3 Continents. 3 Blockbusters.

This must've been the longest break I've had between two posts man. I've been so busy after coming back from thailand; and the post I'm doing about Koh Samui is still under construction - there's just too many photos!

Anyway, back to the topic. The 3 continents I'm referring to are America (North), Asia and Europe. And the 3 blockbusters are respectively: Heroes, Warlords and The Golden Compass.

Got a secret to reveal to you guys: I bought the entire f1rst season of Heroes from Thailand =x I shall not further elaborate the legitimacy of the subject, but that's not the point. The point is, Heroes is a ffrreakin' good TV show!

I give it WooooW (4.0/5)

Synopsis: Ordinary people discovering they have extraordinary powers. Like flying (a congressman), bending space and time (the funny and cute Japanese guy), mind-reading (a policeman) and even physical indestructability (a cheerleader). Sounds X-men cool? It's cooler than X-men; simply because it's set in a realistic everyday world. The bunch of 'superheroes' (careful, come are evil) are linked together by a plot that seems to thicken only as the series advances.

Plus Points: I've not finished the whole series but until where I've watched, it's good enough. The producers make the heroes' powers entirely believable, and given the freedom of time in a TV series, the characters are meticulously developed, which is very watchable. The initial storyline (which involves almost every character) of a painter who can paint the future is gripping enough. And Hiro Yakomura, that guy who've become famous for his "Ya-taaaaa!!" line is a hoot to watch.

Flaws: Premise can be quite implausible sometimes; but it's not much of a problem. Once you ignore it, this series will grip you and never let go.

FInal Say: One word: Addictive.

Season 2 of Heroes is already airing in the U.S. but it's been cut-short because of the stupid Writers' Guild of America strike. Many popular american shows like Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy are also suspended because of it. Let's hope it ends soon. Just pay the writers more and freakin' get on with the entertainment! =P


Let's move on to the continent of Asia! 投名状 a.k.a The Warlords (co-produced by S'pore's very own Raintree Pictures) is a mega-asian-blockbuster starring mega-asian-stars Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. With big names like this, you'd think the movie would be a spectacle. Well, for me, I guess that statement is half-right.

I give it WooooW (3.5/5)

Synopsis: Set in China, 1892, Warlords tells the true-story of the assination of General Pang (Jet Li). It starts off as the three men (with Andy Lau and Takeshi) form a blood-bond (投名状) and sworn into brotherhood. But as war rages and the egocentric General Pang starts to clash with second-brother Andy in terms of ideas, the relationship is strained. The young and naive Takeshi is caught between the feud of the two and decides to take matters into his own hands.

Plus Points: The battle scenes here are a spectacle to behold. Fungi and Ser Kun have compared it to those of 300 - less stylised, of course, but equally violent. The film succeeds best at capturing the flavour of the time, be it the grief and greyness of the poor peasants, or the grandeur and glory of imperial Beijing. Jet Li's anguished and power-crazy performance here is also stellar.

Flaws: Quite a lot, sad to say. The sub-plot of a woman entangled between Jet and Andy is ridiculous to say the least, and the initially thrilling movie degerates into a overly-dramatic (and tiresome) final act, where so many characters are being killed off for the sake of being killed off.

Final Say: A very good war epic that suffers because of a restricted storyline. All the money went into the sets (and of course, for hiring Jet Li).


Last but definitely not the least, the movie based on the much-loved and critically-acclaimed His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass hails all the way from the UK. I've bought the books! But more about that later. The movie adaptation is simply fantastic.

I give it WooooW (4.0/5)

Synopsis: Lyra (Dakota Richards) is the chosen girl with an althiometer, a golden compass which tells the truth. After the kidnap of her dear friend by the Gobblers (a mysterious bunch of scientists who steals kids and bring them to the North for horrifying experiments), Lyra sets off on a quest to rescue the children. With the aid of Gyptians (sea-dwellers), an armoured bear (voiced by Ian McKellen aka Prof Dumbledore) and a hundred-year-old witch (a good-looking Eva Green), she must overcome the Gobblers-evil-in-charge, Mrs Coulter (a terrifying Nicole Kidman).

Plus Points: Where do I start? The book itself is a great fantasy classic, and it is certainly a technical feat to bring it to life on-screen. But with the help of the studio that brought us the formidable adaptation of Lord of the Rings, the movie excels. The daemons (animal representations of a human soul; pronounced dee-mons) are a wonder to watch, and the CGI snow bears (including the climactic showdown) are so realistically-drawn it's unbelievable. Dakota is effectively spunky as the young female lead, and Nicole Kidman is perfect for the icy-villainous role.

Flaws: As always, a movie-adaptation of a book always suffer having to 'touch-and-go' on the characterisation. Because I'm reading the book, it's obvious that Daniel Craig's character as Lord Asriel is not completely flashed-out, and Eva Green's turn as the head-witch was dreadfully under-used. Although we can't blame the producers for keeping the movie within watchable length, I'd still think the audience wouldn't mind sitting an extra half hour or so if the movie was more detailed in that part.

Final Say: A superior film from an even more superior book. Thoroughly enjoyable and spell-binding.



This is my collection of His Dark Materials trilogy written by a fantasy-master Philip Pullman. As you can see, The Golden Compass is actually based on Northern Lights. But I'm sure if the movie was titled as such, there would not be enough people interested in it to make it a mega-blockbuster. Anyway, the second and third titles are The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass respectively, which I've not read yet. This trilogy won many awards worldwide, and from what I've read so far, Harry Potter cannot be compared to this very imaginative writer. Really captivating. But don't worry, Harry Potter is still good lah.

Alright, damn tired. Didn't have enough sleep for many nights le.

Gonna be really busy for the coming months. What with live range and overseas exercises (Thailand again).

Meanwhile, take care, peeps!