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Category: #movies

  • Lone Survivor : Don’t watch after heavy meal

    Thanks to nuffnang for providing me an early movie screening of Lone Survivor. It was pretty last minute to reach to the cinema and grab a pair of tickets.

      Lone survivor tells a true story about a team of navy seal trying to face all odds on a covert ops when bad things happen through decision making. This pretty much proves that all humans tend to make mistakes and face consequences as a results.


    Movie starts with Mr. Mark Wahlberg trying to be resuscitate back to life, while transitioning to 3 days before into a  breathtaking scenery somewhere in Afghanistan, and with other pretty cool stills of the environment makes you feel so clam… yea clam before the storm…..

    For the first 1 hour in the show, it was more of setting the plot (drama talking) and getting a rough idea of each characters in the movie. Right at the one hour mark, things get bloody… very bloody and from here onward, it gets much uglier.

    Pretty much some parts was literally nerve wrecking moments, which made me hold on to my cinema seat. Trying to put one selves in their shoe really make me have a full immersion on the whole movie affect on a person being a soldier.

    There is some very much touching scene during the end of the movie which I thought was pretty much the best ever thing that could every happen. Reflect on a saying where “an enemy of my enemy is my friend” . Within the controlled boundaries of the vicious Taliban, there would still be people opposing them.

    You get a bang for your bucks, with a decent drama build up , tension between inter dispute among the army ranks, as well as bad decision making and some light jokes. However I must clearly said that Mark Wahlberg IMHO did not gave his best into his character abiding from his other 3 fellow supporting characters which really made  the movie shine and add significant value towards it.

    It’s a up to par movie like Black Hawk Down and i would definitely give it a 8/10. So far a sweet movie for the month of January 2014

    p/s: a big hoo ha to all those servicing in the Army and my deepest condolence to those brave men that fought for honor! R.I.P brothers

  • The transcend : touching ghost movie

    Just thought of giving a go on local movie for this year, and behold, The Transcend is one of the underdog ghost movies which strife its best to portray Malaysian superstitions take on ghost.

     It’s about a writer trying to be inspired to write proper ghost stories prior to his failure on his first book which didn’t get much attention during its launch. His pal which is close enough to be his brother made a bet with him to write a better ghost story. Both of them went to stay over at some home which are Taoist practitioner for the deceased where they handle funeral rituals.

    As days goes by the main character tries ways to enable his 3rd eye into seeing the spiritual beings among us and that’s where his journey starts. Malaysian movie goers will feel comfortable with some of the corny local jokes as well from time to time in this movie.

    Early in the movie, it was quite cheesy and stiff acting but warmly welcome of local dialects of our Malaysian Chinese style of conversation. As the movies flows into latter part, it dampers down the stiffness of the cast and makes you more engaged with the other casting members that are in dilemmas.

    The shock horror dies down when the main actor got used on his 3rd eye ability and with a twist, the whole show turned out to be a touching ghost stories where the duo the main actor and his female counterpart which he met at the house usher around trying to assist lost souls.

    I’m kind of amaze on how the director put in all of our folklore superstitions into the mix where some are now lost in today’s generation. eg. putting black dogs tears into one eyes able to see the spiritual realm or balancing on coconut shell in a middle of a cross-way at 12:00AM while looking between your legs.

    Something that I learned from this movie is that, Malaysian ghost are afraid of PDRM!!! HAHA, that cracks me up whenever it happens.

    Overall its a very enjoyable ride for me to have a go on this local movie and was quite impressed on the story line minus some stiff acting from the cast. The scare factor was there at the early movie segment but dies down quickly into a more of a ghost sobbing stories. 7/10 please do support our local director, James Wong to churn out more quality stories which we all can relate to.

  • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

    Manage to get free screening of the movie on 30th Dec 2013, It’s a Ben Stiller movie why not? looking at the trailer which was pretty much fun stuff which reflects pieces of life. +The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

    Story goes of Walter Mitty which likes to daydream a lot. Too much in fact he zone out for awhile in real life. Trying to hook up with a a new colleague Cheryl played by Kristen Wiig.

    Things went sour when his job is at stake when a business transition of his day job in LIFE magazine is moving from hardcopies to paperless online version. Too add more to the mess, his good pal  photojournalist, Sean O’ Connell send him a the final negative for him to process for the final print out of the magazine goes missing.

    This is where his mis-adventures begins, where he took his step into tracking down Sean O’ Connell over beautiful landscapes of Greenland, Ice land and the Himalayas.

    The first 30 minutes of the movie was quite a hype where all his make believe was so ridiculously out of this world. From saving a 3 legged dog, to surfing the streets of New York. But it all toned down, after facing reality on his adventures which somewhat leaving me puzzle if it was all in his head to begin with.

    His adventures itself may looked like part of his daydreaming scheme however at least it did pushed him out of his comfort zone at least where taking risk in life is part of the journey. The scenery in the movie really promotes both Greenland, & Iceland (hey, I’ve always wanted to visit either one of em)

    However, the story left me with a bitter taste on the relationship between a single man and a divorced mother which didn’t give me a good sight on any moral value, maybe its more accepted towards our current society today. Aside from the relationship, the whole story was about seeking something that is so far away , yet it was all the time right under your nose.

    Story wise, it was a slow paced but at the rightly manner, however I don’t see how much of the snippets in life can this movie be drawn out from my point of view. 4/10 IMHO but  +2 for the calm, untouched scenery of the country.

  • Police Story 2013: Oh Jackie

    Manage to grab this screening to watch my man, Mr. Jackie Chan. Well, well firstly he did mention of retiring from action movies since his last movie, Chinese Zodiac 2013. However you know, we still love this 59 action kicking Chinese actor.

    Do note this is a spin-off from the other police story movies where it tells a story of a police dad seeking her daughter in a town in China for reconciliation after a fiasco during his wife death at a hospital.

    The scene start with a dramatic preview of the ending where Jackie is pulling a trigger of a gun to his head. Shocker right? spoiler at the beginning of the show. Well you be the judge after watching it to clearly understand why he did it so. Another shocker was , Jackie has a new hair cut! Probably to fit in as a China policemen criteria.

    Surprisingly, the action in this movie has been considered milder compare to the previous installment of the franchise. However there is more of a darker feel towards the whole movie as well as the seriousness of dialog between antagonist and protagonist can be felt through out of the movie.

    Most of the actors are from mainland China, therefore I’ve heard from a friend that they were pretty famous over there. As for some of their acting skills, certain times the fluidity of their character actions doesn’t present well on the big screen.

    All in all, I do like the moral of the story towards the end, where is all about past regrets which may not be fixed but to be a lesson learned. A bit of cheesy plot twisting as well but this might not be Jackie’s best movie of the year but then again a more serious side from him on the big screen which is a plus side.

    I would give this movie a 7/10 but for movie goers , I would recommend this as a rental instead to watch at home since the movie ticket price now of days is so bloody expensive lately!

  • The Impossible: Manly Tears

    Being a slowpoke, I’ve manage to get to watch The Impossible earlier today. And I was deeply engrossed in the emotional & deathtifying moments in the movie. And I have to admit manly tears was shed. Bare in mind this was based on a particular family which went through hell in the 2004 Tsunami incident.

    The whole movie was entirely based on solely on how the separation of the family that seems so impossible to be together again. Which separates into two point of view, the dad & the mom. Truly ingenuity of direction putting effort of retelling a true base story.

    The movie takes off where a happy Australian family (mom , dad & 3 little boys) when on a trip to Phuket to celebrate their christmas 2004. And has mother nature takes it’s course to unfold the aftermath of an earthquake happened near Indonesia, (Didn’t explain in the movie, assuming viewers would know what happen prior to why tsunami) the family was happily dipping in the resorts swimming pool when the big M F smack them.

    From this part onward, I was pretty gritting my teeth for the moment of what it was like being in that kinda situation. A few weeks back I had watch this documentary on youtube to get more in depth analysis of the collateral damage being done by the dreaded Tsunami. As seen in the movies, its exactly the same replica environment being visualize on the big movie screen. Superb CGI effects.

    Ewan McGregor character was good, but the best was Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin & Naomi Watts. Even though Little Thomas had a little screen time, but his acting was just plain cute and so touching.

    The movie then moved it up a little up pace more towards the aftermath which was very very surreal. Like the crowd, literally I mean crowded hospital. Bravo on getting people to fill up the whole movie scene.

    The score of the movie was very intriguing as well where it flows together of the pacing of the movie mood.

    Sadly to say, the movie left me pondering of the other people which was in the movie that was unfortunate comparing to the main characters. May them rest in peace. 2004 Tsunami.

    Verdict for this movie is 8/10 even tho it is like 2012 movie which being delayed in Malaysia screening, I must say its a good movie to catch.

  • This Means War

    oh shyt content missing!!!

  • Underworld: Awakening of Girl Power!

    Yesterday manage to go and catch a movie at pavilion with someone that I’m fond of. I’m pretty amazed by technology today.

    I’ve just purchased the tickets a day before via my Iphone app and with a scan of the 2d barcode via my phone, the automated gate allowed that many person to enter to the entrance of the movie halls. At least I’m doing mother nature a favor of reducing ticket stubs 😀

    Oh yes, this is the forth installment of the underworld franchise and I’ve been following it since the first movie. Well it has vampires, lycans (werewolves), chick in tight latex Ala matrix style, gun fights, gore, goth, a decent love story? and pretty good soundtracks. Considering this is the continuity from the second movie of Underworld as the third one was actually a prequel for the entire series.

    New viewers of this franchise will not be lost in this latest installment because there was a brief introduction of  all previous 3 series. On the side note, hall 13 of GSC surpasses the view-ability since the projection was crystal clear / life like / opera presentation. It was watching underworld live version 😀

    Story wise, there was a great purge going on where lycans and vampires are getting exterminated by humans. The heroine and her lover made a call for leaving the city however sadly failed and ended up stasis for 12 years.

    As the heroine woke up from her slumber, she was pretty lost and from there trying to find her other half. Among the heat of it, she found another truth over the 12 years period of hibernation. Anyway don’t wanna spoil more for you guys. Go watch it.

    Story line was… wait a minute whats up with all this family matters/value in movies lately, from real steel to Viral Factor and now this movie too. anyway the director kinda grasp my attention towards the plot has well as a clean presentation of the feeling shown by the mother and child as well has her lost beloved one.

    The movie also makes you grip your seat for its action pack thrill ride takes you all over the place of the screen has John Woo style gun fights + gory neck ripping, blood gushing scene would surely not bore the viewers out.

    For those that has follow on the series, I must say in my humble opinion that this new installment certainly did not disappoint me. The effects are superbly well done, as you can see Kate Beckinsale still has her groove and stylish finishers. A few good fighting scene where a werewolf was trying to get the best of her. Of course the werewolf cheated and used steroids and gets a few dosage where you would never expected.

    The whole story evolves around the heroine, and her offspring where she holds the key of uber supreme power for the lycans. So yea there was a twist in the plot as well and the finale fight scene was quite a little predictable but it was fun to see how it did played out.

    The movie ended short when both my acquaintance and me was just getting the climax of the movie. 1 hour and 30 mins time frame and yet so much that should be rolling out to make it a 2 hour show. But the director ensures us that the movie franchise does not end there.

    So, most likely there would be a 5th installment of the movie where I can presume the new vampire dude would fall for that small hybrid girl and they would kick off another point of view of the whole underworld franchise. Who knows, that’s just my hypothetical theory.

    In conclusion its seriously a nice show to pay to watch at the cinema, be warned tho, human which dislike blood gashing out or scene of brutality should not be advisable to watch this movie. Overall I would give a 7.5/10

  • The Viral Factor makes bolehland proud!!

    Should be called The Family Factor instead. Anyway just got home from my first HK movie I’ve watched this year. The main reason why the heck did I’ve indulged myself into this specific film was, not because Dante Lam’s previous award winning Beast Stalker & Stool Pigeon. Not even the main cast (Nicholas Tse & Jay Chou) was the main highlight for me to went to watch the movie. But low behold the photos below 😀

     First runner and second runner.

     Lucky fellow get his hand grabbed and twisted by Nicholas Tse 

     This part imagine like 20 Police man standing by behind far corner waiting to chase him down haha..
    His double didn’t jump but the actual Nicholas Tse jumped!!


    Haha.. since the NDA has been lifted due to the release of the movie, I can try to recall my small contribution to the movie !! 😛 I actually acted as an extra in the movie. Sadly the scene was so fast I manage to catch a glimpse of my mirage chasing down Nicholas Tse during the scene where he tries to escape from the High Court of Kuala Lumpur.

    So anyway back to the story, very typical bio-weapon, let loose a mutated virus and be the person with the only medicine and vaccine for it kinda movie flavor. But throughout the entire movie, it didn’t make me feel the importance of the virus but more of a Cat & Mouse chase. Where the Cat (Jay Chou) miraculously has life span of 2 week to survive when he got a bullet stuck in his brain.

    The opening is very much like a scene from Battlefield 3 map called Sharqi Peninsula!!! where a fire fight broke out during a escort of some scientist.

    But overall being a Malaysian, I was pretty impressed on how the director work his way into the highlights of Kuala Lumpur. Majority of the scene was shot in Kuala Lumpur golden triangle.

    Not to forget places which I’ve been so often during my college days!!! Some not to forget areas was the busy KL Sentral, the walkway of Pavilion and the most memorable of them all was the chase scene on Jalan Pudu / Jalan Raja Chulan. It seriously portrayed how crazy the traffic was in the show as well and also that scene reminds me of how I travel up and down from that crazy street just to get to my customer side during working days. =__=

    Action was mostly non-stop once it kicks off, chase after chases from foot, to car, to trains and even helicopters ! not to mention the amount of freaking PDRM amazes me in the movie but not in reality.

    Overall the feel of the movie was mostly felt towards a family affair instead to the actual movie was trying to plot on as an action flick. Like usual Jay Chou slaps on his expressionless acting but I guess it’s been improving over the times. ( no wonder the director was smart enough to drop a bullet into his brain so he can continue being expressionless throughout the movie).

    On the other hand, over the top bad ass thief+gangster+fugitive+anti-hero Nicholas Tse acting. Sadly some crying scene he did it too overboard where sometimes it seems over doing it. (please note there was some cendol oozing out from his nose too)

    I can’t wait to snag a DVD copy of this show to try to get my name on the credit rolls and also try to capture the mirage scene of myself 😛

    In Conclusion, it’s really a good movie to watch and Malaysian citizen should be proud of it since it opens to a wider audience of our country main capital city. It’s also more of less a softcore version of Real Steel where family bonds matters the most in the heist of this action movie. 7/10

  • Mission Impossibru : Ghost Protocol

    Yea, been awhile since I’ve made reviews for movie, so here is one movie which is a must watch for die hard fans of Tom Cruise or any newbies that are not familiar with this franchise.
    The movie kicks off, where a new team of IMF infiltrate and initiate a “Prison Break” scheme, with in this few segment of scene. As long you guys watched Shaun of the Dead, then you guys will get the cameo done by Nick Frost together with one of his best buddy, Simon Pegg. 
    One of their under-rated dark comedy movie which I first watched like 5 years back ago. Highly recommended to those that yet to watch it.
    Or the most recent movie, the duo acted was non other than PAUL. Please do your self a favor and go watch this pretty decent comedy movies from the both of them.
    Anyway back to MI:GP review, during the appearance of Nick Frost, I totally burst out laughing in the cinema and knew it was gonna be a roller coaster ride for me through the entire movie. Sadly it was just a brief moment screen time for that guy.
    The show, balance both sense of humor together with action and a little dash of cheesiness, made it one of the most enjoyable no brainer action pack movie of last year. 
    Surprisingly, you also get to have a really good look on Tom Cruise which seems like he has not aged over the years. Seriously from the previous movies he acted, my respect for him has been weight over hundred folds more. Further to add, most of the stunt scene is actually done by him. 
    As the story unfolds, we get to learn that a mastermind had framed IMF into the bombings as well as trying to start World War III. The catch was, that IMF was under a lock down mode called Ghost Protocol, where they are on their own without any out side support, just a train coach of gadgets at their disposal.
    The movie is seriously has most of the thrills that will not disappoint movie goers. The one main reason i watched this was because of an early review on Rotten Tomatoes stating that MI:GP was rated 100%
    and seriously its worth your bang of money to go and watch it!
    Another shocker was watching Anil Kapoor getting the best from the main actress. Boy oh boy that was the most an epic scene. To add, the most unforgettable dialogue, was “but you have to find me” represent the mainstream play of most of the Bollywood movies, where the actor/actress plays hide and seek with each another.
    In conclusion, not to spoil the movie further, considered that this has been yet one of Tom Cruise best movie to date for his Mission Impossible movie series. I went into the movie with high expectation, and I really had that exact thrill ride on the movie chair. 9.5/10 
    (p/s: can’t wait for the next installment so long J.J. Abrams is gonna touch this franchise, I’m so gonna watch it.)

  • In Time of Failure….


    I cannot express how much rage I have for this movie. Before that, let me wish all my Indian friends as well those around the world a merry Deepavali, may you have lotsa murukus and mutton curry.
    My expectation for this movie thought it was gonna be a good sci-fi flick. It was a total let down, with corny acting by Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. Movie started off with people trying to live their lives within their giving time. Their digital clock on their left arm starts ticking when they hit puberty (age 25) which they don’t aged from then on till their clock runs out of time.
    The whole movie is does not give you a plot, well it does but very much like the classic robin hood type of heist where both of the main cast robs from the rich and gives to the poor and of course their currency was:- time. The whole plot of the story was very straight forward about catching fugitive with out any twisting mind blowing sense of direction. Seem like the director just wants to focus on the main story about the power of time and how the rich remain so called immortal and where the poor dies due to out of time or like what the movie called it “Timed out”
    Pretty much my last paragraph sums up the plot of the story where they keep doing it after robbing from one of the main cast’s rich tycoon dad. Seriously, this movie does not make any sense. I thought they would at least explain how they was giving such genetic modification to giving them those digital clocks on their skin. Sadly that left us viewers hanging.
    Not even Olivia Wilde’s death in the movie can save it, (so little screen time for her) I wished the director should had let her be the heroine instead of a side cast which timed out.
    Lets keep this sort, since elaborating this movie review keeps me on the edge of raging more.
    Summary:- If you have extra change to waste, please do not waste it on this movie instead get a nice Starbucks drink instead. 3/10 is my verdict for this movie. Never in my entire life that I watched a nonsense movie.