I give you that.

The ending would be what the Republican's in America would term as "communist".

It is a little "convenient"

And you would be right, I LOVE it!!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

When I found out, director Gary Ross wasn't returning for the second movie, I was a little... concern.

Having watched it on Wednesday, a little aspect of my fear did indeed materialize, and have to add, just a smidge (no, I'm not using it in the context of We're The Millers (2013) )...

But once he gets his footing, the Hunger Game universe, shines, once again!!

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) has never been around so many people and interesting, she had never felt more alone...

Many people had criticised Jennifer Lawrence for being "plastiky" but seriously, after watching Kristen Stewart's works, Jennifer Lawrence is a natural!!

She is actually quite successful in conveying Katniss isolation.

Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) is, as usual, brilliant.

I was wondering how they could have gotten Katniss into the game again and reason was done quite logically!!

With the exception of a few, alot of the "new tributes" are not given enough "air time". For example Gloss (Alan Ritchson), like his previous character (Aquaman in Smallville) gets minimum dialogue... Can that guy even speak (apparently he can, he voices Aquaman in Justice League: The New Frontier (2008) ), Wiress, Female Morphling and etc.

New in intrigue tributes Finnick Odair (Sam Claflin), Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) & Johanna Mason (Jena Malone), are all flesh out and well played!

And the creme dela creme is the main object on the second movie is not even about

If you have watched the first movie and had enjoyed it, RUN don't walk, RUN TO YOUR CLOSEST CINEMA AND WATCH IT!!

My Two Sen.

Could there ever be a movie, that is even more style over substance, poorly cast, miserably scripted compared to The Twilight series!!

The answer is an incredibly, YES!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you,

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)

And to top that off, you know what could be worst than THIS!!!

... It's part 2... (Yes, one has been announced...)

Clary (Lily Collins [Mirror Mirror 2012]) leads....

Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower I remember him best as Anthony in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [2007]) a human/angel "hybrid".

Simon (Robert Sheehan, a Jay Baruchel wannabe} plays the third wheel.

Alec (Kevin Zegers)... the fourth wheel!!!!????

Other VERY surprising miscasts are Lena Headey, Jared Harris and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

This Twilight meets Harry Potter movie is in a word DISMAL.

I have absolutely nothing else to say about this little shocker!!

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Dec 21 2013, 09:21 PM

Watched:
All About Steve (2009).. so so only..
Date Night (2010) Good, better than All About Steve..
Act Of Valor (2012) ... Very good, why some people say no good???? Picture is good, audio is awesome, rocked my 5.1, alright.... I loved this movie...

This post has been edited by Mickey C: Dec 1 2013, 06:13 PM

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)

Another book series that movie producers are hoping would turn into the next Harry Potter franchise...

With the above mention franchise, with each passing movie, the director approach the movies from a more adult perspective.

Unfortunately for this "movie franchise" the reverse is true, and in turn, hurting the movie...

I do understand that there is a big market for a children/family oriented movie. Having said that, there is no reason why movies in this segment needs to... lack sophistication...

Frankly, I have never read the series, so I do not know if the issue lies with the source material or somethings are lost in the translation... (I really would like to hear from the readers of the books)

I know a thing or two about the Greek Mythology, and the series, really do... dumb down Greek Myth, which is actually quite sophisticated (even the late great Shakespeare, had been know to pinch an idea or two from Greek Myth)

Basing everything in the States is a big problem for me, I really wonder why so many Greek Myth stuff ended up in the States??

And everything has to be... "Americanised" (Circeland... "It's A Small World After All?" )

And something that really irk me, is the whole look of the movie. There are alot of "night" shots, and I absolutely no photography knowledge, but there are some shots here that looks really really... WASHED!! (The same can be said about the The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013))

To my untrained eye, I really feel the work produced by the director photography (Shelly Johnson) is underwhelming. Funny thing is he also did Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and The Wolfman (2010) which I have no issue with. Maybe it is the new digital cameras they use nowadays...

I will not go as far as to say it is as bad as The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, it is just very predictable and un-challenging.

As always...

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Dec 2 2013, 10:37 PM

Quick Ratings:

Evil Dead (2013)
5/10 - thought it would be more reminiscent of the Original franchise, but falls terribly short.

Epic (2013)
7/10 - a Good watch

Curse of Chucky (2013)
1/10 - what a load of rubbish.

We're The Millers (2013)
4.5/10 - Just plain bad.

Carrie (2013)
6/10 - good cast, flat improvisation of the story

Frozen (2013)
7/10 - good Disney movie

Hunger Games (2012)
7/10 - Good and Gripping

Catching Fire (2013)
7.5/10 - more emotional, less violent, a build up to the final (two) installment

This post has been edited by Mikeshashimi: Dec 2 2013, 08:41 AM

Last night watched:
Captain Phillips (2013) - Very very good, go watch it....

NANA 1 & 2

Possibly one of the longest films I ever watched in quite some time. Clocked at 115 minutes, unnaturally long for a drama genre.

The story itself is very good, no matter if you're familiar with the manga and J-Pop or not.

Century of the Dragon (1999)

Although the film is as cliche' as you can get, but definitely better than both KL Gangsters and slightly edge Young & Dangerous in storytelling. Unfortunately the latter half of the film ruined by quasi Hollywood illogical writing. Shame because up until that the film is pretty realistic in depicting the life of triad members.

Frozen (2013)


Good songs. Good visuals. OK storyline plus some laughs along the way. Frozen is a good distraction for a couple of hours. Disney's animated feature that is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen is fine for both adults and kids alike.

It tells the story of 2 sisters, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) who are princesses in the Kingdom of Arendelle. They were very close as kids but Elsa has a secret that the royal family wants to keep hidden. Elsa has the power to turn anything she touches to ice and snow. When Elsa accidentally zaps Anna with her frost powers causing Anna to nearly die, the 2 sisters are separated as Elsa retreats to her room and seldom ever comes out while the palace gates are closed to keep everyone else out.

To make things worse, the King and Queen lost their lives in a mishap leaving the 2 sisters alone. When the time comes for Elsa's coronation as she comes of age, the 2 sisters are finally re-united but things go downhill when Elsa's powers are unleashed in front of everyone. Elsa runs away to the North Mountians to exile herself but she is unaware that she has brought eternal winter to Arendelle. Anna resolves to find Elsa, bring her back and put an end to the winter.

There's a little twist to the ending. Watch out for that. I am sure loyal Disney fans will be a bit surprised.

Rating : 3 out of 5 stars.

Frozen (2013)

Hans Christian Andersen (Danish) wrote 168 stories!!!

By any account, that is impressive!

Based on my recollection, these have been made into animation, some form or other, Little Tiny or Thumbelina (Warner Bros), The Little Mermaid (Countless + Disney), The Emperor’s New Suit (I believe this inspired Disney's Emperor's New Groove), The Brave Tin Soldier (Part of Disney's Fantasia 2000).

Frozen is based on his The Snow Queen.

I'm NOT familiar with the original tale.

I know Disney took alot of pain when advertising this movie. It is part of Disney's Princess line, and desperate for money after the The Lone Ranger (2013) debacle, they did not want a loss the lucrative market segment (boys), so frankly when I first saw the trailer for this, I went, huh!!??!!

So is this movie any good?

First of all, after The Princess and the Frog (2009), I'm not sure why Disney had yet release another hand drawn animation!

Don't get me wrong, their CGI animation had improved leaps and bound after Disney and Pixar merger, I still enjoy and do miss, their hand drawn animations...

Tangled (2010) was great and this is good too!

Before I go on, I would like to go into The Little Mermaid (1989), a renaissance for Disney so to speak.

In 1988, Disney was seriously thinking about leaving the animation business. Most of their animation release after Walt Disney passed away, made less and less money (Sample of movies during this period are thing like The Black Cauldron (1985), The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Oliver & Company (1988)). Interestingly, the animation team DID NOT HAVE A SCRIPT for any of those animation features, because that was how they did it, when Walt was around... What they failed to understand was, they did had a script when Walt was around, and the script was in Walt and he over saw the projects...

The Little Mermaid was the Feature Animation departments last hurrah, so to speak, to see if Disney could still make a blockbuster animation, with all of Disney's resource behind it, with a proviso, a physical script had to be develop (the then Disney CEO Michael Eisner insisted). Apart for that crucial detail that made the movie a HUGE success, another very important ingredient that made that movie successful is the music team Howard Ashman (lyricist) & Alan Menken (Music Composer). Both of them are from the musical theater background, and Howard Ashman actually pounded into the Feature Animation team, the music has to carry the story forward and not stop the movie so a song can be done (I'm looking at you Warner [Quest for Camelot (1998)]). I really REALLY thank him for that.

Tangle has an amazing soundtrack and the music is even more interesting in Frozen.

Musically speaking this will probably do for animation soundtrack what Beauty and the Beast (1991) did for all subsequent animation.

Music team for Frozen is Robert Lopez & Kristen Anderson-Lopez. I don't think many people in Malaysia is familiar with their work. I kind know them because I've actually heard the original soundtrack for the musical theater Avenue Q!!

Their music can be interpreted from many angle
This movie actually reminds me of a joke
So, good animation

Sorry for the long review

Enjoy the movie

My Two Sen

Just watched:
Letter Of Juliet (2010) Romantic movie..
Ruby Sparks (2012) Oh this one very good, my kind of movie, I loved it so much, very good story, it brilliant, it awesome. Sometime you just wish you can be like Calvin
Max Payne (2008) good action, watch out for the end credits scene



This post has been edited by Mickey C: Dec 8 2013, 08:50 PM

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa(2008)

My friend has always liked animation, it's simple, relaxing and fun at the same time. I can see that line of thinking but I am not sure if I would enjoy simple movie as much as he did but I decided to just watch this anyway for discussion purpose because discussion is fun. I have watched Madagascar 1 and that's a long time ago, and I didn't like it too much and going with the typical fashion of "the sequel is likely to be worst than the original", I really didn't expect too much from Madagascar 2.

It turned out to be better than expected actually, nothing really groundbreaking here but it's decent I guess. Sadly, it's too simple at times and I just hate some of the characters in this one, namely the lion Alex and the grandma. The middle part is also a bit too dull for my taste, mostly due to its simplicity I guess. I understand and appreciate it's simplicity but it just doesn't get me enough. It's not really the film's fault but my own.

The final 30 minutes is pretty solid though except for one part that the grandma comes out again. Heck, I just hate her so much. I liked the different subplots of each of the main 4 characters in this film and it's really decent all in all so I guess I will give it a 6.5. I would say this is a very good movie for family.

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

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted(2012)

Madagascar 3, well, since I have already watched one and two, might as well get the third one done. Madagascar 3 is supposed to be the best one of the three as apparently the Madagascar franchise is improving on every sequel, which is impressive on its own because most of the Hollywood franchise get worst and worst the more they do it. To reverse this trend is a feat on its own.

In my opinion, Madagascar 3 has a very fun beginning, the first 30 minute is top solid yet it gets dull at the middle. I am not sure why, it's just a natural that I just feel boring at the middle part. Of course, there are some good part in the middle, especially going into the second half of the movie but I wish it could be all fun. The visual on one of the scenes(you are likely going to know which if you did watch it in the past or future) is simply insane and that's awesome. I also liked the soundtrack of this one except that one song related to Afro, other songs are all solid. Darn it Hans Zimmer, you sure are one heck of a composer.

Aside from the slight lag in the middle part, the importance of the main characters seem negated in this one. In Madagascar 2, most of them have their own subplot and you can see the story being personally to them but at some part of Mada 3, I just feel that they are there because they are the main characters but there's no concrete reason of needing them there.

Still, it's the best Madagascar out there and I think I actually laughed in this one so I am going to give it a 7.5. An awesome pick of a family film and if you only want to watch just one of the Madagascar franchise, then you should definitely get this one. There's no question about that.

Gatchaman

I really want to love this movie. I REALLY DID. but it was so bad that I had to be professional. It was just bad.

Probably the only saving grace was the first action scene. That's it. The rest was hammy and totally out of place. G-Force fans deserve better.

The Rooftop (2013)

Frankly, when I saw the poster for this movie, I never in a million years thought I would watch this movie, let alone... like it!!

Reason?

I have NEVER been a Jay Chou fan and frankly, the movie poster irritate the HECK out of me.

But a strange thing happened...

I accidentally played the movie and the most unbelievable thing happened...

I... like it.

It is actually... unique... defies definition.

The best I can do is, if you like Moulin Rouge, chances are, you will like it!!

Again, I have to emphasize, I am SERIOUSLY NOT a Jay Chou fan (he cannot sing, yes, bring on the criticism), but I have to admit, he can write (stories and songs, I actually like the music here and also the theme song for the Curse of the Golden Flower (2007).

There is something whimsical about this movie, and it is the first musical in Asian, which I feel actually works.

Give it a try why don't you, maybe you'll be amused to.

My Two Sen

Today watched:
KILL ZONE (SPL) 2005 - This movie is very very good, story line is good, just like those Hollywood movie. Action fighting scene is very good...
Picture quality is very good, sound is awesome, very good DTS surround sound. I loved it..
Need to thanks one of the movie forumer here who introduced this good movie to me or all of us. Good job..


This post has been edited by Mickey C: Dec 15 2013, 04:49 PM

Enough Said

FINALLY! A DAMN GOOD ROM COM! That doesn't happen everyday. The best part, it's smart and very very earnestness. The honesty that you could feel from the cast is just wonderful.

Owh! And a perfect send off film for the fantastic Jim. You will definitely be missed.

47 Ronin (2013)

Universal has a history with... the horror/mysticism genre

Dracula (1931)
The Wolf Man (1941)
The Mummy (1932)
Frankenstein (1931)

To name a few.

This movie is based on history and also a Japanese movie with the same name The 47 Ronin Genroku Chûshingura (1941), to differentiate this movie with it predecessor, the producer decided to make it more... mystical base. Think Lord Of The Rings!! So having Universal making this movie, fits like a glove!!

A few observations,

1) While watching this movie, I kept saying to myself, that's not Japan, THAT'S NOT JAPAN!! And true enough, the movie was shot in Budapest, England and a little bit of Japan. But fear not, at USD 175 Million, the production is lavish!!

2) Keanu Reeves never worked so hard in any other movies. I know in The Matrix he trained alot and had to do alot of wire work, but here most of the scenes were shot practical, so not as much... faking it!! Hats off to him. He is probably one of my favorite star because he is... real. He understands hardship (life has not been kind to him) and he keeps what he needs to live and donates most of his movie earnings to charity and medical research. Another hats off to him.

3) This movie actually reminds me alot of the old Shaw Brother's movies. The brotherhood of the martial arts world... I know there are currently alot of discussing about that being... gay, but really, no.

There are a few scene where you have to suspend your beliefs...
Apparently this movie had it's release date pushed back 3 times. I for one am glad. The finished product is... good!

For those who is not watching Walking With Dinosaurs, or The Hobbit 2, give this a try why don't you.

Like always, My Two Sen.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Dec 20 2013, 10:10 AM

The Hunt (2012)
It's a Danish film. Recommended by my friend. I decided to watch this after watching Mads Mikkelson's performance in Hannibal drama series.

The story revolves a kindergarten teacher who was falsely accused by one of the female kids (his best friend's daughter), after she being rejected by the teacher. Owing to not knowing the consequences, she made up the lies and told the nursery staff that the teacher showed his private parts to her. After being questioned, the situation worsens and turned out to be sexual abuse in the kindergarten because of her unclear testimony. And like rumors they spread to everyone and the teacher was then labelled under suspicion a sexual abuser. People started to discriminate against him. even his best friend disbelieve him as he thought his daughter would never lie. And, his life started to fall aparts dogged by suspicion and discrimination.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

at 1Utama's Atmos Theater (Hall 3) + 48fps 3D

First of all, I choose the Atmos Theater, Dolby's brand new Surround system.

Just before the movie started, Dolby had a few "show off" Dolby teaser they were VERY impressive!!

So did it add to the movie... Well, no... I do not think the movie was mixed for the system... (layman's opinion)

As for the movie, again impressive 3D in 48fps.

Storytelling is slightly better compared to the first

Smaug (The Dragon) was really REALLY well done.

I do have a little complain though...
The barrel scene is amazing!

The ending.... I think could have been a little more subtle...

I just hope the third comes out during the summer of 2014 rather then fall...

My Two Sen