Category: Movies

Movies – Transformers 3: “Dark of the Moon”

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This post contains spoilers. But if haven’t watch it until now then you probably don’t care anyway. And if you cared and still want to watch it, stop reading now.

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You have been warned and you proceed at your own risk!

Watched this movie on a weekend some time back with Angel. Dark of the Moon is the third in the Transformer movie series and in my opinion it is much better than the previous sequel even though Megan Fox has been dropped from the movie. After all it doesn’t make the movie any less entertaining without that eye candy. It’s all about the giant robots and the animation anyway. Regardless, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is a good replacement though I personally wouldn’t care who took that position as long as she’s not some fugly, screaming b*tch.

There are some marked improvements in this movie, simply because some of the robot combat scenes are now very much clearer. Unlike the previous two movies where the viewer would have no clue most of the time who is fighting and how they got destroyed, it appeared to have been deliberately slowed down to let us view the robot action without sacrificing the fluidity.

If you just watch it for pure entertainment, I would say it is worth the money you paid for the ticket – especially in 3D. But if you watch it for the plot then well, don’t think too much about some of the obvious flaws in the storyline which I am going to talk about.

First of all, Megatron. We recalled from the previous movie that part of his head was smashed and that is retained this round. That goes to say that this would be a continuation from the two previous movie and my best friend raised a good point over dinner some time ago. He said that in the first movie they found Megatron frozen in some Arctic place By Witwicky’s grandfather (which is at least 100 years ago) and it was subsequently shipped to Hoover Dam to be kept frozen and immobile.

That means Megatron would be out of action as Decepticon leader for almost 100 years. If that is the case, who then is in charge of the operation to trick the humans into leading the Autobots to find Sentinel Prime when right in the beginning the Decepticons were looking for both their leader and the AllSpark? Who has enough clout among the Decepticons to lead in Megatron’s absence? If Megatron told one of its subordinates to plan this, how the hell did it know before it got frozen to tell them to work on misleading the American and Soviet space programs when back then didn’t even exist?

Talking about which, in “The Fallen” they were attempting to recover the leadership matrix to revive Optimus Prime. Now, the AllSpark itself can turn anything into a Transformer but it can’t revive Optimus Prime? And the best part is that in this movie Optimus wanted to return the leadership matrix to Sentinel Prime as if it received the change of command from Sentinel Prime!

Confusing, isn’t it? Obviously someone didn’t really think through the damned script.

Next, the bad science. 2012 isn’t the only movie that’s guilty of that. Consider this, we all know that the gravitational pull of the moon is what caused the tides on Earth. If the moon is a lot closer, the tides will be a lot more devastating on our shorelines than what they are now. Now imagine moving something the size of Cybertron into orbit. Without even considering how it is going to affect the planetary dynamics between the Earth and the Moon, the gravitational pull of Cybertron – had Sentinel Prime succeed in bringing it through the space bridge – would have been devastating to the Earth. I can’t imagine what happens during high tide to coastal areas not to mention what Cybertron’s gravity might do the the structure of our planet.

For those who aren’t aware, there’s something called the Roche Limit – something that’s like “safety distance” between celestial bodies. In short, and if they are too close to one another it would mean the destruction of the smaller counterpart. So, moving Cybertron into orbit and turning the human race into a slave force is the most harebrained idea in the universe because in the end the Earth may no longer be suitable for human habitation and the entire delicate balance between the Earth, the moon and the sun is disrupted in ways unimaginable. Fancy someone like Sentinel Prime – which at one part of the movie is referred to as the Einstein of their race – to think about something like this and imagine itself to be a “god”. It was with some great satisfaction when I watch it suffered a fate most deserving of such immense stupidity.

All things being said, it is still an enjoyable movie. After all, we go to movies not to become scientists or philosophers but merely to be entertained. Furthermore, some times it is the company that matters.

Movie “Marathon” – Kungfu Panda 2 + Pirates of the Caribbeans 4

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Watched Kungfu Panda 2 and Pirates of the Caribbeans 4 on Saturday evening almost back to back and this is my view.


A scene from Kungfu Panda 2

In this sequel, Po the Panda is now the acclaimed Dragon Warrior, maintaining the order and peace around the Valley of Peace. Yet his life will soon face a drastic change when he was sent across China along with his companion kungfu masters, the Furious Five, to save a city from a villain who has created an unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kungfu. In the process he will also discover his origins, and how he became the son of a goose. We will also discover a softer side of Tigress.

To advance to a higher level of kungfu mastery, Po will need to discover his inner peace. It is something that Po will need to discover on his own and cannot be taught. Po will come to face with a tragic part of his life before he can defeat the new villain and this weapon. There are also new kungfu masters, though these were resigned to defeat and did not participate in the action until the end.

Kungfu Panda 2 is a more action packed than the prequel and in my opinion is worth every minute of it, though however I would have preferred a more vicious and dark villain. The ending however, makes it almost certain that there will be a sequel.

Anyway, I would still recommend it for laughter and to loosen up.

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A scene from
Pirates of the Caribbeans 4

Pirates of the Caribbeans: On Stranger Tides is the fourth installment of the series, and perhaps this franchise has reached the end of its usefulness and the producers have made one sequel too many. It has nothing to do with the storyline or the new cast, but I am sick of watching Captain Jack Sparrow making one narrow escape after another just like Jacky Chan in his own movies.

In this story, three groups of people were competing to find the Fountain of Youth. They are the Spaniards, the British under Captain Barbossa and the much fear pirate Blackbeard, who has a strange ship – the Queen Anne’s Revenge – that responds to the power of his sword. Jack Sparrow was a hostage on the ship as a result of his old flame Angelica Malon and Captain Barbossa was after Blackbeard to seek revenge for his lost leg.

Some of the mermaids (in particular Gemma Ward, the first mermaid which appeared) are great eye candies. Though I would say the part where the Mermaids showed their true colors could have been better done, because for a brief moment it reminded me of the “Blade” or “Underworld” movies. Why the hell does everyone think of evil beings to all come with elongated canines (or fangs) like werewolves or vampires? On top of which, I do not really understand the ending for the Priest Phillip. He seems to be in love with one of the mermaids he saved and at the end I could not tell whether she took him out of her own nature or to save him.

However, the Spaniards in the movie made up the best twist! Right from the beginning everyone was given the impression of them as competitors looking to gain the rejuvenating power of the fountain for their liege. Their intention wasn’t obvious until they made their way into the fountain site. I wouldn’t elaborate on that as it would be a terrible spoiler.

Unfortunately, in spite of all the action, the editing left much to be desired. Some parts were so draggy that is almost boring but perhaps that maybe the result of me watching this back to back with Kungfu Panda 2. Either way, it still gives the general feel that the movie makers were rushing through the entire movie and the ending seems rather abrupt. I personally don’t think this is a must watch on the big screen. Unless one is a big fan of Johnny Depp, I suggest getting this on a DVD when it becomes available.

Movie – Monty Python’s Life of Brian

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Monty Python’s Life of Brian is an old comedy released in 1979. I was introduced to it by a friend when we were chatting over drinks in a pub after I quoted some lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, released in 1975.

I will not go into the details of it since it is an old movie. I had originally considered it a parody of the life of Jesus and somewhat felt the movie seems to make a mockery of Jesus’ ministry and life on earth. However, one could also read it as taking a swipe at the at the people who hear but never listen, and also those used their own agendas and beliefs to supercede Jesus’ teachings. All these was done through the ‘misadventures’ of Brian and it is very well depicted because from that the cast and the producers avoided insulting Jesus himself.

Anyway, no matter how I read the movie, I am not an extremist nor a fanatic so I watched it simply for laughs. It is a good movie to watch to lighten up, but be warned that the ending is rather anti-climatic. I have watched two Monty Python movies so far and in both of them I end up going ”duh?!’ at the end of them.

There’s a part which I watched three times and I laughed so hard till I got stitches. It is a conversation between four Jewish rebels: Stan, Francis, Reg (the leader) and Judith. Calling themselves the People’s Front of Judea, they were trying to define the agenda of their anti-Roman movement in the middle of a Roman Colosseum in Jerusalem, when the conversation took a surprised turn to the one below:

Reg: Furthermore, it is the birthright of every man

Stan: Or woman.

Reg: Why don’t you shut up about women?

Stan: Women have a perfect right to play a part in our movement.

Reg: Why are you always on about women, Stan?

Stan: I want to be one.

Reg: What?

Stan: I want to be a woman. From now on, I want you all to call me “Loretta”.

Reg: What?

Stan: It’s my right as a man.

Judith: Well, why do you want to be Loretta, Stan?

Stan: I want to have babies.

Reg: You want to have babies?!

Stan: It’s every man’s right to have babies if he wants them.

Reg: But you can’t have babies.

Stan: Don’t you oppress me.

Reg: I’m not oppressing you, Stan. You haven’t got a womb! Where is the fetus gonna gestate? You’re gonna keep it in a box?

Judith: Here, I’ve got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can’t actually have babies, not having a womb which is nobody’s fault, not even the Romans but that he can have the right to have babies?

Francis: Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors… for your right to have babies, brother! Sister, Sorry.

Reg: What’s the point?

Francis: What?

Reg: What’s the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can’t have babies?

Francis: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.

Reg: Symbolic of his struggle against reality.

Why did I find the conversation hilarious at all? Because it would also quite aptly describes the absurdity the argument of some pro-HBT (Homosexual, Bisexual and Transgendered) people and even the HBT’s fight for marriage or civil union. Especially the last remark made by Reg, the leader before the next scene: symbolic of the struggle against reality.

Indeed!! Now remember that the movie was released in 1979. Perhaps it would be indicative that the the generation before Gen-X (mine) maybe the last one with their head screwed on tight, and proper.

Thoughts After Watching Terminator Salvation

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Watched Terminator: Salvation some time back at GV Plaza Singapura with simplyjean.

This is the fourth installment of the Terminator series, the story is set in 2018 – 14 years after John Connor escaped to Crystal Peak, a military base built into the Sierra Nevada mountains, which allowed him to survive Judgement Day, the nuclear fire unleashed by Skynet which basically ends human civilization as we know it.

I won’t be talking much about the details of the movie, but rather I would touch on what I considered gaping holes in the storyline. First of all, it appears that in the movie, Skynet has sort of figured out the relationship between John Connor and Kyle Reese and thus Kyle’s importance. How Skynet get all the pieces to put together to figure that out is beyond me.

Next, there appeared to be relative ease for John Connor to capture machines and infiltrate Skynet bases. At one point I believe he plugged some kind of USB-looking device into the ‘service port’ (I really think it’s an USB-port or even a Firewire-port) of a Skynet robot bike and hijacked it. He also did the same when inflitrating Skynet in San Francisco. Now, why would a computer evermind built machines with service ports that the equipment of the human resistance can interface with? It almost suggest to me that Skynet will not and cannot completely exterminate the humans, but would be keeping some around for maintenance and / or research. After all, our computers and military equipment all needs maintenance and replacements parts. If they do not already fall apart after several years, they would need to be replaced as a matter of upgrading. Frankly, it would be impossible for both Skynet and the human resistance to maintain a high tech war at all, considering just how much damage has been done after Judgement Day to manufacturing capabilities. It really makes one wonder how Skynet puts together its state of the art army and how the resistance keep all those A-10s, Black Hawks and laptop computers working. It would really have been more logical for Skynet to settle into a symbiotic relationship with the humans in its own area of control just like the Matrix.

So, if Skynet is exterminating all humans and not enslaving any as retainers or slaves, then it brings us to the next mind bogging aspect of the entire Terminator story. Skynet, the computer evermind, has not only achieved sentience but also has the intelligence of a super (or evil) genius. That’s like striking 2 jackpots in a row if it happened all on its own and if not, cursed be the person(s) who programmed the AI. This computer has not only taken over a large part of the US military network, it has also mastered science and technology to research and upgrade its army, military tactics and strategy to pursue its ongoing war with the human resistance and also understands logistics to keep its army in good order to find and exterminate the remaining human population. Not to mention Skynet knows how to mine resources, and then transport it from the mines to the manufacturing plants to put its army together. I won’t even ask how the other nations of the world got their own asses kicked and allow Skynet to maintain dominance on Earth since they are unlikely to allow the US to plug into their military computer networks. Skynet must have also been a super hacker!

Finally, I must say that Skynet, in spite of its immense genius – since it actually even come up with ideas like masquerading its Terminators as humans – did not learn anything about ‘head hunter’ operations that the US or Israeli military employs against their enemies. John Connor repeatedly makes public broadcasts and it would be insane to assume that Skynet doesn’t pick those up and triangulate on his position. While Skynet has even infested lakes with robotic eels or snakes to kill humans, why hasn’t Skynet launch a nuclear missile at Connor’s bases, or send out unmanned drones like present day US Predator UAVs to take him out is beyond me.

Frankly, while the movie maybe quite enjoyable, we should all just enjoy the movie and then forget it. You know I won’t and can’t openly discuss obtaining the film through piracy, so I’ll suggest just buying a DVD and then gather as many people and watch it together.

Movie – Angels & Demons

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WARNING: SPOILERS INCLUDED!!

‘Angels and Demons’ is movie based on a Dan Brown novel of the same name, made in the wake of the success of the ‘Da Vinci Code’ – also a Dan Brown novel.

With perhaps the exception of Tom Hanks as Professor Robert Langdon, there is no connection at all between this movie and the ‘Da Vinci Code’. The story begins with the death of a Pope, the theft of anti-matter taken from CERN’s Large Hadron Collider [LHC], the invitation of Professor Langdon to assist in the investigation of a terror threat against the Vatican, the kidnap of the Il preferiti’ (the 4 cardinals who are most likely to succeed as Pope), and return of a secret society known as the Illuminati which appears to be pursuing a age old vendetta against the Catholic Church.

For those who had already read the book, the movie was far less exciting even though I must say it has more suspense than its predecessor. However, other than the general storyline being similar to the book, the details in the movie were markedly different. I will not go into the details of those differences, as it would contain even more spoilers.

Unlike the ‘Da Vinci Code’, where it led Professor Langdon to several places in Paris and later to England, the story of ‘Angels and Demons’ happens solely in Rome and Vatican city, and take the audience across the city is a race against time to save the 4 ‘preferiti’ and to recover the anti-matter, failure of which would have dire consequences for Catholic Church and the total destruction of Vatican City.

In some ways it has showcased Rome to the world – the many churches, its long history from the ancient times, the beauty that many Renaissance artists have bequeath upon it. I am quite sure many people will want to visit Rome and see some Rome for themselves after this.

I find the movie’s pace much faster and in fact, even more thrilling than ‘Da Vinci Code’ itself. Ewan McGregor did well in his role as the Camerlengo even though the movie has modified and even omitted many parts of the book to fit into a film of slightly more than 2 hours. If you like the movie, I personally suggest you should also read the book to find out the differences. The book has a lot more depth and suspense, and is far more intriguing, than the movie.

Funny Pic of the Day: Sex with a colleague at work

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