Horror - Scope

Here's a Horror-Scope, for most of you...


So, is it accurate?

Dilbert © 2005, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

Drool...

And here's why...

Robots
Frenzy

IronHide

Jazz

Blackout

Menacing Sidekicks...

Starscream

The Hero
Bumblebee

The Big Ass Bad Ass...
Megatron

The Grand Daddy of the Autobots...
Optimus Prime

Robots vs Robots...
Optimus Prime vs Bonecrusher

Robots vs Humans...
Barricade vs Sam

Human Cleavages....(The last TF Movie only had metal cleavages)


Not to mention Cameos (at least I think so...)


By the way, can anyone tell me what symbol is this? Is it a Cybertronian writing, or is it just the graphic artist's watermark?
Optimus Prime
Megatron

Anybody has any tissue?

28 Weeks Later: A review made a week later...

On the verge of Hollywood's lack of new ideas, and reverting to old and foreign ideas, including those from other mediums like comics nowadays, British movies are arising fiercely. Although their international screenings are small in numbers, as compared to Hollywood's offering, we can see it in their quality, especially in their story writing.

Brit Movies (or would it be Brollywood? As opposed to Mollywood and Bollywood) are not sought after that much, due to language issues, especially, if the film is using Queen's English, armed with slangs and British-specific references (remember the scene in Austin Powers where he chats with his father? They had to put in subtitles!). Brollywood movies tend to be heavy on the script, and realistic on the actions, thus making the language issue more dire.

28 Weeks Later (28W), tries to address this issue by injecting American faces into it, making it more acceptable to most. But the story, are much better than an most mass virus infection movies.

No, quite contrary to popular belief, there are NO zombies in this movie. There are only human, and a virus that made them extremely aggressive.

I was supposed to write this a week ago, since I've watched it a week ago, but I feel the need to watch 28 Days Later (28D), the film of which 28W is the sequel of (I know, bad grammar. My bad).

Set in Britain in 2002, 28 weeks after the first outbreak in 28D, the Infecteds have starved to death. it seems that the virus, which is transfered via bodily fluid, caused the Infected to be so consumed by rage, until they forgot to eat.

I think that is to say zombies are smarter than very angry human. The news confirms this.

London is being opened up, with the help of US troops. the infection have been contained, and safe zones (or Green Zones as mentioned in this movie). The troops are rebuilding the cities, and starting to repopulate London, with the arrival of the first batch of British citizens.

Amongst those in the first batch, are siblings Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton), whose father, Don (Robert Carlyle) is one of those survived the outbreak, and now working as a janitor (or as he likes to say it, he runs the place) in the Green Zone.

Trouble starts when they found their mother, who is a carrier of the virus, but is not affected by it, except for a bloodshot eye. It seems, that those who has differing eye colors, are immune to the virus, but are still capable of carrying it.

Somehow Don, with a the key to virtually all doors in the Green Zone, was infected when he kissed her wife. Then all hell broke loose.

Story wise, I have to say that 28D have better ones, although personally I prefer 28W due to it's better portrayal of the chaos caused by the outbreak. Logic is at times ignored, dropping a single line explaining it, but otherwise, it is a good watch.

In one scene, several badly injured Infecteds are walking, zombie-like, with one of them losing the left torso. I don't know why they chose to make it like that, since that scene looks like it's from a Romero film, instead. The Infecteds usually swarm with the efficiency of swarms of football (soccer) fanatics from the opposing teams after losing a game. The kind of swarms you see in the news.

I loved it how they make London so empty, that nobody can be seen for miles. It's kind of eery, isolated feeling that even the audience can feel. This helps creating the atmosphere needed to show how bad things are over there.

However, I got claustrophobic watching the action scenes, at times even dizzy. Cameras were handheld most of the time, establishing the surrealism, but they had to zoom into the scene, causing a chaotic, claustrophobic feel. I guess that the director wants the audience to feel what the characters are supposed to feel, hence the abundance of such shots. It works on me, to the point that I lost my voice being scared. Seriously. The last time any movie did this to me was the claustrophobic feeling I got when watching The Descend.

I won't nitpick on the actings, however, since in this genre, anybody who had a hangover could do the zombie walk, footie fanatics could do the swarms, and Tom Cruise can just run and act confused. Case closed.

The songs are chosen carefully, as they did one heck of a good job in establishing the mood. Songs are mostly British, so do expect sounds similar to Coldplay. In fact, If I were told that Coldplay played the theme song (yes, these 2 movies have a theme song, or at least a song was played in the crucial moments for both movies, including the trailers.). I'm still looking for that song, since I don't know the title. Anybody can help me?

All in all, this is a very realistic movie, so hopes are at times lost to see the protagonists live. The audience are made to feel like so, thanks to the hopelessness of some scenes. Still, I prefer Children Of Men, whose director chose to use insanely long shots to achieve the same effects. But I guess, the stamina to do such scenes would be immense, it would not be possible beyond 2 minutes.

One thing I don't understand about films in this genre is, that the infected always know who's infected, and do not attack their own. Gosh, we could learn so much from these zombies.

verdict: 4/5 - Go Watch!

Sumo-Lah: Sumo-lah or Celcom-lah?

I've had the privilege to watch Afdlin Shauki's 4th film, sometime this week. Was planning on doing this review for quite some time, but to no avail, thanks to Streamyx.

Funny, Streamyx belongs to TM, the owner of Celcom, whose logo, ringtone, advert, and even personnel was spread all over almost every scene. Something that makes me loath Celcom, although I'm using it right now.

In a nutshell, Sumo-lah is a story of Ramlee, a fat, lazy guy, who found himself roped into Honda's (the Boleh Sushi's owner, not the car) Sumo team, to compete with 60 other teams from Sushi restaurants all over Malaysia.

Working in Boleh Sushi, and training for the team, Ramlee finds the best of himself, and proceeds to go forward against all odds.

There, no spoilers at all. :p

As with all Afdlin's movies, I need to emphasize the genre, before going on nitpicking. Sumo-lah is a comedy, with a heavy message to all Malaysians, especially Malays. You can find a lot of times when you'd feel like the lines are talking about you, if you'd want to admit it.

Jokes are aplenty, mind you. Funny, witty, slapstick, and hit-you-on-the-nose kind of jokes, all in one movie. All uniquely Afdlin's style, and watch out for the dubbed jokes. After all, this is a comedy. It is a light movie, but bearing a heavy message for all viewers. In fact, I think the most well timed joke in Malaysian film history, is in one scene during the tournament.

Story wise, it is supposed to be a winner. It's the story of an underdog, rising from zero, to becoming a rikishi (that doesn't sound right, but rikishi is Japanese for a Sumo Wrestler). Characters are abundant, and very different from each other, although not that different from Afdlin's older productions.

But bringing the characters to life, was marred by language barriers. First, was the need of several characters to speak in Japanese, or in Japanese slang. To me, only Akira (Gurmit Singh) managed to pull a believable act (I don't know if it's really his voice, since I was watching the outtakes during the credits. Some actors had to be dubbed over by someone else.). Being someone who can comprehend a little Japanese, I could believe that he's actually a Japanese, albeit a little tanned.

While Honda (Patrick Teoh) is acceptable, Sai (I don't know how to spell her full name) had issues with language, from Malay, to Japanese. She needs to be voiced over by someone else most of the time, if not all. I guess, she does not need to do much in this movie, but to look nice. After all, it seems to be Afdlin's trademark to have a gorgeous babe for the heroine. 3 movies prior to this, has models in them, but I'm not sure about Sai. But when no scripts are needed, Sai did manage act convincingly. There's a part where she had a hopeful look, hoping for someone to come through the door, to me, that scene works.

Speaking about girls, this movie will be heaven for those who love Kebaya and Kimono (ahem!). They are in abundance throughout this movie, no joke. Almost every main female cast appears in a Kebaya at least once, and the Japanese wears Kimono most of the time here. It may not be a realistic scene, but more like an effort to emphasize on culture, something we're losing grip of. Ours, and Japanese culture, are not that different in essence, but theirs have penetrated the world, while ours are being forgotten by our own. It's not impossible for us to be like the Japanese, like Ramlee said, "Awek jepun makan keropok lekor..."

What I love most in this movie, is the training in Japan scene, and the tournament. A very familiar commentator and his very familiar style, managed to liven up the scenes. All of the sudden, Sumo does not seem like two fat men pushing each other anymore, but looks as skilled and as exciting as Pro Wrestling. If only the scenes were not littered by annoying blue logos.

Okay, here's my biggest gripe about this movie. When Afdlin told me (and a few of his fans) about how Celcom's representative do not want Sumo-lah to be like Gangster, which was essentially Julie's 2 hour long advertisement, I was relieved. He said that Celcom wants it not to seem cheap. But having Celcom logo in 80% of the movie, is really cheap. It's not only in the background, but in the foreground too! Unless Celcom wants to follow Digi's footstep and start a 'count the logo' contest?

There are 2 main sponsor that can be seen throughout the movie, namely Celcom and Ogawa. While Ogawa's part were more subtle, and practical, Celcom's was ridiculous. Come on, Celcom. The only Celcom advert that I prefer was the ones where Maya Karin, and Stephen talking. That looks "exclusive". Take a cue from Digi, please?

All in all, I prefer Buli to Sumo-lah. The idea is there, but the implementation was somewhat marred by those I've mentioned above. Afdlin, I'm waiting for a Buli comeback...not something bigger or bolder, but something we would be watching again and again. I know I can still watch Buli again and again, at least until the last part, but Sumo-lah, is not quite worth it.

Am hoping the best for Los dan Faun, though.

Verdict: 3/5 (Lost 1 star due to the brand placements, but a must watch for Malaysian Movies!)

p/s: Shima, you look stunning in Kebaya!!! Nanti aku screen capture babak tu, simpan wat kenangan...

Spiderman 3: The Jumbled Web

2nd May, 2006. I walked briskly within the heart of Berjaya Times Square. I noticed a long queue, something not quite out of the ordinary, considering it's a public holiday, and the my destination was also the destination of hundreds more.

I walked right past the long queue, looking for the word "reservations". Ah, there it is. Right next to the counter with the word "premiere". I've tried premiere once. Loved it, and planning for a second, or third, or fourth, provided I have the moolah and the proper company. The queue I saw earlier ended at the counter next to it, which does not have any wording on it.

I pulled out my phone. I had a 6 digit number on the wallpaper.

Here's my reservation number, I said. As the lady typed it in to her computer, another announced using a hailer, that the tickets for Spiderman 3 is finished for the day. A loud sigh was heard.

"OK, here you go, Spiderman 3, 5 person, last row at the center. Enjoy your show."

I felt a sudden dread coming from the side, as i held fast to my ticket. Jangan Pandang Tepi....

Actually, I was trying to brag that I got some good seats for a movie that hundreds failed to see on the 2nd day of the screening. But all my effort was almost not worth it. Here's why:

If you cared for your hair, then you know, how Shampoo And Conditioner are no challenge for separate Shampoo, and Conditioner. The same analogy could be used for Spiderman 3 (S3). Somehow I have this feeling of Spiderman 1 and 2 in the same movie.

I love Spiderman 1, for it deals more with Spidey, in the real world. I loved Spiderman 2 even more, for it now focuses more on Peter Parker, but with Spidey as a side dish. Different, but a wholesome meal together, and incomplete separated.

In S3, I had the same feeling I had as watching X-Men 3: The Last Stand, and using the last of the AMD K7 Generation chips. They had to try so hard to up the ante, that it seems obvious that too much effort have been put. In the end, things began to crumble on it's own.

In a nutshell, S3 revolves around both Spidey and Peter against their darker self. In addition to that, he has his old pal, and his love to take care of. Well, Pete, With great power, comes great responsibility indeed.

Actually, it's not bad. Not bad at all. But after how Sam Raimi did S2, S3 should be better, not the same. The villains are bigger, and tougher to kill. Not to mention that at times we do side with the villain, instead of our friendly neighborhood hero.

Seriously! Gone are the days where the villains are just into world domination/destruction. Except maybe the upcoming Transformers movie. But those are robots. Robots can't act. Except Bender in Futurama.

Fight and chase scenes are superb, effects are well done, but it's the story that's lacking. There's maybe too much to tell, and too little time (running time: 2 1/2 hours). There's the Spiderman vs Venom plot, Sandman plot, Peter vs Brock plot, Peter and MJ plot, Peter and Harry plot, Spiderman vs New Goblin plot. It went well in the first half, but then goes on to be a bit rushed.

For instance, and I think is the biggest clue of all the rushing, is how easy Harry was convinced that Spiderman didn't kill his father, especially after all Spiderman and Peter had done to him. Not to mention how quickly Sandman turned himself, after Venom was defeated. I mean, Venom defeated and suddenly he turned in? Oh, come on! At least put on a lecture session. If it's time Sam's run out of, I'm sure we could all live without seeing Peter dancing on the streets...

Jokes are aplenty in this sequel, not to mention sad scenes. As I've said before, I just cant stand watching a struggling father trying to do something for his child, Flint's story did touched me deep. Jameson and the landlord provided the proper comic relief, but Peter had his share too. The landlord fella does remind me of an alien in MIB, but maybe it's the bulging eye.

I'm trying very hard not to give too much information here, nor am I trying to give too much hope. You might be disappointed, after all the hype. The movie's trying to do quite a lot, and while succeeding in some, failing in others.

Since I gave Spiderman 2 a 4/5 rating, Spiderman 3 deserves only 3.5/5 star.

Typo-Graphy #2

Actually, there's no typo in the "disrupt your routine..." sentence. It's just that the idea to take the Komuter to work, just for the sake of disrupting routine, is funny to me. And coming from someone who rides the Komuter to work most of the days...believe me. It is disruptful...