Archive for the 'Reviews' Category

Wall-E

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

Call me biased, but there hasn’t been a Pixar movie which I didn’t enjoy.

Actually, the concept of Pixar’s movies have all been very mundane. Can you guess what Pixar cartoons the following were?

toys
monsters
fish
ants
race car
superhero family
rat
robot

Does any of the above protagonist sound very exciting to you? Everytime a new Pixar movie is shown on trailers, it doesn’t compel me to really want to watch it. I mean how in hell am I going to give a shit about ants? Or rats? Or fish? Or freaking race car? And aren’t there enough movies about robots and superhoes? But when I finally do watch it (and I always do) - the story telling grabs me by the shoulders and sucks me in.

Taking everyday objects and circumstances and turning it into a compelling story which appeals to the average person - you and me. That’s Pixar. The extra bit where it cheesily tugs at your heart strings is most probably Disney’s fault, so I’m letting that slide.

Humanising its characters. Telling a great story.
That’s what Pixar does, and that is what they do incredibly well.

Their story telling is so seamless, so effortless, so simple, so flawless - it’s so easy to forget about how much blood and sweat that went into the production of its movies. It’s easy to forget how difficult it is to produce that kind of quality animation, and how long it took them to make it - just because their incredible work does not get into the way of their story-telling.

But how was Wall-E?

It’s exactly like how you would expect a Pixar movie to be like.

Great story with a message. Heart-warming. Satisfying.

Wall-E was incredibly cute with those sad binocular eyes. Even his pet cockroach was darn cute. Who the hell can think up of having a cockroach as a pet AND making it look cute? Only Pixar.

ALL of the dialogues between the robots were in their own robotic language, and yet you have an inkling of what they are actually saying. Who the hell can think up of doing that? Only Pixar.

Wall-E has a certain familiarity in it. Maybe because Wall-E reminded me of Johnny Number 5. Maybe because Eve looks suspectingly like a MAC gadget. Maybe because the space scenes had elements of all the sci-fi movies I’ve ever seen. Maybe because the message has been preached so often. But, in spite of the dejavu feeling I didn’t feel like Wall-E is just some overplayed try-too-hard tacky cartoon knock-off sci-fi movie. It still feels original but with a tinge of “hey.. I know you from some place!”. Who the hell can combine just the right mix of familiarity and originality? Only Pixar.

Any movie which can keep a rowdy 3 year old brat sitting on his seat fairly quietly for 2 hours surely has to have some magic in it. Only Pixar.

I loved it.
I loved every single pixel, every minute of it. Even with the extra serving of Disney cheese.

Pixar has failed to dissapoint me yet again.

I’m gonna go buy me a DVD and watch this another million times more.

Thanks for the invite, Minishorts.

More:
On IMDB
Official Website

Reviews | 9 Comments

The Dark Knight

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

It’s hard to imagine that an overused, overquoted cheesy line from a soppy romance comedy would make its appearance in a dark, action-packed comic film.

But it did.

And it appeared in one of the most tensed scenes in the movie no less. Where Batman was just about to plummel the Joker into a pulp.

The Joker, in all his clown make-up glory, staring Batman straight to his face, uttered these 3 words with such earnest and innocence, as if they were star-crossed lovers.

“You complete me”

So contradicting and ironic, you can’t help but giggle. What? Did he really say that? Did he mean what he said, or was he just… joking?

But how can the good co-exist with the evil? How are they dependant on each other when they are polar opposites?

Day and night. Fire and water. Moon and the sun. Ying and Yang.

And yet when you think about it, one wouldn’t have been able to exist without the existence of the other.

Like 2 sides of a coin.

A balance.

“You complete me”

Every beginning has an ending. Every good time ends. Every bad time ends.

A never-ending cycle.

With The Dark Knight reigning over Gotham and single handedly becoming the icon of ultimate good, the birth of the ultimate evil was bound to happen. And it happened in the form of The Joker.

The Clown Prince of Crime.

No DNA, no fingerprints. Custom clothing, no tags or brand labels. No name, no other alias. Nothing in his pockets but knives and lint.

His motive?
Not money. Not pleasure. Not revenge.

But just because.

Like the Devil is to God. You can’t blame the devil for being evil. He’s just doing his job. And just like Bruce Wayne is doing his job to keep the city free from crime, it is the Joker’s job to keep it filled with crime.

The perfect criminal. With no other motives except to be the epitome of and to create evil.

“You complete me”

We don’t usually root for the bad guy because it’s wrong, because the bad guy is always so hateful. But this bad guy is so good, you can’t help but respect him for his utter and complete devotion to his craft. He has only one goal and he goes all out to achieve it. His purpose is clear. His intent is pure. How do you loathe someone like that?

TDK is the type of movie every producers and directors can only dream of making. They set out with good intentions to make the best movie ever, but more often than not, they miss the point by a mile because they tried too hard.

With TDK, execution was just right.

Clever lines which will be re-quoted again and again for years to come. Real and memorable characters. Impeccable timing. Elaborate set. Ass-kicking storyline. Action sequences which blow your mind away. Emotions that it stirs within you.

It was perfect.

Heath Ledger did more than play a character.

He brought it to life.

TDK was not just a superhero film.

It was storytelling at its finest.

More:
Official website
On IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes

Reviews | 14 Comments

Sex And The City - The Movie

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

Honestly, which urban girl and her mother has NOT heard of SATC?

When I popped in the first DVD and the moment the SATC jingle was on I was hooked.

The glam, the glitter, the glitz, the girls, the talk, the issues, the boys, the sex, the clothes, the shoes, the envying them for everything they have you can only dream of having.

Some guy friends even had the cheek to say that “SATC is every girl’s porn”.

Haha.

How can it even be in the same category as porn? Production costs are much higher, songs are catchier, people are better looking, there’s more clothes, there’s a proper storyline and most importantly girls don’t quite jerk-off to it. It’s NOTHING like porn. SATC is more like every girl’s comic book.

Well, after 6 seasons the girls had to get together one last time to milk it to the bone.

Good? Well if you liked it to begin with, it shouldn’t disappoint. It’s like an entire season compressed into a 2 hour film. It’s bigger. It’s louder. It’s cornier. It’s sure as hell longer.

At first I wasn’t sure. I’m not a huge die-hard fan. The last time I watched SATC was 3-4 years back and I had only watched Season 1 & 2. I remembered enjoying the series, but that was so long ago. What if it was totally different from what I remembered it to be? What if it didn’t meet my expectations? What if I hate it? It’s like, having to meet with an old and dear friend you haven’t been in touch with for years and not quite sure what to expect. But the moment you sit down and start chatting, a wave of familiarity hits you and you realize that everything about the person was exactly the same as you remembered. That was what The Movie felt like for me.

I smiled and gushed and my eyes glazed over. I still wanted the clothes, the shoes, the bags, the lifestyle, the people, the rooms, their lives, the fairytales.

The Questions were also answered.

Will Charlotte ever lose her peppiness? How many times do we see Samantha’s exposed boobs? Will they ever give Miranda something else to wear besides homeless people’s rags? And of course, the most important, will that Mr. Big ever marry Carrie?

One major gripe though, I thought there were too many shameless product placements. Names were dropped and products were flashed every 5 minutes – very irritating.

Other than that, it’s SATC on the big screen! It’s fun, fluff and entertaining! I expected it to be fun and it was and I really enjoyed myself (no, not at all like how one would enjoy porn)!

What WOULD be unexpected is if we actually get to catch it at our local cinemas. I mean, we’re talking about the country where they even censored the word “girl” in that Katy Perry’s “I kissed a girl” song on radio. So what do you think? Will it ever come to Malaysia as “Empat Gadis di Bandar”? Only time will tell.

More:
Rotten Tomatoes
Official Website
IMDB

Reviews | 3 Comments

Made of Honour

Friday, June 13th, 2008

Disclaimer: This movie was viewed under the influence. Quality of review is suspect. I disclaim everything. Proceed at your own risk

I’ll be honest. I cannot stand watching Grey’s Anatomy and I think this Patrick Dampsey fellow is way overrated. Neither can I stand fan girls who faint at the mere sound of his name. However, I do understand his need to milk this fanatical popularity he has going on for him and what better way to cash on it than to star in a chick flick?

Plot? Well, if you’re not too much of a dunce the poster is pretty much self-explanatory. This is actually just another version of My Best Friend’s Wedding, except the role of the” Julia “big mouth, unshaven armpits, sparkling white teeth” Roberts is played by Patrick “thank god for grey’s anatomy otherwise I’ll just be another unemployed bum” Dampsey who manages to pull it off without causing any major inflictions.

It’s no profound heart-felt drama. There are no self-righteous messages embedded in it. It will not be life changing. This movie will win no Oscars. But if you’re looking for some mindless, cute and fun-loving movie for a girly outing or a (not first) date, then this is the perfect movie for your needs.

But would YOU like it? Well it really depends on who you are.

Dampsey fangirl:
It’s a movie. With Dampsey in it. Need I elaborate? You’ll watch this a few times in the theatre, get your hands on all the paraphernalia, buy your own original DVD, watch it until it breaks then go out to buy another one, catch it on Astro in 2 years time and you’ll still love it.

Chick flick fans
It’s another chick flick. Can’t find a reason to not like it. I’m waiting for those idiots who love making movie spoofs to come out with “Not Another chick Flick” movie. I can smell it. It’s coming. And I’m staying a hundred miles away from it.

Guys
The main girl is really cute. She looks like a cross between Liv Tyler and Selma Blair. Eventhough you hate (or secretly pretend to hate) chick flicks and the only reason why you’ll be watching this in public is because your girlfriend wants to, you’ll still enjoy the girl. It helps to ease the pain.

NOT Chick flick fans
It’s got CHICK FLICK WRITTEN ALL OVER IT IN BOLD AND FLASHING HOT PINK FLUORESCENT LIGHTING. Why on earth would you want to go watch it if you hate chick flicks in the first place? Masochist.

Me?
Okay, I’m a sucker for chick flicks lah. I’m just a girl afterall, can you really blame me? I like the fairytales. The happy endings. The cheesiness. The classic “jerk turns good guy just for the girl” formula. I can’t help smiling when I see the cute self-sacrificial stuff the protagonist would do just for the girl he truly loves. Eventhough it’s idiotic, cheesy and done to death, chick flicks are like comfort junk food for my soul.

I really enjoyed it. I wasn’t even annoyed seeing Dampsey’s face flashing all over the screen. I think being imbibed played a huge role in my enjoyment. A drunk brain makes everybody and everything seem clever and funny.

I watch this movie expecting a chick flick and I GET a chick flick. Expectations met. Pass go. Collect 200 bucks.

By the way, I wasted half the movie trying to figure out where I’ve seen the other guy before and it really distracted me a lot. Because I’m nice and don’t wish for you to go through the same fate as I did, I’ll let you know first hand that he is that general from Rome from the HBO series. You’re welcome!

Thanks Nuffnang!

I am looking forward to watch Kungfu Panda and The Hulk next week! After that I want to watch Hancock! Can’t wait can’t wait! Review will follow shortly after, of course!

Related links:
Official website
On IMDB
The people at Rotten Tomatoes didn’t like it very much.

Reviews | 7 Comments

P.S. I Love You

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

Have you been in love? Have you loved someone so much that when you think of that person your heart aches as it pounds itself furiously against your ribcage, so furiously it stops your breath and makes you lose your mind, only to be finally released from the tower of your own madness which consumes when you see that idiot once again, or hear the idiot’s voice.

Being in love is not a laughing matter. It’s fucking terrible. Your world gets turned upside down. Food tastes bland. Water doesn’t hydrate. Seconds feel like hours, day and night doesn’t make a difference. Your mind is consumed by that one person. Nothing works. Nothing makes sense.

There’s nothing worse than being in love.

Except having that love stolen from you.

If you have been in love, and had that love taken away from you, then you will, without a doubt, feel exactly like how the main character felt when she lost her love – which is basically what the whole movie is about. Love, lost love, and dealing with lost love. Hilary (as Holly) and Gerard (as Gerry) has so much chemistry on-screen, that when Gerry was gone, YOU would despair. YOUR heart gets ripped out, flung into flames, thrashed around with a spiked club, drowned in water.

I hate it. It’s a great movie. But it makes you go through those feelings you kept locked up in a thick metal box deep inside the black inner recesses of your heart, and you threw away the key because you never ever want to go through it again.

The hopelessness. The loneliness. The difficulty in moving on. The self-pity. The painful longing. The constant reminder of the absence of the other person during your mundane everyday routines. That picture. That piece of clothing. The not wanting to leave the house. The not wanting to get out of bed. The feeling like nothing matters anymore. The bitter anger and jealousness you feel when people around you seem to be moving on with their lives too quickly, living you behind. The “what is the point” question. The why, why, why question. The unfairness. The feeling like you heart will never heal. The fear of being alone. Forever.

Lock them up again. Bury the key. Go away and never come back.

I only cried once in the movie. If I wasn’t too tired and sleepy I would’ve probably bawled throughout the move, who knows. The part that touched me most was at the scene she breaks down and went straight to her mother to cry and cry. Going to your mother is like caving in and waving the white flag. An admission that the situation was too overwhelming and you weren’t strong enough to handle it yourself. An admission to weakness. Nobody likes to admit to that.

Before you mistaken this for depressing movie, it’s not. It’s just a very touching and emotional story. A story of a women’s journey on coping with lost love and how she was helped by her loved one to pick herself up together again.

To have someone love you with so much dedication and affection, even after 10 years, like how Gerry character loved Holly – that’s heaven on earth. Gerry’s love and dedication for Holly is today’s version of a fairytale. Gerry is today’s version of a knight in shining armour. And I’m just a sucker for fairytales.

P.S. I Love You is a terrible, beautiful, heart-wrenching movie, so it’s nice to watch it with somebody. But it’s a little too heavy for a first (few hundred, haha) date movie though… So watching preferences should be like this:

watch with somebody you love > watch by yourself > watch with a first date

More:
On IMDB
On Rotten tomatoes
Official website

Reviews | 14 Comments