Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Review

The first disclaimer I have to make is that I am a Potter-buff. Yep. Read all the books within the first week of their release and seen all the movies.

Perhaps that is why I felt that the movie was good not so much for entertainment value - but rather, i just HAD to watch it. Sort of closing the loop as it seems.

Ok, so the movie was so-so. And they did take many liberties with the adaptation from the book (i re-read it in 8 hours after the movie). Things like who said what, who attacked who... clearly, the focus was more on the leads, rather than the ancillary characters like Lupin, Bill Weasley etc. In fact, they cut out whole chapters from the book as well.

But then, they also kept certain small details, like how Hermoine makes little blue flames kept in jars and such. But for the most parts, the details were lost in this movie adaptation.

This first parter ends at Chapter 25 out of 36. Which makes you think that the last movie of the series is just one huge a$$ fight scene. Can't wait!

Entertaining, but more to finish the series.

6.5/10

Megamind

Just when you thought that all animated films were beginning to look / sound similar, Megamind blows your mind away.

Well, I guessed I liked it more because i went into the movie with very little expectations.

You know, typical good guy beats bad guy story...

But this isn't it.

You feel for the little blue guy and the voice overs by Tina Fey and Will Ferrel really added another dimension to the film. Especially considering that they were said to have ad-libbed most of their parts.

This is one of those animated films that I will remember for awhile. Very entertaining and laughs a minute. =)

7/10

The People in Our Lives

Too often, we neglect the people who are in and out of our lives everyday. We fail to stop and realise how long they have been around and what difference they have made in our lives.

Take for instance the mail man. I had a 3-liner conversation with the man who has been delivering my mail for the last decade (that I can remember); and only after the conversation, did i realise that he has probably seen my brothers and I grow up:

From the time we waved to him whilst we were in our school uniforms walking home;
to when each of us disappeared for 3 years, but be around to sign for registered mail during the months of July - Sep;
to seeing each of us buy our own vehicles and parking them outside our house, making him have to change his routine of zigzagging from door to door on his moped.

He doesn't look like he's aged.

But I don't even know his name.

Shall find out tomorrow.

NUS Law

Short shorts + skimpy tops + youth = one heckuva winning combination. =P

Who knew law students dress so well these days.

Blast From the Past

Ever wondered how it would be like to run into someone from the past? Someone who meant the world to you but you lost touch with?

The feeling is just odd.

Seeing how they have changed, but retaining some of the characteristics you were so familiar with.

Ah. Memories. How they haunt you.

Education

As expected. Most Singaporeans are only interested in knowing what can help them to pass an exam. Not about how the real world works.

Education indeed.

Accents

Fake accents really tick me off. Speak normally!

Urge

Severe urge to pollute lungs.

Fried Rice Paradise

Disappointing. This musical had the unfortunate honour of being the first one that I walked out midway of.

Yep, you heard me. Walked out during intermission and never came back.

Why?

Well, the positives first.

The sets, amazing for a local production. The back up dancers, haven't seen so many in a local production ever - and they look like MediaCorp standard... but wait... this production is sponsored by the People's Association... so... hmm... maybe...

What was wrong?

The cast was a let down. Weak voices, poor acting. They seemed to be satisfied in talking amongst themselves and I ended up feeling as if I might as well be at home watching tv, and not in a musical where the interaction or even the basic requirement for the actors to face the audience when delivering the lines, should be there.

And who said Taufik could sing? Best voice of the night was definitely the Ruffian Father. For Taufik and the female lead, I strained to hear their voices, which was drowned out by the band. Unfortunately, because the voices were so weak, i could not help but think that the back up dancers were "hair-o-graphy" - required to back up the otherwise weak cast with their flashy moves and chorus.

I couldn't help but think that Dick Lee did not write FRP with the view of "Celebrating 50 Years of Racial Harmony". It just seems too contrived and I could help but keep thinking that... hmm... the Fried Rice must be halal!

Sorry, presenting FRP under this banner was the final nail in the coffin.

GF and I both felt that the musical would have been so much better had there been a stronger cast. Perhaps Lim Kay Siu to replace Lim Yu Beng? Karen Tan for female lead? Hossan to replace Sebastian Tan (who honestly - is so unconvincing as an Ah Beng - give it up dude, wah piang eh.)

1/10

=(

Inception

This review is going to be brief. Brief and to the point because the movie wasn't - and honestly, there is no need to talk too much about it. Its quite simple actually.

Review - on an entertainment factor, this movie was so-so. No biggie. And this movie is as complicated as your mind sees it. If you aren't a conspiratorist, its a pretty straightforward movie.

There are so many gaps in the movie. For one, they didn't explain the science. What is that box and how does it link dreams? GF and I agreed that if they had taken sometime to explain the science instead of bullshit explosion scenes, the movie might have appealed more to the boffin.

I distill the plot for you people who think too much.

*SPOILER ALERT*

At the start, DiCaprio is in level 4. Its his dream, so he can choose not to age. He finds Watanabe and it cuts immediately into flashback.

At the end, the top is slowing down and stopping. Hence he is not in dreamland anymore. He can see his kids faces, and they are dressed the same cos its a coincidence.

There. No conspiracy. No need to watch it a few times - which GF believes is the evil plot of the movie makers. Make it overly confusing so people will watch it several times. The last time some film like this happen, it was called the Matrix.

6/10.

Bleargh... no biggie. Not really entertaining.

Avatar: The Movie

Caught this movie 2 weeks back.

I don't think I would have gone to watch this movie on my own accord. Firstly, I don't follow American cartoons (I hesitate to call them anime) since I discovered the much better Jap ones. I find the American cartoons weak in plot and poor in art these days (although many of them do come from the same Korean studios as their Jap cousins)

Still, due to popular vote, we went to catch the 3D version of movie with Big Ben.

My first impression after the movie was - where was the 3D besides the floating subtitles? Mumbling curses under my breath, I vowed to read reviews ahead of booking movies in the future to find out if they were filmed in 3D or just converted 3D movies.

My verdict of the movie? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Was it entertaining? Nope.

Was it bad? Nope.

Will I remember ever watching it? Nope.

Will I catch the inevitable sequels? Nope.

In fact, the reason this review took 2 weeks to write is because I only remembered I watched this movie just before writing my Inception review.

Pfft.

2 / 10

Wait for the "DVD".

Boeing Boeing

Nice eye candy. Weak story.

Morale of the Story: You can cheat and still have a happy ending. =P

Despicable Me

One of the best 3D animation I've seen. Laughs a minute, great 3D effects. Only major irony was that after spending 2 hours watching a 3D movie, I stepped out only to drop a contact lens from my eye and had to drive home without depth perception.

Hah.

7.5/10

Alternative View of a Heartwarming Movie

BP Responsibility Statement

Faith. In Man or In God?

SATC 2

Yes, they all look a lot older; and SJP did look quite scary in her close-ups; and the movie was a tad longer than it should have been.

But, the gals reprised their roles like they had never left them. The fashion, lines and story line all very SATC of the old.

It was like a 2.5 hour dose of SATC that fans had missed.

Quite entertaining.

Go catch it!

7.5 / 10

obvious FAIL!

Tigers

Caught between 2 feuding tigers. And being used as a conduit for barbs thrown against each other.

Sucks.

Iron Man 2

Absolu-freaking-awesome.

Date Night

Not your typical romantic movie. But was cute and entertaining. Liked the fact that Steve and Tiny ad-libed their way at some parts (watch the credits).

But you can wait for the DVD.

4/10

Chicago

The Gf and I got good free tickets to catch this, courtesy of her boss. This is what I thought of it.

ITS A GOOD THING I DIDN'T SPEND THE MONEY ON THE TICKETS!

Ok, let me get it clear first. I'm not the kind of guy who gets a freebie and then says how bad it is. But this one really wasn't very good.

The reviewer in Today Newspaper agrees.

Basically, like the Gf says, they got dancers first, singers next. It was more cabaret than musical. Sexy costumes (which never changed), best dancing i've seen in a musical but the singing was weak (save for Roxy's hubby), the acting wooden, and was very disappointed in the set (what set?).

I've seen so much better local productions (SingDollar, Dim Sum Dollies).

To be fair, perhaps they fell prey to being in the shadow of a Hollywood Blockbuster. But even so, the director did not play up the sparring between Roxy and Velma, which was the crux of the plot. The Lawyer was wooden but yes, he did succeed in making the audience hate him (for being on stage that is).

Forgettable. If you didn't catch it. Its ok.

Clash of the Titans 2010

Entertaining, but not epic. Definitely a movie which will polarise the audience. Some will like it, some will hate it with a vengeance.

I think the Director was a bit conflicted. On one hand, I think he recognised that he was re-making an epic movie. So he made some concept references to the first version (like the mechanical owl and the flying goblins. On the other hand, I think he didn't want to be in the shadow of the original, and so he added some of his own ideas.

The original movie was 3 hours long. This was 1.5 hours. This resulted in several logic leaps (like in one moment Perseus was a prisoner, in another he is a Demi-God (all because Hades looked at him and said, "Lim peh"). Or why Andromeda will walk up to him and offer him wine. Or why the 3 witches would go on at length about Perseus going to die and he didn't.

The action sequences also seemed disjointed. Fast fast... slow slow... fast fast... this leads to most viewers getting irritated, bored quickly. Read the Straits Times review... I think I thats is the reason why most reviewers think the fight scenes were too long. Also probably because the Producers were trying to jump on the 3D bandwagon, you cannot help but think that some of the fight sequences were "complicated" because it was to cater to the 3D audience (like the last scene of goblins in the city) - too fast for the naked eye, just nice for 3D effects.

All in all, the 3 points made a very confused movie and a more confused audience. Hence, only entertaining, not epic.

Am going to look for the original. Clay effects rule!

5 / 10

I Like the Way You Think...

Crappy Job

I have a shitty job. Not as bad as this one, but you get the drift.

Need a new one.

Bros

Nothing beats just hanging out with the bros...

How to Train Your Dragon

This was a feel-good, very entertaining movie which I personally thought was quite well written.

Would recommend you to catch it in 3D cos of the flying scenes (i didnt)

8 / 10

P.S. I think the big baddie looks like the Kraken. Coincidence?

Nothing

Nothing beats a day doing nothing. Haven't had one of these in a long long long while.

Burning Out...

When I don't give a damn anymore.

Happiness is...

Having a hot meal - that is not Indian food, for the first time in a week.

IST

That stands for Indian Standard Time. Which means basically anything from 15 mins - 3 hours after the appointed time.

Any more interaction with the Indians and I will definitely be influenced!

Already speaking a bit of Hindi and shaking my head.

Got the accent down as well. =(

Sigh

Many lonely, busy days in KL...

Another Weekend Full of Activity

1. Went to pray Tai Sui
2. People's Park toiletries shopping
3. Supper with parents
4. Beach Road
5. 11km hike
6. Ethan's Party
7. Met JY

Sheesh, i need to pack my weekends less. Need a weekend from the weekend!

A Beer Never Looked So Good

Mr Fix-It

In a room full of dis-empowered fools and postmen, I seem to be fixing everything not because I want to, but because I feel like I have to.

A serious case of hyper-responsibility, I have.

What is the cure?

Random

My colleague, Irene is either putting on weight on her tummy and boobs, or she is pregnant.

But she ain't married.

Hmm... random thought

Absent

Just tore off 6 pages from my calendar sitting on my office desk.

That's how long I haven't been able to sit in my office chair. =(

Valentine's Day

I was going to write a long review about this movie, but due to the lack of time, here it is, a 2 min one.

Movie is not the next Love Actually. Besides the strong (and beautiful cast), the story is disjointed and does not leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling at the end, like other rom-coms do.

It does explore the different aspects of love though, man love, woman-child love, old people love... but so much of it was in passing, that one does not even feel a connection.

Wait for the DVD.

3/10

Travelling for Work

Its really over-rated.

FAIL

Taken from here.

Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

With no where to go. Sigh.

How Much Do You Know Cars?

AND PASSED WITH AN ABOVE AVERAGE SCORE. B-

Quiz Created By Auto Insurance

New York, I Love You

This movie must be appreciated with the following understanding:

1. Its tagline, "Every Moment, A Story Begins"
2. That it was shot over 36 days
3. That it was a project of many directors; each who had 24 hours to film his scenes, and; one who passed away during filming
4. It won many awards at Cannes
5. It was the directorial debut of Scarlett Johannson and Natalie Portman

If you didn't understand these things before you saw the movie, your thoughts after the movie would probably be:

1. WTF was this movie about. Stories that don't seemingly join and with no conclusion. Very RANDOM
2. Lots of stars, but WTF?

I had those thoughts but what I can say is that this movie is about the energy and the mishmash of cultures of New York, and the randomness of life. It showed love in its different forms. And it doesn't conclude its stories because, who knows what will happen - thats just the way life is.

Quite a good movie, but its more for the people with imagination and with a appreciation of arty films.

7 / 10

Beds.SG

Redecorating your room can be a challenge. You contend with aesthetic issues such as theme, design, colour coordination as well as practical issues such as budget, quality of products and function.

Some of you may know that the family recently "re-built" the house. Trust me when I say that I spent every weekend visiting furniture showrooms, toilet fixtures shops, tile shops, lighting shops et al.

By the time we decided on all the fittings for the common areas, I was burnt out. There was the still issue of redecorating my room left unsettled and I started looking for an online solution.

I was recommended http://www.beds.sg for my bedframe and cupboards for the room. You cannot imagine how happy I was to find that there was such a site with detailed pictures for the Singapore market. Basically, I decided on the model I wanted, placed an order via the website, and they DELIVERED and INSTALLED for FREE!

Buying a bedframe on this website is:

1. Simple - just click click
2. Cheaper - they are much cheaper than any walk-in showroom since I think they don't have overheads for showrooms (they are about 50% or more lower in price than their competitors, even on sale)
3. Quality - amazingly, what you see is what you get. This is in contrast to some unscrupulous online shops who put nice photos and deliver you rubbish.
4. Service - Delivery was on time and simple. And customer service was prompt and polite.

I tell you, i'd recommend beds.sg to anyone. In fact, I'm going to order another bed frame for my brother from the website!

Go take a look today!

Its Complicated - Meryl Streep & Alec Baldwin

Nancy Myers can write and direct rom-coms. I mean, Something's Gotta Give, What Women Want, The Holiday... many reviewers say the same and gave this movie a thumbs-up

You have to give credit when credit is due, and she rightly sticks to what she does best.

You can't fault the script or the directing. But somehow, this movie didn't do it for me. I couldn't explain why, but the GF suggested it might be because of the casting.

It is more remote to expect 60-year olds to want to shag like rabbits. If the story was casted with 40 year olds, maybe - Patrick Dempsey for Alec Baldwin; Katherine Heigl for Streep and Jimmy Fallon for Steve Martin. The kids could be a little younger and it could be a bf instead of a son-in-law that knows the details.

You cannot fault the delivery of the actors (though GF thinks there was too much over-acting on Streep's part). But maybe it was the fault of the timing - too close to Julia Child's movie. All I could think of during the movie was how much Streep was acting like Child! The cooking, the speaking of bad french, the raptuous and seemingly fake laughter... Baldwin also did not detract too much from his 30 Rock role.

But the movie did have its saving points. I figured out what was wrong with the Morgans. There was no "awww...." moments. You know, the scene which makes your nose sniffle and heart melt? There are some in this movie.

The humour as compared to the Morgans was also a lot less slapstick and a lot more "OMG... don't do that... argh..." - that is, the embarrassing situation you know is going to happen if the actor does something like open the door, or pose in front of a laptop.

That is how rom-coms are supposed to be made.

2 down, 2 more to go. New York, I love You and Valentine's Day. More comparisons to follow. =)

6.5 / 10

Time to Tackle the Sacred Cows

Who naturally are full of bull shi*t.

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

There is no way to review this movie without giving away spoilers.

You have been warned.

Most reviewers gave this movie a thumbs down. Predictable! Yawn! They said.

Well, in my opinion, they were half right.

The movie is your typical rom-com, but then again, also atypical.

The couple did start out as at each other's necks. But in this case, it was because they were married and Hugh Grant's character had been unfaithful.

That in itself was different. The lines he said about how it was a stupid mistake resonated within me, as someone who's been down that road before. His apology was real and perhaps, that made me enjoy it for more than it was.

The pairing of SJP and Grant was odd - and you could feel it throughout the movie. Odd because they didn't step away from the roles that they have been known to play all their life. SJP as the born and bred and slightly neurotic New Yorker and Grant as the bumbling Englishman with puppy dog eyes. Who would have thought that they would have gotten married in the first place?

They get thrown into this place which is out of both their comfort zones - the South of USA and the GF opines that the director resorted to slapstick to keep the funny up. And I don't disagree.

The movie was saved by Hugh Grant and Hugh Grant alone. I mean, no one else I know can deliver dry British wit the way he can. His one-liners made me laugh out more than any slapstick contrived situation could.

All in all, it was an entertaining, but forgettable movie. By all means, go ahead and watch it instead of Chaw, Old Dogs or whatever... but you won't be kicking yourself if you miss the run.

I'm actually looking forward to Its Complicated and Valentine's Day - 2 better rom-coms, or so I've heard.

Yes. I am a sucker for such crap. =)

6 / 10

Going Mad

Need a new job. Yoga instructor looks promising.

Sherlock Holmes

First movie of the new decade, and boy was it awesome.

You know its going to be good just by reading the list of whos who.

Director: Guy Ritchie
Lead: RD Jr
Musical Composer: Hans Zimmer

It was a totally enjoyable movie, with RD Jr epitomizing Holmes - both in his deep thinking gaze, but also with his cheeky disregard for rules and the law.

I didn't feel the movie was 2 hours long. I mean, there were no wasted scenes, brilliant music to accompany the scene (right down to the how u can hear the mischievousness in the music).

I had feared that the best scenes were shown in the trailer, but this was clearly not the case.

The lines were witty, the sets were amazing.

One negative point was that Jude Law put up a forgettable performance as Watson, and was clearly the weakest link in the film. However, that said, he is probably the best English actor they could have used... much better than the rough-hewn Colin Farrel whom they had intended to use initially.

RD Jr tried to put on an English accent. And he only marginally succeeded in the single lines. He reverted to his american accent when he spoke fast.

All in all, an entertaining movie. Go catch it!

4.5 / 5