ingridmak.net

Movie Buzz/Event : ‘Sex And The City 2′ Gala Premiere

Courtesy of HP, I had the chance to attend the Sex and the City 2 Gala Premiere @ Golden Village, VivoCity with my bestie, Rachael ! I’m ashamed to say that I am no huge fan of the TV series nor have I watched “Sex and the City” before the event, so I went into the theatre pretty much with an open mind and the idea that the whole show is about – 4 manipulative women in NYC with the most gorgeous  dresses and a lifetstyle to die for…and I came out with the same conclusion !

This highly anticipated film, well..put it this way – if men have porn, women have Sex and the City. The fashion is to die for, the lifestyle is to die for, the men are to die for. The story gets drowned among the blings and backdrop, a typical chick flick about relationships, sisterhood, women empowerment – the men just don’t get it !  Girls gone wild but a more mature version and bringing the glam factor to the max. If you’re a film critic, you might want to skip this film but you must watch this if you’re a fashionista or follower of SATC the series. I’ll pretty much spoil the entire show if I were to comment on the story (yes, it’s THAT shallow and the plot is absurdly over-simplified) so I shall keep my comments to myself. Let’s just say that I can relate to Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) most because of her relationship problems and craziness while with her friends.  I can almost imagine myself telling my future husband “Me and you, just us two”. On a side note, I must say it is quite an interesting topic to discuss  if this film were to be alil more political – they were (almost) certainly mocking the Middle East in a way ! (haha)

Anyways, back to the event itself ! I had a great time checking out the HP products (look out for the gorgeous HP mini in the show itself ! ) and catching up with other bloggers. Thanks HP once again for the great night ! As you can see, it’s rather rare for me to post up pictures of myself on my blog but the SJP perfume is my current favourite ! Will someone please get it for me ? (puppy eyes) Hur.

I’ll give this movie a 2.5/5 but a 5 for the gorgeous dresses and yummy eyecandies ! They coo, we coo and coo some more together..that’s how the movie goes.

Tags: carrie, chick flick, Cynthia Nixon, event, fashion, fashionista, gala premiere, golden village, HP, hp mini, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, me and you just us two, middle east, movie, NYC, perfume, porn, relationship, sarah jessica parker, SATC, SATC2, sex and the city, sex and the city 2, vivocity

Movie Buzz : Iron Man 2 VS Ip Man 2

A quick review on both movies that I caught recently. It’s the battle between the IM 2.

Iron Man 2 – Even though I’m not exactly a hardcore comic book fan, it was rather easy to catch on the characters with its brief build-up and backstory scenes between the characters. One scene that I thought was superbly done was the grand prix scene in Monaco with the introduction of the character Vanko aka Whiplash. Another would be the scene whereby WarMachine and Iron Man battled against the Vanko and his droids army.  Overall, the movie was really enjoyable but I thought the fighting scenes could be longer (like seriously, fighting against Vanko took less than 1 minute ?! That’s…noob.)

Of course, you can’t resist the charm of Robert Downey Jr and stunning Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman. Apparently The Avengers will be out in 2012, I believe this is a good intriguing ‘trailer’ for fans out there. Jon Favreau (Director) handled the action and special effects with real skill,  I have to say it was better than what I’d have expected.

Ip Man 2 – A real dramatic martial arts film, in terms of plot and characterization, it portrayed how Chinese people were treated by the British back in those days, as well as the western perceptions towards Chinese martial arts. A random rush of Chinese pride after watching this film, especially when you recall the history of how the Chinese have always been ‘bullied’ by the Japanese then British during that period. Patriotism much. (Jackie Chan should just step aside with his crappy police beat them up action flicks)

Sammo Hung is one of my favourite martial art actor and I think his character was terrific. It’s a shame that it won’t be a trilogy as to build up the characters more and there would be a better focus in Ip Man 2′s story. Impressive use of technology to showcase the traditional martial arts and I really enjoyed the fighting scenes.  As usual, the villains in most movies are rather astonishingly dumb, like how 20 men would wait patiently for their turn to whack Donnie Yen or having one ignorant boorish British man offending the entire Chinese population, but that’s how movies do it – unfolding the next events.

If you’re not exactly into the action, I must add that Huang Xiaoming (Leung) is rather cute as Donnie’s first student. Too bad there wasn’t much worth-watching scenes of him except being a troublemaker (which instigated the fight that brings Yen and Hung together)

I’ll give this movie a 4.5/5 !

–

If you have only time for just one movie this summer, I would say go for Ip Man 2 !

Tags: action flick, british, chinese, comic, donnie yen, droids, huang xiaoming, ip man, ip man 2, iron man, iron man 2, jackie chan, japanese, jon favreau, martial arts, monaco, movie, natalie rushman, patriotism, pride, review, robert downey jr, sammo hung, scarlett johansson, the avengers, vanko, warmachine, whiplash

Movie Buzz : The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

Let’s put it this way, Terry Gilliam isn’t the most coherent story-teller and is the kind of director whom you either love or hate. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is either utter rubbish or rather epic for movie-goers. Unlike the boyfriend, I’ll choose the latter. Almost like how things just don’t make sense at first but evolves into a somewhat fantastic, abstract, and amazing imagery. I feel that the film was rather ‘Hitchcockian’ as well and quite similar to how he directed 12 Monkeys. (Which is not a compliment IMHO)

So the story follows Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) and his traveling theater troupe, which includes Anton (Andrew Garfield), Percy (Verne Troyer) and his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) as they try to show people the enlightenment within life – through a mirror which brings u to the imaginarium that’s some sort of dreamland where your wildest fantasy are realized. Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) aka the Devil, on the other hand, allows people to get quick gratification they desire. So at a certain point the person in the imaginarium will be given a choice of easy temptation or harder road to enlightenment.

Obviously if you choose the former, your soul will end up with the Satan, while the latter will return and be happy. I will not spoil the rest of the story but Tony (Heath Ledger) was rescued by the troupe and the story progresses from there.

While most people won’t embrace the fantastical,the scenes inside the imaginarium were pretty awesome with the (hand-drawn?) CGI. I thought the usage of CGI environments were pretty well-blended into the story. However,the way how Tony as a character morphing into Johnny Depp/Jude Law/Colin Farrell was just too convoluted and forced. Perhaps Ledger’s death affected the ‘original presentation’ but it felt really incomplete. On a side note, I’m not sure if it’s just me or the dialogues were rather muffled. Perhaps it’s post-production but it was a struggle to understand the actors at times.

There were just way too much set-up to absorb and it was like the movie will never get going ! Just like how your naggy old dad is telling you a story and keeps on interrupting himself with random things, that’s how the movie started. The plot just won’t start rolling and it took me awhile to understand (I won’t even dare to say fully understood) the movie. I’m quite sure the impatient movie-goers would have walked out of the theatre before the story actually start flowing. (You should see how the grumpy boyfriend was frowning at the end of the movie.HAHA!)

I was quite disturbed when I see Doctor Parnassus romancing his daughter, Valentina, or rather her mother who was played by the same actress. It was almost like incestuous ! But Lily Cole is really gorgeous in a special way. Percy”s one-liners cracked me up during the film but overall, I didn’t think any characters actually stood out but great acting nonetheless. I don’t think I’m bias to say that Johnny Depp was brilliant even though it was just a short appearance. In fact, it was only at that point where I understood the story better ! Sadly Ledger didn’t get to act in those imaginarium scenes, would be fantastic to see a quirky side of him.

To keep it short and simple – Watch it if you’re a Ledger’s fan, it’s his last performance afterall. Watch it if you’re Johnny Depp fan. Watch it if you like bizzare stuff. Watch it if you’re a deep thinker (especially if like me, you can relate it to the bible/religion etc). Watch it if you like detailed settings and wardrobe. Watch it if you’re patient enough to stay through the movie. Else don’t bother. Not the usual Hollywood film that movie-goers would enjoy ! I’ll give it a 3.5/5 personally !

source : flixster

Tags: 12 monkeys, andrew garfield, bible, CGI, Christopher Plummer, Colin Farrell, Film, Heath Ledger, hitchcockian, hollywood, James Dean, johnny depp, Jude Law, Lily Cole, movie, Princess Diana, religion, review, Terry Gilliam, the imaginarium of doctor parnassus, Tom Waits, Verne Troyer

Movie Buzz : Astro Boy !

Caught the premiere screening of Astro Boy with the boyfriend at Golden Village earlier on. Before I share my thoughts on Astro Boy, I think Singaporeans are really inconsiderate when it comes to such events which are free seating. I don’t see how you can’t move in -  knowing that others who come in later than you will have a hard time moving to the middle seats. OR putting your bags next to you to occupy another seat. Like seriously, quite a disgrace to call myself Singaporean when you are in such situations.

Anyways, the synopsis for Astro Boy reads something like how a typical Japanese cartoon would be like – Set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist. The robot then turns into a hero and save Metro City and embarks on a journey in search of his destiny. Cliché but it was not what I was expecting after the nice happy start of the film.

Without a doubt, the best thing about Astro Boy was the hard hitting and rather dark first act that sets the back story. We see the brilliant scientist Dr. Tenma (Nicholas Cage) and his really smart human son being introduced. Not having a single clue of how Astro Boy’s story is like, I would have expected some science-experiment-went-wrong which transformed the son to a heroic figure with super powers as it’s a children-friendly film. How the film went was much darker and the emotional depth was surprisingly effective in the rejection scene which followed shortly between the scientist and the recreated son. I thought this component of the film was well handled and it gave a solid foundation for the film to kick off with.

Overall, the animation was not fantastic but attractive enough from both animation and cinematography perspective. I liked how 2D and 3D animation is blended together to produce a visually appealing piece. I think Imagi (the Hong Kong Animation Studio) did a slick job for the CG and kinda bring the whole story to life. There are a number of ‘useless’ yet interesting characters that piece the film together. For instance, I really liked the 3 robots called the “Robot Revolutionary Front” who were the comical relief in the film. Although it felt as though these sidekick characters were created to take up screen time but I think their presence added the entertainment element – even if they have no positive or negative impact for the story. You can totally agree with the robots’ last line” Well, I guess we didn’t actually do anything” – quite right!

One thing I’ve never liked about animation movies is that you have all these voices of  high profile actors are not necessary the best choice. Most of them were emotionless and flat when it comes to portraying their animated characters. Then again, I think guys will like Kristen Bell as Cora even if, in my opinion, Cora’s character was rather weak. I’m not sure how different the Manga is as compared to the film but I find the messages behind the story were literally in your face – like “how fitting in when you’re different from others harder to do than you thought” (somewhere along that line) or how you can never replace your loved ones etc. However, I find the music by John Ottman infused the right atmosphere and really fits the film.

Overall, the movie started off with a bang but weakens as the movie reaches the end. Especially when you were expecting the action to get more exciting – reaching “OH NO,ITS THE END OF THE WORLD” when the red core and the blue core meets…but hell no, it was a “That’s it ?!” disappointing moment for me. I didn’t quite get why the president kept repeating that he is trying to win an election, going on and on about it…like what’s the point ? (inside joke?) Isn’t evil guys suppose to destroy the world with such great power ?! That’s how the story should be like ! (I’m sadist)

It was quite a straightforward story for kids to understand with jokes that are good enough for the adults to chuckle over. I have a soft spot for this iconic figure created by Osamu Tezuka aka “God of Manga” because of his cute hairdo and spunky red boots. So I’ll say it’s a 4 out of 5 (despite my slightly negative review) for this fun family film that everyone can comes away happy for different reasons. It could have been better.

It opens in cinema this coming Thursday, 5th November !

Tags: animation, astro boy, CGI, cora, dr tenma, god of manga, Hong Kong, imagi, john ottman, kristen bell, metro city, movie, nicholas cage, osamu tezuka, review, singaporeans

AOTW [16] : FAME

A reinvention of the original Oscar-winning hit film, Fame ! This a remake of the original musical & soundtrack made popular in the 80’s. The album features stunning tracks by the cast and other popular songs from the incredible film. After taking a listen to it (courtesy of the nice people at Universal Music), here’s what I think of it!

Tracklist :

1. 1.Welcome To P.A. – Raney Shockne
2. 2.Fame – Naturi Naughton
3. 3.Big Things – Anjulie
4. 4.Ordinary People – Asher Book
5. 5.This Is My Life – Hopsin, Ak’Sent, Tynisha Keli & Donte “Burger” Winston
6. 6.Out Here On My Own – Naturi Naughton
7. 7.Street Hustlin’ – Raney Shockne featuring Stella Moon
8. 8.You’ll Find A Way (Switch & Sinden Remix) – Santigold
9. 9.Can’t Hide From Love – Naturi Naughton & Collins Pennie
10. 10.Black & Gold – Sam Sparro
11. 11.Back To Back – Collins Pennie featuring Ashleigh Haney
12. 12.I Put A Spell On You – Raney Shockne featuring Eddie Wakes
13. 13.Get On The Floor – Naturi Naughton & Collins Pennie
14. 14.Try – Asher Book
15. 15.You Took Advantage Of Me – Megan Mullally
16. 16.Too Many Women (Damon Elliott Remix) – Rachael Sage
17. 17.Someone To Watch Over Me – Asher Book
18. 18.You Made Me Love You – Raney Shockne featuring Oren Waters
19. 19.Hold Your Dream – Naturi Naughton, Asher Book, Kay Panabaker

Quite a well-balanced list of up-tempo numbers and a few ballards, though it was almost like Naturi Naughton EP because you can see the name in almost every other song ! Voice isn’t too bad and I thought “Out here on my own” was quite a nice track.  Then again, I’m biased since I like Asher Book (featured here as my last AOTW with his song “Try”) alot more ! Love his cover of John Legend’s “Ordinary People” as well !

In my opinion, kids from the Drama/Dance Club will love this OST because of the upbeat songs and if you’ve caught the movie, you’ll know what it is all about. The strong dance-pop influenced album is more of a crowd-pleaser rather than focusing on the original soulful music. Still worth listening if you enjoyed the movie or just need something easy to listen to while working !

The movie is already screening in cinemas since 25th Sept (I know I’m pretty SLOW at this, catch it NOW if you have not) ! The soundtrack is also available out in stores, check out getmusic.com.sg for more information.

[GIVEAWAY]

I have FAME OST CD and goodie to give away as well !

Just drop me an ONE email (exit18 [at] gmail [dot] com) before 15th Oct 2009 2359 hrs with your contact details (name/email/blog if any! *Singapore residents ONLY*)

To win, answer 2 simple questions :

1. why do you want win this ?
2. Which is your favourite track and why ?

(Winner will be notified via email)

Tags: ak'sent, album, anjulie, aotw, asher book, ashleigh haney, collins pennie, donte burger winston, eddie wakes, fame, Film, free, getmusic, giveaway, hopsin, john legends, kay panabaker, megan mullally, movie, musical, naturi naughton, ordinary people, oren waters, oscar-winning, OST, out here on my own, rachael sage, raney shockne, sam sparro, santigold, stella moon, tynisha keli, universal music

Go Potty Over Potter : The Half-Blood Prince

It is indeed a remarkable achievement for Harry Potter to enter its sixth movie, I still remember watching the first and thinking “oh my god,this totally ruin the book!” Without a doubt, I’m one of those who prefers reading the books to watching it on the big screen – this time is no exception.

I have to say the effects were marvelous, judging how clever they put the “magic” into the “real world”. I quite miss the magical moving paintings on the walls and the ever complicated stairways, Hogwarts looks too “normal” in this film, it felt as though alot of details were lacking. Speaking of lacking, the action in the film seems to be background-ed by the focus on the characters and the romance between these teenagers.  Sure,it’s puberty but snogging and crying over boys/girls isn’t exactly what I’m here for. Complex human beings indeed. I had to control my giggles when I thought of various reasons why Dumbledore likes to invite Harry to his room alone, c’mon ! Look at the way he looks at Harry ! (HAHA)

I’ve always thought the death eaters deserve more scenes than the good old Harry, I’m glad Malfoy and Snape stole the limelight for a second. I thought Tom Felton (Malfoy) did a good job at the killing scene, his acting skills has improved from the last films. This film was definitely “darker” than the previous installments but the lack of spells and actions was disappointing. It is already obvious for audience to guess the ending, I thought the screenwriters tried a little too hard this time, could have taken a more passive approach towards the ending. The Dark Lord is straightforward evil, even non-Harry Potter fans would have known, the show just leads to their showdown no matter how the story develops. Harry is never going to escape from the confrontation of the approaching evil dark force and good people always die – well,here and there.

I do like the young Tom Riddle, he sure gives me the creeps. Thankfully, there’s Emma Watson to save the day. You have to admit that she’s looking great as compared to her fellow actors, the twins were pretty amusing – I really miss Cedric aka Robert Pattinson though. (hee hee)

Just a tip for people who are intending to watch this – do your homework ! Expect characters jumping into the scene without proper introductions (and disappearing, like Slughorn from the finale) or broken storyline if you are clueless about the Harry Potter series.  The storytelling moves forward too quickly and it concentrates on the characters more than ever, lacking the continuity from previous films. The Half-Blood Prince to me was  purely a “set up” to the next one, like superior continuation of a TV series which hopefully gets better. Till now, I still think that the movies never really lived up to the books.

And my owl must be late, where’s my letter to Hogwarts !

[image source : flixster.com]

Tags: book, broken storylines, cedric, dark force, dumbledore, emma watson, half blood prince, harry potter, Hogwarts, JK Rowling, lack of action, magic, malfoy, movie, owl, potter, potty, real world, robert pattinson, romance, set up, sixth, slughorn, snape, snogging, superior continuation, the dark lord, tom felton, tom riddle, tv series

Movie Buzz : Fanboys

Caught the media preview screening of “Fanboys” today ! Courtesy of Golden Village !

This comedy starring Jay Baruchel (Windows) , Dan Fogler (Hutch) , Sam Huntington (Eric) ,Chris Marquette (Linus) , and the eversocute Kristen Bell (Zoe) is quite worth watching IF you’re a diehard Star Wars fan. The story follows this bunch of Star Wars (duh) fans on a roadtrip (or rather, a quest) to break into George Lucas‘s Skywalker Ranch to watch STAR WARS: EPISODE 1- THE PHANTOM MENACE before it is released.

Initially I was quite skeptical about the movie because I am not exactly the biggest Star Wars fan you can find. It looked like a silly movie paraody  (like Scary Movie ?) And being a girl, the next thing I noticed was..the boys get to check out Kristen Bell but other than that, there isn’t any eyecandy in the film at all ! So I was expecting myself to leave the cinema halfway through this (already rather short) 90 minutes film.

But I was wrong, its sheer geeky-ness and goofiness has grown on me as these “Star Wars” fanatics began on their “quest”.  I had quite a good laugh over some of the jokes, although some proves that you gotta be a Star Wars fan to understand. One of the more amusing sub-plots deals with the Trekkies (Star Trek), and how intensely the Star Wars enthusiasts hate them. Very hiliarious if you dislike Star Trek as much as I do.    Engaging performance from Dan Fogler (Hutch), gotta be my favourite character in the movie. Jay Baruchel (Windows) played his role pretty convincingly as well, totally adorable geek. Enough about the boys you say ? Kristen Bell is probably fanboys’ dream come true in this male driven plot, who can resist a girl who loves comics,bond and Star Wars ? Her short black hair looks rather sexy on her to be honest, even I thought she looks pretty hot.

Watching how extreme fans can be is entertaining, it makes it a blast to watch if you like/love Star Wars too. Quite a few subtle (but witty) jokes here and there to complete the weak plot. Probably won’t catch it if you’re not used to the geek/nerd lingo, so brush up on them before you watch the movie. I would say this movie is a tribute to the friendship of all geeky fans out there  rather than a marketing niche, celebration of the fandom !  Speaking of which, I thought GV (or the marketing team) did a good job in bringing the “stormtroopers” to the preview. You should have seen the crowd gathering outside the hall,waiting to take a photo with them ! (They were really friendly stormtroopers by the way, offered to take a picture with me in the shot…but nahhsss) I wanna get one of these costumes too !

Oh, the sound effects were pretty awesome. Could have been an audio project altogether. Love the song by Spacehog “In the Meantime“.

I wouldn’t recommend everyone to watch the movie since you should have at least basic Star Wars/Star Trek knowledge in order to understand the jokes. But if you’re a Sci-Fi fan and enjoy the geeky goofy things in life, do catch it ! It’s opening on 26th March.

P.S : I thought I saw the words on the van changed color at one of the scenes (I think it was outside the supermart), I swear it was white instead of the red that was for the rest of the show. Continuity error ? Do let me know after you guys catch the movie ! (hur hur)

Tags: dan fogler, fanboys, fandom, geek, george lucas, jay baruchel, kristen bell, movie, scary movie, sci-fi, skywalker, SMUBE, spacehog, startrek, starwars, stormtroopers

Movie Buzz : Marley & Me

The boyfriend and I caught “Marley & Me” today. Based on John Grogan‘s best-selling book, this film is definitely a must-watch for all dog lovers. (although I have yet to read the book)

((potential spoilers alert))

It chronicles the relationship of John (Owen Wilson) and Jen (Jennifer Aniston), the newly-wed couple who decided to settle down and start a family of their own…and it all began with a really cute Labrador , Marley. Basically Marley is this “world’s worst dog” who chews through wall, gets kicked out from obedience school and gets turned on by legs. But throughout it all, dog is always a man’s best friend and the film portrays that fact quite perfectly.

The set was gorgeous with perfect lighting and the cinematography was not too bad for a family film. I thought Owen Wilson played his role pretty well, the comedic persona with a tinge of SNAG (sentsitive new age guy) feel. Jennifer Aniston is (as usual) gorgeous and a total natural at playing the damsel in distress. I thought the boss (Alan Arkin) was quite an outstanding character with his witty lines too. Of course the main lead goes to Marley the dog who totally worthed all the cooing and cracking up over his silly actions.

I liked how the story flows like a diary and makes audience feel as though they are part of the character’s lives. I was quite emotionally “attached” to Marley by the end of the film and I was sobbing when Marley left the family.    In fact, I was quite upset when Jennifer Aniston lost her first baby. I really enjoyed such family films to begin with, the happy scenes with the entire family and Marley were very memorable and I kinda envy that kind of life. (Though 3 kids and 1 dog sound alil scary for me) I can say that I walked out of the theatre feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. It was so worth the tears. HAHA !

It was undeniably a sweet, simple film that has quite a good message(s) behind it. Unconditional love between the characters, how unexpected situations in life surprise you but you can make whatever you want out of it. When things get tough, stick with it and make the best out of it instead. Overall, I guess this is a movie that any dog owners/lovers can relate to wholeheartedly. I think it is an instant classic that many will enjoy, so do go and catch it if you have yet to ! I’m so tired but I just have to blog this out before I sleep. =X

P.S :  Just a casual reminder, as much as I love dogs and I think everyone else should too…do not get yourself a dog if you’re not ready to be a responsible dog owner. No matter how cute/adorable/must-have the dog is to you, please bear in mind the responsibilities that comes with him/her. Dogs are not toys !   They too need as much attention and love as a human being.

Marley & Me Official Trailer

“A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his.” – Marley & Me

Tags: comedy, dog, Film, jennifer aniston, john grogan, labrador, marley, marley & me, movie, owen wilson, review