Elementary, My Dear Watson!

If you're a fan of director Guy Ritchie's older movies like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver and RocknRolla, you're in for a treat. Sherlock Holmes has most of his signature moves and with added thrills. Throw in a mystery to be solved and you get quite a hit, literally.

Robert Downey Jr can't seem to shake off the image of being Tony Stark in Iron Man. He is every bit as witty and funny in this one, with a touch or quirky personality. It was enjoyable watching him with the violin, trying to piece together mysteries that he can't understand or solve.

Jude Law had onscreen presence that rivalled RDJ, which made him almost an equal when bringing out Dr Watson, or in some newspaper reviews, Dr Hot-son! Sherlock's ever trusty counterpart and some times faithful companion.

In a good movie, you never have to take off your clothes for the actors to portray their characters. With the exception of the boxing scenes of course! Slow motion moves to disable their opponents brought us back to producer Joel Silver trying to do bullet-time action scenes. It worked better here than in his other movies like Romeo Must Die, which was absolutely horrible. The mysterious man actually turned out to be Holmes arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty, of course, those of you who do not know who this diabolical rival is, I suggest you start reading all those Sherlock Holmes books soon, because it sets the stage for a sequel.

Through it all, this action-mystery does have its flaws. I for one do not remember Holmes having eidetic memory, in other words, I never knew he could photograph or remember scenes or events to piece together and solve a mystery, something Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never really revealed. Though it was interesting, it reminded me of watching Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code trying to piece together the riddle to open the cryptex in that movie. Or watching an episode of Psych trying to piece together pieces of the puzzle to get the whole picture, while pretending he's a psychic!

Oh and Holmes does NOT say the famous words, "Elementary, my dear Watson." in this movie at all - a bit of a disappointment there. Perhaps in the sequel, they will remember to add that in!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and thought that, like some reviewers have said, it was a bold interpretation of one of the most famous fictional detectives in the UK and would highly recommend that you watch it too!

One of Guy Ritchie's better ones!

4 out of 5 stars

AVATAR - Movie Of The Year

Avatar should be watched the way it was originally intended to be watched, in 3-dimension or 3D. This movie will probably win plenty of awards, I find that it's probably the best movie of this year.

The level of detail that went into creating and filming this movie was unsurpassed. I was totally taken in by the detail of every single thing, from the bioluminsence in the forest of Pandora to the HUD or Heads-Up Displays present in all the aircrafts and computer systems on the base. James Cameron has always been known to push the limits of movie-making, merging computer, technology and other forms of digital media and combining it into a blockbuster movie. At the same time, he always manages to combine all these elements into a beautifully woven and very human story.

His fantasy sci-fi terms are not bombastic, they're easy to remember and to relate to, so that you don't go out of your way to try to understand things in the movie and get side-tracked. Using an alien culture to tell a very human story isn't all that different from Star Trek or other sci-fi novels. It always takes something that you need to relate to, for you to actually understand how bad it actually is.

The plot of the movie, a more advanced alien culture sets up a beach-front in your native land. You are one in tune with the land, with tribes and clans still using bows and arrows but giving back to the land in a most spiritual way. This reminded me of native American culture, the red indians, who are in sync with their land and culture, and who had Americans chase them from their land.

However, having said all that, Avatar does have its minor flaws. James Cameron likes to make use of previous actors from his other movies, Sigourney Weaver for example. At the same time, the movie had a plot that was rather predictable, in that, whenever they mention something, 20 minutes later, it became reality, it's almost like foreshadowing events. But these flaws did not overshadow the technologically amazing movie.

Sam Worthington caught my attention in Terminator Salvation. He has reinforced my belief that he will be one of the great and rising actors of our time, on par with all the other Aussie actors like Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett.

Highly, highly recommended movie. If you haven't watched it in 3D yet, make it a point to do so, you won't regret it.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Inglouriously Delicious!

Another Quentin Tarantino movie I definitely had to watch. The stars were from all over the globe. A movie involving Nazi-occupied France. Violence. Killing. What more could you really ask for.

I think the more Tarantino makes movies, the more he's able to shift his genre from the violent to the most prolific and sophisticated. It's like an art, making movies, and Tarantino has all the right ingredients when making a brilliant movie.

Without giving too much away - yes, this time no spoilers my friends, you all have to watch it yourselves - I would say that the movie started off rather slowly, but then again it is Tarantino's new way, to have a decent conversation, building up the characters, the suspense, then making you feel at ease with the entire conversation. But by that time it's too late, you are already in the trap, you lie, you cheat, you pretend to wriggle out of it, but you're already ensnared by it and then you're caught in it utterly with no escape. This is when he creates an opening in the trap, in which he gives you a choice of cooperating to live or defying to the bitter end and get your entire family murdered, it's your choice.

The verbal banter is amazingly candid and humorous at the same time. Most of the entire movie is in either French, German, a little Italian and English. I think only about 15 minutes of the movie is in English, the rest are in their native tongue, it is France after all, so you have to be content with reading subtitles. However, the nuances, the punctuation, the curses, all fitted into the movie perfectly. I was laughing at all throughout!

Christoph Waltz who played Colonel Hans Landa gave the best performance I've ever seen. He switched from French to English to German with such ease, it was difficult to catch up. His character was filled with such sincerity that the menace behind it was hidden so well.

Diane Kruger looks excellent in period movies and fitted in perfectly with her role. She looks better with Brad Pitt standing next to her than she did in National Treasure with Nicolas Cage!

I don't want to spoil any more than I should, but the rest of the cast were just stellar.

However, the movie did move at a pace slower than I expected, and I suspect that several more scenes did not make the final cut, because there was quite a lot of unexplained stuff. It will probably be featured in the DVD director's uncut edit or something, which will be available in the next half of the year.

Highly, highly recommended!

4 out of 5 stars!

Harry Potter & The Half-Past Six Film

Maybe my expectations were a tad too high, but then again it's a Harry Potter movie, how can your expectations not be high for such a wonderful series? Although the tone, the gathering darkness and maturity of the movie was good, it was too disjointed, too many scenes were cut out from the original novel to begin with, leaving everything a mess.

I was particularly disappointed that the film didn't unfold itself in the usual way like the previous movies, where they slowly reveal the mysteries and answer them at the end of the movie. There was no mystery in this movie, only a lot of empty space and blanks left empty to be filled in. They just led us by the nose and we all followed them.

I had several friends who never read the book, and said that they didn't know exactly what was going on, but the gathered the story from bits and pieces here and there throughout the movie. I read the novel, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, the development of the characters and how they matured and banded together through the darkness to fight Voldemort and his Death-eaters.

The movie lacked everything, it was almost like a hide and seek game, played in the form of guerilla-tactics. Death-eaters attacked, Order of the Phoenix fight back, Death-eaters retreat, Order of the Phoenix are too disillusioned with their losses they don't even want to talk about it.

Scenes that were missing or lacking or something:

1) Fenrir Greyback, he was just muscle, menacing and opened shirt to show his hairy chest. In actual fact, he was the werewolf who bit Remus Lupin.

2) Ollivanders, the wand maker, getting kidnapped in the beginning of the movie, yes, he was the guy whom the Death-eaters captured in Diagon Alley, the hooded fella. If you didn't gather the details by now.

3) The in-joke of the entire movie was the Millennium Bridge, aka the Wobbly Bridge. A friend of mine from the UK told me about it. When the bridge was completed and opened, and when people walked across it, the entire bridge wobbled and swayed, due to unexpected lateral vibration (resonant structural response). They had to close the bridge down 2 days after it opened and repair it. It reopened again later, but not before they got an entire platoon of military men to march across it, to make sure it didn't wobble and shake again. If any of you have been to London, the Millennium bridge is located near St Paul's Cathedral in the direction of the Thames. Crossing it will bring you to the Tate Modern and the Globe theatre nearby. It was called the Millennium bridge because it was supposed to have been opened in time for 2000, but because of the defect, it was closed and reopened later in 2002. The bridge was not in the novel.

4) I don't remember Bellatrix Lestrange taking on such a huge role in HP6, but Helena Bonham Carter is one fine actress, she did an amazing job of portraying wickedness and evilness throughout the movie.

5) The Battle Of The Astronomy Tower, where all the students were involved in one way or another to hinder the Death-eaters from escaping after killing Dumbledore, didn't happen. That was the ultimate let down in the entire move. Compared to HP5, which had a rather huge duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore, HP6 paled in comparison to having absolutely no duelling at all. Even the Quiddich match was a let down.

6) Felix felicis was not used by Harry to get lucky and get Professor Slughorn's memory, it was used during the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, to protect the students from the Death-eaters.

7) Ginny Weasley romancing Harry wasn't till book 7.

8) Dumbledore had no funeral in the book 6 chapter titled The White Tomb.

9) Bill and Fleur were not present.

10) The backstory on the Gaunt's or Tom Riddle's ancestors was cut out entirely! This made it very difficult to understand exactly why Tom was the heir to Slytherin.

11) The inferi in the lake look like Gollum, the only thing missing was them all saying "My precious" at the same time!

12) The Burrow was burnt and destroyed, probably to garner sympathy for the Weasleys.

God I could go on with this list, but I'll have to stop here.

If you were me, you would go back and read book 6 and enjoy it more thoroughly than I did with this movie. I hope that by doing a 2 parter film to book 7, they would cover all the destruction of the Horcruxes and leave nothing of the original storyline out.

Recommended only for the special effects and fans of the novel.

2 out of 5 stars

Revenge Of The Slapsticks

What can I say? It was action-packed. It was entertaining. There were laughs, some were really hilarious, some were plain stupid. The plot was lacking, it really made me wonder why on earth the Decepticons don't invade in force. The Decepticons were not one who were subtle in the cartoon, but in the movie, they didn't want to reveal themselves to the people of earth till the second movie? On the eve of activating the weapon to destroy the earth?

Some Spoilers Below, Read At Your Own Risk!

You wonder why the running trend of Hollywood: To create prequels within the sequel itself, to fill in the missing backstory, so that the sequel can flow forward. It turns out, much of the Allspark had the history of the Transformers within, which was left with shards. No idea how that last shard got attached to Sam's sweater, clearly Optimus Prime took it out of Megatron's remains in the first movie. Strange that the Transformers themselves didn't know their own history, and how to activate and use the Allspark, other than Bumblebee miniaturising it in the first movie.

If a Transformer is killed, it seems, even with a shard of the Allspark, it will bring him back to life, regardless of how dead he seems. No memory lost, nothing, Megatron awakes hellbent on revenge, almost like he was in cryostasis.

Although Devastator's transformations were spectacular, the robot in itself was kind of a disappointment. The cartoon Devastator was a green robot, more like Megatron's muscle. In this movie, he was this clumsy hulk of a robot, that had the ability to suck stuff through his mouth and eventually break it down and out his back. He did nothing more than to tear the top of the pyramids apart, to reveal the Sun Harvester - how convenient! That and well, watch out for his metal balls, literally gives new meaning to the term bang balls!

The Decepticons are growing hatchlings? Whatever for, it wasn't explained in the movie, all that was mentioned was that without a new source of energon, they will continue to hatch and then die. Are the Decepticons reproducing? Their little hatchery reminded me of Count Dracula's spawn in the movie Van Helsing!

The Fallen, they look more elaborate than having the ability to transform. If the Fallen was the first Decepticon, he was a sad case. Was their base located near Saturn in the solar system itself? Why can't they just mobilize everything and attack earth?

I must say, there was good film editing done, because when Sam and Makaela was running towards the camp, they ran from Petra at Jordan, to the pyramids in Egypt, running through the pillars at Luxor and then trying to make their way to the marine encampment to bring the Matrix of Leadership to revive Optimus Prime! The movie made everyone believe that Jordan and Egypt are in the same garden, just a stone's throw away from each other.

All the transformers, especially the Decepticons, looked much to elaborate. So much so, that I couldn't tell which was Starscream, or whether or not Megatron was hit during the attack. All Decepticons seem to be able to fly, whereas Autobots confine their disguise to cars, trucks, lorrys, pickups and motorbikes! The only Decepticon enjoyable to watch was Soundwaver, he was a satellite and he did all the work!

The twin transformers, they were like that Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks! I couldn't believe they had to provide that sort of slapstick entertainment in the movie. What's more, they made them bling-bling, and did I see correctly, one of the twins had gold teeth. The strange thing is that my colleague who was watching the movie with me, also wondered where they disappeared to. After their Devastator tango, they vanished and were not part of the ending. Something got edited out perhaps, or they finally realized how stupid they were and deleted them!

Overall, fun-filled action-packed, great for the family, good laughs, and oh, almost forgot to mentioned the G-string jockstrap worn by Agent Simmons, that almost blinded me when I saw his ass!

Highly recommended only for entertainment value and tons of kick-ass explosions, and for kids 10 years or older.

3 out of 5 stars

Terminate The Critics, For They Know NOT What They Review!

The critics panned this movie as having only action in the first 1 hours and thereafter, a muddled plot and going nowhere. They gave it a lower than usual rating, some 1 out of 5 stars, or 2 out of 5 stars.

After watching it this past weekend, let me correct their impression of this movie. Do NOT listen to the critics! They either don't understand what they're watching, or have no sense of imagination for the Terminator franchise! Go and watch this movie yourself and do you own review!

Beware of spoilers below if you read on, you've been warned!

I'm so glad that McG and his creative team had some imagination. Believe it or not, all the 3 Terminator movies had these ingredients in their storyline:

1. Arrival from the future, kill, kill, kill... mainly to get clothes;
2. Chase down suspects one by one, kill, kill, kill... to eliminate people who put Skynet at risk and to find John Connor, wanton destruction ensues;
3. Terminator finds Sarah/John Connor, kill, kill, kill... chase scene ensures, more killing, more chasing, more wanton destruction;
4. Hero arrives to save the day, someone gets hurt, they go into hiding;
5. A sudden epiphany on what they should do to escape termination;
6. More chasing, more killing, more wanton destruction! (If there's glass, they have to break it!)
7. Hero always dies, terminator gets terminated, tear-jerker moment, uncertain future - there's no future but what we make...
   

God, wake up people, just because T2 had incredible and ground-breaking special effects doesn't make it good! What McG did was to make me wake up and take notice of the movie. He created new Terminators, instead of the pathetic "I'll be back" Arnold drone T-800 Cyberdyne systems model 101. The Hydrobot, the Hunter-killer, the prison ship with hunter-killer, the giant robots, the tank terminator T-1, the motorcycle terminator. All these added to the intrigue and mystery and showed the limits of Skynet's power and vulnerability.

The future is not all that bleak if there are so many pockets of resistance! The resistance HQ, which was an underwater submarine was innovative, but how long can they really last? They obviously had to make way for John Connor to be resistance leader supreme!

Throw in human nature into the works and create the bridging gap between the T-600 and T-800, Marcus Wright - the prototype! And this essentially throws a monkey wrench into John Connor's world. He went back to the tapes to see if his mom left any info on a prototype Terminator with a human heart and finds nothing, he gets desperate, he doesn't really know what to do! So far, his mom's tapes have been helping him out!

Remember to throw in rain, dry, rain, dry, rain, dry, rain scenes - if you could only count the number of times Marcus gets wet and dries off, it's a wonder he doesn't get pneumonia during filming! Sam Worthington did a great job playing John's nemesis in the movie. At least James Cameron got something right when he recommended the actor to McG, instead of some wooden actor who can't act to save himself!

Anton Yelchin, fresh from Star Trek as Chekov, did an amazing job portraying teenager Kyle Reese. So much envy for John Connor that he desperately wants to be part of the resistance to follow in his footsteps. However, if you follow Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on TV, you'll notice that his elder brother Derek Reese is nowhere to be found - missing continuity or an alternate reality I guess!

Arnie does makes a CGI appearance, well no, the Governor didn't have time to film anything! And although Christian Bale could have spoken a little clearer than in his raspy Bruce Wayne/Batman voice, I believe that he did amazingly well in this movie as John Connor, as compared to Nick Stahl's wimpy version in T3.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Terminator Salvation and highly recommend it to anyone daring enough NOT to take the words of those critics. I'm really looking forward to see the future direction that McG and his creative team can move the franchise towards.

Viva la resistance!

4 out of 5 stars

Solace Of Quantum

The latest Bond movie Quantum of Solace (QOS) just hit the screens here this week and I took time off to watch it with a friend after work. Perhaps it was the long day at work, or just fighting to find parking space, I really didn't enjoy this Bond movie at all. Here is a short review and analysis of the movie.

>>> Tons Of Spoilers Below, Read At Your Own Risk! <<<

The film continues from Casino Royale (CR) with Bond driving from Lake Como to Siena, Italy with the captured Mr White stuffed into the trunk of his Aston Martin. After evading his pursuers, Bond and M, interrogate White regarding his organisation, Quantum. M's trusted bodyguard Craig Mitchell turns traitor – allowing White to escape – Bond chases Mitchell across Siena and kills him. I have to say that his fight sequence with Mitchell was amazing, and had me at the edge of my seat!

Bond ends up in Haiti to find Mitchell's contact, Edmund Slate and kills him. Bond's doing too much killing in this movie! He then poses as him, learning Slate was sent to kill Camille (the perpetual PMS-looking new Bond girl) at the behest of her partner, Dominic Greene, the ruthless chairman of Greene Planet and a member of Quantum. I have to say that although ruthless, his character didn't feel diabolical at all in this movie, making him the weakest villain ever in Bond history.

Greene is helping General Medrano – who murdered Camille's family – to stage a coup in Bolivia, that's a country in South America, and not Europe, like I thought the name sounded, in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of desert land.

Bond follows Greene, to a performance of Puccini's Tosca at Lake Constance in Austria. This is a clandestine way for members of Quantum to plan the coup, with each member communicating through special earpieces concealed in gift bags. Bond himself obtains an earpiece and disrupts the meeting. He then uses his Sony Ericsson mobile phone (I don't know which model, but I wish I had such a powerful phone that can take photos from so far away!) to take photos of various Quantum members and sends it back to MI6.

Bond and Camille drive to the location of Greene's intended land acquisition, surveying the area in a Douglas DC-3 propeller plane. They are intercepted by a chopper and a fighter plane sent by General Medrano and subsequently shot down. Before crashing, both Bond and Camille jump from the crippled plane and then freefall/parachute into a sink hole. There, the duo discover Greene is not interested in oil, but has been blockading supplies of fresh water, hidden in underground rivers.

Bond meets his CIA ally Felix Leiter at a local bar, who informs Bond of where Greene is set to complete his deal with Medrano. Bond and Camille go to an eco-hotel, located in the Bolivian desert, where Greene is finalising the coup. As the various parties depart, Bond attacks and kills the departing Colonel of Police for betraying Mathis and sets off a chain of explosions when a hydrogen fuel tank is destroyed. Camille kills Medrano and Bond captures Greene. After interrogating him, he leaves Greene stranded in the middle of the desert with only a can of oil.

Bond goes then goes to Kazan, Russia, where he confronts Vesper Lynd's former boyfriend, Yusef. Yusef is a Quantum henchman who specialises in seducing high-ranking women to get them to give up government assets as he stages his own kidnappings, and is doing the same with Canadian agent Corinne Veneau.

M reveals that Leiter has been promoted at the CIA, and Greene was found in the desert shot dead with motor oil in his stomach.

This Bond movie lacked the character, as a whole, that Casino Royale had with a stellar cast, especially the most beautiful and enchanting Bond Girl, Eva Green. I can't help but saying that, for the record, they destroyed yet another beautiful Aston Martin again! The Aston Martin car this time was a DBS V12. The latest Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko, looked like she was in perpetual PMS, although she had a good figure and great legs, that didn't make up the fact that she was hell-bent on revenge, there was no other side to her, not even a tender side, even her kiss with Bond looked rehearsed. She had a wall up around her that even Bond couldn't get through.

I think the only saving grace of the movie was the excellent car/boat/airplane chases, stunts and action scenes. Otherwise, the movie suffers from a fantastically weak plot and very shallow characters, leaving viewers wracking their brains as to what the organisation Quantum really was. I would think that it is another SPECTRE! Perhaps they will reveal more in the next Bond movie, will it be part of a trilogy?

I only recommend this movie to Bond lovers, otherwise, it's not worth watching at all. I was sorely disappointed, despite the good and positive reviews that I read, praising it as another good movie.

Shall I end with a Bond cliche - this movie left me unshaken, and unstirred!

3 out of 10 stars

Engineering Anarchy

I just returned from the late night screening of The Dark Knight. I have to say this, throw out all the reviews of all those critics you read about in the newspapers, especially the bad ones, I don't know what they were watching, or what they were thinking when they were watching the movie, because this Batman was not only one of the best, it was one of the darkest! Kudos to director Christopher Nolan for doing it right!

Batman is considered a superhero, but one without super powers. He's just incredibly rich and spends all his money and time fighting criminals and injustice in Gotham City. If you follow the comic books, he's part of the Justice League of America or JLA which comprises of Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and several other characters who band together and fight injustice. But Batman on his own, well, he's just dark, brooding and most of the time holed up in his Batcave.

What this generation of writers have done is to write Batman as a force to be reckon with. They have somehow humanised his character, not always letting the good side win, but at the same time given him the power to deal with his group of freakish criminals in Gotham City. Unlike how Spiderman always swings to the rescue and spins the criminals up in a web, Batman doesn't use a gun, he takes things up close and personal with the criminals using hand to hand combat.

A few spoilers below, read at your own risk!

Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker blew Jack Nicholson's out of the water hands down! This Joker was not only insane, he was unpredictable, diabolical and menacing all at the same time. His plans were plans within plans within plans. Nobody knew or could have guessed the outcome of his plans. The way he flicked his tongue when talking reminded me of the way David Tennant flicked his tongue when he portrayed Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He turned all the heroes to look in on themselves. People don't like what they see in themselves and will never admit their darkest secrets. This Joker lived up to his name as Batman's true nemesis. It was possibly an Oscar-winning performance on Heath's part, may he rest in peace.

Christian Bale did his usual good stuff in reprising his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne. It is so nice to see a hero falling, unlike those who would dodge bullets and escape unhurt, and how gravity could not affect them. This Batman could be hurt, not just with bullets, but when those closest to him get hurt. But as Bruce Wayne, it's always so nice to arrive fashionable late for fundraisers in a helicopter, with 2 or 3 beauties in each arm!

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes over Katie Holmes' original portrayal. Although it does seem that a different actress did make the character older and harder, I still think that the casting was all wrong. I would have thought Charlize Theron could have played a better Rachel Dawes, but that role would have been too small for her as Charlize is lead actress material, not supporting. So, in a way, I was also glad that they got rid of her (oops spoilers!).

Gary Oldman as Lieutenant Gordon/Commissioner Gordon. Wow, he certainly added more depth to his character and had a larger role than in the first movie. He did a magnificent job of supporting actor. Gary Oldman is a very seasoned actor, I've loved his deep and character driven acting ever since Immortal Beloved, and Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face. Another wow, his portrayal added a lot of charisma to first, Gotham City's suave district attorney and then later as Two Face himself. The other half of his face that got burnt, you have to see it for yourself, the effects are downright scary! "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

If you haven't already watched this movie, go quickly to catch it at a cinema near you. Because telling yourself that you will buy the DVD or Blu-Ray to watch it is just not the same as watching it in the cinemas!

I highly, highly recommend this to all adults and lovers of Batman, as this movie is filled with mature themes and brings Batman to a whole new level of superheroes, along the same lines as Superman, Spiderman and Iron Man. The movie is a little too dark for kids, but I'm sure they'll understand sooner or later.

9.5 out of 10 stars

Tempting Heart

I'm not an advocate of Mandarin movies, because most of the time they can get rather nonsensical and witless. However, once in a blue moon, a movie comes along that someone introduces to me and I was lucky to have the chance to watch it.

Yes, it is a rather old one from 1999 and it is a Mandarin/Cantonese film, and I got to watch the DVD in Cantonese, but hey, there are some lovely ones out there that nobody we don't know about and are not represented widely enough. Then again, I guess we tend to identify with romantic movies which touch our hearts better than others do.

This is a beautifully written and directed, romantic love-story, but it was done it a very abstract manner, in that scenes from the past, present and future were all intermixed and woven together like a tapestry to tell the entire story. Meaning, there could be a scene from when the characters were in the future, and then another from their past and then another in the present. It is up to you to figure out which period they were in and piece the movie together. There were times when I was confused, but in the end, all the questions were answered.

Not many movies make me cry, but this love triangle plot had such beauty in it, it told the human side of love and how close it comes to hitting home sometimes, you just cannot resist not feeling emotional when watching it.

Takeshi Kaneshiro stars as Ho-jun, a shy teenager who falls in love with Gigi Leung's character Xiao rou. Their relationship turns intimate but faces objections from their parents. Karen Mok plays Chen-li, the best friend of Gigi, whom Gigi confides in and tells all her problems.

This teenage love soon fizzled and Ho-jun turns to marry Chen-li. Chen-li then reveals that she and Ho-jun have been in love with the same girl Xiao rou. Xiao rou also gets married. She only later finds out that Ho-jun's wife is Chen-li, but only discovers this after Chen-li has died.

Chen-li left a message for Xiao rou, asking her for forgiveness. As Xiao rou prepared to fly back to Hong Kong from Japan, Ho-jun gives her a present. Inside the box were photographs, each taken when Ho-jun was thinking about Xiao-rou of their brief and bright moments of happiness.

What I loved most about this movie was this last scene, when she opens the box containing the photographs which were taken when Ho-jun was thinking about her. Who hasn't done that for their loved ones in one way or another? To capture a moment in time, through photography or otherwise, in which this same photo will trigger your memory of what you were actually thinking of at that moment in years to come.

Here is the love theme from the movie, also titled Tempting Heart, or Xin Dong. It is sung by Shino Lin Xiao Pei. Even if you don't know the lyrics, the music itself is really beautiful and touching. I've included the lyrics and the lose translation below.

This is a highly recommended movie for all romantics out there. The characters are believable and very easy to identify with and the acting is very powerful by the 3 lead actors.

9 out of 10 stars

You Duo Jiu Mei Jian Ni
(How long have I never seen you?)

Yin Wei Ni Zai Na Li
(I thought you were there)

Yuan Lai Jiu Zhu Zai Wo Xin Di
(In fact you're just deep inside my heart)

Pei Ban Zhe Wo De Hu Xi
(Accompanying my breath)

You Duo Yuan De Ju Li
(How far is the distance?)

Yi wei wen bu dao ni qi xi
(I thought I can't smell you)

Shui Zhi Dao Ni Bei Ying Zhe Me Chang
(Who knows your shadow is so long)

Hui tou jiu kan dao ni
(Once I turn around I see you)


Chorus:
Guo qu rang ta guo qu
(Let the past go)

Lai bu ji / Cong tou xi huan ni
(It's too late to love you from the start)

Bai yun chan rao zhe lan tian
(As if clouds are covering the blue sky)

Ru guo bu neng gou yong yuan dou zai yi qi
(If we can't be together forever)

Ye zhi shao gei wo men
(Give us at least)

Huai nian de yong qi
(the courage to miss)

Yong bao de quan li
(The right to hug)

Hao rang ni ming bai
(So that you understand)

Wo xin dong de hen ji
(The trace of my heart moving)


Zong shi xiang zai jian ni
(Always wish to see you again)

Hai shi zhe da tan ni xiao xi
(I even attempt to inquire your news)

Yuan lai ni jiu zhu zai wo de shen ti
(In fact you're just living in my body)

Shou zhu wo de hui yi
(Guarding my memories)

Some Thing Has Found Us

I just got back from the much anticipated screening of Cloverfield. It was not an alien invasion flick, the title is a codename used by the Department of Defence for the monster in the movie.

There are some spoilers below, so please read at your own risk.

This movie reminded me of The Blair Witch Project (BWP) from many years back. It is filmed from a single hand-held camera, so for those with motion sickness problems, if you got sick watching BWP, then you can forget about this movie. But the difference with this is, in BWP, you never got to see the witch, in fact, in that movie, you barely got to see anything at all, other than the actors running around, panting and the works. In Cloverfield, there is at least some character development, many glimpses of the monster and rather realistic responses to a disaster-type situation.

There was a hinted reference to the origin of the monster. In fact, it was the actor holding the camera and filming it who provided all the bright ideas and theories. He talked about a fish that was thought to be extinct, but was recently found off the coast of Madagascar. The reason being, it could have gone further underwater into trenches and unknown locations to breed or to get away from humans. Similarly too, the evolution of the monster in Cloverfield.

Movie-goers nowadays have high expectations when watching movies, especially the younger generation. They probably grew up with watching tons of action movies with lots of explosions. Several instant verbal reviews of the movie immediately when the end credits started rolling was, "That's it?"; "What the hell?"; "This was such a terrible movie!".

Well, they didn't understand it obviously. Typical spoon-feeding attitude. In other words, they didn't want to think, they wanted all the information spoon-fed to them in the movie. Otherwise, it's just another waste of time. Ah, and one of them actually said that Aliens Vs Predator 2 would have been much better (that was a terrible movie!). I rest my case with them being brainless and needing to be spoon-fed.

However, I personally enjoyed the movie and found that it was done very realistically. In realistically, I mean like a home-made movie from a camcorder, and how one (and their friends) would response to a disaster situation. It started off being filmed as a friend's farewell party for his departure to Japan. After which, mid-way, the disaster occurred, the survival of friends, the perseverance of one to go back into danger to look for another friend - a very human trait; glimpses of the monster and its parasitic little creatures that came along with it.

I would have loved if they touched on a lot more in a shorter time-span, but that would have spoilt the movie in so many ways. At the same time, although not a lot of acting was really required, the actors and actresses performed admirably in portraying a disaster situation. You get to see the monster in its entirety and up close towards the end of the movie.

And I'm sure, if you think about it, that the characters were not the only ones filming the whole thing. Come on, it's America, they always want to destroy Manhattan, New York (Think Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow etc.). Plus everyone wants to do their own home-movies, including celebrities, who's to say that a sequel to this movie won't feature another point of view from another group of friends? Again, something to ponder over.

I applaud director/producer J.J. Abrams, who, once again, changes the way movies are made, and wanted to create an American monster of his own. Another original version of Godzilla, instead of trying to copy the Japanese version over and over again.

I was also fascinated with the camcorder and how long the battery lasted, how much tape was inside and how resilient it was to dropping and damage etc. Especially surviving the blast at the end and providing the Department of Defence, the Cloverfield tape.

If anyone happens to catch a glimpse of the brand on the camcorder, or even know of one they use personally that is good, long-lasting and resilient, do drop me a note in my comments to let me know, I'm interested to invest in a camcorder for my vacations.

I would highly recommend anyone to watch this movie, especially if they're interested in a new way of story-telling, instead of the stale old ones. This movie has its fill of explosions and action, but in a different and more human sense. Go to watch it with an open mind.

7.5 out of 10 stars

Resident Evil: Extinction

It's been quite awhile, no, correction, a bloody long time since I watched a damn good movie. Of course, it goes without saying that I've watched several horrible ones. However, some of the horrible ones were horrible because the plot was lame and the acting was, well, horrible!

I've been so busy at work, either an action thriller, or a comedy to laugh my heart out would have done wonders to my morale. So, I chose action thriller and what better action thriller than watching Milla Jovovich kill zombies, shoot up bad guys and maybe blow up a few things along the way, in other words, kick @$$!!!

Yes, Milla, she's the newest action-babe on the block. Forget Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise, and (God forbid me to go back so far) Charleton Heston! The 2000 era has ushered in female action heroes. It all started with computer gaming character Lara Croft, the scantily clad archaeologist with C cups, in search of the most mystified treasures on Earth.

>>Warning Some Spoilers Below<<

Anyhow, I won't say that Resident Evil: Extinction was good or bad. I had my own reasons to watch it, more of a de-stress movie for me. I loved the way Milla kicked @$$ and still look pretty! Yes, can you believe it, in all that dry, desert air, fighting zombies and killing black zombie crows and all that shit, her complexion was still beautiful, skin was so supple and moisturised, with lipstick! Wow, if only everyone could look that good in real-life. Perhaps it's her L'Oreal or Mabeline make-up doing the trick - She's [definitely] worth it!

The plot centred around Alice, it wasn't explained what she was doing riding around the desert in her bike saving lives. There was a small convoy of humans who were uninfected by the T-virus trying to find a safe haven free from zombies. Somewhere in the middle, Alice finds them being attacked by zombie crows and uses her new psychic powers to safe them, thus reuniting with Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) from the second movie. They then journey to Las Vegas, which has been reclaimed by the desert for the past 5 years. Of course, Dr Isaacs (Iain Glen) lays a trap for everyone, to get a sample of Alice's blood, which has bonded with the T-virus and can cure the world of all T-virus mutations. Dr Isaacs get bitten one of his mutant zombies and gets infected, turning into the Tyrant, another new breed of zombies, but gets killed in the end with the help from an Alice clone. The movie ends with room for what will happen next when all the Alice clones awaken, and the original Alice's warning to go after The Umbrella Corporation in Japan.

There you have it, an average hacker, slasher, action-thriller sequel with a little bit of plot. I won't recommend it for hardcore movie-goers who go for all that serious drama. But once in awhile, you need to watch these movies to just entertain oneself from work and boredom.

6.5 out of 10 stars (mostly for all the jumps, suspense, action and zombies!)

Moderately Fantastic

I just got back from an evening of watching Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer. As things have it, the movies are not exactly the way the comics have them. Characters have slightly different origins, and they look different. I heard so many negatively mixed reactions from friends and family alike that I had to watch it myself. I know that the first movie wasn't too fantastic, but like the X-men, they had to establish the characters, their origins and powers before developing them, and that will take at least a trilogy to accomplish.

Caution: Some Spoilers Below! Read At Your Own Risk!

When you deal with 4 characters, plus supporting casts, you have to develop them all, so that the movie is balanced. Although this movie concentrated more on the pair of Susan Storm and Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), their wedding and their expectations on family values, they could have concentrated on all of them. I can understand having to develop movies for the younger generation, I felt that the movie was catering to the younger kids than to the developed, advance comic readers in general.

The movie did stress on the importance of teamwork and how, if one of the team members don't plan according to the plan or rules, it does affect the other members of the team and break them up. Everyone in the team is interconnected.

Susan Storm's (Jessica Alba) blond hair was just wrong, they could have let it look more brown than bleached blond. I particularly laughed at Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) breaking out the Fantastic Four blue suits complete with all the endorsement company logos attached, almost like one of those F1 racing suits that Kimi Raikkonen wears when racing. The subplot about the Human Torch touching everyone and exchanging powers with them was a little ridiculous, but worked well into the main plot of the movie.

Technology using visual and special effects was top-notched again as per all sci-fi action flick. I never really knew that the Silver Surfer's powers came from his board or that Galactus, who was a giant in the comics and now appears as a swirling cloud of mist, needed craters in the Earth for his misty powers to enter to the Earth's core to consume the planet.

They never really explained how Victor von Doom (Julian McMahon) was reawakened, was it from the Silver Surfer flying over Latveria, his home town that re-empowered the cosmic power within him? All his metallic blemishes vanished from his hands and face instantly, it went unexplained. However, they did deal with the fact from the comics that Victor von Doom has always been trying to steal the Silver Surfer's cosmic power for personal gain - a good link to the comics, for those who read Fantastic Four. The actor did look a little more plastic than he's used to.

One more thing that I noticed in this movie that is commonly introduced in the comics, is that when a character loses his/her powers, they become skinnier, or they lose some kind of colour. This is mainly to show that the power(s) was a part of their body and that it made them what they are and gave them a figure or shape. In this movie, when the Silver Surfer lost his board, he lost his metallic sheen and became a duller shade of grey. So the writers did actually adhere to some of the Marvel comic book rules when writing this movie, or it was just a complete coincidence.

Overall, I was rather entertained for the entire movie, I didn't once yawn or try to feel like the movie was going nowhere, so that should explain quite a lot. Do not go and watch this movie expecting it to be exactly like what you've been reading in all the comics ever published on Fantastic Four, if you do, you'll be sorely disappointed. The creators and screenplay have been developed as closely as they can to the comics, but not completely similar.

7 out of 10 stars

At Wit's End

I was so tired after a long day's work that when I heard the movie was going to be about 3 hours long, I almost gave up watching. However, I was glad that I didn't and went through with it. I had read reviews in the newspapers days before on this 3rd movie being bad, the critic (who only knows how to appreciate artistic movies and doesn't give a damn to thrillers or action-adventures) wasn't too kind to this one. I could understand why. However, critics criticize according to their taste and not the taste of the general audiences. Spoilers below, read at your own risk!

I can say for a fact that I forgot all about work for 3 hours and was thoroughly entertained. Don't forget what Pirates of the Caribbean is originally; It's a water-ride at the original Anaheim Disneyland, one I'll never forget riding, it was worth the queuing time of about 1 hour. You have to understand that because it started off as a ride, it had to involve treasure, so that's where the first movie came about, chasing the lost treasure of Cortez. However, when a sequel and subsequently a trilogy came out, they had to continue the story and also add in mythical elements into the movie. Granted that the special effects were a little over the top, but it was also indistinguishable from normal props and explosions in the movie. The way the ship splinters when hit by cannonballs and cannons and pirates being flung around the deck was absolutely brilliant, but ultimately all computer generated.

I can say for a fact that the plot was written to conveniently make Tia Dalma as Calypso. And for her to become a giant hag and change into crabs and fall into the ocean, was just a little incomplete for me. There were loopholes within loopholes within loopholes for the plot. And yet, I was thoroughly entertained by the pirates, especially Captain Jack Sparrow, who managed to just make you laugh for no reason with his witty, savvy dialogue.

Allegiances shifted back and forth between all the characters to the point of confusion. I was confused why Will betrayed his fellow pirates to the East India Company and why Jack Sparrow also made a deal with Lord Cutler Beckett, why Governor Swan had to die just because he outlived his usefulness. How conveniently Admiral James Norrington had to die, and poor Chow Yun-Fatt, after welcoming everybody to Singapore, ultimately he met his end impaled on splintered wood! A shame because although he was one of the pirate lords, his character could have had more potential for development. Also, how rocking a ship till it's upside-down allows you to return from Davy Jone's Locker alive. I guess this is all part of some mythology that was written in to confuse and entertain us all at the same time.

You also have to stay till the end of the credits to watch a little snippet of Will Turner's younger son 10 years later together with Elizabeth Swan awaiting on the cliff-top for Will Turner's return after 10 years at sea, it sort of gives the ending a nice little round-up.

Mixed reactions on this movie for me. I didn't fall asleep, but I was entertained. However, although the villains got their just desserts, there was still something lacking in the story, character development was only so-so. And twirling and shooting cannonballs at each other while circling a maelstrom is hardly something that's scary or fascinating, just comical in that the rest of the ships nearby didn't get affected at all, almost like the term, circling the drain!

7 out of 10 stars

Best Bond Ever

I have to say that I was impressed when I went to watch the latest Bond movie Casino Royale. It had all the perks of an action movie, with the spy intrigue and the works.

Daniel Craig has erased all the critics expectation of him under-performing his role as James Bond. I guess, they like to compare all the Bonds constantly and always remind everyone that Sean Connery was the best Bond, blah, blah, blah. Daniel Craig has brought an edgier, tough, sexy, hunky and blonde Bond into the mix and it has altogether turned out rather well.

There are, in every Bond movie, Bond girls. This time, you have none other than Eva Green aka Vesper Lynd, who was last saw romancing Orlando Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven. Eva Green has a soft beauty to her, although most of the time she's seen with deep eye shadow, she's exceptionally photogenic and has a charming and lovely smile, not enough, dare I say, to launch a thousand ships, but just enough to play a Bond girl lusciously.

The other actress worth mentioning, who's not considered a Bond girl, is Dame Judi Dench. She brings out the sort of authority seen in a lady boss, not quite the dragon lady kind, and at the same time, motherly figure to James Bond's character. She chastises Bond on making mistakes but encourages him at the same time when he's learnt his lessons.

The gambling scenes had just the right tension eased into them to make them believable, perhaps they should show Casino Royale constantly in our casinos when they're up and running in the future?

Despite of that, I do have a few quarrels with the movie I've listed below. However, these are my quarrels, you have to watch the movie and find your own!

Beware, if you haven't watched Casino Royale yet, stop now, spoilers ahead!

1. This is the only Bond movie in which both Bond girls died! UGH!
2. The lengthy plot had too many twists and turns, some of them were rather disjointed, and not well connected edited to connect them seamlessly. This caused some confusion at times, especially who's who, who's the villian etc.
3. The villian's girlfriend usually dies, they never did show how this one died, or if she lived.
4. The Bond villian, Le Chiffre, wasn't evil enough. He lacked charisma and looked pale and weak, bleeding through his eyes. He was a prodigy, but he lacked the tenacity and ego that Elliot Carver had or the focus and resources that Gustave Graves had.
5. The MI6 computer implant in Bond's wrist could scan and tell you the type of poison in your system within a span of 2 minutes or less. I think it was a deriavative of Digitalis, but I can't be sure.
6. The Aston Martin DS5 was destroyed! How could they destroy such a beautiful car?
7. The Aston Martin DS5 comes with defibrillators and antitoxins? Probably in Bond's world only, ours will probably have sunglasses, tons of CDs, street directory, car user manual and parking coupons.
8. There was no Q or any gadgets. Other techie stuff were in the form of SONY notebooks and Sony Ericsson handphones, nice!

Ultimately, a great Bond movie to watch, with added ingredients of male machoism and hand-to-hand combat, that will re-energise the Bond franchise. I was actually getting sick of listening to Pierce Brosnan's sexual innuendoes, probably more from bad script-writing than the actors themselves having to say those lines.

8 out of 10 stars

Batman Versus Wolverine

Are You Watching Closely? Whether it’s making a movie or writing a review, or any creative endeavour in general, the methodical choice of what the audience sees or read weighs heavily on the mind of the artist. But every trick is more than the sum of its part, and that’s what ultimately The Prestige is: the perfect ending thought unobtainable moments before it hits. Spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk if you haven't watched the movie.

Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are rival 19th century magicians. They start out as friends and colleagues, until Angier holds Borden responsible for the tragic loss of his wife, a lovely magician’s assistant. Angier and Borden soon are drawn into an endless cycle of sabotage and espionage upon each another until Borden invents a new trick Angier can’t replicate. This drives Angier to travel to the ends of the Earth, seeking out Nikola Tesla himself (David Bowie) to build a machine to compete with Borden’s trick. Angier’s return engagement gets deadly though, leaving one magician dead and the other accused of his murder.

This is where the story gets interesting. The machine that Tesla creates for Angier actually creates a doppelganger - an exact copy - of anything placed at its centre. What Angier has done in order to make the trick work so well, is that he has placed a water tank under the trapdoor at the centre of the machine to catch and drown the doppelganger, while he gets transported some 60 feet behind the audience in the circle seats. Angier does not reveal this till the end. However, he himself doesn't know if he's the real Angier or the doppelganger, probably because the copy is so exact. We are told and later shown, that he performed over 100 acts, so there are over 100 doppelgangers each in over 100 tanks, that have been placed under a derelict theatre to hide the truth from everyone. He has blind stage-hands working for him so that the secret of the trick is never revealed to anyone else.

The most prestigious element The Prestige has going for it is the cast. Bale and Jackman are both amazing actors able to depict the intense obsessesion of their characters. It's no surprise Bale nails the passionate and accented Borden, but it is a surprise how adeptly he nails a magic trick of his own right in front of the movie-goer’s eyes. Jackman on the other hand is able to play with the audience’s sympathizes, for both the death of Angier’s wife as well as Jackman’s own track-record of more clean-cut protagonists.

Michael Caine plays Cutter, a veteran trick-maker who takes Angier under his wing. Caine seems right at home in the 19th century, and his performance gives credibility to the insight and motivations of magicians. Scarlett Johansson's Olivia, an assistant caught between both Angier and Borden, is introduced later. Although Johansson's performance gives Olivia and her relationships real emotional weight, her character winds up a bit underused in the grand scheme of things. David Bowie's Nikola Tesla is perhaps restrained from what we tend to expect from the rock star/actor, but this was necessary for his role. In a lighter role, Andy Serkis of Gollum fame from Lord of the Rings, played Tesla's aide Alley. Although Alley is considered more a peripheral character, Serkis' energy and charisma ultimately makes him something more.

Based the novel of the same title by Christopher Priest, The Prestige is directed by Batman Begins and Memento director Christopher Nolan. It is cleverly directed in such a way that you have to literally watch closely to every dialogue and every scene, which presents clues and answers to the entire movie.

The Prestige is a wonderous movie filled with magic tricks and plot twists to mislead the audience, with a touch of science, which leads it into one of the most prestigious film endings of recent memory.

Highly, highly recommended to anyone who's looking for a smart and magical movie, with excellent acting to enjoy.

8 out of 10 stars

Update: A 2 in 1 Movie Poster For The Prestige