Battle: Los Angeles (trailer 2)

Second trailer for Battle: Los Angeles. This shows us a whole lot more action compared to the teaser trailer.

Your Highness

The cast of this film is enough reason for me to see this. It stars James Franco, Natalie Portman & Zooey Deschanel. And yeah, Danny Mcbride isn't too bad also.

Battle: Los Angeles

On March 3, 2011, the battle for Los Angeles begins. Seems to be like another alien invasion movie where earth fights back. The trailer looks like Independence Day meets Black Hawk Down. It looks pretty cool.(Just realized that Independence Day was released 14 years ago. Gosh I am old!)

The King's Speech

The Oscar race is underway. And the leaders of the pack are The Social Network, The Fighter and The King's Speech. I've watched the first two movies mentioned. I am still waiting for this one. So looking forward to this. I thought The Social Network and The Fighter were excellent films. I assume this one is going to be excellent as well. Plus, it would be great if Colin Firth would snag the Best Actor award for this.

Cowboys & Aliens

Jon Favreau! Good actor and awesome director. He directed Iron Man 1 and 2. Sadly he won't be directing the third Iron Man film. He opted to pursue directing other feature films. Which isn't so bad. He's a talented director who wishes to stretch his creative wings. As a glimpse of the awesome movies we can expect from Jon Favreau in the future. Here is the trailer for Cowboys & Aliens. What's it about? Well the title speaks for itself.

True Grit

The nominees for the 2011 Gloden Globes was recently announced. And they showed no love for this film. It was snubbed and got no nominations. Not sure why, but I did read somewhere that this will still be a contender for the Oscars. We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

This film is adapted from a 1968 novel of the same name. It's the 2nd time it's been made into a movie. The first movie was released in 1969 and starred John Wayne in a role that won him an Oscar for Best Actor. The updated version now stars last years Best Actor winner Jeff Bridges. Along with Oscar nominees Matt Damon & Josh Brolin. Getting positive reviews for her performance as well is 14 year old actress Hailee Steinfeld.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Also in 2011. Transformers 3! They've titled this installment as Dark of the Moon. Don't really have high hopes with this one. Revenge of the Fallen really sucked! Michael Bay said it didn't turn out so good due to the writers strike. We'll they can't use that excuse on this one. They have major repair to do with this franchise. It's make it or break it time for the Transformers.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The trailers for movies to look forward to in 2011 just keep rolling in. Pirates of the Caribbean is setting sail again for a fourth installment. I love the first three and so I had my fears with this one. There is such a thing as one sequel too many. I think the Pirates franchise ended on a good note with 'At Worlds Ends'. I didn't want the series to be ruined by an unnecessary follow up. Plus, Captain Jack Sparrow is on of my all time fave movie characters. But the trailer shows that the Pirates are just getting started. Captain Jack is Back!

Thor & Green Lantern Trailers

Next year, Marvel & DC will be releasing 2 new superhero movies. Marvel presents to you, the God of Thunder, Thor starring Chris Helmsworth. And DC gives us Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds.

I'm familiar with both heroes. I love the actors they picked to play the parts. I've been waiting for this movies to be made since I was young. But I had my doubts on whether they would do a good job with the movies. I found it hard to imagine how they could make these two movies appealing and cool. After looking at the trailers. My doubts are gone. So excited to see these films next year.

Thor




Green Lantern

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

I never got on board on the whole Team Edward & Team Jacob craze. I never really got the whole hype of it. After watching this film, I think I've finally had it with the Edward-Bella-Jacob triangle. I find myself to be highly annoyed with the trio. And Bella for me, is the most irritating character of all time. And coming very close in second is Jacob. I would include Edward in the list but Robert Pattinson portrayed him nicely near the end of the film. The scene where he provokes Victoria to fight him and then they duel. That was a good scene for me. Good enough for me to not include him on my list of annoying characters. But I'm putting him under probation. Let's see how he does in the next film.

Don't get me wrong. I think Kristen Stewart is an ok actress. I'm highly annoyed with the character Bella herself. Kristen Stewart played the part as it was written to be played. Consider the scene where Jacob finds out Bella and Edward are getting married. Jacob angrily walks away and Belle chases him. I think that particular scene was in the book(correct me if I'm wrong). I know of some who got irritated with Bella after they read that in the book. So of course, the same response was obtained after watching that scene in the film. So the fault does not lie on how Kristen Stewart portrayed Bella. It's just how the character is.

The love triangle between Edward, Bella & Jacob is what most people came to see. But I found myself rolling my eyes at scene's that involved them. Luckily, only half of the film is focused on them. What saved the film for me were the minor characters. It was refreshing to see Rosalie & Jaspers back stories. Jasper, who I can't recall if he ever spoke in the first two movies, is just awesome in this film.

I just realized that in New Moon, the high points for me where Alice and the introduction ofthe Volturi. And in this one was more screen time for Rosalie & Jasper. Earlier this yeas there was news of salary disputes among the actors playing the minor character. In the end they gave the actors what they wanted and everyone is coming back to reprise their role. It's a good thing they did. Because for me. The minor characters are what I'm looking forward to seeing in the next film. A background story on Emmett, Esme & Carlisle please!

The action in the movie was another high point in this film. The two previous films left me wanting. But in this film they delivered. The battle between the vampires versus Cullen with the wolfpack was awesome. My only wish was that it was longer.

In the end, the film was alright. It's the best film in the series so far. And it's good enough that you'll still want to watch the next film in the saga.

Toy Story 3

We watched this last Sunday and loved it. It still has all the elements that made us love the first one. It's exciting. It's funny. And a lot of fun.

But this one seems to get you more emotionally involved. Pixar is proving to be a master when it comes to giving you tissue moments. Last year, they did it with Up. The first 10 minutes of Up was brutal. It was a challenge for me keep the tears from falling. I'M A MAN! Real men don't cry when watching animated movies! hehe.

The end part of Toy Story 3 was brutal as well. It was harder for me to keep myself from sobbing this time around. I think anyone who's ever owned a toy would be able to relate. The main plot of Toy Story 3 revolves around Andy, who's now grown up and doesn't play with his toys anymore. What happens to Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang now that he's heading to college? Well, the movie ends on a sweet note, but do have your tissues ready. And afterwards, you may start reminiscing about your old toys and start wondering where they are now.

Inglourious Basterds

After months of waiting for this film to be released. We finally got to watch it last night. It was exclusively showing in Robinsons cinemas. A big "THANK YOU" to Robinsons Cinemas for allowing us to watch the film without cuts.

The film focuses on two plots to assasinate Adolf Hitler who's attending a premiere in a French Cinema. Both plots aren't related to one another. And the fact that they both end up in the French Cinema is purely coincidental. Though set in World War II. This isn't really a typical war film. As Tarantino describes it, it's a spaghetti western set during the war.

You may think that this movie is filled with a lot of action and violence. But there actually only a few minutes of action in the film. Those few minutes are of course awesome. But the movies strength lies more with the script and the interesting characters.

In a Tarantino film, no character is too small. It's amazing how he can show a character only a few minutes. But you'll end up remembering them for a long time. And there are a lot of memorable minor characters here. Such as Stiglitz, the German officer who finds thrills in killing other German officers. Lt, Archie Hicox, a British officer and former film critic who finds himself in a stand off against Major Hellstrom. Major Hellstrom himself is also another memorable character.

Mike Meyers appears briefly in the film as a British soldier. When I heard he was going to appear in the film. I really couldn't picture how he would fare. Mike Meyers in a Tarantino film doesn't seem to mix. But in the end, I think he did rather well.

The most memorable small character in this film would be that played by Eli Roth. The Bear Jew. I think he has one of the coolest character introduction of all time. He's in a tunnel and all you can hear is a baseball bat banging on the wall. The bang gets louder and louder as he comes closer. And when he finally emerges from the tunnel, he is all so sinister and blood thirsty. Though the thought of him bashing someones brain out is rather appalling. You're a little bit excited to see him do it.

The major characters in the film are amazing as well. French actress Melanie Laurent plays the part of Shosanna, a jew who was able to escape from the massacre of her entire family. She now owns a small theater and is presented with an opportunity to avenge her family's death and wipe out all the Nazi head officers.

Brad Pitt is the main star of this film. He plays Lt. Aldo Raine, the leader of the Basterds. Though it seems his screen time is a tad short for a lead. His few min on screen are just pleasant. Pitt has mastered speaking in hilarious southern accent. He speaks it so well that he still has it when he tries to speak Italian. It's one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

Christopher Waltz is labeled as a supporting actor. But he shines the most in this film. His performance gives us a classic villain. One for the ages. SS Officer Hans Landa, is a ruthless and highly intelligent officer. Scenes where he appears can drive chills to your spine for fear of what he may do. But the beauty in Waltz' performance is that he played Landa as a complete gentleman. In scenes where he appears, Landa is mostly gracious, polite and articulate. The fact that Waltz can play someone to be so charming and yet frightening is just brilliant. I think he'll definitely walk away with the Best Supporting Actor award during the Oscars.

Tarantino has a bizarre and unique way in making movies. His style of film is unique to him and I don't think can be imitated by anyone. I know some have tried and none have come close. Only he can end his movie with a rewrite in history and still pull it off. With Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino gives us his best work. The last line spoken by Aldo Raine in the movie accurately describes what the film is. It is his masterpiece.

New Moon

Here now is the second installment to the hugely popular Twilight saga. I have not read any of the books. And up until this movie, I had no intentions of reading it at all. Now I'm considering it. I didn't read any of the books so that I wouldn't feel disappointed with the movie. As with most movie adaptations of novels. The book is often better than the movie.

This movie somehow sparked my interest more in the saga. The first movie focused on Bella Swan and her relationship with hot vampire Edward Cullen and his vampire family. This movie expands our knowledge of the Twilight universe by focusing on werewolf Jacob Black and and his clan. Or should I say pack of wolves. Other than that, this movie also introduces us to the Volturi. They are the the leaders of the vampire race who are very fierce and very powerful.


This movie showed me why the books are very popular. The premise is quite interesting. And something to look forward to. At the end of the film, I actually wanted to know what happens next.

Though the story is nice and all. The dialogue isn't quite good. I know this isn't suppose to be Shakespeare or anything. But the conversations seemed rather plain to me. Plus the acting wasn't the best either. The young stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner have a lot of potential. But they still have a lot of growing to do in terms of acting. They should take the opportunity to learn from they're veteran co-stars Michael Sheen and, agree with me or not, Dakota Fanning. Among the young and relatively new cast however. One seems to shine in this film. Ashley Green has done a terrific job playing Alice. Her character is now one of the most interesting characters of this series.

From what I've heard. The book was rather boring. So I have to give credit to the filmmakers for making this movie exciting. Though a lot of improvements still need to be made. This movie has already greatly improved from the first one. And somehow, I have a feeling that the next movie would definitely be better than this one. Indeed the Twilight series is a very exciting saga to follow. It has made a follower out of me.

2012

From the director of Independence Day, Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow. Roland Emmerich gives us another film where he destroys the world in spectacular fashion. How does he destroy the world this time? Well, the world ends due to a massive solar flare caused by planet alignment, which in turn heats the earths core and causing crust displacement. This is supposedly has happened billions of years ago and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. The ancient Mayans have predicted that it will happen again in the year 2012. I must say, I found this theory interesting and cool. And the movie did an excellent job of explaining it.

Though Roland Emmerich has proven that he's the best when it comes to the apocalypse. His act for story telling seems to have taken a step in the wrong direction. The movie feels like it tries too hard to find an excuse to be able to show you visually stunning sequence. But I think that was the intention all along. The film makers didn't set out to make a great film. I think they're goal was to give the audience a visual effects extravaganza. Which they did successfully. It's still to early to say. But I think this film will bag the visual effects & best sound editing Oscars next year. The special effects, regardless of what silly excuse they thought of to show you this, is a lot of fun & worth seeing.

This movie also features a terrific cast. I think the director has a talent for is choosing the right actors to star in his film. This film stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Jimi Mistry & Danny Glover. All pretty likable and talented actors. It's nice to see them in this type of film. And though some may disagree, I think they gave good performances and turned the characters they portray to be interesting ones.

To sum it up. This film is alright. It's a lot of fun as long as you don't pay too much attention to the plot.

Julie & Julia

Julie Powell(Amy Adams) is an aspiring writer who never caught a break. And thus she works as a call center customer care person for an insurance company. Not a pleasant job since you're getting nothing but complaints the whole day. At the end of a stressful day, she finds comfort in cooking. One day she decides to try cook every recipe written in the famous cook book 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' by Julia Child(Meryl Streep), and write a blog about it.

As we watch Julie go through every recipe, the movie also shows us the life of Julia Child when she was still living in Paris. A time when she was still learning to cook and beginning to write her cook book.

Though Julie & Julia live decades apart. They somewhat lived similar lives, and both found joy in cooking.

A lot of people may be able to relate to this movie. If you're the type who's stuck in a job that you do because you need to do it and not because you love it. And what thrills you in life are the stuff that you do when we get out of the office. Such us eat, cook, sports, movies, photography etc. Then this movie is for you.

If you can't relate to this movie. Well that's OK. It's is still worth seeing. The story, other than being true, is both inspiring and entertaining. The acting is of course top notch. Plus the food is just mouthwatering. After seeing this movie you may want eat up a feast and even want to learn how to cook. Brace yourselves. Diet's will be broken. I know mine was. :D

Red Cliff

I've been waiting for almost a year for this movie to be released here. And last night, I finally got to watch it.

It's a film about the battle of Red Cliff which occurred during the period of the Three Kingdoms in China. This period was the bloodiest period in the history of China.

Why am I so excited about a movie about this?

Well to begin with. This is the most expensive movie ever produced by China. And the most successful too. It beat Titanic as the highest grossing film in China.

Second, it features some of Asia's finest and brightest actors like Tony Leung(Lust, Caution), Takeshi Kaneshiro(House of Flying Daggers) and Zhao Wei(So Close).


And to top it off. This film is directed by John Woo. Bloody era plus masterful action director, equals a bloody historic action epic!

Well at least that's what I was expecting.

Red Cliff was originally released in China as two movies. Each with a length of about two hours. For the international audience, the two films where combined and about 90 minutes was trimmed off to form just one movie. And this is the version that we got to see.

I was dismayed a few minutes into the film. As it turns out. This version is dubbed in English. And the dubbing wasn't of good quality. Regardless of that, the film still turned out to be alright. It redeemed itself with the battle scenes. John Woo showing us why he one of the best action director in the world. He was able to show us the battle techniques and formations used in those days and still made it look cool.

This is not the best version of this film. But that says a lot. If a downgraded version of this movie came out rather good. Then just imagine just how much better the original version could be. I'm excited to find out.

The Young Victoria

Cza and I we're walking around Greenbelt 3 and stumbled upon Young Victoria which was exclusively showing there. I've always wanted to see a movie about Queen Victoria. So yeah, I asked Cza if we could watch, and I'm so glad she said yes.

I saw a trailer for this film about a week before and wasn't totally excited with seeing Emily Blunt in the title role. Don't get me wrong. I think she has a lot of talent. But playing a Queen, I had my doubts.

As we watched the movie, Emily Blunt proved me wrong. She pulled it off quite nicely. She played the young Queen as being fragile and like your typical teenage girl. But when the time came for her to be strong, she was.

This movie is a bit like Elizabeth. It's a movie about a young lady who ascends to the throne. Except that this one is a rather teen flick version of that film. As the title states, this is a movie about the Young Victoria. The film does focus Victoria's life and struggles before, during and after her coronation. But it also primarily focuses on her romance with Prince Albert, who was played excellently by Rupert Friend. In this movie, Prince Albert is a rather shy and lost for words kind of fellow. But eventually wins the heart of Victoria, finds his voice, and becoming the perfect match for Victoria in ruling the kingdom.

Queen Victoria's life is already a fascinating read in wikipedia. And this movie is about 90% accurate in depiction. So to put it quite simply, this movie is fascinating.

District 9

The movie is told as if you were watching a special on the Discovery channel. Your shown news footage's and interviews from experts about the aliens that landed in Johannesburg, South Africa(Finally! The aliens didn't land in America, "The only country aliens seem to land in" hehe ). The aliens, which are referred to as "prawns" because of their appearance, didn't come to conquer or wipe out the human race. Instead, they find themselves unable to go back to they're mother ship and is stuck in our planet. And in typical human fashion, the alien refugees are segregated and are all housed in government camp known as District 9.

Twenty years later, District 9 has turned into the slums. The government has decided to relocate the aliens to an area that's far away from Johannesburg which they've named District 10. As policy, in order to move the aliens, they must be served with relocation papers and sign them. And the man assigned with this task is a government worker named Wikus van de Merwe, who's also main character in this film. The trouble starts when Wikus serves the relocation papers to the aliens. At this point as well, the movie shifts from the news footage to the actual story concerning Wikus. This is also where the fun begins. Don't want to give away what happens next as not to spoil it, but it's fascinating.

No big names in this movie except for producer Peter Jackson. None of the actors are well-known which is why the films style works. The movie presents a different view of humans and aliens. The aliens have superior technology, higher intelligence and strength. But they are not an aggressive race. Primarily because their leaders died and they've got no one to lead them. The villains in this movie are us humans, who wants nothing more than to harness the alien technology. Indeed this is highly unique and awesome film. It's one of the best movies of the year. Go see it!

Time Travellers Wife, Up & GI Joe

The Time Travellers Wife

Didn't know anything about this movie going in. I think I only saw the trailer once. I prepared myself for a boring love story. But the movie is actually quite nice. The story was unique and could have been quite confusing if not told properly. But the film makers did a good job in telling it. And good job for stars Eric Bana & Rachel McAdams. They were able to properly convey to the audience what their characters were going through in their unusual circumstance. It's a nice story and good enough movie to watch.









Up

When you watch an animated movie. You expect some laughs, thrills and a lot of fun. But once in while, a cartoon can also make you cry. This is one of those type of cartoons. Best bring some tissue with you if your the type to cry easily. I nearly broke into tears myself. Luckily I was able to keep it together. Never has a cartoon made me cry since since Bambi's mom was killed.

Not to worry. Though their are some sad moments in this film. There are plenty of fun ones too. It's a very fun and heartwarming movie overall. We're planning to watch it again in 3D.

Oh and if your going to watch this. Do try to enter the cinema early. They're going to show a short animated film before they play Up. It's called 'Partly Cloudy'. It's something you shouldn't miss.


GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra


Ever since I heard they were going make this movie, I was excited for it but wasn't expecting it to be any good. The trailer didn't help lift my hopes up. When it came out, well as expected, certified critics and wanna-be-discussion-forum-critics aren't showing any love for it. But I on the other hand loved it.

This movie somehow brought back the child in me. When I used to watch this everyday when I came home from school. I was highly entertained with the simplicity of a team of heroes fighting a team of villains in an awesome action packed battle involving cool weapons and vehicles. This movie contains all those, and that's all I need to enjoy it. This movie is absolutely crap-tastic and I'm looking forward to a sequel.

The Lovely Bones Trailer

The trailer for the 'The Lovely Bones' is out. You can check out the trailer here.

I haven't seen the trailer yet though. I have to wait till I get home because they don't allow video streaming here in the office. I first got curious with this movie when I first read that Peter Jackson bought the rights to the novel and will direct the film. After reading that, I went to Powerbooks at the Greenbelt walkway and bought myself a copy of the novel. Since The Lord Of The Rings director liked the book enough to make a movie out of it. Then it must be an awesome book.

Unfortunately, I've only read half of the book. I got busy of all of a sudden and never found time to finish it. But based on what I've read. The story is rather interesting and it does seem to be nice. The movie comes out in December. Hence, I'm putting reading 'The Lovely Bones' back on top of my to do list.