TwoThirdsMajority Reviews

Blue Velvet (1986)

Blue Velvet, Bluer than Velvet was the night, softer than satin was the light, from the stars.....

[10/10 · 31 October 2007]

In a sleepy American town called Lumberton, young Jeffrey Beaumont discovered a severed ear on his walk back home. He brings the severed ear to the town's head inspector, hoping to find the identity of the ear. On the same night, he met the inspector's daughter Sandy, and the two became private investigators and starts their own investigation. On the way, they met Dorothy Vallens, a lounge singer who is somehow linked to the ear, and Jeffrey falls in love. But when "Dorothy's big man", Frank Booth arrives, all hell breaks loose.

Directed by David Lynch, this film blends in the peace & serenity of 50's America and blends in 80's horror films. Lumberton, like any other town is a representation of a beautiful small town America. There's no racism, robbery, war or natural disasters portrayed in Blue Velvet. But look beneath the town itself, there's a dark & sinister world surrounding it, portrayed by just one man: Frank Booth, played by Dennis Hopper.

Lynch, who is an imaginary goth auteur manages to give us a homage of 50's film noir in Blue Velvet. Even though his career varies through films like the surreal Eraserhead, the tragic Elephant Man, his hit TV show Twin Peaks, and recently Inland Empire, Blue Velvet still stand today as his best work yet. 2 decades since this film, much of it's influence are still found in today's media, from Desperate Housewives and the X-Files, to modern films like American Beauty and Hot Fuzz. It gives me an impression that Blue Velvet is the grandfather of Desperate Housewives, hence Kyle MacLachan in both.

But what really interests me of this film is the character Frank Booth. Frank is a very scary character who gives the audience a sense of hate towards him. He's a shouting, f- word swearing psycho who uses a oxygen mask whenever he lusts for Dorothy. But, his only moment of calmness is when Dorothy sings a rendition of Bobby Vinton's 'Blue Velvet' at the lounge, a sign that Frank can only find peace through Dorothy.

I believe that Blue Velvet is one of the best films to be made in the 80's. In an era where nuclear war was imminent, the Soviets were having a downfall, and swash-buckling films like The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark were made, Blue Velvet gives a good description of a more peaceful 1980's. And whenever we look at Bush or bin Laden today, we should always remember a quote from Kyle MacLachan's character Jeffrey Beaumont: "Why are there people like Frank in this world?"

Transformers (2007)

It's Witwicked! Thanks Mr.Bay

[9/10 · 30 June 2007]

You're a 11th grade geek who's desperate for a girlfriend and a car. But first you need a car. So all you need to get 3As or even $2000. And what you have is only 2As and an unsellable junk of your great-grandfather who claimed to have seen a giant ghost in the Arctic.

Still, you've achieve your mission in getting 3As your dad is looking for you a car. And you've found yourself a Chevy Camaro which costs more than your father wished for, but as Bernie Mac once said: "A driver don't pick the cars. Mmm-mm. Cars pick the driver." So with a rusty but awesome Chevy Camaro which enables you to pick up chicks, well sort of, as you've picked a super sexy tattooed babe with some hard edge on her. And one night, your car suddenly drove away from your home. And you tracked far away just to know where your car's heading to. And he reached his destination, something happened. Your car's turned into a giant robot with a weird logo on it. You feel shocked and amazed...

And that's when the action all begins....

Directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Transformers is one film that could change the face of the 21st century. And i know that the word "Michael Bay" means bad luck, but this is an good if not great if not awesome film! It's as if Michael Bay learns a thing or two from Spielberg and the likes of 'redeemed' directors like Martin Campbell.

It's just a pure awesome, balls-filled, pure=-fun piece of masterpiece that's going to land in the top 10 of AFI's 100 Movies list for a decade from now. It's like witnessing a Muse concert. It's just fricking mental! And i, as a Transformers fan enjoyed this film and believe that Bay didn't ruin my childhood, instead he relived it.

The action starts with Blackout attacking a US base in Qatar, and ends with all 8 Transformers(4 Autobots & 4 Decepticons) fighting each other in a city. Now that's how a true Transformers style is made! I like how it begins with a Transformers battle, and ends with a Transformers battle. It's just how perfectly planned it is.

Overall, this is a 10/10 film for me. Great action, great drama and great stuff of awesomeness that'll pee your pants out. And don't forget, Megan Fox is hot.

PS: if you think that this movie is just boring, then looks like you've lost your inner child.

Hostel (2005)

Cool, but disturbing. If you like Gianno & NC-17 Grindhouse flicks then you must check this one

[8/10 · 5 May 2007]

Three guys, one Icelandic and two Americans visited Slokavkia in order to look for chicks. But little do they know the horror that awaits them.

That's the premise of this brilliantly shocking film from director Eli Roth. Roth, who previously directed his horror-comedy debut Cabin Fever, has come up with an excellent gore-fest which took his name by storm.

Produced by Quentin Tarantino, this film is an exploitative tribute to films like Cannibal Holocaust, I Spit on Your Grave, Friday the 13th and several Italian gore fests including Reazione a catena(aka Chain Reaction) and so forth.

The acting is OK. But, the coolest thing about Hostel is the character Oli and Natalya. Oli is a wonderful Icelander, having knew that Icelanders are cool people, he makes one hell of a character. Natalya is also a great character, being a damn hottie. The film is kinda easy to follow, especially when it doesn't have those stupid flashy sequences that has conquered almost every PG-13 horror films.

One thing that bugs me is that the film kinda acts as a social commentary. Eli Roth says that this film deals with the ignorance surrounding tourists(especially Americans) who visited a certain country without knowing what's surrounding them. That kinda bugs me, because i'm a traveler, and me being a tourist, i don't feel ignorant about that country. Perhaps he was talking about Western tourists in general, i might say.

Still, this film is great. This ain't a chick flick, but if your girlfriend is a freak or loves horror films, then you must bring her on a date, bring her back home, watch this film on DVD with her, and get laid. It's simple, and fun.

Oldboy (2003)

Takashi Miike meets Wong Kar Wai

[9/10 · 29 April 2007]

When i first saw Oldboy back in 2004, i was just 13 years old. I watched it with my girlfriend at the cinemas just couple of hours after watching Alfonso Cuaron's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I didn't enjoy it that much, but the film does make my girlfriend cry. However, i do like the dialog between Daesu and Woojin, as well as the corridor fight scene.

Three years later Oldboy came back to the spotlight. During the recent shootings at the Virginia Tech Institute, Fox News and Sky News claimed that Oldboy inspired the killer Cho Seng Hui to commit crimes. I wasn't much convinced by the news reports, and so i picked up a DVD of Oldboy at the store and try to link this film with the shooter. Because if i remember, this film doesn't have the GTA-style violence that will encourage people to commit violence.

Unfortunately, i was right. This film is not that GTA violent at all. And it has only one gun shown at the film. However the good part is that it made me love the film more. Why? Because it made me appreciate the story, the feel, the romance and the tragedy of the film. I'm not really used to Korean cinema, but this film just blew me away.

The story of this film tells about Oh Daesu, a man who was sent to the police station on the day of his daughter's birthday. He was bailed by his friend Joo Hwan. However, just as he was to apologize to his daughter on the payphone, he was kidnapped, and was sent to a room with nothing but a television, a toilet and a bed for 15 years.

After 15 years, he escaped. He became unfamiliar with the outside world that he hasn't knew for a long time. During the time he was in that room, his only link with the outside world was the television. And he became familiarized with computers and cell phones, thanks to television.

However, his world changed. He was accused of murdering his wife while on that room, and his daughter was sent to Sweden. Desperate to know why he was imprisoned for 15 years, he sets out for revenge, hoping to look for the man responsible for imprisoning him in that room.

What i like about this film is that it has the brilliance mix of Scorcese combined with a Tarantino-ish dialog and some neo-noir backgrounds. Even if it's not an English film, but it is a film that will appeal to many. The directing was probably the most brilliant piece of artwork you'll see in a film. One scene has Daesu fighting a group of thugs in a corridor, and that scene is taken with one shot, which makes the whole scene look like a painting.

So is this film good? Of course it is. Sure there's some sex and nudity, and you'll need to read subtitles to enjoy this film, but the violence? Not that heavy. It's just only teeth removal, tongue cutting and a fight scene between a man and 30 gangsters. It shouldn't be blamed for matters like Virginia Tech shootings. However, if you're looking for a deep & thought-provoking film with touches of Tarantino & Scorcese in it, then look no further than Oldboy.

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Proves that a remake can be superior than the original.

[10/10 · 16 March 2007]

You're Sarah Polley. You're sleeping with your hubby in a bed. Then your little neighbor girl came to your room. She's covered in blood. Her mouth is covered in blood. And you know what? She's become a zombie!

And your hubby is worried. He goes to your neighbor, and hugs her. And after hugging her, she bites him! And in a next few minutes he'll die, and be reanimated as a zombie like your little neighbor!

Welcome to the Milwaukee county neighborhood. A few hours ago, it was a safe haven, an utopia filled with happy middle-class people who are not British chavs or Southern hillbillies. But now, it's a warzone! No, it's not attacked by damn dirty apes, or the Soviet Ruskies, we're being attacked by zombies! And if you're a Romero fan or have read the book The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, you'll know that sh*t happens when zombies attack!

Directed by Zack "Spartan" Snyder, this movie tells about Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Webber, Mekhi Phifer, Inna Korobkina, Lindy Booth and 3 more people entering a mall, having fun inside the mall, and getting out of the mall.

The zombies. what about them? Well, they bite people, and they'll bite anyone in sight who is people. And you know what? They're fast! As in an Olympic runner fast. All thanks to Danny Boyle for inventing such brilliant creatures, first seen in 28 Days Later.

The script? Well, it's the same thing from the original, except that there's no racism, and they added a cause for the zombie outbreak: virus. Which is good, since the almighty original points no reason for the outbreak, which has made everyone go cliffhanger in the end of the film.

THe verdict: Great film. Forget Resident Evil, or Land of the Dead. If you're looking for zombies, shopping, hot girls, and a cast member from Pulp Fiction, this one's for you. And don't forget about Lindy Booth and Sarah Polley!

Idiocracy (2006)

Orwell's futuristic vision of stupid people

[9/10 · 15 March 2007]

In Children of Men, Michael Caine's character Japer asks "Why are we infertile?" If he was in Idiocracy, he would have been the third smartest person in the movie after Maya Rudolph and Luke Wilson, and he'd probably ask "Why are we stupid?" In Mike Judge's Idiocracy, Judge takes a look at society today and it's effects on the future. In the 21st century, we seemed to have known that stupid people gave birth to more children than smart ones. And the smart & intelligent people are too stupid to make babies, since they're worry some idiots. And the result, more stupidity, less intelligence.

In 2005, the US army wanted to reserve it's lower, more average servicemen so that they're fit for battle. And to prove that theory, they hired Joe Bauers(Owen Wilson), an average Joe US serviceman, and a prostitute named Rita(Maya Rudolph) to undergo an experiment. They'll be frozen for a year to prove that humans are able to be preserved without any damages. However, the US army officer in charge of the experiment was arrested for prostitution charges, and the two frozen humans are forgotten, making them frozen for not 1, but 500 years into the future.

Waking up 500 years later at the year 2505, Joe and Rita discover themselves in a dystopian hell. No, the future is not ruled by Big Brother. No, it's not even ruled by the communists. And no, the future is not being ruled by damn dirty apes either. The future, like i said above,is ruled by stupid people. Yes, stupid people. Not even the smartest person is available. Why? Like i said, smart & intelligent people are stupid when it comes to making babies. Therefore, the intelligent humans are extinct, causing the rest of humanity to devolve into a race of unintelligent corporate tools.

Upon discovering the future, they've found worse situations: The president of the USA is a former wrestler and porn star who is a black anti-Barack Obama, Justice has become ridiculously retarded, Costco is a city, Starbucks coffee offers sex while drinking, and no one wears suits nor tuxedo, And the English language has become nothing but valley, chav, hill billy and trash talk.

After taking an IQ test, Joe discovers that he's the smartest person in the world. And he was forced to repair the North Korean-like drought that has suffered the American people for years. It appears that America has gone too corporate that a Gatorade-like company named Brawndo has taken over the America's food industry, causing water to be replaced with Brawndo all over the land except in toilets. They even pour Brawndo on the crops, which caused the drought. And even the cabinet seems not to acknowledge such problems, since they're all stupid like the people, and they wear bling-bling chains which has the emblems of the US government.

This is a smart Orwellian film which also blends with Jackass-like humor and fart jokes that created the idiot atmosphere of the future. The cast is brilliant. Luke Wilson played a great job as the main character, and Maya Rudolph is a hottie in this film, and not to forget she played a convincing street-prostitute, although i do hate her unnatural African-American accent in this film. Dax Shepard was hilarious as Joes' future lawyer Frieto, while Terry Crews' portrayal of a lower-IQ-than-Bush president is possibly the best ever. And in a short came, Justin Long's scene as a doctor high on drugs was probably the best scene ever in the film.

This film never got any publicity, not even a trailer or a poster. Why? Because Rupert Murdoch's greedy 20th Century Foxfilm corporation felt uncomfortable advertising an anti-corporate film like Idiocracy, and therefore they bury this film under the shadows of limited screenings.

Still, this is a great comedy. In fact, if you're looking for the 40 Year Old Virgin of 2006, this is the one you're looking for. Funny, smart and a more hilarious version of Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men. If George Orwell thought of the future as being ruled by idiots, this is how it would have looked like.

Layer Cake (2004)

Guy Ritchie, British Film Noir, and Scorcese meets MTV and Ecstasy!

[9/10 · 15 February 2007]

Being born in a quite perfect( and sometimes boring) world, it makes me wonder? What would it be if we do jobs that are above the rate of normality? Movies can answer that. Lord of Wartells us about what is it like becoming arms dealers. The Devil Wears Prada tells us why it sucks working in the runway business. Croupier tells us about being...a casino croupier. The James Bond and Mission Impossible films tells us about how is it like being a spy. but a drug dealer? Layer Cake is the answer.

In this Britnoir* drug culture meets Goodfellas film, Mr.X(Daniel Craig), as he's referred to literally, is a successful drug dealer. He's no gangster, he's a businessman. He knows his men, he knows the right person to buy sell his drug, and he's making a living out of it. To some, it maybe a crime. But to him, it's business.

Mr.X isn't alone when dealing pounds of coke. He's helped by two guys who were also part of the drug underworld. Morty is his man who makes deals and makes sure everything is perfect. And he's been doing it in his 10 years at prison. And Gene, an associate for James Lionel Price, currently employing Mr.X.

Mr.X is now on the verge of retirement. Therefore, he is doing his two last jobs as a drug dealer. And those two are dangerous to be in Mr.X's world. He has to face Serbian assassins, backstab his fellows, kill James Lione Price, falling in love with the wrong girl and face some serious management when dealing drugs with chav-wannabe gangsters who has names like The Duke (?).

Layer Cake slathers on plot twists with all the restraint of Daniel Radcliffe in a pastry shop. That the intricate narrative loses track of, or simply drops, a couple of its own threads (such as a the missing junkie daughter of Michael Gambon's kingpin Eddie Temple) makes little difference, since Vaughn's film is less concerned with consistency than with stylishly amoral attitude.

Craig's ruthlessly witty and charming badass, whose slow return descent into the muck is presented as a preordained homecoming, is largely responsible for making the increasingly outlandish scenarios palatable. Still, it would be nice if filmmakers would call an indefinite moratorium on the now-stale image of spiritually wounded protagonists, desperate to wash themselves clean of sin, mournfully standing in the shower.

And at the end of the day, watching Layer Cake is like watching a MTV-version of a Guy Ritche flick. Layer Cake is an excellent gangster flick filled with surprises, plot twists and more surprises. And it also proved Craig's worthiness as an actor. If you loved him as James Bond in the recent film Casino Royale, you'd love him in Layer Cake. This movie proves his Bondness. And so do we.

Children of Men (2006)

An exciting pump of dystopia fiction.

[9/10 · 29 January 2007]

A 40-something man named Theo Faron(Clive Owen) is standing inside a coffee shop with a group of people, watching the news of the death of Baby Diego Ricardo, the youngest person in the world. He is 18 years, 6 Months, 28 days, 4 hours and 8 minutes old. Theo ignores the news, takes his coffee and exits the coffeshop. Here, we see London, a gloomy, dark & depressing London. Suddenly, "BOOM!" The coffee shop explodes by a terrorist act.

Welcome to London 2027 AD. Welcome to Children of Men. Here, humans are infertile. No one can give babies anymore. Thanks to global infertility, mankind has lost all hope for the future, because they are unable to inherit their wealth, ideals and goals to future generations since there aren't any.

It's been 18 years since no woman on Earth is able to give birth. Instead of having humans facing extinction like Fidel Castro dying peacefully because of a disease, mankind implodes and fast forward their extinction by causing nuclear wars in Africa, creating nuclear terrorism in New York, Tokyo & Shanghai, making our capital Kuala Lumpur looking like LA in 1992, and more devastation you could think of. The result? Waves of refugees from all over the world moved to the UK. However, since UK has become a totalitarian state, they've created isolationist and anti-refugee policies that has deported them from UK cities and sent them to concentration camps like what we've saw in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and Auschwitz.

As the story progressed, we see Theo being taken hostage by a terrorist group named The Fishes. Led by Theo's ex wife Julian(Julianne Moore), The Fishes wanted Theo to escort an African 'Fugee' named Kee(Claire Hope-Ashitey) out of the UK and straight to a NGO named "The Human Project" which aims to end infertility and restore procreation in humans. But why Kee? Because Kee holds a secret that no one knew: She's pregnant. And what's so special about that? Well, here's the fact: She's the first woman to get pregnant after 18 years of infertility. Now you dig?

Some futuristic films like Blade Runner and The Matrix includes those cool-cyberpunk technology like flying cars, space travel and all that techno-babble, but this film? Not really. Not to say that this film doesn't have any futuristic design. It does. Some of it includes plasma-televisions, digital billboards, and cars where it has HUDs on the car's mirror. But, it still feels like London in our time, because the director Alfonso Cuaron(of Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban fame) says:

"The future n the film is still the same as our present London despite it's digi-billboards and plasma-TVs. That's because that since women became infertile, humans lose hope for the future and since 2016, technology stopped".

What I loved, so very much, is how Cuarón gives lavish attention to the details of this post-apocalyptic world. Instead of trite character exposition or — God forbid — a huge opening text scroll spelling things out for us, details are what tells us of the larger story outside of Kee's flight. Newspaper clippings, headlines on billboards, TV commercials, animal carcasses on fire, little baby trinkets on people's desks… these all tell their own story without those pesky spoken words.

It even feels more real than a typical movie, although it doesn't quite launch into reality/documentary style. I particularly loved a moment when Theo is in the woods and the camera pans up to the incredibly tall treetops while the evening gust of wind filled the speakers. It's hard to explain, but few movies bother to connect with us in how we see the world ourselves, and the somewhat-silent moment of majesty in the woods is something I've loved in my life (Cuarón also gave some attention to the trees in HPPOA, if I recall). The violence, when it comes, is shocking and full of immediate danger — this isn't the showy gunfire of most action flicks, but the scary kind that we see on the evening news. Yet even in a dark setting, there's still a bevy of humor and bright touches to make us laugh and smile, and the ultimate tale of hope is one to root for

Children of Men is good if not, a great movie, and I felt the same tingling of excitement that I felt when I saw Star Wars or V for Vendetta for the first time. By the end, I let my breath out and smiled. Terrific.

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

Take A Renny Harlin film but replace his director's seat with Stanley Kubrick and you'll get....Snakes On A Plane

[8/10 · 20 December 2006]

Let's take an airline disaster film featuring terrorists. Wait, let's replace 'terrorists' with 'snakes'. That's right! snakes. Wait, there's more! Let's add a clichéd group of characters from Soul Plane into the movie, and let's not hire Kurt Russell. Try someone who appears in Quentin Tarantino and Renny Harlin's films. Nah, not Steve Buscemi. What about Samuel L. Jackson? He doesn't need to read the script! And let's find a title. Pacific Airflight 121? Nah. What about: Snakes On A Plane! Now that's more like it.

That's the whole premise behind Snakes On A Plane. A title that could make you go roundhouse kicking with Chuck Norris. And yes, i mean that.

After witnessing the death of 'some guy'(I didn't pay attention to the beginning), Sean Jones must testify to the judge at Los Angeles against the Triad who killed the 'guy' led by Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson). He is escorted by two FBI agents,Neville Flynn(Sammy L. Jackson) and i don't know, 'some fat FBI guy who resembles Inspector Gordon's corrupt partner in Batman Begins without the goatee'.

Onboard Pacific Air Flight 121 from Hawaii to Los Angeles, where Sean and the two FBI Agents are inside, the threat is still not over. An assassin releases 450 snakes on board the flight and attempt to kill everyone on board and crash the plane so that it won't reach it's destination. And that's when the Renny Harlin moment comes.

So, the snakes are inside the plane. So what they do? They kill the humans on board of course! And what did Samuel l. Jackson do? He kills all the Mother f***ing snakes of course! What else do you expect? Titanic?

Despite how cheesy the whole storyline, the whole movie was awesome! It makes bad directors like Uwe Boll thinking why can't he make his films looked like Snakes On A Plane. And the director is David R. Ellis, the man behind films like Final Destination 2 and Cellular. And that's why this film is perfect. His style matches this film.

The characters? let's just say that they're all characters from Soul Plane and Airplane, only better. We have a redneck pilot(Played by Frat Pack auteur David Koechner), a hot stewardess(Played by Sunny Mabrey), A flight attendant who's retiring(Juliana Margulies), a Paris Hilton wannabe(played by Rachel Blanchard), a Kanye West-looking rapper(played by Flex Alexander), his bodyguard(Played by Kenan Thompson), and a Brit(Gerard Plunkett, i prefer Stephen Fry). And what they all do in the movie? The hold hands, join forces, protect themselves and kill snakes! What? you think that they'll fight each other and throw themselves out of the plane? That's madness.

But is the movie Worth it? Yeah. There are quite a lot of action scenes in this film. One of my favorite is when Sam goes to the control room and does Ellen Ripley and kill some snakes. And that line, the line which says "That's It! I've had It With Motherf***ing Snakes On THis Motherf***ing Plane!". That's was the line that people keep watching this film.

It also gained a cult popularity before and after the film's release. Before the film's release, they compare Snakes with Rocky Horror, but after film's release, it gained a Clockwork Orange popularity.

THis film is worth film. At the beginning of the film, you'll see it as a Renny Harlin schlock fest, but at the end of the day, you'll see Kubrick's sitting chair directing every scene of Snakes On A Plane. And i warn you: DO NOT TAKE THIS MOVIE SERIOUSLY! So please turn off your brains, thank you.

Rating: 3.5/5. The2nd best theater experience of 2006 after Casino Royale(And i mean it!)

Casino Royale (2006)

Hello there John McClane & Jason Bourne. My name is Bond, James Bond.

[10/10 · 21 November 2006]

This is a great Bond film. If i could summarize it in one word, this is the word:

A*W*E*S*O*M*E*!

This Bond film is a different Bond film. It has style and class, unlike the previous Bond films. It relies more on drama, love and emotions rather than Cheap CGI and cheesy one-liners.

I had become bored with Bond. I personally liked Pierce Brosnan as Bond. The movies he made were at best mediocre and predictable. There were some good moments but the Bond movie series was on life support after Die Another Day.

It wasn't actually a good Bond film, it was just so full of cringe worthy one liners and scifi gadgetry that the attempts by PB to be Bond were drowned out.

I had basically just gotten out of Bond. I stopped watching the movies, posting on message boards and was not paying any attention the news coming out of the Casino Royale production. I didn't even have any real opinion of Daniel Craig. *the guy from Layer Cake right... whatever.*

The pre-title sequence at first was just awesome. The film noir black & white sequences just fascinates me and is a very Usual Suspects. And to say this, i saw the original CR '54 TV production and also read thenovel, and i've got to say this: Martin Campbell did the right thing to pay a homage to the original B&W TV production as well as the pulp feel of the novel.

The Madagascar scene piqued my interest somewhat. No gadgets and a Bond, the first since Connery who actually looks like a guy who could kick someones ass . I was also liking the fact that Craig is a guy in his 30's. He looks as if he was doing Chuck Norris's roundhouse kick with some Connery intellectualism. He even shoots a Walther like a British Chow Yun Fat, sort of. However, The only problem I had with the scene was that it was so fast paced I was having a hard time digesting what was taking place.

M's first scene was brilliant and Judi Dench was really showing her amazing acting skills. They really were resetting Bond back to the beginning. My interest in the movie was improving by the minute.

When Bond went to Nassau I was now thoroughly enjoying the movie. I was getting the concept of what they were doing and Craig seemed to get this very well. Picking up Solange was a classic Bond type moment.

The Miami Airport scene was okay. Great spy work at the body works exhibit. You actually get a feeling that Bond is a spy. The fact that was now coming back to me over and over was how Bond was relying soley on himself and not some gadget to save the day and I could not be happier about this.

The elegance of Montenegro, along with Nassau was putting me in a great mood. When Eva Green is introduced into the movie as Vesper Lynd on the train I felt there was terrific chemistry. She is everything a Bond girl is suppose to be. Every bit smart, feminine and not a female Bond equivalent. The dialog on the train was refreshing.

The movie keeps getting better and better. The great chemistry between Bond and Vesper, the poker game where Bond loses his initial buy in and just sits there. Wow! You certainly don't expect this. I wasn't even sure he was going to win at this point where as in any other Bond movie it is an automatic.

the torture scene was just another testament to making Bond real. Even when Vesper is srceaming and Bond is about to lose his manhood he will not relent.

As Bond falls in love with Vesper and shows the human side you know great tragedy is coming but the scenes were well done. The final fight scene in Venice was not as good as I would have liked but far better than the goofy heroics or near superman/batman quality we've come to expect. Then, the final scene standing over White, neatly dressed with his famous tag line, then the monty norman theme and the credits role. The best finish of any Bond movie to date.

Bond had become just another action movie and the character, larger than life but without any depth. Now, Bond once again reigns supreme. By going back to the basics of who and what Bond is they have saved the series and made Bond the leader of the action gender once again.

4.5 out of 5.

Die Another Day (2002)

45 reasons why i hate DAD

[1/10 · 14 July 2006]

1- The useless Jinx character 2- Halle Berry's pathetic performance as Jinx 3- Horrible Madonna cameo 4- The Matrix-like special effects (real time to slow-mo back to real time) 5- The CGI para-surfing looks like it was made by a 7 year old 6- The worst song in the series DAD 7- The Gustav Graves character was lame 8- Toby Stephen's performance was bad 9- The horrible script 10- The misused character by Madsen 11- The misused character of Miranda Frost 12- The invisible car 13- The lack of Bondness in the score 14- THe fact that everybody in the world knew that Frost would be the bad girl after 20 minutes 15- Every damn character has about 17 one liners 16- The fact that every single one liner was horrible (I don't like cock fights, bitch, yo mama, how's that for a punch line 17- Thy the hell have Mr. Kil? Just for a damn 1 liner again? 18- Bond escapes para-surfing, comes back, escapes by car? 19- Useless damn Jinx needed her life saved what, 6 times? 20- Yet another damn female Bond character... 21- Diamond laser again... 22- Seeing any gadget used from previous Bonds 23- Brosnan already looked too old 24- Brosnan was fat 25- The sword fight was useless, how dumb is Bond, he'd never act this way 26- The lack of originality in everything 27- The total lack of any Bondness in the entire movie other that the happens to be a character named James Bond 28- Breaking all the rules of Bond movies 29- The Bond kissing Penny scene should never have been made 30- DNA transplant? Come on, this ain't a freaking Sci-Fi movie 31- Brosnan's lame delivery of so many lines like the Quartermaster line sucked 32- They make Bond look too stupid not knowing what is going on about Moon/Graves 33- Zao sucked as henchman 34- Using an actor from Fast and Furious in Bond movie... 35- That the movie was made for 14 year old boys 36- Casting clueless and untalented popular American actresses again which ruin the movie by their lack of talent just to make a few more bucks in the states 37- The freaking Robocop suit that looks like it was made by a retarded 6 year old 38- A fencing champion loses a sword fight to a retarded agent 39- The entire storyline around the Icarus 40- The bad CGI while Icarus blows up 41- Unbond: We see Bond being beaten up 42- That M thinks that Bond cracked 43- Judi Dench's performance as M was her worst 44- Lack of real Bond-Q relationship with Cleese it isn't the same 45- Lack of Bond style

That's all I can think of in 2 minutes...

Goldfinger (1964)

The Ultimate Bond film for any Bond fan!

[10/10 · 30 June 2006]

Goldfinger rocks! For a start, it has 3 hot Bond girls, an English villain with a German accent, Q and an Aston Martin. It also has one of my favorite lines in a movie:

"Do you expect me to talk?" "No Mr.Bond, i expect u to die!' Total classic. And for the record, Shirley Eaton is hot as Jill Masterson, while Pussy is sassy! Not to forget, any Bond movie with an Ason Martin DB5 featuring oil slips and weapons would totally kicked Chuck Norris's butt! And the Fort Knox scene including the fight between Oddjob and Bond is super! A recommended movie for all movie buffs and Bond fans.

So, is this a good Bond movie? Hell yeah! This the ultimate Bond movie! Goldfinger is a great villain, Oddjob's hat is super and although this movie's kinda dated, you've still got to enjoy this Bond movie for a treat!

Superman Returns (2006)

Screw Ebert.....Why this movie was great:

[9/10 · 30 June 2006]

As a character, Superman's biggest flaw is his near invincibility. Most people that do not like Superman do not like him for the fact that they feel he is too powerful. His only weakness is an extremely rare mineral that hardly anyone knows about or can get a hold of. It seems unfair. To me that was the purpose of the movie: to show that Superman is actually quite vulnerable. Despite all of his powers, he can be weak and he cannot do anything he wants. He is not a God. This is shown very well in a couple of scenes. First when he is outside Lois' house and she tells richard that she didn't love Superman. For as powerful as Superman was, there was nothing he could do. His emotions are just as delicate as the next man's. You could tell how hurt he was when he flew off into space buried that pain in trying saving the world (the thing he knows he can succeed in). This idea is shown through out the movie and struck upon again when Lois, Richard and Jason save him. After his rescue, he looks at the 3 in the plane and realizes that Richard is a good guy and there is nothing he can do to change Lois' mind. So he leaves to save the day knowing full well that he could die by trying to move the island. You could see his desperation and pain. The most powerful example is when he is getting beat up. It is a powerful scene. For the 2 previous hours all that was shown was how strong and powerful Superman was. Within minutes he was being humiliated and beaten. Pain is something foreign to Superman, but you could see him experiencing it. It was hard to watch. You could see his sudden transformation from the most powerful man ever, to an ordinary man being picked on. These scenes were executed so well. They make this movie great.

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Japanese Top Gun...

[7/10 · 30 January 2006]

Memoirs of a Geisha is a movie which is beautiful in most parts, and funny in the other. The beautiful thing: Japan, the girls, the atmosphere, and the music. The funniest thing? The accents and the narration. For example: "You can't say to the sun, more shine. You can't say to the rain, more rain".

But in the movie, it sounded more like this: "Yu kant se tu da san. mo san. Yu kant se to da ren, mo ren." Seriously, the voice acting and the narration itself is the funniest thing ever. I laughed my ass off when listening to their accents. Zhang Ziyi's English is quite amusing, while Bond girl Michelle Yeoh has the lamest accent ever, because Michelle Yeoh has a British accent you know. But Ken Watanabe's English is quite good, thanks to the Last Samurai & Batman Begins.

About the acting. It's pretty good. Although they had bland Japanese accents, their acting is quite good. Leave the Chinese people behind. Zhang Ziyi had some pretty good moves to be a geisha, so did Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh.

The 1940s Japan portrayed in this movie actually does look the same as the 1940's Japan in real life. However, i noticed that the roads do are not wide enough for vehicles while the bridges are not able to support heavy 1940's trucks. But that's my opinion.

Despite the humorous Japanese accents shown in the movie, the acting, the direction and the atmosphere makes this movie a watchable experience. However, Rob Marshall shouldn't direct this movie because this movie, although good, looks more like Katamari Damacy than The Last Samurai. A movie like MoAG should have been directed by a Japanese director like Takeshi Kitano or Akira Kurosawa(If he's still alive). I gave this movie a 7 out of 10.

Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)

If Manos is NORAD and the audience are nothing than just a bunch of nukes, the world would have ended in Apocalypse by now.

[1/10 · 1 January 2006]

As a fan of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, i got to say that manos is a very terrible movie, even worse than Deuce Bigalow, European Gigolo.

Directed by Hal Warren, this movie is about a happy unit Margaret, Michael & Debbie who are on a road trip when their luck takes a turn for the worse. No, not a family of mutant cannibals, but lots of driving does bring them to the front door of a forsaken lodge. Torgo lingers in the doorway, acting like a mentally challenged freak. Tired after a long day on the road, dad says, "Gee, this place looks like a good place to spend the night." He instructs the creepy caretaker to carry the family's bags inside.

Meanwhile, the two smooches are discovered by the roaming policemen and told to move along. This turns into a running gag, with the amorous pair kissing, drinking, and eventually leaving when the officers find the latest roadside love nest. Have you ever kissed someone with several hours of cheap whiskey on their breath? Not the best way to get in the mood.

Inside the lodge is a depiction of the Master and his faithful Doberman. Mike and Margaret spend what seems like (and nearly is) ten minutes obsessing about the painting. They are frightened by the aura of menace that surrounds the canvas. These two should try looking through a book of Giger's artwork (which, by the way, makes a great baby shower present).

That night, Mike investigates chilling howls near the house and an unseen creature kills the family poodle. Then the luckless father discovers the Master's desert shrine. The priest lies upon a stone altar, while his women decorate nearby pillars. All of this is too much for Mike; he runs back to the lodge with every intention of leaving.

Torgo has been using the idle time to chat up Mrs. Useless. He obsesses about the Master and his wives, angry that the polygamous pontiff wants the newest female arrival for his own. The Master wakes after these revelations, so perhaps the servant is telepathically bonded. You know what? I do not care. I want this movie to be over.

The Master rouses all of his wives at the same time, which only proves to me that he is some sort of freaking idiot. The women immediately start arguing and, eventually, fighting over the fate of their guests; the disposition of Debbie seems to be a major point. One wife refuses to harm the child in any way. The debate spirals into chaos as slaps and sharp fingernails start flying. The fight lasts for about twenty minutes.

Elsewhere, the Master has a stare-off with Torgo. The idiot (that would be Torgo) loses and is consigned to death. The priest has to stop his consorts' battle royal en progress (thank goodness), but soon the dissenting wife and Torgo are tied up and ready for slaughter.

Speaking of staring, if I was a goldfish and could not blink, this movie would be the death of me.

Failing to start the car, Mike is forced to drag his wife and child into the desert. They get absolutely nowhere. Clear night, not too bad terrain, and the bozo cannot lead them to safety. Look for a glow on the horizon or find Polaris and get your bearings, you worthless sack of flesh! I refuse to believe that we are the same species. Mein Gott! Mr. Useless eventually gives up and settles on the bright idea of hiding at the Master's house. Soon the cleric of Manos has them in his power, despite Mike's revolver (useless, just like its owner).

Now that's the ending. Sad isn't it. That's why Hal Warren, the genius fertilizer salesman made this movie and inspired filmmakers like Bob Clarke & Uwe Boll to make movies more worse that they should have a MST3K treatment. And now i have two choices: 10Watching dry paint covered with Torgo's feces or even 2)rampaging on the streets of KL

Never Say Never Again (1983)

Never Do Crappy Bond Licenses Again

[2/10 · 30 November 2005]

This movie is not based on an Ian Fleming book. I read them all many years ago. Okay I can live with that since I have enjoyed most the later movies that were not based on Fleming's books. I especially like the ones that Pierce Brosnan has done. The movie just plods along, but never makes you say wow like the other Bond movies have done. I can't take Sean Connery playing Bond in a movie that lacks anything new and exciting. His acting is good as always, but it is like watching him in a remake of "Hunt for Red October". What's the point? I liked the original "Thunderball" but I don't need to see a remake that lacks inspiration. I have all the Bond DVD movie sets and even the comedy "Casino Royale" which although the same title as an Ian Fleming book, has nothing in common with the book. I will not buy this movie though since the story isn't new and the movie is only mediocre. I think Sean Connery is one of the finest actors of our time and I love all the other movies he made with MGM, but I think this one does not measure up to the other movies.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

A George Romero movie......with British humor.

[10/10 · 30 November 2005]

Shaun of the Dead is a unique zombie movie. It's unique because it's also romantic. It's unique because it mixes British humor with American Horror. It's unique because it's a romantic comedy...with zombies.

Shaun of the Dead tells a story about two slackers, Ed and Shaun. Shaun is a %50 loser, %50 nice guy. He loves his work as a manager of an electronics store, he loves playing Timesplitters: Future Perfect with his buddy, Ed and also loves hanging out at the Winchester with him. But he gets overstressed by his flatmate Pete, his girlfriend Liz, and also Liz's friend, David. He is also sad because he was chosen with two options: His girlfriend or the pub he hangs out with.

Ed, on the other hand, is a pure loser. He is fat, he has no job and he kept playing Timesplitters: Future Perfect for 6 hours a day. He makes Shaun looks stupid, but Shaun didn't realized this till the middle of the movie. He has a good social intelligence, due to the fact that he knows most people hanging out at the pub (Snakehips the womanizer, the ex-porn star and John the barman). He is easily hated by his 2nd flatmate, Pete.

Shaun has a girlfriend named Liz. She's a primary school teacher and both of them met in Greece. She lives with David, a lecturer and Diana, a drama school teacher. She gets tired of Shaun hanging out with Ed, so she wants Shaun to go somewhere interesting than the Winchester, so Shaun promised. But, like other promises, this one's a failed promise.So she dumped Shaun, causing Shaun to hang out with Ed at the Winchester, again.

The next day, zombies attacked London. Shaun doesn't realized until a zombie girl appeared in the garden. Worrying that his other loved ones may suffer the same thing, Shaun and Ed came to rescue Liz, Shaun mother Barbara, Diana and David, who thinks that he is more smarter than Shaun and the rest of the crew. And so, they headed for somewhere safe, somewhere Ed says: "Know where the exits are, somewhere familiar, and he can smoke", and the only place to have it all is: The WInchester.

Now, let's get on to the other characters. Diana is a good friend of Liz who is also supportive of Shaun even when she supports David more. David, on the other hand is not supportive of Shaun in all sorts and thinks that he is smarter than Shaun, and this has a very open debate between the book smarts(David) and the street smarts(Shaun). Peter is Shaun's flatmate. He hates Ed and keeps accusing Shaun of defending Ed. He ends up becoming a naked bathtub zombie. Philip is Shaun's grumpy step dad and has always been unkind to Shaun with his Gothic accent and his suspicious behavior. Barbara is Shaun's sweet mum and despite of Shaun's hatred towards Philip, Barbara still loves Philip, even when becoming a zombie.

What differs this movie from other zombie films that it is not about the zombies nor the amount of violence unlike Romero's Living Dead and Raimi's Evil Dead series, but it's more about survival and background. It's tells you more about what are you going to do when something like this happens. The background is also important. Just like Ju-On, the surrounding of the whole area is what's more important. When Shaun was drinking tea with his mum, you can hear the car Ed was driving crashing to the post and when Shaun and Ed were drinking at the Winchester the day Shaun broke up with Liz, you can see the zombie walking to the bar door. It's all that matters, you can even see more of it if you watch it.

The whole script was good. It has a good humor and the best ever and also has some reference from zombie films to several 80's hip-hop music. SImon Pegg delivers the best in zombie comedy since Peter Jackson's Braindead, and Edgar Wright's direction gave us the best in high-quality film-making. If you're a fan of horror who hate romance, then this movie's for you. If you're a fan of romance who hates horror, then this movie's for you too. If you're a fan of both, then of course this movie's for you. What else i'm gonna say? Rating: 10/10

Red Dawn (1984)

Red Dawn, Stupid but Awesome Movie!!

[8/10 · 14 November 2005]

Red Dawn was the Harry Potter of the 80's. But it's a different type of a Harry Potter film. It's a film where Ak47s and machine guns are wands, helicopters and MiGs as broomsticks, Colorade High School students as Hogwarts students, Nicaraguan soldiers as Slytherins, Cuban soldiers as Death Eaters and Russians as followers of Lord Voldemort.

If you don't know what the hell Red Dawn is, then i'll explain it to you: Imagine if you're a dork who studies in a high school and gets teased by guys and girls cooler than you, and then one day a group of communist soldiers land and invade your country, then you run into the woods with a bunch of friends and guys cooler than you, then you create a gang, name it after your school mascot and then kick the commies a** until they leave your country and then: freedom! Yes, i know it sounds stupid, but it does make sense. Red Dawn was an awesome movie. Charlie Sheen and Patrick Swayze played Jed Eckert and Matt Eckert, which resembles Harry Ron, while Jennifer Grey plays the chick that also has a more Hermione-styled but with a femme-fatale thing going on. It's more like 2 guys and one girl kicking a** (Just like Star Wars and HP).

The script was good. John Milius, who wrote Apocalypse Now, gave a good script for the movie. Although it has some flaws, it's still a good script. A liberal with a NRA ownership, Milius gave us a movie that makes us think.......very deeply................so deep..........that it makes you.............wanna take marijuana and smoke it.

The acting was good, but only on the Wolverines (Americans, that is). Charlie Sheen, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer were terrific, although the Soviets acted like complete morons who don't know what the hell AK47 is.

The Cold War seems to be over, but the threat of a communist country invading your country is not. That's why we need more movies like this.. So please, Cuaron, Spielberg, Tarntino, Lucas, please make movies like this! I BEG YOU!! Rating 8 out of 10 It has its flaws, but it's still a great movie.

From Justin to Kelly (2003)

The Greatest Action Movie Ever!!

[1/10 · 30 July 2005]

Movie: From Justin to Kelly Starring: Justin Guarini & Kelly Clarkson

Why does everyone hate this movie? Justin to Kelly is side-splitting fun that is fun for the whole family! My favorite scene is when Kelly and Justin fight over cookies, and end up spilling milk on Mr. Dean, the wacky, but lovable game warden. I mean bottom 100? How about #1! I love this movie! The music is my favorite and Justin Guadalcanal and Carol Kellyson are very good actors that are seriously the best! And they can dance! My son died and went to heaven when the oil tanker blew up at the end and Justin and Kelly fought the terrorists in a mind-numbing space battle over Mars. If I found one fault in this masterpiece of science-fiction it was that TV's "Fish," also known as Abe Vigoda, did not make an appearance. If Abe was there to give his catchphrase, "That's a lotta pie," I think that the film-going audience would have found love for a film that offered so much pain, suffering, and bone-crunching action!

I want a sequel now! It should be called Storming of the Gates: Justin to Kelly 2: the Deep End. I think that in these troubled times we need two American heroes to save the day and fight back the terror that is Alaska. Justin and Kelly are those heroes, so watch out Alaskan-terrorists!

Happy Gilmore (1996)

Smart movie!

[10/10 · 25 February 2005]

Me and Dennis Dugan has the best idea ever: Why don't you add a suck ass schizophrenic hockey player and then turn him into a golf player? You'll get hilarious moments, a famous arch-enemy, and $250,000 to save your grandma's house! Happy Gilmore has proved its brilliance by showing Sandler's stupidity on it. If Happy Gilmore is real, then he'll be the McEnroe of golf. Happy's dream ambition is to become a hockey, and he screws it. Then he found a secret talent where he can play golf and send the ball flying for 400 yards! An then he met with former ex-golfer named Chubbs (Played by Carl Weathers who plays Apollo Creed in Rocky. Chubbs wants Happy to be a Golfer, and he did. That's all i have to say about this movie (BEcause i don't want to spoil it. And this movie is the before Punch Drunk Love of Adam Sandler. Trust me. Acting: 9/10 Comedy: 7/10 Directing: 8/10 Conclusion: I'll give Happy Gilmore a 10/10

Sepet (2004)

A movie about Malays & Chinese told in a movie by Yasmin Ahmad

[10/10 · 19 February 2005]

I haven't watch this movie. But i've seen the trailer. It was beautiful. At first this movie was banned in Malaysia, but fortunately, with the support from the Malaysian government, this movie was finally shown after all. It has a look at how two young lovers from totally different background cope with family and social pressure between Ah Loong and Orked. Ah Loong is a Chinese VCD vendor, while Orked is an all Malay girl. I found this movie is interesting, and fun. If this movie is shown in the USA, critics like Roger Eberts, Richard Roeper, AO Scott, and James Bendralli will sure like it. Don't waste your time watching mindless crap such as those rubbish teen movies, start watching Sepet. 10/10

Gigli (2003)

Finally, The Worst Gangster Movie ever Made!! (SPOILERS!!)

[1/10 · 1 February 2005]

It's true. Scarface, the Godfather, Analyze This, etc. Are great gangster movies. Gigli wants to be one of them so they cast Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Ben Affleck. Unfortunately it fails because Al Pacino killed only one guy instead of hundreds in Scarface, Christopher Walken fails to say the f-word and Ben Affleck puts a guy inside a washing machine which is plain stupid. And why Martin Brest picked Justin Bartha to play a retard? Why not Tom Hanks or Dustin Hoffman? Not just that, who the hell is Lainie Kazan? Who do you think Jennifer Lopez is? Toni Montana? This is why Gigli is the worst movie ever made!

Rating:0/100

Lost in Translation (2003)

The shyness of the movie is the thing that makes Lost In Translation the best comedy of 2003.

[10/10 · 23 November 2004]

Bob Harris is an American actor who is lost in Japan. Not lost like you don't know the direction of the location, but lost in the term that he don't know the culture, the way, the lifestyle and their language. Meanwhile, Charlotte is a girl who is married to a photographer named John but her husband has ignored her for many times and she also felt lost just like Bob does. And when they both feel lost, their feeling has make them become an item. When i watch this movie, i can feel the laughter. And i was also mesmerized by Bill Murray's acting. But more that, the main factor that has make this movie a success to me, is the Quietness and the Shyness of this movie. The movie has a very shy and quiet feeling. It has no noisy garbage just like those teenage movies like American Pie or something. That's all i have to say.

Ratings: Directing:8/10 Screenplay:9/10 Acting:8/10 Romance:9/10 Comedy:9/10

Muhammad: The Last Prophet (2002)

Finally, an animation about Muhammad!

[10/10 · 20 November 2004]

Assalamualikum,

I was disappointed by Hollywood because of their movies which stereotyped Muslims as terrorist, paedophiles and girl beaters. But when i heard about this anime, i was surprised! The animation is cool, the storyline has the mix of Oliver Stone and the Quran. I recommend it a 8/10. This anime is about the life of Muhammad and how Mecca has transformed from a pagan city to a holy Islamic town. If you're an anti-Muslim but wants to know the truth about Islam, then go see this movie. You wont be disappointed. Director Richard Rich has followed the syariah law in order to create a nice movie. Thank you Rich and may Allah bless you.

Wassalam