american sniper is based on a book, directed by clint eastwood.



i did not find it that good. not as action stylish as black hawk down and not as nail biting as zero dark thirty.

great audio with dobly digital truehd. fine movie to watch, overall, 3/5.

jupiter ascending... from wachowski brothers, $176 million to make.

a space-romance drama, i'll call it. although it has bits of stars wars, star trek, guardians of the galaxy and of course matrix and cloud atlas, it's not the kind of mind-f syfy you would expect from the makers.

the idea is fine, special effects are superb, but drama is so-so, screenplay is incoherent.

dolby truehd audio helps but, can't save it. 2.5/5.

2 excellent movies in 1080p dts 5.1.

ex-machina is a thought provoking syfy-psycho techno thriller. great ideas, tight script and brilliant performances by the 3 core actors. the show will have you riveted to the seat with moments of chilling terror towards the end. 4/5.



wolf totem (the last wolf) is a unique movie about the real story of a student and wolves in inner mongolia. impressive cinematography of the grasslands, hills and lakes, and superb work with wolves, horses, dogs and sheep. the theme is more environmental than anything and somehow reminds you of princess mononoke and avatar. the film was offered to peter jackson to make but was eventually made by jean-jacques annaud. 3.5/5.


This post has been edited by AVFAN: May 17 2015, 02:12 AM

black hat in 1080p dts 5.1 is not bad. it got poor ratings but i quite enjoyed it. actor performances are not great even with chris hemsworth (thor) but i thought there was enough techno suspense and cops-n-robbers action to make it a decent cyber crime-thriller. directed by michael mann (last of the mohicans, heat), it takes you to hong kong, perak (where u get to see the some ugly tin mines landscape), jakarta. and i thought the attempt to explain computer worms and hacking in a movie was quite done well. 3/5.

Another 2 new good 1080p dts 5.1 movies:

Kingsman is a refreshing movie. Stylish, action packed, light humor. Neither James Bond nor Johnny English, it is highly entertaining. Familiar faces include Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Mark Strong and Samuel Jackson. 3.5/5.




The Taking of Tiger Mountain is Tsui Hark's latest production. Same good action stuff that he usually delivers, like in Detective Dee or Seven Swords. The most notable thing about this movie is it must have been hard to make - rugged mountains and snow throughout the show. Stars Zhang Hanyu (Song Jiang in latest Water Margin TV series) and Tony Leung Ka-Fai. 3.5/5.



This post has been edited by AVFAN: May 23 2015, 01:14 AM

er... no, i did not like this one, predictable. 1.5/5 for me.


also, don't bother with seventh son and infini - 2/5 at best, no worth yr time.

2 good 1080p dts movies:

a "gangster with a conscience" story. fair action, star studded cast - liam neeson, ed harris, joel kinnaman, vincent donofrio. 3/5.


from vegas to macau 2 is a poor "god of gamblers" thriller but a fine comedy. good laughs, sufficient gunfire and explosions. see chow yun fatt and carina lau either with plastic surgery or animated faces! plus nick cheung and shawn yue. 3/5.


This post has been edited by AVFAN: Jun 7 2015, 06:52 PM

dragon blade is a grand production. in some ways, it tries to be gladiator but fails. still, great landscapes, settings, impressive costumes and sword fighting.

chinese han and central asian warriors battling roman soldiers.

stars jackie chan, john cusak, adrien brody. 3/5.

best watched on a huge tv, hd audio.

2 light movies to suggest, both 3/5.

danny collins is a touching, fun comedy-drama. i usually do not watch such movies but as a huge fan of al pacino, i had to watch. stars al pacino, annette benning and christopher plummer - big old names.




parallels is a low budget almost amateurish production but is enticing, keeps you interested. if you like the excellent syfy tv series fringe, you will like this. in fact, it comes across as inspired by fringe with the guys in black suits, black hats and big guns appearing at the end. a sequel is most likely as the story is just getting started.

err...

i am not thrilled after the 1st reboot.

i like the original trilogy better.

wolf warriors is a jacky wu jing directed and acted war action movie. somewhat oversimplified with a loose plot, but it carries enough action and entertainment. 3/5.

it takes an idea from saving private ryan and another from behind enemy lines.

we wish jacky wu a successful film directing career!

this, you gotta watch! 4.5/5.

furious 7 or fast and furious seven is excellent, more entertaining than ff5 and ff6 which are very good too.

besides the usual cast, there is jason statham, kurt russell, tony jaa and djimon hounsou.

everybody gets to do what they do best, plenty of adrenalin, screeching tires, bullets, grenades, missiles and drones.

and you gotta watch it in dtshdma 5.1/7.1, superb audio effects.

lastly, the film is dedicated to paul walker rip, whose brothers did some fill-ins which were hardly noticeable.

film directed by james wan, a kuching sarawak born australian.





big game is lightly entertaining, not very original, could have been better. but not too a bad movie for a dry season. 2.5/5.



This post has been edited by AVFAN: Jul 26 2015, 05:26 PM

enjoyed mad max fury road 5.1 ddtruehd.

post apocalyptic, filmed in the deserts of namibia and australia.

you know what to expect if you remember mel gibson's 1979 mad max and mad max 2.

great action, incredible stunts and excellent soundtrack. 4/5.



This post has been edited by AVFAN: Aug 15 2015, 06:23 PM

san andreas... one of the most visually stunning films i've ever watched. almost like one of those roland emmerich disaster movies but better.

simple lousy story with dwayne johnson but the visuals and special effects hit you again and again. best watched in dd truehd or dd atmos - great audio!



This post has been edited by AVFAN: Sep 28 2015, 06:40 PM

terminator genisys is not as good as i want it to be. the story is a little "loose", definitely not as tight as T1, T2 or T3. many scenes try to bring back the old scenes from the trilogy. this movie has no link to terminator salvation at all.

visually, not exceptional but dolby truehd audio is excellent - will test yr home theater with the big booms and low bass.

schwarzenegger is definitely too old for another T movie. emilia clarke (mother of dragons in game of thrones) does a fair job of sarah connor. jai courtney and jason clarke.. ordinary performances.

3/5. but a must for T fans.

after a long wait, SPL2: A Time for Consequences is here.

SPL2 has nothing to do with SPL but is an action-crime thriller. starring tony jaa, wujing, simon yam, louis koo and a couple other good fighters.

the story is a little far fetched, the fighting sequences not as tight as SPL. still, plenty of hard core fights, touching moments thai style to keep you entertained for 2 hrs. probably the best martial arts-fighting movie in a long time. 4/5.



This post has been edited by AVFAN: Oct 11 2015, 12:01 AM

the gift is quite a good psychological thriller.

it builds up slow and steady, and ends with a terrifying shocker.

low budget, not too much action buts does keeps you going, what comes next.

fans of ghost in the shell would have watched at least the 4 episodes of the recent remake of ghost in the shell: arise. tv series.

now, the first movie is out - ghost in the shell: new movie.

good movie. while the animation is not as detailed as the original trilogy movies, it is very stylish and good in story content - AI, cyber-terrorism in a futuristic world filled with prosthetics, cyborgs and "ghosts". as a prequel, major kusanagi is younger, sports blue hair and wears a read suit, has her usual team of batou, togusa, ishikawa, saito, boma and of course, logicoma. and as a prequel, it ends precisely at the point where the first movie, ghost in the shell 2.0 began.

excellent audio with dolby truehd. a must for ghost in the shell fans, 4/5.

and after almost a decade, i am still waiting for steven spielberg to make a live action movie of it!



This post has been edited by AVFAN: Nov 2 2015, 08:16 PM

3 movies for yr consideration...


mission impossible: rogue nation is good, as good as ghost protocol. tom cruise plays ethan hunt as good as ever. jeremy renner, ving rhames and alec baldwin supporting. action is good, the soundtrack in dolby truehd/atmos is excellent. 3.5/5.


no escape is worth watching in that the terror and horror can be real, more so when it is filmed in a se asian country (can't tell exactly which one but likely shot in thailand-cambodia-laos). stars owen wilson and pierce brosnan. 3/5.


the golden cane warrior or pendekar tongkat emas is an indonesian martial arts film. while it is nowhere near raid redemption and raid 2, it is heartening to see more martial arts movies coming out of indonesia. the story is simple and is probably inspired by china's wuxia-kungfu-shaolin genre but is worth watching. pretty good fighting sequences in an indonesian setting. most impressive is the cast is all indonesian, some showing great potential for future martial arts films. 3/5.


This post has been edited by AVFAN: Nov 8 2015, 02:39 PM

jurassic world is a bit of a let down in that it has hardly anything new to offer if you have watched the last trilogy. it comes across as more a less a remake of the original jurassic park although the story has nothing to do with it except for mention of in-gen and its founder john hammond.

still, it is fairly entertaining, good for kids and family especially those who have not watched the 1993 original. the cgi is fine but the dtshdma audio soundtrack is just average.

3/5. i am surprised by it achieving 3rd place ranking after avatar and titanic.





This post has been edited by AVFAN: Nov 14 2015, 06:53 PM