Run All Night Review

 

Ready to run? 

Run All Night Review – Liam Neeson returns as father figure trying to set the wrong thing right again.

Like father...like son??? 

Jimmy (Liam Neeson) is a hitman and ‘blood brother’ to Maguire (Ed Harris). Together they have committed a lot crime. Jimmy’s past history had left his only son, Michael (Joel Kinnaman) refusing to have anything to do with his father. Until one fateful night when Michael who works as limo driver witness murder perpetrated by Maguire’s son, Danny. Danny decides to ‘get rid’ of Michael but he manages to escape. In a turn of events, Jimmy ends up putting a bullet on Danny. Michael tries to do the right thing and inform the cops of the crime. Unfortunately they are ‘under’ Maguire’s ‘payroll’ as well. The only person who can keep Michael alive is his father, Jimmy. Both father and son had to go on the run to stay alive. With the cops and baddies chasing them every corner, will they make it out alive?

Gentleman discussion...

Liam…you really need to slow down on the action flicks and do a slow paced film. I mean, I like you running, jumping, crashing, punching, kicking, whacking, shooting people but please calm yourself a bit old man. The story shifts nicely between action and drama scenes. When its pew pew, chase, kill and die part, you have to hold your breath while when the dialogue drama portion arrives, you gotta listen carefully to how they speak. Overall not a bad effort to show what extent a father would go to guard his son.

#word!!! 

Liam can still kick your arse if you miss with his family. Now where can I find a man like this please?

The Lazarus Effect Review

Apa tengok-tengok? 

The Lazarus Effect Review – A method that has been tried and tested so many times, will the formula work once again?

Keep looking some more lar

A group of scientist dedicate four (4) years of their life to create a serum that would ‘bring the dead back to life’. They succeed by ‘reviving’ a deceased dog only to notice soon after that what came back is not what had died. Their sponsor decides to butt in and confiscate all their materials. Not satisfied, the team opts to break into the lab and conduct their experiment all over once again. Unfortunately, one of their team members, Zoe (Olivia Wilde) gets electrocuted and dies, overcome by emotion her boyfriend chooses to try the serum on her. Just when they give up hope, Zoe starts breathing again but that’s when all hell breaks loose because just like the revived dog, Zoe is not the same person after getting a second lease in life. With time running out and Zoe literally running wild…will the team make it out alive?

What if I start looking back? 

Olivia Wilde…the only saving grace for this picture…the rest…sigh…

Fine...you look mighty fine Olivia!!! 

…and am ending my review with a wise man once said: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Whiplash Review

Get ready to get whipped! 

Whiplash Review – If you think playing drum is just about banging the sticks to the drum set, you are gravely mistaken my friend!

...beats me....why would you do such a thing? 

Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) is an ambitious young jazz drummer dreaming of becoming the next ‘drumming legend’. His talent is noted by Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) who enrols him into his studio band. Little did Andrew know what impact that would have on his life. Fletcher is no less of a monster pushing the limit his students to be the best. He won’t stop from flipping chair, throwing drum or curse ones existent if they are not up to his standard. Doing a good job is not good enough for Fletcher, he expects you to exceed and excel or don’t bother at all. With such ruthless tutor, can Andrew withstand the pressure and rise to the top or crumble and fade behind the beat?  

...its about the passion....

This flick produced an Oscar award for J.K. Simmons so rightfully with his mean, nasty and almost cruel role todate. One can feel the anger and anguish when getting screwed by Fletcher for a simple mistake…this guy’s ear can catch a micro second missed beats and turn it around and haunt you. I was cringing every time he stopped the band and hurl abusive words at them. I can’t imagine being in such situation so when Andrew lost his cool and ‘attacked’ Fletcher, I wanted to throw few punches on him as well. Which comes to show how good was Simmons acting at being an arsehole! The awesome camera work to capture close view of the stick beating the drum, the music to pick every single beat. It was pure awesome work by the production crew.

...no childplay... 

This flick made me miss my school band days when we used to train under the blazing hot Sun but the feeling of beating our school nemesis namely, Victoria Institution and St John School Band will live in my memory forever. If you didn't think music could involve actual blood, sweat, and tears, this breathtakingly visceral coming-of-artistic-age drama will set you straight. Now please excuse me while I look for my drum stick and bang on my table! 

Wild Review

Bags are packed but is she ready to go? 

Wild Review – Awesome adaptation from memoir titled "Wild: From Lost To Found On The Pacific Crest Trail".

...life is a journey 

Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) had no idea what she was getting herself into when she decides to go for a solo hike along the Pacific Coast Trail. Feeling down and out after losing her mother (Laura Dern) to cancel and getting a divorce from her husband. Cheryl was lost and felt the need to get a new perspective on life. The journey thru more than 1,000 mile for over 90 days takes her from harsh condition to heart-warming situation. She comes across different type of people while looking back on her life. Will she 'find' what she is looking for by the end of the trail or will she even complete the journey or drop out half way? 

...there's nothing quite like mother's love...

Reese lost out to Julianne Moore for the Best Actress Oscar but any other day she could have added another statue for this role. She carried the movie and managed to capture all the parts of Cheryl: how her life had fallen apart, how people saw her through all of it, and how strangers wanted to help her along the way. Her performance showed a great deal of range. With the help of Laura Dern, one could feel the mother and daughter chemistry between them. It broke my heart when I found out that she too lost her mom. Great acting aside, the storyline moved nicely back and forth from present to past to shed some light on Cheryl’s life.

....no easy journey....

Our stupid Malaysian censorship managed to spoil the mood when they ‘cut’ a lot of the so called ‘sex scenes’. Made the film look kinda hanging and jumpy from time to time. I really don’t get the point of rating a movie only to end up censoring it later. Other than that it’s a pretty decent flick to watch in case. Bearing in mind maybe a walkabout is all that we need. No frill. No help. Just you and your guts to perhaps rediscover yourself.

I’ll end the review with Cheryl’s first inscription on the trail guestbook – ‘If your nerve deny you, go above your nerve’ – Emily Dickinson & Cheryl Strayed  

CHAPPiE Review

Make way for Chappie

CHAPPiE Review – Time to add Chappie alongside Wall-E and Baymax as non-human characters we are going to love!

The Maker and his creation 

Deon (Dev Patel) is an engineer who ‘created’ the droids to man the city as police officers to control the crime rate in JoBerg (slang for Johannesburg). Vincent (Hugh Jackman) is pissed at Deon because his own robots couldn’t be marketed and plans to destroy his creation. Secretly Deon have been designing a programme to give consciousness to the robot but he gets kidnaped before he could test it on an old discarded police robot. The thugs take the robots away from Deon and start to teach their style of living. They plan to use Chappie in a heist to steal money by manipulating its thinking. Meanwhile, Vincent manages to sabotage Deon programme and finally gets approval to deploy his robots onto the street. His first mission is to get rid of Deon, Chappie and those involved. During the confrontation, Deon gets shot while Chappie start to run out of battery but not before discovering that ‘he’ could transfer his consciousness. With time running out will Chappie make it out alive?

Don't mess with Chappie! 

Dev Patel is back from the slum-pun intended yo! After fading into background it was nice to see him being the ‘Maker’ while I still couldn’t get over Hugh’s mullet and half pants wearing role in this flick. Sigourney Weaver was reduce to just a cameo part while Africa own talents played as well entertaining part. The biggest attraction is of course Chappie. This fella is make you laugh and even melt your heart with his well…happy chappie appeal. Don’t mind the swear words coming on every few minutes and also the firepower scenes. Just sit back and enjoy Chappie’s charisma.

Get a haircut pls...

This is a better movie by the Director, Neill Blomkamp compared to Elysium. With a storyline that touch on humanity. Go watch!

Unlikely Hero! 

P/s - Thank you Churp's Alpha Freezeforshort for the #Churpremiere tickets!