The Last Airbender

Adapted from Nickelodeon's hit cartoon series Avatar : The Last Airbender, M. Night Shyamalan brings us The Last Airbender. Apparently, Avatar was dropped from the title to avoid confusing it with James Cameron's mega blockbuster Avatar. Hmmm ...


Earth as we know it is divided between the four great nations ... Air, Water, Earth and Fire. Everyone co-existed in harmony until the Fire nation decided to wage war against the rest for the sole purpose of world dominance.


A century has passed since the world has last seen an Avatar ... a being capable of controlling and manipulating all four elements ... earth, fire, air and water. It is believe that the Avatar is the only one with the potential to bring back peace with its powers.


We next see Aang (first time actor, Noah Ringer) blasting out of a ice sphere and as it turns out, he's the reincarnated Avatar *YAY*. Initially reluctant to accept his fate as the world's saviour, he slowly comes to term with his destiny and responsibility ... with the help of a Water bender, Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her brother, Sokka (Jackson Rathbone).

Since Aang was only trained to control the element of air before he pissed in his pants and bolted upon being crowned Avatar, he has to learn to bend the water element next. So off he goes to the Northern Water Kingdom with his groupie in order to attain Water masters to train him up.


Dev Patel (from Slumdog Millionaire) is Zuko, the banished prince from the Fire Nation. His aim is to capture the Avatar and hand him back to his father, the Fire Lord Ozai in order to redeem himself for being 'too soft'.

So an epic battle between the Water and Fire Nations ensued in the Northern Water Kingdom and no prizes for guessing how things ended. The movie finished with the Fire Lord sending his exceptionally gifted Fire bender daughter out to hunt down the Avatar. We can expect a sequel in the making soon I suppose ...


The CGIs were pretty impressive but then again, one would expect no less from a USD150 million shooting budget. Since regular 2D cameras were used for the filming, an additional USD 15 million were coughed out to convert it into 3D.

If you're a fan of magic and fantasy or the cartoon series itself, then you ought to enjoy this enchanting flick. The characters pretty much stuck to the originals but don't go expecting good scripting or exceptional story plot. I dare say, not even Shyamalan would be bold enough to anticipate any Oscar nominations for his work this time around. Nevertheless, it's not a bad way to spend 2 hours of your weekend catching this. Don't forget the popcorn!

Rating : 3 / 5

Predators

Most of us have watched the 1987 original by Arnie ... the scene where the former Mr.Universe was slathered in mud and gearing up to give the alien hunter a good ol' ass whooping ... now that's a classic! From this ... other B-grade spinoffs sprung out but I must admit that Alien vs Predator was rather good.

Anyway, 23 years later, we have Predators and a couple of big names were roped in for this project. The movie kicked off with Royce (Adrien Brody), a lone mercenary finding conciousness while being parachuted down into some remote jungle. He has no recollection of how he got to where he was before that. It wasn't long before he grouped up with a few others who landed in the same manner. The rest of the bad-ass members consist of an Israelli sniper, Isabelle (Alice Braga), a Mexican drug lord's bouncer, Cuchillo (Danny Trejo), a brutish Russian soldier, Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov), a freedom fighter from Africa, Mombasa (I dunno what his real name is :p), a convict on FBI's most wanted, Stans (Walton Goggins), a Yakuza enforcer in a suit, Hanzo and lastly, a nerdy doctor, Edwin (Topher Grace ... yes, the geek from That 70's Show).


Royce assumed position of group leader and they soon discovered that they weren't on Earth! *JENG JENG JENG* They're actually on another planet ... a hunting ground of sorts and suprise suprise, they're the target.


It wasn't long before they were attacked by some teeth-baring-ferocious-looking alien mutts. Cuchillo got killed. Then they stumbled upon a 'camp site' where one of em' alien predators was tied up. Other aliens appeared and both groups traded gunfires. *BANG BOOM BANG* Mombasa died.

Then Noland (Lawrence Fishburn) appeared ... literally out of no where and led the group back to his base. He briefed the group that he ... like the rest of em' was tossed into the planet and he somewhat managed to survive for the past 10 seasons. 10 minutes later, the predator blasted Noland into chopped liver.


One by one, the group members got massacred but so did the aliens. The aliens always hunt in group of 3s ... that is if u discounted the 'loser' who was tied up at camp site.


A lot of battle scenes ensued ... you even get the aliens fighting amongst themselves ... yes, the abovementioned 'loser' with the last survivor from the 3. Edwin turned out to be not who good doctor he seems to be (watch it yourself to find out) and the final combat sees a shirtless and muddied Royce facing off with the baddie. *How nostalgic* Another group of targets were parachuted down so start off the new hunting season before the ending credits started rolling out ... *crap! Not another sequel?!*


Is there something in my teeth?

Rating : 2.5 / 5

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

It's no secret that I'm a sucker for all things related to magic and sorcery. I'm a mega fan of Dungeons & Dragons and yes ... even Harry Potter :p So when Disney released The Sorcerer's Apprentice, I simply knew I've gotta watch it.


This movie was actually Nicolas Cage's brainchild as he was an avid fan of Disney's original Fantasia. Hence, the story was conceived and pitched to Disney's bigwigs who happens to agree that it'll be cool to make a modern adaptation of Mickey's magic spinning antics. Even the scene of Mickey doing his chores with the aid of a li'll sorcery (pictured above) was incorporated into the film. *wink*

Ok ... so back to the story ... it tells of Merlin, yes THE Merlin and his three diciples, Balthazar Blake (Nic Cage), Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina) and Veronica (Monica Belluci). Working together since the medieval era ... 700 A.D. to be exact, they battle the evil sorceress, Morgana who's aim is to bring an army of dead sorcerers back to life and *GASP* rule the world!!! *JENG JENG JENG!!!*

So anyways, they almost had Morgana defeated but because of Horvath's betrayal, Merlin was killed and Veronica trapped in a Grimhold (magical prison) with Morgana. The reason for Horvath's treachery was revealed later ... it seems both Balthazar and Horvath had the hots for Veronica *YAWN* and since Veronica chose Balthazar (coz Cage's a bigger star than Molina), hence, Horvath had to play the role of the spurned lover and wreck havoc. *DUH*


On the brink of death, Merlin gave Balthazar his dragon ring and says the person whom the ring chooses will be the Prime Merlinion (PM) ... the only person able to defeat Morgana for good. *OOOooo*

So for a thousand years *no kidding*, Balthazar have been trying to locate this PM and at the same time, battling and imprisoning other evil sorcerers . Oh and he doesn't age over time since Merlin previously put a spell on all 3 of his diciples so that they can search for the elusive PM without growing old and dying *Genius!*

Fast forward time to the year 2000 and we see 10 year old Dave Stutler coincidentally landed himself in Balthazar's shop, the Arcana Cabana while on a school field trip. In there, Balthazar found out that Dave is indeed the PM ... the chosen one he has been searching for millenias. *Jeng Jeng Jeng!*


Dave unknowingly released Horvath from the Grimhold and a battle ensued between the two sorcerers resulting in both of em' being trapped in an ancient urn for the next 10 years *Boo hoo*.


Tick tock tick tock ... 10 years later ... both dudes were released from the urn and tried to locate the Grimhold. Balthazar finally managed to locate and persuade Dave (Jay Baruchel) to be his reluctant apprentice while Horvath recruited a 'Morganian' to help him with his wicked cause to free Morgana. Let's get ready to RUMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!


You'll be pleasantly entertained by a whole lot of action with rather cool special effects ... electric plasma balls, tesla coils, a Merc SLR & Ferrari car chase, big-ass steel bird, the bronze Wall Street bull coming to life, a fire breathign dragon etc.

The ending is rather predictable and the inclusion of Dave's love interest, Becky (Teresa Palmer) into the whole equation provided the eye candy. I'd give it a 3.5 / 5. Don't expect too much and you'd be walking out of the theater a happy customer.

Inception ... The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

Inception ... it was jaw dropping and mind blowingly awesome. The storyline was exceptional. Truly something original as was to be expected from writer & director, Christopher Nolan. To be able to conceive such an intriguing plot ... whatever it is he's smoking ... I want some of it too :p


The cast .... I dare say everyone of em' were nothing short of sensational. The young and the old ... the 'newbies' and the veterans ... all of them gave a stellar performance and gelled incredibly to deliver a very believable act. A short cameo by Michael Caine added a certain zest to it.


Lastly, the special effects. It's beyond words. If you're watching Star Wars or Avatar, you'd expect a certain kinda graphic staging but to take 'normal' everyday stuff and transform it into something extraordinary ... now that's A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!! You gotta see it to believe it.


As a result of all these elements, the audience are presented with a silver screen masterpiece.


The general outline tells the story of Dom Cobb (Leo Dicaprio), someone who's capable of intercepting into people's dreams to either extract information or to plant new ones in them. Haunted by the death of his wife, he's trying to find a way back to his children whom he had to leave behind due to regretful past incidents and a last job stint provided by Saito (Ken Watanabe) will deliver him a ticket back into the arms of his children. Aided by his team, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Ariadne (Ellen Page), Eames (Tom Hardy) and Yusuf (Dileep Rao) ... they ventured into a multi-layer dream realm ... a dream within a dream if you will ... to perform an inception on their target, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). Everyone had their own role to play in order to pull of the perfect job but unexpected turn of events and hidden plot twists made this thriller all the more exhilarating.

A word of advise, don't even blink cause this gripping tale requires every ounce of your focus to truly appreciate it in its entirety.

Don't wait any longer ... make a beeline to your nearest theater to catch this work of genius. It's one of the better ones this blogger have seen in a long long time.

Rating : 9/10

The Spy Next Door ... Don't Bother!!!

Jackie Chan ... a household name synonymous with high action comedy all over Asia and in recent years ... Hollywood too. His transition from Asian cinema to Tinsletown's silver screen started off with a bang! Rush Hour was brilliant, Shanghai Noon it what you would typically expect of Jackie, so it was a watchable. I don't know what happeneded after that but whatever formula that used to work for Jackie certainly isn't working well now.

It was excruciating to watch one of Chinese's biggest entertainment star strutting his stuff pathetically like the way he did in The Spy Next Door. Jackie ... so famous for performing his own stunts is now doing child-like feat while exploiting the use of 'very obvious' wires ensuring laughable results ... and I don't mean it in a jovial funny way. Perhaps he should've quitted action movies while he was still at a high. Looks like the aging process doesn't elude anyone ... not even movie stars eh :p


Playing a secret Chinese agent loaned to the CIA, Bob Ho intended to retire from secret service to settle down and marry his girlfriend, Gillian (Amber Valetta). Trouble was ... hitching with Gillian means carrying excess baggage since Gillian has 3 kids of her own and they aren't exactly thrilled to call Bob their new daddy *like DUH!*


So as usual, the Russians are the baddies who managed to create a chemical capable of eating up any material petroleum based. So they intend to vaporize all the petroleum resources in the world except for Russia's of course. How original! *blehhh* Bob's life gets flip flopped as he tries to stop the baddies and at the same time babysit the kids while Gilian went off state to tend to her sick mother.


The plot couldn't be any more predictable and it seems Jackie's extra hours at his English classes didn't pay off either. Special effects are best ignored and fight choreography (if you're willing to call it fight scenes to begin with) was weak. George Lopez and Billy Ray Cyrus both put in forgettable performances as CIA agents, so can't be bothered to say anything more about em'.

I take comfort that I caught this disasterous movie on DVD instead of the theaters. Looks like Jackie has gotta do a lot more to convince this blogger to ever pay for a cinema ticket for any one of his upcoming movies.

The Twilight Saga : Eclipse ... FAIL!!!

I am by no means a 'Twihard' ... you won't catch me dead proclaiming my allegiance for either Team Edward or Team Jacob. Ever since I got hooked on to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake vampire series, I became a fan of all things related to vampires, werewolves and just about any other creatures of the night. So when the Twilight franchise came about, I went along and caught Twilight, New Moon and recently, Eclipse when it hit the theaters.


I won't bother with the synopsis as a quick online pop to imdb.com would to that nicely for ya. What I wanna do instead is to RANT about how ridiculous the movie was.


Firstly, Bella (Kirsten Stewart) is a total biatch for thinking that she can possibly love two guys at the same time. Okay, so they aren't technically your regular dudes ... one's Edward (Robert Pattinson), a pale blood sucking vamp and the other fella's Jacob (Taylor Lautner), a huge furry werewolf but that's besides the point. The freakin' point is that you don't go asking wolf boy to kiss you after accepting fang boy's marriage proposal. What?! ... the diamond studded ring was just too hard to say 'No' to?!!! Doing this makes you no-more-and-no-less ... a SLUT!


I luvvvvvv the 100 carat ring you gave me Edward ... coz I'm that shallow ya

And have I mentioned Kirsten's performance throughout the entire movie as an angst filled bimbo was utterly horrible. She's the Hollywood equivalent of Jay Chou and honestly, I reckon I'd be better entertained if I watched paint dry on a wall.


I luvvvvvv your ripping biceps and washboard 6-packs Jacob ... coz I'm really that shallow le

The best part is yet to come ... despite knowing her for who she is ... guess what?! ... both guys still wants her bad. They bared their broken hearts and still insist on throwing away their lives for her ... all in the name of ... love. *pfftttt*


So where shall we go for our menage a trois???

Vamp boy was his usual emo self throughout the entire show and wolf boy was eternally tempremental. All three should do the world a favour and just jump off a building or something ... but wait, both vamp and wolf would survive since they're supernatural beings and it's kinda hard to die that way which would in turn leave only Bella's brain splattered all over the tarmac. Hmmm ... not a bad ending no? At least it'll solve the love triangle issues :p

I would suggest you watch this ONLY and ONLY IF you're a Twihard. Don't say you haven't been warned!

She's Out Of My League

Another 'revenge of the nerd' kinda movie where your typical skinny nerdy, looking guy, Kirk (Jay Baruchel) ends up with the hot chick (Alicia Eve). The noticable difference is that the girl actually fell for the guy first. She dumped the typical jock who cheated on her and then went for a safer bet with Kirk since she assumed that falling for a loser wouldn't allow her to get hurt.

Although Kirk initally appears to be one of the many geeks on the block ... but as the audience gets to know him better ... he does somehow emanate a certain sense of goofy warmth that you can't help but to like the dude. How often do you get a guy who confesses to a girl that he prematurely ejaculated while they're in the midst of making out and the girl's parents and sister just so happen to walk in on them. And then there's his family and buddies who constantly talk down to him resulting in this geek having self esteem problems.


It's a good watch ... a movie that'll make those who have never found love realize what they're missing out on. Bless those who have found and lost love ... a hope that there's indeed someone for everyone and finally, cause those who are already in love to miss their love ones. I know I do ...


A word of advice ... avoid watching it in the local cinema where all the vulgar words and actions are 'beeped' by the good people working in the cencorship board. Don't they just suck the fun out of everything. Get the director's cut on blu-ray, cuddle up with your partner on the sofa and share a tub of Ben n Jerry's. Enjoy ...

I love it when a RIDICULOUS plan comes together!!!

Being a Project Planner, naturally I'm paid to plan ... ensuring the progress matches the schedule and within the allocated budget.

But no way in hell I could've come up with plans like the ones showcased in this year's 80s remake of ... The A-Team. From the get go, this action packed flick fills the audiences with an adrenaline overdose with over-the-top helicopter chase scenes, wild explosions, crazy bust ups and oh yea ... loads of ammo action. OH WHAT A RUSH!!!

Simply listening to the original theme tune reminisced a silly grin from this blogger's face. Too bad the iconic bad-ass van only made a cameo appearence before being 'pan-caked' as what Baracus a.k.a Mr.T mentioned in the film. Pity the fool! Haha.

The Alpha Team, led by Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith (Liam Neeson) exuded an electrifying sense of cool and macho at the same time. Liam was zen-ed in Star Wars, then blinged in Clash of The Titans ... but here ... this is where I think he played his best ever role for as long as I can remember. A deadly combination of brain and brawn ... I like!

Bradley Cooper from The Hangover re-lived the role of Lt. Templeton 'Faceman' Peck. The 'eye candy' of the movie, Brad certainly put in impressive effort in buffing up his physique for the camera. Am sure the ladies will appreciate it. :p

Bosco A. Baracus was played by Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson. The producers certainly are keeping it real by casting a UFC fighter for this role. I couldn't stand it though when B.A. turned his intimidating mohawk into a sissi-ed afro. Luckily that didn't last too long. Haha.

Finally, Sharlto Copley is 'Howling Mad' Murdock ... the literally insane aviation specialist ... from flying choppers to Hercules ... it ain't a problem for this lunatic pilot.

Oh and then there's Jessica Biel as Capt. Charisa Sosa ... also the love interest of Faceman and the baddies in question are Agent Lynch, the double crossing CIA agent (Patrick Wilson from Watchmen) and Col. Pike of the Black Forest platoon (Brian Bloom).

While lacking in quality script writing ... it more than makes up for it in sufficient humourous punchlines. I mean you can't really expect to appreciate Shakespearean mumbo jumbo admist all the explosions no? :p Come on!!! ... it's all about the CRASH BOOM BANG bebeh.


To put it simply, our heroes are celebrated war soldiers who were set-up, betrayed and court marshalled. They broke out of prison with the help of the baddie (who of course have their personal agenda) and set out to clear their good names. Oh and have I mentioned that certain scenes were bordering the absurd???!!! I mean have you ever seen someone 'flying' a tank?! Anyways ... after firing countless amounts of ammo and blowing up enough explosives to make the Gulf War look like a sad New Year fireworks display ... the baddies were either caught or annihilated BUT ... our heroes were arrested again *Boo Hoo* ... and ... the broke out AGAIN!!! Haha ... let the good times roll yo!

Thumbs up ... 7.5/10.


The original ...

This is one sad family

First off, let me just say this ... if you want to watch a movie that'll make you laugh till the the fizzies ooze out of your nostrils, then you simply must set a date for Death At A Funeral.

Headed by a galore of big Tinsletown stars, this remake of the 2007 movie by the same name had this blogger in stitches from beginning till the very end. We have Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Danny Glover, Luke Wilson, Tracy Morgan, Loretta Devine, Regina Hall, James Marsden and Zoe Saldana just to name a few. Now isn't the cast list impressive enough for you to shut off your com ... like right now ... and head on to catch this 'dramedy'???

Aaron (Chris Rock) is your average hardworking day to day tax accountant whose father happen to passed on. So as the eldest in the family, he took it upon himself to arrange a proper funeral for his ol' man at the family home and to deliver the eulogy. You then have Ryan (Martin Lawrence), Aaron's younger brother (by 9 months to be exact) ... a successful author who flies in first class with his LV suitcases and blings. As the 'writer' in the family, everyone looks up to him despite him having massive character flaws ... an all around scumbag who tries to get his elder brother to pay for everything but yet hogging the limelight whenever possible. *Hmmm ... I do know of certain individuals sharing these same lousy traits but that's a story for another day :p*


Loretta playing the grieving widow is constantly giving stick to her daughter-in-law (Regina Hall) for not giving her any grandchildren as yet. Elaine (Zoe Saldana) is Aaron's cousin and she is bringing her nervous boyfriend (James Marsden) to this funeral to announce their marriage to her father who just happen to dislike the white boy to the core. To calm his anxiety, she fed him with acid mistaking it for valium causing the poor guy to go on a hallucinating high. I must add that James was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS in his role. I swear I split my spleen each time he comes on screen. :D


Danny Glover is the wheel-chair-bound-eternally-pissed-off-grumpy brother of the deceased while the perpetually annoying Derek (Luke Wilson) has a mad crush on Elaine and wouldn't stop pursuing her. Tracy Morgan is a family friend who ended up with Danny Glover's faeces all over his hands and face. That was one of the funniest part of the movie *LOL*

Who else have I missed out??? Oh and there's a dwarf who appeared at the funeral to blackmail both Aaron and Ryan for a cool 30,000 dollars. The reason for his actions ... well, it's best you watch it for yourself to find out ... wouldn't wanna spoil it for you eh. :p


Reminiscing the movie is forcing uncontrollable chukcles outta me as I'm typing out this entry. A word of advise though ... skip watching this at the local theater. Get the uncut version on DVD because the language is most colourful but it's this boorish script-writing that made the movie so uproariously funny. So what are you waiting for???!!! GO ALREADY!!!

Marriage ... Give it your best shot!!!

Let's get straight to it ... sweet innocent girl (Katherine Heigl) just got dumped by her nerdy boyfriend and went on vacation with her parents played by Mr. Moustache from Magnum P.I., Tom Selleck and Catherine O'Hara who's paired with some sorta booze in EVERY scene she's in. In scenic Nice, our heroine meets hunky hunk, Spencer (Mr. Demi Moore a.k.a Ashton Kutcher). They fell in love, badabingbadabang ... it all led to a very swift marriage. The happy couple went on to have 3 kids, a Golden Retriever and everyone lived happily ever after ... NOT!!!

As it turns out, Mr.Perfect isn't exactly a consultant as he claims to be but a professional hired assasin for some government agency. Anyways, since he's got a wife now, our hero decided to quit his job and happily plant his roots. He went on to be an actual building consultant ... yea, one of those white collared guys going around with huge drawing plans of houses / buildings etc.

For three years, they lived the perfect couple's life settling down in a very family oriented suburban neighbourhood where picket fences and block parties are all the rage. He drives a pick-up and she ... a Volvo convertible. Ahhh blissssss ...


As the saying goes, everything good has to come to an end and that day started with Spencer getting a call from his former boss bout another 'job'. He duly declined and soon began to have everyone he knew trying to blow his head off. These included his colleagues, neighbours, the delivery guy, his wife's best friend etc. Kinda absurd when you think about it ... cause all these people are supposedly hired killers as well and have been keeping a close tab on this couple for the past 3 years or so. And now .. with a 20 million dollars bounty on Spencer's head, it's time for them to act. Loads of gun action for the adrenaline junkie. Bang bang bang!!! Oh and Usher had a 2 minute cameo as a K-Mart employee. :p

I enjoyed the hilarious bits inserted here and there as the couple dodge bullets while discovering the truth that had been hidden before. I'm not going divulge bout the ending as it may spoil it for those who are intending to go watch this. I'm just nice like that! :)

So there you go, a comedy about a couple who try to save their marriage and at the same time ... their lives. It's this kinda flick that this blogger enjoy on his day off. Now shoo!!!

Shrek Forever After ... in 3D!!!

Part 1 introduced us to this lovable green ogre and his motor mouthed best friend, Donkey ... part 2 was punctuated by cheesy yet very laughable one liners ... part 3 was a bit of a disaster (so this blogger shall not elaborate any further) and we're now at the final chapter of the Shrek chronicles aptly titled Forever After. *sob sob*

The main characters were all voiced by the stars in the previous 3 installments and this time ... as with most animations released in 2010 ... it came as no suprise that the fellas at Dreamworks decided to feature this green ogre and friends in 3D.

Picking up from Shrek The Third, the story began by showing how domesticated our mud-bathing-eyeball-martini-loving hero have become. A far cry from the scary ogre he used to be, the routine life of a dedicated husband and father to 3 mini ogres are beginning to take its toll. Under such circumstances, Shrek was tricked into signing a deal with baddie magician Rumpelstiltskin (voiced by Walt Dohrn) to enable Shrek (Mike Myers) to re-live one day as the mean green monster he once was. The catch ... Shrek had to give up one day from his past in exchange.


However, evilll Rumpie here chose to claim the very day Shrek was born, hence ceasing the very existence of Shrek himself. This boo boo resulted in altering the history and fate of Far Far Away land itself with Rumpie being crowned king / dictator and his horde of creepy witches serving as the militia police force with the sole purpose of hunting down the remaining ogres across the land.

All his friends couldn't remember him and so, Shrek had to go through the hassle of rekindling his bond with Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). Btw, Puss debuted in this movie as an overweight kitty. Obviously packed on more than a few pounds since he went into retirement. *LOL* More importantly, Shrek realised that there is indeed a buy out clause in his foul deal with Rumpie ... that is for him to kiss his One True Love before the day is over.

Fiona (Cameron Diaz) is now the leader of the ogre-clan resistance group and along with other green muscle heads, they plot and attempt to overthrow Rumpie from his rule and gain freedom in Far Far Away.

John Cleese and Julie Andrews were given very little and forgettable scenes as the King and Queen but cameos from Pinocchio, the Three Little (German) Pigs and Gingie, the gingerbreadman more than made up for it. With lots of hilarious punchlines and an awesome soundtrack which fitted the respective scenes marvellously ... this is a must watch. I reckon it's on par with How To Train Your Dragon and gives the audiences a dose of happy-feely ending ... which was exactly what this blogger needed.

And I got the popcorn combo with came along with ...


Fatty kitty ... MEOWWW!!!

Treasure Hunter FAIL!!!

My rating for this movie ... NVM!!! Can't be bothered really. Starring 'The Mumble King', Jay Chou ... it has the lamest of plot 'bout the hero trying to prevent The Company (yea, that's what the baddies are called *sheesh*) from stealing some buried treasure. I reckon they tried to make this HK's version of The Mummy meets Indiana Jones which failed at gargantuan poportion. Not even with the inclusion of some really delish eye candy in the form of Lin Chi Ling and funnyman Eric Tsang could salvage what ought to be awarded the worst movie of the decade. *APPLAUSE*

Truth to be told, it was too painful to watch it till the end. The fight scenes were horrendous ... HELLO!, the wires were sooo obvious. As for Jay, it's either he stops acting indefinitely or someone ... anyone ... PLEASE for the love of all things good ... send this guy back to Acting Class 101 like right NOW!!!

Half way through ... I stabbed both of my eyes with a rusted nail, then coated them with some spicy sambal belacan before sprinkling some salt over it. AAAhhhh ... it feels better now.

Confucius ... watch this, you must.

This 2009 movie starring Chow Yun Fatt as the famed Chinese philosopher, Confucius confused me. I stereotyped this great sage to enjoy beard stroking, speak in reverse sentence construct i.e. Yoda-grammar ... in slow motion no less and twirls his robe every once in a while. You get none of the above in this flick directed by Hu Mei. Oh but what you do get is A LOT of bowing action ... and I mean A LOT! Everyone bows to each other and they do it SOOOoooOOOooo slowly too. *Yawnzzz* Filmed mostly in He Bei, the story kicks off in the later part of Confucus's life where he was portrayed essentially as a politician as well as a militarist. Known as Kong Qiu then, he was first a mayor for the province of Zhong Du, then a Minister of Law and subsequently the Minister of Internal Affairs where he gets to put his ideals into practice to establish a harmonious governance.


Ruled by the Three Noble Families ... all the time squabbling amongst themselves to gain the upper hand on each other, essentially Confucius was driven into exile. He left behind his family and wandered from state to state with his loyal diciples to spread his teachings while refining his own wisdom. Along the way, they got entangled in political web of deceits, suffered hardship due to starvation and harsh weathers and struggling to survive during China's Warring period. In the end, they was finally invited back by the very ruler who expelled them back to their homeland.

Only in the last 5 minutes of this 2 hour epic do we see Confucius truly as what he is best known for ... a thinker and educator. He died at the frail age of 73 ... surrounded by the scrolls he loved so much. 'If the world learn to know about me, it is because of these scrolls. If the world learn to hate me, it is because of these scrolls'.


Personally, I would rate this movie at 5.5/10. I hope its recount of the historic facts and events were in order. Peter Pau, the cinematographer for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon also did a splendid job in showcasing the visual effects to a very convincing fashion. Oh and then there's the rather mesmerizing theme song by non other than Faye Wong.