2012 (2009)

Based on the Mayan theory that the world will end on December 21st, 2012 (12 + 21 = 23 ha!!), 2012 is basically about the end of the world brought on by the sun's weird neutrino activity causing the earth's tectonic plates and everything cracking and sinking and magma-ing and obligatory tsunamis. Oh, and John Cusack.

But I liked it.

I've heard people say they didn't like the movie because it was unrealistic, that ONE FAMILY can survive ALL ODDS to reach the arks and is STILL able to get on it without being stampeded on / pushed over by all those rich people.

[Many say that they preferred The Day After Tomorrow. Personally, I can't remember anything about that movie, only that Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal were in it, and that at one point, Gyllenhaal was running from ice.]

Sure it's unrealistic, but honestly, do people want Cusack and Fam to get it? Where would we be if we didn't have the underdog to root for? Chiwetel Ejiofor's character is a good person in general, but as he already has a ticket to board the ark, it'd be a pretty straightforward and VERY short movie if he was the focus. And really, it'd be an awful downer (though realistic *sarcasm) if the final scene in the movie is a view from space of Earth and all we see is water and some burning magma, and the random tiny bit of land.

I'd say you could blame it on the fact that it was intended as a summer movie (July '09 release). Now, unless you're Transformers, you can't just go around bumping off your main character in a summer movie.

And many reviews have stated that with the amount of characters in the two-hour movie (as in, quite a bit), the audience stops caring about the characters, since there isn't enough time vested for us to get to know each one that isn't an extra and/or CGI.

But I beg to differ.

Though we get fleeting moments of the other characters, I still felt sorry all those who went under, especially George Segal, who didn't manage to make peace with his son in time. However, I'm most pissed that Tamara (the Russian girl) died, and that everyone conveniently totally forgot about it!! I mean, they didn't even talk about her in the end, even though she saved Cusack's daughter in place of her own. Gordon shouldn't have died, either. I blame the script for Amanda Peet's non-caring, but the biggest flaw of the movie was the lack of mention on Tamara's death. It'd also be pretty cool if Woody Harrelson had survived Yellowstone (and everything else), and became the first radio host to broadcast to the survivors.

[Honourable mention goes to the Russian mob dude's two little Dan Foglers. They are SO ADORABLE!!]

Also, Oliver Platt seems to be getting typecast as Person Of Questionable Morals #1.

In terms of disaster movies, this is the Ultimate Disaster Movie, unless someone makes a movie solely about the effects of a Death Star blast on Earth (probably would be an hour-long). There is simply no running from the devastation wrought in this film (unless you're Cusack or blood-related to the guy or his ex-wife), and I thought the CGI was pretty good.

As for that lousy last line, technically the last word in is, "Nice," which really isn't a bad word in itself.

7/10. Lighten up, people. Escapism doesn't have to be realistic.

If the end of the world DOES happen in 2012... I hope it doesn't happen before May 5th :)

Sam Jack movie!!

YESYESYESYES!!!

Frederator Films has just announced that they were granted the animated movie rights to Samurai Jack, one of the best cartoon series to grace our television screens. Even better news was that creator Genndy Tartakovsky will be "intimately involved" in the production. Tartakovsky is best known for creating Dexter's Laboratory and Star Wars: Clone Wars (the 2D one, not the one with the lifeless eyes).


[Also, J.J. Abrams will be co-producing, but no one really cares about that.]

Samurai Jack is about a samurai sent to the future by an evil wizard named Aku. Christened 'Jack' by the locals upon his arrival, he sets out in his quest to defeat Aku, so that he can return to his own time and undo the evils Aku has wrought. Sam Jack lasted only three seasons, and Cartoon Network didn't even bother letting them finish the series properly. There was no epic battle between Jack and Aku; Aku wasn't even IN the final episode.

There was always talk of a SJ movie (live-action also) to tie up the MAJOR LOOSE END of Who Wins, but apparently, the deal with New Line Cinema fell through. It's unfortunate the deal with Frederator was not drawn up earlier; Mako's vocal presence as Aku will be sorely missed.

I am so psyched about this, and the fact that everything will be animated instead of live-action will mean that the producers will have to stay true to the source material. I mean, imagine how it'd be like if the live-action Samurai Jack had a cast like The Last Airbender or Dragonball: Evolution. 


Here is the opening sequence to Samurai Jack. Man, I miss that show.

WTF-worthy.

It's also kinda funny because this video is not a parody.

Twilight (2008)

I figured with Twilight season already upon us, I'd give the first movie a try. I hadn't seen it when it first came out, because even though it has vampires and is based on a best-selling series, teen romance isn't my thing.

As much as I tried to keep an open mind, I didn't like it.

Yes, the people are beautiful, and the acting wasn't atrocious as I heard, but I found it pointless.

The first 45 minutes involved our two leads being awkward towards each other, with the girl being annoyed with why the totally cute loner doesn't like her, and also her excruciatingly over-chatty new high school friends. We get it; the new girl is POPULAR AMONG THE LOCALS.

We find out that totally cute loner Edward doesn't like her because he's attracted to her bloodscent (and also 'cuz he can't read her mind, but that bit isn't expanded on), and after he saves her a few times, they get to know each other and start dating.

The next half hour's involved with our girl Bella meeting Edward's family, decent vampires who abstain from human blood and drink animals instead (they call themselves 'vegan', but as I see it, animal blood isn't synthetic blood, nor is it the opposite of plain ol' blood. Do correct me if I'm wrong), and playing baseball, the latter scene being the best part in the entire movie.

[I think that speaks volumes of my opinion towards this movie.]


Then we have some rogue vampires that do eat humans, and one of them, James, likes Bella's scent. So with some really lousy re-routing, we get to the showdown between Jim and Edward, which isn't too bad, but still can't beat the baseball scene.

Long story short: Bella gets bitten by James, Edward sucks the venom out after MUCH thought and deliberation, Bella is taken to the hospital, Edward says he wants to leave for fear of hurting her, Bella is adamant that Edward cannot leave her, Ed changes his mind, and then they go to the prom.

Some parts didn't make sense. James had stopped by Bella's father's place, that's how he knew they were on the run, and obviously he was at her mom's place as well to intercept the call (unless he had mad hackering skillz or something), so why didn't he kill them? We're not talking about 'feed' here, just normal killing. If James was supposed to be the ruthless and cruel type... I mean, he didn't even HURT her parents here.

Despite the irregularities, it was still okay for me, till I saw Bella's reaction towards Edward leaving. It was such a 180˚ for a character who through this entire time was rather nonchalant and 'whatev', so much so that she would get all clingy and borderline obsessive towards Edward when he said he wanted to leave. Yes, she loves him, and he did save her life quite a few times, but the overreaction was a bit unrealistic. I mean, he just 'said', he didn't actually do it.

I equate that scene to the butler telling Harry that his father died by his own hand in Spider-man 3. Though this one didn't make my jaw drop out of WTF-ness, still made the movie suck for me.


4/10. Watch it if you love Rob Pattinson, or if you love the book series. I've done neither (only crushing on R-Patz in Harry Potter 4), so I didn't really see anything special about it.

For some LULZ, do click here for Twilight: The Abridged Script.

Final Destination 4 (2009)

Totally fake! A 3!

Dirty Deeds (2005)

I sooo love MR Milo in this one, fill with crap and its hilarious for me hahaha. Cheers enjoy this, hahahaha, and gosh he is damn hot!! And its something to learn out from in this movie. I would say a 8 for Milo and the movie a high 5!

ID4-ever??!

Haha!! That sounds like a title for a Hong Kong movie sequel!

In an interview with MTV, Roland Emmerich said that there will be TWO Independence Day sequels, and both will encompass ONE story-arc! (just like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!) Even though it's been more than ten years after the first movie, Emmerich intends to just continue on from it.

They don't have a script yet, but one thing's for sure: Will Smith will definitely be in it.


[YES!]

I hope that they bring back Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman as well. I hope they bring everyone from the first movie back.


[Except Randy Quaid. 'Cuz he died in the first movie.]

Black Cat in Spidey 4?

In a move that seems oddly familiar, *cough*Iron Man 2*cough*, Rachel McAdams is rumored to be up for the role of Felicia Hardy / Black Cat, who in the comics, has an on-off relationship (depending on story-arc) with our Peter. Black Cat is like Catwoman, except that she's actually DATED the hero for a while, and she's not exactly a villain (although, Catwoman's a bit of an anti-heroine as well).

If this turns out to be true, then great. More conflict and love triangles for the bunch. Can't they just marry Peter off to MJ and get it over with? I mean, the only reason why anybody watches comic book movies is to see the villains. Character and emotional development is always secondary.


[I'm still stumped on why I liked Iron Man.]

Off-topic, is it just me, or does Rachel McAdams look a lot like Elizabeth Banks?

UPDATE: Julia Stiles is also in talks for a role in Spidey 4; I'm guessing it's this one.

UPDATED UPDATE: Now it's Anne Hathaway. Oh dear... the rumor mill is out of control...

Prince of Persia trailer!

The trailer is finally out, after many, many behind-the-scenes commentaries (of which most of the scenes are repeated) from Jerry Bruckheimer or something. Anyway, it looks great, and the jumping-from-one-building-to-the-other scenes bring back memories.

Sigh.

All we need now is a grey-stoned dungeon with pits and a bunch of retracting spikes at the bottom. Plus, turbans and many poisonspotions.

And also, they all have English accents! I have no idea why I find it weird that Jake Gyllenhaal doesn't sound American, I just do!

Oh well, enjoy! :)

James Cameron's Avatar Bible excerpt!

Care for a glimpse into the guide for Avatar? As in, the reference for writers on the show? Only nine pages, though, but it does give you a very good idea of how the setting and environment for the show is supposed to be (and how the movie is deviating from it).

To check it out, click here. It's from the revamped Racebending website.