FoOie’s Haven

The Dark Knight (2008)

• Where do I even begin. The movie I’ve been waiting for all year, and the amount of hype, anticipation and news regarding it left me with insanely high expectations. This also got me worried as that would make the movie really hard to live up to my standards.
• My fears were misplaced though, because after the 2.5 hours of screentime, I left with my jaw open and completely satisfied. Christopher Nolan is now firmly rooted as my favourite director of ALL time. Christian Bale, who has always been my fave actor since Equilibrium and The Prestige, secured his standing in my list as well. I don’t even need to heap anymore praise on Heath Ledger’s role as The Joker - if he doesn’t at least get an Oscar nod for best actor, I swear I’ll cry foul of the highest degree. The Dark Knight left me with goosebumps even days after the movie.

• The Joker is downright one of the most sinister villains to ever grace the big screen. If there was anything I’d regret about the movie, is that Heath Ledger will not be able to reprise his role in any subsequent Batman sequels.
• The plot was solidly written, all the actors were amazing and the action scenes were gratifying. You are constantly left at the edge of your seat, not knowing how things will end, and where the movie was gonna take you. The dark ruthless Gotham City never felt more alive as a breathing entity, filled with citizens that are accurate portrayals of our current societies, paranoid over terrorism and crime, and distrustful over anything abnormal. This movie is an epic clash between 2 memorable comic characters and their disturbing personas, while its intelligent portrayal of good vs evil and right vs wrong deserves the highest praise.
• Ironman was a kids movie compared to this. The Dark Knight is without a doubt, not only the best superhero movie ever but also a superbly crafted action crime thriller that few can compare with. Hopefully this will set the standards for ALL other comic/game/novel adaptations that follows…
• At the time of writing, The Dark Knight has an unbelievable 9.6/10 on IMDB (out of 70,000 votes), and is ranked as the NUMBER 1 movie of all time on IMDB Top 250. It also scored a whopping 94% on Rottentomatoes. Well, I’ll let the figures speak for themselves.

Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3D (2008)

• This movie is currently being shown in only 1 hall in the whole country - Midvalley GSC Hall 4. It wasn’t easy getting tickets for it either, as most people started getting them 2 days in advance due to the limited seats.
• The only other full length 3D movie I watched before this was Polar Express @ IMAX many many years ago. Other 3D experiences was the short theme park versions in both Gold Coast and back here in Malaysia. This is my first proper full length movie purposely filmed for 3D that had real actors and actresses instead of computer animations.
• Let’s just say that the result is simply breathtaking. Not to mention the movie takes place in strange new places giving the entire movie a surreal atmosphere. Nothing beats jumping out of your seat or all the other myriad reactions you will get as things fly, splash, pop up and are thrown at your face. In 3D, this movie is truly visually arresting.
• Forget the thin unoriginal plot (I read the original Jules Verne book some time ago), or the sub-par acting, or the lame script, or the lack of any real action and how it all seemed to end so quickly. Forget all that, because this was not meant to be a serious movie to begin with. When it comes down to it - this movie is perfect to watch with friends and family just so that you can laugh about it later (or remember how you tried to duck or move your head away).
• Don’t watch this in a normal non-3D cinema. Pay the extra for 3D. It’s definitely worth it.
• P.S. 3D version has no subtitles of any sort - so if you can’t catch English very well, you’ve been warned.

Hancock (2008)

• Hancock is a guy with some amazing superpowers - strength, flight, invulnerability - but he’s got no memory of his past, and is a useless alcoholic with complete disregard for the people around him. Then he saves a nice PR guy (Jason Bateman), who then tries to change the public perception of him by encouraging him to become a better person. Hancock then unwittingly falls in love with the poor dude’s Hot wife (Charlize Theron) and following all this is a twist in the movie here I should not reveal.
• What is with Will Smith and his ability to command roles in extremely high budget yet sub-par blockbusters? The premise for all of his recent movies are always interesting - but usually lacking a great deal after a first watch through. This movie is no different (ala the disappointing I Am Legend). Plus his constantly pouty whiny face here just made me feel like smacking him throughout the movie.
• Regardless, this movie taps into the basic part of us that prefers seeing superhumans whom are still bound by ordinary human rules (just like in the Heroes series). There’s a somewhat strange exhilaration in seeing a junkie, drunk, asshole, LOSER rise above his humble beginnings to kick major ass and do the right things (kinda similar to Wanted).
• I completely disliked much of the later parts of the movie, as I felt the plot twist and explanation for it was too simplistic and convenient. I can’t elaborate more here without risk of ruining the movie for most people. Regardless, one shouldn’t take this movie too seriously and watch it with a pinch of salt. It was otherwise quite entertaining.

Wanted (2008)

• An adaptation from a comic book short series that I have not heard about - the trailers looked good, and the rating on IMDB wasn’t too bad either, which sparked my curiousity. It’s about a typical failure of a guy, whose life is changed completely when he gets tracked down by a fraternity of assassins, and is told that his ‘panic attacks’ if controlled allows him to slow time down and become a super killer (and do superhuman feats).
• Execution wise was not too bad, with lots of slow mo over the top action scenes paying tribute to movies like The Matrix and Equilibrium (which is never a bad thing). However, what I couldn’t accept was the constant use of the ‘bending the bullet’ technique - which anyone with any elementary logic in physics will know is impossible IRREGARDLESS of one’s ability to slow time down or have heightened reflexes.
• I read a bit of the comic later, and also came to realize that the movie only took the simplest of the plots to turn into a movie. The Wanted comic contained much more colorful characters and enemies ala Hellboy style. I can imagine most comic fans feeling a little cheated by this cheaper interpretation of the series.
• But all that aside, Wanted is still a lot of good clean enjoyable fun - and one movie any action fans shouldn’t miss.

The Joy Luck Club (1993)

• Based on the award winning novel from Amy Tan of the same name, this is a deep retrospective movie that looks into the lives of 4 Chinese daughter-mother pairs and their corresponding relationships.
• No English movie has ever managed to capture the difficulties, and complexities regarding the personal lifes of Asian women quite as well as this one (although there are a few good Chinese films that did). Every single actress managed to bring their tragic strong women characters to life in this highly contemplative, moving, emotional, and meaningful movie.
• The Joy Luck Club is filled with moral values, great quotes and lessons to learn. Read the book if you can, and if you can’t this movie is probably the next best thing. If this movie doesn’t tug at your heartstrings / tear glands (even if you are a guy), there must be something wrong with you.

Get Smart (2008)

• A remake and throwback to a supposedly famous spy comedy from the 80’s. Too bad I never watched the originals, and can’t draw comparisons.
• Agent 23 (Steve Carell) - formally a paper pusher analyst for CONTROL, who is given field agent status (but lacks experience and gets himself into all sorts of shitty situations) and who teams up with Agent 99 (a downright breathtaking Anne Hathaway) to try and foil the terrorist group KAOS’s plan to nuke Los Angeles.
• This is stupid comedy at its purest (utter clumsiness, wardrobe malfunctions, and embarassing & outrageous situations rules the day) , and definitely worth a few good laughs. It’s not entirely dissimilar to Leslie Nielsen’s Naked Gun series, or the more recent Johnny English.. Only if you are up for some mindless entertainment..

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

• Great effort from DreamWorks Animation. They used to only have one decent animated movie under their belt (Shrek), but with this, they can safely say that they now have two. I can soo see this movie doing exceedingly well outside of the states.
• A tribute / parody to the true blue kung fu movies of old - always about a complete underdog who ends up becoming a powerful kung fu practitioner who saves the day by defeating the truly evil villain. If you’ve seen enough of the olden day kung fu movie classics (or series) you’ll know what I mean. You name it, they did it - from all the hardship trials and training sessions, typical chopstick fights, discovering hidden powers, paralyzing nerve strikes, and corny wisdom.
• Plenty of hilarious laugh out loud moments. Master Oogway anyone? Acupuncture scene? Shifu dying? Father revealing secret to son? Oh man, some great sarcastic slapstick comedy here.
• Very nicely done animated action sequences too including an awesome jail escape scene.
• Just didn’t enjoy the ‘rushed’ ending. Po’s sudden rise to power was quite unexplained, and left me wondering if I missed anything. This movie could have done much better with an extra 30 mins in it. It’s too short as it is. However, its still definitely a worthwhile watch..

I Know Who Killed Me (2007)

• A horrible lousy movie. Our heroine gets kidnapped and tortured/maimed by a serial killer, but when she’s found alive, she insists that shes not who everyone thinks she is, and that the real victim is still in mortal danger. The plot twist was decently original, although very poorly executed - and that’s about the ONLY good thing I can say about the movie.
• Interested in watching Lindsay Lohan give some of the most awful pole dancing ever? Fully clothed at that and not even the slightest bit erotic. I guess not. And it wasn’t even integral to the plotline.
• The writing, script, screenplay, direction, acting EVERYTHING was terrible. Some scenes were so utterly unbelievable and ridiculous, you’d be daft not to laugh or at least snigger. Note that this was the movie that won 8 Razzie Awards. EIGHT of them. lol. Why the heck did I even pop this into the DVD player. Urgh.

Alvin & The Chipmunks (2007)

• A remake of a cartoon from the 50’s (goodness, thats half a century ago!).
• Dave, a struggling lyricist and musician meets 3 singing chipmunks which he will eventually grow to love, and become their manager during their rise to fame. Simple plot of course, but poorly executed.. It was more or less just an endless trudge through monotony hoping for the next brief glimpses of the cute chipmunks. Heck, if you don’t like cute stuff, I suggest you run far far away.
• Shrill high pitched singing, forgettable songs and cute covers that you don’t wanna be caught dead hearing by your friends makes up most of the music in the movie.
• I unfortunately didn’t find ANY of the acting in the movie believable, nor did any portion of the script resonate with me emotionally. It’s like the movie spends way toooo much time trying to be adorable (which it succeeds with flying colors), but completely loses out on the stuff that makes a movie ‘good’.

Rendition (2007)

• Terrorist bomb explodes in Egypt killing an American. Wrongfully suspected Egyptian engineer (Omar Metwally) married to an American wife (Reese Witherspoon) gets kidnapped by American officials and is forced to undergo torture (under the Extraordinary Rendition act that allows Americans to capture, move and imprison individuals suspected of terrorism and deny them basic constitutional rights). Multiple storyline continues - wife tries to locate missing husband, High ranking Egyptian security official interrogates to try and find culprit of the bombing while his daughter runs away with a wrong chap and an assigned CIA Agent (Jake Gyllenhall) bears witness to the torture proceedings and comes face to face with his own conscience..
• Let’s not spoil too much here, Rendition is a fantastic drama thriller with an good twist near the end. It is superbly acted by ALL of the cast. The Egyptian subplots where the actors and actresses spoke in their native tongue was refreshing to see in a Hollywood production. Cinematography and direction was steady and focused and the musical score was befitting and haunting.
• More importantly, it raises a crucial question - is it OK to torture an individual if there is the chance that it may save others in our current terrorism induced climate of fear? How far can we go before we cross the line? Despite the movie not making a much deeper impact than it should (the plot allowed for this to be much much more cerebral), Rendition is still an eye opener to me.
• Watch this if you can, and if you have, I wonder what’s your take on the whole thing too. Based on what I’ve been reading on the IMDB forums, the sheer number of people that condone torture purely for the benefit of their own security and safety, scares me.

Feast of Love (2007)

• Take a drama and slap together a plot that includes as many possible angles of love, love at first sight, loss of loved ones, lesbianism, infidelity, parenthood, sacrifice - the giving and taking and innocence of it all, and you’ll have Feast of Love on your hands.
• Too bad though that the merging of all these plots in this movie was only slightly above average at best. There were some good performances by some of the characters but the main thing that ruined this movie for me were the gratuitous nudity and sex scenes. I can understand when sex is used to help project the love between characters in a movie, but to keep using it over and over again, boob slip shots, naked discussions, etc made it all just a little bit over the top for a serious love drama. But I guess most people will want to watch this now for this reason alone haha. And you wonder why this was never screened in Malaysia.
• Some great lessons to be learnt here too.. Including a particular man to man talk where I wished I was at the receiving end of the advice given (at a weaker point in my life):