I don't know whether it's because I've read the book or because the trailer looks awesome (and looks completely nothing like book, by the way), but I'm completely psyched!
Cannot wait for 12pm tomorrow!
Quick update: I still have about five movies worth of backlog, and I'm trying to work through them as quickly as I can. I hope to get at least two up by next week, and hopefully by then I'll have most of the others ready so please just bear with me for a little while longer.
Also, this trailer was brought to my attention earlier this evening and I thought it too precious to not share:
The Lego Movie is totes going on my 2014 movie list.
Friday, June 21, 2013
World War Z tomorrow!
Monday, June 17, 2013
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
*This review is five months overdue. Spoilers ktnx*
I actually enjoyed this film. I actually forgot to nitpick during the movie.
Despite the accent inconsistencies (at least Gemma Arterton’s matched Jeremy Renner’s), the steampunk, the insulin (diabetes!) and all those little niggly details that would normally annoy the crap out of me, I had a great time at the movies that day.
H+G opens with a short sequence summarising the original fairy tale, and moves quickly into the artsy woodcut opening credits, showing how Hansel and Gretel both develop a reputation for hunting witches and saving children. The main story revolves around the siblings hunting the High Witch and her coven, who are kidnapping children to sacrifice to the Blood Moon so that the witches can be immune to fire and etc., for eternity. Along the way, the Americans Hansel and Gretel inadvertently find out more about their origins (unintentional abandonment FTW!), and . In the end, it culminates in a massive bloodbath with machine guns(!!), and a bad-troll-turned-good not getting brain and organ damage despite falling off from a really, really high place.
In the end, they (including that troll) and their fanboy (seriously) kick down another witch's door and have a shoot-out in slow-mo. It looked pretty stylish, actually.
Yes, it's ridiculous, it's even more mindless on paper, but the good thing about this movie is that it doesn't take itself seriously. If it did, I think it'd be completely unbearable.
Also, also... Visuals.
I'm a massive sucker for gorgeous art direction, even though nowadays it's all computer-generated, and this movie lays out the violence and gore like nobody's business. No wonder this wasn't released during summer. It's almost as brutal as Dredd, except I feel it caters a bit more to young adults, probably because of the MTV branding.
[Seriously. MTV Studios is behind H+G. I didn't even know they've branched out into film.]
Despite being an action whore, I also get a kick from watching fairy-tale variations (Oz review also coming soon!! I have many coming-soons, actually :S), and I thought this movie's take on the Hansel and Gretel story was pretty brilliant, so with this and aforementioned awesome visuals, this movie doesn't get too low marks in my book.
[This review is a bit short, because even though I have a good impression of the movie, that's about all I have on this movie.]
Friday, June 14, 2013
Tuar hong lo!
That's Hokkien for (literally), "Big (heavy) - winds - 'sentence-ender'."
[Over here, apart from 'lor', we also have 'lar', 'mar', 'meh', etc., and then the occasional grunt when one is too lazy to speak]
I was having headphones on the entire afternoon, and besides feeling extremely chilly (per usual), it was only until my mom called to tell me about the weather at home (and to drive carefully) that I realised I could hear the wind from inside my office.
So after the internet died and the lights flickered (really), I spent a half hour dallying around the office, looking out windows, seeing partially tile-less roofs (having got blown off), and incapacitated stop signs, my department and I decided to make a break for it.
The winds were so strong even the parking barrier was bent. I tried to tag my season card on the way out (because it's a one-entry-one-exit arrangement), but nothing registered on the screen (even though it was lit up) and that spot was directly in the line of firethe sea (read: where stronger winds originate) so I thought, "screw it," and just drove out.
Over here, there is a tendency for trees, branches, twigs and their ilk falling over and hitting cars and/or people where there are heavy winds, and I was kinda freaked by the fact that my route is 90% lined with trees.
Practical on hot days, but not so much in this instance.
It took me another half hour to reach home, on account of aforementioned fallen branches and the millions of cars trawling home at the same time.
The winds lasted around three hours. It was slightly frightening.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Silly season over.
For me, this season has two meanings. One refers to my work peak, which ended on 30 April (last Tuesday), and the 13th General Elections in Malaysia, which ended just yesterday.
Both make me heave a sigh of relief.
On one end, I've been working my ass off to finish as much as I can by that deadline, and I still have five-six tax returns without any information (no information means no go). I'm still not worried, for some reason, though I think a more appropriate (and cockier!) word to use is 'flippant'.
Just sent out my disclaimers today. Damn I love a good disclaimer.
On the political waterfront, I'm glad it's all over, because now people will stop giving me one-sided arguments in hopes that I would vote for their party. I don't need people yelling in my face, saying stuff like, "the time of change is at hand", and, "think of the children!"
[Well, something to that effect.]
I'm not a fence-sitter, so I don't need to attend ceramahs to listen to politicians harp on issues that they think will get my vote. Ruling or opposing, it's a one-sided verbal slugfest at these things, and I for one feel that it's a waste of my time to stand in a field on a hot night, packed like the proverbial sardine, when I can get this all from YouTube in the comfort of my own home.
With a large fan right next to me.
I've been telling my mom how fascinating all this is, as I was too young for the 2004 one, and I was away (and also not old enough) for the 2008 elections. I never knew how interesting Malaysian politics could be, and given the current political landscape, these are now extremely interesting times indeed.
I actually stayed up for the live panel discussion last night as the election results from each seat kept rolling in.
Anyway, the die is cast, and the results are out. It may be for the best, and I think a lot of people would tell you that it's definitely for the worst; but I think come next Election, things will be far, far more interesting than ever.
On a lighter note, finally someone can remove all those campaign flags 'decorating' the sidewalk, which are actually safety hazards to motorists. I mean, the flags are at eye-level; you would think that the flags would be smacking into some poor motorcyclist's face when the wind blows.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Hiatus, hiatus, hiatus...
I meant to blog regularly, but work has just been taking even more out of me this peak (this is the shittiest I've been), and even in my waking hours my mind is completely blank.
This means not being able to verbalise my thoughts into movie reviews, which are currently piling up as (surprisingly!) I've managed to squeeze in three movies. Which is generally three more than normal if you look at this period in previous years.
I'm still gathering my thoughts; please be patient with me.
Monday, February 11, 2013
2012: Movie Look-backs!
Same like last year, colored = seen; links = reviews.
2012 Movie List
- Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
- Mirror, Mirror
- The Avengers
- Snow White and the Huntsman
- Jack the Giant Killer
- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation
- The Amazing Spider-man
- The Dark Knight Rises
- The Expendables 2
- 47 Ronin
- World War Z
[In my defense, though, the last four unwatched ones have been postponed to 2013 releases.]
Depressingly, I only managed to catch two other movies that weren't on my list, and thus officially making this year quite worst than the last.
1) Dredd
- I didn't know this was coming out this year. Brutally awesome.
2) Skyfall
- Had a day off, so checked it out. Not too bad.
2013 movie list already up. Clickie here please. Read More......
Happy Chinese New Year!!
May the coming Year of the Snake slither in with many health, many wealth and many happinessnesses!!
[Late-posted because I forgot; had a completely unproductive day yesterday eating, sleeping, and more eating.]
[I just realised that I didn't have one of these up last year. Maybe that's why the past year has been so crappy.]
Read More......
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