Movie review: Vampire Academy

Movie title: Vampire Academy

Ratings: 4/5

Comments: A more decent movie of late. Dont know what's up with the movie industry lately.

Hmm, it's not bad, pretty interesting story and plot. But it looks like it's super low budget...and I dont know why...but the female leads just lack.....presence. Hmm.....maybe you'll get what I mean after you've watched the movie. Could be more thrilling and funny. But I'll say, watch this over 300. 

Movie Review: 300 Rise of an empire

Movie Title: 300 Rise of an Empire

Ratings: 2.7/5

Comments: Omg, it's so boring. Firstly, the mass poetic style of narration throughout the movie took a toll on me as I'm just not much of an artistic person and it's troublesome to understand if one needs to narrate a HUGE portion of the movie plot, which I'm to understand the story begins somewhat around the time of the old 300 movie and then extended till slightly later. *correct me if I'm wrong*. And then it's kill kill kill all the way until it gets dead boring. The only highlight of the movie would be how Eva Green bared her boobs for those vigorous trusts. Full stop. It's nothing like the old 300 movie, and a major disappointment.

Movie review: Non-stop

Movie title: Non-stop

Ratings: 3.2/5

Comments: I admit I'm so obsessed with Liam that so long so the movie poster has him posing in a macho way, it will be a must-watch for me. Therefore we caught the movie without knowing the plot at all, and around 5minutes into seating, I realized the whole screenplay will be on the god-damn plane. And it's OMG. Zzz. Granted, it's NOT boring. The director did an awesome job with such a low budget and boring plot, there were thrilling parts here and there. Perplexing too, as in analyzing who's the antagonist. However, it's nothing like "Taken" so just dont expect it to have the standard of "Taken". It's more of a thriller than action movie.

Movie Review: That Awkward Moment

Movie title: That Awkward Moment

Ratings: 6.5/10

Comments: Could be better. What a shame. Pretty interesting script with funny actors. I thought they tried SO HARD to make it funny. HOWEVER, it wasnt directed to be as funny as it should be. Mainly because of poor dialogue. The movie title wasnt apt in the first place. Not entirely boring. Some touching scenes here and there. Ok to catch it if you have simply nothing better to do. By the way, what happen to Zac Efron?? Dearie and I looked at each other and was slightly taken aback by how different he looked from his previously "17 again". He was so cute and boyish then.

"His face..more chubby now", I said. Lol. Still a nice face lah. 

Movie Review: From Vegas to Macau & OOTD

Movie: From Vegas to Macau

Ratings: 8/10

Comments: It's so nice to see Chow after so many years!! Oh how I miss him! He's still sauve and charming despite all those added wrinkles. I like Nic too but in this show, he was clearly out-shadowed. His role is simply too boring. Still a nice show afterall, pretty funny. 

OOTD

Denim overalls from Bangkok Shibuya, only S$6 (150baht). Love the textured denim material.

Most overalls arent flattering, especially at the waistline, this cutting is considered good already although I dont look my slimmest. Pretty good quality. Cant be tried on so thank god I asked the lady for advice on the size. =)

Movie Review: The Lion Men, Part I

Movie: The Lion Men Part I

Ratings: 7.3/10

Comments: I really had high expectations of the movie after catching the trailer. Not to mention I thoroughly enjoyed Ah Boys to Men Part 1 and 2. But this......hmm.....I thought more emphasis are on the actions rather than the usual standard of crackling humor. So it's not as funny as I've expected....the actions are not bad though. The digital animations are considered commendable for an Asian production. It's a nice tribute to all the lion dance clubs. Not that I feel people dont respect them, but yeah I really feel they deserves a bigger share of respect.

I've always enjoyed lion dance performances but seldom get to see them. I'm most awed by performances on the 梅花庄。And call me old-fashioned, I prefer the traditional uniforms in red, the traditional fluffy lions, the traditional lion dance percussion music by drums etc rather the the new age ones in the movie. =D

And yes, I shall call them The Lion Men in future! =) 

Something's so wrong with Jack Neo's taste in women. Why the prettiest one is always not the main lead? So funny, during the movie, I whispered to dearie the prettiest girl was so-called the 3rd female lead(the 2nd one being the plump one). And after the movie ended, we caught the lift with a bunch of young guys, and they were lamenting on the same thing; that the prettiest girl is the one I mentioned. LOL. But really what can we expect....when Jack Neo's mistress...or ex-mistress....that "model"....you know...hahaha

And and....the so-called "bad guy" in the movie who had to perform the lion dance stunts on the 梅花庄(I'm talking about the very Lao Beng with the cocky and heow face, I meant no offence but in the show he's enacting such a role mah) and somehow the stuntman(替身)'s face was captured. Wah lau he looked much better than the actor, why dont ask him to act instead? Isnt that easier, no need 替身 mah. Haha.

Initially I thought Tosh(ex-sergeant in ABTM) will be the 1st male lead...but I think Weiliang(ex lobang king) has a heavier role. I thought he acted not bad. Chen Tianwen is so cute in the show. Lol

Will definitely watch Part II.

Movie Reivews: The legend of Hercules / Jack Ryan: the shadow recruit

Dearie just...somehow..."coerced" me into finishing 2 youtube videos featuring a couple of baby pandas playing for as long as 30minutes. No...actually it was like less than 10minutes but it actually felt that long. I was simply dumbstruck. He's usually not like that; he's more into funny talk shows like those by Kumar, David Letterman, Ellen Degeneres or some crappy comedians with weird slangs or else awesome vocals or magic shows in America's got talent. I think he's developing paternal instinct. I almost fainted when he went on to watch another video about some tiger chasing around a dog like the best of friends etc. Hmm..........

Anyway, these movie reviews are late because I got pretty sick the last few weeks. Currently on my 3rd course of antibiotics for my sorethroat and finally I'm able to speak like a female. And did I mention I was/am having this inhumane diet consisting of beehoon soup, fish slice soup, udon soup, whatever-soup etc without any fried, oily or spicy food for like a MONTH every since my operation of the removal of my gallbladder?! OMG it's god's love that I didnt go crazy! Anyway I couldnt bear it any longer just now and I ate Korean Char-grilled Chicken at BBQ Chicken and it was so nice! *wipes tears with hanky*

The chicken was marinated well and I love the fragrance of the spices and how tender the meat was. Although it was accompanied with no sauce, it was juicy without being dry nor oily. Thumbs up! However, the 2 sides I chose were disappointing. The mash wasnt smooth and were very dry without any sauce(I did asked but they said they dont serve any sauce for mash potato. *Dumb struck*) And the calamari wasnt fried well because it was SOAKING with oil and had a very soggy exterior. It was easy to bite though, not rubbery. The salad comes with thousand island sauce and was fine.

Yeah as expected I had a bad diarrhoea and slight tummy pain when I reached home. =( Sigh...oh well........but I'm fine after some rest.



Some movie reviews which came late.

Movie: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Ratings: 7/10

Comments: Started off slowly........got better towards the end. But really, I was expecting more intrigue, actions, thrills as per fitting a undercover movie? You know we Asians have watched so many undercover movies produced by HK and our standards were set pretty darn high........so yep.....a let down if you compare with HK undercover movies.

Movie: The Legend of Hercules

Ratings: 7/10

Comments: We actually didnt intend to watch this movie after watching the trailer....(I thought this Hercules wasnt as aesthetically pleasing as Kevin Sorbo, the Hercules in my childhood dreams, as in the television series, Hercules the legendary journey  :P I only watched a few episodes though, but they were wonderful and funny with many beauties heh). BUT we did catch the movie anyway because of some wonderful reviews at GV.com, saying that there wasnt a boring moment. And yes, I can kind of conclude there werent much of a moment where you'll fall asleep. That's because there were too many incredulous moments which knitted my eyebrows as the whole story was in complete opposite as what was being passed down in well...historical myths. 

And when a movie is titled, "The Legend of Hercules", naturally, you'll expect they make it right! Firstly, I was stunned by a pitiful and benevolent-looking Hera.............Can you even imagine Hera being given an image like a Chinese Guan Yin kind of god? Hell no, Hera was rumoured to be a green-eyed monster who constantly got jealous over his husband, Zeus's affairs. And it's almost her wish to kill all his flings, including his off-springs, ESPECIALLY Hercules because he was being born so strong and smart as well; He wasnt as giddily love-sick as being portrayed in the movie and he showed his wit when he cleaned the Augean stables in just 1 day(by breaking the dam of a river or something, dont quite remember), which was a task he was set to do among the 12 he was ordered. That's why I almost fell off my chair when Hera said she will benevolently grant Alcmene a privilege to sire a son of Zeus, the King of gods, to change the fate of kingdom.

WAHAHAHAHAHA!! That's like the joke of the year!! Hera allowing her hubby to bed another woman??? It doesnt even sound logical. But the funny thing is, I seems to be the only one feeling incredulous in my seat. Apparently not many people read Greek mythology. Zzzzzzz. And there comes the amusing part where the invisible Zeus somehow consummated with Alcmene (Mo ming qi miao) and dah-danggggg, Hercules was born. And it was all very.......ridiculous and amusing. The part where Hera spoke gently and softly to Hercules warning him of the dangers.... Lol .....it's more convincing when it would be like...ahh...while she was talking to Hercules, she whipped up her dagger to stab him in the heart. Yup that's right, Hera hates Hercules that much because he's the strongest man(ok, like half-man, a demi-god to be exact) to be born! He can strangle serpents to death when he was a baby and there in the show he was depicted to be a mere mortal with no amazing strength(before he called out to Zeus) And the part about the Nemean Lion was added to the script in poor taste....when we know it's the first of the 12 tasks which Hercules was being set out to accomplish....

All in all, I really never expect such a ...out turn of the plot...I guess usually people prefer plots as close as to the originals or what has been passed down. It's ok to edit here and there but it's just...ridiculous when the plot was written in a complete and absurd version. 

Alright, if you're not so much into the originality of the myth...then well it's actions and digital effects werent too bad. 

Why? It would be 10 times more interesting to produce a movie on how Hercules cleared his 12 labours!

Lovely Eggs Benedict at Robert Timms & Movie Reviews: The Four 2

Had a wonderful meal at Robert Timms some time back.

The Eggs Benedict which I had was simply so memorable that I have to blog about it.

Basically I swept everything off my plate of Eggs Benedict except the toasted tomatoe; nothing wrong with it I supposed, but I'm not one who takes raw tomatoe unless they're in my sandwich. The eggs were perfect with their runny yolks, the hollandaise sauce was just nice without being bland or overly thick or diluted, the shaved ham spells oh-so-good without being overly salty like some, and what I really really love was that the toast was hot! It was crisp on the outside and soft within and when the runny yolk runs over it, together with the fragrant ham, I was in total sublimity. Service was pretty good too. Oh and I think the menu is really extensive with the range of desserts too. Too bad the huge portions of the mains made us too full to be able to try(the desserts). Forget about Antoinette or Wild Honey already. Antoinette served me a huge garbage fly before with horrible service then and after, and Wild Honey is simply too busy and lofty to care much about you when you're waving your hand. Not to mention their food doesnt taste half as good, more of being over-hyped and over-priced too.


On the other hand, dearie said his sea bass was kinda bland. Mummy said her fish and chips is good with too big a portion that she cant finish.

Sometimes, I really wonder people care more about the quality of the food or care more about the prestige which is tagged to the restaurant. Maybe different people have different palettes, yeap, but people like these do exists(I'm not saying you are, I'm saying there are people like that). Like they feel it's extremely ATAS to go Antoinette or Wild Honey to have brunch. You know~ Or Les Amis or Brasserie Les Saveurs at St Regis for dinner. And then they raved about the restaurants like it was really out of the world and then finished with "Oh you really need to try!!" Like...........really? Are they simply making the point to illustrate the fact that they patronized before OR do they really like the food? Like so what? ....I've tried all of them before and they are really not impressive in terms of the execution of the food. The only impressive thing is the price~ Other than the posh environment...*shrugged*....there is nothing much memorable. I did remember the service at Brasserie Les Saveurs for our Vday dinner in 2012 was okay lah(slightly better than normal restaurants loh). But Les Amis was downright rude when we had our 3rd wedding anniversary dinner there.

Hmm.....I think service at Itacho Sushi is simply the best(of late)....they can be so busy and a little slow in their service yes....but for the past 2 visits, me and my friends stayed till really late after our meals to bitch. It was already near 10+pm and we had also footed our bills, and the kind waitresses still continue to replenish our green tea like there is no tomorrow. I've lost count of the times because we really talked ALOT and drank ALOT(thirsty mah...hee)....though of course I thanked the servers prettily each and every time. I wished to let them know I really appreciate their initiative. We didnt even need to prompt them to refill. *Thumbs up*

Movie title: The Four II

Ratings: 4/5

Comments: I think the digital effects were all pretty nice and pleasing to the eyes. The story was okie too. But of course expect another part 3. I thought part 2 was not bad as compared to part 1 but dearie felt part 1 was better. But seriously the female lead Liu Yi Fei cant act at all. OMG, when she was acting the part where she recalled how her whole family was massacred and both feet broken by her enemies, there's simply no tears in her eyes. *Faint* Thank god for her sweet face and demeanor else I really...zzzz.....

Movie Review: Marriage BLue(Korean)

Movie: Marriage Blue (Korean)

Ratings: 3/5

Comments: Kinda disappointed because I generally love Korean comedies and horrors...but this is really.......not much of a comedy. Maybe just a romance flick. Story revolves around 4 couples but can say the story was well-connected among them. But for a pure romance flick, either you need a very strong plot, or else real gorgeous casts. The love stories were nothing out of the ordinary...and no Korean hotties.... =|

100 Days With Mr.Arrogant 2004 - Korean

This is pretty cute! A korean comedy. Hope it makes your day!

Movie Reviews: As the light goes out/Police Story 2013/The Secret Life of Walter Mitty/47 Ronin

Movie: As the light goes out

Ratings: 4.2/5

Comments: Not bad! Not the usual director Benny Chan, not quite the same style. But still entertaining and hot thrills here and there. Not much of acting by all the casts, which is kinda weird because Nic and Simon are one of the best actors I've seen. But the plot is much better and realistic and not full of loop holes like the last firefighter show, Inferno(逃出生天）. 

Movie: Police Story 2013

Ratings: 2.5/5

Comments: A disappointment. It's not of Jackie's usual standards, especially for his Policy Story sequels. The plot is so boring that I slept through half way. I've watched so many of his movies, from as old as A计划 etc (most of them dont remember the titles but remember the movies), and this is by far the least impressive. Jackie's shows have always been a "must watch" in my list, but at the end of this movie I then realized the director/producer/script-writer is from China and not a well-known one. And ONE more thing, the WHOLE movie is dubbed by mainland chinese except for Jackie's voice. I heard the term "靠谱"儿 at least 20 f-ing times in the show that I almost burst into flames.

Watch it if you love mainland chinese slang. 

It's really bizarre that Jackie allows such sub-standard and someone like a newbie to direct the 6th to this popular sequel. 

Movie: The secret life of Walter Mitty

Ratings: 1/5

Comments: It's really not my style...not my kind of movie. It's almost like documentary, bores me to death. But dearie likes the scenery and background music. 

Movie title: 47 Ronin

Ratings: 3.2/5

Comments: Maybe my expectations were too high.....hmm...the only thing I enjoyed was the digital effects. I was expecting more into the Japanese Culture of Ronin and Samurais, more into black magic, more into war politics and love..........but my cravings werent satisfied. The ending was a let down too. 

Movie Title: Control

Movie Title: Control

Ratings: 2.8/5
Comments: Omg, 闷死我。I thought the script was OK but the directing was a disappointment. It wasnt thrilling at all despite it's supposed to be. I was hesitant to watch this because I never heard of the director before. But I thought; Daniel and Simon. Nahz....Simon is just a calefare(extra).

Movie Review: The White Storm 掃毒

Movie Title: The White Storm 

Ratings: 4.7/5

Comments: Yet another great awesome movie by director Benny Chan!!! I love HK movies!!! There was a time where I was kinda sian with all the same actors and police-thieves kinda story line again and again; movies like 无间道，窃听风云，线人，证人。But I was lured once again by another production by Benny and all 3 leads were among my favorite actors as well, especially Nick Cheung! What was so captivating about the whole show was the very unique plot; yes, it somewhat revolves around being an undercover again BUT it's really different! It was funny as hell too. I laughed till I cried, and then cried till I laughed again. Oh manz......Love this movie alot, depicts brotherhood which is oh so touching.

Co-written by Benny Chan and Manfred Wong. Awesome!

Movie Reviews: Rigor Mortis 殭屍

Movie Review: Rigor Mortis (殭屍)

Ratings: 4.5/5

Comments: To date, this movie left me the deepest impression because it consists of so many elements. As a tribute to the late Lam Ching Ying's and Ricky Hui's Mr Vampire series, this movie is starred by veteran actors like Chin Siu Ho, Anthony Chan, Richard Ng, Chung Fat who had once acted alongside one another. The story starts off slowly with building intensity as the intriguing plot starts to reveal. On and off it was harmonized by emotional and tender love scenes...punctuated with violent and nerve-racking bone-cracking actions and finally epitomized fear and spine-tingling thrills with realistic animations, bloody setups and zombie makeup. *claps claps*

If I didnt know there's only 1 director for the show, I would have thought I'm actually watching a movie directed by 3 different directors; namely Wong Kar Wai(王家衛) for the emo and artistic scenes, Jeffrey Lau(刘镇伟) for the eerie and chilling ghostly scenes and Wilson Yip(叶伟信) for the violent and tough action fights. Awesome directing by Juno Mak(麥浚龍) because all the elements blended well, almost cant believe it's his directorial debut! I think this 29 year old man has a bright future. The setup also left me really speechless. It retains the old Hongkong "flavor" but adds in a spice of hollywood animations. A master piece. 

If there's something which I find annoying will be the very extra and redundant ending, and it's kinda heavy movie and did anyone notice a very important scene was missing?

How did the mask got off Richard Ng? 

This really deserves a proper filming than just a sloppy scene taken of the mask after it was being detached. 

I was puzzled over the very "classy" English title and my very knowledgeable hubby told me "Rigor" means "Stiff" and "mortis" means "dead", in short, reflects the chinese title, 殭屍. 

Soh Des Ne~ An apt title for a movie to tap into the Hollywoods.

Movie Review: Frozen

Movie Review: Frozen

Ratings: 3.8/5

Comments: To be very frank, I'm really not an animation kinda person. I booked this movie by mistake all thanks to wrong info by an app. Thank god it wasnt that bad. But, it was kinda boring at the start....it got better. The animation were lovely.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games 2, Catching Fire

Movie Title: The Hunger Games 2, Catching Fire

Ratings: 3.7/ 5

Comments: Admittedly, I had high expectations of the part 2 to this sequel. But I lowered it when Jean Danker said she almost fell asleep for the 1st half an hour. Ahhh....indeed your expectations needs alittle tuning if you wish to enjoy more. It's worth a catch and truly, it does starts slow and gets better. 

Movie Review: Baby Blues

Movie title: Baby Blues

Ratings: 2.5/5

Comments: The...calmest..."thriller" of the year..... Quite a disappointment... 

Both Karena and Kate acted little in the show.

Movie Reviews: Thor, The Dark World / Sadako 2

Movie title: Thor, The Dark World

Ratings: 4/5

Comments: Pretty nice. Started kinda slowly but gets better. If you're comparing with Avengers then Avengers is better. If you're comparing with Thor 1, it's around the same. Worth a watch.

Movie title: Sadako 2

Ratings: 2.3/5

Comments: Almost fell asleep watching the midnight sneak preview. It's still thrilling here and there but it's far from a thriller. And Sadako? Duhz...."she" only appeared once for just awhile towards the end without showing her face, and then miraculously died or rather drown all by herself in the very well she came out from. Like WTH?

Movie Review: Special ID

Movie title: Special ID

Ratings: 1.5/5

Comments: Woohoo!! Quite a long time since I gave such a low rating to an action film. Why? It's not as if there are no actions. Plenty. Action choreographer is Donnie himself and it's super disappointing. The moves are so barbaric and simply looks boring. It's more like wrestling instead of fighting. Alright, maybe in real life people fights like that, by chaining the opponent's neck(for a longgggg time) to subdue him, or both wrapped up together in a ball for a longgggg time and see who is stronger. BUT this is a movie!! If you're into action films like me, then.....you'll be....so bored. Jackie's old movies of 20years ago is much better. 

Next up the plot. The story is about an undercover cop. I nearly feel like strangling the script-writer. So many parts dont make sense; like, if you're an undercover, would you throw a big celebration for your mum and let the whole world knows who is she and you love her? If you're an undercover, will you cohabit with a ROOM of cops for a longggg period of time?? The plot is just in a mess. Hello, can you go watch "The Infernal Affairs(無間道)"? And the dubbing sucks, it's so disturbing to the ears with the inaccurate Chinese spoken. No improvement in Donnie and Andy's acting whatsoever. 

Alright. The good part? I think the special car stunts effects coordinator, Bruce Law(羅禮賢), really deserves thumbs up! I say this is the best he had ever put up and quite a break through. Glad that his standards didnt drop at all despite him missing for quite awhile? Oh ya...I think the music effects supervisor did a great job too at choreographing "exciting" and "upbeat" music to otherwise very boring "wrestling". The makeup is pretty good too, the swollen face...blood everything.

Here's a good recommendation for a good action flick, if you're really a hardcore action movie junkie like me. Not much of a plot frankly speaking but the actions, WOah! Nice!

Legendary Assassin (Movie Review Here)

Movie review: About time

 

 

 

Movie review: About time

Ratings: 4/5

Comments: From the creators of Love Actually, it's a very sweet comedy, more touching than realistic, especially when it touches on the subject of time travel. If you've watched "The butterfly effect", then you'll understand what I mean. :) Anyway, there are definitely lessons to be learnt; things like treasuring your families while they are around and live each day as if you can only live it once bla bla bla.