I watched ‘The Simpsons Movie’ after work on Saturday with my colleague and his wifey. And I went into the movie at around 2135hrs at GV Marina, again, with quite a bad headache. (Thankfully, there wasn’t anyone kicking my seat throughout this movie. That’s a rarity!)
My personal opinion is that movie has used the person of Homer Simpson to present the following messages very well:
Environemental: This message is distinct. Do something about the environment now. Foul it up and it comes back to haunt you later, and in the end the action to be taken to contain environmental damages maybe drastic.
Social Responsibility: Being a selfish dickhead does not pay. When you keep annoying and fxxking up everyone, you lose everything that is dear to you, even your family and their respect in the end.
Parental Responsibility: Your kids are the best mirror of your failures. If they fouled up, it’s not always their fault, or the fault of people around them or their environment. If you failed in your responsibilities to your own children, the trade-off may simply be as little as just losing their respect.
I hope no one consider these spoilers because they are just my view of the movie. But all in all, I enjoyed ‘The Simpsons Movie’ and it is worth every cent I paid for the ticket.
I never imagined the day I would watch a Harry Potter Hairy Potty movie. And perhaps there was even a time I vowed never to watch one. I won’t elaborate why, so don’t ask.
How did I end up watching it then? That’s because I had arranged to pick up the Dim Sum Dollies music CD from ‘Ah Beng’ and Alice last Saturday so I can rip the songs into MP3, and at around 1pm, Alice called and asked if I would like to watch Hairy Potty.
Of course I couldn’t say no. It’s simply rude to just ask people to meet you and pass you something and after that, you say good bye, pat your arse and go your own merry way when you are free and not up to something more important.
I have not read any of the Hairy Potty books, and I most likely won’t so I went to the movie treating it as just any other movies which my friends would invite me to. I am sad to say I was quite disappointed with it.
Don’t get me wrong! It’s not the story I didn’t like. It’s not the special effect I didn’t like. It’s also not the acting either! I simply protest because the movie has gone on to reinforce my pre-conceived dislike of the Hairy Potty series. The way the movie is presented gives me the impression that the story is very shallow and weak in nature. (Makes me wonder how on earth J.K.Rowling make it into a book so thick in the first place!)
In the movie, there was only one plot, and everything revolves around Hairy Potty. There was not very much about Voldemort – Potty’s Nemesis – and the other characters in the movie, though I suspect the story must have more depth in the book itself. (Just Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith was a much better read than the movie.)
Now, I am not saying that the story shouldn’t be all about Hairy Potty. But let me take Lord of the Rings as an example. Even when the story is about the One Ring, there are sub-plots: the designs of Boromir on the One Ring; the master-servant relationship between Frodo and Gollum; the inner struggles of Frodo; Merry and Pippin meeting the Ents; Saruman and his designs on Rohan and his attempt to outwit Sauron etc.
Yet, there was nothing noteworthy in the movie that I would consider sub-plots. I suspect some of those things which might have been subplots were not allowed to fully develop. So, as I have not read any of J.K.Rowling’s books, I will not be hasty to condemn her as a bad book writer. I simply has to point out that the way the movie goes, makes it so boring that had I not slept well the night before, I would have fallen asleep in it. (Like I did in the movie Finding Neverland, or something to that effect.)
To sum it up, catch the movie at home on a DVD. It’s not so spectacular that you need to watch it on the big screen. And if you loved the story as it is told on the book, then in my opinion, you might want to just avoid it and let whatever you have read drive your imagination.
For the cartoon fans of Transformers, the movie maybe a little disappointing as the storyline has almost no relationship at all with the cartoon, other than the fact that the names in the movie would be familiar to the fans of the cartoon itself.
Even so, this is perhaps THE best movie of the year, and it sure beats the crap out of Piglets of the CurryBeans 3 Pirates of the Caribbeans 3 and even Fantastic Four – The Rise of the Silver Surfer. (That being said, I must point out that F-Four is already quite good, and the only redeeming quality of ‘Pirates’ would have been Johnny Depp himself.)
For the uninitiated, the storyline of Transformers is about two robotic alien factions – the Autobots and Decepticons – which have fought a war for a long time. They have come to Earth to continue their struggle, and also attempt to recover the AllSpark (or was it Awe-Spark?), which will help restore their devastated planet. And if you need more information of the storyline of the ‘AllSpark’, you can always google for the information or look for it on Wikipedia.
I will not reveal too much of the story because you have to watch it for yourself or you don’t know what you are missing. The animation and effects are very well done, and there were some light and funny moments in the movie as well. My only complaints is that it did very well in building up the story, but the ending came a little to abruptly. Either way, it is still sheer enjoyment and I can bet there will be a sequel, as they definitely did leave the ending pretty open ended to allow that.
Anyway, the Chinese subtitles are pretty funny too. The typos aside, I have been wondering how they got the names for some of the Transformers. And if you know, please share it with me because I found them quite hilarious. Optimus Prime is translated as 擎天柱, which for some odd reasons keeps giving me the image of an erected penis pointing towards the sky.
Ocean’s Thirteen
This is the second sequel to Ocean’s Eleven and this is what Ocean’s Twelve should have been! (The original Ocean’s Twelve is an utter disaster. Getting Julia Roberts to impersonate Julia Roberts in Ocean’s Twelve is so lame. It is as if they ran out of ideas and they are just keeping her there to make the numbers, and simply to rip movie-goers of more money to pay for the whole lot of them, including Catherine Zeta Jones.)
Anyway, some of those things seen in Ocean’s Thirteen definitely isn’t a novelty when compared to Ocean’s Eleven, but the acting of Al Pacino, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt would have make up for it and make it worth the money.
In my opinion, the plot and the pace of the movie would keep you from yawning or wondering if you wouldn’t have gotten a better deal watching something else. And all-in-all, it’s and at least worth your ticket money and still a much better watch than the previous sequel.
Fantastic Four – Rise of The Silver Surfer
After a dearth of blockbusters and the disappointment of Pirates of the Carribeans 3, SpiderMan 3 and Shrek 3, this was a much welcomed movie.
The Silver Surfer is the herald of ‘Galactus’. In a deal struck with Galactus to spare his home planet, Norrin Radd roams the cosmos searching for new planets for Galactus. His next target was Earth.
The ‘dogfight’ between The Human Torch and the Silver Surfer was perhaps one of the most exciting part of the movie. And yet once again as my friend pointed out, the Fantastic Four appear to be the only superheroes that often do more damage than the villains.
The plot is about how the Four tried to capture the Silver Surfer and after several attempts failed, are forced to work with Doctor Doom – who has his own agenda. The reason to capture the Silver Surfer was of course to identify the objective of the Silver Surfer and why he has come. I will leave out the following: who is Galactus, why Galactus needs new planets, what happened to the Silver Surfer in the end and what is Doctor Doom’s secret agenda so I won’t be leaving too many spoilers here.
Personally speaking, I felt this is quite a good and enjoyable movie in itself and it would have been better if this movie and Transformers would have spaced further apart from one another.
Well, I’m a little late on the write up since I watched the movies between 1940hrs 30th May to 1745hrs 31st May. Not exactly back to back of one another, but all three within a short span of 24 hours.
Here’s a short reveal on each
Amazing Grace (Lido5. 1940hrs on 30th May.)
A touching movie based on the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce (1759-1833). Inspired by the preacher John Newton (1725 – 1807), who also wrote the Christian Hymn Amazing Grace, William Wilberforce dedicated his life to the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire.
His campaign started from 1791 and it took Wilberforce 16 years to finally abolish the slave trade. It was not until 1807 that royal assent was given to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire, 53 years before the American Civil War.
In between those years, Wilberforce suffered setbacks, dealt with disappointment, fought with his own sickness and married a woman who supported his dream. This movie is his story.
Amazing Grace Trailer
Shrek 3 (Eng Wah 2, SunTec. 1530hrs on 31st May.)
The Third Installment of the Shrek Animation series, and as sequels used to go, it just isn’t as funny anymore. The story is about Charming making a come back and taking revenge on Shrek. Meantime, Shrek and Princess Fiona is the next in line to the succession of the throne of the Kingdom of ‘Far Far Away’ as the old Frog King – the king turned into a frog in Shrek 2 – passed away. Shrek decided that he isn’t cut to be king and went elsewhere to look for the next in line for succession, Fiona’s cousin.
I will not give away more of the story as some of you may not have watched it. However, one still must give credit to the makers for whatever they came up with, and Shrek almost certainly made a mockery of all of Disney’s fairy tales yet again.
My personal recommendation is to watch it on a weekday and with as much discount as you can get, as it certainly isn’t worth a full $9.50 on a weekend.
Pirates of the Caribbeans 3 – At Worlds’ End (Eng Wah 4, SunTec. 1745hrs on 31st May)
My friend and I decided to go for one more movie after a short coffee break at Millenium Walk, and as we couldn’t get good seats at GV Marina, we went back to Eng Wah at SunTec for tickets.
Part 3 of Piglets of the Currybeans… oops… Pirates of The Caribbeans, in my opinion, is more hype than substance. But there is no doubt that Johnny Depp and Chow Yun Fatt are great actors. And I have come to discover that Keira Knightley is quite a jinx in that movie… just remember who kissed her in the movie and what happened to them if you want to know why I said that. (In fact, remember that she kissed Johnny Depp in the previous episode too and he ended up swallowed by the Kraken.) But still it isn’t as bad as Natalie Portman… the one she kissed in Star Wars turned into a Black Tin-can.
The story is on how the rest of them bring back Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones’ Locker and also to fight the British East India Company, which is using its leverage – the Dead Man’s Chest – on Davy Jones to do its bidding to wipe out all the pirates.
The movie lasts 160 minutes, so please empty your bladder or you will miss some parts of it. While I don’t really find it spectacular, there isn’t a reason for you to miss any part of it either. I just wished it could be better and it did somewhat tied up the story pretty nicely. Also, I must give credit to the producers for the sound track, because they were very well mixed into the movie itself and without it, the movie would have not have been as enjoyable.
Since I got started… I might as well keep this going for awhile…
Zhang Yimou’s [张艺谋] ‘Curse of the Golden Flower’ [满城尽带黄金甲] is no doubt a fine example that no matter how much money you spend on a bad idea, it won’t change its essence at all. The Cantonese have a saying for that – 烂泥都扶唔上壁 – which literally translates as you can’t get wet mud to stick on the wall, and means the same thing. (Somehow the same thing can be said about the Esplanade Ass-Planet, Sentosa, the recent refurbishment of the Changi Airport, and even the name change to the likes of A*Star or whatever.)
According to Wikipedia, this is the most expensive Chinese film to date – with a budget of $45 million – surpassing Chen Kaige’s [陈凯歌]‘The Promise’ [无极] (which in my opinion is another bad film in itself and the only redeeming quality being Cecila Cheung [张柏芝]).
The plot is based on Cao Yu’s [曹禺] 1934 drama ‘Thunderstorm’ [雷雨], but is set in the Imperial court of the Later Tang Dynasty in 928CE during the turbulent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period [五代十国].
Zhang Yimou may perhaps have intended to make this his signature piece in the international film arena but this film is extremely disappointing. I have not watched the original ‘Thunderstorm’, but I have read at least two commentaries which lambasted Zhang of mangling a masterpiece. It is not a surprise that when even someone who knows about the original ‘Thunderstorm’ found it difficult to appreciate ‘Curse’, it is even more difficult for one who is simply out to look for just good, simple visual entertainment to appreciate this arty farty piece of utter crap.
That’s not mentioning the historical inaccuracies, such as the plate armour used in the movie by the Emperor (played by Chow Yun Fatt) and Prince Jie (played by Jay Chou), and the excessive use of gold color, which traditionally is reserved for use by the Emperor, and not even members of his family. Above which, the many half-exposed boobs have been a sore point among some movie critics.
There are of course scenes in the movie which might impress, such as that of the Emperor’s ninja-like special forces attempting to assassinate the Imperial Physician and his family, but then it would have been a lot more convincing had it been in a modern context. Foreigners may have liked the ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon ‘ [卧虎藏龙] look-alike scene, but it would have been better and more convincing if it was from one of those Hong Konger comic like ‘Wind and Cloud’ [风云].
The final battle scene where by the rebels in gold were slaughtered by a better equipped loyalist force – no matter what comparison the arty farty can draw to the Tian-anmen incident – is Zhang’s pathetic attempt in imitating or out-doing the Battle of Helm’s Deep in ‘Lord of The Rings’. For one thing I really couldn’t understand is, why wear golden and attack in the night? And how the heck did those heavy equipment get moved into the palace without alerting the rebels or the conspirators and the Empress? However, let us not be hard on the script writers and begrudge them for not having any tactical sense when all they wanted to do was simply to deliver some impressive screenplay, even when they have failed dismally in this case.
It is however shocking, that in spite of the amount of criticisms, this soulless film had sold extremely well in China. A critic – not local – sourly remarked that the more criticisms are lavished upon the film, the better its box office. He further remarked that this perhaps demonstrates the cultural quality [文化素质] – or the lack of it – of the mainlander Chinese people in general. (His opinion is not mine!)
Gong Li and Chow Yun Fatt, both veterans, are wasted in this movie. This movie would have been a big flop – if not for its showing in China – and this would be been a blot in their respective acting careers even when it is of no fault of their own.
My personal recommendation, if you have not yet watched this movie, is either you give it a miss entirely, or you go can borrow a copy from a friend who has it, just so you can see for yourself if it was as bad as I said it is.
