World Invasion:Battle Los Angeles (2011)

I was a fan of ID4 (1996). The movie blew me away when I was still in college...

District 9 (2009) was remarkably brilliant and caught me off guard...

Skyline (2010) was promising but utterly ruined by bad acting and a poor ending....

So, understandably Battle LA trailers and sneak peaks did not peak my interest. Unless it was Roland Emmerich or Steven Spielberg at the helm and producing the movie, I was skeptical to say the least. As Forrest Gump would say, "life is like a box of chocolates..."; you know the rest...it takes guts and lots of imagination to make an earth-invasion movie to suit the palate of audiences. Cliched scenes and predictable outcomes always make it an uphill task.

Jonathan Liebesman directed this 116-minute flick with Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez starring. Liebesman, I remember from Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A New Beginning. The theme was laid on the USMC (United States Marine Corp). For me, that was a good way to do things. After all, most situations calling for the defence of the nation would befall the USMC. Regular army will pound, but the USMC are designated for special operations and specific mission parameters. Think about this movie as a sci-fi version of Blackhawk Down (2001).

Needless to say, the premise was not original - CNN reports imminent meteor strikes, but turns out that the projectiles coming from the heavens appears to have mechanical structures and moving at slower speeds as they near - it's always the eastern seaboard which gets it- you see loads of terrified citizen being evacuated but which good invasion movie won't see the brutal deaths of a few dozens or hundreds to make a point? Aliens? Well, what else? Immense ships, superior firepower and ugly forms. Action and ammo always sell. These things crashes into the water just off the coast of 16-17 countries and make their way inland, blasting all and sundry in their wake.

The movie progressed to focus on a unit led by Lt. Willam Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez) with the more senior Staff Seargent Michael Nanz (Eckhart) shadowing and counselling the young Lieutenant. Their mission was to secure an overrun police prescient, rescue any civilians and get out before an aerial bombing commences to "drive the infestation back to the ocean". Along their way, they pick up Rincon and his children at the police prescient and a separated USAF Tech Sergeant Elena Santos (Michelle Rodriguez). The suspense ala Blackhawk Down starts from here- fighting out of alien territory to make it to an FOB (forward operating base), the next safest place to be when the Air Force commences their assault.

The entourage knows how to kill the aliens more effectively when they dissected one alive to find out where its heart is. The aliens incidentally run on water and so, they bleed water. They invasion force has come to drink us dry. The engagement of a freeway between the Marines and an alien party seems to mirror the final show down in Saving Private Ryan. The aliens in this movie control un-manned drones to kill and maim humans from command ships placed in major cities and locations.

Just the luck they needed when the Marines come across an RF distortion which hints the presence of a command ship. It was underground. I liked this part of the movie - the infiltration battle scene and the final show down when they laser-in guided missiles into the command ships. Much like how they do it in ID4 after they discover how to down a mother ship effectively. Once the command units are down, all drones drop like flies and the foot soldiers retreat.

The action packed movie certainly was worth the time and money. After being disappointed by Skyline, Battle LA is certainly a refreshing invasion movie.

I'd give this one a 7.5 out of a possible 10.

Chronicles of Narnia 3: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

"Chicken", that's what Kenny called me when I refused to watch Chronicles of Narnia 3 with him last week...

Frankly, I treated the 3rd adaptation of C.S. Lewis' book with great circumspect, having been disappointed by CON1: Prince Caspian. I never did like a series starting off great like CON2: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, only to be sorely let down by a sequel undeserving of the epic-ness of "Narniaism".

This 3rd installment focuses of the youngest 2 of the Pevensies, Edmund 'The Just' and Lucy "The Valiant" Pevensie, both coming of age and exploring their adolescent life. The story starts with the siblings in England amidst the war, sepearated from Peter "The Magnificent" and Susan "The Gentle Pevensie, both who took flight to the United States whilst waiting for their parents' return.

I've always enjoyed the translocation scene to Narnia, the first being, well, self-explanatory ...a wardrobe cupboard, the 2nd, a train station and the latest, a painting the Dawn Treader coming to life, flooding a room where Edmund, Lucy and their obnoxious cousin, Eustace Scrubb surfaces onto the Great Eastern Sea in Narnia, surprisingly to be rescued by King Caspian (now) who commands the valiant ship...

From there, old friend united...the swashbuckling, pure-hearted mouse Reepicheep and Tavros, the light-hearted minotaur who serves as the Dawn Treader's 2nd mate...

Of course, no Narnia sequel would be complete without the wise and courageous Aslan the Lion, who reigned over Narnia for a century in winter's dead during the White Witch's dominance in CON1.. the White Witch was defeated by the Pevensie siblings after which a Golden Era was established for posterity...

The plot is simple, an evil power lurks, casting men and women into oblivion was it consumes all goodness and the 7 Lost Lords of Narnia whose swords must be united at Aslan's table to defeat the evil which looms... this is the exact formula needed for a movie of fantasy bearing good vs. evil...a "Never Ending Story" somewhat... coupled with high sea adventures, crossing swords and of course, the climatically triumph of good vs. evil, interspersed with bouts of self-doubt and temptations...

Eustace, an unbeliever of Narnian tales and an unwilling participant in this new quest, seen often times penning cynical entries of the days in Narnia was the right blokey, British comic relief...the chap literally went through a baptism of fire (being transformed into a fire-breathing dragon) after which, his bravery and courage tested. His doubting heart would soon be soften by the unlikely friendship with Reepicheep...both forging a friendship which could not be undone...

Courage, friendship and love...the indispensable values...

Suffice to say, I was glad watching this movie with lowered expectations and uplifted by the significant improvement over the last sequel which left me in disdain...

Pity Peter and Susan were not in this epic...the camaraderie of the last 2 adventures were legendary in their own respect...the battles in this one are no less watershed... I'd crave for more and wait for the 4th installment in anticipation, now that my hope has been restored... I think that C.S. Lewis' novels must not be undertaken unless you understand it takes more than good directorship to make the movie magic work....this time round, it was redemption...

I'll give The Voyage of the Dawn Treader a 6.5 out of a possible 10.

Tron Legacy

...is sheer pointlessness personified and it's lacklustre character development left me tasting the eleven bucks I spent on this alleged highly anticipated sequel...

The vivid computer generated imagery is but a momentary sensory allure, only to be surpassed by the realization that the theme of father-son reunion coupled with the need for retribution has not revealed anything beyond expectation...a closure in that respect but that was all which beckoned its continuity...

... and what a waste to a beautiful score...the soundtrack is something I reckon I'd appreciate more.... for that, money would be well spent....

Go see the movie in 3D for its awe and wonder, so-called....

A 4.0 out of a possible 10 from me...

Skyline (2010)

I am partial to alien invasion flicks even if they were alleged ripoffs from successful predecessors. In Skyline, a Brothers Strausse winter release, an alien invasion (with no attempt to test audience's guessing) nothing so original as War of the Worlds (the original one) or Independence Day (1994) (ID4).

The visitors' modus operandi? An irresistible light which burns your veins and draws you helplessly into the tractor beams of mammoth mother ships, harvesting homo sapiens to extract their brain (stem included), presumably as a source of energy, nourishment. My theory: neural energy amplified, explaining the apparent regenerative abilities of a mother ship having been taken down by a deployed nuclear bomb.

The airborne jellyfish-like extractors reminds of the drones in the Matrix trilogy, tentacles trailing and the behemoths roaming the grounds bears a striking resemblance to the ghostly aliens appearing in Final Fantasy.

The aliens' hostile intentions? Harvest all human life, much like the theory which unfolded in M. Night Shyamalan's (not so box office material) Signs. The harvesting mother ships look like an inverted version of Nero's dreadnought, Narada in Star Trek 2009 and particle weapons in the likes of the alien fighter crafts in ID4.

I actually enjoyed the movie despite it's blatant similarities with so many alien invasion movies. I can only try to justify the liking as a result of a long-time affair with science fiction, but this movie is no "sleeper" like District 9 (2009).

If one is critical, a DVD review would suffice if parting with money offends the economies of scale in entertainment enjoyment.

I'd give this a 5.0 out of a possible 10.

Unstoppable

Click on the poster for the official website

Based on true events, this 1 hr 40 mins flick relives the tale of a 28-year train engineer on the brink of retirement, Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) and newly paired with Will Colson (Chris Pine), a train conduct fresh out of training and trying to win back his wife on an ordinary route hauling cargo in Pennsylvania whose day turns out to be a test of heroism and valor.
Locomotive no. 777 whose engineer fails to implement air brake connections during a routine taxi results in a coaster-turned-runaway train which takes the 39-car load ploughing through the main line to Stanton, a town housing hundreds of thousands in what experts predicted a 25 to 40 mile event radius. The unmanned half-a-mile long behemoth and notching 70-80 mph had in its compliment, cars of toxic chemicals which would certainly wreck havoc of unimaginable proportions.

Colson and Barnes were the town's last hope of avoiding certain catastrophe after a daring attempt involving another locomotive, a helicopter and derailers went awry.

It's no easy task keeping the audience glued in a contained environment but director Tony Scott takes keeps the suspense levels up in this high speed drama. Reminds me of Speed in 1994. Oddly enough, this is probably one of the noticeable films with Denzel Washington out of uniform.

Unstoppable is inspired by the "Crazy Eights" locomotive accident in 2001 during which a train left its Walbridge, Ohio yard and began a 66-mile journey through northwest Ohio with no one at the controls, after the engineer got out of the originally slow-moving train to correctly line a switch, mistakenly believing he had properly set the train's dynamic braking system, just as his counterpart in the movie did.

I'll give this one a 7.0 out of a possible 10.

Harry Potter 7

Click on the poster to the official website

The first of 2 parts of the latest rendition of J.K. Rowling's tales of the boy who lived opened just last week with fans apparating at cinemas nationwide... Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

With Albus Dumbledore dead, the plot continues with Harry, Hermione and Ron running from Voldermort's minions who is after Potter and at the same time, the trio goes hunting for the 3rd Horcrux and the rest of the Horcruxes to destroy them believing that would diminish Voldermort's powers and give them a fighting chance to defeat the evil wizard once for all. Right now, the Ministry of Magic has been taken over by Voldermort's kind and the world beckons to see the life of a muggle or mudblood spared from the relentless prosecution of the new regime.

The movie is enchanted with spells and wizardry closer to the books as I am told and the mood certainly bears closer to winter in London; certainly a diametrical contrast to the innocent and brighter days at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As a matter of fact, audiences hardly saw much of Hogwarts. Much of the storyline moved across the country-side, with the trio operating in subterfuge to evade the Snatchers to Harry's home town in Godric's Hollow which is incidentally the place of his parents' murder also, the Ministry of Magic in which the 3rd Horcrux was stolen from Umbridge (the traitorous Defence against the Dark Arts teacher in HP: Order of the Phoenix).

As usual and expected, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint's performance surpasses their previous mark. Radcliffe appears on several Broadway production whilst Emma recently appeared in Burberry's new Spring/Summer 2010 campaign. Grint has lent his voice for several BBC radio series and voice overs The young lads have done well for themselves, raking millions of pounds at such a tender age.

For die-hard and not so die-hard audiences, this film is the 2nd last installment to the silver screen rendition.

I'll give this one a 7.5 out of a possible 10.

Part 2 of HP7 opens in July 2011.

RED: Retired and Extremely Dangerous

Warning: May contain spoilers

A refreshing action-comedy flick worth every penny in a long time. Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Dame Helen Mirren leads this top heavy cast in this Robert Schwentke film. Alongside are Richard Dreyfuss, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, James Lemar, Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck) and Brian Cox.

RED tells the story of a retired CIA Analyst, Frank Moses (Willis) who after 2 years away from the field, spends his time getting to know Sarah Ross (Parker) on the phone from the pension office everytime he receives his cheque. She dreams of a life away from her mundane desk-bound job and he seeks to revel in her penchant for romance in novels. All is well up until a unit of "wetworks" operatives storms Moses' humble abode.

They naturally ended up dead ...

Moses' makes his way to Atlanta and abducts Sarah for her safety knowing that their conversations were monitored and suspected her life would be in danger as well. From there, they team up with retired intel operative, Marvin Boggs (Malkovich), Moses' old time friend and ex-colleauge, Joe Matheson (Freeman) and former assassin, Victoria (Mirren) to seek out the people behind the plot to wipe out the men who were behind the cleaning-up operation after a massacre in Guatemala in 1981.Agent William Cooper (Urban) who is makes his appearance as a resolute agent with no less determination to carry out CIA orders without question pursues the uncanny team until his loyalties are questioned by facts and evidence Moses' managed to retrieve from the CIA's "non-existent" archive, manned by Records Keeper, Henry (Ernest Borgnine). Moses et all sought out the government contractor, Alex Dunning (Dreyfuss) who has dealt with the US' most implacable enemies and he seems to hold information to reveal the real plot behind the attempted murders of ex-CIA and Special Forces personnel in Guatemala.

As the movie unravels, the conspiracy leading up to the White House underscores the story with Vice President, John Stanton (McMahon) having a minor role. The highlight of this movie is Moses and Sarah breaking into CIA headquarters at Langley which is the watershed event. The next question is whether loyalties will be changed and whether the truth be made known. Keep your eyes on Malkovich. He is the comic relief in this action comedy.

Firepower, stunts and action will keep you thrilled whilst the slap-stick humor and interplay between this star studded movie will keep you in stitches. Certainly a fantastic summer addition to this year's selection of silver screen entertainment.

I give RED a 8.5/ 10

Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec...

or "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec" and Luc Besson's latest film, Adèle: Rise of the Mummy is the start of a trilogy of Adèle's adventures.

Who says only British humor is blokey?

The tales of a young, investigative reporter setting across the globe in search of myths and new discoveries with which to revolutionize the world; which one of us who were once "Adventures of Tintin" readers would resist this.

Rise of the Mummy stars Louise Bourgoin who, as you would have guess, plays the title character.

This film sets it's pace in the early 20th century, where a pterodactyl flies over Paris one fateful night and starts a chain reaction of events that lead to our heroine, a hot tempered and cynical headstrong Gallic cross between Lois Lane and Gertrude Bell, with a taste for high adventure, with the knack of finding herself in the strangest scrapes possible.

The film kicks into high gear we first see our heroine goes on a tomb raid in Egypt like a turn of the century Lara Croft and seeking out a centuries-old Mummy to take back to France, where she meets her rival, the evil Professor Dieuneveult (Mathieu Amalric) and invents a daring escape on the level of any feat Indiana Jones has ever attempted. Evil Arabs, avaricious fellow Europeans, a headstrong heroine ahead of her time...it looks like we’re set for a good colonial adventure along the lines of Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

I can imagine that the books and comics written and illustrated by Jacques Tardi would be imaginative reading, just as Tintin books and comics were. This is as close as I can get to a female Tintin. The difference? Adèle is about 70 years after Tintin, lacks a side-kick dog and fewer action scenes and car chases.

From my reading further, there are several more titles in Tardi's collection:-

1. Le démon de la tour Eiffel (The Demon of the Eiffel Tower) (1976)
2. Le savant fou (The Mad Scientist) (1977)
3. Momies en folie (Mummies on Parade) (1978)
4. Le secret de la salamandre (The Secret of the Salamander) (1981)
5. Le noyé à deux têtes (The Drowned Man with Two Heads) (1985)
6. Tous des monstres! (Monsters All!) (1994)
7. Le mystère des profondeurs (The Mystery of the Abyss) (1998)
8. Le labyrinthe infernal (2007)

I can only hope to see more of Luc Besson's work on a sequel. A refreshing change for once as I've seen enough of a lone, buffed-up ex-marine courier-for-hire wrecking nice German cards and imitating Jet-Li's moves on the silver screen.

Predators (2010) Review

Last month, I wrote about the movie (click here). After watching Predators, I do not stand to be corrected.

It's at best a rip-off of the 1987 Arnie flick. Same setting, different planet. The dialogue is a lackluster attempt to pay tribute to Predators and the battle in the jungles of Guatemala.

This sequel (after nearly 20 years after Predator) is nothing as suspenseful and thrilling as the old one. It doesn't feel like a hunt and the chase is a little more paced than a morning jog. The casting wasn't exactly a right feel for me-

• Adrien Brody is not the guy to play a tough guy. He should stick to holocaust victims.

• Lawrence Fishburne who appeared only about 5 minutes before getting disintegrated should stick to tutoring people called "the One"

The final battle was definitely a rip-off the first movie. The deliberate fires to set off the IR sensors in the Predator's visor and the covered-in-mud trick to be obscured from detection. Whilst they were at it, I wondered why they didn't put in a self-destruct scene. The movie's ending left audiences hanging with a distasteful attempt at a cliffhanger and to hint a possible sequel (whether on the silver screen or in novels)

I take back what I said about the Predators-Aliens crossovers after watching this movie.

A-Team: Soldiers of Fortune

(Click on the movie poster for the movie website)

"In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team."

A true 80's tv series aficionado will never forget that voiceover introduction.

When it comes to remakes, I treat them with such circumspect but with A-Team, 2010 it was 2-thumbs up! If I had another hand it would be 3 without batting an eye lid! A-Team 2010 truly rose to the occasion and delivered a 2-hour action-packed, hilarious and thrilling ride true to its form with the 1983 series.

It's like Star Trek on last year's summer blockbuster release. Fast paced and fun. Certainly a must see movie!

A-Team stars Liam Neeson (as Col. John "Hannibal" Smith), Bradley Cooper (as Templeton "Face" Peck), Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (as Corporal B.A. Baracus) and Sharlto Copley (as H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdoch). Jessica Biel plays Capt. Charisa Sosa from DCIS, Face's love interest.

In 1983, A-Team was distributed by Universal Television and during its 3-year run, it reached its peak with 40 million viewers. The tv series was always over-the-top and outlandish which for me did the trick since each episode was only about 40 minutes. The late George Peppard (original Hannibal) and Mr. T (orignal B.A.) are still very much remembered. Who can forget Dirk Benedict (original Face) who also is Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica tv series and Dwight Shcultz (original Murdoch). Dwight Shcultz and Dirk Benedict have came appearances in A Team 2010.

I think the formula for success lies in the characters and their homage to the old A-Team. Certain elements can never be done away. How can A-Team fans picture an A-Team movie without "I love it when a plan comes together" Hannibal line and "Shut up fool!" B.A. banter with Murdoch . I was very appreciative the producers did not change the fantastic four's iconic GMC van, still black with the hallmark red stripes and spoiler. Some things you just can't take away when it comes to remakes lest you crave catastrophe.

The ingenious plans and cheating-death-tricks up their sleeves will leave you glued to the silver screen. Realism is not the key to A-Team but a perpetual "win-win" scenario. Even when you don't have a plan, you have a plan. This underlying foundation stones were and is laid in A-Team.

Of course, some would beg to differ; so I've read. Some fellow bloggers and columnist have accused A-Team of absconding from any slight trace of reality and too over-the-top, but if Steve J. Cannell could not only produce but successfully produce such success from an outlandish series, I fail to see why that formula would not work on the silver screen. Online film critique Rotten Tomatoes settled with this consensus: For better and for worse, Joe Carnahan's big-screen version of The A-Team captures the superficial, noisy spirit of the TV series.

Regardless, the spirit of the original 80's version lives on with A-Team 2010. I see it as a tribute to good ol' action adventure entertainment as it was back in the days, unlike the mindless, unimaginative and boring permutations we have on cable tv today.

In the 1980s, the A-Team were relentless pursued by Colonel Lynch. In this 2010 remake, Lynch is no colonel but some pansy CIA agent. The name "Lynch" will be repeated numerous times in the movie and even at the finale, a new twist to the name "Lynch" ever provokes suspicion that the likely sequel will also involve "Lynch". Don't get me wrong, the plot was excellent. Hannibal's boys must always be pursued by the US government to make the franchise work, no matter who the instrument of pursuit is.

So, it if you have a problem and there's no one else can help then maybe you can go watch.. A-TEAM!

• It may be a little long, but stay until the end credits finish rolling...

Surrogates

Synopsis:

FBI agents Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) and Peters (Radha Mitchell) investigate the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves – fit, good looking remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume their life roles – enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

• Razia simply described it as "a stupid movie!"...

• Surrogates rated 40% on the "Tomatometer" with a resultant consensus that though the flick sports a slick look and feel, Surrogates fails to capitalize on a promising premise, relying instead on mindless action and a poor script...

• Movie aficionados and bloggers gave it slightly more than a 5 over a scale of 10 because it's a Bruce Willis flick.
  

• For me, possible one of the biggest waste of opportunity to hit the box office given the plot had so much potential, unfortunately, the development was immensely unimaginative and lack originality.
  

FBI agents (BRUCE WILLIS and RADHA MITCHELL) investigate the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to...

This author opines that Surrogates was a result of a lack of two-critical elements in a good movie... a capable director and a good script writer. Although Willis did a fair job in developing Agent Greer's character alongside Mitchell and Rosamund Pike who played his wife, the production of the movie seemed to be an afterthought and a poor attempt at reinventing the same theme.

For me, it was inescapable the movie appeared to bear striking similarities with:

• Matrix where human minds are plugged into in a CG generated world whilst their bodies are used as batteries to power machines which have taken control of the world. The Wachowski brothers commendable work of blending surreality and action gave us the slow-mo panning sequences and gravity defying scenes.

• Terminator mechanized humanoids with grafted human skin on metal endo skeletons programmed to wipe out humanity. The theory of uprising machines over man has always played into our imaginations.
  

• I Robot with the exception the robots here,called surrogates are manipulated by their human owners through a hive network.
  

• would you think of A Nightmare on Elm Street? I could not help it, especially when people who get slain in their dreams actually end up dead! Of course the protoganist in that horror flick was a poorly dressed and badly burnt psycho, but the premise of the linked mind and body experience is nothing so new.
  

If only this silver screen rendition was directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan, Bruce Willis may have had the saving grace of being paired with eccentric director and even if the movie fails to hit the box office marks the audience would have been more forgiving.

Surrogates was an utter waste of time, tasteless and un-original.

The World Needs Bigger Heroes

..so says one of the taglines for G-Force...

This latest Walt Disney film (and a Jerry Bruckheimer production) took to the big screen in Malaysia today, the 17th of September. I must say, the response was rather luke warm. The theatre was hardly filled. From the corner of my eye, a small family of no more than five or six and a few couples spaced out. The numbers were so different when Up was screening. I guess crime-fighting-secret-agent guinea pigs isn't exactly the biggest seller here...

The movie reminds me of Danger Mouse, an animated TV series in the early 80's portraying about a secret agent mouse in Britain with his side-kick, Penfold, a bumbling hamster foiling the maniacal and sinister plans of Baron Silas Greenback, the frog fondly referred by DM as "Baron". I think DM loosely parodies James Bond. I remember keeping graphic novels of DM to keep my after-school afternoons occupied and I even once made an eye-patch resembling DM's.

As raking in the profits is the main driving force for movie makers, so does it for the gaming industry . Sony has already debut G-Force for Playstation 3 which CNet gave a 4 1/2 star rating which roughly translates to "very good". The game DVDs are so costly over here. One could easily set you back by RM200 to RM300. To ensure returning clientele, I'm sure Sony would need to keep their gamers satisfied with good play quality.

I haven't spotted any toys or movie memorabilia in Toys R Us yet indicating that G-Force isn't expected to sell well with the kiddies. Maybe there's no big plans to market furry crime fighting toy stuff. I wouldn't think the prospect of having four or five furry guinea pigs appeal to the masses.

I'd rank this movie a 6.5/10 on my scale. Though it had its moments, this movie doesn't buy you over to say "hey! that was awesome!". It's for me, more of like a something to do on a boring Thursday night.

5 Reasons Why I Hate Chick Flicks

(click on the movie poster for the official website)

I was reminded why I always avoided such rhetorical nonsense.

5 reasons why I hate chick flicks (a.k.a. “romantic comedies”)

1) No exploding heads and limbs, No starships and phasers and No walking, flesh-eating dead people

I’m an action-adventure, sci-fi and horror aficionado! I revel in my Trek universe and I love a good Indiana Jones or Allan Quartermain movie. Give me a bazooka- wielding soldier any day... Even watching Al Gore’s exposé in the Inconvenient Truth isn’t as wrenching as suffering the agony of find my true love movies.

I did very much enjoyed George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead the night before on satellite TV.

2) Plots in chick flicks too darn predictable

In a nutshell, The Ugly Truth is about a romantically-challenged TV morning show producer, Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) whose chance encounter during call-in with less-than-suave and seemingly chauvinistic, sexist and insensitive TV talk show host of...well.... “The Ugly Truth”, Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler) eventually leads to a battle of wits between the two. Things begin to turn fiery she finds out the network actually hired Mike for her TV morning news. Not surprisingly, the banter begins and eventually the two find themselves getting along with each other, falling in love with each other and they live happily ever after...

Check out District 9.Peter Jackson caught all of us off guard! Now that, in my view, is hallmark of good movie-making. Out of the norm! Technically brilliant! My darling looks at me those puzzled eyes when I tell her it’s actually sort of like chick flick movie...especially when you watch the last 5 minutes of it!

3) “Romance” and “Comedies” should be distinct from each other

This author must admit that the comedy and humor interspersed in the movie left him in stitches.

Understandably, the drama must unfold with light moments, as the term “romantic comedies” denotes, but it still doesn’t detract from the fact that chick flicks are so predictable, especially when you KNOW the opposite sexes will end up i) sleeping with each other and/or ii) marrying each other in the end... why would I pay good money to watch that on a big screen when I hear about it almost every week?

4) Chick flicks marginalize single people

Being hitched or being a couple is certainly almost a pre-requisite to chick flicks.

Doesn’t it marginalize single people?

Notice the person sitting next to you always gives you that “look” when you’re gorging on a pack of chips and gurgling down a healthy serving of soda alone during a chick flick? I’ve actually tried it on several occasions, Jerry Macguire being one of them...

5) Happy endings should be left for Disney movies !

Fairy tales and happy endings are exclusive for Disney movies! Take the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and recently, Up for example...

It wouldn’t hurt to portray a hapless couple struggling with their relationships only to find out in the end that they weren’t meant for each other...let’s face it! It’s the “ugly truth” about relationships. To that extent, The Breakup (Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston starring) was a more palatable....not that I was remotely impressed...

UP

(click on "DUG" to go to the movie website)

UP: One of the most entertaining Disney-Pixar productions ever! Wholesome entertainment for the whole family, young and old alike. Rottentomatoes ratings on UP stood at 97% at the time this author visited the site.

A tale of a 78-year old ballon salesman named Carl Friedreksen whom wife, Ellie passed on before their dreams of going to Paradise Falls were realised and how he conquered the loneliness of being...welll....alone....

Carl lived a life of solitude until one fine day when a young but seriously 'wet-behind-the-ears' Wilderness Explorer (scout) named Russell knocked on his door...

From that point onwards, as the story unfolds, life would never be the same for the both of them...

Then, there was DUG, one of my favourite characters in the movie....a loving canine which is pure at heart but missing a few tools in the shed (if you know what I mean) which Carl and Russell chanced upon in the movie...

This animation bundles up good laughter and hilarious moments! The uncanny camaraderie of 3 in Paradise Falls, a place Carl had always dreamt of going as a child leads them into an adventure they'll never forget...complete with an exotic bird named Kevin (who incidentally is female), an obsessed adventurer Charles Munz and a pack of talking dogs who flies airplanes and operates and airship! Sounds interesting? Well...

I recommend you go watch this one. Don't forget your popcorn and soda...essentials for a cinematic experience...

I rate this movie an 8.5/ 10

District 9

Warning! May contain spoilers
(click on the movie poster to go to the official website)

"Technically brilliant and emotionally wrenching" says Rotten Tomatoes. I couldn't agree more. I had not been up-to-date with the ravings or critiques on the latest movies and District 9 was left on the sidelines until the day I stepped into the theater. The first ten minutes of the movie evoked a nostalgic feeling from the 80s' when "V", the sci-fi series on celestial television was playing on TV3, a story which saw the arrival of multiple flying saucers, hovering menacingly over the major cities of the world, vessels to an invading species of reptilian aliens, bent on depleting earth's resources which spelled the end of humanity. Incidentally, V will be reincarnated in a 2010 release.

The plot is simple. A 'mother ship' appeared over the skies of Johannesburg, South Africa in the early 80s. We discovered hordes of malnourished arthropod-like bi pedals which were soon after relocated to a facility known as District 9. As the years went buy, the D9 became an alien slum and the city was deluged by aliens, much like how the US perceived Mexicans at some point. As the story unfolded, you'd soon find out that at least some of these "Prawns", derogatorily referred to by humans longed for home and searched the slums to obtain a mysterious fluid capable of powering the command module which disassociated with the mother ship shortly after its arrival 20 years ago in an ambitious attempt to get home. These efforts pervaded the efforts to "relocate" the alien infestation to D10, a so-called better site for these creatures, spurned by human outcry and intolerance. The interplay between human tolerance for aliens and preservation of alien rights are clearly perceived in this movie.

My fellow blogger, Nick Leshi in his blog posting 'Top 5 Examples of Alien Bigotry' aptly surmised some of movie/TV history of alien marginalisation and the altruistic nature of humans when confronted with members of a different species.

At the heart of the movie are 2 individuals, a MNU (Mutinational United, a military contractor) field operative, Wikus Van De Merve and a compassionate and home-longing alien fondly referred to as Christopher Johnson. Wikus was tasked to serve eviction notices on 1.8 million Prawns and soon found himself a centre of attention after he was exposed to the "fluid" talked about earlier, at which point his biology begun to merge with the alien DNA. When he was discovered, he no longer was part of "us" anymore and found himself a fugitive. Apart from the fact he was becoming "alien", the MNU discovered he was capable of discharging the aliens' weaponry which were apparently bio genetically linked to the Prawns. Wikus soon became a target for vivisection and lost his right to life as a human.

Soon, it was apparent for Wikus to seek refuge in D9, the last place anyone would look for him. He forged an alliance with Christopher Johnson, whose only desire was to get the command module to reattach with the mother ship so that he could take his youngling home.

Between the storyline, there were a few good scenes. Although this film is rated R, do expect some gore and blood-splattering. I was in stitches, much to my darling's displeasure. Couldn't expect less since I conned her into watching this when she wanted a chick flick. I like the part when the MNU were incinerating a hive of baby aliens still in their cocoons, popping away like popcorn in the oven. A sadistic but hilarious way of depicting the lack of human regard for alien life.

The skirmishes at the end of the movie was just awesome. It's really fun to see them turn the slum into a warzone!

This movie caught me off guard totally. Directed by Neil Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings trilogy). This movie will make you think again about how you think you'd perceive alien presence.

Yo Joe!!

Warning! May contain spoilers!

(Click on the montage to go to the official movie site)

Finally! After all the disappointing purported summer blockbuster releases and the follow throughs (with the exception of Star Trek 2009 naturally) a movie adaptation which deserves two-thumbs up! G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra hit the silver screen. At least a special premier it did. I think it's due to be released on the 6th of August.

G.I. Joe is an acronym for "Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity"

The motivation for going for the movie is the nostalgia of reliving one of my favourite cartoon shows way back in the 80's. "Yo Joe!", the battle cry we are so fond of hearing and emulating. We all wanted to be Duke at one point. For me, I had always thought Snake Eyes was the coolest character in the series. I supposed it was reflective of myself way back then. I never said much...Snake Eyes didn't say anything.

For the uninitiated, G.I. Joe is fictional co-ed special joint task force comprising of the elite from all over the world, using highly classified and sophisticated, hi-tech military equipment and tactics. The man in the center seat is General Clayton 'Hawk' Albernathy (Dennis Quad). G.I. Joe does the job when every one else can't.

As General Hawk puts it,
"Technically, we don't exist. We answer to no one. And when all else fails, we don't".

I've always maintained a liking for Joe since grade school. Of course, back then, all we ever did was play soldiers with our cheap, plastic guns. But we understood the quintessential battle of good over evil as a universal acceptance.

The other side of Joe is Cobra, a highly organized criminal organisation which sole purpose is world domination. As corny as this sounds, the reminiscent theme of ages never fails to captivate me. I've always enjoyed special forces vs. criminal mind dichotomies. My favourite villain would be Destro, the Commander's 2nd in command. I won't divulge the backdrop of these characters since the movie's out. Basically, this movie paves the way for a sequel or a series of sequels, as the movie title suggests!

I did like the think the ninja characters (Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow) was incorporated seamlessly...else the characters would look corny. There is history behind these two as the movie unfolded....and then, there's the Baroness...I though her character brought back the "women are sexy in glasses" image....of course, I'm sure those in-build HUDs Incorporated lenses were hardly meant to be a fashion accessory...

Not surprisingly, CGI and special effects are the common tools for dramatic story- telling, but I still enjoyed the Joe and Cobra vehicles which is not too far off from the ones in the old cartoon series. Take the Night Raven (pictured above) for example. Wouldn't stealth aircraft aficionados think that its cool!! Almost dead ringer for the SR-71 blackbird at the heights of the Cold War.

The action, the drama and the suspense comes in less obtuse doses, unlike Transformers 2. I love a gradual build up rather than firing all and sundry at the audience. It feels a lot like the time I watched Independence Day back in 1996. There is a sense of victory and good-feel at the end of the movie. Though having the undertones of US of A propaganda, the movie does leave the audience (speaking of myself) a good 1 1/2 hour's worth of good old action-packed entertainment.

My personal rating: 8/10