Are You Sure They're Rated PG!?

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!

One More Month...

(Feel free to play around with my new iTouch player at the sidebar)

Yep, one more month. Freedom is coming but... the stress seems to be piling up!

But more on that later. Went to catch two movies this week. Makan-ed at Lot1, Central @ Clarke Quay, Kolo Mee and MOF @ Marina Square. PLUS a lot of presents to buy....... all these have put a BIG hole in my wallet. (Which is one stress)

Firstly, Painted Skin.
I give the movie:



Even though 3.5/5 is an above average rating, but honestly, I expected more. First thing, do not believe what the movie tagline says: "More than just a love story". Well, it is actually just a love story.

Although there are moments that border on eerie (the story is from Strange Tales of Liao Zhai afterall), but it is the love triangle between Chen Kun the general, Zhou Xun the Fox Demon and Zhao Wei the suffering wife that tugs at the heatstrings. This is actually the first movie this year that has effectively put a tear to my eyes.

FINAL SAY: Zhou Xun and Zhao Wei's heart-rending acting is the best reason to catch this supernatural/love story.
~

Secondly, 20th Century Boys aka 20世纪少年.
I give the movie:



[ WARNING: This movie is only PART 1 of a TRILOGY ]
Dang, I didn't know that. But besides that gripe, I think this Manga-turned-Mega Blockbuster does live up to its expectations of being the BIGGEST film in Japan this year.

In true Japanese creativity/craziness/quirkiness/brilliance, the plot unfolds and intrigues you so much that you won't really realise that one hour has past and all the movie did was characterization.

In a nutshell, a group of grown men discover that a worldwide virus attack is realising all the end-of-the-world prophecies that they wrote in a comic when they were young. And a masked stranger (see poster) named 'Friend' is orchestrating all these attacks with his own religious cult.

FINAL SAY: It's funny. It's scary. It's ironic. It's great. Shall wait patiently for the next two installments (or maybe I'll just go find the manga =x)
~

Okay, about my stress.

> There's driving (I need to complete at least 15 lessons before my TP which is on 5DEC!).

> I need to find work or I'll have zero income after I ORD!

> Really spending a lot lately. Driving fees too.

> Camp is still busy 'cos of audits!

But ok lah, just need to plan my time properly.

Growing up is not easy.

Today went to listen SMU's Symphonic Band @ Esplanade for free (Beautiful Sunday concert series) with Jiamin and Caijie. Fun, fun. So long never listen concert le. Shopped a bit later. But never spend $. Cannot, lah!

Ok, booking in soon. Thursday Friday off and leave, wohoo!
But Sunday guard. What the sh**.

Take care, peeps!

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:

If you're wondering what on Earth is that boxy-red-thing that appeared in the previous two photos, well it's Yeewen's gift to me in the gift-exchange:

Cute. I've seen it at Orchard Cine. And I've seen the price =P
~

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:

Don't worry, it wasn't an impulsive buy. I have my saving$. =)

After that retail therapy (I was happy, no doubt, those are nice shoes), me and zhiwen depressed ourselves with the Thai horror 4bia.

I give the movie:



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.

I give the movie:




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!

5 Stars

TRP!



TRP's 四大美女!

From the looks of it, yup, I went to the $10 KTV again. Finally got myself a membership card. I'm sure besides jm, there're alot others who'd want to borrow it from me too =x
~

Mom really liked the CD I burnt for her for mothers' day. Guess it's really personal and it's a collection of all her favourite cantonese and chinese songs. Glad she liked it =)
~

Yay, won $ for mahjong on saturday night with cousin, grandaunt and grandma. Base was $150 lor siao. But no BIG transactions were made, so it's all friendly.
~

Anyway, the tentatively-planned Lamerz trip in July to Redang has moved to yet another level. We have voted - with majority - to stay in a 5 star resort!

Thanks szern for planning all this! Hope fungi and zw will quickly settle their dates so I can apply my overseas leave.
~

And finally.. the next thing about 5STARS.

Just caught the film The Mist (er.. dad. overseas. dvd. cheap. piece these words together for the reason I got hold of this movie)

I give the film:



This has got to be the most powerful movie I've watched in my life. Don't be fooled by the cheesy name. It's a monster movie - rivalling Cloverfield - with really thought-provocative social issues thrown in.

Albeit starting off unsteadily, the tension that builds in the course of the film is astounding.

A mysterious mist has shrouded a small town and drove many of its inhabitants to the local store to stock up on supplies. But a man running from the mist - his face and shirt bloody - makes the locals realise that they should stay in the store for their safety. Hence, they're trapped.

What follows is the unravelling of conflicts between the occupants of the store, and their fight to stay alive from whatever's outside.

When the director finally lets you in as to what creatures came along with the mist, the movie is already kicked into high gear.

FINAL SAY: Powerful, scary movie and intense storyline. The ending is so shocking you won't forget it for a long time.
~

Okay, got to book in soon. Waiting for friday.

Ohmygod lah, now life run is on mondays, wednesdays and fridays. For AHM. Gosh. But must train up le!

Take care, peeps!

Happy v.s. Scary

Firstly: to xiao tigger, sukai and baoyuan. Whoaa, my tagboard like become forum liao hor. Lol =p To Xiaotigger and sukai: I applaud your 'telepathic powers' to come together online. Really very 巧. To Baoyuan, your comments very lame, but thanks anyway. Ask your dad to take care =)

Watched two movies this weekend. One scary. One funny. Two are rather critically-acclaimed. But which one is the better one?

Shall start with the funny one.
Weifang recommended this one. Before that I already wanted to watch. Caught this with zhiwen at orchard today.

Film: Be Kind, Rewind
I give the film:



Jerry (Jack Black) got magnetised accidentally at a power plant and when he enters the video store ran by his friend, Mike (Mos Def), all the tapes are erased. In order to keep the business from going, they are forced to reshoot the movies by themselves.

Hilarity ensues, of course. But it is the ingenuity and creativity of the film-maker that make this movie such a success.

Jack Black is extremely talented as a comedian and it shows through in this spontaneous material. Classics like Ghostbusters, King Kong and Robocop are 'sweded' in this movie and it is a definite delight to watch.

FINAL SAY: An ultimately heartwarming film as well, this movie pays homage to jazz music (a little bit) and, well, movies, for that matter. You'll definitely have a good time!
~

Spent lots of $$$$ in orchard today! Mainly on food. Bla. Can't wait for my pay. Well, zhiwen mentioned some stuff about life in general which was agreeable. We're all stuck in this spiral of stress. Sometimes, I feel, it's important to delight ourselves in the 'little pleasures' in life. Yup =)
~

Next movie, which is the scary one...

The Orphanage aka El Orfanato
I give the film:



There you go; my first 5-STAR rating this year.

I am tremendously impressed (and extremely spooked) by this hell of a ghost story. A lot of the 5STAR is attributed to the frighteningly original storyline. Not since The Sixth Sense have I been so drawn-in by the power of an excellent, horrifying storyline. This movie works on every single level.

Shocking twists, eerie corridors, freaky children, sudden-scares... you'll find it all here. It's a wonder, seriously, why this is rated PG.

I cannot begin to explain the intricate (but very well-planned) plot. But just know that it's heartbreaking.

There are several very effective scary sequences here (but not in the league of in-your-face asian horror - this movie almost make them seem lame and illogical).

P.S.: remember when we used to play the game AEIOU in primary school? Where one person count and the rest advance slowly from the back, and ultimately when he/she touches the person counting, we must all run? Yup, after you watch this movie, you won't want to play it again.

FINAL SAY: Excellent storyline. Extremely spooky. Heartbreaking but very relevant. Go watch it already!
~

Ahhh, have to book in liao.
Very busy week ahead. Looking forward to this saturday's Marching Band SYF @ National Stadium. Woohoo!

Take care, peeps!

=S

There are scary elements in this post =p

Firstly, Rule #1 aka 第一戒.
Met Fungi and Zw (only, 'cause some of them were too scared to watch) on Friday evening. After a movie-timing mistake (or is it? I want to complain about Shaw!), we hurried from Lot1 to Westmall to catch the 9:15pm movie.


I give the movie:



After a moderately passable first attempt (The Maid), Singaporean film-maker Kelvin Tong decides to hit the regional circuit this time with yet another Asian horror fare. I'm happy and proud to say that he does serve up an above-average, scary movie with a good twist.

We all know that the rule #1 here is going to be bulls**t, so audiences venture into the cinema expecting your usual horror scares. The movie does deliver some effective, freaky sequences (the now-famous one would be the 'screaming' swimming pool) and you've been warned: the rating NC16 was partly for gore.

The acting here is superb, even though the script got a little unbelievable and sketchy towards the middle. Our very own Fiona Xie proves to be competent beside co-stars like Shawn Yue and Ekin Cheng. To hear her emote in Cantonese, visit this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXTFxgUbN9c (1:42)

For people expecting a happy-ending, you'll be quite surprised. You may not agree with the twist in the end but it was well-executed and timely; perfectly haunting for the mood of the film.

FINAL SAY: A slightly screwed-up middle part but overall, a good effort. Let's hope the quality of Asian horror will take this as a benchmark and improve again.

~
It's been a looonng time since I've watched horror movies. Which was why I dreaded a number of scenes during the movie! Even Fungi said at the first 15mins: "I regret watching this liao." Lol. Zw sat quite far away so he jump in his seat I also dunno =x But anyway, I won't mind spending $ to scare myself if the story is good and not a waste of time =P

~
Next up, another scary but non-horror flick, No Country For Old Men.

I give the movie:



I have to admit: I can't appreciate the movie fully simply because I don't understand some parts of it, which is a pity since it was this year's Oscar Best Picture. It's based on a novel, which makes it even harder to comprehend.

But anyway, the film is full of real suspense and I believe Hollywood hasn't created a more fearful serial killer since Hannibal Lector (the cannibal doctor from Silence of the Lambs, incidentally also a novel).

FINAL SAY: A very beautifully-filmed movie with thrills and scares along the way. But I don't get why it won Best Picture, when I felt Juno was better =P

~
On Saturday Roxane Elicia and Eugene came over for overnight mahjong. I one person won everybody, but still, asked them to pay a bit only lah. It's okay. We have fun can le. And, this was quite a freaky picture:


Don't worry, that shady figure is not a ghost, it's me!

~
Lamerz came over on Sunday for a secret mission. It's confidential since the event hasn't taken place yet =P

Anw, we discussed about our proposed-holiday trip in July. Want to go Phuket and Bangkok together but news just in: Pj's cousin say July is monsoon season. Which means if we don't want to get washed back to Singapore via the sea, we should avoid going there on holiday =P

But where else can we go?? Taiwan zw don't want. Might be going with cousins eoy also. Hk got SARS (again). Hmmmm, any suggestions, people?

Same old jokes took place. Sze had a blast playing "Poke the Grape" =X Thanks to sze for the FREE Kettle-cooked Lays potato chips you koped from NUS openhouse! Wahaha. And serkun for making it in time. For Bee Hoon. haha jkjk. Fungi and Mr Eunos (ok, this is my fault lah). Make it clear people, apparently she didn't go on a date =x lol. But thanks ah, miss, my clothes you haven't help me iron and fold then you go home. =P

~
Whoa, quite a long post. Shagged.

Tomorrow public road driving assessment! Argh!

Take care, peeps!

CLOVERFIELD

I dare to give it WooooW (4.0/5)

TONS of people are going to hate this movie because of the ending. So many movies must've suffered this fate: think The Village, Secret, The Banquet, Just Follow Law etc...

But for me, this movie was different. Even though the ending was undeniably WHAT-THE-$#%@, but the journey was good enough. Bloody good enough.

What's It About:
This movie project has been shrouded in secrecy for at least 2 years... and that's the reason why it was so freakin' highly-anticipated. But Nobody knew what it was going to be about. Just that it was a monster movie, and from the trailer we catch just a glimpse of a gigantic leg, and the poster showed Statue of Liberty with her head whacked-off.

Just let me say first: the entire movie is filmed on a hand-held camera (like The Blair Witch Project). But it is what makes the movie so good. It starts with a normal farewell party for a guy at an apartment with a bunch of friends. A relationship problem crops up, and while they were talking 'bout it, suddenly WHAM! it all starts. The explosions, and stuff like that. So they try to escape, and at first, they don't know what the hell hit them. The city falls apart (all the while the guy is holding is camera) and finally... we catch a glimpse of it.

There's no stopping after that. The friends try to escape the monster (and its off-springs..yucks), while they search for another pal trapped in her apartment.


Plus-Points:
The gritty, raw and realism of it all shocks the audience and nails the movie. What sets this film apart from other blockbusters and effects-laden movie (think Transformers, I Am Legend, Jurassic Park) is that you get to experience all of it first-hand, without warning, and close-up. The whole cinema was vibrating with the brilliant (and scary) sound effects; visually, it was stunningly terrifying, too.


Flaws:
People who hate this movie (again, because of its ending) are perfectly justified. The movie closed with the biggest questions unanswered: Where the bloody-hell did IT come from? What the bloody-hell is the government going to do about IT? It does seem like laziness on the part of the directors (the film was a mere one-hour plus).

Perhaps filmcritic.com summed it up the best: "Cloverfield is one tight ending shy of being a modern monster masterpiece." But it still gave it 4/5.


Final-Say:
Go watch it 'cos it's different and you'll have a helluva good ride. (Erm, a little warning, it might leave you a little dizzy) Disregard the ending, though. Bleah.

~
Flying off tomorrow. Don't know what to feel. Half-excited. Half-dread. But it sure is gonna be an experience, no doubt.

Lamerz gonna send me off. Fungi just told me to expect a 'special guest appearance'. Hope I'm pleasantly surprised, more than shocked =P

Took this pic @ Breeks Cafe taka. No meaning whatsoever. Just thought it was nice =)

Take care, peeps!