Yea, I've finally managed to catch the movie I've been dying to watch. Although halfway through I felt a tinge of regret, I was glad I sat through this brilliant, funny and scary-like-hell movie.
Yep, I was intrigued, then frightened, then fell in love with Drag Me To Hell.
I give the movie:
Talk about extremes. Drag Me To Hell was touted as scary and funny, but I didn't expect it to be that scary and that funny. But oh well, who's complaining? Perhaps just some of us cowering in our seats during the movie. But that's the whole fun of it, isn't it? You get to have a near-heart attack, and then you get treated to some medicine called laughter.
Some of you might be surprise that Sam Raimi (the genius that brought us those genre-defining Spiderman movies) directed this. But what's more surprising is that Sam Raimi started off doing these genre-defining horror/comedy films (The Evil Dead Trilogy), which were what made him famous in the first place.
Drag kick-started with an unsuccessful but shocking exorcism from the past, which laid the path for what was to come. In the present, our female protagonist's rejection of an old gypsy's appeal for an extension of her housing loan unleashed a curse upon herself. She is given 3 days - after which she would be dragged to hell for her misdeed.
Would an animal sacrifice appease the demon? Would an exorcism work? Can she get away from all the torment? Well, let's just say, Hell has no mercy. And the audience, as well, are in the mercy of this visionary director, who piles up the scares and gore (along with the laughs) with a well-crafted and suspenseful score.
And when I said this movie is not for the weak-of-heart, I do mean it. Don't be deceived by the PG rating (as of my next movie review below, but more on that later). Guys are bound to be pushed to the edge of their seats, notwithstanding the fact that we're trying to cover our eyes with our hands.
Although we do wish to escape from the theatre, the story is so intriguing everyone sits through it, all the way to the Hell-raising finale.
FINAL SAY: Utterly satisfying and wonderfully crafted spook/laugh flick. Not for the faint-hearted, though. But still, highly recommended.
~
And next, the mind-numbingly painful Land of the Lost.
I give the movie:
The movie ad in The Straits Times reads: "Not for those without a sense of humour." If having a sense of humour means being incoherent, tasteless, and a bit retarded, then Land of the Lost is the movie for you!
Anyway, not being too mean, but this film is NOT a fun family film. Families who bring along their kids expecting something like last year's exciting Journey to the Centre of the Earth will be totally thrown off track, and till the end of this mess of a show, they still won't know what hit them.
An egoistic scientist (Will Farrell) manages to travel into a parallel dimention whereby the past collides with the future, which gives you a mixture of dinosaurs and ice cream parlours all rolled into one scene. And then there're those ugly, unfunny lizard-men. And a pervertic ape man who becomes the group's best friend. Don't get it? The movie doesn't care. Just watch it for slapstick after slapstick of crass humour.
How this movie was packaged to look like a family film but instead is laden with head-scratching sexual-references and managed to pass off with a PG rating is beyond my guess.
FINAL SAY: Intentionally tacky and unapologetically unserious, do not say you've not been warned, kids.
~
Okay, so those were the two movies I watched in one day. One great, and the other one an utter waste of time and money.
Next post shall be mom's birthday and Yeewen's 21st.
Take care, peeps!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Are You Sure They're Rated PG!?
Monday, August 25, 2008
21KM and the Overdued
Yup, I ran the 21KM army half marathon AGAIN this year. But more on that later.
Firstly, I need to back-date this post by quite a bit because I was so busy preparing the photo-post of the Lamerz Redang Trip (see previous post).
Let's back-date to 15th August!
Guang Yang Primary School Gathering
A whopping 30-plus people turned up, thanks to Kenneth Lim, the guy who seems to have half his brain containing memories from the primary school days =x (seriously, he remembers too much about them)
Anyway, here's that rare shot of us all together at Ken's house:
I'm the one smacked in the middle, with that grey-and-white polo tee, flanked by our teachers, Mrs Tjan (on the left) and Mdm Mahanom (on the right). Really kudos to these two wonderful, wonderful teachers, who still can remember all of us (it's been 8 years!!).
Sometimes, it really is heart-warming if you start recalling those pre-secondary school days. The fun, the mischief, the freedom, the naivete... all that seem to be gradually absent now, don't you think?
After the gathering, me, wenjie, francesca and vanessa proceeded to Bishan Junction 8 to catch Meet Dave.
I give the movie:
Inane - that's the word to describe this lack-lustre of a movie. Of course, there are the occasional laughs, but the keyword here is occasional, largely provided by Eddie Murphy, milking his last available talents as a physical comedy star.
FINAL SAY: Inane.
~
Lamerz Day Celebration and Gifts Exchange
It was 16AUG. We premiered Babe, and a Beachball to much laughter. We gift-exchanged. We played Mahjong. And serkun got drunk.
This is the pic of the presents we exchanged:
And this was my belated birthday gift from Lamerz, a limited-edition MTV Asia Awards t-shirt from EDC by Esprit:
~
New Shoes and 4bia
Once upon a time (okay, it's just one month ago) I came across this nice sneakers from K-Swiss, on an issue on Taiwan FHM. And guess what, I saw that sneakers at StarThreeSixty @ Paragon!
Of course, I grabbed it on my next trip. Here you go, my cherished $139 sneakers:
After that retail therapy (I was happy, no doubt, those are nice shoes), me and zhiwen depressed ourselves with the Thai horror 4bia.
WARNING: This movie is not for the faint-hearted.
This film strings together 4 horror stories by 4 of Thailand's renowned directors, and the result is effective. No doubt, for a horror film, they are scary.
1) For a creepy storyline, the first film, Happiness, will make your spine tingle. The story is still in my head and it's been 2days.
2) Second film, Tit for Tat, is a Final Destination-inspired gore-fest, but with a sicker twist. Your skin will crawl.
3) Third film, In the Middle, is about a camping trip gone wrong. Although it's by Shutter's director, this is more funny than scary. Quite weak, I must say.
4) Final short, The Last Fright, has a damn scary premise, and it pulls out all the stops for an all-out frightening finale. Delivering a corpse alone on a flight is never fun. And this is why.
FINAL SAY: Thai horrors are definitely not as nuanced as their Korean and Japanese counterparts. But this is still an above-average offering that will satisfy horror fans.
The movie had many suspenseful moments, and there was this group of girls sitting behind us. When the film ended, she declared that she had forced herself to go to sleep in the middle.
~
Army Half Marathon (21KM)
Touted as the first run across the newly-built Marina Barrage, this run was just another exhaustion-a-thon for me. But I'm glad I completed it under the 2hr 45min mark, and will add another finisher medal to my tally, including the one from last year.Will update the photo of my medal next time =p
Went to makan with alfres, jun'an, soonkang, sgt kang and kimheng after that. Then me, kang and kim went to catch Murder of the Inugami Clan @ cine.
This is a Kindaichi (金田一) crime/mystery about the murders that take place among the wealthy Inugami family.
The plot is intricate, the style of the movie impeccable, and the ensemble acting flawless. Although this movie will definitely not appeal to the general audience (its slow but steady pace might be unnerving to others), Kon Ichikawa re-directed his own 1976 cult-classic with patience and mastery.
FINAL SAY: You'll keep guessing till the end. Although it's not for the average movie-goer, nonetheless, the beautiful and traditional direction has already made this film a modern classic.
(aka Inugamike no ichizoku)
~
Whoa, my whole body is aching like mad; it's the same symptoms from last year's 21km run.
Meeting a couple of lamerz for Money No Enough II later before booking in. Hopefully it's ok.
Take care, peeps!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
2 Weeks'
Wow, been so busy till I don't have the time to update last week's post. So.. shall start from there: I want to apologize to all Jay Chou fans first - this is really one of the worst movies I've ever watched. Bad acting (Jay himself) and extremely bad and pointless script - this makes Secret look like an Oscar Best Picture. This movie is neither funny nor engaging and is filled with detestable characters. None of them are fully-developed - even Jay Chou's main role is left sketchy, and his relationship with his long-lost parents uninspiring to say the least.
Last Week:
Went to celebrate Father's Day with a few relatives, cousins, @ Wild Wild Wet. Been a long time since I've been there and I'm surprised I still had fun (at my age). Here are some photos of my little cousins:
Wild Wild Wet was promoting the new Olympus shock-proof and water-proof camera.
I got to rent it for free for 30mins. (Yes, szern, you have this) It's freakin' cool! Can even record vids underwater. Thinking of changing camera now, heh heh.
Anybody wants to buy my Nikon 6 Megapixel digi cam (pictured above)?? Still in very good condition. Price extremely negotiable =)
Anyway, celebrated Mum's birthday at Old Airport Road, enjoying crabs and stingray for dinner.
~
Sunday standard: Yt, by and wl came over for mahjong. The end. Haha.
~
Yup, that was all for last week.
This week:
I watched three movies. One really, really bad. One really, really funny. And the last one, surprisingly bad. =x
Firstly, Kung Fu Dunk (功夫灌篮)
I give this film:
What a gigantic waste of talents for this show as well. We all know Jay Chou is incredibly talented but I really don't think he should act. Charlene Choi's role is incredibly useless (their love story is explained in 5 seconds at the end of the show) and oh-my-god, poor Zheng Zhi Wei, for having to endure this movie, considering he's such a respectable veteran (but to his credit, he did a fairly good job with this lousy part he had).
FINAL SAY: I really admire and support Jay Chou as a singer (I buy his albums). He's definitely one of the most talented chaps of our generation (singing, song-writing, directing, and, er, acting) but this is definitely not one of his best efforts. Thank goodness he still produces very good music.
~
The next movie, Get Smart.
~
Coincidentally, me and my army buddy were very excited about the two movies above. So when we finally sat down and watched Kung Fu Dunk in our bunk, we thought we were in for a good time. However, after awhile, er, let's just say I finally get the meaning of.. 看不下去.
Then we were very excited about Get Smart (both of us are fans of Anne Hathaway - who isn't???) long before it was released and boy were we in for a surprise. Don't believe the reviews in the papers. Go watch it. You'll like it!
~
The last movie is You Don't Mess With The Zohan
A crass, tasteless (severe understatement) comedy that is as surprisingly bad as Get Smart is surprisingly good. His brand of sexual vulgarity is actually quite revolting. I am officially not a fan of Adam Sandler's comedies, given that 50 First Dates is the only decent (albeit very mediocre) film he has made. And seriously, what the hell is Mariah Carey doing in this mess? It's shameless to say the least.
FINAL SAY: Get Smart is still the best comedy of the season so far, with Kung Fu Panda being a close-second. You Don't Mess With the Zohan? - Filmcritic.com got it right: "You don't laugh with the Zohan, too, apparently."
~
Yup, Lamerz (me, fungi, sze, sk and zw) had to endure a whole 2-hour of that Zohan-crap at 0140 in the morning till 0300. Goodness, there goes my $10.
Anyway, thanks to zw for getting us these presents from his HK trip. The guys got a wrist-thing of sorts, and the girls got this glowing yupathingy that is actually quite cute (fungi, just accept that robot lah). =p
~
And... I've been itching to buy this album for so long.
Yoga 林宥嘉's <<神秘嘉宾>>.
BUT, i've not bought it yet. 'Cos I want to wait for a 庆功改版, then there'll probably be bonus DVD or MV, which will make the buy more worth-it.
He's a fantastic singer with an attitude and his songs are great. Shall talk more about it in another post with other 超级星光大道-related stuff =p
~
Whoa.. got Basic Theory Test @ SSDC tomorrow. *Keeping fingers crossed* Hope my lessons during Class 3 Military Driving course can still serve me well =x
Take care, peeps!
