How I Wish They'd Give Us More

So here's my attempt to try to review the long-overdue 6th film installment of arguably the most popular fantasy series the world has ever seen - that's right, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

I give the film:





As strongly as I still stand for what I said about Watchmen being an unfilmable text, the complete opposite can be said for the books of Harry Potter. Yes, I believe that the magical worlds created by J.K. Rowling on paper should definitely have its place on the silver screen. And I'm glad to say that this movie version does depict the fantasy realm rather successfully, save for some minor glitches along the way.

Being the 6th book in this formidable franchaise which has been all-too-familiar with the legions of fans worldwide, Harry this time around discovers an old book that belongs to a person named the 'half-blood prince' during his Potions class with new character, Professor Slughorn. Meanwhile, Death Eaters are wreaking havoc again, threatening to penetrate Hogwarts, and even destroying a bridge in the Muggle world. Harry is also introduced - by the ever-trustworthy Dumbledore - to more dark secrets pertaining to Lord Voldemort, which proves pivotal in his fight against the Dark Lord.

Evidently, there are many events going on, and director David Yates does his best in melding all of them into a coherent narrative for the audience to digest. The action pieces are what's worth mentioning here: being the most expensive film in the series so far, the money is put to good use here in this effects extravaganza. Giving the fans a beloved treat - Quidditch!, finally - the magical sport was filmed with both adrenalin and flow. Besides the impressive fire sequences, each location and set seemed to be detailedly laid-out. Be it the playful shop of Fred and George's, or the dream-like scenes of Dumbledore visiting a young Voldemort - all of them were meticulously orchestrated to perfection.

Of course, as it always happens with the Potter books-to-films translation, there's bound to be this rushed pacing to flesh out the entire story (although the movie did hit the 2 hour 30 min mark), which, in the end, leaves the audience a bit short-changed. Exciting moments like the attack of the Weasley's residence ended as quickly as it came, creating almost no tension at all. Which is a shame, seeing that it was a supposed to be a devastating moment, with the congregation of so many conflict-driven characters.

But the film did pile-up on one thing, though, which was the teenage romance blossoming among our younger leads. Those moments provided appropriately humourous distractions amidst the dark goings-on. Although, I felt, Harry and Ginny could've shared much more chemistry. Plus, the lack of focus on the titular Half-blood prince is also extremely jarring.

However, one particular gripe, is the handling of the death of a main character. Mirroring a similar situation in Order of the Phoenix, the director doesn't seem to put in much elaboration on the passing of the person. I'm sure the audience would've wanted to see how the leads dealt with such an event. But, that might be asking too much for a film that is trying its best to appease every fan.

FINAL SAY: I would not be too quick to say that this is the best in series of films, but it is indeed a competent installment to ready us for the concluding film of the Potter books, Deathly Hallows, which will be separated into two movies. Smart move, Warner.
~


On a side-note, I'll hereby provide a small, totally-based-on-my-own-opinions ranking of all the Potter movies to-date.

(In ascending order of merit):

6) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - sticks out like a sore-thumb in terms of style. Worked very well as a book, though.

5) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - a rather unexciting installment concentrating on a large snake.

4) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - this one sets the mature tone for the later installment of the movies. Fantastic acting.

3) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - love is in the air. Slicker production values pushed this film a notch higher.

2) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - the magical one that started it all. No one can forget the amazement and wonder of J.K. Rowling's beloved fantasy being translated to screen for the first time. Thank goodness they got it right from the start.

1) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - hailed by many as the best of the movie series so far, seeing that it had good material to work with. A Tri-Wizard Tournament that pits two other magic schools against Hogwarts, plus all the exciting challenges being put up, leading up to the memorable, tragic end. Pity about the hairstyles, though (Harry and Ron looked like aunties!) Should've just kept them short.
~

So there you go. Already can't wait for the final two movies! Argh.

Down with sore throat and flu. Sickening.

Take good care, peeps!

Dessert Treats

First things first, I've got my Silver for my second-year IPPT! Which means $100! Which means... treating my friends -.- Haha.

Ya, I've spent like 30% of it on treating people - strangely, all on desserts.

Wednesday night met up with jm to go haji lane to get a present. But before that, treated her with MOF dessert.

I've been there 3 or 4 times but i still can't get enough of the desserts (forget about the ala carte, seriously). I don't understand how can a person who's so tam jiak (her mother's words) not know about MOF desserts, but in the end she was impressed. We ordered the green tea ice cream with fried-warm sweet potato (heavenly!!) and she insisted on a strawberry gelato. So yup, $13.30, quite cheap for a sweet treat =)

Haji Lane was disappointing (for her first time there; mine second) but since it was already 9+ pm, it's inevitable that so many shops were closed. But we did see some interesting vintage stuff @ a shop:

The original Ocean's 11 movie poster starring Frank Sinatra!

This could well be Miss Ho Poh Fun's wardrobe (only NJ - and a few RJ - students can understand this).

I wonder if it's still working..

In the end we didn't get the present. Both of us were damn tired, but thank goodness her work starts at 11pm the next day and I have battalion off for thursday and friday. Yay.
~

The next dessert treat would probably be with Fungi, Yeewen and Zhiwei. But before that, we (minus zw) met for dinner at 文东记 @ Bukit Timah. Here's the delectable spread:

Home-made (from L-R) barley, lime, barley.

The sumptuous chicken with our pyramid-shaped rice (i ate 2 plates). Yumm.

Yeewen recommended this fried beancurd with mayo. 外脆内软... sedap!

Okay all this talking about food just gets me hungrier. Later, we met zw for dessert @ Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie (whoa, that was a mouthful). Jm works there and she keeps raving about the desserts so we have to try. My treat again -.-

And this is the highly-recommended best-seller Le Royale. It's damn delicious. Quite the perfect dessert. $7.

After which we went to Cine-Max to rent a room and catch a movie (thai horror flick Alone). Standard horror with standard twist. Then we (minus yw) went for a drink at Heeren's The Balcony bar.

I don't really drink well, so one cup of vodka (Caiprioski) was enough for me.
~

Caught two movies over the weekend. Here are my reviews. I bet some people are just gonna scroll through =p

I give the film:



IN A FEW WORDS... Prince Caspian is utterly useless in this movie (they should just call it Chronicles of Narnia: Part 2) but overall, it's surprisingly humorous and well-filmed. You'll fall in love with the beautiful landscapes... and that's about it.
~

Next up, Kung Fu Panda

I give the film:



IN A PARAGRAPH... Anything branded with the name Jack Black and you know it's going to be good. Plus Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan... needless to say, Kung Fu Panda doesn't disappoint. It's laugh-every-minute good fun - this is probably DreamWorks' best since Shrek (the first one, not the other two mediocres). You'll not regret watching this =)
~

Been watching 超级星光大道 3 recently and I must say I'm hooked! There are two Singaporeans who've made it into the TOP10, namely 黄靖伦 and Sugianto. Share their videos next time. They're making us proud, woohoo!

Take care, peeps!

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!

Really a Lazy Bum

Let's face it, I'm a lazy-a**. I took off again tomorrow! Oh man.

But it's better to clear now than never. December after I return from Koh Samui (Thailand) I don't think I can take le.

Saturday was quite a bore. Finally took the time to go swimming, though. Keeping fit the best I can, since I'm on status (Excuse RMJ 5wks le) <-only the guys will know ;) Anyway, update: my bro's first choice is Yishun Town Sec. It's band one for Normal (Acad) schools. Though he can make it to Express for some schools, it's better to go NA then transfer to Express. Don't want to stress him out. Watched Enchanted today. It's not as good as Stardust but they're almost the same league. You know what, after watching these two movies, I think Beowulf deserves only 3stars.

Lazy to give full review =P

I give the movie WooooW (3.5/5)


Plus Points: Funny and original. Amy Adams as the 'fairytale-princess-in-New-York' is a hoot.

Flaws: Promising start degenerates into conventional rom-com/fairytale ending.

Last-Say: A refreshing take on a Disney movie and romantic comedy. Recommended =)

Took some random photos today at Clarke Quay.



Oh what the shit, this picture reminded me.

One of the 5 S'poreans who drowned in the Cambodia Dragonboat incident was a PE teacher from my school, NJC. Stephen Loh Soon Ann, 31. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/313650/1/.html

May he rest in peace.

On a lighter note, my next post will be the TOP40 Movies of 2007.

Take care, peeps.

A Whiff of Stardust

Took wednesday half-day off and thursday full-day because my cousins wanted to play overnight mahjong. Eugene and elicia finished their A's; Roxane finished her O's. We ended up playing till 12+ am and watched a movie, and everyone was asleep by 2am. Haha.

Well, talking about exams, my bro got his PSLE results. 198. English A; Maths C; Science B and, get ready for this, Chinese B. Wow well done. Really didn't expect can. He should be getting into Normal/Express stream in Anderson Sec. Study hard, fred!!

My cousins and I watched Stardust on wednesday. Heard some good reviews about it. Here's mine.

I give the movie WooooW (3.5/5)

This movie didn't make it into my TOP40 list (which will come out VERY soon) because I've already compiled the list. But nevertheless, the movie is not much of a big deal as I thought it would be.

Stardust boasts some A-List stars like Claire Danes (as a fallen star from the sky), Michelle Pfeifer (as a villainous witch who wants the star's heart to gain eternal youth) and Robert De Niro (as a tough-looking but closet-gay pirate in the sky). Baffled? Because it's a fantasy movie!

This is as 'fantasy' as a 'fantasy story' gets, with flying pirates, evil witches, scheming princes, cross-dressing pirates and .. er .. a fallen star thrown in for good measure. =P

Plus Points: There's this very meaningful monologue by the fallen star (the very pretty Claire Danes) in one scene. You know, she's a star, so she've witnessed practically the whole history of man. She said that it was a torture to watch Man experience wars, hatred, deceit and injustice; but the only thing that made the watching tolerable was love. Altogether now, awwww. I agree. Love is a magical and beautiful thing; and it triumphs. Yay.

Flaws: The movie is just really fluffy fantasy stuff. You want mature, you want macho, LOTR is always available on DVD.

Last Say: It's watchable and enjoyable. But I'm more looking forward to The Golden Compass.

Yay. Bought shirt and cardigen today.

Booking in soon. If only I got more offs! Lol. Took too much le =x

Take care, peeps!

Harry's "Adult" Film and JJ's Polished Sounds

As you can tell from the title, I am reviewing a movie and a CD.

#1: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

#2: 林俊杰's 西界 (westside) CD

Hope the insights are useful =)

The scoring system is in "WoW"s.

WoooooW = Excellently-excellent. Can't get enough of it.

WooooW = Well-made. Worth your every $.

WoooW = Good entertainment.

WooW = Argh! Life is short. Don't waste your time.

WoW = Like, wow. Please kill me.

[ picture from http://laist.com/2007/07/12/harry_potter_an.php ]

AN EXCELLENT BENCHMARK FOR THE FINAL TWO MOVIES

Rating: W o o o o W (4.O/5)

David Yates is the least-known director who helmed the wildly successful Potter film franchaise. But how the heck did he manage to churn out such a slick, well-filmed movie, I'll never know. Order is a very lenghthy book, so you can imagine Yates' arduous task of creating an enjoyable-yet-sensible film. At 138min, Yates' succeeded fairly-well, while I know fans of Rowling's books will not be happy for the amount of scenes he axed from the plot, and the short-cuts he took. (Notably, Ron's Quidditch-champion stint, and the fact that Yates totally ignored Ron and Hermione becoming prefects at Hogwarts.) But in my opinion, they are all inevitable.

Here's what's good about Order.

What strikes me most is the fantastically-delicious acting, mainly from the veterans. Imelda Staunton turned in a stunning tour de force performance as villainous-you-just-want-to-slap-that-bitch-face Professor Dolores Umbridge, the sinister woman working for Ministry of Magic, who brings her reign of terror to Hogwarts complete with her toadface and disgusting pink outfit down to her fine, china tea cup. Maggie Smith wows again as Professor McGonagall - two of the best acting scenes were delivered by her and Imelda, and another one with Professor Trelawney (a sympathetically-jittery Emma Thompson). The men were equally comfortable in their roles as well, particularly Alan Rickman as Severus Snape (he is PERFECT) and Gary Oldman as Harry's godpa Sirius. One complain though: what a lousy way to handle Sirius's death.

Of course, I shouldn't ignore the young leads, who vastly-improved way beyond my expectations. Daniel Radcliffe is so comfortable playing the long-suffering boy who lived. He handled his emotions very well throughout. Emma Watson (Hermione) is fast-becoming a serious, credible actress to watch-out for and her upcoming onscreen-beau, Rupert Grint (Ron) does well to keep up with her. Despite a few solid praises I've read of Evanna Lynch (playing the loony role as Luna Lovegood), she is rather under-used in the movie. Let's hope she matures well enough to be as excellent as Ginny, who seems effortless in her role.

As mentioned in The New Paper, Cho Chang's first kiss with Harry was worth the hype. But here's my nagging complain: please lah, I think there are a million other Chinese girls prettier than Katie Leung lor. However, you can't deny that finding one with a delicious Scottish accent is easy. Kudos to her on that.

Last but not least, the final showdown at the Ministry of Magic is ENOUGH to get you your $9.50 worth. The CG-set of the Dpt of Mysteries is stunningly-ominous, and the Dumbledore-Voldemort fight was exhilarating to say the least. Flying shattering glasses, street-fighter-style wand magic concoctions. The Ministry of Magic, complete with its towering in-house office cabins, was a sight to behold. Voldemort's possession of Harry at the climax was both heart-wrenching and intensely-filmed.

Whoa, that was long. But anyway, Yates directed a master of a film, complete with his sweeping breath-taking shots of Hogwarts castle. Although there was no exciting Quidditch, Order is one solid film. Definitely on-par with Goblet of Fire, but with a darker, adult-edge.

+

[ picture from http://music.yule.sohu.com/20070629/n250829267.shtml ]

JJ FORMULA NEVER FAILS
Rating: W o o o o W (3.5/5)

I didn't even know JJ had a new disc until I saw it shot straight to number one in Taiwan on MTV's Top20. I was impressed and being a fan of good, local music, I went to purchase it.

Got it on a steal! $7.50 - was a 20% discount. It's the original China-import version.

Anyway, on the first spin, I must say I wasn't hooked. The Killa, his first single (yes, the one with the controversial JJ-mutilating-girl music video), failed to impress me. His second single, Westside, was a not-bad ballad, complete with his signature vocal riffs.

However, on a second spin, the CD grows on you. The Killa, as I discover, is a sleeeeek groovy single, making JJ a strong contender for Jay Chou's R&B-king status. His ballads, still, are the strongest here. Westside has the ability to stick to your head - and I mean it in the best way possible. The Channel 8 drama, Kinship song, 大男人·小女孩, is a sweet lullaby. 不流泪的机场 and 自由不变 are very polished ballad that showcases JJ's song-writing and vocal prowess. Lastly, BABY-BABY is a very enjoyable bubblegum pop number that will get you singing along in your car (if you play it inside, that is).

Only one complain: the track, K-O, is rather irritating and uninspiring.

All in all, it is a great effort, considering the short period he had between this album and the last (曹操). Get this if you are looking for polished Mandarin pop.