Sunday, September 23, 2012

Moonrise Kingdom

The Moonrise Kingdom trailer was unique weird but filled with great known actors such Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Edward Norton. I didn't really quite catch the plot till I watched the show.

Basically, it's about a Khaki Scout orphan Sam who met Suzy during a church play and decides to be together the followin summer. They ran away from camp/home and met for a journey together. They explored the island they're on and named a secluded cove Moonrise Kingdom where they fell in love. For a 12 year old, that is kinda young. Ahem, I did the same too. Hehehe...

The show is weird and quirky with the visualization and the character conversations and relations. It is a fresh show for me and quite slow but engaging.

Ratings:

Prometheus

I'm not really a huge fan of the Alien franchise and I didn't really hear a great review of the movie but I would love to know how the Aliens come about. Plus, they have Charlize Theron in it.

The show revolved around the possible creation of human on Earth and the truth is extraterrestrial, and not God. Then again the Creator of Human could be God still. A group of explorers set out on journey towards the planet where the Engineers (as what they called them) originates by the multiple sightings of the planetary signs left by past civilization.The journey took 2 years where everyone was placed in stasis.

So where does Charlize Theron fit in all of this? Is she the Sigourney Weavor's Ripley of Alien? Sadly no, she was very much underutilized with not much action except running near the ending. The main heroine is Noomi Rapace from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, kinda stoic but still gory with the Alien in your tummy kinda events.

The engineer is very much humanoid which you can actually noticed at the very beginning. But are this Engineers hostile or friendly, that is the question. At the very end of the show, we'll get to know how the original 1979 Aliens came about.

Ratings:

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The Big Year

August was a slow movie month and September is no different, all thanks to my uncompleted games and new TV series. I will slip in any movies that I can especially those that have been sitting in my disk drive.

I have no idea what made me to pick The Big Year but lucky it wasn't a bad choice. With the likes of Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson, viewers would be expecting great laugh but I ended with a great smile. The show concentrate more on accomplishment rather than laughter.

So what exactly is a Big Year? It's an informal competition for birders to see the most number of bird species within a specific geographical location and within a year period. Sounds lame but they way this birders go about is weirdly amazing. Think of all the expenses for travel within the year period.

3 different characters went on the competition to succeed and each went on with personal setbacks. It's heartwarming to see how the characters ended the competition with all the experiences and friendship gained or lost.

Ratings:

Monday, September 17, 2012

Cowboys And Aliens

Another show that has been sitting on the shelf for ages, took some time to watch them. I'm not a great fan of western genre so I had to struggle with Cowboys and Aliens first.

It's kinda unique to be mixing western and sci-fi together and I had my doubts. Daniel Craig as a hero is the best choice and he ain't that far-off western. He's chill and less cranky than most cowboys.

Story build up wasn't that much but the action for the movie was great, fighting aliens with olden weapons. Except for the alien bracelet that Craigs woke up with. That's a fine weapon.

Good cast, fantastic action and good direction by Jon Favreau of Iron Man's fame.

Rating:

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1

DCU's animation never fails for a great story, well except for Superman. It's the best when they showcases Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Return.

Sets in the time where Batman's retired for almost 10 years and the last Robin was Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne grown old and slightly fragile unlike that of the futuristic Batman Beyond. With Gotham City crime rate increasing due to the Mutants organized crime, Bruce had to done the cowl one more time to put order in the city.

Instead of Tim Drake Batman got a new Robin, Carrie Kelly, the first female Robin. Still agile like the predecessors, the new Robin did not have a great character progress.

Oh! Did I mentioned that this is only the first part to the animation. Part 2 will be coming in 2013 with better story and better villain. Expect Superman and Joker for part 2. Part 1 villain is nothing much but beating the old Batman was gruesome.

Rating:

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Burke and Hare

Some long list of shows that I've got but not watched, September is quite a busy month. Maybe it's just that I've got a series of shows that I wished to complete before I move on to other things.

Feeling for a British show, I picked up Burke and Hare not fully knowing what the show was about. All I know is that it had Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis. I've always been a fan of Simon Pegg since Shaun of the Dead and still amazes with this show.

The most interesting fact is that the show is based on a real life story of the Burke and Hare murders. Got to know that at the end of the show where they showcased the life after the murders.

Pegg and Serkis did a great Scottish accent too. I find the accent very interesting likewise for Cantonese (which I still can't understand).  The show also filled with other known actors such as Christopher Lee, Tim Curry and Stephen Merchant (An Idiot Abroad).

Somehow with the recent British movies that I've caught throughout 2012, I'm beginning to enjoy many British movie. Heck, I'm even starting to watch British show like Miranda.

Ratings:

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Men In Black 3

It is pretty slow month on movies for me. I've been very busy at work and to tired at the end so going out for movies would be a drag. I did somehow pulled in a home movie, something that I've missed in the cinema.

The Men in Black returned for the third time and everyone seems aged even for Will Smith. Well, he is a senior agent now. Tommy Lee's K is old and should be retired but with a bad@ss did him a favor by erasing him off. J remembered K where no ones didn't and soon found out that K has killed on duty fighting the same alien, Boris the Animal.

J went back in history to prevent the murder with a precautionary measures of not to be in contact of the younger K. Things went sideways and both are working together.

MIB3 still have it's craziness where Andy Warhol is a disguised agent W, and past alien reference during the Lunar Launch. The ending also tells the story of J's past. In all, it's an OK show with some laugh.

Rating:

Sunday, September 2, 2012

The Hunger Games

I heard so much of the Hunger Games and didn't really had the time to catch in the cinema. I know it's from a series of books but I don't think I would read it due to my long list of unread books. For now, I'm not going to add more to the list.

I really wondered what was the hype that got this movie great reviews and I soon found out.

The show is based on survival of the kids from different districts. They are known as tributes as they were chosen to represent their district. It's more like a death Olympics, where a group competes to be the only survivor. Hence, others competitors would have to die by death or naturally.

At first I thought the main protagonist is the girl from Narnia but soon realized that it was Mystique of X-Men: First Class (Jennifer Lawrence). She is truly a fine actress. Josh Hutcherson is the "sidekick", the male tribute from the same district. Still the same kind of actor like all his other shows.

The plot of Hunger Games is unique like the costume of the show. From rural clothing of the different districts to lavishly outrageous clothing of the main city, felt like a mixture of many shows into one. But the Hunger Games has it's own identity based on the Games aspect.

The games are purely based on survival instincts. Either you survive by hunting others or staying away while they kill each other, the plot is expected yet nice to watch still.

Ratings: