The Walking Shadow

Assignments and Research

2009-08-23T14:50:00.002+08:00

The more I look at my research assignments the more scarier they become. I mean, the paper is alright. 500-700 words on energy consumption of an average household and energy consumption of bicycle vs normal forms of transportation. Seems simple enough I thought at first, until you read the criteria.

They want you to produce all kinds of research evidence of this and that and every single thing you say must be referenced and such. I mean, what the hell? "Opinions are not accepted, all of your findings must be researched based and proven with the appropriate references"

Meaning, every single thing I write I have to reference to something/someone? "In modern days, monkeys poo and eat bananas." Where on earth am I suppose to find reference to that? Isn't that like, common sense? Geez, is it just me, or am I bloody lost it this?

Work, Laptop, Aion

2009-08-20T01:15:00.002+08:00

Goodness gracious me. Assignments just seem to get that much more extreme every time I look at them. They are getting so tough! It's hardly 2 months into Uni and I'm starting to hate it already! Uni life just isn't turning out how I hope it would. I thought I could still chill as much as I did in Inti, but my thoughts wrong! Epic Phail!

Anyway this week has been quite the busy shit. Crappy assignments and crappy lab reports. They are tough nuts to crack! All I've been doing recently is doing my assignments, lab and watching this damn crappy webinars. If you don't know what a webinar is, it's lectures uploaded online. Means I don't have to go for lectures, not that I don't want to, it's I don't have to! Cause the lecturer doesn't turn up anyway. It's quite cool in a way that you can go eveyrthing at your own time, but that's also pretty much the downside of it too.

Well, other then working, there's something else on my mine. To those who I've been chatting to recently would easily know what is on my brain haunting and eating away at my sanity. Okay, goig a little to the extreme here but seriously it's half the thing on my mind other then the worklaod now. What could it be? I wish it was a hot chick! But unfortunately it isn't. It's Aion! That god damned game that is just, WAY awesome. I look at videos, pictures, everything! I thought when I was waiting for Dragonica it was bad, this is worst! I just want it so bad now!

Anyway, enough about that. Life hasn't been that interesting. My laptop is still dead, waiting on it to get fixed but it's just NOT happening right now. Those damn brainless operators keep screwing things up. My laptop should have been fixed by now if it weren't for the retardedness of this people. Idiots, 'nuff said.

Looks like this post is turning into another wall of text. I'm sorry, the last thing I took a picture of was a rotating machine for my lab. Don't think you want to see that, it's crap anyways! No pictures, unless you want Aion! Then I've got plenty to show, videos too!

Wall of Text?

2009-08-07T22:58:00.002+08:00

Sorry about the last post. There used to be something there, but now it's most probably gone forever. It's for the better. Those who say it good for you, those who didn't, no worries, you didn't miss much. Anyway It's been slightly over a month since I've been to Aussie, and it saddens me to say that I'm not going to upload any pics at them moment. Well mainly cause I didn't take much pictures in the first place. Was never the type that liked taking pictures anyway.

So, since I came here there have been a couple of ups and downs. But unfortunately for me it has mostly been down. Seems like it's been bad thing after bad thing that has been happening this few days. But anyway, let's just start with some of the good stuff. Well, so far my classes have been pretty interesting. I'm taking 4 subjects this semester which is, Dynamics and Control II (Holy Godly Tough Shit), Stress Analysis (So far not too bad, just gotta brush up on some of my statics), English (Bullshit I gotta take English) and lastly Engineering System Design and Communication (which is most probably the second toughest subject now).

Anyway, a little something something about System Design. There isn't an exam, instead it has a semester long Assignment. To do what? Design a bicycle. Sounds fun? Sure it does. Actually fun? In your dreams. I thought it was pretty fun to, but when I found out the amount of work I gotta do... not so fun. But it's still pretty darn interesting to play around with a cool design and stuff.

Well, lets move on to the not so happening things. First major trouble I hit was my connection. Connection limit in my aunt's house is really little which is quite hard. And the plan she's on is REALLY expensive. So I decided to make some changes around here. UNFORTUNATELY, the link in my aunt's house DOESN'T support a better line, meaning no ADSL. Which is pretty mouth opening. Guess I gotta do with the crappy limits for now. Atleast the speeds are decently fast. Which makes things harder trying not to download/watch videos online with speeds like this.

Next is the MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR problem. What happen? What could be so major? My laptop crashed on me. You heard right. My laptop has gone kahput. Just little over a month here my laptop decides to call it a life and break on me. I can't be bothered to explain the details anymore cause I've been talking to Dell Technicians through the phone all afternoon getting nothing done. Skipping minor details, from what I can diagnose it's either my LCD or my graphics card that kicked the bucket. Either way it's going to cost a bomb to repair it. Well, it's not so bad. I still have my warranty... not. The very WORST part of all this, my warranty voided last week. Hurrah, hurray. No warranty to save my arse from this. Lucky for me nothing important in my HDD there, only in my D drive is all my songs and stuff. Hopefully all of that stays in tact.

Else, nothing interesting has come about yet. Looks like I won't be getting my dose of AION this coming beta unless my lappy can miraculously get fixed by the middle of the month. Impossible, pretty much. Just a little update on how things are going. Some things are giong pretty swell, and some things are just slapping the face.

The New Life

2009-07-27T01:23:00.003+08:00

asd

Something

2009-07-11T18:23:00.003+08:00

A little something something for you guys.

All this pics are taken from my new handphone camera just to test it all out. Resized so I can upload them faster.

So a couple of pics for my room. This is my bed, nothing too special.

This is my work place. Nothing too special either.

Today I went for a little walk around some park. Took a couple of pictures too.

Pictures aren't too bad I guess. Looking pretty decent in good lighting.

Australia!

2009-07-09T19:12:00.002+08:00

Hey people! Yes, I'm finally in Australia! Adelaide to be more exact. Well, honestly there's nothing much to show you guys yet. I haven't really been around much. Just been spending some time running around getting my stuff done like setting up an account and stuff.

So how have I been? So far no feeling. I'm still drawing a blank here. Maybe it still hasn't hit me yet. Still feel like I'm in Australia for a holiday instead of studying. Went to Uni a couple of days back and got my student card and a couple of "Adelaide Student Guide Books" That I've been checking out. Telling about how's the public transport and places to go to.

So today I went to IKEA to get a table and a chair for me to work with and just got it fixed and up. Couple of days back went testing the public transport and stuff. I'd be grabbin buses to classes every morning. Might be a pain at first but will get used to it. Still hoping I can get a car! But it's a distant dream.

Anyway, most probably I'll be getting my number tomorrow hope I get a nice easy to remember number I can use. Well, anyway, signing off. No pictures yet, might add a picture of my room when I'm in the mood. But it's really nothing much.

The Day

2009-07-04T11:09:00.002+08:00

I actually wanted to blog last night, but I kinda strayed and forgotten about it. Juts making a long story short, yesterday was my last night in Malaysia. Nothing too special as today I'd be flying off, the next sunrise I will see will not be from the soils of Malaysia, or from the comfort of my little room. A whole new experience is starring me in the face.

How do I feel? I don't know. What's there to feel? I'm quite neutral about it. It's a little weird though, leaving my family behind and going out to Aussie on my own. Well, not really on my own. I have an Aunt there at least which would make things much easier.

There are a few things that I'm worried about, biggest worry would be the people I meet. How would they be like? Can I fit in? I don't know. Those are one of my bigger worries. I've never really been the most sociable guy around town.

Shoes!

2009-06-17T13:26:00.003+08:00

Hey guys, finally back to posting another lifeless boring post. Seems I really never did come around to write the review I said I would. Not surprising. Can't be bothered anymore to do anything anymore. It's the holiday thing I guess. Eating away at me. I should go out sometime. But there's no one. *Sad Face*.

Anyway, if you didn't already know I'd be leaving for Australia pretty soon. When? Won't tell. If you already know the date I'm leaving feel fortunate, cause you're one of the few I actually told. And if you want to know, ask. I might tell you. But on the most I'll just be leaving.

How's my preperations to go? Not too bad. Picked out a couple of clothes to bring along. Went for a little shopping to get some new treads to stock up my wardrobe there. And well, I got new shoes!

Well, what do you think? Long time since I last post pictures here. Felt like ages ago.

Anyway, in all honesty, this shows are pretty cool. BUT, there will always only be one shoe that I REALLY want. I call it THE ideal shoe. But, unfortunately it can no longer be found. If found it would be extremely expensive though.

These babies are close enough to looking like my ideal shoe. I'm sure Sneaker freaks would already know what shoe I'm talking about.

Anyway, other then that nothing very interesting has came by yet. What have I been doing? Let's just put it as wasting my life away eh? Nevermind, not too long more before it becomes a tad more interesting.

WALL OF TEXT!!

2009-06-03T01:44:00.003+08:00

So, I'm in the mood to update this place. I'm bored, happy, I don't know. Kind of having this mix reaction feelings kinda thing. So I'll just post this random post here. Month of May has come and gone, special? I don't know. Don't think so.

Time can be so weird, something that may have just happened might have felt like it happened so long ago, yet somethings that has happened such a long time ago feels like it just happened yesterday. What's up with that? Why do we feel like that eh? Something that I'll never know. Cause just a couple of days ago, I was having my dinner and I was thinking about this random event that actually happened a couple of months back and thought to myself, "That wasn't too long ago" but then when I actually did check it out it was like WHAT? So long ago? Okay, random stuff. I guess I'm just really really bored and stoned.

Let's see how long I can make this wall of text. Juts talk about random thigns and see how long I can go eh? So, I'm looking at the clock at my computer now and it's 1:45am. I'll just put the ending time here when I close and stop typing. I might stop typing in between to surf and chat and suddenly forget to continue here.

So, if you don't already know, it's that time of the year! E3! God, I can't remember what E3 stood for anymore. But anyway, it's one of the biggest events in the gaming industry! Announcement, news and shit all come out on the gaming industry. I don't check the news back for 19 hours and BOOM! 200 new videos just pops out of your ass without you even knowing! I've been busy so I haven't really been catching up. But what I do know is that there is a new L4D game! L4D 2? Well, I've only seen the video once, but I'll pop what I think here. Seems essentially the same game. 4 new characters it seems and new weapons! From the video I'm guessing you can pick up lots of melee weapons instead of shoving the end of your shotgun up the ass of zombies. Well, that's stating the obvious.

Let's move on shall we? CoD:MW2! If you don't know what that stands for google it! If you do then good, you have atleast 5% gaming blood running in you. And if you don't, you're most probably a numbnut, just kidding. So there was this one video that you ride snowmobiles! Yeay! Looks really fun. Looks pretty much the same as CoD4 though. (If you still don't know CoD, you suck!)

Anyway, there are plenty more shit to be said. But I can't be bothered, plus as I said, I haven't been keeping up so I don't know that much. But, the bigger news is SIMS3 is out! And I feel like getting it! But I most porbably won't cause I'm quite broke right now. And I'm looking at maybe getting another PS3 game. I mean seriously? It's so costly! It'll be coming out next week! What game? [Prototype] man. Look it up! Makes GTA look like child's play! Might be a hit or a flop, hard to say. Hoping it will be good cause I most probably will be getting it over infamous. I just hope it won't end up beign a spideman/hulk game where it's just mindless wacking.

And now I look at the time, oh my, it's only 2. It's only been 15 minutes. I thought I was typing this for quite a long time already. Okay, maybe I should write up a short movie review!

What movie, Terminator! Is it your Salvation at the movies? My answer is.... Maybe. So read on. It's going to be a short one though. So Terminator story is known by most. Having John Conner save the world from the robots. Hm, on second thought, maybe I'll just make a full post on it tomorrow when I'm free. I'm sure I'll be free tomorrow.

Okay, I think I should end random post here. I actually expected it to be much longer then this. But guess now. I'm getting bored of typing this too. It's like I'm talking to myself about random stuff. Doing more of this will kill my brain and make me stupid.

Holy Shit!

2009-05-22T19:49:00.001+08:00

It's a gold plated Wii! LOL

THIS IS SPARTA!!!

2009-05-20T01:43:00.000+08:00

Rock, Stone, Sand

2009-05-18T02:52:00.003+08:00

Good lord I've neglected this place for almost half a month. So holidays have started for nearly a month now, what have I been up to? Mainly watching DvDs. Watching movies kills time. Well, other then that I've been gaming, obviously. Both PS3 and PC.

Surprisingly more on PC. Playing online game called Dragonica. Good game really, I don't wanna elaborate much on it, cause if I talk about it it would make a long post, and I can't be bothered. Maybe I should really just close this place down huh? It's dead and gone. Hardly anyone comes here anyways, I don't have the heart to blog as much as I used to. I don't even do movie reviews anymore!

Lazy lazy lazy. Stoning is good for you.

Results?

2009-04-29T22:42:00.004+08:00

So I'm going to blog a little something something about college. Might very well be the last time I ever label a post college as there is nothing left to talk about college. The next thing? UNI!

Well, what's so important about College, now that it's over already. You guessed it, results. Final semester results are out, have been out for a couple of hours now.

Okay, so let's just get it out and save the trouble. Results are A A A B. With B being project.

Yes, I'm bummed that I got a B for my project, but also quite amused that I manage to score on the other subjects. Considering that they increased the A level this semester to 80. But whatever, there is nothing left to say about it.

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On other news, I'm back from Thailand! It has been a fun trip, didn't take much pics cause I couldn't be bothered to take out my camera from my bag. Accomplishment in Thailand?

Couple of Tshirts, one shorts, one jeans, 2 belts. That's about all that I can recall.

Just an Update?

2009-04-23T04:41:00.004+08:00

Just so you guys know, I'm in Thailand, again! This time on my own with my cousin. I just arrived here today, well, about 5 hours ago, it's nearly 5 now in Malaysia, 4 here in Thailand.

So, well, nothing much to say here. I've been blogging abit more this few days, mostly about end of my college life, but movie reviews and anything interesting are still nowhere to be found. I'm going to just upload one picture here as an "improvement" compared to the previous posts. I mean, I have uploaded any pics for like, a really long time, so I'll just upload this.

This was on Monday when we went to Sunway Lagoon. Haven't been there in ages, atleast I don't rememebr going there. The original pplan was to go Genting, but things didn't work out. But Sunway was pretty fun anyway. Fortunately and surprisingly, I didn't get sunburned! All I got is a nice tan. Quite surprising, since the weather was freaking blazing hot and I didn't use any suntan lotion at all. I thought I was going to get fried out there. Lucky I didn't I guess.

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I'm just going to add another picture here cause I think this picture looks really good.

Fast?

2009-04-21T01:17:00.002+08:00

Wow, it was been quite a week. Easily one of the best weeks I've had in ages. And it signals the start of 2 months of holiday before I officially fly off to Aussie. Looking forward to that.

With holidays and college ending, it also signals a bad thing. I most probably won't be seeing most ofmy friends in a very very long time, mostly cause they stay so far away. It's hard to actually chill out and meet up anymore.

I was getting sick of seeing their faces from seeing them so often, but gotta admit I'm going to miss some of them.

Oh well, guess it's back to boring life for another 2 months before my life begins again at Aussie. A whole new experience awaits.

Find a job? Maybe. Will my mom actually let me get a job? Probably not. Will I even bother? Doubt that.

Take A Bow

2009-04-16T13:50:00.004+08:00

Cause it's finally over. 2 and a half years of my college life has just came to an end. It didn't end with a bang, nor was my college life the most interesting ever, but it has been fun.

Looking back, time really did fly. My started this blog when I first came here, and look at it, it's been 2 years later and it was really fast. Of course there has been bad times but there has also been good times, and the good times far out weigh the bad I think.

I've meet good friends, good people here and it has been good. So I dedicate this to them. Thanks for the good times and memories. It will not be forgotten.

Will this blog end just as my college life ended? Maybe, it all depends on me there weather I want to go in with this blog cause I haven't really been updating it and all. But as I always say, I'll try my bets to keep it updated.

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Updated, 17/4 at 6am.

I take back it didn't end with a bang. Cause it was fun.

One of them days

2009-04-02T16:26:00.003+08:00

It must be just one of those days. Well, you know what I'm talking about. It's like one of them empty days. After day after day of hitting in and out figuring out project problems and stuff like that, it's finally over. Now it's just all so empty.

Well, it's just how I feel I guess. It's like everything is over, there is nothing left. But in reality it's far from it. I supposedly have a test next week, a test that I don't even know I when, or what will be coming out. It's shit really. Robotics is the shit. It's not a hard subject, but it sure is a sucky one. Worst so if you have a fucked up lecturer like Sami. What a useless little cunt.

Well, other then that we have lab reports also due next week. Good lord, it's a lot of shit.

Anyway, I'll talk a little about my poster presentation. Long story short I won second best project in my category, only lost to some crap research project. Ish, if I lost to another modal building type of project I wouldn't fel so bad. But a research project? Come on, my presentation was WAY better then that. But whatever, winning it is like not winning anyway. The prizes they give are crap anyway. RM70 for second, RM100 for first. No wait, that's not so bad. Bullocks, lemme finish the sentence. RM70 and RM100 worth of VOUCHERS to the INTI BOOKSTORE. WOW! I'm freaking leaving this dump and they give me this crap. It's amazing.

What do I want to do now? All I want to do now is to go home. Sit back, and shoot some bastards in Killzone 2. It's an awesome game. I bought it 2 weeks ago and only played it on weekends, and I think I have ATLEAST 10 hours into it already. It's really good.

I wouldn't feel so lifeless is my friends PS2 didn't breakdown. Then I would have Persona 4 to play. Persona is easily another game that I can add to my all time favourite games, along with Bioshock, Okami, GoW, and some other games that I can't think of now.

Maybe I should just go to sleep now and hope everything gets better when I wake up.
As if that will ever happen.

That's a Wrap!

2009-04-01T20:21:00.001+08:00

Just as the titles says. THAT's a wrap! Project is over!

Project

2009-03-29T12:03:00.003+08:00

I've been going on and on about my project haven't I? But I haven't actually shown it here, well here you go. This is about the 90% built of it.
There we go.

Burned to hell

2009-03-26T13:16:00.002+08:00

Just like that, in less then 5 minutes, smoke arises and burns the living hell out of the poor bugger. What am I talking about? My poor colour sensor. 60 bucks down the bloody drain. Well, that's what you get when you do something stupid like get a colour sensor smaller then the tip of your finger. How nice.

Tomorrow is the date when we need to pass up our Final Project Report. And my project isn't exactly the most working thing around. I tell myself "Atleast the belt moves." But is that enough to keep me going? Is my explanation alone enough to pull me through with that A? I don't think so. But all I can do is hope. Nevermind the colour sensor. Gotta move on from there. Now I'm hopping to get the circuit working at least but time is really running pretty short.

Currently sitting in the lab stonning. Hoping things would work out. But it's not going to work if I just sit here and blog. I mean come on. When I'm free I can't be bothered to blog and now I'm blogging. Shows that I'm emo thgat my colour sensor burned. Ish, 60 bucks man. Just like that kissed my ass burned.

Anyway, I think I'm going back to testing out my PIC circuit hoping that atleast my servos can move. If they can move then I'll have something to show.

Rise from Grave

2009-03-24T05:13:00.002+08:00

If there is anyone out there. I'm sorry for leaving this dirtbag to rot! Yes, it has been ages since I last made any kind of meaningful blog. I've been busy. Very busy. It's been hard to keep up really.

From Final Projects to Test to Assignments. This week is THE week. The king of all weeks. It's terrible. I have 2 assignments, 2 test, my project to complete and project report! Oh, and one more quiz. All happening in one week.

Okay, in all honesty I've actually considered throwing this place to hell and leaving it to crash and burn. But decided that I'll let it stick around a little longer and see how things turn out and see if I actually have more time to blog. Actually, it's not that I have nothing to blog, I have quite a number of stuff to blog about, but seriously I've been THAT busy.

Anyway, I'll tyr my best to go back to making how this blog was. A little more active atleast, I'll also try my best to get back to reviweing movies, but that most probably will only happen after my exams.

Well, whatever the case, do come back here in the coming days, or weeks. Cause I'll TRY my best to revive this shithole.

Facepalm

2009-02-26T03:56:00.002+08:00

Oh god, I have a test later but I can't be bothered to study on it. Man, it's 4 in the morning, I haven't had much decent sleep this pass 2 days, come on, give me a break. I'm going to get myself screwed over tomorrow. Worst thing on my head now is my final project. Freaking ideas don't turn to material if I don't start building it soon. Sigh, why did I get myself into this shit by doing such a terrible final project? So many things I gotta worry about.

Mechanical parts, my conveyor belt need to be fabricated. How? Chains, screws, nuts, bearings and pipes. Ideas? Plenty. Started building? Not a leg in sight.

Colour sorting circuit. Colour sensor, servo motors, PLC. PLC program? Not drawn. Colour sensor? Not bought. Servo Motors? No idea how to work it. Good job.

Motor circuit. DC motor? Control Circuit? Not happened. Oh noez. This is going to hell real quick.

Ideas? Plenty. Materials? Not much. Come on, is it even possible to get all that done in the next 4-5 weeks?

Gezz, I really need to buy all that shit quick.

Connection? My ass can go faster.

2009-02-22T23:04:00.001+08:00

Argh, connection at home has been a bitch! Screw ShittyX and TMNuts. Bloody useless. Connection here has been so bad I can go as far as to say INTI's connection is actually faster! This is a joke. Useless pricks. Connections like this should be freaking free man cause it's freaking useless. But we're paying for this shit. What a joke.

Show Off!

2009-02-17T08:56:00.002+08:00

I have a presentation for my final project in an hour! Wish me luck!

Very Important Shit.

Pink Panther 2

2009-02-15T00:18:00.004+08:00

Movie: Pink Panther 2
Director: Harald Zwart
Starring: Steve Martin
Runtime: 1hour 30mins
Genre: Comedy

The first Pink Panther had it's moments. Steve Martin playing the clueless Inspector Clouseau was fairly amusing in the first picture. It was some pretty mindless comedy, but it was still a laughable. So comes round 2, how does it do this time?

The plot is simple, The Tornado is a super thief that has stolen 3 of the world's precious artifacts from Japan, Britain, and Italy. They decide to form a team, a Dreamteam. And the Inspector Clouseau is to be included, since he is said to be the "best in the world". As he is about to leave France, the Pink Panther, a precious diamond that he has been protecting, has been stolen, just as he said.

And needless to say, it's disaster after disaster until they somehow solved the cased. The plot really isn't the strong point of this movie. The story is as obvious as a monkey in a group of zebras. 5 minutes into the movie you can already predict everything that is about to happen in the show.

Alas, it's not a story driven movie. It's a mindless show of mindless comedy. And that is exactly what it is, mindless comedy. It is scene after scene of stupidity, one after the other. Some scenes can get so stupid it's hardly funny. The level of stupidity reached so high that's it's impossible to laugh. The movie does have some laugh out loud moments but in my memory there was only 2 scenes worth mentioning.

This time around they also included some love elements to the movie which felt a little pointless.

Pink Panther takes stupidity to a whole new level. There are little chuckles here and there, but at some parts, it produces more groans then laughs. Pink Panther is literally what you call a mindless comedy, leave your brain behind and laugh with the stupidity and you may enjoy the movie. IF your the type that can't stand movies like these, stay home.

Grade: C+

Inkheart

2009-02-12T15:53:00.002+08:00

Movie: Inkheart
Director: Lain Softley
Starring: Branden Fraser, Eliza Bennett
Runtime: 1hour 45mins
Genre: Fantasy

Ah, finally. The first review in ages. Hopefully this can keep up and continue.

So, Inkheart has quite the unique story. A guy that has the ability to literally make the characters of a book jump right off the page when he reads out loud. Who knew something so magical can actually be such a bad thing. Children who watch this might never want to be read to ever again!

The story follows Mo (Brenden Fraser) a single father, who is looking for a book that is pretty rare. With him is his daughter, Maggie (Eliza Bennett) who is full of questions. Why are they constantly moving? Why did mom leave? She always wants to know what his father is thinking, but Mo never tells her a thing, until one faithful day when they get captured.

Why has Mo been finding so hard for the book? Because mom is in it. How did this happen? Well, Mo is actually a "silvertongue". He has the ability to bring characters to life and out of the book when he read it out loud, but there is always the downside of the ability. Someone from the real world must be brought in in exchange. So, you would already figure out that mom is in the book.

The rest of the story just shows Mo trying to get a copy of the book and the bad guy, Capricon (Andy Sercis) distroying all the books. It becomes your basic good vs evil kind of thing. Story sounds interesting? Think again. For such a magical idea, the pacing of the movie is pretty bad that it doesn't even take off. The characters are boring and uninteresting that you couldn't be bothered how it ends. Even towards the climax, the build up was a little too badly paced that it felt forever to reach, and even longer for it to end. By then viewers would already have lost interest in what is actually happening on the screen.

Acting is pretty normal here. Nothing too special that needs top be noted. Branden Fraser is again back as the role of the super hero dad. The spark he used to have in previous movies just seem missing here, this can also be seen in some of his recent movies, such as Mummy.

There isn't much laughs here, there isn't much advanture here. And that is already a big fail for a movie of this genre. There is no magic to be found here and nothing to keep you interested in staying for the finale. It's a movie that just stays flat on the screen.

Grade: C-

The Week

2009-02-08T12:36:00.003+08:00

It has been quite a fun weekend. From Thursday to Sunday, everyday has been pretty fun. First part of the week was more of a chore, cause I had my progress report to pass up and stuff to do. So it was work work work at the start. But once I got over with the work, it was awesome time.

What else...? I know I can't really call my blog a movie blog anymore, since I have not posted a single review in ages. But I will try my best to throw in 2 reviews this week. Pink Panther 2 and InkHeart. And if time makes it possible, Benjamin Button.

Untitled 22

2009-02-01T12:28:00.002+08:00

After disappearing from the face of this earth for quite sometime, I'm finally back! So what actually happened to me this whole Chinese New Year week? Well, I was in Thailand. Explains why I didn't reply all your CNY messages. I would have, if I had the Credit.

Before I start anything. Happy Chinese New Year to all! A little late, but it is still CNY. So I'm not THAT late. But once again, I'm not going to make a long blog post about anything. I just came back actually and I'm actually quite tired. Doubt I'd also make a big post on this Thailand Trip. It was a fun trip no doubt, but nothing as legendary as my Harbin Trip.

I left for Thailand on Friday, stayed in Bangkok for 4 days, then went to Phuket for 4 days. Bangkok was more off a shopping trip. We spend 2 days shopping and 2 days going out of town for some sight seeing. While Phuket was kinda more of the activity place. Both places were pretty cool.

Now that I'm back, it's not like I have much time to actually chill out. College starts again tomorrow, which is pretty screwed up. And on friday I need to pass up my first progress report. Which I'm not too sure what to write about either. Well, anyway, it really is like a slap in the face.

Harbin - Shanghai Trip

2009-01-12T09:13:00.016+08:00

Finally it's the Harbin Shanghai trip blog post! It's not going to be too long. Just around 40 pics? There's plenty more if your wondering, but if I were to upload even a quarter of them it will kill the whole internet.

The first day wasn't so cold. It was -2 from what I heard from the plane but it didn't felt that bad. It's like, just right. We went to visit some usual China stuff, parks and things. There was even this skate park place which was pretty weird. It had lots of matel figures littered around the place so you can kinda "join in" with the scene, if you get what I mean.

This 3 pictures are just awesome.

Second day was a little more interesting. We went to the border of China and North Korea. Took a boat ride that kinda numbed my face caused of the wind. Ended up I could't pronounce my words properly.

This place is nothing very special. But it was one of the coldest places the whole trip. It was so windy it will blow your ass off you and fly you to Hong Kong.

Another interesting bit was great wall! We actually saw the end, or start, depends on how you see it, of the great wall. Which was quite surprising.

Don't ask me why my cousins are doing that. I actually have a video to go with this picture but I can't be bother to upload videos!

So we went to a palace, duh. No china trip is complete without it.

I and my cousins got this Russian hat thing which was awesome! It was really pretty warm and actually got my head sweaty, which is kinda weird at -8 temperatures.

Another special thing for the trip we went skiing! And I look like an idiot here! No I wasn't standing there. Yes I did have a couple of falls. But it was fun. Swooping down a slope at full speed is awesome. Too bad they didn't have Snowboarding. I was more looking forward to snowboarding.

Start laughing at this! Remember quite awhile back we found a squished frog? This time it's a bloody frozen one!

We tried to kill ourselves on the track, but that didn't work out. The train did come like 20 minutes later.

My cousin stopped the train! Only to have my aunt ruin it. Any good hands at photoshop want to give a go at removing my aunt? I tried, it's a work in progress, I got her head and legs off but the middle part is extremely hard to work with!

Quite a self explained picture. Ginseng Tea ftw!

This place was pretty spooky honestly. This was the house of the last emperor of China. The house had this thing about it and it was pretty damn creepy. The best part was it was converted into a museum, it had these black and white pictures around which really amplified the effects. There were some pictures that were so haunted house worthy that it wasn't even funny. Some looked like those pictures where the eyes will turn and look around. Some would just look like it would come out of the picture and haunt you for the rest of your life. There was this one picture that was the scariest of all. It was black and white, when you look at it you can't help but the stare at it, cause it is so haunting. Walk on a little more and you will see a coloured picture of it. Which was really haunting.

Because of the aura of the place, I tried to make it as spooky as possible in the pictures too!

I really like this picture. Looks like one of them haunted corridors. Just gotta add a little girl there and it would be god awful.

I'll let you take a guess what meat is this. What is that? Did I hear man's best friend? If I did then Ding! You are correct! You won the internetz! Yea we had dog meat cause of a special request from my cousin. Second time I ate it and it's pretty good really. this time it even came with sambal!

We reached Harbin and it snowed on Christmas! In a way it was a white Cristmas. And what a way I started Chrismas off. You know how the hotal doors always had this letch thing you could look from the inside so that even if you had the key you can't open it from the outside? Yeah, my room letched on the inside when we went for breakfast. What did the hotel man do? Bash the door down ofcourse! It was pretty damn funny.

Anyway, we reached Harbin and today was kind of the main Highlight of the trip with the snow and ice sculptures on the way. We went to a smaller Ice Sculpture place first. It was Disney themed this year and look what my cousin did to the Horse of Toy Story.

This may sound stupid but ice slides are AWESOME. No I'm not kidding, they really are. A stupid slide there made of ice can sound uninteresting. But they are fun as hell! We were having so much fun on a small slide that I can't imagine how it would be to get on a big long one. Too bad we didn't. Didn't have the time to get on the big slide which I think is a super big waste.

Think this is made of concrete? Wrong, it's snow. This is a snow sculpture and yes it looks really awesome. I'll admit this, this day is starting to build up as one of the coldest days I have ever EVER felt in my life.

There are actually more pictures of this place as this is the super main highlight of the whole trip. Ice sculptures that are so big they are life sized! You can actually walk into one of this ice buildings. This place was so cold you're hands would just go numb the instant you take it out. Your toes would feel so cold you'll think it has turned blue. It was THAT cold. From what I know it was -23 that night.

What did we do to warm up? Eat in an igloo! Okay, so we didn't really warm up as it was still pretty cold in there! We had steam boat in an igloo and 5 minutes after you took your food out of the pot it would turn cold. Cold steamboat taste really bad honestly, so even tough it was still pretty hot when we took it out of the pot you'll just have to stuff it into your mouth before it turned cold.

The next day was equally as cold. I think it was a whopping -25.

But I guess some people didn't felt the cold that they could go swimming!

After that we went to this Russian Shop where they sold Russian made stuff. They had this vodka that was named AK47. Pretty darn cool.

On other news, it was my birthday today! And the tour leader found out. She was really really nice and made me choose something so she would buy it for my birthday for me. I was like NO WAY! That would be evil. And as a joke I pointed out the most expensive thing in the shop which she NEARLY bought. It was pretty damn scary.

In the end she really did bought me something. Which was really nice of her. She is by far one of the better tour leaders that I've had.

So we had lunch at this BBQ buffet thing that was AWESOME. I don't know how many times I've said awesome but it was pretty damn good. BBQ and German Beer is win.

So we celebrated my birthday there at the same time.

I really like this picture. So I'll just add it here.

At night we went to an Ice bar, where everything was made of ice. From the bars to the tables.

That was pretty much the end of our trip in Harbin. There are like, 1000 other pictures which is just crazy alot. From there we went to Shanghai. Shanghai was more off a rest and relax kind of trip. It was a little boring but we just moved around and stuff. We took the bullet train which traveled at 430 km/h. How does it feel like? Normal I guess, cause your travelling at 430km/h too. But take a look outside the window and you'll see the difference. Things were literally at an angle and they just swop by.

Not sure which picture to put cause it's from 2 different cameras, but this picture looks cool. We are like some bands album cover.

This is by far the most scariest Santa you will ever see for the rest of your life.

This picture just spells extreme. I was actually taking a picture of this western looking scenery at the back when they suddenly poped infront of me with this extreme face. SO I decided to took it and it looks great.

Weather in Shanghai was pretty bad. It was gloomy and it rained for the whole time we were there. We went up the Shanghai tower thing but nothing could be seen really. So I decided to improvise.

Before we know it, it was the last day of the trip, so my cousins and I decided to endulge ourselves with a little luxury. So we had Haagan Dazs.

So that was pretty much just an overall view of the trip. It was one of the best trips I've had.

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On other news, my blog turned 2 yesterday! Yay! Time really flies. Can't believe I've been doing this shit for 2 years.

Big New Year

2009-01-07T17:25:00.004+08:00

So it all begins again. It's the new year, a new semester. New Years revolution? Well, we all know there is no point making one sometimes, hardly anyone actually cares about it anyway. But, I'm going to make a few, just for the sake of making some. Who knows? Maybe I would actually manage to complete some.

Hm, let's see. What can I put as a revolution? Play less games? Neh, never will happen. I should put study harder. Yea, first revolution, study harder! It's going to be a tough semester ahead with final project. The others got it easy this semester. Their subjects are relatively more easy compared to mine.

Since we're on that subject, let's stick there for awhile. This semester I'll be taking 3 subjects and final project. The 3 subjects are Hydraulics and Pneumatics, Principle of Robotics and Java. I'm not very worried of Java. But the other 2 might just be a big pain in the ass. We'll just have to see about that.

On to final project. What I'll be doing is an automatic bottle sorting conveyor belt thingie thing. It will sort bottles of different sizes and colours. Well, what I'll be going is sorting bottles of 2 sizes and 2 colours only. Not that having more is harder, it'll just be more troublesome. Cause I'm planning to build the conveyor belt at full size. If I do anything more I'll be making a factory! I hope it turns out good. Honestly, the idea I have on what to do is all in my head already, the problem is I need to do much more research and turning that idea into reality. I really hope I can make it.

Okay, what other New Year revolution can I make? Lose weight? I don't think I can lose anymore weight. I guess I can say workout more? But I can guarentee that this won't materialize. But what the heck, I'll just throw it in.

Update this blog more often? Maybe. If my life was a little bit more interesting then I could update more often.

Talking about updating. My update of Harbin isn't here yet. I don't have the pictures from my mom's camera yet. I have my camera, but mine is pretty experimental and I only took crap. But I'll upload some soon. For now I'll leave you with this picture.

Cannons for the win!

Bring the New

2009-01-01T00:00:00.001+08:00

Bring the New, Happy New Year. It's 2009. Hope everybody has an awesome year ahead!

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What a start. Sigh, hope everything will be fine this year.

Back

2008-12-30T03:13:00.002+08:00

I'm back from Harbin! Awesome trip. One of the best ever. Even though it's as cold as hell it was great. Expect some pictures, but not much. Depends on my mood. If good mood then I post more.

Man, it's over all a little too quick. Holidays are going to be over too. In a week. I'm going to be in my final semester in Inti. Time really hasn't been kind. It's so fast. I started this blog when I went into inti, now it's going to be 2 years already. Just like that. It's pretty bitter sweet.

Anyway, it's late. And I'm pretty tired. So I'm just going to take a rest. Gotta wake up early tomorrow too. That's crappy.

Twist My Story

2008-12-19T01:36:00.002+08:00

I'm going to be away for awhile. So don't expect anything here for awhile. Not like I've been updating this hole anyway. Sigh, proves pretty much how lifeless I am. I could use some, if only you can get it at a store or something.

"Hi excuse me, do you sell life? Cause I don't have one."

Must cost a bomb.

Anyway, I won't be around from tomorrow until 29th. Where am I going? Harbin, China. Well, China again it might be, but it's a little different this time. It's going to be really cold there and I'd be literally freezing my ass off there. But I'm really looking forward to it, cause it's something different.

Else? Nothing much. I'm just dreading college starting right after I come back from hols. It's my final semester there already. Final project! I've already gotten my title, something I proposed myself, just some changes to make it a little more complicated. I've had some thought put into it, but hardly enough. I was hoping I would put more heart into it this holidays but come on, it's me your talking about here.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

2008-12-17T14:20:00.006+08:00

Movie: The Day the Earth Stood Still
Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jeniffer Connelly
Runtime: 1hour 45mins
Genre: End of the World?

Noah's Arc, we all know what happened. One man receives a message from God telling him that there will be a flood which will kill everybody and he is told that he needs to build an arc and save every species of animal in the world. Well, that's the basic idea of the whole movie.

After a seriously unrelated prologue of the movie set in the pass, we move on to the precent day where there seems to be a huge comet that is going to collide with earth. Where? You guessed it, New York. Somehow aliens just love to land there I guess. Keanu Reeves plays Klatu, an alien from outer space here to save the people from polution of the world. Hoping the people will change. Well, not really. He only came to earth with one thing in his mind. If the 5 minute discussion he has with his fellow alien mate in McDs doesn't go to well, he will summon the end of the world.

What do we do now? The aliens want to save the earth, but decides to kill all humans in the process. Okay, it's up to one lady to save the world and convice him to change his mind. The End.

That's all that needs to be known about this movie, and seriously, that's literally the whole plot of the movie already. It's just the basic idea of a lady trying to convince and alien race far more superior then us not to kill all humans on the face of the earth and saying we can change. It is so boring and predictable.

There really isn't much left to be said about the movie, mainly cause I can't be bothered, or maybe the movie is just too bad for me to care. Sorry for a god awful review.

Grade: C-

Bolt

2008-12-17T13:36:00.004+08:00

Movie: Bolt
Director: Chris Williams, Byron Howard
Voices: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus
Runtime: 1hour 35mins
Genre: Animation

More animation? They just can't get enough of it. This time it's 3D too. Now it's a dog, with powers that always saves it owner, a girl name Penny, from dangers of the green eyed man. Sounds all to familiar? Maybe. It just sounds like on of them Disney shows you find on TV. The average teenager saves the world from the evil genius.

Well, that's because it is a TV show. Not too long into the movie, you realize that Bolt is just your average dog acting in a TV series. But the catch is the dog doesn't know. It thinks everything it does is real, and that is what the director wants, so that they can get the best out of the dog. The dog thinks all Cats are evil, things instantaneously combust when he stares at it.

Things go bad when he is accidentally shipped off to New York from LA. From there, he has to make his way back to LA. And this prove to be his biggest adventure yet. Desperate and frustrated his powers don't work, he captures a stray household cat named Mittens thinking she works for the Green Eyed Man. But soon, the dog finally realizes that you don't need powers to be a real Hero.

The tale we have seen before. But this one is charming. It has that something special about it that just makes it all lovable. The magic that is missing in most animation of this day is here in this film. All the characters here are lovable, so much so that you care for them. Moments of hope, lost of hope, individual heroism everything is nicely done to keep you interested in the movie, it makes you back the dog. This is what being an animation is all about. Heart. And this has it just right. Enough for you to care, not too much that it becomes too cheesy.

Bolt's early commitment to his fantasy movie role brings out a couple of laughs, and with the help of a couple of smart-ass pigeons makes the whole experience fairly funny. The animations of all animals are done beautifully enough. Nothing unexpected of a animation movie of this time.

The story of Bolt rediscovering himself is just really well put together and it's a beautiful movie to be seen. Does it justify the cost of watching it in 3D? No, sadly. There is nothing too special about the 3D effects here, unlike Journey. It's not build as a 3D movie, no 'in your face' moments to be seen and heard. But this is going to be the trend of animations. We all has seen beautiful animations. Any better it's going to be real people acting in cartoons. So they can't afford to lose that art style. What to they do now to attract people? 3D.

Grade: A-

Body of Lies

2008-12-13T02:18:00.006+08:00

Movie: Body of Lies
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russel Crowe
Runtime: 2hours 5mins
Genre: War

Political War movies about current headlines are usually a bore. They talk too much and make too little sense. But this, fortunately is nothing like that. Body of Lies isn't a full political war movie. It's something that feels really believable, so believable you might think it is actually really happening in the real world.

There are 3 people that runs the show here. Firstly, it's Roger Ferris, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. He is a CIA working in the middle east hunting down terrorist. He is ruthless, he does what ever it takes to get to what he wants. Which is always the way his boss, Ed Hoffman, works.

Soon, Ferris is sent to Jordan to work with Hami Salaam, the Head of the Secret Police in Jordan. Hami Salaam is a man of honour and a man of his word. He only ask one thing from Ferris if they were to work together, and that's trust. No lies. Now Ferris is thorn between his boss and Hami. Hoffman wants to get the job done no matter what, but Ferris cannot risk that, cause if he does, Hami would not help him anymore. It becomes more dramatic when Ferris, with some help, makes up a fake terrorist organization in the name of a inocent civilian.

Well, that's the main part. There is also the part where Ferris falls in love with a local beauty, a nurse who patches him up everytime he gets himself into trouble. This part is quite a drag, but it's some what a plot technic to the climax. A little impossible when you think about it considering the little interaction they have. But it's a movie, there must always seem to have a love interest somewhere.

The story is interesting. Keeps you at the egde of your seat. But sometimes it zips by too fast that it can get hard to follow what's happening. But everything is well explained, and it's a good watch.

The biggest and the best part about the whole movie is the acting. Everything is done so well it's a joy to watch. Leonardo as the angry but strong Ferris. Crowe as Hoffman. It's amazingly funny when he is sending his kids to school while trying to contain Ferris shouting on the other end of the line. The cold but stern Hami is also well played by Mark Strong.

Bottom line is the movie is belivable. And that is one of the more important parts of movies in this genre. It's a great triller.

Grade: B+

Transporter 3

2008-12-12T03:29:00.003+08:00

Movie: Transporter 3
Director: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova
Runtime: 1hour 45mins
Genre: Action

Another day, another package. That's the life of Frank Martin, a professional package transporter who has his code of rules. He doesn't open the packages, he doesn't say his name, he just needs to accomplish the mission of sending package from A to B. Now how hard can that be? Well, normally he is always getting shot at by multiple guys with big guns. But we all know, big guns don't do any harm to action heroes now right?

Obviously not. The only weakness of action heroes is of course the girl in distress. The one the he would rather sacrifice himself and getting himself killed just for the sake of her. Well, no different here. This time Franks Package is this girl that he need to transport for the bad guy. All of them have this nifty bracelet on them. If they go further then 75 feet from the car, KaBoom is all they will hear.

So who is this girl? Only the most irritating, worst ever "damsel in distress" there ever will be for a long time. She is Valentina. And her character is just terrible. I have absolutely no idea how they can let someone like Frank Martin fall in love with such nonsense of a character. She's irritating, has possibly one of the worst script ever written. She's so bad then you'd just wish she'd just die in the middle of the show.

With such an awful leading lady, how can the rest of the movie be fully enjoyed? Plot wise, it doesn't go anywhere not done before, but that's nothing unexpected. What's to be seen here is the action scenes, those that will keep the adrenalin pumping. But not much to be seen here sadly. Cause they spent so much time trying to make Transporter look like a romantic movie. There are a few good scenes, but nothing too memorable. There is one action sequence that is worth a mention, and that is when Frank has to cycle to catch up to his car. That part is pretty cool, a bicycle double ups as a surfing board, it's pretty cool.

Jason Statham does what he does with Frank. But he can't seem to get enough and taking of his shirt. He takes of his shirt when he fights, he lies around naked after a weird 'what the hell just happened' scene. You know the movie is going to turn up bad when a guy is keeping count of the number of times the action star takes of his clothes and not checking out the girl.

Sad to say, Transporter 3 is really a bad movie. It's boring and hardly have enough good sequences to keep most people interested. Unless you're into Ukrainian Girls talking crap, being irritating and talking about restaurants, you're hardly going to enjoy this.

Grade: C-

Asdf

2008-12-11T17:37:00.003+08:00

Quick update before anything big to come.

1. I've finished Prince of Persia. Kinda bittersweet about the ending. But I'm more to the bitter side of it. Nevermind that, just gotta do the runs, get the seeds and start a new game to finish it fully.

2. Movie reviews to come: Transporter 3, Body of Lies, Bolt.

Finally

2008-12-06T15:56:00.001+08:00

Finally! I have it. Prince of Persia!

What I'm I still doing here? Bye!

Twilight

2008-12-04T01:30:00.004+08:00

Movie: Twilight
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Starring: Christen Steward, Robert Pattinson
Runtime: 2hours
Genre: Adaptation

To clear things up, I have not read the book. So I have absolutely no idea how the book is and it's purely based on what I feel about the movie. Now that I got that over with let's get started on this.

What do you expect from the movie? This is what governs how you come out of the cinema. Take it too seriously it's not going to be good. If you think this vampire flick is going to be a gore fest, seriously think again, you're in the wrong cinema. It's about how a Eternally 17 year old Vampire falls in love with a human. Yes, it's a love story. Action junkies and gore lovers can exit stage right.

Bella, is the new girl in the town Forks. Her father stays there while the mom is out on a road trip with step dad. There she meets new people at school, a crazy playful bunch. And not long after we're all introduced to the Cullens. The weird, pale, yet good looking bunch. Nobody knows who they are. They stay at home during Sunny days, hate the beach, and don't eat lunch. Well, a little weird, but nothing to raise suspicions. Until one day Bella is saved by her Biology lab partner from certain doom. Obviously it's one of the Cullens, Edward Cullen. From there she starts questioning how he saved her.

It takes not too long till we are all shown what we already know. Cullens are vampires, blood suckers, but different in their way. They don't "eat" humans, they take animal blood. According to them they're "vegetarians". Sparks start to fly and everything kicks off. From here, everything starts to feel a little tad rushed. We're introduced to another bunch of Vampires who are not so picky, who have been terrorizing the small town. They meet up and one of the Vampires, who is a tracker is determined to track down and hunt Belle. And it's up to Edward to protect her.

What is is really about? We all know the story is simple, it's just about 2 beautiful people that are so deeply in love they'll do whatever it takes to be together. And this is clearly the scene. But what makes is so different from other normal love stories is the fact that one is a vampire. The story just feels so much more amplified just because of that fact.

The movie amplifies this intensity between the 2 lovers even more cause of all those closeup shots at all the right times, making everything feel just right.Some parts can feel really cheesy though. Some parts are so cheesy that it somehow becomes unintentionally funny at some parts.

All the acting in the movie are pretty good. They are all played just right. The intimacy between the 2 are enough with their emo so in love eyes that they look at each other with.

The target audience of this movie is obviously the teenage girls and this should not disappoint them. To fans of the book, I don't know, cause I have not read it myself and don't know how much they skipped. For everyone else, not taking it too seriously would make it an enjoyable movie to watch.

Grade: B

Igor

2008-12-04T00:56:00.003+08:00

Movie: Igor
Director: Tony Leondis
Voices: John Cusack
Runtime: 1hour 25mins
Genre: Animation

Well, we get something different here, a cartoon a little darker then usual. Won't find colourful rainbows here, thunderstorms are the only thing you'll find in the skies. It's somewhat something like Nightmare before Christmas and Corpse Bride. But there is a difference. A big difference. What is it? Tim Burton, the master of these kind of movie.

But, it's not entirely dark too, there is a little light in the movie. Igor is quite known for being the sidekick. "IGOR, PULL THE SWITCH' is easily the biggest line the whole show. Igors are not allowed to invent, but this Igor is different. He dreams to become an evil scientist. His opportunity comes up when his Master dies of a freak accident and he takes his place.

What does he do? He wants to prove himself at the Evil Science Fair that his invention will be the baddest thing out there to get the world. So he tries to creat life and reanimate pieces of body parts put together. Well, obviously it worked, a little. The monster the he created is not evil. So he sets out to turn it evil.

Then the rest need not be said. Cause it all rolls out easily. Igor learns from the monster that you don't have to be a bad guy to be big. And the values are pretty obvious to spot. But the movie isn't for those who are too young, suitable for those more matured kids and teens. I don't think you want little kids watch this cause there are some animated "violence". How? There is this rabbit in the movie that just can't die. Even if he was zapped or crushed or decapitated he just won't die. One scene has him biting off his own legs to save Igor. Although it's not exactly shown, kids may not like that.

The movie has it's moments. There are some laughable scenes but it's just there. There is nothing here that is so special that it will be remembered as a good animation. It's fun and a feel good movie, but that's about it. The boring character also doesn't really help much. Igor just isn't charming enough to be a memorable character. It's not like Jack in Nightmare before Christmas. He's memorable with his interesting witty character, or Victor of Corpes Bride. Those characters just feel more alive compared to this.

This may be a feel good movie but that's about it. It gives the temporary joy of watching this. But the boring characters just don't bring enough charm for this movie to hit it.

Grade: B-

Death Bed

2008-12-02T04:53:00.002+08:00

You know your blog is in trouble when it's the first day of the next month and you can't remember when was the last time you updated it. This is the case here. I've been a little busy with games and hangging out with some friends that the blog has been neglected abit. But not to worry, there will be reviews coming up soon enough.

Else, I just got Left4Dead and it's awesome.

Sandwich Result Ads

2008-11-20T20:13:00.002+08:00

If you have nothing to read this should give you a laugh.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/odd_sandwich_assault

Some guy used a sandwich as a weapon. Lol. The Police didn't specify what kind of sandwich was used. I laughed pretty hard at that.

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Anyway, results came out 2 days ago and I got A's for both my subjects. Nothing much else to say. I'd give a better update when I'm not too busy playing games.

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Okay, since I'm already on a post I thought I just help the girls out in a little advertising since I said what I said on my Tag.

Check out DandyShowyDressy from my link. It's a Blogshop set up by a couple of my friends and they are selling new clothes! So why not give it a drop and see if anything interest you?

Shadow

2008-11-16T01:09:00.003+08:00

Just a quicker. Prince of Persia game is amazing. The trailers that Ubisoft is producing now is simply beautiful. I'm really hyped for this now.

On a another thing, I took my Ielts exam today. It was alright. Nothing Special. And that's about all I want to say right now.

Sometimes things that have absolutely no relation to you can really sadden you at times and make you think and appreciate your life just that much more.

James Bond: Quantum of Solace

2008-11-10T23:35:00.004+08:00

Movie: Quantum of Solace
Director: Marc Foster
Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko
Runtime: 1hour 45mins
Genre: Action

What makes James Bond, well, James Bond? Some say his gadgets, some say his cars. Others would say the hot girls. But everyone would recognize bond from he’s classy style in his tux, the spy that doesn’t get his hands dirty to get to what he wants. The current generation Bond throws almost all of these out and changing the Bond style for better or for worst.

Gone are the gadgets and gone are the cars. Bond still works the party with his classy tux, but no longer does he do the job clean and quiet. Everywhere he goes something is bound to blow up. Not exactly a bad thing, cause it’s suppose to be showing the history of Bond, as in the first few missions before he actually becomes what he becomes in the previous Bonds.

The movie is almost a direct continuation of Casino Royale, Bond is still angry with revenge on his mind after his girl betrayed him and well, gets killed. A new organization has spawned, and nothing is known about them, so Bond sets out to get more information on this organization.

The plot all seems a little messed up at first. You can't really pick up what the movie is all about and what's the bad guy trying to accomplish. But instead, they force action sequences after action sequences down your throat. Not until three quarters of the movie is up where you finally get to see what they are trying to accomplish.

The movie jumps its generic roots. No more gadgets, no more clean fights. Everything is rough and physical. It is brute with physical fighting having bond getting thrown around like a ragdoll. It's a total revamp and update from previous bonds before Casino Royale. The movie moves away from what makes it Bond and picks up a few lessons from Bourne.

To new fans this may not be as troubling, but to older fans, they may find it a little overwhelming. There is nothing Bond about this movie and has become much like any other action movie. This actually brings more good then bad. Although Casino Royale was somewhat more physical compared to the previous Bonds too, atleast it has a balanced mix of some espionage and some form of spying. There is nothing quiet about this spy. Everywhere he goes somebody dies or something explodes.

Another poor thing about this movie is the villain. Dominic Green may have he's cunning get rich sceme, he just doesn't have that "I'm evil and I can kick your ass" look. Mathieu Amalric may be able to play as a villain, but he lacks what Mads Mikkelsen brought to the table in Casino Royale.

QoS is a great action movie for those looking for that adrenalin rush. But for Bond lovers, prepare to see your hero go down in the dirts in more realistic physical fights and not having any laser watches.

Grade: B

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

2008-11-10T23:18:00.004+08:00

Movie: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Director: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Voices: Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Chris Rock, Queen Latifah
Runtime: 1hour 30mins
Genre: Animation

I always say the same thing when I review animated features. These days, animated features are being mass produced as they are fairly easy to animate with technology these days. Animated features are popping up like flies now and if there is an animal out there, there probably already is a cartoon that has done it. From monkeys to rats, tigers to donkeys. Almost every type of animal we can think of has a cartoon about it.

Any type of animated cartoon these days can entertain a kid. Put in a couple of silly moments, make them say something stupid, and voila, kids love it. But what about the adults or the older generation who are about to watch this? Does it amuse us? Not alot of cartoons can do that anymore cause everything has been seen and done. Madagascar 2 is no different.

Madagascar 2 follows up from the first. This time, the animal bunch, Alex the lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the hippo are planning to go back to New York. How are they planning to do that? Slingshot an aeroplane piloted by penguins into the air hoping it would fly with one engine on fire. And amazingly it does, for awhile. It’s not long that they run out of gas and run out of gas and crash.

They realize they have crashed into Africa, their “ancestral ground”. They all realize how beautiful the place is and decided to stay. From here, each of the 4 animals start to have little side stories of their own. Alex finds his father and mother in the place they have crashed. The Zebra realizes that he’s not as unique as he thinks he is. The Hippo wants to find love in the new found hippo paradise. The Giraffe, who is in love with the Hippo, becomes to witch doctor and thinks he will die in 2 days.

After that things get a little predictable. It’s no spoiler that we know Alex and his dad will not see eye to eye, Alex and Marty will “fight”, and something happens between the other 2. And needless to say again, every problem will miraculously get settled and everybody lives happily ever after.

Madagascar 2 does have its moments though. There are some genuine laughs that can be taken. But sadly some of those moments are also already included in the trailers. There is something fairly funny about monkey’s trying to apply for maternity leave.

Voices are done alright. Ben Stiller and crew voices the characters well enough. On the side note, the soundtrack isn’t as impressive. “I like to move it, move it” is what made the first movie so popular, god knows why, cause I don’t. It makes a return here in the start of the movie.

The movie is fun enough and doesn’t take itself too seriously. With a mix of silly and funny moments (obviously more silly moments), the movie does enough to entertain the crowd, but doesn’t introduce anything new or fresh. Kids would love it, as usual, adults can enjoy it. But if you are tired of seeing the same type of thing done over and over again, it’s a movie that can be skipped.

Grade: B-

Tropic Thunder

2008-11-08T23:42:00.003+08:00

Movie: Tropic Thunder
Director: Ben Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black
Runtime: 1hour 45mins
Genre: Comedy

What happens when you put 5 actors thinking that they are acting in a movie into the real jungle with real drug lords and real guns? A very interesting comedy that we seldom see these days.

The story is well, what I've already said. 5 actors are acting in the biggest ever movie about the Vietnam War written by a guy that has hooks as hands. The movie has a big budget that has been over spend cause of silly mistakes on the field. only a couple of weeks into the filming and they are already over budget. What does the director decide to do? Put them in a jungle with hidden cameras filming their every moment to make it feel as real as possible.

Ben Stiller plays Speedman, an action movie star who hasn't been doing too well. He is themed up with 5 star award winning Australian actor, Lazarus, Played by Robert Downey Jr. He has under a pigmentation alteration to play as a black soldier in the movie. The third is Jeff Portnoy, a comedian on crack with fart jokes as his specialty, literally. The other 2 are younger actors that hold their own. One is a rapper named Alpha Chino, and the other is Kevin Sandusky.

So they all get lost in the jungle not knowing that they are in a real place with real drug lords. Everyone starts having problems. Lezarus is very critical of Speedman cause of the bad movie done by him named 'Simple Jack'. Alpha Chino can't stand the fact that Lezarus stays in character even though he knows that the film is not running anymore. Portnoy starts having withdrawal symptoms cause of the lack of heroine.

Things start off fairly interesting, with the dramatic opening scene. There are plenty of laugh out loud scenes that are here in the movie. But, one man's treasure is another man's trash. Many may find some of the jokes a little offensive and they are more oriented for the matured. Watching in the cinema can be a pain as alot of scenes get deleted. The whole movie is a little cheesy and over the top.

I have to say, Robert Downey Jr. really makes the whole movie up one level. He is an amazing actor. When in character he speaks in an excellent black accent and later he speaks at the correct Australian accent. Everything done perfectly, it's a joy to watch.

It's a cheesy movie and it's all a little crazy and over the top. If your into that sort of thing it's great. If not It's a skip, as you'll most probably find the movie a little offensive.

Grade: B

Bangkok Dangerous

2008-11-08T23:14:00.003+08:00

Movie: Bangkok Dangerous
Director: Pang Brothers
Starring: Nicolas Cage
Runtime: 1hour 40mins
Genre: Action

Bangkok Dangerous is one of those movies that have alot of expectations on them. With a good actor in an interesting location, it all seems to be well and good. But sadly the movie is anything but.

The story is straightforward as can already be seen in the trailers. Joe, played by Nicolas Cage, is an anonymous assassin. He's good at what he does and is petty heartless. But he plans to quit. But before he quits he goes to Bangkok to do 4 last jobs.

The movie starts of interesting enough. He does his first job with the help of a small time pick pocket named Kong. And falls in love with a dumb/deaf girl at the Pharmacy. And everything goes downhill. The pace of the movie is unbalance and the plot is predictable from then on. He becomes soft, starts to train this Kong guy instead of killing him off, starts going on a cultural tour of Thailand. What? Yeah, you heard right, cultural tour of Thailand by the dumb/deaf girl.

Who is this dumb/deaf girl? Nobody knows. Her character play absolutely zero role in the plot. She's just there to waste the time of the viewers. If I wanted a cultural tour of Thailand I would watch travel Asia, not an action movie.

The movie is slow, very slow. Too slow for an "action movie". The action picks up towards the end but it doesn't save the movie as by then everyone would have lost interest in the story anyway.

A movie is meant to entertain, but sadly this movie does nothing to do so. It's slow and boring with a terrible plot line. It is a big disappointment for such a hyped up movie.

Grade: C-

Little not so big Post

2008-11-05T01:38:00.003+08:00

Yeay, It's the holidays! Finally 2 months of absolutely no studying. Okay, so that's nothing special actually cause I hardly have studied recently anyway. Well, there is a difference. The difference is that now I don't need to, not because I don't want to.

So what's happening now? Well, mainly PS3. I'll be getting Dead Space tomorrow to scare the living nuts out of myself. Now that I actually just found out that my home theater 5.1 speakers actually work for my ps3 too, I'm sure with dead space I'm going to get the living ligths scared shitless out of me. But I'm game for it. Just hope I don't die.

On another thing, I have 2 reviews hanging. I'll make sure I get to it as soon as possible. Tropic Thunder and Bangkok Dangerous. I know I've been slacking alot with this blog. I'll try my best to keep it alive this holiday. Well, holidays is really nothing. My life is no party, and it's shown in this blog as well. It's BORING. If your life is boring, obviously your blog isn't going to get any better.

So what to expect this holiday? Movie reviews if no slacking, and not forgetting games. Hopefully I can fully enjoy this holidays fixture.

Exam Ghouls?

2008-10-31T04:24:00.002+08:00

Happy Halloween! Well, nothing exceptionally special actually. Not like anyone here actually take Halloween seriously here. First day of finals has come and gone. How was it? I don't know. It was tough, yet do-able. But whatever, I don't want to comment on that.

Somehow I feel something troubling me. I feel unsettled, something bothering me. Kinda like a mix feeling kind of thing. I feel worried about my upcoming paper, yet I really couldn't be bothered. I feel very happy about the upcoming holiday yet I'm afraid it's going to be quite a boring/lonely one. The only thing I will have to entertain myself would be DVDs and my PS3, and I really don't want the only people I will be interacting with are computer generated.

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Shit, I didn't know I was this broke. I overspend this week by a mile. This is going to be troublesome.

Calm before the Storm

2008-10-28T11:47:00.003+08:00

It was quite a chilling week last week. The first 3 days of last week was a little more hectic as I had to finish all my assignments by then, but after that it was pretty free. Sit around playing games and doing absolutely nothing.

On thursday I actually sat at my friend's room from 12 to 5 in the morning. And mind u, 12 in the afternoon. The only time I left was to eat dinner, and eat lunch. Even I couldn't believe I stared into that stupid small screen for almost 13 hours.

On other news, the weekend has been pretty alright. Saturday we had our Jogoya meeting which was plenty of fun. Great day. Sunday was alright. Finally got my FIFA09 after so long. Played it and it's awesome! Really hard though, maybe I just suck. But weirdly I didn't really played fifa that much, I played Uncharted more for some reason. Kinda griped about the fact I lost my saves during the new update. Have not stucked the game in since last December. Don't mind playing through it again though, can collect some trophies while I'm at it.

Yeterday was a little more retarded. I literally played poker with my cousin from 3 in the afternnon untill 10 at night. 7 hours of poker can really screw you over. I lost 4 bucks, not bad for my second time with real money, I guess?

Well, it has been quite the relaxing week. But it's going to change soon. The storm is coming. Actually the storm is here, just that I no feeling. Thursday is going to be my first paper. PLC, gotta get to some studying! I don't wanna screw up. This semester has just passed so quickly! This is literally my last week of college for the rest of the year. And I'm really looking forward to the long holidays. Got so many games to get to.

Max Payne

2008-10-22T05:35:00.003+08:00

Movie: Max Payne
Director: John Moore
Starring: Mark Wahlberg
Runtime: 1hour 40mins
Genre: Action, Adaptation

Video game movies never did work out. I don't know why. Maybe it's cause games are meant to stay games? Hardly any game movie, movie game ever works out. And this doesn't make a difference. Max Payne is another movie that continues the trend of great classic games turning into a turd of a movie. There isn't much left to describe about the movie after that line.

The plot of the movie does have some resemblance to the game, but as most game movies, they don't really follow it fully. Elements of the drug call Valkyrie, and the anti-hero Max Payne's emo-ness is all here. Well, if they weren't then it won't be Max Payne anymore would it? So why is Max Payne so angry? His beautiful wife and new born baby has been brutally murdered by a group of drug addicts. He manage to kill 2 of them but the one that killed his family managed to escape. Well, simple enough, he seeks revenge.

From then on the plot "advances" from little clues he gets from thugs and "friends". He goes in, shoots the place up, and moves on. But if you think it's gun blazing from the start, it isn't. The movie starts off slowly. People who have not played the game would get absolutely confused in the first hour of the movie, as nothing is explained. You get these flying bird thingies that come from nowhere and kills people? I mean, seriously? I've played the game, it was a long time ago, but I seriously didn't remember having any flying monsters in the game.

Monsters and bad plot aside, some game movies are saved from awesomely cool action scenes, which should make up of most of the movie. Sadly, the movie tries too hard to make it cool that it just falls flat on it's face. The slow motion, bullet time scenes just over does it a little and some of the scenes just lacks that "something" to actually make it cool.

There really isn't much left to say about the movie. If you were hyped about it, then sorry, you'd be dissapointed as hell. If you expected it to be bad, then well, you're right.

Grade: D

My Luck

2008-10-16T17:40:00.005+08:00

Argh, I can't belive my luck. Just today I was happily thinking that I'm not going to face any problem about my final project topic as I would most probably be continuing the robot arm I am working on right now. Sadly, it's not going to happen. Seems they have assigned this project to Mechanical and left me hanging.

I wouldn't say I'm bitter about it. But it is kinda sad. I was looking forwars to continuing with that project since I've pretty much spend some time doing it this whole semester. Now I have to start worrying about what topics they are going to spit out for us to choose. If I knew something like this would happen I would have atleast try to think of another topic that I would be interested in to work on next semester. Now I think it's a little too late. Hope the topics that will be announced tomorrow would be good.

Nuts, what rotten luck.

Add to the list

2008-10-15T21:29:00.003+08:00

Some how I find the college here getting a little more stupid as the semester goes by. There was suppose to be some meeting today with all Engineering student about some change in format and introduction of some new things for next semester's courses. Well, it doesn't seem so bad at first but come on! It's my last semester! I've been here for 2 years and you guys have to change it on my very last semester? That really sucks!

The best thing is, when we wanted to go for that meeting, we find out that it's canceled out of the blue. WOW! We didn't even get news it was canceled. Fine, we go ask when is it going to be held. "Next semester". WOW again! So, the briefing about the new format for next semester is going to happen... next semester? Geniuses in the making.

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AHhhhhahhahahaaaaaa.... I just like, added 2 games to my list. Saints Row 2 looks pretty awesome, so awesome it actually looks better then GTA4! There seems to be so much more freedom and the things you can do actually would make GTA4 look like a boring game.

Another is Dead Space. It looks and feels just like Bioshock. And I loved Bioshock! Nuuuuu! Looks like the renting services is a must now.

Tough Week

2008-10-13T21:32:00.004+08:00

Argh, it's going to be a tough week, atleast until Wednesday. I have 2 test this week. One tomorrow, one on Wednesday. Needless to say, other then test I still have plenty of outstanding assignments that need to be done. Lab reports are nearly done, so that's a relief.

Anyway, this is going to be a tough week with all the test and assignments that need to be done. But after this week everything should slow down for the last week of college. By then both my subjects would have finished it's syllabus already, so it should be plenty free from then on.

Anyway, gotta get started on my work and maybe do some preperation for my test after that.

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LOL! Aliens are coming tomorrow! Rumour says there will be a large UFO that will come and visit us in our skies! Wow! That's is like... so cool! Maybe they came here to help me do my test. Hm... Maybe, I need a torchlight to give them signals. LOL!

Want a link? Sure!

Expensive Season

2008-10-09T04:02:00.002+08:00

Tis' the season to be jolly? A little early for that, but it sure is the season to be jolly for most gamers. It's the season where big gaming titles are released as it's going to be the holiday season soon. It may be a jolly time, but it sure isn't a jolly time for the wallet.

From the number of games I'm hoping to get, it's going to be quite expensive. I'm broke as hell now, but I think I'm going to be worst this coming holiday. Why? No income, shit a lot of spending. That is, if I actually do get most of the games I'm aiming for.

Fifa09 is definitely a must buy this month. It's out already and I've asked everywhere last weekend, but it's not here yet. Oh well, gotta wait a little longer before I get that I guess.

What else? I'm hoping to get Rockband 2. But that is but a distant dream. Why? Cause it's going to cost be about 850 bucks for the whole bloody set. Drums, mic, 2 guitars and the game. 850 bucks. The game is going to be fun as hell, but If I do get it I don't have to eat for the next 4 months.

Far Cry 2 looks amazing. But I think it's coming out for the pc. So I should be getting it there. Doubt my computer can actually support it though.

Little Big Planet is a big question. Should I get it? Should I not get it? It looks fun as hell and the concept rocks my world. But I don't know how long it would actually last. The game mainly focuses on online community. I've been online, but I don't know if my connection can take it. Sometimes my connection rocks, most of the time it sucks so hard it doesn't need a straw to drink.

Resistance 2 and Motorstorm 2 undoubtedly excellent games, but I didn't play the first of the both, so most porbably giving this two a skip.

Need for speed: Undercover looks cool as it goes back to it's cores again, unlike ProStreet which wasn't as good as the previous NFSs. Call of Duty:World at war? Maybe for the PC.

Prince of Persia, one of my all time favourite games. It's coming out in the New Gen of games this December. The style has totally changed from before, but I like the new change. It looks a little bit too anime-ish, but it's the prince! I loved the first 3 games!

A new game that recently caught my eye is Mirror's Edge. It's not exactly new, just that I didn't pay much attention to it. Wow, is all I can say now that I've actually watched those videos. The graphics are great and the gameplay is fresh, which really got me interested in this.

I know I didn't list everything, but these are the games that I'm really really interested in. If I had the money it isn't the problem anymore. The problem is I don't! What am I going to do! I really should try out that renting survice I found out a while back. With that renting service all my problems would be solved. Maybe I should try it out this holidays.

End

2008-10-06T00:16:00.002+08:00

It's end of the holidays and college starts again. This week's going to be tough. Kinda have a test on Tuesday, not sure what about though. Got to find out more about it tomorrow. Lab reports are kind of piling up, but their kind of short. Only for the first few are they kind of troublesome.

Anyway, I have plenty of work to do, but a tad lazy. Assignments and all are really going to take my time next week. I have to get back to studying. The last time I said it I had to get some work done, and I actually did get some work done. So good for me. Now I need to get to more serious work. Hope I actually get myself into doing it.

I'm sure I will, I mean, I actually put an effort to reviving this shit hole, just a little more effort and I'd be able to get more work done.

Eagle Eye

2008-10-05T00:37:00.004+08:00

Movie: Eagle Eye
Director: D.J. Caruso
Starring: Shia LeBeouf, Michelle Monaghan
Runtime: 1hour 50mins
Genre: Action

We love roller coasters. I know I do. It's fast, it pumps the adrenalin, it spins, it flies, it shoots. It does everything to entertain us and give us a good trill. But even roller coasters have slow times, maybe when it's climbing a hill for the fall.

I would describe Eagle Eye as a roller coaster. Would, but won't. Why? Cause Eagle eye tosses you right into the hot sit. Jerry Shaw, played by Shia, is your ordinary slacker who works at Copy Cabana as a copy boy. Hardly earns enough to pay his rent but he's surviving. Unfortunately his twin brother, who is the direct opposite of him has died in a car accident. He goes back and mourns his brother's death, but when he gets back home, he realizes that someone has deposited thousands of dollars into his bank account and sent a bunch of millitary grade weapondry in his room. He gets a call from a mysterious lady telling him to run away.

Racheal Holloman is a single mother bringing up her son alone and has just sent him off to play for his school band. During a girls night out with her friends she recieves the call from the same mysterious lady saying that she has to do what she says or her son is dead.

So who is this lady? What does she want? We don't know, but we know that she can control pretty much everything that has electricity flowing through it. Traffic lights, trains, handphones, you name it, she probably controls it.

The plot is simple. It's been seen and done before. Ordinary people put into extra-ordinary conditions. It does has it's little twists and turns but they aren't too unexpected. The "big" reveal happens a little too early into the movie, cause after that the movie plotline just seem to go down from there. There isn't much left after it.

Where the plot fails, the action make up for it. Car chases, gun fights, plane chases. Almost everything you would want, you will get here. Unnecessary explosions and crazy car chases can put even Die Hard 4.0 to shame. It's explosions from start to finish and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Action Junkies will get high just watching this.

Shia LeBeouf is the man to watch. He is one good young actor. He does it well and has personality. Good humour and good acting is win.

Eagle Eye really is a ride. A non-stop rollercoaster and spins, turns and keeps you at the edge of your seat throughtout the movie. Sure, some action sequences may get a little over the top and impossible but seriously, how much of the movie is?

Grade: B+

Mama Mia!

2008-10-03T11:56:00.000+08:00

Movie: Mama Mia!
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Starring: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried
Runtime: 1hour 45mins
Genre: Musical

First review in quite some time. Finally got myself into writing this. Anyway, if you don't already know, Mama Mia! is based on songs done and only done by ABBA. And to all of you who have loved them during that time, this movie is made for you. Let's put one fact down that this movie wasn't made for me. I didn't listen to ABBA before, only for that few famous ones that are instantly recognizable.

The story is simple. Sophia, who is now 20, is going to get married to a guy name Sky. She lives with her mother on a Greek island and helps her mother to run a small time motel in the island. Surprising not many people speak Greek there. Instead they speak in ABBA songs! There is hardly much dialogue throughout the whole movie as most of it are settled by the songs. Never knew ABBA has such a wide array of songs that could cover so many topics. One or two songs though are a little unsuited to the scene but maybe that's only me.

Anyway, continuing with the plotline. Sophia has never known her father. And she hates that fact. One day she finds her moms old diary and reads it, and she realizes that there are 3 possible candidates who could be her father. So she invites 3 of them to her wedding without her mothers knowledge. These 3 guys are James Bond, Will Turner's father, and the last is a judge on America's got Talent. Oh wait. Nevermind.

It's pretty obvious who the father is since early in the movie, anyone with quarter a brain would figure out who it is right from the start. So when they arrive, the mother goes crazy seeing all 3 men she screwed 20 years ago are suddenly back out of the blue. And the story progresses from there.

It's a musical, so there are plenty of songs to savour here. It's almost non-stop sing and dance here. And when the singing and dancing are actually stopped for that short period of time, the whole movie stops with it. The movie only advances with the music and when there isn't one the whole movie suddenly becomes a bore until the next songs springs out.

The characters, altough seem to be having fun, are a little too over the top for my own taste. It's understandable to see a 20 year old girl over the top cause she's getting married the next day, but come on, a bunch of old ladies going all nuts is seriously an awkward sight. Simply put, it's high school musical aged about 50 years. And I never did liked High School Musical either.

But there is one scene where Sophia and her mom is getting ready for the wedding which is really well done. It's the only part of the movie which is actually slowed down from the over-the-top characters and are returned to the ground for a more down to earth scene.

The singing are done moderately good enough to pass it off. Although I can't help thinking about James Bond when Pierce Brosnan starts singing. I mean, it's James Bond singing in a Hawaiian shirt!

The movie could have been done better. It's a nice musical of this time but it is not memorable. There are plenty of other more memorable pieces that would easily be a better watch then this. But as I said, it's not made for me. It is made for those who loves it. I'm sure my opinion would easily be in the minority group since the hit muscial show it is made from has sold over 30million tickets.

Grade: B-

Holidays

2008-09-29T23:43:00.002+08:00

It's the holidays! Well, again. Not that I'm not happy that it is the holidays, just that I realize that this is the short semester and finals is in like, another month. I also realize that I have not done much work since then, but nevermind. It isn't that bad. Atleast I hope so.

So it's technically the first day of the holiday. What have I done? Honestly nothing. What are holidays for? Studying? You have got to be kidding me. Well, if you really need to do I've been playing Sims 2. It's a real time killer. Just what I need. So that's pretty much how I spend my time now. Waiting for a couple of games to come out for the PS3. But I do realize that I really really broke now, and that sucks like hell.

If you have been following my blog, sorry that I have not updated this month much. Mainly caused by laziness and also bad time management. So much so that I thought I might actually stop blogging on movie reviews and maybe even stop blogging all together. But I've officially decided not to stop. So after a 7 movie rest, MYKidd.blogspot.com, will continue to make movie reviews. (I hope)

Revive the Dead

2008-09-23T11:38:00.005+08:00

Finally I got myself to come up to the computer and update this place. I've been a little busy recently. From either playing game, sleeping or doing some assignment. But really no excuse for leaving this place dead, only for the fact that I've been so busy gaming that I just couldn't find the time I use to have to update my blog and do movie reviews.

Anyway, just a little update to show that I'm still around. This semester is once again a short semester, meaning 2 subjects in 7 weeks. The first subject is PLC - programmable logic controllers. So far this subject hasn't been a problem. It has been quite easy for me to catch up on it. So there really isn;t much I can talk about it.

The same can't be said for the other subject though. Machine Design I think I have quite a problem. Well, maybe it's cause I have failed NOT to sleep in every single class since day one of this semester, and it's already week 4! And I have a test for it tomorrow. Actually as I type this post, there is a class right now. I just overslept! I really really really have to change this. If not I'm going to screw up again! ARGH!

I WILL NOT FUCKING SCREW UP!

Atleast that is what I hope. Gotta get back on track today. Don't want the same thing as last semester to happen.

I'm pretty worried about the test tomorrow. Sure I might be able to do some of the questions, but can I do them during the test? I don't know. Going to find out tonight. Hope I would get to it. I really don't want to screw up again considering it's short sem. Short sem is the best time to pump the subjects.

On something else, this semester I'd be working on a robotic arm. That's about all I can say for now, cause I actually havn't done anything on it yet. So maybe when I'm done I'd talk about it a little more.

A New Act

2008-09-03T03:15:00.002+08:00

So the new semester has started yesterday and so far it isn't that bad. I know this semester I won't be having any lecturer problems since both my lecturers are pretty good. One has though me before and the other is well known to be quite good.

Just a short update. Been really lazy lately, getting quite addicted to Perfect World. Another game to suck my time. I'm quite pleased that I can play it here. Was actuallt quite surprised since I thought they would close to port.

anyway, still lagging out on reviews. Hopefully I can get back on track. Anyway, it's pretty late. Should be going to sleep pretty soon. Don't wanna overdo it again like the previous semester.

Results

2008-08-28T01:13:00.003+08:00

So results are out and as promised I will blog about it. Results came out about an hour ago and well, it isn't the results I was hoping for.

I can't say my results were bad or anything. In all honesty it is pretty good. But it cuts you a little when that little line you've been running on for so long just breaks and shatters into pieces just like that. It's fairly disappointing.

Well, as expected, those that would get an A did get an A. Microprocessors, and Modern Control was okay. The problem was only with 2 subjects. Machines and Thermofluids.

For thermofluids, it was fine at first. But the biggest downfall was overconfidence. I thought I could do it. Went to play game before the final.Was a deadly downfall where I screwed up in my finals. Test I did just fine without studying much, but during the finals I kinda just lost the cool and panic, which proved to be rather costly. But lucky for me, it's not that bad, my internals were high enough to have a cover and I still manage to pull of an A.

So quite obviously my line breaks at Machines. Coming in with a B+, currently my worst subject and thought by my mortal enemy, Mr. Too. Everytime he teaches me it would spell doom for me. I hope he never ever teaches me again. Last time it was A- and now B+. Just that couple of marks and the screwed up Test 2 proved costly in the final result where I miss my first ever A. Now I kind of regret over gaming and sleeping in all his classes.

But, it's like that eh? A rude awakening, a slap in the face to wake you up from a dream. When reality comes down, it comes hard. And I'm feeling it. I feel bad that my straight line has broke. My results are by no means bad. Just that it's very hard to accept the fact that you lost it. You lost what yor worked so hard for. Which is rockets to the moon. But, as my friend said, "Guess your rockets only reached the ATM.". It's quite disappointing.

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Pending movie reviews: You Don't Mess With The Zohan, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Death Race, Wall-E

Upcoming Movies: Money No Enough 2, Babylon AD

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

2008-08-24T01:17:00.003+08:00

Movie: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Director: Dave Filoni
Runtime: 1hour 30mins
Genre: Animation

Star Wars series is easily one of the best and longest running series ever made. The first 3 were great. The Anakin Trilogy was good. And now, the story in between. A lot of us don't really know the story of Star Wars other then the movies seen. So with Clone Wars, some are hoping for a more inside view of the story in between.

To clear the slight change of character of Anakin from episode 2 to 3 they come out with episode 2.5 which is this animated movie. There is also an animated Star Wars series which talk about the journey of Anakin and his new Padawan, Ahsoka.

The movie has a simple plot line. Jabba's kid has been kidnapped and the Jedis are needed to save the kid. Anakin and Obi Wan go from planet to planet to find out who did it and bring the baby hutt back safely.

Unfortunately that's about it. Nothing is quite explained in the movie. No indept story I was hoping for. It's just a feature long animated cartoon. And the movie seem to be aimed only towards the young ones. With the weird out of character scripts and uninteresting story, we were hoping maybe the sabre fights and all that could make up for it.

Sadly it doesn't help that much either. Star Wars has been build around graphics. In the pass movies, everything was graphic heavy and they look great. It's very dissapointing that they choose this art style. Clearly aimed only for the younger kids, the animations is bulky and too cartoon-ish. So much so that it's poor for this generation.

The movie just feels poor. From the woody animations, to the bad story. It's a dissapointing installment in the Star Wars Franchise. Kids may enjoy it, fans may find it okay. But as a movie goer who expects the best from the starwars franchise, it falls badly.

Grade: C-

4bia

2008-08-23T23:33:00.002+08:00

Movie: 4bia
Director: Lazy to write, Thai name, sorry
Starring: Lazy to write, Thai name, sorry
Runtime: 2hours
Genre: Horror

So how about it? A 4 in one horror movie, cleverly named 4bia. It's really a bargain, paying one ticket for 4 stories that really could become movies of it's own.

So the 4 stories are totally individual and have no connection with each other. They are played out one after the other and each given a title.

The first is "Happiness". This is about a girl who had broke her leg in a car accident and is home alone. Suddenly a random number messages her and she starts to reply and they make good conversation. Well, obviously, she's messaging the ghost, that's a no brainer. So the first story is kind of quite since most of the talking comes from the messaging but it gets fairly scary soon enough.

Second story is "Tit for Tat" talks about a group of students who are pretty gangster and bullies who bullies a kid at school who obviously dies and haunts them. Well, in all honesty, the second story is by far the worst among the 4. The story is stupid and the effects are terrible. It's just a blood fest.

The third is one of the better ones. "In the middle" is more like a parady. Partly comic partly horror. It's about 4 friends who goes camping and meets an accident. The story gives plenty of laughs and plenty of scares too, which makes it really fun. The 4 friends go about pretty naturally which really makes it good. The ending has a familiar twist which also improves the story.

The fourth and last one is the best and is the scariest of the lot. "Last Fright" as the name suggests is on the flight. An air attendant surfs a Queen on a flight. There really isn't much left to say as much horror veterans would already expect the story.

Overall the 2 stories give a unique blend of horror, while the third story gives plenty of comedy and scares. The second story is weak on both the scares and the effects, but the others makes up to it. The fourth has a little plain story but the scares work well to cover it up.

The movie give a good scare and it is quite good. You get 3 fairly interesting movie quality scare story for the price of one, cutting out all the useless story bits and getting straight to the point.

Grade: B

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

2008-08-21T15:23:00.003+08:00

Movie: The Mummy 3
Director: Rob Cohen
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li
Runtime: 1hour 50min
Genre: Action/Adventure

Freaking, freaking late, but better late then never I guess. Wanted to do this even before my finals. But then was a little busy *ahem* gaming.

So here we go again, with the third mummy. Well, more like the second mummy since the first 2 mummies where the same mummy. This time they got tired of Egyptian mummies, they just had to go Chinese. I mean, have you ever heard of a Chinese mummy? Honestly I have not. And well, in all honesty, there isn't even a mummy in this movie.

The so called "mummy" is more like a mud monster than has magical powers that can regenerate. Nothing close to a mummy. Mummy is those thingies wrapped up nicely in a nice casket. I have absolutely no idea of to spell sopha.. sofagus? Whatever.

Rick O'Connell is join up with his family members once again fighting the undead. This time with his son. His son is new to all this and has discovered the tomb of some Chinese Emperor and has brought him back. Long story short, accidents happen and he comes back to live and they battle to put him down.

So the plot of the story... wait, what plot? I doubt there is any plot in the movie at all.The basic development is go here, fight here, his going here now, fight there, oh he escaped, let's go there. And so on. It just gets boring after awhile of just chasing and running around. It ends up being very stupid and random.

Altough action isn't really lacking here, but the idea of having Jet Li as the main bad guy should mean that you would expect kung fu after kung fu battles. But sadly it's been put to waste with Jet Li hardly fighting for a couple of minutes.

And let's not talk about characters in the movie, cause there is hardly any. Character development is poor and the badguy is just really boring. Sure the emporer has super powers, he can shapeshift into anything he wants to, but that's just about it. He's just an undead person trying to take over the world. There isn't much that keeps you interested in the movie.

Poor plotlines and boring characters is really a let down for the movie franchise. It is a very dissapointing movie in the Summer movie collection. This is one undead movie that should have stayed six feet underground.

Grade: D

Welcome the Needed

2008-08-17T21:43:00.002+08:00

It's finally the holidays! Yay for holidays! Well, really looked forward to it. Now that it's here, I'm wondering what am I going to do for 2 weeks?

Well, Game! Sleep! Game some more! I have a new game in sight! Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Demo is coming out on the 21st this month, so I'll be checking that out. Hopefully it would be good! Can't wait for the full game to come out. That is one game everyone should look forward to.

Another game for the cusual gamers and hardcore alike. What's the name? Spore. Releasing September 9th in the US. Not sure about here. What's it about? Everything. Look it up. I'm sure plenty of people would love to game that kind of game?

Loved The Sims? I'm sure you did.
Loved Sim City? Awesome game.
Loved Civilization? I know I did.

Put it all together to make a new game. That's Spore. It's one hell of a game to look forward to.

And for now, while we wait for these to come by. What am I going to be doing? 2 things. I have the Spore Creature Creator, waiting to test it out soon. And another is Perfect World. Never heard of it? It's an MMORPG! Wow, well, when you have nothing to do, turn to MMOs. They will destroy your boredom if you can find a good one. Looking for anyone to join me. Anyone? Check it out here.

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Just has been busy and partly lazy, so lazy that I left Mummy 3 out for such a long time, but not to worry, I'll update it soon, I hope, with a few other movies that would come along. So look forward to it. I hope I actually get to it.

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Wow, Malaysia really just got sent home packing. Really kena tapau like no tomorrow. One of the worst Finals I have ever seen in my life. Phail.

Over and Out

2008-08-16T06:58:00.002+08:00

3 more bloody hours left. At 10a.m. this semester will be finally over. Ending a crazy semester.

Summary of the semester? Maybe some other time when the results come out. I'll talk about the whole semester then eh? Now I'm just going to work this last paper and chill for the time being. Awesome awesome awesome. Can't wait for this to be over. Hope I don't screw this shit up.

Ending of this semester is a little bitter sweet. Great that it's finally over. Bitter that some of my friends are already leaving the college. My gaming kaki is gone for now, which sucks. Oh well, just gotta find someone else to push the gaming limits eh?

Screwdrivers

2008-08-09T22:54:00.003+08:00

Who want's the screwdriver next? Cause I'm already screwed.

Man, the semester is ending already and finals are starting on Monday. It's just too quick. It's as if time is coming by faster and faster, which really sucks. This semester is by far my worst but it's not over yet.

Well I have papers next week on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. And after that it would be holidays for 2 weeks. I wouldn't say it's a much needed rest, since I've been killing myself playing games and goofing and bumming around doing nothing this whole semester.

Well, Monday is machines. The first obstacle, already the toughest. The subject is horribly confusing. Even though you know how to do it, the answers are those that cannot be confirmed. Just have to go with the guts and hit it. If you got it wrong you lose everything. Tough luck. Not to mention I sleep in his class almost everyday, so it's something really brought upon myself. My internals for this subject has been my worst so far, but it ain't all that bad either. Just gotta push myself a little harder for this subject, really really don't want to screw myself over cause of this shitty subject.

But with exam coming ever closer, the week that passed was by far the peak of my stupidity. Instead of studying super hard, I game even harder. Sure I study in the night until like, 1 or 2. Then I game, all the way to the next day class and go straight to class and sleep the whole afternoon away. It was so bad that I actually was awake the full 24hours on Monday. But it won't beat Friday. On Friday, meaning yesterday, I was awake almost up to 36hours with only 2 hours of sleep. I was pretty much running on caffeine the rest of the night yesterday. Now I'm kinda feeling the aftereffects of the whole week. I feel tired and a little sick. Absolutely no appetite in the light and pretty darn hungry in the night. Timing is totally screwed.

So, what am I going to do this holiday? Recuperate. Rest and return to normal timing. All I can do now is pray for the best for this finals. It's my toughest semester, I have some shitty lecturers, and I'm goofing off like mad. Damn, I'm so screwed.

21

2008-08-04T17:04:00.003+08:00

Movie: 21
Director: Robert Luketic
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey
Runtime: 2hours
Genre: Adaptation

Really late here, no idea why this got delayed so much. But anyway, one of the more anticipated movies of this summer has finally arrived here on the big screen, but I'm sure most have already watched it on smaller screens.

We all love blackjack. Easily one of the biggest card games around, we play it all the time and we always go on our luck. But not these guys. Base on a true story, a group of MIT students and a lecturer has a special co-curriculum club activity that you can only enter by invitation. They have devised a way to beat the system of blackjack using simple math, a couple of hand signals, and some keywords. And damn they make it look as easy as hell. Just that, this time, it's in Boston.

The movie centers around Ben Campbell. A very bright student who is having trouble making ends meet to get into Harvard Medical. Until one day when he was spotted by his professor, Mickey Rosa, who leads the team of card counters that go to Vegas every weekend to earn some winnings.

The movie, based on a true story and adapted from a book, makes the story a little too generic and gets a little boring halfway through. We all know he's going to join the team, if he didn't there wouldn't be a movie. We all know he is going to be very good. And without spoilling anything, we all know he is going to get carried away. It's generic and feels very planned. Not exactly something that would be good for a movie base on gambling if the story is so straight.

Well another troubling thing is that there really isn't a character in the movie. The characters are mostly very 2 dimensional and boring. Ben is only there so that we have one character to route for, Jill is there to be the girlfriend, and the others, well, are just there to be there. The characters are flat and boring.

But, I'm not saying the movie is totally unwatchable. It's a watchable flick that doesn't show anything new. It doesn't bring down the house. It's a movie there, only to be there. It's not believable as it seems too easy. It's like a breeze, nothing is explain, they just go in with +17. What does +17 even mean? It's not explain. Nobody expects a full explanation of counting cards, but atleast give some sort of explanation.

Another thing that makes it a little hard to believe is that some of the characters are so stiff. Sure you need steel nerves to work this kind of magic, but their nerves are made of so much steel that they become as stiff as a rock.

Although a little unbelievable and cliched, there are parts where to movie is quite fun and entertaining. It will win over the young and gullible, but it's not going to trick the elder brains.

Grade: B-

Weekend

2008-07-28T12:01:00.003+08:00

It has been quite a good weekend. Parents were not around so I pretty much got the car for myself the whole weekend. It was pretty packed with Lay's thing on Friday. MV on Saturday. And another trip on Sunday. Friday and Saturday worked up. Too bad Sunday didn't work out, but I could use the extra sleep from that day. Not going to elaborate much, but it has been quite an interesting weekend for sure.

Well, it's the start of the new week. And with every start of a new week, your another week closer to exams. 2 more weeks to exams, I can already smell it's ass. But I told myself last week, I can't afford to screw this up. Time to get your engines revving. If there will be any changes, it can only be seen on Thursday and Friday. I have a test each on both the days. So gotta push for those papers. Hopefully I don't screw up like machines. Really gotta pump my machines. That bastard teaching me again, geez. Every time Too Khin Voon teaches me it's bad news. My worst result still comes from him last year in my basic electronics. Lets hope that subject is going to stay as my worst.

Other then that, there really isn't anything new. Can't wait for holidays to come by. Although I'd be the only one on holidays, but it's better then nothing. It's good rest to recoperate from all the horrible late nights and games. But I'm guessing my gaming habits next semester wouldn't be as much as this semester. Well, cause sadly it is the last semester for one of my good gaming kaki. Oh well, when his gone the team isn't going to function anymore, so then is when I should stop playing so many games. Or maybe not, nobody knows, anything could happen.

Time to Change

2008-07-24T13:13:00.002+08:00

Wow, time just doesn't seem to slow down. It's already 12th week of the semester, and I look back, I'm starting to get scared. Finals is in 3 weeks. This whole semester has been only games for me.

First half of the semester I played Monster Hunter everyday. After that I played Diablo 2 for the next 4 weeks. And now I'm actually playing GRID. I really need to stop. My biological timing clock has run so much that It's starting to show. I sleep in the day and stay awake all night. I'm literally becoming an owl. My timing is all fucked up!

Test 2 has came and gone for 2 subjects. Firstly it's Thermofluids. To my surprise I find Thermofluids to be the easiest subject this semester and the subject I thought would be the easiest turned out the other way around. So I did fine for that test, but really screwed up on my Machines Test. It's an all time low in college.

If that's not a sign to change this is. Missing classes because you slept at 6 in the morning and slept all the way through. Not to mention they are pretty important classes. Looking back at the notes, you know,it's time to change. Gotta get back on track to my studies! I can't allow myself to screw up what I've worked to get the pass year. I just hope I can get back.

The Dark Knight

2008-07-22T16:33:00.002+08:00

Movie: The Dark Knight
Director:Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Runtime: 2hours 30mins
Genre: Superhero

When Christian Bale became Batman for the first time in Batman Returns a few years back, he set the bar for superhero movies. Batman Begins was quite an amazing adaptation of the hero. And now comes part two. Facing skyrocketing expectations to be the movie of the summer, it easily reaches all expectations and shoots it all in our face, indeed becoming the movie of this season, even maybe the movie of the year.

It picks up right after the end of the first, Bruce's Manner has been burned down, he lives in a penthouse, Gotham City Police is desperately trying to fight Organize Crime, and the media questions Batman's intentions. But there is someone new now, Harvey Dent is the new hero of Gotham City as he slowly wipes the streets clean of crime. But when there is a new good guy, there should also be a new force for the dark. This is where Joker comes in.

The movie's plotline is beautifully written and done. It's deep, dark and complex plot plays with ethics and morality. Joker plays Batman and the forces of the light to make all tough ethical decisions. Joker makes fools out of the good. Making them turn on each other, making the people doubt in the Heroes. causing an uproar among the citizens. Batman has to make the toughest choices and he chooses and tries to figure out how this Joker works.

But the plotline is not the only winning element of the movie. Who wins? Heath Ledger. He sets the par for villains. He sets the par for being an excellent actor. The messy make up to cover up his wounds of the pass, his maniacal laugh, his crazy eyes, everything, contributes to an amazing character, a character that we may never see again. Heath Ledger truly is the man to watch.

Although Heath Ledger takes the lime light, others do not fail. The strong cast all play their roles perfectly. Christian Bale could pick a few tips from Robert Downy Jr on being the rich playboy as he is quite unconvincing as one. That is easily the only thing bad I can say about the movie.

An unexpected new villain turns up in the movie. Batman fanboys would spot it instantly, others maybe not so obvious, but he also truly brings the movie to life.

The movie is dark and deep. Easily seen from the make up of Joker. It may not be suitable for kids. The movie's plotline haunts ethics and plays with people. Some of the scenes are quite twisted for a young mind to accept.

Does it surpass movies of it's time? Without a doubt. This movie is the one to watch. There is no reason to miss it. It's a must watch of the season. Easily the best movie in a long, long time. It is the movie that reaches the scale epic.

The second movie that gets an A.

Grade: A

Journey to the Center of the Earth

2008-07-20T22:41:00.005+08:00

Movie: Journey to the Center of the Earth
Director: Eric Brevig
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem
Runtime: 1hour 30mins
Genre: Adventure

Here's something different for a change, an adventure movie in 3D. Gotta love them 3d skits, you know it's coming put you still love it. You know you're gonna get rocks on your face and spits on your lap.

There is non lacking here as Brendan Fraser is once again on another adventure. Instead of fighting mummies, he is fighting dinosaurs and man eating plants. He plays Science Lecturer Trevor Anderson which is trying to continue what his brother was researching. His brother disappeared 10 years ago when he went on a trip to check out one of his volcanic activity detectors.

One day, while his nephew Sean is over, he takes his nephew to the lap to investigate a finding. What's the finding? Well, it's to investigate weather the old book of the same name is really true and he finds out that the conditions written in the book by his brother matches exactly the readings taken.

So they set of on a trip to Iceland to go collect data from the receiver. Along with mountain guide Hannah, disaster strikes and they get trapped in a cave. It's disaster after disaster after that but they manage to find the illusive world in the center of the earth.

Well, there is worst places to be in on earth. The place although really hot, isn't really the worst place to be in. It's a nice place with a beach, a desert, and a forest. It's like earth's untouched basement. No shopping malls or parking lots. Just uncivilized world.

Well, story wise it's pretty bland. It's straight to the point and nothing special. The only thing that pushes the plot forward is disaster after disaster, fall after fall as they find they're escape route. The plot development is well paced so that it doesn't feel too rush or too slow.

Actions sequences are a little lacking though. The movie feels a little bare. Sometimes it feels like there isn't enough content to get it moving, but it works well.

But what it excels in is the experience. The 3-d experience really enhances the movie experience. Although not much, the 3d elements are mostly used for surrounding effects, like popping rocks and water droplets. There isn't much "Ha! Got you in the face!" moments but what kind of 3d movie goes without them?

If you're interested in watching the movie but scared that it's very shaky cause of the 3d, it's not. It would play well as a normal movie, so the camera works are pretty stable. No worries about getting sick here. Besides, the glasses provided are of pretty good quality. Not your average paper red-green glasses.

The movie is a visual ride. A roller coaster you could say. It's like a theme park ride. Roller Coaster Mine rides, boat rides, falls and everything. It's a great fun movie that would be enjoyed by the whole family. The kids would love it, the adults would find it fun. Don't be surprised that there would be a ride on these whole movie in the future.

The 3D really enhances the experience. I said it before and I say it again. The movie watched normally in 2D would be bare and boring. It would be a normal adventure movie with nothing much special. Be sure to catch it in 3D for the best experience.

Grade: B+

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

2008-07-20T01:37:00.005+08:00

Movie: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Selma Blair
Runtime: 1hour 50mins
Genre: Superhero

Another superhero movie. Seems like superhero movies are popping out like ants. We have been hit over and over again by superhero movies this season that it's starting to get old. Does this superhero movie stand out among the rest in one of the most competitive genres of this time?

The first Hellboy wasn't exactly the biggest runaway hit. Atleast, I don't remember it being so. So would this sequel be a better, more memorable one? Well, it may be. Ron Perlman and his crew return again as Hellboy and his superhuman group of agents. So a little history on those who don't know Hellboy. Hellboy is a demon born from the flames of Hell directly to bring upon the destruction of the earth but was rescued by the Evil and train to become good and fight evil. Now he works in a top secret Bureau. But the thing is, he loves the limelight, television and candy. So he often pops up on youtube.

The story, plain and simple. Long ago, humans and demons were at war with each other. So the king of the Elves decided to build an army, a golden emchanical army that is indestructable, and it slaughtered the humans. He regrets this decision, and calls a truce with the humans. Humans stay in the city, while the demons stay on another realm. The Prince of the elves, not happy with the deal, goes into exile. And when he returns, he wages war on the humans and vows to use the Golden Army to destroy all man.

So, Hellboy and his team has to save the world. Simple as it could be and whatever plays out is very typical for a superhero movie. It is predictable and can get people to lose their interest in the story quickly. Also, they have little side stories in the movie like how Hellboy is hated by the people even though he is trying to help them. There is also 2 love stories included inside.

The plot line stays simple and makes us human look like a bunch of idiots. Well, it was pretty obvious when a green monster was attacking the city he was trying to save the humans. Yet they get burned and flamed at for being different. Shame on them there, not the most believable part.

If you've seen "Pan's Labyrith", you'll instantly recognize the art style of the director. Twisted and demanted, they look stunning and straight from nightmares. It's a feast of imagination, from the Elves, to the Elven Royal guards. There are legless goblins and eyeless demons. It is really a visual feast. There is even little reference to Star Wars at the Troll Market. Different types of monsters, big ones, fat ones, tall ones, short ones, roam the market just like those seen in Star Wars. They even have Tooth Feries! But I think You'd rather these tooth fairy stay away from the kids.

One of the monsters that stand out the most is The green monster I was talking of earlier. It looks pretty cool, but that's not the main thing. The main thing is that when it bleeds, the blood that hits the ground becomes moss and grass and flowers grows around it. It's an amazing sight. If only we had more of those in the real world.

Another that can be comented is the action sequences. The action scenes are well cheoreographed and is a sight to behold. The Prince fights as smooth as silk. And the final climatic battle between the prince and hellboy is a Joy to watch.

It's everything you'd expect from a superhero movie. Simple plotlines, a good share of action scenes and one-liners aplenty. There's even an unexpected duet in the middle of the show for some reason. It's fun and entertaining movie. Just that the plotlines could have been done a little better.

Grade: B

Hancock

2008-07-19T23:28:00.003+08:00

Movie: Hancock
Director: Peter Berg
Starring: Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron
Runtime: 1hour 35mins.
Genre: Superhero

Superheroes always seem to get it easy. Sure, they fight crime, they bust a few blocks, bash a few cars while doing it. But they never seem to have to be responsible for the damage. Everyone still cheers for them. Not the case of Hancock here. Well, maybe it's cause Hancock is drunk most of the time and passed out on a bench in the middle of town.

Hancock is surely one of his kind. He flies, he's immortal and he deflects bullets. Basically he can do whatever Superman can, other than the X-ray vision and laser eyes.But since he's drunk half the time, he can get a little unreliable. Not that he cannot stop crime, just that when he does, it leaves a wake of destruction that causes millions of dollars worth of damages. Some people think he's doing a good job, most think he should be put in jail for the things he does for the safety of the public.

But he doesn't really give a damn what the people think. He just does what he does. One day he saves a PR guy name Ray, but leaves a train wreck. Ray sees hope in him, and wants to help him improve his image. He wants to give Hancock a full image makeover. Ray brings him back to dinner. Ray's wife, Mary, isn't too happy about the idea.

Ray thinks the best way to get people to know how important he is is to get him in jail. So after awhile he does and he get's his PR lessons in jail, awaiting for the police department to call for his help again. And when they do, he will be a changed man.

The idea of the story is great. A misunderstood super hero trying to find out who he really is. It's a type of superhero movie we have never seen before. A superhero that doesn't have a hidden identity, he has to face the media for what he has done. The Movie startes of pretty well up till the time where he reformes himself.

All is fine until midway of the movie where it gets a little weird. The twist in the middle is an unexpected one, but without it the movie would not be able to advance But after that twist the movie just messes up pretty badly on the story side. They build up a hard to believe back story of Hancock just so they could fit in the "heroes need a girl" theory. Every superhero needs a weakness too.

There isn't quite a clear vilain here. Sure there is the bad guy who will opposes Hancock, but there is no supervillain phyco crazy person running around gunning everyone to bits here.

Will Smith makes quite the perfect selection as Hancock. Hancock's no idiot, he's deep, he's depressed. Will Smith brings it out nicely. Hancock has easily one of the most depressing faces of all heroes you will ever see. You actually feel a little bit of pity for him everytime you see him. The movie would certainly do well for a comedy at parts. It really brings out the laughs. It's fun and entertaining.

Hancock is different, it's a fresh feel for an overused genre. Storywise it's an interesting new comcept, but poorly done. The plot just becomes directionless soon after Hancock becomes the resolved superhero. It looked promising but didn't deliver on the story side.

Grade: B

Some Pictues

2008-07-18T22:40:00.008+08:00

Well, as I promised some pictures from the few events of the month. There's not much, just a few random pictures.

This is my family picture after my grandfather's birthday. I look drunk as hell but really wasn't Didn't drink much cause I had college the next day. But I get red as hell like that when I drink.

This is my grandparents.

My cousins. All from my mother's side.

A little something from my father's side now. My cousin's wedding in Penang.

In the morning, before going to pick the bride.

In the evening, before dinner.

And after the dinner.

Well, that's all the pictures I'm going to upload.

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My laptop is here! It's nothing too fancy. Just a simple Dell Laptop Vastro 1400.

I got lazy, so I stole some pictures off the net.

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It's going to be a busy movie week. Expect review after review!

The Owling Continues

2008-07-13T14:11:00.004+08:00

So, it's been awhile since I actually had a proper update in this blog. So this should be the first in a long long time. Well, honestly why I haven't been around recently is cause my computer is still out for the count. I guess it's really knocked out this time around, cause whatever I do I can't seem to be able to get it to work anymore.

Well, so because of that I've been pretty much isolated from cyber world for a very long time during the weekdays. At least weekends I have my computer at home. How is it like without a computer for almost the whole semester? Well, I would say it's not that bad. It was pretty boring at first then I realized even when I had a computer last time I didn't really used it much. So things got a little better. I use my friends laptop to do some work and reports and stuff.

Recently things got a little better, now I have my friends laptop in my room since he has a PC already, so I manage to get my hands on it. So now I have a temporary computer in my room that can be used.

Well, there is an upside form this tragedy. My father decided to get me a new laptop. So I got myself a new computer to use. Not too bad, looking forward to getting it. It's going to be delivered to my father's office supposedly tomorrow, so guess I won't see it until I come back from college.

Today has been a busy weekend. I didn't come back to KL, nor did I stay in college. In fact, I went back to Penang to attend my cousin's wedding. Well, I would normally have skipped it since it was in Penang, but I had a job to do. And that job was Best Man. So I didn't really have a choice but to go home. I'll upload some pictures when I get back. I know I've said that many times, form my grandfather's wedding to prom. But I didn't really get the chance to snap alot of shots. Or rather, I couldn't be bothered.

So, in other news. No review this week. Might get Hancock down if I have the time, but I'm already in college, means my free time will be dedicated to gaming and doing some work. So, don't keep your hopes up on that.

Wanted

2008-07-06T23:15:00.003+08:00

Movie: Wanted
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie
Runtime: 1hour 50mins
Genre: Action

I'm sure most guys at some point wanted to be some skilled assassin that could fly cars against traffic at top speeds without crashing and then suddenly flip the car 360 over a bus landing on it and driving off into the sunset.

Okay, maybe not most but that certainly is a dream come true if it was Wesley Gibson's dream. Wesley Gibson is a pathetic guy who works in a cubicle, has a horrible grinding fat bitch of a boss, a best friend that is cheating on his girlfriend, and is flat broke. Not to mention another issue he has. He has sudden anxiety attacks when he gets excited. So ends the part of the movie which didn't use any form of graphics.

Everything from now on becomes a little crazy. While buying his anxiety pills he suddenly gets picked up by Fox, played by Angelina Jolie. She told him that his father was the best ever assassin that was shot on top of a building a few days back. And suddenly boom boom guns go blazing, cars go chasing. And before he knows what happens he suddenly awakes in a secret place where he meets Sloan, leader of the fraternity, a group of skilled assassins.

So after some thought he joins them, undergoes super training and becomes super good at killing people. All while doing super unrealistic stuns to achieve his target. Includes bending bullets on top of a train and flipping a car over another car to get a shot.

Soon he learns the killer of his dad and wants to get his revenge. And that's about it. There are many twist included into the movie as the plot advances but that's about it. It's a wild ride straight from the time he gets recruited.

Oh and did I mention how they choose their hits? No, their not hired hits. They get their hits from a bedsheet. They look at the weaving and get binary codes out of it and god knows how they get letters from binary codes cause I don't.

The movie may be action filled but it certainly lacks somethings that actually makes a movie good. And that would be a mind and a heart. The movie is pointless, mindless and heartless. All it does is shoot outrageous scenes after outrageous scenes that your logic cannot register. Being a crazy, outrageous movie, it certainly excels. But for everything else, it's just loop holes and mindless action that gets more illogical as it progresses.

Morgan Freeman once again takes up roles that he is best in. As a leader, someone who is knowledgeable in a field. His character is the only character which is actually believable in the whole movie. Angelina Jolie's character is there just as a Jedi master. Training Gibson. And after that, eye candy for the guys. Jolie walking out naked is always win.

Apart from the poor story of the show, some of the outrageous action sequences are pretty cool. Bending bullets and shooting bullets on bullets out of the air is as cool as it could get.

Grade: B-

Get Smart

2008-07-06T15:33:00.004+08:00

Movie: Get Smart
Director: Peter Segal
Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway
Runtime: 1hour 50mins
Genre: Comedy

Clueless spies are always a joy to watch. They are pretty dumb, yet they still somehow manages to get the job done their own little silly way. One of the famous spies that started this trend was Maxwell Smart., from a old old series by the same name.

This time Steve Carell stars as Maxwell Smart, who is a very good at what he does, finding out vital information about the enemy, like how they like Decaf Coffee. Very vital information people! But he dreams to be the best field agent out there but as failed miserably in the test. But finally passed this time around. His opportunity to go on his first mission arises when his spy organization Control gets attacked.

He is paired up with super experienced Agent 99, who thinks he's an idiot. So together they fight evil terrorist organization Kaos all at the same time bickering with each other about who had better scores and better gadgets. Ah, the love-hate relationship. Who didn't see that coming?

They get the humour pretty nicely done. There are plenty of laughs to be enjoyed here. It's fun though some of the scenes were already included in the trailers. All kinds of laughs can be gotten here. Real comedy, witty one-liners, toilet humour and a paintball to the crotch .They've got them all. Even all the classics that the more senior watchers would appreciate.

Let's just use Agent 86 for Maxwell. Here is not exactly an idiot on the field. His more unlucky then stupid here, doing things an interesting way but "missed it by that much". The movie turns him more into a "40 year old virgin" spy. But the best thing about his character is that no one could take him seriously, well, except him.

Some of the scenes are a little too serious for a comedy. Double agents and car chases are a little too serious for it's own good. And with the "blow up LA with a nuke" plot, the movie can get old fast.

The movie delivers on the laughs and is a great watch with friends, but something feels missing from it that just doesn't make this comedy a classic one. It's good, but just not excellent.

Missed it by that much.

Grade: B

Diablo 3

2008-06-28T22:23:00.003+08:00

Diablo 3 is officially announced! And it is looking freaking awesome! But a question needs to be asked. When is it going to be out? Starcraft 2 has been announced such a long time ago and it is still not out. How long must we wait for this?

Another Tag

2008-06-28T21:25:00.002+08:00

I can hear it already. "Oh no! Not another tag! When is the tags going to stop?" Well, that's a questions I would like to know either. It's been awhile since my blog has had decent posts other then tags and movie reviews. But, guess it's like that. Boring blog will always stay boring, maybe that's why I'm losing readers. Tagged by YXiao:

1. At what age do you want to get married?
The time comes when the time comes.

2. Study Hard or Play hard?
Study Hard but play harder.

3. Who is the person you trust the most?
Myself. Not trying to be bad here, I trust plenty of people out there, but the person I trust the most is myself. I'm sure not a lot of people trust me either, so it's the same.

4. Do you think you have enough confidence?
Sometimes I think I have too much, sometimes I have non at all.

5. If you have a dream come true what would that be?
For all my other dreams to come true.

6. What is your ideal friend.
There is no ideal friend.

7. What is your goal this year.
Get back on track for my studies and keep up to past semesters. Enjoy whatever good that is going to hit me in the future and overcome any bad events.

8. Do you believe in eternity love?
Maybe.

9. If you have all the time and money in the world what would you do?
Everything selfish. World Domination! Or just enjoy my life. If I do get to this level I'm sure I won't think like that. Most probably I would just want to get richer.

10. When will you feel sad?
When I'm suppose to feel sad.

11. Balloons or Candy?
None of the above.

12. What feelings you had the most?
How can you hate feelings? Honestly.

13. What is your childhood ambition?
I wished to be pilot. But realized everyone else also wanted to be one, so I wanted to become a doctor. And I realized that is also what so many people wanted and lost hope and stopped having an ambition. Just kidding. Never had a true ambition when I was young.

14. Do you believe in love at first sight?
No.

15. What do you think is the most important thing in you life?
Currently the most important thing in my life is my studies. But in reality the most important thing in my life is game, internet, sleep, fitness. In that order.

16. Who do you hope to be always behind you, supporting you?
Everyone I know, but let's face it that's not going to happen. So who do I want to always get my back? Myself. Everyone in the world can try to pick you up. But if you don't stand up, you fail at life.

17. How do you spell lame?
Gosh Xiao, though you'd put a better question in. Lame is YingXiao cause of this question.

18. Describe the person who tagged you in five words.
Gosh I hate describing people, it's a tough job. "Can be retarded sometimes, lol." That's 5 words.

19. Do you deserve to be loved?
What kind of shitty ass question is that?

20. Do you wish you have more then 24 hours a day?
Yeah, I do. More time to game and sleep.

The End.

Good, let's hope that's the last of tags and more on good productive post that can interest readers. Wanted and Get Smart, Next reviews.

Useless

2008-06-23T09:50:00.001+08:00

Crap-ish. After 2 weeks, my computer once again fails me. Freaking piece of crap died again last Friday, leaving my room computer-less once again. Useless piece of crap.

Random Tag

2008-06-22T02:51:00.004+08:00

So, this week is kinda a bug week for my whole family. We are celebrating my grandfather's 80th birthday on Sunday. It's going to be a big dinner kind of thing so I'll be wearing a suit and all that. doubt I'd be getting much pictures. Not exactly the picture guy. But I'll post one or two maybe.

With that in mind, my whole family, even those who are currently studying/working/migrated overseas are all back for this event. First time in many many years my whole family is back home. So thanks to that I doubt I will be able to have much movie reviews these few weeks. Sadly mom's too busy. So won't be going to the movies and might miss alot of hit movie reviews. Oh well.

Another random fact, this post is post 300. So hurrah. Doesn't feel as exciting as it used to. So for my 300th blog post, it's sadly going to be the tag Kay gave me. Here goes:

1. Do you like chinese food?
I'm Chinese. I should like chinese food. Gets a little boring sometimes though.

2. How big is your bed?
Super single in my room, single in my room at college.

3. Is your room clean?
House room is pretty clean. College room is clean enough, maybe a little dust at hard to reach places and some notes/wires splattered on my desk. Other then that it's clean enough.

4. Laptop or Desktop computer?
Desktop. Can't game on laptops.

5. Favorite comedian?
No favourite comedian. Not really into those stuff.

6. Do you smoke?
Neh, won't want to.

7. Does anyone like you?
Wouldn't know.

8. Whats the sexiest thing about Condoleeza Rice?
Couldn't care less.

*mana number 9?*

10. Sleep with or without clothes on?
Topless in college. Shirt at home cause of air-con.

11. Who sleeps with you every night?
My imaginary friend!

12. Do long distance relationships work?
A little long distance relationship could do good for any relationship in my opinion. But if it's a long term long distance one then no, it won't work.

13. How many times have you been pulled over by the police?
Non yet so far.

14. Pancakes or French Toast?
I'll have both please thanks.

15. Do you like coffee?
Not really, but it can help sometimes.

16. How do you like your eggs?
I'll normally eat any type of egg. Only the hard boil egg yolk. Gets stuck in your throat. Hate that feeling.

17. Do you believe in astrology?
Used to, but figured it was all bs anyway.

18. Last person you talked to on the phone?
My cousin, Andrew.

19. Last person on your missed call list?
Ny cousin, Andrew. That's why i called back.

20. What was the last text message you received?
Private!

21. McDonalds or Burger King?
Carl's Jr. Not really a tough choice there.

22. Number of pillows?
Lots.

23. Last thing you ate?
Maggi Goreng at mamak for supper. I'm going to get fat. McD supper on Thursday and 2 maggi supper on Friday and Saturday.

24. Last thing you bought?
Other than food? MGS4

25. What are you hearing right now?
The sound of my cousin's pc fan at 3 in the morning.

26. Pick a lyric?
"We're all addicted to something that would take the pain away." Just a part of the song that pops out in my head at this moment.

27. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich?
Not really a fan of PB&Js

28. Can you play pool?
Who can't anyway? Play well? Another story.

29. Do you know how to swim?
I might drown if I get thrown unexpectedly into a deep water area.

30. Favorite ice cream?
I would say chocolate. Anything to do with chocolate is win.

31. Do you like maps?
Maps? When I'm lost they can help. like it? Don't know hot to answer that.

32. Tell me a random fact:
2 of my cousins are sleeping right next to me as I type this.

33. Ever had a hard on at work?
Who hasn't?

34. Ever attend a theme party?
Doubt it. Hate those kind of stuff.

35. Ever do a keg stand?
Keg stand? Is it what I think it is?

36. Craziest place you've slept after a night of drinking?
Toilet? I don't know. Those stuff don't happen to me anyway. I hardly drink.

37. What is your favorite season?
Easily Winter. Cause of the cold weather and snow.

38. What is the first music video you ever saw?
Surely you don't expect anyone to remember that.

39. Pick few movie quotes:
I don't remember movie quotes.

40. Favorite quote:
Don't really have one. For now "X = win" for: X is anything that I think rocks.

41. What is your favorite hangout?
No real favourite hangout place.

42. Best friend's name?
Why would you want to know? So you could murder him/her/them when you don't like me?

43. How long have you known him?
100 years.

44. Last time you laughed at something stupid?
Well, I'm laughing at this stupid question.

45. What time did you wake up this morning?
10.30am. Could have slept longer but I thought I had things to do. but it turned out I had nothing to do. What a waste of good sleeping time. Really need the sleeping time.

46. Wake up next to anyone?
Fot today i'm going to wake up next to alot of people.

47. Best thing about winter?
snow, weather, everything. I love winter. Best time of the year for me.

48. Name a couple of favorite colors:
I know most people don't know this about me but I love the colour brown.

49. How old are you?
19 this year.

50. What month is your birthday in?
December baby! 26 if you really need to know.

51. Do you think pirates are cool or overrated?
Pirates are so overrated. Ninjas are cooler!

52. Favorite Dave Matthews Band song.
Who the hell is Dave Matthews?

53. What are you doing this weekend?
Grandfather's big birthday dinner.

54. Who will take this survey?
Anyone who wants to.

Damn that was a long survey. Wasting my sleeping time. That's your 300th post. Congratulations. Going to sleep now. Nights.

The Happening

2008-06-15T23:22:00.003+08:00

Movie: The Happening
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Mark Wahlberg
Runtime: Approx 1hour 30mins
Genre: Triller

*May contain spoilers*

M. Night Shyamalan is known to make thought provoking suspenseful movies. Sixth Sense was a classic, Unbreakable and Signs were great, Woman in the Water was a little weird. But since when were any of his movies not weird?

After an eerie start to the movie with an eerie tune, the movie centers it's attention to Central Park New York. Where people are starting to kill themselves. And next to a construction yard where workers start to fling themselves off the building.

The thought of human extinction scares everyone. One of the easiest was to get movie goers in suspense wondering what will happen. On the board in a school in Philadelphia in Elliot's class writes "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live" by Einstein. Elliot asks the class, what they think the bees are disappearing. We should start worrying since there IS a recorded drop in bee population. But we should all be relieved that Elbert Einstein has never said anything like that.

People start to hear the news, and start to run away. Elliot tries to run away with his Wife, Alma, his Best friend, Jullian and Jullian's daughter. They take the train but is stranded in the middle of nowhere and soon they realize that they are right in the middle of the disaster.

Well, the movie leaves you in suspense, wondering what will happen next for about half the movie. Until one of the characters spits out a crazy theory about how the plants are doing it and how the plants are responsible. But to be honest, before that is said, people would have already figured it out quite early in the movie.

After they leave the city all we see is them running and running, slowly splitting into small groups of people where the movie starts to get a little boring and predictable. Very unlike any of Shyamalan's movies. Looking for a crazy twist that would blow your mind? Non here.

Most would say this movie in uneventful, boring, uninteresting. After all, the massage here is the environment strikes back. There is really nothing to be scared of here. At first when you don't really know what was happening it would be pretty suspenseful. But when you figure it out it just gets a little boring. Even if you DON'T figure it out, one of the character's actually said it.

The movie is a little bit more on the violent sides. Although not VERY bloody, some of the scenes can be a little bloody.

All the questions asked here are left unanswered. Is it really the plants? How did it started? What is triggering this disaster? Nothing is said about it. The ending disappoints greatly.

M Night. Shyamalan's movies always had interesting characters. But that cannot be said here. There are the few interestingly weird characters here and there but the mains are just awfully boring. Which is also where the movie fails. You don't care about the characters in the movie, so you don't care if they live or die.

The movie doesn't hold and grip you by the throat much like his previous movie. This is quite disappointing.

Grade: C+

Incredible Hulk

2008-06-15T21:52:00.004+08:00

Movie: Incredible Hulk
Director: Louis Leterrier
Starring: Edward Norton, Liv Tylar, Tim Roth, William Hurt
Runtime: 1hour 50mins
Genre: Superhero

This summer seasons has a whole lot of superhero movies to offer. The first this season was Ironman and it was awesome. Does the Hulk compete with it's Marvel friend?

This Hulk has absolutely nothing to do with the previous Hulk. It is a whole new start of the movie. While the previous movie, talked about how Bruce Banner got his power from the Gama Rays. Bue this time, the whole process is skipped in a wordless introduction. It starts off somewhere in Brazil where Bruce Banner is finding a cure for his little problem with a mysterious Mr. Blue. In the mean time, he works at a soda factory.

On unlucky incident happens and gives away his position to the General. Who then sends a few soldiers after him to capture him to dissect him and make an army of super soldiers. So, after some Boom Boom Boom with the Hulk, he escapes again.

Leading the squad that attacked Bruce in Brazil was Emil Blonsky. He's seen what the Hulk can do and want to be just like him. So he wants to take some of the things that Banner has. Well, eventually he becomes the Abomination.

There is plenty of Action here to keep action junkies happy enough to enjoy the movie. All action scenes are hectic and fast paced and impressive. The effects and stunts are nicely choreographed and done visually impressively.

The movie isn't quite incredible. But it's good in it's own way. I can say the movie is like The Hulk himself. Big, powerful, full of action and a little brainless, in a good way. It smashes, and it destroys all the way to the epic finale between the hulk on hulk action.

When the big Green guy is not around, Edward Norton takes his place as Banner. He's pretty impressive here. Just like his Ironman actor Robert Downy Jr, he plays his character really well. Looking so pitiful most of the time. Hulk is a complex superhero, and Edward Norton was great as him.

Stark makes a special appearance here. Indicates a little collaboration between the 2 superheroes. And if you checked history, there is a supergroup that consist of both Ironman, Hulk and 3 other superheroes named the Avengers. Maybe that's their new movie?

Although not better then Ironman, it is still fun and action filled. It is entertaining enough to keep you into the movie.

Grade: B

Old Snake

2008-06-14T22:42:00.003+08:00

So, I bought MGS4 today.

Just some random pictures. Box Art.

Front.

Front and Back.

Inside and CD art.

Haven't started on it yet. Planning to soon.

Metal Gear Solid 4

2008-06-11T13:47:00.003+08:00

Today is a special day. Why? Easy, MGS 4 releases today! The long awaited Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of Patriots officially out today!

This is the Special Ed box art. Obviously I won't be getting this one. I'd be skipping on the special ed. Not so much cash to spend on games.

This is the normal box art. Snake's old big face. Not really a fan of this box art but I don't really care. I really like the textures on the face though.

Actually the actual worldwide release date is on the 12th, but it'll be released somewhat earlier by a few hours here. Not too sure why. There is going to be a opening ceremony at Lowyat today. My friend actually asked me if I wanted to go. Decided it would be best to just skip it.

Looking forward to getting it. Might not actually buy it as fast as GTA 4, but I'll try to get it as soon as possible.

Untitled 21

2008-06-10T05:10:00.002+08:00

It's really late, but since I'm still awake, I thought I might as well do this post. This post is dedicated to one of my friend, Yuan Zhi. He's a nice fellow and all, but there has been a tragedy in his family.

His Father has just pass away on Sunday. My condolences to him and his family.

We took the chance to pay him a visit just now at night to see how he was doing. Took the KTM all the way to Rawang. It was a long ride, but it was for a friend in need. Well, there really isn't much left to say, just that I'm really sorry to hear the news.

Back to Basics

2008-06-09T10:50:00.002+08:00

Ah, finally. After about 5 weeks without a computer here in college, the computer is finally back. Thank goodness. Saves me plenty of trouble of running up and down to the computer lab just to get notes or to read notes. Don't know how I managed without the computer for 5 weeks. It's been a pain. Lucky I have my friends PSP with me the whole time. Atleast I can spend the time in my room playing the PSP and not only sleep my days away.

Well, I'm just glad my computer is back. What was wrong with it? In all honesty, I have absolutely no idea. For 4 weeks my computer sat there not working. I thought it was a goner this time. So I called my dad to take it back and check it out. Guess what? It started working! God knows what happen, cause I don't. But the main point is that it's working. Good enough for me.

It's already week 6 of college. Boy, time really flies, it's scary. I've been playing for the pass 5 weeks without studying one bit. Last week was the first time I went down to the common hall to study for this whole semester! That's cause last Wednesday I had a test on my Thermofluid. Wasn't all that bad. Did pretty well in the end. Now that it's week 6 now, other test would be coming up. I know test 1 for Modern Control would be on Friday. I really dread that test. Hardly know what I'm doing in class. Not to mention quite a shitty lecturer.

Machines I don't know when is the test. But that isn't too bad.

Intro. to MicroP, that's the shit now. Another shitty Lecturer teaching. Man, I'm just really unlucky this semester getting real shitty lecturers that can't teach for f***s.

Anyway, as for the award. As expected, No excellence. Didn't expect one anyway, Merit is cool for me. There goes my run. But it really is something expected considering how much I played last semester. I have a feeling the semester is going to be MUCH worst cause of my playing habit and cause of 2 of my shitty crappy lecturers.

Kung Fu Panda

2008-06-07T23:37:00.005+08:00

Movie: Kung Fu Panda
Director: John Stevenson, Mark Osbourne
Voices: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman
Runtime: 1hour 35mins
Genre: Animation

Here we go again, another Animated feature. Almost ALL animals you can think of has been done. This time, it's a panda.

So, what's so special about this panda? It's quite hard to imagine a panda doing some Kung Fu. Po, voiced by Jack Black, is a super big panda. Only one of it's kind in the whole village. He's a Kung Fu junkie and wishes to be a master someday. But the sad thing is he works in a noodle store for his dad, so is not a panda, looks like a stork or something along the bird family. How a bird and a panda can be father and son is a mystery but since Po doesn't seem to mind, we shouldn't question so much either.

One day, the Old wise master of the Jade Palace, a turtle named Master OoGuay foreseen the future that a powerful KungFu bad guy is going to escape from prison. In an instance Master Shifu, voiced by Dustin Hoffman, sends a messenger to the prison in hopes of increasing the security. At the same time, they have to find the only warrior that will be able to match these guy. This warrior, is the Dragon Warrior.

Obviously, Po got selected. Obviously Tai Lung escapes. And the rest, is as predictable as <Insert Predictable Thing Here>. The plot mirrors that of Forbidden Kingdom. We all know that Po is now under the against-all-odds plot-kai and is doomed to succeed. The plot is simple and straight, with almost zero plot twists, it wouldn't trick a 3 year old kid.

Visually the movie doesn't disappoint. Well, that isn't exactly unexpected with animating technology these days. Animals are quite detailed, surroundings are well done. But the best part of this visual experience is the facial expressions. Facial expressions are beautifully done.

Characters here are very underutilized. All characters are flatter then a card board. The only true 3 dimensional character is Master Shifu. The furious 5 - Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Mantis and Snake, are boring characters that are there just to be there. Po character is as generic as any against all odds character should be. And with Jack Black voicing him, he's as Chinese as the Indian guy next door. "He is so awesome that all the bad guys go blind in his awesomeness." That line has Jack Black written all over it, but I doubt Chinese Pandas actually say such things.

Sadly, a lot that we see in the movies are already seen in the trailers. The belly bounce, the flying across the screen. Almost everything is in the trailer. It's like you've watched the whole movie after just watching the trailer. But there are some good actions scenes. Some of the fights are well choreographed and are entertaining to watch.

The movie isn't exactly one to break boundaries, but it is as generic as it gets. Easy story, easy huggable main character, easy moral background to pick up. Kids will love it, adults, well, depends on the adult.

Grade: B

Tag again

2008-06-01T00:35:00.004+08:00

What's up with these tag things anyway? Suddenly everyone is doing it. So, in comes a new tag. Not as easy as the one before it seems, gotta think for these answers. Not in the best mood to think of answers but whatever. Since I won't be having any movie reviews this week, why not just do it? Everyone's doing it anyway.

1. What is the most important thing in your life?
Wow, the first question is already the tough. I would say, family and friends. Without them, nobody is anybody.

2. What is the last thing you bought with you own money?
Well, food? If food not included, then GTA4. No, wait, even I didn't buy that. Mom rewarded it to me for straights last semester. Ratchet and Clank then, which was a pretty long time ago.

3. Where do you wish to get married?
Where? What a question. Wherever I will be at that time.

4. How old do you think you'll be permanently owned by your lover?
Permanently owned? Never ever.

5. Are you in love?
What if I am? What are you going to do about it?

6. Where was the last restaurant you had dinner?
A restaurant behind Giant. Don't know the name. Thai/Nyonya food.

7. Name of the latest text book you bought?
Latest text book? That would be Materials and Manufacturing books. Going to buy Thermofluids and maybe Modern Control text book next week.

8. What is your full name?
Jonathan is the fullest name you'll get.

9. Do you prefer mother or father?
What an impossible question.

10. Name a person that you really wish to meet in your real life for the first time.
Who? Nobody, I would rather leave who I meet a mystery.

11. Christina or Britney?
Christina, I would say.

12. Do you do your own laundry?
I would if I actually had to stay at the hostel for a much longer time at a time.

13. The most exciting place you want to go?
Disney World, Orlando. One of the best places I've ever been.

14. Hugs or kisses?
How about hugs AND kisses?

15. Point out 5 things about the person who tagged you.
1. Really smart
2. Long winded?
3. Graduated from Taylors?
4. Having exams?
5. Can be random at times?

Just came out from the back of my mind. Sorry Lu!

16. 8 things I'm passionate about
1. Life - Don't really know what to write here. Who isn't passionate about life? If you're not then you're either emo or an idiot. I know I'm neither.
2. Meeting new people? - Not exactly one who is a socialite. But I'm interested in meeting new people.
3. Maintaining - Maintaining the friends I already have. They are great, and it's been a long time since I've seen some of them.
4. Family - Well, doubt that needs explaining.
5. Games - I love games, and will always game.
6. Movies - I love movies. Not so much on the writing review part though, but I still do it.
Man, this shit is tough.
7. Studies - Well, we all have to work hard sometime. Why not now. Certainly better then later.
8. I really don't know what else to say so I'm going to shoot it. Monster Hunter. Quite passionate to play the game for now. It's awesome if you play with you friends. If you need an extra kaki don't mind calling me! I'm a 2G player, HR7.

17. 8 things I say too often
1. F***
2. Shit
3. Don't Kam Lan (Don't Suck C***)
4. Retard
5. F***tard
6. CB
7. SH
8. Lan la! (D*** la! If direct translation)

Man, I should curse less!

18. 8 books I've read
1. May 08 Reader's Digest?
2. Materials text book?
3. Manufacturing text book?
4. I don't read.
5. I don't read.
6. Does reading game guides count?
7. I don't read.
8. If reading game guides count, then plenty.

19. Songs I could listen to over and over again
Let's shuffle my playlist and see what happens. I'll choose from there.
1. Various Artist - More then words. First song that came out in my playlist.
2. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down. Hey, I like the song. Maybe not listen to it over and over again. But I still like it.
3. Linkin Park - Breaking the Habit. Actually I can listen to ALL LP songs over and over again, so let's not include anymore LP songs.
4. Simple Plan - You're love is a lie. Nice song.
5. Our Song - Taylor Swift. That's quite a good song. I like the chorus.
6. Boys like Girls - Hero/Heroine. I could include this in one of my all time favourites.
7. Three Doors Down - Story of a girl. Really old song. But it's pretty good.
8. Darius Danesh - Incredible.

Not really songs that I could listen over and over again. Just some of the songs that came out on my playlist that I like.

20. 8 things I learnt last year
1. I can do well in my studies - Something I really never expected.
2. I need to be more friendly - I'm an ass most of the time.
3. I could curse less - Actually really depends on the group I'm with, that's how much I curse.
4. I could care more - with some things.
5. I should game less - but I won't
6. I should study more often - I should, not as easy as it seems.
7. I can survive a week with hardly any sleep - I suck energy from air sometimes.
8. MH is an awesome game.

No tagging as usual. Have fun If you want to. Took me quite awhile to get that out. Some of them are pretty nonsense.

Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2008-05-25T14:22:00.006+08:00

Movie: Indiana Jones (very long name)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen
Runtime: 2hours
Genre: Action, Adventure

It's been over 2 decades since we last saw Indiana Jones with his signature hat, leather jacket and whip. The last movie, "The Last Crusade" came out around 1989. So basically this is the first time I watch Indiana Jones on the big screen.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" was revolutionary, it was one of the first ever Action Adventure, treasure hunting movie which started off a series of other rip-offs, but non of which were better then the original. The next 2 sequels of the Indiana Jones series were fun, but nowhere are great as the first.

Indiana is back this time, the time is 1957, the enemy: Russians, the treasure: Crystal Skull. Indiana Jones is thrown right back into action after a while. He gets caught by Russians and forced to help the Russians find out where a box is in a top secret military warehouse. As one would expect, this box is no ordinary box.

From here, a chain of events is set off. A friend of his has gone missing in search of El Dorado, the city of gold, and has disappeared. A young punk/ motorcyclist/ greaser named Mutt looks for Indiana Jones for help in solving the mystery. And so they set off on their little adventure. Indiana soon reunites with Mutt's mother, Marion, his first girlfriend from Raiders. Together they set off.

So, what are they looking for? Obviously, the crystal skull. No Indiana Jones movie is completed without some kind of special unique item that has supernatural properties to it. It's special skull said to have untold magical powers. And if returned to El Dorado, the person who returns it will be able to control all of it's power. Including mind control. That's something, it's a race against time for Indiana and gang to stop the Russians from gaining this power.

If you're looking for anything fresh or new, somehow, you'll get quite disappointed here. Cause there isn't anything too new about it. The movie lacks the element of surprise like before. Maybe it's because it's already the forth movie. Everything you would expect to happen in the movie would happen, car chases to gun fights. Traps to puzzles. It's all here.

But this doesn't mean it's bad. We have to ask ourselves, it's been 20 years, what do you want to see in a Indiana Jones movie now? The same old-school stuff, or something new and fresh? Sometimes old is good too. What made Indiana Jones so famous WAS all these, why would they change the winning formula?

The good thing about the movie is that it doesn't hide the fact that Indiana Jones is already old. He doesn't crack the whip like he used to. He doesn't pack the punch he used to. But his been dragged out back into the field so he has no choice but to do it all again. It's been a whole 20 years since the last movie, "The Last Crusade", and age has been catching up on Harrison Ford. Now 65, one of the biggest questions was weather he could keep up with all the action like he used to more then 20 years ago. And the answer is yes, Harrison Ford indeed still has it in him. He looks great considering his age.

It's interesting that they choose to repick Karen Allen to play he role as Marion again. Sadly she's given too little to do to have make much impact. Shia LaBeouf playing Mutt is fresh and fun to watch, although he and Harrison Ford didn't really show much Chemistry. Or maybe it was meant to be like that? We wouldn't know that now, would we?

There is something less here though, and that is the gore. The movie isn't as gritty as the previous. There aren't many parts of the movie that would make you go ewwww... like some of the previous movies did.

Everything that made the first 3 Indiana Jones great is all here. If you enjoyed the series before, you will enjoy this. Now let's all hum this together now, "Da-da-da-DAhhhh-dum.....", now thats a revolutionary theme song that will never fade away.

Grade: A-

Gaming Over Partying

2008-05-24T01:13:00.004+08:00

Man, this place really needs an update. Recently it has only been movie reviews and movie reviews. Hardly anything else updated. So I guess I'll just pluck in a random update about life before another movie review comes in next. Just so you know, next review would be Indiana Jones.

In all honesty, nothing much has happened in my life recently. It has been quite a tiring 3 first weeks of college. Not that there is a lot of work to do, it's more like I have spent too much time playing games that I hardly had any sleep recently. I've been hogging on my friends PSP for the whole 3 weeks, excluding weekends. Meaning every weekday I play the PSP until early in the morning. Playing Monster Hunter. I've actually played up to 70+ hours in just approx. 14 days! And I only play during the nights, sometimes in the afternoon. From that it's already obvious how much I played and how late I play until. Still not as powerful as my friend though, he has up to 120 hours in this 3 weeks!

On Wednesday, my college had a Street Party. There was one last year I blogged about, here. I had more pictures and stuff. This time around I couldn't be bothered. Wasn't exactly very interested in it anyway. To be honest, was actually more interested in what monster we were going to fight in Monster Hunter.

Well, I would actually have an interesting topic condemning a new lecturer of mine to hell, but I really can't be bothered now. Maybe later I would explain why I would condemn this lecturer to hell. It's been awhile since I had felt that a lecturer or teacher or whatever to be THIS irritating. If you've known me for some time, you should know who the fuck I would be talking about.

Oh right, about the previous review and no pictures. Last week I had problems with the connection and the pictures just refused to be uploaded. So guessing it's going to go pictureless. It's a little late to add on the pictures anyway. Hope the same problem doesn't come up again.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2008-05-19T00:26:00.004+08:00

Movie: Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Director: Andrew Adamson
Runtime: 2hours 20mins
Genre: Fantasy

The 4 kids are finally back after 3 years to make the sequel to Narnia. If you don't already know, the movie takes place in 2 different dimensions, one in mid 40s (?) London and the other in a magical land named Narnia, where talking animals, fauns, minotaurs and dwarfs roam the earth.

The first installment had it's charms but isn't exactly what one would call a great medieval movie, thanks to unconvincing acting and a not so epic war finish. So how does this installment stand? Well, got to say, the stiff acting is still here. The 4 of them stays unconvincing "kings and queens of old".

This time around, they are not the only kings and queens. A year has passed in the real world and 1300 years in Narnia. Not too sure how the timing works here. In the first movie, the 4 kids grew old, let's say, about 70 years in Narnia, but when thy left the wardrobe it was only a few seconds. Let's say, 30 seconds, and that's already giving it more then it really is. So we have here 30 real seconds = 70 Narnian years. 1300 Narnian years would take only about 10 real minutes! Okay, maybe I'm thinking into it way too much but it just doesn't make sense! Unless I got it wrong of course. And if that's the case please do tell me about it.

Anyway, as any movie based off books, I have not read the book. So I don't know how closely this resembles the original book.

The movie starts off with the birth of a new born baby by Miraz, the late-king's brother. With this, he finally has the chance to take the thrown from the real King to be, Prince Caspian X (10). Warned by his half Narnian professor, Prince Caspian escapes the kingdom and meets a few Narnians, who were thought to be extinct, and blows a magical horn. What does this magical horn do? It summons the "Kings and Queens of Old", meaning the kids.

Back in the real world, the 4 kids are transported to Narnia through the subway. If only a subway could turn into a beautiful beach like that more often. They venture in and realized that the place they once lived in is now in ruins and they try to find out what has happened. Since this is 1300 years from last time, things have changed drastically. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and Mr. Tumnas (sp?) are long gone. But their role has been taken over by another beaver, and a dwarf. This time they even have a Puss in Boots copy. It's a Mouse bearing a a cute hat and a fencing sword. Not exactly a rip-off considering both Shrek and this movie are done by the same makers.

Things are no longer like before, the magic seem to have disappeared and lost. They realized that shortly after they left, Humans, also known as Telmarines now rule the land, driving the Narnians into the wilderness. Without me saying more, you should already know what the kids are there for. To try and free the Narnians and Destroy the Telmarines. They cooperate with Prince Caspian so that he can reclaim his throne again from his evil uncle.

As like the movie before, a lot Christian idealism is included here as the base and moral of the story. Aslan, the Lion, represents God in the land while The White Which would represent The Devil. These elements sticks out as obvious as a sore thumb. While the previous movie had more of it, the second installment doesn't lack. Here they talk about how without faith in God, in this case, Aslan, they cannot win the battle.

Because of the "lack of God" magic in the world has faded and everything seems more gloomy. The movie easily takes a darker more grittier route compared to before, with less magic and more fighting. Wars are a little more interesting compared to before, especially the night ambush where the griffins strike terrifyingly quietly.

The main let down once again this time is the unconvincing acting. Peter, played by William Moseley, plays an unconvincing "High King". Sure, he is suppose to "be a kid" but he is also suppose to be over a 70 years old, considering he lived in Narnia for such a long time before returning to the real world, only to turn back into a kid. He is nothing like Aragorn of Lord of the Rings.

The darker route the movie taken is certainly a good turn. The movie is a fair improvement from before though the same problems are there. The main point here for me is that it is an improvement from the first. Now it's starting to look more like a mini "Lord of the Rings".

Grade: B

Tagged

2008-05-18T01:36:00.003+08:00

Anyway, I figured I haven’t blogged about anything for awhile, and Patricia tagged me to do this shit, so guess I’ll just do it. Just to make her happy. Since there really isn’t much to blog about anyway, better then what I initially planned to blog about anyway.

5 Easy Steps:

Put your music player on shuffle.
Press forward for each question.
Use the song title as the answer to every question.
With the answers, comment on how it relates to the question.
Tag your maters.

1) How am I feeling today?
Ferras – Hollywood’s not America
Okay, so I’m guessing that means I’m not happy with movie I watched? Lol, doesn’t make much sense and it’s only the first bloody question.

2) Will get far in life?
One Republic – Stop & Stare
Stop and stare at the flowers. Guessing that means I’m going no where huh?

3) How do my friends see me?
Boys like girls – Heels over Heads
No idea really. Friends are heels over heads for me? Wouldn’t believe that!

4) Will I get Married?
Colbie Caillat – Bubbly
Uhuh, married to a bubbly girl. Okay.

5) What is my best friend’s theme song?
Natasha Bedingfield – Pocketful of sunshine
No comments there.

6) What is the story of my life?
Jonas Brothers – When you look me in the eyes
My life is certainly no love story.

7) What was high school like?
Boys like Girls – Dance Hall Drug
Certainly my life at high school was not a dance hall drug!

8) What’s in store for this weekend?
Linkin Park – Don’t Stay
But I want to stay at home during the weekends to play GTA4! But if I don’t stay I can play monster hunter in college… hmm…

9) How is my life going?
Fall Out Boys – I’m like a lawyer with the way I’m always trying to get you off (me & you)
Damn that’s a long title.

10) How can I get ahead in life
Counting Crows – Accidentally in love
So I must accidentally fall in love to get ahead in life?

11) What’s the best thing about your friends
Darius Danesh – Incredible
Nuff’ said by the title. One and only good answer I have here.

12) What song will they play at my fuineral?
Metro Station – Shake it
Man, they have got to be damn happy I’m gone to play a song like that.

13) How does the world see me?
Avril Lavigne – Hot
LOL, as if.

14) Do people secretly lust me?
Elliot Yamin – Wait for you
Well, I’d wait for you to find out for me.

15) How can I make myself happy?
Evanescence – Good Enough
To know I’m good enough makes me happy I guess.

16) What should I do with my life?
Linkin Park – Session
Turn my life into a session. Jam Session! But I can’t play any instruments!

17) Will I ever have children?
Fall Out Boys – Yule shoot your eyes out
I’ll shoot my eyes out when I do. Okay.

18) What would you strip to?
Shayne Ward - Breathless
Man, that is SO not a stripping song.

19) What does your mom think about you?
Colbie Caillat – Realize
Oh noez! She just realized I’m around!

20) What is your deep, dark secret?
Emerson Hart – I wish the best for you
I wish the best for you!

21) What is your mortal enemy’s theme song?
Michael Buble – Everything
Everything is my mortal enemy’s theme song. Wow, he must be able to do everything! Oh Noez! I’m doom!

22) What is your personality like?
Fall Out Boys – This ain’t a scene, it’s a god damn arms race
Boy, I wonder what THAT is supposed to mean about my personality.

23) What song will be played at your wedding?
Westlife – Something Right
Certainly must have done something right to get married, don’t you think?

24) Your overall theme song?
Fall Out Boys - The (After) life of the party
Why even the song agrees with me that I’m not the life of the party just like what my description said.

You already know my style, I don’t tag people. Do it if you want to. Fall out boy repeated quite a lot of times eh? I didn’t exactly get any dumb or weird answers actually. Not that I got lots of smart answers just that I expected to get more dumb and funny answers. What a boring run through.

--------------------

Next Review: Narnia

Problem

2008-05-15T01:44:00.001+08:00

My bloody computer in my room doesn't work anymore. Not too sure what's wrong. Gotta check it out some other time. Gay shit.

Speed Racer

2008-05-11T23:13:00.004+08:00

Movie: Speed Racer
Director: Wachowski Brothers
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Mathew Fox
Runtime: 2hours 10mins
Genre: Fantasy, Adaptation

Speed Racer, most of us should know that cartoon. It's cheesy, it's funny, and sometimes pretty stupid. Mach 5 with all it's gadgets fighting his way to the finishing line. I don't really remember a lot of it, but some parts of the old anime series I can remember.

Well, the speed racer here is certainly not set in the same setting as that anime. This Speed Racer is set in some distant future where cars seem to look like they float and yet still be on the ground (does that make sense?), where racing isn't on a flat track and cars can jump.

Speed is first shown as an underachieving student at primary school and the only thing he could think about is getting into the racing business. His father is a mechanic, his elder brother is a famous racer, and I mean, who WON'T be a good driving with a name like Speed Racer. With Speed being his given name and Racer his family name.

So he does grow up to be a good driver, almost the best,but his pass hunts him. His brother, the best of his time, suddenly left the family and the media started dubbing him the dirtiest racer. One day his brother died in a tragic accident. Anyway, long story short, he soon realizes how the racing world works and vows to change it.

The movie can seem a little messy at times, with scene changes at weird times and flash backs that just cuts in without any warning. So he's suddenly driving a car, then he's suddenly a kid again, then suddenly his in school. It's all a little messy and it just gets boring only until the races.

Races on the other hand are pretty interesting. The flashy neon lights and crazy spins. Those pimped out CGI cars are pretty cool. The action(?) sequences are pretty nicely choreographed. When I say action sequence I mean the races. The cars spins and knock each other. But it soon gets old too. The first few times you go, "Wow! That's pretty cool!" then after then third time you go, can't they think of something different? Non the less, it is still pretty enjoyable to see a bunch of bouncing cars literally fighting each other. After all, it IS done by the makers of Matrix.

The setting here is all a little too weird. The sky is a weird shade of blue, the clouds are as if they were borrowed from Sesame Street, and the tracks just defy all logic. The digital world is pretty amped up here. The whole movie just felt like a video game about Hot Wheels on steroids. Not really a bad thing, not exactly a good thing either. Some parts are really well done, while others not so much.

I can't say that there isn't any humour in it. There is, but it's the type that only 5 year old boys would laugh at. Having that said, the main audience aimed ARE those 5 year old boys. They're the only suitable audience that can actually enjoy this movie fully. For everbody else, it might just feel a little too silly and over the top. But it does retain a lot of it's cartoon natures, which turns out to be quite an interesting mix. What are cartoons if their not silly? Can't expect kids to be watching dark humour now can we?

One more thing, since when the Mach 5 had a 6 for a number? Why would they upgrade and put a 6 on it? It just totally destroys the tradition.

Grade: C

What Happens in Vegas

2008-05-11T21:43:00.005+08:00

Movie: What Happens in Vegas
Director: Tom Vaughan
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher
Runtime: 1hour 40mins
Genre: Romance, Comedy

Romantic Comedies, they've been done one too many times and yet many people just can't help but get a warm feeling inside right after watching it, eventhough everything is already known right from the start. I have to say I'm one of those people. I love romantic comedies, I really do.

But romantic comedies now only play by the same formulas everytime, time after time, that it gets quite annoying. I'm sure it's no surprise to everyone that the flow goes like this: Guy meets Girl, they fall in love, the climax would obviously be something happening between them screwing up everything and the end is either a make up or a break up. The formula is so simple and over used that something has to be done.

No different here as this also play by the formula. Jack Fuller (Ashton Kutcher) just got fired, from his dad's company. He can't stand it, but he's the type that isn't going to do anything about it. So what does he do? What do all miserable man do? Where do all miserable man go? Well, simple, Vegas! Joy (Cameron Diaz) is a planning machine. She makes plans to make plans and takes everything too seriously. Her fiance can't stand it anymore and breaks up with her. So what does she do? What do all miserable women do? Where do all miserable women go? Okay, maybe not all, but they go to Vegas!

By chance, god knows how, Jack and Joy got assigned to the same room in a mix up. Well, they made quite a scene and decided to work it out by changing rooms, and they decided to go out together. Well, it's Vegas. They partied and partied and partied and got really drunk and oops - got married.

Considering they are direct opposites in personality, everything was pretty awkward and they kinda "broke up" with each other until they got lucky. Joy's quarter was inserted by Jack into a slot machine and won the 3 million dollar jackpot. Suddenly their "married" again. Going back, jack tried fighting for the money in court but to no avail. The judge sentence both of them to "6 months hard marriage". Meaning they have to live with each other for 6 months. Well, needless to say they hate each others guts. AND needless to say they slowly fall in love.

The movie is about as generic as any romantic comedy can get. Silly humour, spousal abuse, and toilet bowls. While Aston Kutcher and Cameran Diaz does have some chemistry. The show wouldn't be as good as it is without the 2 best friends. Lake Bell and Rob Corddry are given silly one liners to spit at each other.

To be honest, there isn't much in the movie that isn't already done or seen before. In a time where breakthroughs in the movie industry is as important as water is to a human body, it's all been seen and done too many times. It's overall still an enjoyable movie, but this formula is as dry as the desert.

Grade: C+

Back into the frying pan

2008-05-05T08:44:00.003+08:00

So it's back to college again. Ish, really sucks. Going to miss my GTA4 back home. It was amazingly fun while though and the story's pretty damn good. Can't wait to go back home and continue playing. Nuts man. But it's not that bad. Atleast I get to play Assassin's Creed here on my friends com, or maybe even Starcraft!

Now that the holidays are over, I guess it's back to roughing it out this new semester. Toughest semester, man, I'm pretty damn worried.