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I love the different movie experience that Avatar provided which was sensational, thrilling and most importantly, gave me a cheerful lift after so long feeling in the down. I will gloss over the specific details as Avatar is really worth watching.
Sam Worthington stars as Jack Sully, a wheelchair-bound paralyzed ex-Marine, who is provided with an opportunity to replace his dead twin scientist brother on an Avatar programme on an earth-like planet that is more hostile and still in its primitive stage. The Avatar programme fuses science to allow the human mind to be transposed to another body (an Avatar) and to live on that planet as though the Avatar belongs to that world. The Avatar itself is based on the genetics of the indigenous people of that planet.
With the Avatar programme, Jack is able to walk again and he is rejuvenated enough to enjoy his life in a different body. The Avatar programme however is more than a mere science project and with military backing, the two bodies, led by administrator Parker Selfridge (Giovani Ribisi), were working together to obtain an insanely valuable resource that is worth 20millions a kilogram. That resource can be found on a particular part of that planet where a tribe currently resides.
With Jack's background as an ex-Marine, Colonel Miles Quaritch (the impressive Stephen Lang) being the military guy he is, assigned Jack to be his eyes for information on the tribe so that he need not resort to military hostility to obtain that resource.
Capitalizing on the opportunity presented to him to be on the Avatar programme, Jack live and grew with the tribe to eventually gain acceptance but not before being swayed with the potential of being in love with his mentor. Jack is eventually caught in conflict between choosing sides, who are soon on the verge of war.
Avatar is a captivating cinematic experience that is a welcome change for the audience seeking for a fresh twist of warfare story. In 3-D, which was the option I opted for, and being my first time watching a 3-D movie, the feeling is perhaps enhanced even more. I rate Avatar a worthy 4.5 out of 5.
akim
This is the first time that Im very excited to review a movie! Hehe.
Warning: If you have not watch it and you are planning to, then I suggest you don't read this coz it's gonna spoil the surprise. Hehe.
First of all, the movie was great but compared to the book, it's incomplete. Of course they had to cut some parts, well alot of parts actually, if not the movie would have lasted for five hours I think. (And I don't mind watching Harry Potter for five hours...) =p It was full of romance, now that they are all grown ups, and comedy too. And of course some sad parts.
In the book, the story started out with the Prime Minister of the muggle community receiving bad news from the Ministry of Magic. News that Lord Voldemort has returned and now he and his Deatheaters are not just killing wizards and witches but the muggles too. In the movie, they cut off this part totally, maybe it's not really necessary. But when I read the book, I kinda had a picture in my mind of how the scene would look like. Hehe. Sometimes, reading the book shows a clearer picture. And you enjoy it more. =)
So this movie started out with Harry and Dumbledore making their way to Slughorn's house. The purpose of their visit was for Dumbledore to persuade him to come back to Hogwarts and teach Potions. And by bringing Harry along, it made it harder for Slughorn to decline. So after not much persuasion, Slughorn agreed to come back to Hogwarts if he was given a pay raise.
Harry and Dumbledore then used side apparation back to The Burrows where the Weasleys and Hermione were surprised and delighted to see Harry. Harry couldn't be much more happier and especially when he saw Ginny grown up to be a beautiful young lady. Harry was clearly having a big crush on Ginny, and Ron and Hermione, well, their story was a little complicated but they too had feelings for each other. And I like it. Hehe. =)
Far from them, Professor Snape, appearing to have rejoined the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort, is visited by Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. A terrified Narcissa tells Snape that her son Draco has received orders from Lord Voldemort, and asks Snape to make an Unbreakable Vow with her to protect her son and do the job for him, should Draco fail. Snape agrees, and the vow is sealed.
At Hogwarts, Snape is unexpectedly announced as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, with Slughorn becoming the Potions teacher. Harry and Ron’s O.W.L.s are good enough to enrol in Slughorn’s class, which has lower its standards, but neither had purchased a textbook, so Slughorn lends them old Potions textbooks. Harry found a book that has notes and corrections scribbled all over the pages. Harry discovers that these corrections yield better results than the textbook's instructions, and that the book is inscribed as having previously belonged to the "Half-Blood Prince".
As the year continues, Ron dates Lavender Brown but eventually realises his feelings for Hermione and breaks up with Lavender. Harry realises that he has feelings (that are conflicting with his friendship with Ron) for Ginny, who has stopped pursuing him and is dating Dean Thomas. At this point of time, like Dear said, the story was concentrating too much on the love scenes. Ron and Lavender,and Hermione getting all jealous. And Ginny and Dean, and Harry getting all jealous. But anyways, it was still sweet and cute the way they felt jealous about one another.
During the school year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore privately tutors Harry, using his Pensieve to show Harry collected memories about Voldemort's past. Dumbledore asks Harry to retrieve a key memory from Slughorn that Slughorn has resisted providing, regarding Slughorn's conversation with a sixth-year Tom Riddle. After disappointing Dumbledore once by not getting the memory from Slughorn, Harry uses Felix Felicis potion (which bestows luck on its drinker) that he had been rewarded with for his newfound "skill" (derived almost entirely from written hints from the Half-Blood Prince) in potion making to gain the memory. In the book, it had showed more scenes where Dumbledore showed Harry memories from Riddle's past but however, in the movie, they only showed two specific memories. Well, I felt that they could have added more on this part rather than the love parts. Like I say, the book tells a clearer picture. So that made it a little disappointing.
They soon found out that in the memory, Tom Riddle was questioning Slughorn about Horcruxes and how exactly does it work. That was when Tom figured out that to attain immortality, he has to split his soul (through committing murders) into six fragments attached to objects, called Horcruxes. As long as any of the Horcruxes exist, Voldemort cannot be killed. Two Horcruxes have been destroyed: Tom Riddle's Diary by Harry in the Chamber of Secrets and Marvolo Gaunt's ring by Dumbledore (the ring Harry noticed on his hand earlier).
Dumbledore locates another Horcrux and asks Harry to accompany him to destroy it. They travel to a secret cave to retrieve Slytherin's locket. Harry and Dumbledore find the entrance, present a blood offering to a secret door, and row in a small boat across an Inferi-infested lake. To acquire the locket, Dumbledore must drink a mysterious potion. After drinking the potion, Dumbledore faints, and while attempting to minister to him, Harry provokes the Inferi which attack him and Dumbledore. Harry retrieves the Horcrux and guides Dumbledore to safety back in Hogwarts, but as they arrive they see the Dark Mark hovering over the school.
That was when Dumbledore told Harry to find Snape and when he did, Draco turned up, his wand pointed towards Dumbledore. He was sent by Lord Voldemort to kill
Dumbledore, but he couldn't do it and at last, Snape was the one who used the Avada Kedavra cursed on Dumbledore, killing the greatest wizard of all. I cried at this part, not surprisingly. Although I knew it was going to happen, I still couldn't control myself. Hehe. If you had read the book, you will know that killing Dumbledore was a plan between Snape and Dumbledore himself.
Harry, enraged by Dumbledore's death, pursues Snape, who reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince and duels Harry until he gets outside Hogwarts grounds and disapparates. If only Harry knew. Snape is not the bad guy.
Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, only to discover it is a fake left by someone with the initials R. A. B. who had apparently stolen the real Horcrux and left a note about his opposition to Voldemort.
The school year ends abruptly with Dumbledore's funeral. The fate of the school is uncertain, but Harry vows not to return to school and to hunt for the remaining Horcruxes and Ron and Hermione pledge to accompany him.
I definitely can't wait for the next movie to come out. I can't wait to see Voldemort destroyed. But of course, more deaths are seen. I hope they don't cut off too much.
Deathly Hallows! I'll be waiting... =)
I shall rate this movie 4.5 out of 5 coz they cut too much.
~huda~
I din watch this movie with Dear. Watched with Hajar instead, on our usual date. =)
A what a good choice of movie for me as I wanted to watch a horror one. We actually couldn't decide on which movie to watch at first, and in the end, Hajar actually asked a comment of the ushering girl, and she said 'Drag me to Hell' was pretty scary. So we went for it.
And true enough it was pretty scary in a disgusting, full of suspense, kinda way. By disgusting I mean, vomitting in your face kinda thing and I absolutely can't stop picturing those scenes. Urgh! =p
The movie is about Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a loan officer at a local bank who hopes to be promoted to assistant manager over her conniving co-worker, Stu Rubin (Reggie Lee).
Christine's boss, Mr. Jacks (David Paymer), advises her that she needs to demonstrate that she can make tough decisions when she needs to.
That day, Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver), an elderly gypsy woman, asks for a third extension on her mortgage because she is struggling with economic problems due to an illness. To prove herself to Mr. Jacks, Christine, against her better judgment, denies Mrs. Ganush the extension. In desperation, Mrs. Ganush prostrates herself before Christine, begging and kissing the hem of her skirt. Christine panics and shoves the woman away, shaming her in public. As security guards escort Mrs. Ganush out, Mr. Jacks compliments Christine on how she handled the situation and implies that if she can close another big loan, the assistant manager position will be hers.
That night Christine is attacked in her car by Mrs. Ganush. After a violent struggle, Mrs. Ganush removes a button from Christine's jacket and uses it to place a curse on her. Mrs. Ganush disappears, leaving the cursed button with Christine.
Later, Christine's boyfriend, college professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long), takes her to a coffee shop to comfort her. On the way home, they pass a fortune teller's store, and Christine insists they go in. There, they meet the fortune teller Rham Jas (Dileep Rao), who tells Christine that she has a dark spirit upon her...
I felt that Alison Lohman and Lorna Raver acted well in their character, and I wonder, did she really vomit into her mouth? Urgh! =p
And I am starting to like Justin Long, only found him in Ed, and I din really like his character there, as he was still immature and very irritating I felt.
So you should watch this movie and find out what happens to Christine in the end... Did she manage to destroy the curse?
I would rate it a 4.5 out 5 for it's scary contents. =)
~huda~
Terminator Salvation is the 4th film in the Terminator franchise and takes place in 2018, where humanity is battling Skynet. As narrated early in the film, the Resistance leaders are growing desperate.
Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) is a death-row inmate in 2003 who has signed a consent form to donate his body to science after his execution. He will later resurface in 2018 alive and believes himself still to be human.
Christian Bale is Resistance leader John Connor. who led the Resistance attack against a Skynet base and discovered human prisoners, including the then-unconscious and chained-up Marcus Wright. He also found out about plans for a new hybrid protoype for the Terminator that infused human tissue with technology that makes the Terminator what it is.
When Marcus Wright found John Connor's father, it took me awhile to finally realise who Kyle Reese was even though his name had rung a bell, they moved on with a child to meet John Connor.
Along the way, Kyle Reese and the child was taken away by Skynet and Marcus Wright, having grown attached to the young man, wanted to rescue them. He later rescued a female pilot of the Resistance who led him to John Connor. At the Resistance's base, John Connor and co. discovered who Marcus Wright really is, his role setting the tone for the rest of the film.
Terminator Salvation is an all-action movie from start till finish. While Bale (his portrayal as Batman, in the revived and revised franchise, is heavily laudable) was roped in to provide fresh impetus as the star character John Connor, it is Sam Worthington who steal the show as a man caught in past and present. It was his humanity, addressed on a minor, but signifcant, scale, that underlined the movie's recurring theme of human versus machine.
Questions will be asked of where the Terminator franchise will next take its course but audience will probably be disappointed that Marcus Wright.....
Terminator Salvation carried enough punch to make this a good blockbuster film. While not really matching the intensity and the tension of the first two films, which will forever be hard to match, this latest instalment is a neat stepping stone to close down some loose ends from the previous movies while simultaneously giving enough space for the storyline to be expanded further.
Rated 3 out of 5.
akim
I had high hopes for A&D after the fascinating 1st Dan Brown movie adaptation of the Da Vinci Code. Unfortunately A&D fell way short of my expectations.
Entertainment-wise, it was good for audience and there is also plenty of drama led by the main villain who is a cold-hearted assassin (Nikolaj Lie Kaas). But I recommend that viewers read the book for a much more fulfilling adventure.
Perhaps it cannot be blamed that A&D had too much pace for its own good, the storyline in the book itself would probably have taken 3 movies to finish. So I will be fair and judge the movie on its own merit though the non-reader of the book will perhaps be in a better position to rate it.
Tom Hanks reprised his role as professor Robert Langdon, who is activated by Cern, the world's leading authority of aspects of science, after the discovery of a murdered renowned scientist at Cern's facility. The death happened just moments after the scientist had created anti-matter (Google it).
The scientist's partner, Vittoria Vitra (the lovely Ayelet Zurer) gets into the fold as well, obviously enraged by her partner's death, and also very much concerned about the anti-matter falling into the wrong hands.
The circumstances of the death was also interesting, ironic vocab perhaps, given that a death had just occured. It seems to have unexpectedly re-introduced the mythical secret society known as the Illuminati after more than 500 years out of the spotlight.
Robert Langdon, a learned symbologist, was faxed the Illuminati symbol, which had been stamped on the dead scientist's chest, and he claimed that no known person has managed to replicate that symbol, and though he was still sceptical of the Illuminati's revival, he gradually got himself excited with the possibility of finally unearthing the Illuminati.
At roughly the same time, the Vatican City was in the midst of electing a new Pope, the previous Pope seemingly having just died of natural causes. When Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra partnered each other at Vatican City, the Holy Place where the Pope election is taking place, so began the entertainment aspect where more clue-solving, mystery-discovering and crime-busting which tries its best to keep the audience glued to the screen.
As mentioned earlier, the movie certainly provided good entertainment value. The storyline revolving around the Illuminati, and the supposed leaders of the society, will have made many googled it on online. As with the novels (both The Da Vinci Code & A&D), the movies also provided much lessons for the audience.
I, for one, as a young kid, used to devour pages of encyclopedia and such knowledge provided in the movies, though some are purely fictional (maybe...), still provided some interesting insight and what-if questions as well.
But at the heart of it all, A&D was just another investigative movie with a decent enough twist at the end. Do not expect your mind to be blown away too much as well but Tom Hanks did carry enough charisma, as did Ewan McGregor, to keep the movie enjoyable to watch.
Rated 3 of 5.
akim
Ben Stiller (Larry Daley) returns with more comedies in Night at the Museuam 2, this time more action and more interesting artefacts in the famous Washington Museums. =)
Larry, who now works as an inventor at Daley Services, just found out that the Museum of Natural History where he worked previously as a night guard was going to be renovated and so most of the museum pieces are shifted into federal storage at Washington Museums. Knowing this, he felt that he was at fault because he had left his job.
Dexter, the monkey, mischieviously stole the tablet that gave life to the museum's pieces and brought it over to Washington Museums which caused all the chaos when it's pieces came to life. And one of those pieces was the evil Pharoah, Kahmunrah who wanted to steal the tablet to bring his army of eagle-headed soldiers back to life.
Larry then tries to save the day, and more so when Kahmunrah had captured Jedediah (Owen Wilson), the tiny cowboy. With the help of Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), the woman who flew solo across the Atlantic, Larry tries to put everything back in order. Somewhere in the process, they developed a romantic interest in one another. =) And in the process too, Larry found out what truly makes him happy and that is to be a night guard and be with his museum pieces friends. =)
I found this movie to be very enjoyable and hilarious. You can ask Dear as I laughed the loudest in the cinema. Hehe. It was more action this time, with the planes and rockets, Abraham Lincoln, the pictures on the walls. Really cool! =) And I believe you can learn some things from this movie. =p
Maybe a part 3? ;)
Worth to be watched in cinemas.
I shall rate it 4 out 5. =)
~huda~
A good investigation thriller movie based on the Biblical story of the 4 Horsemen of Death, War, Pestilence and Famine.
Dennis Quaid is detective Breslin, a single parent of 2, but heavily caught up at work with many cases to be solved.
When a death classified as homicide got Breslin working yet again, the nature of the death was grisly to say the least. Another homicide, this time as unnatural as it can get involving large fish-hooks used to hang the body on an improvised rig, seems to link the two deaths with the words 'Come And See Me' painted on four corners, 4 trees for the 1st death and 4 walls at the 2nd, being the common denominator.
A serial killer, or killers as the sharp-minded Breslin noted, are on the loose.
A 3rd similar death introduced Zhang Ziyi, as Kristen Spitz, the adopted daughter of the victim, her mother. Kristen is seemingly traumatized by her mother's death obviously but her revelation sparked a wild chain of events which culminated in a not-so-subtle twist.
The movie carries a strong message and does not end with the twist. Although the deaths in the movie were orchestrated by a faction of 'The 4 Horsemen', this faction is indeed only one of millions in the world.
I enjoyed this movie. I had watched Dennis Quaid acted before in the excellent 'Frequency' movie and also liked his potrayal of a very busy father who had no time for his sons. The twist was easily caught halfway through but it lingered on long enough for the audience (I think) to realize who was the main perpetrator of the deaths.
I rate Horsemen a really watchable 3.5 out of 5.
akim
An awesome must see movie! At first, I thought I might not like it coz it's like a boy's show but I really enjoyed it. And mind you, it was a past midnight movie, and my eyes managed to half open throughout the whole movie. =) So that just shows how good this movie is. Hehe.
Watched it with a couple of good friends from soccer, Rahman, Shy, Fazli, Ezan, Syafiq and Firul and of course Dear and myself. And that makes it even better! =p
We were celebrating somebody's birthday in advance (hehe) and it was the birthday boy who suggested watching Wolverine. (I'll let Dear talk more about that... =p)
Anyways, the midnight movie was already full, can you believe it, so we had to watch the 1am show. And while waiting, we took some crazy pictures which will be uploaded soon, and did some other crazy stuffs as well. Hehe, it was a fun night! And just before the movie started, me and Dear actually fell asleep on each other's shoulder. Hehe, we must have been real shagged. =)
The movie was about Logan a.k.a Wolverine and how he came about with that name and how he became very powerful. It started when he was still a young boy and he found out that he is a mutant. (How cool is that!) He grew up with his brother, Victor (Sabretooth).
Disapproving of his mutant life, Logan separated from the pack and lived his own life, trying to be normal, got married and lived happily ever after, but not quite. His happy life was soon destroyed and from then on was when Wolverine was born.
I found that the storyline was smooth and really falls into place. (I dunno if you get that) If you had watched X-Men, then you'd probably understand what Im saying.
Anyways, Dear got really excited when he saw Gambit, his favourite X-Men. =) Actually I kinda like Gambit too, I've always wanted Gambit to fall for Rogue. Hehe.
In the movie, Gambit played a very cool and funny kinda character. =) He was cute, and he reminded me of Willy Wonka. Hehe. Maybe it was the haircut. =p
So this movie totally rocks! =D Definitely rated 5 out of 5!
~huda~
Back to Malay horror!
Not bad show this, and a good movie for its genre, but Pierre Andre sure made me cringe with his acting.
Pretty sensible plot as well and good scary moments spoiled by the audience (mostly Malays) who laughed out loud when their girlfriends had to scream.
One such girl caused the most rapturous laughter towards the end of the movie when the tension reached its climax.
Plot-wise, it is nothing new for a horror movie with a decent twist, re-shaped yet again.
I think this movie did scare myself silly at some level and because I did want to catch a good horror movie, which this movie certainly is, I rate it a 3.5 out of 5.
akim
I was just hoping that this is one of those cult horror movies that is actually enjoyable but at the end it was more of a torture.
Plot-wise, it hovers close to the maniacal and if it is really to be understood, think Angel and Death playing a game with 4 human beings who are at the point of either continue to live their lives on Earth or to certainly embark on a new journey in the afterlife.
The game itself is quite troubling. These 4 human beings have deep dark secrets kept inside them. While on some trips of one kind or another, they stumbled into the House, which is a bed-and-breakfast inn, managed by strange people.
But the House has a history in the form of Tin-Man. This horror combination manages to force these 4 human beings come to terms with these secrets and made them perhaps realise they could live their lives better, which ultimately is the objective of the game perhaps, those who live through the ordeal the House presented to them can continue their lives while those who cannot go on to the afterlife.
The movie is barely watchable. So I rate it 2.5 of 5.
akim
