Tag: Movie

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 – Star Trek (2009)

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WARNING: SPOILERS INCLUDED!!

It’s been a really long time since I watched a movie in a cinema and I can’t even really remember what was the last one. So I was quite happy when xinyun invited me to join her, chillycraps and a few other friends to watch Star Trek at Cathay on Saturday.

I had originally thought that this movie would be just an ‘origins’ kinda story, i.e. how the crew of the USS Enterprise came together and become the experienced and cohesive unit we see in the TV series.

To my shocking surprise, it was more than that. J.J. Abrams has done to Star Trek what Christopher Nolan had done to the Batman story. In some ways, this is necessary because it is my opinion the last 2 films, Insurrection and Nemesis, has been as bad as, if not worse than the Batman movies starring Val Kilmer and George Clooney.

Unfortunately for J.J. Abrams, and the script writers of this movie, it is not as easy to write a script to give Star Trek a new beginning. This particular movie has done way more than just giving the movie a fresh start, it has also destroyed a large part of what some Trekkers considered canon. To put it in the words of a Trekker friend, the destruction of Vulcan is akin to the killing of Anakin Skywalker when he is a boy, and creating a brand new Star Wars universe. If you do not understand the Star Wars analogy, my friend is simply saying this is sort of like taking a time machine back and wipe LKY from the history books, and whatever happens after that will then be unknown.

My feelings aside, I would say that the movie’s pretty well done. The graphics are definitely a marked improvement over the old ones, and the script writer has managed to keep up the suspense in the story throughout. There are many lighter parts as well, like Kirk being caught in the room during a rendezvous by his partner’s room mate, Sulu forgetting to disengage the ‘inertia dampers’ (simply, the brakes) before engaging warp speed, and Chekov’s funny accent all add on to the enjoyment of the movie without breaking the suspense. However, it might not please the Trekkers as this may have made the movie more like a comedy than a sci-fi.

Whatever the case is, I enjoyed the movie thoroughly, though I must personally say I am not sure whether the direction the story is taking is positive or negative. But just as people pass on and a new generation replaces the old, perhaps Star Trek is also undergoing a remake to keep up with the times and cater to a new generation of movie goers.

I felt a little sad however, since it sort of mark the passing of an era… and it once again reminds me of my mortality.

Movie Review: 幸福万岁 [Love Matters]

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Watched this during the gala premier (20.01.2009) with free tickets courtesy of my mei xinyun at GV Vivo City. After the movie, I met some of the members of the committee of the Association of Bloggers (Singapore) who were also there.

The movie is typical of Jack Neo movie, there is much jokes and laughter and also a subtle educational purpose behind it. In this case, perhaps a ‘lesson’ on family, marriage and relationship. Set in Malaysia, the story surrounds these main casts – Bo Seng (Henry Thia aka ‘Alamak’) and wife Jia Li (Yeo Yann Yann), playboy Jeremy (Jack Lim) and girlfriend Ms Wong (Cheryl Lee), and teenager Benny (Alex Leong) and crush Jennifer (Natalli).

In my opinion, each of the couples in the movie depicts a stage of life – from the puppy love of Benny for Jennifer, Jeremy’s playboy lifestyle and his unwillingness to settle down to start a family, to Bo Seng’s otherwise stale relationship with his wife. I believe it is producers’ objective to make the audience ponder on the meaning of love, family and marriage as one stage wife Jia Li made the audience ponder with the question: Can’t there be love without sex? and playboy Jeremy justifying his lifestyle by claiming it to be God’s design. It also showed A breakdown in communication between parents and children in which mother Jia Li found a difficulty to bring up matters to son Benny, and Benny trying to hide mistakes he made in school from his parents.

On the down side, there are parts of this movie which is over-exaggerated, especially the parts depicting how Jeremy ‘turn over a new leaf‘ and choose to settle down. I found myself looking at the time and wondering when the movie will be over. My personal opinion was that even though everyone in those parts acted pretty well, it sort of killed whatever message that the movie wanted to bring across.

But on the bright side, the ending while not spectacular nor unexpected, was good one. At least, Bo Seng finally understood he has a part to play to maintain a healthy marriage, Jeremy finally settled down, and Benny won the heart of his crush Jennifer.

I’ll give the movie 3 stars out of 5 and not more as I felt it could be better done.

Movie: Wall.E

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This is not so much a review of the movie, but rather a personal view after watching it. In my opinion, Wall.E is a love story with a secondary message to environmentalism and healthy living.

First of all, robot Wall.E’s single-mindedness, and selflessness in expressing his love for robot EVE by assisting her in completing her mission – even to the verge of death – is the ultimate expression of love. To love, is highest expression of the meaning of one’s existence. Just how many will give up what they are doing – even their lives and jobs – so the very person they loved can achieve their goals in life today?

It is no wonder some found Wall.E a little lacking in terms of hilarity, because for all intentions and purposes, being funny and hilarious isn’t the main objective or story of Wall.E itself.

Yet beyond the love story that’s going on between EVE and Wall.E, one must ask, are the humans on the spaceliner Axiom truly living? They can barely walk on their own two feet, and hardly interact with one another. This is most aptly displayed by the fact that two of the guys were talking to the holograms even when they are floating beside one another without even knowing it.

They are flooded with so much information, but a lot of important things pass them by without them knowing that it ever existed – e.g. the pool, the running tracks to prevent them from bone loss. They expect to be spoon-fed everything and yet lost the ability to fend for themselves. It is obvious their lives change with whatever the mass media says, and they can’t go on without the aid of robots. Is this not what we have already become mentally these days, just not physically? Just ask yourself this when you see the next person trying to be what their idols have become, the one talking animatedly over his mobile phone but yet oblivious of everyone else around them, the next moron blasting away his walkman phone on the MRT, or your colleague sitting in the next cubicle sending you an email to ask you for something.

Yet in spite of being driven from Earth for the mess they have created to turn our home planet into a toxic wasteland, they do not seem to have understood that for the entire 700 years living on the Axiom. They continue to live a life of consumerism and produced a huge amount of waste. Is this where we are heading? Are we seeding our own doom with our current lifestyle? Or do we heed this hidden message in Wall.E to start looking at how we could change our consumption habits, before it is too late for us to save ourselves, and even our planet?

When one truly understands the message of Wall.E, one should look back and re-evaluate their lives. Have we been truly living our lives? Who, have we loved and what have we done for them today? Kudos to Pixar for bringing to us yet another thought provoking animation and making animation no longer something that is just for kids, but relevant to us adults as well!

Movie: Star Wars – The Clone Wars

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Personally speaking, it would be more aptly named ‘Star Wars: Clone Wars Chronicles – the Outer Rim War’ or something like that. After all, this is just a small part of the Clone Wars in the Star Wars Universe. My opinion is that if the animation has been named in this way then it paves the way for more to be made in the future, if this one is successful. In short, the Clone Wars animation series could have been the ‘expansion pack’ in the Star Wars movie franchise.

Anyway, I didn’t read the reviews about it though some of the other bloggers who have seen it left their comments on Plurk, and some are not too flattering. So, by the time I get to watch it on Tuesday (free tickets – courtesy of xinyun mei), I had already lowered my expectations and because of that it was some what within expectations. I even found it quite funny – especially the baby Hutt, Anakin’s Padawan Ashoka, and some of the droids in the Confederation’s droid army.

Storyline wise, I would say it’s actually quite weak. Usually I would consider a story to be good when you have wheels within wheels. Take for e.g. Vantage Point. In the case of this animation, there was only one main plot in the storyline and that is to deny the other side an alliance with the Hutts. I won’t dwell much on how either side seeks to attain their goals, but suffice to say it was pretty straight forward. There were no surprises nor shocks to be expected.

I wouldn’t say you should give this a miss, since I am personally a Star Wars ‘fanboi’ , but I think it is no loss if you just watch it on a VCD or DVD when it gets released.

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