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Short and simple movie reviews for those who do not have spare time

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03 July 2009

Frost\Nixon : Battle of Wits That You'd Never Expect

Posted by Lord_Shadow


Frost\Nixon was undoubtedly a movie I had to watch given that I really like movies based on real-life historical events, and goes without saying the moving chronicles the well-known interview by David Frost with Richard Nixon, first US president to resign from office and known for the Watergate Scandal in the US. Bought the DVD last year but only managed to view it last week.

David Frost as in real-life is potrayed as a successful British talk-show host who is hungry for even more success and thought that interviewing the President would be a walk in the park to get him superb ratings and fame all around the world. Although his US counterparts in his team expects to get a public apology out of the president, Frost shares none of the passion and treats the whole thing like a usual talk-show.


Little does he know that he would be up against a powerful adversary whom will take every opportunity to redeem his public credibility through the interview. Sensing that everything is on the line, Frost soon bucks up at the last day of the interview after having the President garnered his spotlight in all the previous interview sessions and manages to get what all the apology and confession the US nation had been waiting for.

The movie highlights good part of the actual history and interview, at the same time tells us that not everything was rosy for Frost who worked hard to put together the interview. There are tense moments as we see how politics are played out in real-life and the fact that public appearances are a very decisive factor.

Good acting from all actors and since it is based on real life history, expect it to be one good ride throughout the whole session.

I like one part of the movie where Frost says "Success in America, is unlike success anywhere in the world" which I totally agree. Make it in America, and you will succeed in anywhere in the world. Watching Frost \ Nixon, inspired me to be a little more like Frost which dares to take on more risk to achieve a higher level of success despite what he already has at that time.


YOU WANNA WATCH IT
  • You're a history buff
  • You like witty conversations and politics play
  • You wanna watch how a talk-show host risks it all to take himself to the next level

YOU DON'T WANNA WATCH IT
  • You fell asleep during history lessons
  • If you are expecting action; safe to say, expect none :)

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Transformers 2. More explosions, robots and much more Megan Fox :D

Posted by Lord_Shadow


I have to begin with saying I was not a big fan of the first Transformers except for the uber-realistic computer graphics which allowed the transforming of every item you can think of to a robot. I didn't like the first movie because the fights were uncoordinated and sometimes i just lost track on the heaps of metal trying to bash each other out on screen.


And so I watched Transformers 2 again with the sole thought of looking at robots and Megan Fox :) but this time came away much more satisfied (like I say it always helps to lower your expectations).

Transformers 2 aka Revenge Of The Fallen, takes place after the first movie where the good robots (Autobots) have aligned themselves with the humans to hunt down the remaining bad robots (Decepticons). What they don't know is that there is a bigger bad-ass robot which wants to destroy Earth's precious sun for energy; and the key is to this whole fiasco is in the hands of a puny teenager boy, and so ensues the chase for the key (literally) to this machine that will destroy the sun for energy.

Expect lots of explosive action and be blown away by the realistic computer graphics, really amazes me how far we haven gone in terms of 3D effects. Story-line is better than the first one since the first one started off and set the premise for a children's story that once upon a time there was a planet with lots of robots, so by now our minds should be conditioned to accept that 'fact'. You will have the same emotional scenes where robots and human sacrifice for each other.

***MINOR SPOILER NOTICE - START***

However, I didn't understand a part where a perfectly beautiful looking young lady can turn into a robot!!! What the heck happened? I thought the robots could only take form of a machine, but I suppose since the premise is on a university ground, then the researchers must be creating some good-looking android which the Decepticons just happen to possess for their purpose...-_-! I mean what the heck! You won't have those in cartoons!

And has anyone noticed that every robot in the movie which transforms ultimately has a gun and a rocket launcher with them....how the heck do they get those? I noticed a scene where the kitchen blender which transformed could shoot bullets. I get it that some parts can be used as a projectile but why do they not have any limit? I guess I shouldn't put too much logic and enjoy the movie as it is but that's just me.

***MINOR SPOILER NOTICE - END***

To cut everything short, it would be worth the price of your movie ticket just for the action sequences alone. Of course, there's also Megan Fox :)


YOU WANNA WATCH IT
  • If you liked the first Transformers movie
  • You are a fan of 3D effects and action movies with big explosions and chase scenes
  • You have a soft spot for Megan Fox :)
YOU DON'T WANNA WATCH IT
  • You think transformers are just boy-toys
  • You hate loud, noisy and mindless action sequences

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Taking of Pelham 123 - Bad Ass & Funny Travolta!

Posted by Lord_Shadow



Criticize me but I have always liked remakes of movies and games (provided they are done properly), unfortunately Pelham 123 is not one of them. Don't get me wrong, bad-ass Travolta (had a hard time believing he looked so much like a gangster) and Denzel Washington acting was very believable but it goes very thin on story-line and in the end was so anti-climatic.


Premise of the movie is about how a clever gang hijacks part of a train and demands ransom but ultimately the ransom money is not the goal (I'll leave it for you guys to find out), and soon a heated conversation ensues between a train operator and Mr.Travolta :)

The whole movie was somewhat funny when Travolta appears to be this genius maniac with so much insecurity that he starts killing people when he can't talk to his favourite train operator. Take note of the conversations, they are witty, smack in your face and will not fail to grab attention. Overall, if you are expecting a superb thriller, look elsewhere. Pelham 123 is just a time-filler if you have nothing else to do.


YOU WANNA WATCH IT
  • Treat it as a action-comedy-thriller movie which serves to fill your time
  • Although the story line appears to be like a woven thread of genius plot in the middle don't expect to pan out like an epic storyline in the end, else you will be utterly dissappointed
  • Expect a high anti-climatic end
  • You just want to watch how Travolta acts like a funny, mindless and insecured gangster :)

YOU WANNA WATCH IT
  • If you are expecting a thriller with good plots and twists
  • You think the original was a masterpiece

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13 June 2009

Terminator Salvation : Awesome~!

Posted by Lord_Shadow

I was very excited about this installment of the Terminator movie because the fact that there was Christian Bale as the lead actor and McG being the director, it was definitely a movie not to be missed. Expectations were high because frankly Terminator 3 really sucked, and I'm more of those kind who enjoys a good story line with good acting.


The story is set in the near future and humanity is on the brink of destruction with only a small handful left going against the machines which are so insecure that humans are a threat to their existence and vow to kill every single human. The focus is on how John Connor becomes the legendary leader to the human resistance and how he first meets his 'Daddy' as a teenager (Terminator fans will know what I mean).

Good action sequences from director McG ensures that your eyes and mind will never get a rest. The killer robots are depicted as eery, fast and furious in executing their kills; nothing like those superman terminators we saw in earlier installments (keep an eye out for the very cool and practical motorcycle robots). Explosive and super realistic 3D scenes keeps you at the edge, and the human feelings element is played out well by an android having personality issues deciding that he is more human rather than machine :)

One possible weakness of the movie may be the fact that it doesn't do a very good job in explaining the relationship between John Connor and his father. Newbies to the Terminator movie might be lost if they did not pay attention to the fact that John Connor was fathered by a soldier he himself sent back in time to save his mother, hence if the father was killed then there would be no John Connor.



YOU WANNA WATCH IT
  • Don't miss it for the world if you are a fan of the Terminator movies
  • You get to enjoy good action sequences
  • If you are a Christian Bale fan

YOU DON'T WANNA WATCH IT
  • If you are the type that does not like action movies, avoid it
  • If you are those who does not understand the Terminator story; maybe a better idea would be to start with the other Terminator series. Or at least get a hand on the fact that John Connor sent his father back in time (without knowing it) to save his mother and hence 'producing' John Connor :)

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11 June 2009

Blood - The Last Vampire : Schoolgirl + Bad Directing = DISSAPOINTMENT

Posted by Lord_Shadow


Watched Blood : The Last Vampire last night and the word 'dissapointment' couldn't even express my true feelings. With a good lead actress Gianna Jun (lead actress in korean movie My Sassy Girl) , excellent trailers and nice big posters plastered everywhere, I'd expect more. Once again, movie adaptions of anime goes awry in the wrong hands.


The story goes something like this, bad vamp schoolgirl chick named 'Saya' wants to avenge father and mentor's death, goes on a killing rampage for years, finds the ultimate demon and kills her...that's all there is, I didn't even use more than 2 lines to describe the whole 2 hours. Don't expect more. Movis story is flat and does not do the anime any justice.

Movie sequence started beautifully and artistically but half-way through the story just fell flat. Action scenes are unimaginative and this must be the worst 3D animation I have seen! Think stop-motion clay animation when I say 3D. Gosh! Don't even expect Kill Bill moves, even the blood looks 'bloody' fake. There's even a funny sequence (I swear it's funny!) when she tries to kill the murderer of her mentor and he just runs away like a kid rather than doing some cool dissapearing ninja act.

Poor acting from all casts including Gianna, and if you find it hard to make out Japanese speaking English then don't bother. I would have preferred it if they just spoke Japanese and gave me the subtitles.


YOU WANNA WATCH IT :
  • Don't say you haven't been warned for the bad acting and story line
  • Try taking treating it like a B-grade Hollywood horror flick and you'll feel much better
  • Does not do justice to the anime (DON'T LET IT RUIN THE GOOD IMPRESSION OF THE ANIME)
YOU DON'T WANNA WATCH IT :
  • Good choice! Save the money and go for other movies with better effects, storyline, acting, or whatever! It's just a better choice compared to Blood.

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