Captain America: The First Avengers

Another comic hero for the year 2011 and it's the second for Marvel comics. Truly awesome for this geek whose into movies and comics. Even though war movie isn't my genre but comic hero movies is my top favorite genre.

Chris Evans extinguished his flames and picked up a shield as Steve Rogers/Captain America. The show sets during the second world war and centers on the development of skinny little Steve to a hunky super serum injected Captain America. Similar to the Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, Chris Evans underwent digital "plastic surgery" to portray the skinny Steve.

The show features all sorts of references from the Marvel world such as vibranium(the material of the shield), the Howling Commandos, Tony Starks father and even Stan Lee. Marvel movies would not be complete without Stan Lee.

The actions are quite sufficient and explosions are plenty especially for a war movie. Hugo Weaving sure does make a bad@$$ villain in most movies, same goes here as the Red Skull leader of Hydra. It's just hilarious whenever the troops chants "Hail Hydra!".

And like most Marvel Movies, stay tune for the post credits scenes. It may not be much but it keeps you in the loop of the next Marvel continuation. I wondered how the Cosmic Cube scene in Thor was related to Captain America thinking it would likely refer more to the Avengers but the show revolve mostly around it. As a plus point, there's also the official Avengers trailer at the very end.

Ratings: 4

Detective Dee and the Mystery Of the Phantom Flame

I was going through iTunes movie trailer and found Di Renjie. The trailer was mesmerizing as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.I rummaged through the net and found it.

Sadly not as mesmerizing as I taught because the show is CG intense which is rendered clearly. however, the action is typically Asian. The fight sequences were choreographed by Sammo Hung which is still fantastic. What I enjoy most of the show is the detective storyline to it. It is quite simple and the plot is quite easy solveable. Detective Dee is closely similar to England's Sherlocke Home, just less eccentric.

Detective Dee is easily enjoyable with the detective element with great fight sequences. Reminds me of Sherlock Holmes meets Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Ratings: 3

Paranormal Activity: Tokyo Nights

Unbeknownst to some or just me, there is a Paranormal Activity based in Asia. I chanced upon this while looking through Asian film archive from 2008 onward. All this while, the American adopted majority of Asian horror shows but this is the first that I encountered the opposite. I too thought that it would be a remake in an Asian setting(not looking at the poster) but it definitely ain't true.

Paranormal Activity: Tokyo Night is about a Japanese girl, Haruka who returned from America after she met an accident that left both her legs fractured and wheel chair bound. Only her brother, Koichi is available to assist her at home while their father has to leave for a business in Singapore.

After experiencing a strange encounter at night, the siblings decided to capture any future activity on camera. With different encounters every night, the siblings grew tiresome and terrified. A plot unravels a connection to the 2 Americans Paranormal Activity.

Who would thought that it would be a continuity from the Americans original? It gels quite well with the other two shows but the main concentration is definitely Haruka. The hauntings are closely similar to the counterparts but the last sequence is by far the creepiest. Slightly funny but far-out creepy nonetheless.

Ratings: 4
Best recommended to watch at night

Arthur

If a millionaire were to ask me for an advise, "If you were me..." and I'll stop him and say "I would love that." What does it feel to be a millionaire and not work you a$$ of. Just minding your own time and money is just within reach. I would surely love that. But of course what else do you have to gain. Pretty much nothing. With all the money can buy, a certain accomplishment is just impossible to be purchased.

Arthur is a drunken millionaire who does nothing but have fun. He was raised by his nanny since the day he was born and had minimal contact with his mother. To save the company's and the reputation, mummy dearest made a deal with Arthur to marry the most capable woman, Susan to run the company because the rightful heir is just too incompetent. Arthur met an illegal tour guide and fell in love with her. Love complications arises and Arthur had to man up and be a man to decide his fate.

A heartfelt show but I would truly love to be in his shoe and make all the choices that he had failed.

Ratings: 3

Four

A horror midnight movie, rydikulez-ly exciting like the time I watched a ghost clip in the office alone with only the light above my desk. Sure freaked me out yet thrilling.

Like predecessors, 4Bia 1 and 2, Four consist of 4 shorts:
Clean-Up Day
3 friends talking about global warming and human holocaust
The Gift Shop For The Ones You Hate
A shop selling gifts that causes misery to those you hate
Eerie Night
3 criminals on the run from the police and hides in an abandoned hospital
Dead Grandpa
To fulfill the last wishes of their grandfather, 5 grandchildren has to stay in the house to take care of their dead grandfather.

Sadly, Four is more of a thriller than a horror movie. Majority of the shorts are plain stupid. Gritty but stupid. Of all, the last 2 are most enjoyable to catch. The third showcases the famous Ananda Everingham in a psychotic role and the fourth being a light-hearted horror comedy like the 4 friends from 4bia. Thank goodness the show does not leave traits to play with your mind for any phobia of daily life.

Ratings: 2

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The long awaited conclusion of a wizardry book series which spans over 7 series in the book and an octalogy in films, it finally ends here. I did not read any of the books but I truly followed the movie from start to end. And within a decade, we are able to see how three young friends grew up together with all sort of adventures, despairs and also love. We're able to view how kids blossoms and matures to adult, in the world of wizardry.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 ended well without a cliffhanger and Part 2 takeover from the point when Part 1 ended. With every series progresses it gets grittier and darker but not for the finale. It will boast the great battle between good and evil. The action for part 2 will truly be captivating just like those in Lord of the Rings series only with more magic. Every character matures tremendously even for a klutz.

It really ends on the eighth installment but the ending isn't as dramatic for a decade of despair and sacrifices. It's just too simple to end for all the trouble that the 3 friends had to go through and endure. It can be such a disappointment for the fate "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" but the world of wizardry truly lived a happier ending. Maybe I just hoped for a more gruesome ending.

Ratings: 4

미스터리 주적(Mystery 6)

Ok, this is not really a movie but a show with 6 episodes which explains the 6 in the title. It could be a tele-movie when combine all 6 episodes together. Mystery 6 is a Korean mockumentary featuring Super Junior and their haunted dormitory. 

The show revolved around famous Donghae when he is disturbed by constant terrible nightmares hence the group agreed on setting up CCTV around the house to capture any strange occurrence. A CCTV captured a figure when Donghae was having nightmares and as the episode progresses, some of the group member experience disturbances from the wondering ghost. 

Knowing how a popular group live their hectic life, the group members lived up the show with their bubbly and crazy mischief. Some parts are definitely hilarious while others are scary.

The ghost is not that scary, it's in between the terrifying Thai/Japanese and make-up intensive American ghost but the show progresses very well similar to their Asian counterpart. If you're wondering whether the event is real, read the tagline: REAL HORROR FICTION. Go figure.

Ratings: 3.5

Can't help it, I just love Super Junior...

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son

It's Sunday and it's truly a lazy one. I needed my iPad to rest a while longer hence I'll invade the TV. Opened Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son hoping for a laugh. Don't expect much of it. The guy in lady suit has been used too often, especially Big Momma.White Chicks is still top of the list.

Malcolm Turner returns for the second time. When his stepson witness a crime, the two had to hide a keep a low profile. Malcolm disguised himself as Big Momma and his stepson, Trent as her niece and hid in an art school for girls. Like previous Big Mommas, the cross-dressed son fell in love with a student and blew cover later on. So yeah, majority used in the first two movies. The second sequel is definitely a flop.

Ratings: 2.5

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights

Everyone would know the main hero and they are not that interested about his friends who helped and motivated them as a hero. And I bet you'll think that the Green Lantern is Hal Jordan where actually Hal Jordan is one of many Green Lanterns.

Emerald Knights is showcases stories of the great Green Lantern knights; the first Green Lantern, Kilowog, Abin Sur and a few others. Unlike the other DCU animation Batman: Gotham Knights, Emerald Knights different anthology has a connection throughout the show. The stories were told by Hal as a lesson for rookie Arisia Rrab.

The anthology is a great introductions of some of the characters from the 2011 movie. Maybe now you'll be fascinated with the other Green Lanterns besides Hal Jordan. You've yet to meet Kyle Rayner or Batman as a lantern.

Ratings: 2.5

Animals United

I was pretty bored and there wasn't any show so I took my chances and watch Animals United. Seriously have no clue what it is about because there wasn't any trailer showcased nor adverts about it. So I wiki-ed and realized that it was originally a German animation with an English dubbed. Know actors in the movie are James Corden and Andy Serkis.

The show is about an animal kingdom in Africa where the watering hole became dried up due to a dam construction few distance away. At another location, the polar ice is melting which led a polar bear stranded on a piece of ice floating away from Greenland, a turtle couple venturing to another location when their beach is covered by an oil spill, a kangaroo and Tasmanian devil escaping a forest fire in the outback, and a French chicken about to be cooked in a cruise ship. Due to the destruction of man, the animals united to find paradise which led them to Africa.

The migrated animals and the animals from the Savannah joined forces to notify the humans of their ply of water. Upon being successful, the animals from all around the world join forces to further alert the humans of the destruction that they had caused.

The animation and voiced may not gel well but the message is clear. SAVE THE PLANET!!! Earth is not just populated with humans but with animals and other living things too. Save the Earth for the future of the human and animal species. Not, we'll call upon Captain Planet (It'll be interesting if they're to produce a movie about him).

Ratings: 2
Good message poor animation

Mars Needs Mom

How grateful are you towards your mum? Do you dragged yourselves when being told, mumbled whenever she gives orders or gives that face when she asked to finish up the veggies? I do occasionally. Now, how would you feel if your mum is taken away when you had a fight with her. Sad and devastated I would presume. But are you able to stop her from taken away? If she taken away by aliens, maybe you could.

Mars Needs Moms is about a boy, Seth whose mother was abducted by martians. He managed to chase the abductors and hijacked the spaceship. After being caught, Seth managed to escape with the help of another human, Gribble who suffer the same faith as Seth. The two team up to save Seth's mother from being extracted of her motherly intuition.

Mars Needs Mom uses performance capture which every movement of the animations follows exactly what the actor does. I can't seem to justify the integration of movements. It look the same as all other animation.

Ratings: 2.5

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

My first movie experience overseas which I will briefly describe it in my trip entry in JBQC. It's the third installment to my favorite franchise and sadly like most sequels, it was a flop. New characters and new mechanics are introduced which could be good and bad.

Firstly, out with Mikaela and bring in Carly Spencer. Lady hotness is still there but with additional British accent, it's an added hotness. Mikaela is the strong lady but Carly is just pure hotness. The cybertronians added in the movie are quite a handful. For Decepticons, there Shockwave, Soundwave and Laserbeak. For Autobots, there's Sentinel Prime, the Wreckers, Que(Wheeljack which I don't know why they never kept to the original name) Brains and Dino(A hot red Ferrari 458 Italia).

Next is the new tech, Optimus now comes with his trailer which transforms into a weapon cache or a jet-pack. Bumblebee and the wreckers can turn into an attack mode vehicle like the MASK cartoons or Knight Rider. It looks wicked. And lastly a new trans-scanned Megatron.

The joke are laughable but the actings are dull. The actions are awesome which 3D would be more spectacular. But number 3 is still a flop with a hell lot more gruesome actions.

Ratings: 3.5