Our Kind Of Traitor Review

Get ready to be thrilled...slowly... Our Kind Of Traitor Review - A game of cat and mouse between the Russian Mafia and British Secret Service that accidentally involves a British couple.  You don't want to mess around with Dima!  A couple having relationship trouble, Perry (Ewan McGregor) and Gail (Naomie Harris) comes across a Russian Mafia, Dima (Stella Skarsgard) while holidaying in Morocco. They unintentionally get embroiled in a dangerous world of white collared criminal activities involving some people high up in the government. Pretty soon the couple finds themselves having to choose between walking away from getting into more trouble or help a friend in need. Every single decision and action will determine who lives and who dies.  Troubled couple gets into more trouble The movie’s pace is slow so one needs the patience before it starts to pick up mid way. The story however is very interesting to watch and quite relevant to todays world. It may seem like a work of fiction but watch it and you are bound to think that it may not just be story for a film (*cough Panama Paper *cough). Casting of the right actors made it barely to sit thru. Stellan was spectacular as the Russian Mafia who in no time will get you rooting for him despite his dark history. Ewan meanwhile is still the charmer as he has always been coupled with rising star Naomie. Besides the acting chops, we also are taken around the world a bit travelling from Marrakesh, Paris and London to name a few. Watch out for the ‘colourful’ language though! ...know your enemies... Overall i enjoyed this film but it could have been much better crafted. It may not suit everyone but those who want to watch, think and talk about a movie after walking out of the cinema might find it rather interesting.  Trivia - Both Ewan and Damien Lewis are rumoured to be in the running for the role of new James Bond while Naomi is the new Miss Moneypenny in the current James Bond franchise. P/s - Thank you Lau for the preview passes.

Central Intelligence Review

Hands up!!! Central Intelligence Review - Another action-comedy buddy flick this time combining The Rock and Kevin Hart.  Let's get some laundry done shall we?  Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) was the MVP during his high school years while Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock) used to get bullied. Despite his fame, Calvin never treated Bob in a bad way and years after graduating, Calvin settles down as an account and lives a rather boring life until Bob sends him a friend request on social media to hang out. From the word get go, Calvin’s quite is about to turn into a world full of spies, shooting, blasting and what not when Bob tells him that he is a secret agent being framed for a crime that he did not commit. Can these former high school friends work together to solve a crime or end up behind the bars?  Dude....what do you mean I'm not in Fast & Furios 8? I am not really a big fan of Kevin or Dwayne but their chemistry in this flick is amazing. They compliment each other rather well to make you laugh out loud with their antics. Story wise, it’s pretty simple and a fun overall. Not much brain power is needed to crack the case. Get ready to let out a few loud chuckles and you will enjoy this film very much. Despite being kind comedic there is also an important lesson about what bullying does to a person.  Leme give your some Big Johnson love instead Hart! Hehe Go grab your buddy and have fun at the cinema with this one. Guaranteed to make your time and money worth while. One of the better popcorn flick to hit the big screen this year.

Independence Day: Resurgence Review

Happy 4th of July Earth!!!

Independence Day: Resurgence Review - Guess those fugly motherfucking aliens didn’t learn their lesson first time around.

#amekko ko KLCC hancusssss

The date was 4th of July, the year was 1996. The whole world was almost destroyed after a surprise attack by an alien race. The human race however survived and learned to work together since that day. Fast forward twenty (20) years later, an ancient alien portal activates itself. It brings David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) to Africa only to suspect that the same aliens are on their way for another shot to ’steal’ the planets molten core as fuel for their space ships. All hell breaks loose as the nasty visitors begin to destroy our iconic landmarks (blink and you will miss our very own Petronas Twin Towers come crashing down). All the while Levinson along with former President Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and Dr. Brakish Okun tries to find another way and more information on the aliens intention and way to defeat them again. Once again it will take the effort from the whole world to get rid the menace and rescue humans from the brink of extinction. 

The cast...the old and new and the one who is gonna survive and die. 

Noticed how I ignored that fact that Liam Hemsworth was also part of the movie? That’s because his role and any other characters played by the rest of the cast were reduced to a mere extra to fill in the gap. Even if they were to have anything to say or do, it didn’t make much difference. This sequel seriously lacked what made the first one so memorable, i’m not just talking about the special effect which were plenty but what it missed this time was…Will Smith and his wit. There were no sense of ‘will’-ness if you know what I mean. We however get to see the Queen alien clearly and boy, make sure you are not eating anything during the reveal because that is one fucking ugly Queen I tell ya! Beside the lack of hero to root for, the special effects felt so 1996. Twenty (20) years is a very long time for a counter attack you stupid aliens. Just for your information, we have already watch our iconic buildings taken down by humans you idiotic extra-terrestarials! Come up with better attacking plan or don’t bother at all next time ok. 

...so those buggers are back again for more ey? 

I was blown away by the Independence Day till I remember watching it few times at the cinema back in 1996 but this one…i thanked my lucky stars for scoring preview tickets and not wasting my money for an over hyped flick that fell flat. Resurgence could have been the sequel we deserved after waiting (20) twenty years, instead of going stupidly into the night. Meh

P/s - Thank you Cinema Online for the preview passes.

Finding Dory Review

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...

Finding Dory review - Everyone’s favourite blue tang fish with short term memory loss is back on a new adventure once again after 13 years! 

Meet Destiny, Dory's pipe pal!!!

In Finding Nemo, Marlin (Albert Brooks) had to travel halfway across the ocean to ‘retrieve’ Nemo (Hayden Rolence) back while making new friends which included the absentminded Dory (Ellen DeGeneres). A year later, Dory had settled in well with her ‘adopted’ family until she has a flashback on how she lost her family. Dory then sets on a mission to find her parents with the help of Nemo and Marlin who are worried that Dory might get hurt due to her ‘condition'. The trio once again journey on, this time to ‘the jewel of Morro Bay, California' while meeting interesting underwater and land creatures. Unfortunately once they reach the destination, Dory gets separated from Marlin and Nemo and bumps into Hank (Ed O’Neill) an Octopus (or rather ’spetopus’) who is willing to help Dory in exchange for her ’tag’ while also assisted by her old ‘pipe pal’, Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) the whale shark and Bailey (Ty Burrell) the beluga whale. After losing her parents when she was just a tiny little tang, can Dory succeed in finding her parents or all her efforts go down the drain?

Marlin and Nemo makes friend with two English sea lions. 

After tickling our funny bones in Finding Nemo, it’s only fair that Ellen gets to shine even brighter as Dory in her own adventure. Ellen's voice is spot on to capture all kind of emotions that Dory had to face. This multi talented lady can do no wrong bringing our favourite fish alive with her own twist. Speaking of which, other voice talents were also on their ‘voice best’ to match with their characters. The veterans, Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy could do no wrong as Dory’s parents, Jenny and Charlie respectively. Meanwhile, I personally enjoyed Idris Elba as one of the sea lion with his thick English accent, after parading as Shere Khan the tiger in The Jungle Book earlier, his voice is fast becoming my ears favourite voice to listen to. The storyline however did feel a bit repetitive in the beginning when Dory heads out to the ocean until later part when she goes on her own determined to find her folks one way or the other despite her disability. Same goes for the ocean views as its predecessor had already offered us the lively and colourful scenery of the ocean below us. The setting on the land is rather bland didn’t help much for the eyes as well. Luckily the new characters offered reliefs in exchange for the lack of a much interesting plot and could still capture new viewers attention. 

Meet Nemo's parents, Jenny and Charlie

I remember being blown away by the underwater when i watched Finding Nemo 13 years ago, (until now it’s still one of my favourite animation) so i was a little skeptical when i found out Dory will be doing the same. My doubt was confirmed as i felt Finding Dory is slightly below par compared to Finding Nemo. Perhaps growing ‘older' got to my sense but Finding Dory felt like a there was something amiss in the ocean of my viewing pleasure. Don’t get me wrong, its still an enjoyable film but in my opinion, Finding Nemo is still the better movie, a classic if I may say so compared to Finding Dory. Go watch both and let me know what do you think can?

P/s - Thank you ntv7 for the preview passes. 

The Conjuring 2 Review

Welcome back the Warrens! 

The Conjuring 2 Review - Everyone’s favourite ghostbusters, Ed and Lorraine are back y’ll!

Imagine the seeing your kids getting tortured and not being able to do anything.

After being recognised for their ability to help those getting ‘disturbed by un-wanted visitors', Ed and Lorraine this time travel to London, England to lend a helping hand to a single mother, Peggy Hodgson (Frances O’Connor). A single mother of four (4) children, she is convinced that her daughter, Janet Hodgson (Madison Wolfe) is ‘possessed’ by a spirit of an old man who used live in their house. At first, Janet just sleep walks but thing escalates so quickly until it grabs unwanted attention of the media. Both Ed and Lorraine at first serve as ’the eyes and ears’ of the Church until they witness some strange happenings at the Hodgson’s resident. Little did they expect that they will be facing their own demon that is about to get them. Can the poor family and the Warrens survive this haunting? 

Yearp....this is that Nun! 

The undeniable husband and wife chemistry between Patrick (as Ed) and Vera (as Lorraine) is still strong in this follow-up and further strengthen their relationship when faced with a dilemma of choosing between helping the troubled family and save their own self. Both of them give another outstanding performance as hoped. Meanwhile the new comer, Madison shines as a tortured young teenager trapped between growing up normal while also fight for her life. Heck, even the ghostly nun were freakishly awesome man (that scene when ’she’ comes out of the painting….maigard!!!). Beside the excellent casting, another notable signature of James Wan the Director, is his amazing camerawork, capturing near-to-impossible-angles to scare you even more coupled by the spooky sound mixing that might cause some to wet their pants in fear. The ghost/spirit will not scare you by popping up in your face and what is more scary is the after math it leaves by just lingering in your mind long after you have left the cinema. I’m writing this review a week after watching the movie and still remember how afraid i was (yes, I once again had to watch it with my glasses off!) despite trying to be brave to face the demon-pun intended.    

Are you ready for this?

After scarring the crap of the audiences and kinda reviving the scary movie genre, Malaysian born Director, James Wan once again offers us another winning formula to how-to-scare-your-audience-mentally-instead-of-just-scream-when-you-see-a-ghost flick. (Fuh! that was a mouthful!). Despite being a scary cat that I am, I will most definitely watch another horror movie helmed by him. I hope he will dig more into the Warren’s old files and offer us a salvation from the over crowding of Superhero films lately. Bring it on I say altho most prolly i will watch it with my glasses off once again. Hehe. 

P/s - Thank you Screenbite for the preview passes.

The Conjuring Review

Me Before You Review

Amazing pair of Sam and Emilia. 

Me Before You Review - Another best selling book adapted into big screen flick.

Everybody say Awwwwwwwww......

Will Traynor (Sam Claflin) is a carefree daredevil who is left paralysed after a motorcycle accident. While Louisa “Lou” Clark (Emilia Clarke) is a bubbly girl in need of a job to help her parents to make ends meet. As luck or fate would have it, Will’s concerned parents hire Lou to be Will’s new caretaker. What begins as a resentful relationship blossoms into a loving companionship with Lou trying to convince Will to live longer while he ‘teaches’ her to live her life boldly. With such strong bond formed between them, can the two love birds manage to change each other’s mind or decision for better or worse?

....that man and his dimple!!!

First thing first…the casting of Sam and Emilia was spot on to bring Will and Lou’s character to live. These two have a very strong chemistry towards each other, it will get you rooting for their relationship to survive any situation. Emilia will steal your heart while Sam can melt girls heart just by a simple move of his eyebrow and the oh so perfect dimples. That being said, thank God for the perfect pair casting because to me personally, the story felt pretty short from achieving what would have been a much greater height. It did offer some amount of satisfaction but failed to wow me over. Perhaps its just me but I noticed some viewers were down to the last bit of tissue wiping off their tears towards the end of the film.

....close shave but not quite a clean sweep....if you know what I mean...tsk tsk 

The story did however offer an interesting premise on people fall in love. You can’t choose who, where, when, why and how…you just do, just fall in love...trust me, I know. Hehehe. 

P/s - Thank you Lau for the preview passes. 

Demolition Review

Hey Jake! 

Demolition Review - Jake-I-could-never-spell-his-last-name-right-Gyllenhall (I used search button to look up to his last name) is back with dramatic role.

...to demolish....or not to demolish....

Davis (Jake) seems to be living a perfect life as a investment banker who is married to the Boss’s daughter. Until a routine morning commute turns into a disastrous tragedy killing his wife and leaving him in a loop. Davis vent about his frustrating life by writing a complain letter to the vending company machine when it malfunctions on him thinking it would not receive any attention. Little did he knew that the said company’s Customer Service Rep, Karen (Naomi Watts) would actually return his call and both of them form an unlikely connection. Davis keeps up with his destructive ways in order to understand and rebuild his life after finding out more truth behind his marriage. His also develops a special bond Karen’s son, Chris (the very talented Judah Lewis). Can David ever recover from his loss? 

Jake got his groove on!!!

One can depend on Jake to deliver such strong role and once again he prove his acting chops by taking on such powerful persona. He delivers it effortlessly. Sadly Naomi still plays an insignificant character who gets taken over by Judah’s talent as her son. The storyline is quite intense and moves very slowly (I noticed few people leaving the cinema halfway) but pays off well for those who are patient enough to sit thru till the end. It’s not your typical ‘let’s eat some popcorn or potato chips while watching this’ flick but a carefully well thought movie which unfortunately may not suit everyones or anyone viewing pleasure. 

Nothing to see here....move along....

Taking account from my own experience of losing someone dear to me, I could feel Davis’s sense of loss. I remember not being able to cry when I found out that my Amma was no longer around. I’m just glad I had the right people around me to help cope with the sudden lost of direction. I just hope those who are faced with the same situation will be able to overcome their grieve without destroying themselves. If you need a friend during such times, just remember that I’m still around and would gladly lend my shoulders for you to cry on okies.