They've truly made the whole theme ride for the big screen.  And what a ride it was too … with a full blown fantastical storyline and special effects to go with it, it was just like a ride at a theme park – FUN 🙂

So in a nutshell, if you haven't seen it on the big screen … don't bother, unless like Jules and I you are Johnny Depp fan.

Pirates_World_01

As always he doesn't disappoint, funny, just tad silly and completely natural .. he is Jack Sparrow.  So did he die at the end of the sequel?  Since we know there wouldn't be a third without him, he was definitely alive, well and jumping around.  So yah, the storyline can be a tad unreal but it was fun.  Oh so fun 🙂

And Singapore gets a mention too.  Some are getting excited about the mention, thinking about the worldwide recognition it'll bring to our tiny island … … and all I'm thinking in my head is that the next time I try market Singapore to people who have no idea where we are, they're going to think Singapore has pirates, we live on houses standing on stilts and we row boats along the Singapore River. 

Anyway, back to the movie.  I have to say the first one was my favourite (just like The Matrix) where the special effects were used to create breathtaking impact and was pivotal to the storyline.  Part 3, like I said already was just one theme park ride – expensive to make, fun to be on and quite pointless.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

It's been a while since I did two movies in a day so after a dearth of movie watching, the movie gang decided Saturday will be the day :)  Actually, just Jules and I caught two movies … everyone else watched one or the either.

2_in_a_day

So we started the day of with Music & Lyrics, one of those romantic comedies that can't go wrong especially with Hugh Grant who was as charming as ever.  Drew Berrymore was sweet and cute as she often is but I'm realising she has a standard templates of looks she does for romantic comedies, complete with the cute puppy dog look while sucking on a straw … very successfully cute though.  If I was a guy, I'd fall for it.

Music_and_Lyrics

The best bit about the movie was the beginnging where they did a fantastic 80s MTV.  Gosh, they had it all down – the dance steps, the cheesy edits and the acting … it was hilarious …For everyone who doesn't do romantic comedies, the movie is worth it just for the MTV.  Reminds me of the good old days in  the 80s, when weird poofy hairstyles and over big ala American footballers type shoulder pads were in.  I'm not looking forward to when it all comes back but it's always good to relive the memories every once in a while.

Then Erv joined us for lunch at some Ramen place in Cuppage Plaza, actually he was the one who recommended it … all in celebration of Jules' JLPT2!!!!!  Congrats Jules!!

Letters_from_IwoJima

After which we had some dessert and it was back to Cineleisure san Daph for Letters from Iwo Jima … hmmm … what can I say … in a nutshell, I'm glad it didn't win the Best Picture at the Oscar's.  It was very Clint Eastwood i.e. slow which only worked with Unforgiven.  So very overrated but if you don't watch it on the big screen, you're quite likely to fall asleep.

Every time I watch a war movie, the whole pointless nature of it all is more obvious than ever and I start to wonder if women ruled the world … would there be lesser wars, if any 😛

But I have a new Jap crush, nope not the guy from Arashi but Tsuyoshi Ihara. 

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Some films are timeless and after 20 years, Laputa: Castle in the Sky is really one such film.  I haven't seen the Disney released version but I'm not quite sure about anime dubbed in English and I'm definitely not sure about the re-scoring :P  Don't mess with a perfect thing, I say … but anyway … I recently watched it again and … sigh … was completely enraptured by it all over again … yes, it's my fourth time watching it and it was still as good as the first time 🙂

What would you do if a girl floated out of the sky into your arms?  Pazu knew he was going to be her hero but little did he know she was the one who was going to save him.

Based off a fictional place in John Swift's, Gulliver's Travels that no one seems to talk much about, Laputa is a floating island in the sky.  Miyazaki shows why he can take a seemingly Western story and layer Asian sensibilities over it to appeal to a world of different perspectives.

So I recommend watching the original Studio Ghibli version, Japanese voices and English subtitles, curled in bed and pretend you're 9 all over again 😉

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I love coming out of films that inspire me to dust off my scripts-in-progress and work on them again.

Little_Children

Jordan and I woke up early on the third day of Chinese New Year and headed for a 10:15am show … when was the last time you did that?  And no regrets, Little Children directed by Todd Field who also did well with In The Bedroom, is the kind of film that leaves you one of those lingering feeling when you watch real simple movies that don't distract you with unnecessary special effects or manipulate you with cliche dissolves and the swelling of strings.

Coming from a director who has pretty much done in all from acting, producing, composing, camera crew Todd Field doesn't disappoint with his latest.  Hopefully, we don't have to wait 5 years before he touches our cinematic lives again.  Despite the difficult themes and plots, Little Children is a lot easier to watch than In the Bedroom.

Little_Children_Kate

It focuses on the lives of 3 main characters who live in a regular all American suburb, except they aren't exactly all American themselves.  A stay home dad trying to to pass his bar exam for the third time.  A convicted sex offender moving back into his Mum's home.  A stay home Mum married to a wealthy bored husband, with a Masters in English Literature who can't remember why she wanted to look after her own kid.

Little_Children_Kiss

Real people faced with real situations and over 130mins the audience is drawn into a world where they can live vicariously through the characters.  At the end of it, the simple stories reminds us that while it's so easy to take  things for granted, life could be a lot easier if we didn't.  Sigh … didn't we all know that already … … that's why we need a good film every now and then to remind us 🙂

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Alrighty, after Babel and Blood Diamond I told myself that the next one will be a warm and funny one but when Mich and Zack wanted to watch a movie last night … I voted for The Last King of Scotland.

Hmmm … ok, I understand why they gave Forest Whitaker the Golden Globe … he was pretty much solid as Idi Amin.  Come February 25, it'll be interesting to see the fight between the two American actors who played Africans.  I bet if I watched The Pursuit of Happyness, I'll be even more confused.

Oh well, back to The Last King of Scotland … the moment that worked for me was when one of the Ugandan characters in the movie said,"There is so much hatred in Uganda and I do not want to be part of it." It's really quite that simple, isn't it?

Idi Amin thought he was saving Uganda.  I don't know the man but as Zack mentioned, we know of a lot who is so much like him … we should be grateful they're not the ones running our home.  Do third world leaders actually start with the belief that they are working for the people and when they get there the power changes them?  And what can the average individual do?

I'm not sure either but hey, there's enough hatred in the world … I'll just do my bit not to be a part of it.  So next movie has to be warm and fuzzy … hmmm … Clerks II, might just do the trick  🙂

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Have you ever been so lonely that you desire even a stranger's touch or so very scared, all you wanted to do was run as far away as you can or remember being a child and doing the silliest thing without realising the serious consequences of it?

Babel

Babel tells a story of these three real situations with the realism only a movie can achieve. From the director of 21 Grams, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu again weaves emotive visuals and rhythm with the concept of that we're all connected.  Kinda my idea of karma, no one actually ever thinks what we throw out will actually come back in ways we never even begin to phantom.

It's a movie with so many layers that touches (or not) every individual differently.  For me, he seemed to say never believe what you hear or read in the media, especially the news.  Objective journalism?  A little of an oxymoron from where I'm standing. 

Since starting my career in media, I've definitely learnt that the truth is only what you want to see.

So tell me what you saw in Babel 🙂 i.e. watch it … after all, it could be this year's Oscar winning best picture.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend