Non-Stop Review

All aboarddddddddd!!! 

Non-Stop Review – Having just travelled to and from Sibu on the same day few days before the preview, I’m glad that thru-out my flying experience, I have never come across any ‘unwanted’ situations and hopefully never will (Touchwood!!!). I can’t imagine being in such situation but gotta admit I do sometimes worry about such circumstances. Let’s hope and pray that none of us will ever have to face such condition.

Marshal and the stewardess 

The 145 passengers on board flight from New York to London however are not so fortune. They are faced with life or death situation when the air marshal on-board, Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) starts getting text messages on secured network. At first glance it does not sound too severe but as the ‘conversation’ pursues, things get serious as the ‘intruder’ threatens to kill one passenger every 20 minutes unless 150 million dollars are transferred into an account. GULP!!! What would you do? Who would you trust? How do you deal with such situation? What if you yourself become one of the suspect? On top of dead bodies (for failing to comply with the demand), there is also a bomb threat! Mak datuk hang! Memang tersepit ler jawapnyer. Will Air Marshal Mark keep his cool to save the poor commuters or is he part of the bigger plot?

The passengers...eh I mean the cast. 

Do you remember another movie by Jodie Foster few years back titled, Flight Plan? It was also ‘shot’ on-board at a plane and Jodie played her part awesomely as a worried mother looking for her missing child en-route from Berlin to New York! (What the heck with flight to New York and hijack situation ni wey? Huhuhu). In this flick, Liam Neeson stands out as a washed out X-NYPD officer battling his alcohol addiction but when push comes to shove he is willing to put his life on the line for the safety of people under his care. Funny to see an Air Marshall who has a fear of flying yet bend on catching the ‘bad guy’. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast, Julianne Moore (Jen Summers), Michelle Dockery (Nancy), Lupita Nyong’o (Gwen) and many other amazing supporting casts were reduced to be just supporting acts. They should have perhaps given more meaty roles to play then it would not look like a one-man-show. Some of the scenes are slightly un-logic but does it put you on edge of your seat. Just make sure you don’t watch this movie before boarding a flight or while flying!

Liam goes Lego!!! 

The world is never the same after 9/11 especially flying. I still get the jitters whenever I have to pass by the security in the airport to going on board a plane up until the it arrives at the destination. Thank God that doesn’t prevent me from flying, I mean if it’s meant to be I don’t make it out alive what can I do ey? Semua orang kena mati gak one day kan? I just prefer it to be in a less scary and dramatic way. God bless all those who have perished on ill-fated voyage and here’s to hoping nobody have to die just to satisfy few idiots mission to blew innocent people to pieces. Till then safe flight nuts! 

P/s- Thanks Churp2 for the preview tickets! 

Saving Mr. Banks Review

A Yank and Brit collabo yo! 

Saving Mr. Banks Review – Who does not love a Disney movie ey? I still sing along to Aladdin, smile ear to ear when the Beast changed into Prince and shed tears when Mufasa died. Sadly in my opinion Disney is sorta losing its magic a little or perhaps I’m growing old and losing the child in me instead. Either way I loved Mary Poppins and was looking forward to witness how Movie Deal of That Century was made between Mrs. P.L. Travers and Mr. Walt Disney.

Trust me Pamela! 

This is not your typical Disney movie as it’s not a fairy tale but a chronicle of what happened behind the scene in order to bring Mary Poppins ‘alive’ into the silver screen. Author of the book, P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) is heavy hearted into ‘giving’ the rights of her beloved children book to be made into a movie by Mr Disney (Tom Hanks). To Mrs. Travers, Mary Poppins (not just Mary but Mary Poppins mind you!) meant the world as she was her escape from her difficult childhood living in Australia while dealing with her alcoholic father, Travers Goff (Colin Farrell). The movie goes back and forth from Travers early years to her current ‘sour puss’ persona. Travers had to be such way because she had to grow up earlier than her peers. Her only escape is her writing and memories of her late father. Will Mr Disney succeed in using his charm to melt the ‘ice queen’ into trusting him to keep his promise to his daughters into trying to bring their beloved ‘Nanny’ to the big screen? Unless you have been living under a rock or perhaps born in the late 90’s, you know that Mary Poppins did indeed capture our imagination with her wit and her famous “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-ness’. What is interesting to observe is the process of adhering the author’s tough demands and how Mr Disney and his team strived to fulfil such requests.  

Thank God I made it there!!! Yeeeehaaaa

Mini Disney!!! 

Tom Hanks & Emma Thompson….ahhhh…..my favourite American and British talents finally combining force in a feel good movie. I can die happily now. Add Colin Farrell and Paul Giamatti (Ralph), Voila! Disney magic is at its best again.  Side-kicks in the form Jason Schwartzman (Richard Sherman), B.J. Novak (Robert Sherman), Bradley Whitford (Don DaGradi) and child talent Annie Rose Buckley (as Ginty), Saving Mr Bank had just the right ingredient into making the making of Mary Poppins as good as Mary Poppins again. The music, the feel good factor, the atmosphere, I feel like flying a kite! Heck, I might just start to drink tea with a spoonful of sugar if not for the fear of getting diabetic! Great job by the director into capturing the magic that is Disney!!! 

Talented brothers 

Want some tea? 

I remember how happy I was the moment I stepped into Disneyland, California back in 2007! It’s been almost 10 years but I can still recall the ‘magical’ feeling that seeped into me. Losing my camera and getting it back again. What more when I went close to Christmas time. Wonderful decorations everywhere. Friendly faces, familiar noises, fake snow…it was all too much for me till I literally wept from being too happy! It was total awesomeness which I will never forget and will revisit over and over and over whenever I feel down. I felt the connection between myself and Mrs. PL Travers because I like to associate things with feelings, which is not good but I can’t help it. Perhaps it’s just the way we are. There’s something about Disneyland and Disney movies which I’m grateful of the existence for us busy adults to throw away our worries and enjoy relive our childhood even just for few hours. Viva La Disney!   

Must.go.back.to.Disneyland.soon

Mr. Disney at Disneyland

Mani at Disneyland circa 2007! *selfie epic fail :P

P/s - Thanks Ivan for the ticket swap!

P/s 2 - Clink the link below to re-live my LA cum Disney adventure
LA/Disneyland

The Monuments Man Review

No ordinary man!!! 

The Monuments Man Review – I’m not really a big fan of art and George Clooney so I was not excited as I would always be when I scored the preview tickets. Tambah pulak I also won preview tickets to catch another movie, Saving Mr. Banks starring Tom Hanks whom I liked more compared to Clooney on the same day. ERK! Dilemma betul….mana satu aku nak tengok ni? The art God must have had another plan for me to catch this awesome movie because I managed swap tickets with my movie craze friend so I got to watch both movies (Monuments & Banks) back to back! Yeay!!! Thanks Ivan! 

For the love of Art

Moving on about the review…have you ever wondered how did the amazing art work by legendary artists such as Picasso, Rembrandt and so on survived the World War to be viewed these days? That’s what this movie is about; it is based on true story on how some selfless man sacrificed their own life in order to salvage those precious remnants for childrens of the future. Frank Stokes (George Clooney) gathers his man from all walks of life to journey across Europe during the war to stop Hitler from keeping all the prized possession to himself and also destroying it to ashes. He recruits museum curator, architect, art historian in the form of Richard Campbell (Bill Murray), Walter Garfield (John Goodman), Jean Claude Clermont (Jean Dujardin), Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville), Preston Savitz (Bob Balaban) and James Granger (Matt Damon) to retrieve and return the work of art to the rightful owner.s Each of these man travel to different parts of Germany, Poland and France among others to ‘rescue’ 1,000 years’ worth of history. Helping them along the way were Sam Epstein (Dimitri Leonidas) and Claire Simone (Cate Blanchett). With the Nazi losing the war and Hitler issuing the ‘Decree something’ (sorry I forgot what it is actually called) to destroy everything if he loses the war or die, the Monuments Man have to race against time before the priceless memoir gone forever. Will they succeed?

How to survive stepping on land mine lesson 101!

Mr. French! 

With the cast of such amazing talents and Mr. Clooney himself spearheading the direction, this movie had all the right ingredient to get anyone eating out of the storyline. Each of the remarkable actors performed brilliantly to their ability. Clooney as charming as ever, Damon being funny trying to speak French, Blanchett with her trust issues, Dujardin with her French allure and the rest of the gang were simply exceptional. The camerawork was wonderful capturing the ruins caused by the war and swiftly switch into bright colourful view once the focus of the movie changes into an art piece or statue. For a person who is not into artsy things, I was intrigued into finding out more about the valuable creation of such marvellous drawings and figurine. Heck, I felt like jumping on the next plane to visit The Louvre and ogle at them relics. Bravo George for a well craft job.      

Only Rose among the duri! Blanchett at her best!

Despite the sombre reality about the war and innocent lives being lost for the greed of few people, one can’t help but feel happy/good whenever the man ‘salvage’ a drawing or a sculpture. There is also a grim reminder on how evil human can get by killing other humans just to get their hands on material things such ‘gold fillings’ from the Jews teeth. The war took the lives of thousands or millions of people and hopefully will never be repeated ever again. Sadly there are still ongoing wars taking place during these modern times. Humans are gifted with so many wonders by the Power there is so it’s really up to us to either safeguard or annihilate our history and legacy. Once it’s gone…it’s gone forever. 

Precious preview tickets! 

P/s - Thanks again Churp Churp for the preview tickets! I'm so glad I didn't miss this preview and see you guys at the next one soon!

#CNYChurpOut with Tiger Radler!

#Churpout CNY style! 

I can’t recall when I actually joined Churp Churp's community but I’ve been having a blast participating their awesome activities. I hardly buy tickets for movies these days thanks to their #Churprimere and when I found out that Churp Churp is having their first #Churpout of the year! I jumped in joy! Who would not want to Experience Double Refreshment at #CNYChurpOut with Tiger Radler ey? All I had to do was just complete a simple slogan which went like this…I  want to join #CNYChurpOut with @TigerBeerMY because it's my horse year so I wanna share my horse-porous luck tossing loh sang with the @churp2 gang! Huat ah! Ong mali mali! :)

U no come u no fun lor 

After few days…Voila! I got my invite! I RSVP-ed without blinking! From my previous experience, I know how awesome are Churp’s events are and was looking forward to loh sang with them fantastic Churpies! Dress code for the event was CNY of course so I went looking for red kaler baju. Since my ang pow collection was quite good, I used the extra cash to buy my red blouse. I ajak my school friend to be my plus one but few days before the event she went radio silent on me. EEEEEEEEEEEE geramnye aku!!! At first I thought of skipping the event but then why should I? I want to have fun. I deserve to have fun. I know it will be fun. I called up my other friend whom I know will have fun as much as I would, Patricia. Despite the last minute call, Pat agreed to come. Yeayyyyyyyyyy!!! Thanks Pat!!! 

The place to be! 

I took a cab to the venue while Pat drove there. I didn’t have time to inform the Churpies about my plus one swap but like a champ they let Pat in! Sorry for the trouble and thanks for understanding guys. Pat arrived just few minutes before me and she was looking smoking hot in the Cheong Sam! Phewwwwwwwwwwwwit Pat! *wink wink 

The welcoming committee! :)

We registered our name and was handed our lucky draw card after which we got our picture snapped, did some Calligraphy drawing and made our way inside the Tavern, Guinness Anchor Berhad. 

My partner in crime for the night - Patricia aka Pat!!! 

Fail artist! :P

Since there were Instagram contest going on, we started to snap loads of pictures. Pat got hold of the new drink in town Tiger Radler. I don’t drink beer so she had more on my behalf. 

Gulp! Gulp! Gulp! 

More Churpers begin to arrive and the host for the night, Kevin Chong of Traxx FM got the ball rolling by announcing what is in store for the night. The music and environment was happening giler with free flow of Tiger Radler. Pat and I posted few insta pictures and got excited when we saw it flashing on the screen. As reward for our effort, we got to pick ang pow from the lucky dip basket which had RM50 in one the red packets. I managed to get RM5 while Pat walked away with RM2. Ok lah…janji dapat kan? 

Yummy yum yum!!! 

While waiting for more guest to arrive the middle table was filled with colourful loh sang to be tossed later. Kevin came on again to get everybody to approach the table and get the event going. Toss! Toss! Toss! Huah Ah! Huat Ah! Ong Ah! Ong Ah! It was my third loh sang of the year while Pat finally got to participate in her first ever loh sang tossing occasion. 

Ready for loh loh loh sang sang sang!!! 

Smile everybadiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Plastic plates and chop stick was provided for us to eat the tasty loh sang while making our way outside to enjoy the Lion Dance.  Yeay!!! My first Lion Dance for the year. I stood depan-depan so I can get the best view. They performed and I almost joined them! Hehehe! Tong chiang! Tong chiang! Tong tong chiang! I recall edwhen I was younger, my sister and I would use our blanket to perform our own version of the Lion Dance and annoy our Amma! Nowadays, baru dua minit sakit pinggang redy. Adoi. :P 

Lion lai lorrrrrrrrrrr!!! 

Not just any Lion but this Lion got Ironman light on the head woah! ;) 

One of the albummmmmmmmmm *picture courtesy of Churp2

While still walaping the loh sang, dinner was ready and served…waaaaaa….best giler. Jom serang!!! We were too busy eating, drinking, laughing and having fun till forgot to snap the pictures of the food. 

Kevin kacau Pat time! *photo courtesy of Churp2 

Meantime, the next line of entertainment came on in the form of stand-up comedy performance by Phoon Chi Ho. He left us in stiches with his jokes with slight technical problem with the mike. 

Mr. Funnyman! *photo courtesy of Churp2

Later on it was time to give out prizes, crates of Tiger Radler Beer along with Churp Churp infamous blue bird! I got Pat to join the dancing competition and she was a happy girl winning her first ever Churpie. 

Go Pat gooooo!!! Woot! Woot! 

Dancing Queens and Kings Churpers! 

The contest part was really funny with people eyeing for the main prize. People laughing enjoying kao kao the hospitality and warmth of the event. Nick Yap came up for a small speech to flash back on past Churp Churp event and to update on future happenings. 

Thank you Tiger Radler & Churp Churpppp!!! 

I for sure will ‘stalk’ Churp Churp’s facebook, twitter, Instagram accounts and blog so I could join all their awesome #Churprimere, #Churpout and what not!

 

If you have yet to follow and like them, you have no idea what you are missing, so instead of wasting time stalking after your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend online, why not get yourself ‘connected’ with Churp Churp instead and who knows, you might just meet the special someone with the help of the ‘blue bird’! 

Huat ah gang!!! 

Here’s to more awesome events by my favourite online community social network site! 

My favorite blue bird!!! 

Endless Love Review

Young love....hmm....

Endless Love Review – There is a song by the same title sung by the late great Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey which is one of my favourite song, too bad I can’t say the same thing about this movie. To me it felt like a ‘tangkap muat’ movie of the year. As in Universal Studios had some extra cash lying around the studio so they gave it to the Director to use even if they don’t make any profit out of this flick. Perhaps I’m wrong because I’m getting old and maybe the ‘younger generation’ might like but then this is my review.

Thing you do when you are in love...

The story is about David Elliot (Alex Pettyfer) whose been wanting to kiss his high school crush Jade Butterfield (Gabriella Wilde) for the longest time but never act on it until they meet during Jade’s party. Things develop very fast between the two love birds which makes Jade’s father, Hugh (Bruce Greenwood) uncomfortable because he has high hopes for his daughter. Hugh goes to beyond extreme point to keep David and Jade apart hoping that it would just be a summer fling. David and Jade however are head over heels for each other and are willing to face any obstacle. The rest of the movie focus on the strong feelings they have for each other with some adultery conflict thrown in.  

Nope, she is not Sienna Miller :)

The saving grace for this movie for me was the chemistry between Alex and Gabriella. Both looked equally beautiful that will make you look forward how pretty their kids will be. They managed to ‘be in love’ with each other that made me wish I was in such relationship. Another thing I wished for was a cool mother Jade had, even with all the drama, her mother remained calm without becoming a drama mama. Meanwhile, the thing I wish I didn’t have was Jade’s dad, he himself had so many issues but pretend to be a good! Podah! The rest of the cast…as I mentioned before…semua tangkap muat je. 

Daddy with loads of issues! Bluerghhhh

Honestly if I didn’t get the invite for the preview screening, I don’t think I would have spent my time and money to watch this movie. The trailer itself was enough to cover the whole movie while the full length film just added few extra ‘steamy scenes’ which was conveniently snipped away by our censorship board which means you had to use your imagination to fill in the void. Unless you are deeply in love with someone special and want spend some time together inside the cinema for the upcoming Valentine’s Day, I suggest you give the picture a pass. You might as well use the time and money for something else or watch some other movie but that’s just my opinion.  

P/S - Thank you as usual for the preview tickets Churp Churp!!!

Cuak Review

Cuak tak? 

Cuak Review – After the awesomeness that was ‘Kami Histeria’, my first local movie after a long time, I was looking forward to this flick because it offered something new that is seldom done in our local` movie industry. Have you ever wondered what if a different director was given the responsibility to direct a certain movie? For example, what if Titanic was directed by Woody Allen instead of James Cameron? There lies the twist in this film. Instead of just a single ‘Sutradara’, the production team took a bold step into getting five (5) upcoming young talented directors to tell parts of the movie according to their vision and later on mash it all up into a single feature release called Cuak. Think this ‘gamble’ will pay off? Jeng jeng jeng

Where ar emy eggs dey? :(

The story is about Adam (Ghafir Akbar) facing his big day to end his bachelor life wanting to marry his Chinese girlfriend, Brenda (Dawn Cheong). He somehow gets cold feet or Cuak so he starts to have second thoughts about his decision. As I mentioned earlier, the movie is helmed by five (5) different directors so it came in five separate scenes namely, The Bachelor Party, Issues, The Footage, Consent and The Couples. Let’s begin with the bachelor party. Adam’s friends consist of a married guy who have since ‘changed a lot’ while his other unattached bro’s keep messing with Adam’s decision to settle down as they think it might change him as well. They try to have a ‘fun’ party but end facing and few Issues which bring us to the next chapter, Issues. It is literally about issues between Adam, his step brother, Mikail (Tony Eusoff) and Brenda; I will skip this part because to me this was the least interesting chapter of the movie. Moving on to ‘Meet the Parents’ part referred to as ‘Consent’ where Adam goes to meet Brenda’s Dad, Mr. Wong (Uncle Patrick Teoh) to get his blessings. Loads of funny circumstances follows this meeting and Little did Adam knew that he was under so many ‘tests’ before actually meeting his future father-in-law. Meanwhile, the Footage captures the moments when Adam was actually dating Brenda’s housemate, Nurul (Ani Juliana Ibrahim) but things didn’t work out and finally my favourite feature of the movie, ‘The Couples’ where the Adam and Brenda butt heads over a simple matter, which might sound and look…well…simple but it’s not. Will this ‘fusion couple’ actually get married in the end?

'Voice of God' and Mr. Funnyman, Uncle Patrick and Jenhan! 

I recognise most of the cast members such as Tony, Craig, Uncle Patrick, Jenhan except for the main actors, Ghafir and Dawn but for a newbie, they did quite a decent job. Slightly over the top and sometime too amateurish but overall not bad. As for the Directors, called me biased but I liked Shamaine Othman’s ‘part’ better than the other four directors, not to say the rest didn’t do a good job but having watched her doing her short direction for Ikal Mayang project called Love Story, I predict loads more awesome job from this talented lass. As for the music, dialogue and other bits and pieces, the team also performed well by putting five different perception into a single movie. There are room for improvement but generally it was a good effort.

Producer and the Directors! 

I was just about to enter a contest to watch the movie when I got invitation from Churp Churp (thanks a lot guys!) to attend the press screening instead. Lagi best, sebab I managed to get a glimpse of those involved. I even stayed back for the press conference and understood better the work put into making this reel a reality. Proud to find out that the Producer have been wanting to produce this work since 2005. There was a sense of accomplishment in his face when he was speaking to the press about his labour of love. Largely this was a brave attempt and hopefully will gain attention once it’s released to the general public. I would recommend it to my friends because it depicts what happens in a relationship, the behind the scene before a couple finally decides to take the big step into taking their relationship further. It might be influenced by so many other people but it’s up to the individual to take the plunge or get Cuak and end their courtship! 

He is  not scary but really quite friendly! 

Ehem...guess who??? ;) 

Kami Histeria Review

Jangan lupa nak tengok eh nak! 

Kami Histeria review – The last time I watched local Malay movie in the cinema was a film titled Histeria, horror story about some school kids getting possessed by spirit. It was not a bad watch but this time punya Histeria was way better. Jangan silap haribulan aku kena Histeria dah! Even though I do act like I got Histeria if I can over excited. Try not to be around me during that time if you want to live! Hehehe

Rock chicks! 

Gempak siotttttttttttttt!!! 

Let’s move on to the movie…it’s about five girls hoping to make it big in local music scene led by Laila (Diana Danielle), Bad (Sara Ali), Peanut (Nad Zainal), Airin (Mila) and Jojo (Salwana Omar) naming their band "Kami Histeria". They move into a run-down flats and with help of Pit (Izzue Islam) clean up the place and start to ‘jam’ for their next song to be uploaded into YouTube. Little they know with a help of Langsuir’s (Banshee) voice in the background, their song finally hits big time and start to fill the air ways. Their next song lack the ‘pengeras’ so the girls go looking for the Langsuir (aka Cik Lang) to strike a ‘deal’. Cik Lang (Nur Fazura) agrees to contribute her voice with one condition to be fulfilled if their next single becomes a hit as well. As luck would have it, the new song climbs up the chart making Kami Histeria one of the most wanted band. While the girls are enjoying their new found fame, they get a visit from Cik Lang to claim her end of the bargain and remind them of their grim fate if they fail to meet her condition. Funny, scary and silly events pursuit in order for Laila, Bad, Peanut, Airin and Jojo to live another day. Will they succeed in their mission? Jeng jeng jeng

Cik Lang suara merduuuuuuuuu gitewwwwwwwww!!! 

Beh tahan ek? 

I’ve been out of touch of the local celebrity scene for quite some time but proud to notice the new talents replacing the old ones. Few familiar names such as Nur Fazura and Diana Danielle have improved a lot since I last saw them while new faces paints a breath of fresh air into our big screen. Fazura with her funny ‘loghat utara’ left me in stiches laughing my arse off whenever she starts to speak but once she changes into who she really is, aku terus terdiam tergamam kejap. Gulp. The rest of the cast, even the non-speaking ones played their part well. You can feel their emotions when they are happy like kid in Candy land once their song becomes a hit, scared to shite when faced with the angry Cik Lang. Add in some cheesy special effects here and there and voila. Beh tahan wey! Memang beh tahan gambaq ni nak! Plus the girls could carry a tune or two so they didn’t look like they were acting. The chemistry between Kami Histeria girls was just nice.

Ehem ehem...shameless plug! Guess who? 

I have no idea what prompt me to watch this movie but glad I caught it. On opening day some more ok! I had a blast gelak terkekek-kekek cam beruk dapat pisang at adengan kelakar giler. Lepas tu during the scary scene buka my glasses (because my vision will become blurry) so I won’t be a Pen-takuts (hehehe). Can’t remember any Malaysia Malay movie being this funny/scary in a long time! Bravo to the team for trying something new instead of producing the typical gambar hantu seram or gangster segala bagai. After barf-full of such movies lately, this picture is a good getaway which I hope will encourage more local talents to try something out of the ordinary. “Kalau sesapa nak tengok gamba ni, bagituq cheq naa sebab cheq terhingin nak tengok dan gelak giler lagi sekali. Now please eh-cuse cheq sementaro cheq makan cokelat Kit Kat sket naaaa!” 

Hoooooooyeahhhhh!!! #KamiHisteria! I loike!!!