G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

They made it grittier and more serious and took out almost all the camp and cheesiness in the first movie. Basically, they took out all the stuff that made the first movie so fun.

2.5/5

Thank you.

Apart for the mindblowing cliff scene in 3D there isn't much going for this movie.

Also the fact that G.I. Joe is an Elite American Marine team rather an international peace keeping force....

Indeed! They're just a faceless bunch of SWAT team now. Where's the campy but cool gadgets from the first movie? There's nothing here that comes anywhere close the fun of the paris chase sequence.

And I also miss Marlon Wayans. He and Tatum made a fun duo. I used to like the Rock, but he's getting a bit too serious in his roles.

Wow, us agreeing twice in a day...

I think I should go out and buy a lottery ticket....

The Lone Ranger (2013)

Before we even talk about Johnny Depp, lets talk about Armie Hammer.

I first notice him, playing The Devils's son (I kid you not), in the short lived TV series, Reaper.

Then he was in a little film production called, Mirror Mirror. He played Price Charming (Prince Alcott).

Now he is The Lone Ranger?

Frankly, on some level, he works. He looks the part and in some of the action scenes, he looks like he knows what he is doing.

The problem is the rest of the movie, he played the role... fairly goofily... and I'm not sure it works...

His back story is also disjointed!!

They should have made him the serious guy and left the goofy stuff to Johnny (Tonto), but no....

The film looks gorgeous! (With a budget of $250,000,000)

The script was okay, but the pacing... At 2 hours 30 minutes, it was a tad long and and at some parts were a little tedious...

Johnny Depp is Johnny Depp, he took the Tonto role and made it his own. Much MUCH better back story (he is after all the star)

For me, the real star of the show is Silver, the horse.

He is the Great Spirit and the protector of The Spirit Who Walks!!

Remember the horse from Tangled?? Not so "canggih" but almost!!

I do hope that Disney recoup their investment. It is NOT so much a bad movie, pacing could have been much MUCH tighter...

Gioachino Rossini's William Tell Overture, I waited and waited for it to appear, and when it did, what a RIDE!!

This might be the second BIG BUDGET Disney movie in two years that bomb during the summer...

Inconceivable....

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jul 15 2013, 01:17 PM

Psycho (1960) (50th Anniversary)

For some odd reason, I keep watching this???!

I have watched this on TV, DVD and a couple of times on HD and now Bluray format.

The 50th Anniversary bluray is JAM PACKED with all kinds of wonderful special features!!

They'd interviewed Janet Leigh (Shower scene anyone?). They interviewed Joseph Stefano (screenwriter). They also interviewed Patricia Hitchcock who is Hitchcock's daughter, who has a small role in the movie.

Lots and LOTS of P.O.V. from them and interesting too.

For example, Hitchcock actually hired a nude model (people who poses naked for art classes) to stand in the shower so they can figure out how dense the water from the shower needs to be so Janet Leigh's naughty bits will not show up in the movie!! Also how some of the special effects were done practically (films as it happens). For example, Martin Balsam (Det. Milton Arbogast) fell down the staircase (without actually falling down the staircase) etc.

Having watched the movie Hitchcock (2012), about a month and a half to two months back, surprisingly, only heighten this viewing for me!!

I still feel that the opening credit is a little "soft" (video quality wise) but once the movie opens, everything is crystal clear. Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL black and white movie. One tidbit I learned from the special feature was, Hitchcock consciously made this movie in Black and White. There are two reason to this.

1) He had to finance this movie personally, because he contractually still owe Paramount Pictures one more picture before moving over to Universal and Paramount had out right refuse to budget the movie because of the subject matter. Filming it in Black and White would reduce the cost of production.

2) He did not believe the movie could pass the censorship board if it was filmed in color!!

(I told you, major tidbits)

I was having a conversation with an English gentleman a couple of weeks back. He is a self profess movie lover. And the conversation steer to Alfred Hitchcock where he expresses, 'Psycho?... I have watched it and it was meh...' I had to explain to this self professed movie lover how movies were like before Hitchcock and how he change the game and movie had never been the same... Forgive him, he is young (only 35 yo)

I really wonder, is there really an Alfred Hitchcock fan out there that has never seen this movie??

If there is, here is my challenge to you. Watch Hitchcock (2012) and then Psycho (1960) and then tell me honestly that Psycho had not influence cinema for the past 53 years. Think about that.

Again, as always, the above is merely my opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own.

My Two Sen

Pacific Rim (2013)

Wow...

Ultraman + Transformers + Godzilla!!!

And you know what? AWESOME!!!!!!!

I'm a fan of Guillermo del Toro. He... understands darkness... Not darkness as in negative, but darkness as in, it is part of life and sooner or later everyone has to face certain form of darkness in our life. Lost, death, "a can of whoop-a$$" that seems insurmountable at the time.

And this movie, my fellow movie fanatics, dishes out in spades!!!

I'm actually NOT surprise it is not making money in the States (well, not the numbers that they would like) because, this movie is not "American Centric". And I'll leave it as that, before people thinks I'm being political again.

I do have an issue with the movie and

Charlie Hunnam (Raleigh Becket)!! What a difference 11 years make!!?! I remember him from Nicholas Nickleby (2002) & Abandon (2002). He was more of a Peter Parker back then, and NOW!! He looks like he can pick up Mjournir and is THOR!!!!

And Idris Elba, I'm really glad he decided to go into acting, instead of remaining being a factory worker, like his father!!

If you think the destruction was bad in Man of Steel, what until you see what is in store fore you here!

Do I recommend this? HECK YES!!!

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jul 17 2013, 10:59 PM

Haha ending was VERY disappointing for me, the whole movie actually. Didn't really pick the pace up. What's your rating?

I like it. I understand what you mean but "pick up". If Guillermo had speeded up the movie, alot of the back story would have been taken out and the movie would have been a soulless action movie..

Please understand that this is just my opinion

I rate it 8.5 out of 10

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jul 18 2013, 04:53 PM

Transformers : Dark Of The Moon (2011)


A couple of months before I went and watched Pacific Rim, I watched Transformers : Dark Of The Moon on DVD. It was in the bargain bin so I thought that I could watch it when I had nothing to do and wanted to kill a couple of hours. So I bought it (I buy all ori DVD if you're wondering).

Big mistake.

The 3rd installment of Michael Bay's money spinning franchise is downright boring! I didn't expect anything from the movie and I was still bored watching it. It feels like everything but the last 45 minutes is just stalling so that Bay could unleash that final action sequence on the audience. Even though the special effects were nicely done, it feels empty.

The story is very thin and might I add that it does not gel well with the two prequels. In Dark Of The Moon, an ancient Transformer spacecraft is found on the dark side of the moon and the discovery was made way back in the 60's. So what the hell happened with Megatron being the first transformer discovered in the first movie?

So fine. I could excuse that but then we see a whole army of Decepticons being risen out from the moon dust for the final battle. WTF??!! If that army was there the whole time why didn't Megatron use them back in the first or second movie??!! Bay is very blatantly throwing whatever his plot needed into the movie and disregarding the continuity of the franchise.

And yes, Megatron is back yet again despite losing about a quarter of his head. I wonder if Megatron will be resurrected again for the fourth movie? Probably will.

Everything feels flat. Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is reduced to a whiny brat whose job is to whine until the crap hits the fan and triggers the final action sequence. His new girlfriend (Rosie Huntington Whitley) is nothing but eye candy. She has practically no role to play in the plot and the story could go carrying on without much hiccups even if she wasn't there.

Optimus Prime just brood and sulk until it's time for him to bash the heck out of Megatron and Sentinel Prime. Ironhide is killed off for nothing. Bumblebee just bumble around waiting for the last action sequence to start. No character development plots. Just waste time until the last 45 minutes.

Disappointing even when one has no expectations whatsoever.


Rating : 2 stars out of 5 and only because the special effects were nice.

I watched this at the cinema at 11am on a Saturday morning... I fell asleep...

The Lone Ranger

Not sure how this got such terrible reviews. It's a rollicking good time at the movies- a fun, silly western adventure in the vein of the POTC movies. I didn't expect to like Depp in this, but he won me over. Yes it's kinda like Jack Sparrow but it's also different in at least one major way... he doesn't talk much in this. Sure, the pacing is off at times and the tonal shifts are jarring for the first hour, but once it settles down and you are attuned to its quirks, it's just such fun escapism. There are two major action scenes, one in the beginning and one at the end. Both are great. Verbinski brings his action A-game from POTC flawlessly into the midwest, and it's refreshing to see a director who knows how to film his action. The finale action sequence is probably the best action sequence I've seen since Spielberg's Tintin.

Picture looks reliably good looking as are all of Verbinski's films. Would have preferred less saturation of colours and more naturalness but it does look classy. Zimmer's score is also surprisingly decent- at least it's actual music this time.

I quite highly recommend this. Could be shorter but some great fun. 4/5

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Jul 20 2013, 11:40 AM

I kinda like it. Just thought is was TOO long!!

Angels & Demons (4K Remastered) (2009)

Frankly, The Da Vinci Code was not an earth shattering book for me...

All the hoo haa and much prodding by my sister-in-law I read the book and the point that everyone was making a fuss about, was NOT even original (eg had read in somewhere or watched it somewhere, probably a documentary)

So when Ron Howard and Tom Hanks got together to make the movie, much publicity and protest and again when I watch the movie, it was even more "meh"...

Tom Hanks & Audrey Tautou, can you say MISMATCH!!

Even having Ian McKellen in the movie, did nothing for me...

Angels & Demons on the other hand, had always been a much MUCH better book and in turn a much MUCH better movie!!

Watched it during the week end, the 4K Remastered version and the Picture Quality is flawless.

So is the sound.

Good story. Good acting. And suspense to boot.

If you had not watched this movie, or read the book, give it a try why don't ya.

My Two Sen

As Good as It Gets (1997)

Another movie I have watched over and OVER again.

This time on BD format...

Frankly, I'm a little underwhelmed by the video transfer.

It is "spotty" at times. Helen Hunt/Jack Nicholson's face is a little overly pink at some scenes. Some other scenes are a little soft...

Having said that, it is still better then the DVD copy I have...

This is a Drama/Comedy.

There are NO, Car/Boat/Train Chase, Planes shooting each others down, Space Ship, Time Travel, Evil Super Computers, Aliens, Robots, Lazer Beams, Cool Weapon/Gadgets, Monsters, people with special powers etc...

All the characters do, are to talk to each other!!

And you know what. This movie is mesmerizing!!!!

A GOOD script people, you have to work on your script!!!!

Don't believe me?



Unbelievable dialogue!!

Jack Nicholson taking OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) to the nth degree... BRILLIANT.

I do believe that both Greg Kinnear and Cuba Gooding Jr. are both very good and overlook actors in Hollywood. A shame really...

The interaction between Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson and Greg Kinnear (as the title suggest) do not get better then this!

Give this a try, if you have not already.

My Two Sen

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)

Can you say, edgy???

Well DC definitely can!

I'm not going to go into a DC vs Marvel discussing.

DC, when it come to their animation programs have got a track record that they are willing to take BIG risks!!

And boy did they do THAT here!! IN SPADES!!

Superman and Batman have had many stories done on them, even in the past Justice League animated movies, this one has an interesting twist.

This Justice League movie is done from the point of view of The Flash!!

It is refreshing, and it has lots of twist and lots of turn. Very VERY good!!

Do I recommend this?

Heck YES!!!

My Two Sen.

The Wolverine (2013)

Ah... I only found this to be an... average movie...

My Two Sen...

Les Miserables (2012)


I must first say that I have not seen the musical stage performance of the same name. Neither have I read the book of the same name. This 2012 movie is all the exposure I have to the famous title. This 2012 movie is a musical and to say that this is a musical is an understatement. I have seen other musicals before but in Les Miserables, they sing everything. There's almost no dialogue. There are only songs. Whenever someone wants to convey something, they break out in song. Yes. I am not exaggerating. So if you do not like musicals, stay well away from this one.

Having said that, I find myself to be quite entertained by the movie. It's long but I never found it boring. The actors and actresses were wonderful in their performances. When I first bought the title I was a little worried that I may find it boring but my fears were unfounded.

Les Miserables tells the tale of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman, that's Wolverine for you), a convict that has been released on parole after 19 years in prison in France in the 1800's. His crime was stealing bread. He could not find work and as a result loses faith in humanity. However a chance encounter with a bishop restores his faith in humanity and he wovs to start life anew. Assuming a new identity, Jean Valjean breaks his parole and becomes a successful businessman and owner of a factory.

Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a worker in Valjean's factory becomes the target of discrimination when the other factory workers find out that she has a daughter out of wedlock. Fantine is fired from her job and ends up as a prostitute to support herself and daughter. When Valjean stumbles across Fantine, he takes her under his protection but Fantine dies of her illness and Valjean promises to care for Cosette, Fantine's daughter.

Meanwhile, Javert (Russel Crowe) the prison guard that has been in pursuit of Valjean comes very close to discovering Valjean's identity but when the authorities captures another man that they mistakenly think is Valjean, Valjean reveals his true identity. Forced to be on the run, Valjean flees with Cosette to Paris where she grows up into a beautiful young lady (Amanda Seyfried). Here the story focuses on Cossete and her relationship with a young student revolutionist, Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne).

This movie will throw song after song at you. If you tune out, it's like missing out on all the dialogues. Thus it's only for people who don't mind musicals and pay attention to the lyrics. You have been warned.

Rating : 3 stars out of 5

Good review and I agree with everything you said. The only difference is I hated it and I found it overly long and boring. I like musicals but I hated this one because they literally sing every line of the dialogue. And some of the singing are cringe-worthy (Russell Crowe, please never sing again) They should learn from Sweeney Todd on how to do a decent musical of similar background/setting/storyline.

Watch this honest trailer instead..Save 2 hours and 40 minutes of your life.



This post has been edited by lerijiso: Aug 2 2013, 03:05 PM

The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)

This movie has a script that is praise by critics!!

It is suppose to be brilliant, witty and well crafted.

Full of symbolism, intrigues, innuendos and suspense...

I watched in the first time on Australian TV...

It was... way above my pay grade.

Now, it is still... WAY ABOVE MY PAY GRADE!!!!

It is about a murder and at the end... I think I solve the murder, but am not sure, and also witness... wait I better not give that away...

This is one of the weirdest movie I have every seen.

To prove a point, have you even seen Eyes Wide Shut (1999)??

It is WAY stranger then THAT!!

It is English and it talks about... from what I can gather, the decadence of the upper class!!

Let's leave it as THAT!!

My Two Sen