The Other Women Review

Wedding ring or.....just a ring?

The Other Women Review – Haiz…what a mistake I made when I choose to let go the preview tickets for this movie! Punyalah susah lepas tu nak book ticket! Semua tempat dah penuh giler but somehow I managed to catch it, itupun dapat seat depan giler but since I was with a good company, we just overlooked the crappy seat and enjoyed ourselves. Berbaloi ke duduk hampir mendongok tengok gamba ni? Haaaa…..jom baca my review.

I spy.....a cheaterrrrrrrrrr

As the title goes, it’s about a married man, Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who cheats on his wife with another other women. Worst part is...he is not just cheating on his wife, Kate (Leslie Mann) the basterd even cheats on his other women, Carly (Cameron Diaz) with another woman, Amber (Kate Upton)! Greedy much dickhead? Carly manage to find out that her boyfriend is actually a married man and decides to cut all ties with him. Carly stumbles upon Kate and they somehow end up being good friends bent on taking revenge against Mark. As they get deeper into their plot, they discover more ugly truth about Mark and his scams. Together the ladies try to teach the pig a lesson he will never forget. Will they get their revenge or fall all over again over the cheater’s charm?

Heck yeah!!! 

Cameron Diaz is back doing what she does best yo! With the help of Leslie Mann and Kate Upton. These girls had chemistry bonding over the fraud. Cameron as  a smart lawyer keeping things calm while Leslie goes nuts after finding out she doesn’t have anything of her own, while Kate…with her boobs. Hehehe…Nikolaj was charming when he needed to be but the women in you feel like cutting his dick off for taking advantage of this poor woman’s. Heck, even Nicki Minaj was fun to look at with her clothes on. The cast was well picked; the story was relating enough to feel the women’s frustration. Overall, it’s a good watch for guys trying to think of cheating his girlfriend or wife in the name of LOVE (read: Lust!) while a good lesson to learn for the girls to pick up to avoid being a victim!

when ladies unite! 

Cheating on one’s partner have become so common these days that some people don’t think twice about doing it. They take pleasure in temporary feeling instead of building a long term bond. Best part or should I say worst part is they realize what they are doing is wrong but yet feelings take over the logic. I’m not saying am perfect when it comes to relationship but I’ve been thru the same situation so I can understand the feeling of being cheated on. If you really are in love the person who you are with...why would you even want to think about cheating? It may not be personal to you but have your thought about how the person you are cheating feels about it?

The Amazing Spider-man 2: Rise of Electro Review

Need free jolt? 

The Amazing Spider-man 2: Rise of Electro Review – Confession…I didn’t like the Spiderman reboot. I thought it sucked. I thought it should not have been re-booted. I was not exactly excited when the sequel came out, but then the trailer looked cool. Still I was not convinced to enter any preview screening contest. I was gonna skip the screening till I got hold of two preview tickets…hmm…ok lah…since dah dapat….why not just layan kan?

Damn you Andrew!!!

Just like any other superhero movies, Spiderman (Andrew Garfield) is busy protecting his beloved New York City while juggling his studies. He manages to graduate same batch with love of his life Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). All is in a day life of this red and blue spandex hero until a lonely Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) accidently gets killed by genetically engineered eels. His death is covered up by Oscorp which is trying to restore investors’ confidence after the passing of Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper). In comes Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) to take over his father’s place. The Board of Directors however plays Harry and ditches him from the corporation. Harry discovers some ugly truth about his father’s company and combines force with the revived Electro! Harry seeks Spidey’s assistance and end up pissed at Spiderman for not helping him. Together the two new villains go all out wreak havoc in Spidey’s city. Can Spiderman protect his loved ones or lose more of his loved ones?     

Apa lu tengok? 

Andrew Garfield….hmm…not really my type of hero….especially after the first Spiderman movie but I gotta admit he improved leaps and bounds on the sequel. He did do his doe eyed face every now and then but it just didn’t annoy me as much as it did the last time. Thank God for Emma Stone because her big eyes were just a joy to look at! Lucky Andrew for dating her in real life! Some guys have all the luck I tell ya! Jamie is another fella am not too fond off and with a talent he has, I think he was under-used in this movie. So was most of the other cast, they just come and go when they are needed. The best part however was the special effects. Awesome improvement from the first movie. There were also some humour here and there. Great music covers the weak storyline, but then it’s not an Oscar nominated movie so this was just enough.

Aiks....tengok lagi???

I came out from the cinema satisfied and looking forward to the third instalment since a major twist happens at the end. New relationship…new friendship...new villain…jeng jeng jeng…bring it on I say. Hopefully somewhere along the same mood of this sequel please. My confidence is restored so let’s keep the Spidey spirit up! 

P/s - Thanks Sze for the tickets! 

A Case of You Review

Watcha looking at? 

A Case of You Review –This might be my shortest review ever because there’s nothing so special about it flick. I chose to attend this preview over The Other Women preview which fell on the same day. Yeah, I know! Bite me!

Tengok lagi? o.O 

Anyways, it’s just a simple love story. Sam (Justin Long) is a writer trying to write his own book instead of the usual adaptation from movie to book job he’s been doing. He falls for a quirky barista Birdie (Evan Rachel Wood) and begins to Facebook stalk her. Sam tries to impress her by learning to cook French, learn to dance, listen to boring music among other things. Birdie takes notice of him and they start to date. Sam gets cold feet when Birdie really falls for him. He later confesses that he was trying to woo her by not being himself. Will Birdie accept Sam for who he is?

Slow-mo rom flick

Justin has come a long way from being the dorky fella into guy-next-door. Heck, he even dated Drew Barrymore at some point, so that should mean he is good right? He was pretty much his dorky self in the movie which gel well with the smoking hot Evan Rachel Wood. This chick is still yummy! Can’t believe she used to date Marilyn Manson in real life at one point. This dorky and quirky chemistry made this movie as fun watch despite lack of a proper storyline. Watch out for Sam Rockwell, Peter Dinklage, Sienna Miller, Vince Vaugh and barely recognisable Brendan Fraser as part of the case as well!

Come to think of it, there is a slight message to this movie. Don’t try to be someone you are not for someone you really like. Just be yourself and if all goes well…it will…go well too! No use trying to be someone you not for no reason. In the end, if it’s meant to be. You will be together no matter what. Trust me, am speaking from experience.  

P/s – Thank you Miss Sunshine Kelly for the preview tickets.

Brick Mansions Review

Parkour Paul style! 

Brick Mansions Review – Oh my dear Paul….I remember crying when I saw the newsfeed about his untimely passing. I recalled falling in love with the blue eyed boy in Pleasantville. Even though he played a bad boy character, his charisma melted my heart. Then came the whole Fast & Furious franchise and he elevated into a whole new level of swoon worthy charm. Little did I imagine I would be watching his final movie trying to hold my tears back.

The cop, the bad boy & the crook? 

Damien (Paul Walker) is an undercover cop bent on busting as many crooks as possible and finally lands himself at the dangerous ghetto, Brick Mansion to recover a stolen bomb. Damien gets help from his ‘eyes’ of city, Lino (David Belle) who is after Tremaine (RZA), a ‘businessman’ cum ‘politician’ cum ‘chef’ cum criminal cum drug dealer in order to stop the drugs from spoiling the city any longer. Little did these three (3) guys knew there is a bigger ‘boom’-pun intended waiting for Brick Mansions. While they are chasing each other’s tail, the Mayor and his ‘contributors’ hatch a plan of their own to ‘cleanse’ and rebuild the ‘wasteland’. Will Damien, Lino and Tremaine figure out what’s going on or become the black sheep for the benefit of rich people?

Bust a move & I will burst your head! 

Talk about eye candy feast! If you think Paul blue eyes was awwwww, wait till you hold your breath while watching David parkour’ing his way away from both the cops and the thugs! This French cutie goes topless most of the times and the curve on his body is like yummy yum yum! His scruffy face is dirty most of the time but he is still sooooooo good looking! Coupled with his ‘girlfriend, Lola (Catalina Denis) it’s like a dream come true. Heck even RZA was witty with his lines. Storyline is pretty petty but who cares, it flows just good enough to spend your time and money in the cinema. The music was awesome and best part was the camera angles! It captured the complicated moves brilliantly that you might just find yourself trying to avoid an obstacle or two!

Don't play-play wey! 

Yummm......

Backflip yo! Ko boleh? 

Fast and Furious may have pushed Paul into stardom but it was nice to see him in an indie flick with no blockbuster budget. His cop-next-door acting joined bro-mance with David was just as good as he was with Vin Diesel.  The world didn’t just lose a good looking guy but an overall good actor as well. Let’s remember his contribution to the film industry and honour his life. You have done your job well Paul. Now ride and fast in your next journey. 

Eye candy!!! 

P/s - Thank you Churp Churp for the tickets! 

Transcendence Review

Human???

Transcendence Review – Hmm…talk about a perfect wrong timing…when I saw the question below posted on Churp Churp’s site for this movie’s preview ticket, I was stumped on how to answer…even thought of not joining it because I was still grounded from going out at night after my Amma’s sudden passing. The question read as follows: -

“Would you prefer to live forever through Artificial Intelligence and why?”

My reply...Having just lost my Mother...I have mixed feeling about this question. One side saying yes so I can be with my loved ones for as long as I could while the other says no because when it's time for you to go...you gotta go. 

Little did I know, I scored preview pass and made my way to catch Johnny Depp after getting permission for a time off.  

Too smart for own good? 

The story runs along current debate of Artificial intelligence (AI). Scientists world over are try their best to find cure for cancer, Alzheimer and other life threatening dieses. Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) along with his wife, Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and Max Waters (Paul Bettany) are a trio pioneers trying their best to rid World of such problems. They even manage to create a supercomputer that sorta can think for itself. While attending a forum, Will was attacked by group of anti-AI believers and finally succumbs to his injuries. His wife and Max however manage to ‘upload’ Will’s ‘brain’ into another computer generated by them. Will ‘request’ to be connected to the internet so he can have unlimited access to all information and begins his work to find treatment while also ‘get his body back’ so he could be with Evelyn. His quest however begins to sway from natural form of life into synthetic being without any emotions which might spell the ultimate end of biological existences. Max turns his back on Will and co-operate with the anti-AI group to stop Will from causing more chaos. Will Will-pun intended manage to be the new God or fail?

Facechat??? Snapchat??? 

I used to like Johnny a lot but then started to lose my interest after he went overboard on Pirates franchise. It was nice to see him acting as a human…well…at least during some part of this movie. He really is a talented actor and hopefully will play more ‘normal’ character instead of being the weird one all the times. Rebecca Hall is fast becoming my favourite not-your-typical-leading-lady-but-does-a-decent-job chick. She played the Mrs-who-just-lost-her-husband-and-will-work-her-brains-off-to-get-him-back part pretty well. I could feel her loss but maybe it’s because am coping with my own grief. Paul Bettany also helped to bring life to his character torn between loyalty towards his friend or look after the good of mankind. Too bad other talents were underutilised including Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy and Kate Mara. They should have been given a little bit more screen time. The special effects were done Christopher Nolan style, some good, few over the top. The flow of the story was also had Nolan written all over it. It could have been better fell short for some reason.

Body is gone but what your conscious? 

Back to the question…about immortality or ‘leave’ when your number is up. Recently I’ve been hit with back to back of shocking passing that made me question when will my time come? There were few occasion I wanted to end my existent but what good would that do? We just gotta live our  life, the good, bad, happy, sad, miserable or whatever kinda emotions our situation might throw at us because alive or dead, there is a reason why we were put on this Earth.

P/s – Thank you Churp Churp for the tickets and even better surprise of picking my answer to score the awesome wind-breaker! It was a good movie break I needed after a short hiatus.

Thank you Churp Churp!!! 

P/s- Just as I was writing this review, I could stop my tears from flowing as the heaven added another Angel by taking YB Karpal Singh in a car accident. May the Tiger of Jelutong roar and defend those in need high above just as he did during his short time of Earth.  Rest in Peace Sir. 

Thank you YB

The Grand Budapest Hotel review

...need a place to check in? 

The Grand Budapest Hotel review – The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Darjeeling Limited are some of the movies helmed by Wes Anderson, the Director of The Grand Budapest Hotel. I have not watched any of it so I’m finally popped my Wes Anderson cherry with this flick. Reviews from his previous abovementioned films always pictured him as an eccentric director with a quirky sense of …well….direction. Was my ‘first time’ worth a watch? Let’s check into The Grand Budapest Hotel shall we? 

....5 stars? hmm.....

The show starts narrative style with an old Author (Tom Wilkinson) telling story about Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori/F Murray Abraham) on how he inherited The Grand Budapest Hotel. He was the hotel’s lobby boy mentored by Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) and they end up being good friends. Zero is well aware of Gustave being the hotel guest older, rich and blonde women’s special companion. Ehem. One of them, Madame D (Tilda Swinton) kicks the bucket suddenly and according to her Last Will and Testament leaves Gustav her most prized possession. A painting referred to as ‘Boy with Apple’. This action triggers series of unfortunate events for Gustav as Madame D’s disgruntled son, Dmitri (Adrien Brody) hires a private detective cum assassin Jopling (Willem Dafoe) to get back the painting from Gustav by all means necessary. Gustav is accused of killing Madame D and gets thrown into jail. He escapes with help of Zero and his baker girlfriend Agatha (Saoirse Ronan). Together they embark on their journey to prove Gustav innocence. Will they succeed?  

....#player nuff said 

One look at the poster and I went ‘Woahhhhhhhhh’. So many talented people in one movie. Kalah The Avengers wey! Will they be given enough line/time to shine? Main focus is of cause on Ralph Fiennes with his nose intact after battling with Harry Potter sans….errr…nose. His acting flair was top notch delivering line after line. While his side kick, Tony Revolori was equally gifted as well. Their chemistry was like a perfect combination of chemicals and comical. The rest of long list of actors was a joy to watch with each of them contributing different type of emotion to the movie. The best part of the movie for me was the background music! I wish I could watch the band perform. Each tune matched well with the scene. There was slight animatic style of filming which sets this movie apart from the rest out there.

....guess the actors.....

The peculiar storytelling way coupled with strange and out of the box direction will either tickle your fancy or make you cringe. I had mixed emotions. The fancy part was spotting which actor playing which part while the cringing was…well…I rather not dwell on it. Let’s just say it served little surprising scenes here and there. There was also blink-and-you-will-miss-it-scene which is total a NO NO in Malaysian cinema. Maybe since I watched the preview, that scene was not snipped. I just hope it won’t get blown-pun intended out of proposition. Weekend watching is recommended instead of after work view. The slow pace might turn you off from appreciating this unconventional picture. Check into The Grand Budapest Hotel and who knows you might just start checking other Wes Anderson offbeat trail.   

P/s - Thank you Churp Churp for the #Churprimere tickets! 

Bye-bye Bubbly Babe

When I first saw a new magazine on the newsstand called hot with Angelina Jolie on the cover…I was like….ler…muka pompuan ni lagi! Dah tade orang lain le nak letak on the cover…bosan dy looking at her face on cover of every other magazine so I opt not to buy it. The second issue however caught my eye…which is kinda ironic because for the life of me, I can’t remember who was on the cover. Thought hard as I could but…nope…memang can’t recall. Screw the cover because I was hooked on the magazine ever since. I’ve never missed a single issue ever since. To be honest, sometimes, I don’t even read page to page but I will feel something amiss if I don’t get my hands on the latest issue.

 

Cray cray hot magazine crew! 

What turned out to be awesome was when I finally met the Editor for the magazine. She was like a breath of fresh air. You see…I’m the type of monkey who can’t sit still while attending events. I will somehow make at least one new friend at every event but unfortunately, this ‘new friend’ I make will sometimes make dono of me when he/she see me at another event barely few weeks later. There I will be wondering if I said/did something wrong (I tend to do that!) when it’s actually their own ego ness that prevent them from talking to me. This bubbly girl however has never done such thing to me. She will say the funniest thing whenever we bump into each other and we will burst out laughing in the middle of the crowd without caring what other people think. We would hug each other till people stare and make up stories in their head. Apa kitaorang kisah? We don’t get to meet each other that often but when we do…it will turn into moment of mini havoc!

Always with a smiling face!

I will curse her for taking pictures with my favourite artist while she would go… “Hey…but you also always win what?….so fair and square lar babe”. I’m not really fond of being called babe but she makes it sound so special I didn’t mind…in fact I miss it. I can’t recall the first time we met but I know we simply clicked on the spot. From then on, it would be an awesome surprise bumping into each other at events. Few people even asked if we were childhood friends  or if we worked together. I wish we did. Would have been fun kan?

Slight confession…despite being a magazine reader, I have never written in to a magazine. Not till after I went to States for the American Music Awards in 2007 and snapped a picture with Bone Thugs N Harmony. I decided to share my experience with the magazine readers about dreams coming true. It was picked as Letter of Week! 

Gangsta Mani with Bone Thugs N Harmony! 

Say whertttttttttttt!!! Fuhyoooo!!! I was over the moon when I saw my monkey face on my favourite magazine! Ehehehehe…that spurred my spirit and I wrote in one more time when I found out Kelly Clarkson was coming over. Guess what? Once again kena pilih jadi letter of the week. Hmm…NICE!!!

2nd coming.....

The awesomeness of meeting her became amazing when I won trip of the lifetime to attend the 2009 Grammy Awards. While waiting to board the plane, there she was! Lil’ Miss bubbly was also on her away to Los Angeles to cover the event. Damn! I know I won but I wish I was covering the event as well. Little did I know it was a tough job. Ingat senang ke nak cover Music’s Biggest Night? Our friendship developed further after the trip as I would always look forward to seeing her here and there. We never fail to give each other the warm hug while teasing each other moments later. Outsiders would think we have gone mad!

This missy introduced me to quite a number of people in the industry. Our usual event to meet would be during the movie preview’s I won from the magazine. I’ve lost count how many previews I’ve been to. I remember there was this one time, my partner kantoi last minute and I had to watch the movie on my own and post it on FB and she commented, “Don’t ever do that again…you are not alone. Lain kali come sit me ok”. 

Nuts about hot! 

The next time we saw each other at another screening, we would crack a joke going…. “Oi….you stalking me izit women?” There were times when I would beratur quietly to collect my tickets while the wannabes around me would make all kinda of noise with their fake accent going on and on about their holiday in UK, US or some fancy mancy place. She will put them at their place when all of a sudden by going…. “You know who she is? She went to the Grammies with me ok. Grammies!” I would just plaster a smirk on my face tapi dalam hati… “FUCK YEAH! Ko ingat ko hipster sangat lak ek? Amek ko!” Kekekeke…thanks for the boost of ego babe! J

Makan Mei Ann makannnnnnnnn

Among all the people I’ve met in my life she is/was one of the most genuine person who truly means what she says. Good, bad, rude or crude. She could stand my antics and never had qualms about being seen together with me. She never fails to introduce me to her friends and does it so wonderfully. Secretly I wish I could lepak with her even more but the short time we spend would make up for it. The longer version would be when I get to attend the magazine’s fun and crazy anniversary events. First thing that comes out of her mouth would be “This is Kanmani. The magazine’s loyal reader”. Cewah…macam dapat certification pulak! Thanks babe! Thank you so much and guess what? You are my favourite Editor! I love your writing, your wit, your humor, your warmth! I love you.

Rockstar she was! 

Now imagine my shock when I just switched off my house light for Earth hour and check my FB only to see Reta’s posting Mei Ann’s picture. I’ve seen these girls do it a lot and I was just about to comment when I notice the hashtag #RIPMeiAnn. WHAT THE FUCK??? IS THIS A JOKE??? Not from Reta! She would not joke about this! I clicked on Mei Ann’s FB page….more postings saying RIP! NOOOOO WAY WEY! NO FUCKING WAY!!! Tears started rolling down my cheeks. My heart screamed! My vision got blurred. I collapsed on my bed…SAY IT ISN’T SO! IT CAN’T BE! IT SHOULDN’T BE! HOW COULD THIS BE?

one of my fav profile picture of Mei Ann! Smiling even underwater! :) 

I tried to call Reta and send her a text message to verify the news. I hoped it was just a cruel joke and my babe was doing fine. I FB messaged Gobi…he replied….and confirmed my worst fear. It was not an early April Fool’s joke. She is gone. Really gone. That cheerful, animated, lively babe I know is gone. Once again I lost my composure. Both Reta and Gobi gave information about her wake and upcoming funeral….oh my God….wake and funeral? What fucking cruelty is this? This girl had so much more things left to do but instead she was snatched away from us? What is the bloody hurry God? Why did You get so greedy? There are loads more joke and sarcastic remarks we wanted to exchange between us. What am I supposed to do now? Mourn her loss? WHAT THE FUCK WEY? I was not sure if I was sad or plain angry but I soooooo wanted to punch someone while crying my eyes out. I couldn’t stop my tears. The news slowly started to sink in along with my sinking heart. I cried myself to sleep that night.  

The next morning I was off for Captain America: The Winter Soldier preview with my friends. I was trying my best not to breakdown during the movie knowing it was last movie she watched. After the film my mind started to go serabut, my friends were trying get my mind off the news. They helped me to drive to Gui Yan Funeral Parlour to pay my last respect. On the way there I wanted to jump out of the car. It was one of the longest ride ever but when we reached I felt numb. I saw Raasi, making her way out, said hi to her and proceed to enter the Parlour. I’ve never attended a Chinese custom wake so I had no idea what I was going to face. An aunty greeted me and I recognise one of Mei Ann’s sister as I’ve seen her during one of the movie screening. She knew me right away, just like Mei Ann, she hugged me. I conveyed my condolences and the aunty took me closer to the casket. I asked if she was Mei Ann’s aunty. She smiled and replied, “I’m her mother dear”, Murugaaaaaa….how silly of me! I strait away hugged her and started to cry. ‘I’m sorry for your loss Aunty. You had a wonderful daughter. She was a great person’. Every time I talked in past tense, my heart ached. Aunty asked if I wanted to say hi…or actually bye to Mei Ann…now I see where Mei Ann got her sense of humour.

......sigh.............

There I stood. Mind went blank. I have never seen her like this. I remember how I felt when I saw my uncle in the same position almost a year ago. I wanted to do the same thing I wanted to do to my uncle. Just yell… “Oi wake up ler! Let’s crack a joke or two! What are you doing inside there?” but nothing happened. She was there….she is gone….my babe….gone…just given 32 short years! What kinda punishment is this? I lit up a Chinese praying stick or something. Said my prayers and bid farewell to my favourite Editor. Mei Ann’s mother approached me again and I just went numb and started crying again. She consoled me. Stupid Mani! You should be consoling her not the other way around! We talked for a while and I sat and chat with her sisters. Her elder sister’s voice sounded so much like Mei Ann’s. I joked with her younger sister. I’ve seen them many times before and I regret it took me this kinda circumstances to finally have a chat with them. I saw few familiar faces, can see they are shocked just as I was. Few people came to join us on our table and just like how Mei Ann used to do it, she sister introduced me. “She went to the Grammy with Ann”. I just smiled. I wish we were still at the Grammies instead of the current situation. How I wish I could turn back time.

....memories....

....proud mama with the 200th issue cake! 

meeting her match in She lah! 

...appreciated for her hard work 

rewarded for her amazing job

thank you for......you know......thank you...thank you...

After all is said and done. I know I can’t blame anybody or anything for what has happened. Just like how shaken I was when I lost my Granma, my Uncle and my Boboy. I need to go on living my life with memories of these great people/pet that graced my life. I may not get to see them anymore but I will fondly remember how each and every one of them have touched my life and hopefully I did the same for them too. Every beginning has an ending, we may not like the way it ends but that’s what life is all about. Rest in peace and may/till we meet again. Thank you for entering my life and make me value my life.

I’m sure the haven is lucky to have you just as I was when I got to know you my babe. Bye bye bubbly babe…..for now.  

....gone but not forgotten. 

Rest in Peace.....

indeed....live, love and be merry babe!