will touch more people than any fakey nationalistic ba-rah-rum-pumming anthem ever could. Joi sang it pretty straight, thus I prefer Hady's R&B spin on it.
I'm crossing my fingers that Malaysia's National Day theme song this year will be just as good. I also hope that the recent National Day budget cut's not going to affect its quality though. Uh-oh...
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Upcoming movie: Appaloosa!
A Western starring Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris and directed by Harris himself, and nobody told me about this?? And what in tarnation is an Appaloosa? (Apparently, it's a horse. Hidalgo all over again?) Hell and damnation I'm gonna get meself a ticket this coming October the 3rd, mark my words!

Friday, August 8, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
This week's highlight: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor!

Sunday, August 3, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Disaster Movie - The Poster

Big price for figuring out who "?" is supposed to represent. Nah, just kidding. But it'll still be fun to do it, right?
Monday, July 21, 2008
This week's highlight: The Dark Knight!

Sunday, July 13, 2008
It's hard out here for a big movie freak...
Even though I have moved on to a new job after languishing in a dead-end one for nearly a decade, I still can't decide if it was the best or worst decision. With time, you can earn a lot of respect and goodwill even in a company that supposedly don't appreciate what its workers contribute, and that gives you a lot of stature and leeway in your workplace. With a new job at a more well-known company, the prospects are better but at a price: you start not necessarily at the bottom, but you still have to prove yourself all over again. And it's really damn hard to work without the stature and leeway that have been the oil that greases your engine. Throw in the pressure of excelling in night classes (my only ticket out of this career hellhole), and it has been a really pleasant experience the last four weeks. I hope to make it through another two months, and will draw strength from the cinematic tough guys I worship, who obviously went through stuff that were a lot worse.
I will also try to continue maintaining the Site and the Blog as I have not done so in the past month, partly because I pay $14 every month to keep the love going. I also realised that the online part of my life has always been keeping my sanity intact, and that sanity has been unravelling in the last thirty days that I wasn't writing or contributing anything. Thankfully, I have my bro Will2k pulling up his sleeves for our cause, who dominated the review section with his most undervalued two cents on the latest big-budget ouevres.
This post will lump belated reviews and recommendations together for your reading convenience.
HELLBOY 2 : THE GOLDEN ARMY
I thought Hellboy was the best showcase of all of director Guillermo del Toro's weaknesses in pacing and editing blockbuster movies. His style may work on independent movies, but mainstream audiences are a restless bunch who need to be constantly prompted with big musical cues and zooming cameras. Still, his movies hold up because of the director's penchant for monsters and the supernatural, who are more often the good guys than the bad. Throw in an Indiana Jones-like opening, complete with occult-obsessed Nazis and a badass blade-wielding bad guy, and Hellboy got me hook, line and sinker. I don't know how Hellboy 2 would fare without any WW2 sequences or Kroenen, but we'll soon see.
I will also try to continue maintaining the Site and the Blog as I have not done so in the past month, partly because I pay $14 every month to keep the love going. I also realised that the online part of my life has always been keeping my sanity intact, and that sanity has been unravelling in the last thirty days that I wasn't writing or contributing anything. Thankfully, I have my bro Will2k pulling up his sleeves for our cause, who dominated the review section with his most undervalued two cents on the latest big-budget ouevres.
This post will lump belated reviews and recommendations together for your reading convenience.
WILL2K REVIEWS:
THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

I thought Hellboy was the best showcase of all of director Guillermo del Toro's weaknesses in pacing and editing blockbuster movies. His style may work on independent movies, but mainstream audiences are a restless bunch who need to be constantly prompted with big musical cues and zooming cameras. Still, his movies hold up because of the director's penchant for monsters and the supernatural, who are more often the good guys than the bad. Throw in an Indiana Jones-like opening, complete with occult-obsessed Nazis and a badass blade-wielding bad guy, and Hellboy got me hook, line and sinker. I don't know how Hellboy 2 would fare without any WW2 sequences or Kroenen, but we'll soon see.
Seems like only yesterday that I saw I Am Legend, and here we have another Will Smith blockbuster already unleashed to the masses. The Fresh Prince seems determined to take on every genre out there, and Hancock is his answer to the recent superhero trend. There seems to be some effort to make things a little more interesting. Hancock isn't your usual goody-two-shoes crimebuster - the guy swears, reeks of alcohol and the people he rescued don't seem to even like him. Way too many superhero movies this year, but I'm not tired of them... yet.
Monday, June 23, 2008
This week's highlight: The Sparrow!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008
This week's highlight: The Incredible Hulk!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
This week's highlight: Kung Fu Panda

Monday, June 2, 2008
Funny toon! (Not by me) - Another Indy 4-related posting!

Mythbusters take on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom!
Wow, even I thought the raft scene was totally ludicrous, but the Mythbusters really proven it could have worked. Now, if only they could bust the "nuke the fridge" one next...
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Nuked the fridge!

Record-setting US$100 mil weekend opening... sigh. If you haven't seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, or if you did and actually loved it, then you won't get what this is all about. Hey, we don't enjoy expressing hate, but angry fanboys are what you get when filmmakers not only jumped the shark, but nuked the friggin' fridge!
For the hardcore, you might want to check out the humongous fan rants (from both sides of the fence) from Aintitcool.com here. There are some good arguments there (mostly against) among the vile words of exchange and grammatical trainwrecks.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Will2k reviews Cloverfield!

Read Will2k's review here! (with spoilers)
Friday, May 30, 2008
This week's highlight: The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian!

Thursday, May 29, 2008
Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

"...As the saying goes, the whole should be greater than the sum of its parts. Unfortunately, as a whole, Crystal Skull feels like a tired, by-the-numbers Hollywood blockbuster that is closer to the Van Helsing camp than anything in Spielberg’s oeuvre. Spielberg has fashioned a movie that has more in common with his imitators of late than even his last two (and very recent) blockbuster outings; smothered in a thick, fake, plastic-ky layer of CGI, and plagued with an unusual lack of quality control and enthusiasm in telling its story..."
Read my full review here.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Will2k reviews Iron Man!

Read Will2k's review here! (minor spoilers)
Friday, May 23, 2008
This week's highlight: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!

Iron Man may have been sweet, but this is the summer movie that fans, the nostalgic, and movie aficionados have been waiting for. Enthusiasts love to laud Raiders of the Lost Ark as a cinematic gem, but intentional or not, the men behind Indiana Jones (among them George Lucas and Steven Spielberg) were actually only trying to put together an entertainment piece that homages 1930s adventure movies. Some people are already complaining about the lack of sophistication in Crystal Skull's storyline. But really, what were they actually expecting from the third sequel to a movie where a guy gets famously chased by a giant freakin' boulder?
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
A precursor of things to come

Alfred Molina as the arachnid-covered "Satipo" in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Twenty-three years later he played Dr. Otto Octavius a.k.a. "Doctor Octopus" who gets to beat up Spidey in Spider-man 2.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Review: Speed Racer

Read my full review here.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
This week's highlight: Chocolate!

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Marvel mania

When I was barely out of my tod years, I was already a Captain America fan. I was too young then to understand the nationalistic inclinations of the character, but I was very much mesmerised by the superhero's cool, colourful costume and indestructible throwing shield. There was also something cool about him battling the Nazis during World War 2, who were led by a memorable villain called The Red Skull (who literally had a red skeleton for a head like Skeletor).
In restrospect, my little infatuation with the Cap seems a little embarrassing. Not just because he's a blatantly patriotic figure of another country, but because the whole concept of Captain America is as corny as the idea of a Sargeant Singapore or Major Malaysia. Today's movie audiences are more matured and cynical, and you can see it in their taste for flawed, complicated heroes (e.g. Iron Man, Spider-man, Blade, The Crow, Batman, etc.) Superman is probably the closest in terms of colour scheme and American ideals, but although Superman Returns' box office draw wasn't too bad, it got mixed reactions from critics and fans. Perhaps some people aren't very receptive to the traditional, wholesome, good-natured superheroes anymore. (My problems with Superman Returns had more to do with the handling of the story than Supes' outdated goody-two-shoes-ness, which I think could still work.)
Thus, an update to the concept seems inevitable. What would they need to change then? Make the character black, as one movie journalist had suggested? Update the costume to a trendier, darker colour like they did in X-men? Or maybe even change his name entirely? The First Avenger, anyone? How about giving him an Uncle Ben-like backstory to brood and sulk about and plot a revenge with?
I say a resounding "no" to all of these. You take away the stuff that makes this character unique - his name, his costume and what he stands for - and make him modern, darker and edgier, you might as well call the movie Blade 4. There is only one era where the Cap would not look entirely out of place, and it's in the early 1940s, on European soil, battling Nazi supermen. Think Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, or Indiana Jones or the opening sequence of Hellboy. If there's one thing the silver screen lacks today, it's superhero movies set in World War Two.
Of course, in The Avengers movie, Captain America would have to be transported into modern times to head a team of superheroes consisting of him, Iron Man, Thor and others (via WWII-era cryogenics technology; a la Demolition Man). I wouldn't know how the character's going to work then, but that's for the writers to fret about in these coming weeks.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Ssstars...

Wednesday, May 7, 2008
High-definition... WTF?!

Of course, to fully utilise the prowess of your HDTV, you need to watch something in HD, and that thing could be either a HD channel from free TV or cable, or from a Blu-Ray disc. I don't doubt the awesomeness of watching movies in glorious HD (e.g. the Blu-Ray's resolution is six times better than a DVD's!), but it's still too early to jump on the bandwagon. For one thing, the Blu-Ray library is currently very limited, so a lot of your favourite movies might not be available in this format for years to come. Furthermore, Blu-Ray disc prices are around the range of S$50, compared to Region 3 DVDs, often priced between S$20-S$30. A Blu-Ray player costs around S$600.
Unless you have deep pockets, it's better to adopt a wait-and-see approach. Prices would naturally drop once the Blu-Ray market widens in the next few months, and it's not like the DVD is immensely inferior to Blu-Ray. If you didn't know, there are Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players that can "upscale" your DVDs, or artificially process the video from your DVDs into near-HD video quality, so, don't sell away your precious DVD collection just yet. The best time to start is either in 2009 or 2010. By then, legal movie downloads might have already become the norm, who knows?
Personally, I think the jump to HD is largely unnecessary. Unless you want to examine every pock mark on your favourite celebrity's cheek, the video quality on DVDs are already sufficient. The only time your eyes need the relief of HD video is when you're gaming. Us gamers are all too familiar with the eye-watering blurry graphics of past-gen systems, but the recent crop of HD-supported consoles have significantly lessen the visual strain, and probably improved gamers' endurance for marathon gaming sessions (to the chagrin of some parents, no doubt.)
Note: I never mentioned about Blu-Ray's audio quality because I'm the kind of person who can't tell the difference between 5.1 and DTS except that one is louder than the other. Thus, the prospect of having 7.1 surround sound in my movies isn't exactly something earth-shattering to me. You might want to ask or check out an audiophile's website for more info on this.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
This week's highlight: Speed Racer!

Monday, May 5, 2008
Iron Man blasts his way into a US$100m opening

Sunday, May 4, 2008
The BMF must write more

For your reading pleasure, here are some recommendations for the weekend:
and,
(cribbed from IMDb.com's Hit List)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Potential big hits of 2008

Seems like Will Smith has jumped on the superhero bandwagon. This one isn't an adaptation but an original screenplay that sounds a little parodic (Han-cock, snort snort), about a man imbued with superheroic powers who isn't exactly the best role model for children. With Smith's name in the top billing, it's a guaranteed money-maker. The only question is how much.

I don't know how anyone could ever take shoot-'em-up movies seriously anymore since last year's spoof-like Shoot 'Em Up. Ok, maybe you still can, since apparently not many people saw that one (which is a shame, because it's freakin' good). Angelina Jolie's latest is actually based on a comic book, stars Morgan Freeman and Atonement's James McAvoy, and has crazy slo-mo, shoot-'em-up action. (The heroes have the ability to curve bullet trajectories!) It's also directed by Night Watch's Timur Bekmambetov, so expect craziness in other areas as well.

Friday, May 2, 2008
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