This Is the End (2013)

Having watched a really terrible Rapture-Palooza (2013) a few months back, I was a little sceptic about this movie.

I had it for a while now, and only managed to watch this today and...

It is actually, okay.

Alot of reference were made to James Franco past movies (namely The Pineapple Express 2008) and it is basically about THE Apocalypse.

The cast is staggering

James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride!!! With surprising appearance by Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Rihanna, Paul Rudd & Channing Tatum (WHAT THE HECK MADE HIM DECIDE TO TAKE ON THAT ROLE )!!!!!!

The movie is very dialogue driven movie. And basically explore the neurotic tendencies of everyone (they basically played themselves).

Just one question, WHAT HAPPENED TO EMMA WATSON!!!!!

Give this a go why don't you.

My Two Sen

Happy New Year everyone!!

Have a good one.

The Sum of All Fears (2002)

With the new Jack Ryan movie around the corner, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the previous incarnation of this franchise.

I decided to work backwards, namely

The Sum of All Fears (2002)
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Patriot Games (1992)
Clear and Present Danger (1994)

I believe this to date is the least well received Jack Ryan movie, and have to add i actually like this!!

Poor Ben Affleck (Jack Ryan) had for some odd reason gotten some negative rap.

Anything he is attached to people seem to against, and again, I actually think he did this role admirably.

Favorite character would definitely be Anatoli Grushkov/Spinnaker (Michael Byrne)

Morgan Freeman a close second.

This was meant to be a reboot of the Jack Ryan franchises, with Ben Affleck as lead and because of the lack of box office, it did not work out that way.

Now we are going to get Chris Pine to spearhead another reboot... I'm concern,.... Not really sure if he can manage that...

If you like mystery, thriller,action give this a go, if you have not already.

My Two Sen.

Desk Set (1957)

Most of you know that I'm kinda a movie freak.

Some of you might know that I actually also like OLD movies.

Case in point Desk Set (1957).

I believe I first watched this on Australia TV...

Two things about this movie stand out for me

1) The undeniable Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn.

2) One of the very first movie from Hollywood which feature a (drum roll) computer!!

Some of you might know Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn. Their on/off screen romance was the stuff of legend (Spencer Tracy was a married man and a devout Catholic, but his affair with Katharine Hepburn is practically known by everyone in Hollywood. Katharine Hepburn was by all account a strong and independent woman, but when it come to Spencer Tracy... Ain't love... weird...

Now computers in 1957 were very mysterious items.

1) They were huge (a computer, back then, will less computing power than, lets say our pocket calculator, were the size of a class room)
2) They needed punch card for data input (If you know what score cards are, or card that you used for presentation, wait, you guys know used Power Point and have no idea what I mean, right!!?
3) They were amazingly sensitive!!

On the topic of computers, I believe I have mention this before, in the 1960s, scientist told computer hardware engineers, if the engineers can provide to them 64K of memory, scientist would be able to solve WORLD PROBLEMS!!!!

Guess what, we are now in the age of petabyte (1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes) and we have even more WORLD ISSUES then in the 1960s...

But I digress

This movie is pretty good. A lite RomCom if you must.

Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy) is a computer engineer, hired by a big company to put the latest in computing wonder into the company's resource center which provide information to anyone who calls them (think 1960 Google, but you have to call this number, ask you question, and then wait for the researcher to call you back with the answer!! Sometimes it takes them MONTHS to get back to you.)

Bunny Watson (Katharine Hepburn) run the resource department and is concern that the machine is here to take her colleague's and her job away...

But the computer engineer is just so darn engaging!!

I like this movie, the technical stuff was right on the money and Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn were at the top of their game!!

If you like RomCom and you like OLD movie (1980s movies are NOT old!!) give this a go

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jan 3 2014, 11:01 PM

Vikingdom (2013)

... NOT a good movie.

My Two Sen

You do understand that NOT every movie can be a Life Of Pi (2012) right?!

... because I'm Mov_freak...

Off topic. Have u watch The Conjuring with your new sub or not...

A "miracle" had happened!!

I Just watched

The White Storm 掃毒 (2013)

and... LIKED IT!!

Casting is good. You actually care for the characters!!

The storyline is actually pretty strong.

Okay, some of the car chasing sequence is downright impossible (do they show Mythbusters in Hong Kong )

This is probably on the of the better movie to come out for Hong Kong for the pass... 5 years!!

This is a Cop & Robber movie.

One thing bugs me though...


Good job Benny Chan (director)!!

My Two Sen

Mary Poppins (1964) 50th Anniversary Edition

I really REALLY lost count as to how many times I have watched this on so many formats...

Let me start with something sad, I only found out from the Special Feature that the actor who played Michael Banks (small boy, played by Matthew Garber) passed away in 1977 at the ripe old age of 21 years old... A big shock to me...

This movie was Walt Disney's most ambitious movie.

As a movie, I suppose the message is still relevant
As a 50th Anniversary Edition release and being one of the best loved Disney live action movie, I'm sure Disney spared no expense in the transfer and I for one is a little surprise that some elements in the movie (visually) seems a little soft... I'm not sure if it is because of the masters... Surprising for a Disney release. But bare in mind very sporadic and very VERY few scenes.

Sound wise it has never sounded better!!

I also love the Special Feature in this. Now I really REALLY want to watch Saving Mr. Banks (2013)!! You think the launch this just before the said movie. I THINK NOT!!

If you have never watch this movie, please do. An excellent EXCELLENT family fare.

My Two Sen

Carrie (2013)

People are mean.

This is the second Carrie movie I have seen, the first being Carrie (1976).

Both actually well made.

This is a horror movie, but not because of ghosts or ghouls/psychotic killers.

This is a horror movie because of a scared little girl with an unstable mother, who discovered she had telekinetic powers...

To make things worst, she goes to school with probably the worst bunch of kids...

Bleak, bleak movie.

Definitely not something you watch with little children...

My Two Sen

Unbeatable 激戰 (2013)

Director: Dante Lam
Writers: Fung Chi-Fung (screenplay), Dante Lam (screenplay)
Actors: Nick Cheung, Eddie Peng

Well, color me surprise.

Another Hong Kong movie which has threw me for a loop.

Dante Lam is proving himself to be a pretty good director.

I do see hope for their industry!!

Make no mistake, this is a blatant replica of Rocky, and it is NOT a bad thing!!

You know what they say Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Unlike the 80s and 90s, where the scripts being churned out are outright copy of their western counterpart, this took the rags to riches/underdog theme of Rocky and acclimatised it to the Hong Kong/Macau environment!! And it is actually beautiful to watch

I have never been a fan of Nick Cheung and after White Storm and this, I am sold, he is a good actor.

Not sure I know much about Eddie Peng but the dedication he put into getting in shape for this movie is actually a novelty in the Asian movie industry, hats off to him.

Watch this if you haven't

It is good!!

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Feb 24 2014, 03:49 PM

Gravity (2013)

Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Writers: Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón
Stars: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney

I really REALLY enjoy Alfonso Cuarón's works. What comes to mind are A Little Princess (1995), Y Tu Mamá También (2001) & Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).

I actually now wish he had done more of the Harry Potter franchise.

This movie, if you want me to describe in a word, would be GRIPPING!!!

It is very good.

I really do not want to state anything here that would reduce your enjoyment of this movie.

Watch this.

My Two Sen.

Death Becomes Her (1992)

One of my guilty pleasure. Something I have revisited over and over again.

A nonsensical movie with surprisingly good special effects, that withstood the trial of time and also, the absolute tongue in cheek works of Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis & Goldie Hawn are simply breathtaking to watch.

The story is delightful.

The vanity and the extend in which people go to in the name of vanity is actually well portrayed here and I think the moral of the movie, I believe is still valid to this day and age!

If you like comedy dark, look no further.

I wholeheartedly give to you, this!!

My Two Sen

I kinda get what you guys mean.

I do have to say that The Gardens' GSC's Signature Premier Class cinemas and 1Utama GSC Atmos cinema are pretty good.

My issue tend to be the people attending the movie with me, who are inconsiderate and likes to use their phones, talk aloud amongst themselves out kick my seat that is the issue...

Yes, having a personal home theater is good, but sometime I just cannot resist the urge to goto a cinema....

Spring Breakers (2012)

If you have 94 minutes of your time to waste and you want some mindless drivel of a movie, have I got a movie for you!!

Otherwise, please avoid this like the plague!!

You've been warned kiddies.... YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

My Two Sen

The Relic (1997)

Wow, for a 1997 movie, I am actually quite impress by the transfer.

Please be warned. This is a dark movie (picture and story wise) so if you cannot stand dark scenes over and over again, this is not a movie for you.The sound, kiddies, the sound is awesome. Very good workout for your subwoofer(s?). There are tiny sound I can hear on this that I did not hear on other formats.

This actually, I feel, is an under appreciated horror movie.

It is a little out there, but the people involved really put in effort to make it entertaining.

And for me, it is!!

If you like "creature" horror, this is pretty good.

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Mar 2 2014, 10:26 PM

It got the word "American" on it...

The Beastmaster (1982)

Dennis Miller (comedian) jokes that the true meaning of HBO was not "Home Box Office," but 'Hey BEASTMASTER'S On!" (excerpt from DVD booklet)

Another of my guilty pleasures...

I really lost count as too how many times I have watched this!

From Video Cassettes (anyone here remember this) to DVDs (my very first DVD I bought from Amazon) and now bluray!

My copy of Dvd was released by Anchor Bay America and this bluray copy is by Umbrella Entertainment.

I am doing a side by side comparison. Here is the kicker! For most part, the aspect ration of the movie is correct in the bluray version (In the DVD version, Achor Bay supposedly used a 4:3 ration masters and put top and bottom black bar to make it seem letter box). Strangely though, the bear scene at the beginning of the dvd copy's ration looks like the correct one compared with the bluray version. So far, this is my only complain about the bluray copy and some very very brief video artifact as opposed to the scratches and dust on the DVD version. So overall, am very VERY happy with my bluray copy.

Am actually surprise to find out that prior to this the Director/Producer (Don Coscarelli/Paul Pepperman) team made three low budget movies, the most famous and expensive amongst them was, Phantasm (1979, with a budget of 500,000)!!

Beastmaster had a budget of 4,500,000 (to 9,000,000 depending on which source you believe).

4,500,000 in 1982 is worth $11,156,601.06 today, so, still amazing the amount of stuff they managed to squeeze into this movie.

Prior to this I never knew Director/Producer (Don Coscarelli/Paul Pepperman) who wrote the script, had total control of the production at the beginning of the filming of the movie to no control at the end. Don Coscarelli was banned from the editing room, by the investors of the movie (European).

Cannot talk about The Beastmaster without talking about Tanya Roberts (who had since confessed that many a man had walked up to her since to tell her how much a fan they are of her because of her "acting" talents in Beastmaster) and Marc Singer (I was in Shakespeare plays before I did this!!!)

In 1982, Tanya appear as the centerfold for Playboy the same month The Beastmaster was release at the movies. Coincident?? I think not. Alas,, the movie did not do well in the box office. But I believe with the receipts from overseas market did recuperate the initial investment. I believe they hit the jackpot, so to speak when the movie was release in Home Video and when HBO started showing it on cable, well as they say, the rest is history.

Well, back to the two leads, the movie would not have gain so much popularity without them!!

Having said that, Marc Singer did come back to do Part 2 & 3 (without Tanya), but they never managed the popularity of the original.

There are also cute animals in this so something for adults and kids.

Please do note there are some mild nudity with Tanya and the three witches, but nothing too scandalous.

If only every men have a black tiger as they wingmen when they wooing women...

Also for the vieweres with keen eye, you will also not that Q (Men In Black) is the bad guy here (Rip Torn)!!

I like this movie, even now. It is not perfect, but when you were my age when I first saw this, it damn near is...

Like always, My Two Sen.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Mar 10 2014, 06:28 PM

Front of the Class (2008)

This is a TV movie, based on the true story of Brad Cohen. James Wolk plays Brad Cohen. Brad Cohen at the age of 12yo was diagnose with Tourette's syndrome. Despite his disadvantage, it is very interesting to see how he managed to overcome his disadvantage and work towards his dream of become a teacher.

James Wolk (can currently be seen in The Crazy Ones) is great here! I think he is going to be very big!! Also interesting to see Patricia Heaton here. There is live after Everybody Loves Raymond!!

If you want to inspire younguns... Show them this. It is good. Let them understand they should change their "I can't to it" attitude into a "I can" attitude.

My Two Sen