Crows Zero (Kurôzu Zero)

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Mr Rider @ GV VivoCity (22/03)
Snacks: Picnic Chocettes & Iced Lemon Tea

checko-mato. oh wait. this isn't death note...

the Suzuran High School for Boys is NOT your ordinary school.
this is a school where you are not judged by your grades but your fists.
and everyone's aim is to rule the school byt fighting to the top.

Genji Takaya (Shun Oguri) is the newcomer who has plenty of spunk and the ambition to take down the current top dog Tamao Serizawa (Takayuki Yamada).
and to do so he enlists the help of old boy Yakuza misfit Ken Katagiri (Kyosuke Yabe) to guide him on the path to glory at the school.

and so from there you have a bunch of guys kicking the shit out of each other in a very scheduled and calculated order.
(they even challenge according to school seniority)

the cinematography is spectacular (what else do you expect from Takashi Miike?) and the fighting is pretty exciting.
but this movie is more of a comedy than anything else.
some parts (like Serizawa's intro on the motorcycle) that are bloody funny.

and this is based on a popular Japanese manga comic.
so you can expect some sequels i reckon.
but the best way for me to describe it is just a movie for girls who drool over good-looking jap guys to go drool over them a little more.


fighting's good but overall i just felt like buying some Gatsby products.

okay to watch if you really under the bo-pian act.

Final Verdict:

Be Kind Rewind

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Nobody @ The Cathay (19/03)
Snacks: Maltesers & Green Tea

you name it. they'll shoot it.

so Elroy Fletcher (Danny Glover) owns a tape rental store.
(that's right. a VHS videotape rental store.)
and since it is the age of the DVD, times are hard. really hard.
and the shop is marked to make way for a new modern shopping strip much to the dismay of Mr Fletcher and the neighbourhood (because famous jazz musician Fats Waller was born in that very building)

so Mr Fletcher goes on a short trip and leaves his adopted son Mike (Mos Def) and his best friend Jerry (Jack Black) to run the shop while he's gone.
the problem is that Jerry gets into a little accident and gets himself magnetized (don't ask) so when he walks in the store all the tapes get erased.

so how do they go about fixing the problem?
they start re-filming the movies. on their own. seriously.
(oh wait Alma (Melonie Diaz) helps them)

and i know it sounds like a really crazy idea.
but the people really liked it. so they continue making more and more of the movies with really funny results.
what movies do they remake?

well. to name a few.
Ghostbusters, The Lion King, Robocop & (my fave) Rush Hour 2.


can you imagine someone like Jack Black re-enacting some of those movies? you can surely see the comedic value in it right?
just like all his other over-the-top movies?

well. good news.
Director Michel Gondry does not do slapstick comedy.
and that's what really saves this movie.
it was a very well-shot and well-acted movie with (in the end) very noble intentions and even nobler messages.

sure go watch this movie because some bits are really funny.
(best part? the power plant sabotage)
but funny as the idea of this movie sounds, be prepared.
don't expect another School of Rock or Tenacious D movie.
because it's not.
but i think some people will be surprised.

Final Verdict:

Rule #1

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Miss Hana, Mr Porno & Mr Rider @ The Cathay (15/03)
Snacks: Popcorn & Coke

Rule #1: There are no ghosts.
yeah right. and Santa Claus doesn't exist either.

so Shawn Yue is a rookie cop.
and after a particularly gruesome case (where he says he saw a ghost save him) and because they obviously can't say "yes you are right there was a ghost" he's transferred to the Miscellaneous Affairs Department to 'cool off'.
and this department apparently deals with supernatural cases.

his new veteran-cop boss Ekin Cheng says that the department was set-up to handle the public calls that were 'weird' and do their best to disprove the supernatural aspects of the publics' worry to maintain peace and order.
and it all goes haywire for the cops from there.

i'll have to say this wasn't such a bad movie.
it may seem draggy at times but overall there are some moments which will make you jump out of your seat (as demonstrated by the people sitting in front of us in the theatre) ans scream out loud.

and for you people with bad taste in women then you can go see Fiona Xie starring as the dude's girlfriend.

so this movie wasn't bad.
but it wasn't great.
but bring a squeamish girl or guy and watch them jump.
(hopefully onto you.)

oh. and watch out for the ending.

Final Verdict:

Vantage Point

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Nobody @ The Cathay (14/03)
Snacks: Kacang Putih (Kacang Rebus)

so we all know what's a 'whodunnit' right?
well this is a 'whoseenit'.

the time is 12.23pm. and in Salamanca, Spain there's an anti-terrorism conference going on where (who else but) the President of The United States of America has been shot.
i repeat. the president has been shot.

and so in this movie you will see the events unfold through 8 different perspectives (aka vantage points like duh)
and they are as follows...

1. Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver) - TV News Producer
2. Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) - Secret Service Agent
3. Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox) - Secret Service Agent
4. William Ashton (William Hurt) - The P.O.T.U.S
5. Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker) - An American Tourist
6. Enrique (Eduardo Noriega) - Spanish Cop
7. Javier (Edgar Ramirez) - Terrorist
8. Sam (Said Taghmaoui) - Terrorist

anyone realize that more than half of the list is made-up of really-old-pretty-much-washed-up-almost-has-been actors???

well now at first i was a little puzzled at the way the story was being told but eventually i realized it actually built excitement because we're all waiting to see each part of the puzzle unfold and watching it all fit together.

but the biggest fault was...
well i don't wanna spoil it all so if you want a tip then
(highlight the space between the hexes)

###########################

listen/watch closely enough and you can figure out who's behind the whole thing
within the first 15 minutes of the movie...

###########################

other than that it's not too bad a movie.
pretty suspenseful. keeps you anticipating and guessing.
i guess.

Final Verdict:

August Rush

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Nobody @ Shaw Balestier (13/03)
Snacks: Ribena

wait.
did someone tell me this was a GREAT movie?
(this might be a bit confusing so try and keep up kiddies)

Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) is an abandoned orphan who "hears the music" that he believes will ultimately lead him to his parents.
Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) are musicians and also happen to be his parents (which explains the whole child musical prodigy thing) but things don't go so well because of Lyla's over-protective and intrusive father Thomas (William Sadler).

so Evan escapes from his orphanage to try and find his parents and he happens across a syndicate of kiddy-buskers which is led by 'Wizard' (Robin Williams superbly played) and it is here that he learns to develop his gift of music.
but 'Wizard' obviously has other plans for our boy here.

throw in child services worker Richard Jeffries (Terence Howard) who's trying to help all sides of the cube and you have for one helluba goose-chase.

i guess overall this is a heartwarming story about how a simple thing like music can connect so many people and even inspire love and warmth.

yeah sure it's a nice idea.
but it's hardly genius.

but yes the soundtrack was really really good i say.
a really eclectic genre-mix of some nice songs (there'd better be seeing as to how this is a movie about MUSIC like duh).

but overall.
i guess this movie wasn't that bad.
if you're looking for a heart-warming mush-fest then okay good.
but if not. then just buy the soundtrack instead.

and just a bit of trivia for you.
james morrison was considered for the part of Louis Connelly but turned it down (thank god he did that else i wouldn't have watched this)

and Robin Williams says he based his character of 'Wizard' on real-life rocker Bono (as obviously demonstrated in the pic below)

Final Verdict:

The Eye

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Mr Jab & Mr Batcha @ The Cathay (11/03)
Snacks: None

arrrgh! me eye!!!!

so how many of you watched the HK original?
okay wait.
how many of you have watched US remakes of Asian horror movies?
i'll leave that til the end...

so Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) was blinded at age 5 and now many many many years later she is a concert pianist and is finally egged on by her persistent sister Helen Wells (Parker Posey) to get a cornea transplant which will restore her sight.

after the 'successful' transplant however, things don't seem to be working out for dear old Sydney.
she has visions of people dying, dead people and also these shadowy Lord Voldemort-like phantoms who seem to appear when people are going to die.

her eye specialist Dr. Paul Faulkner (Alessandro Nivola aka Gavino Harris from GOAL!) insists that her mind is just adjusting to the new role being filled by her eyes and she's simply imagining all these weird stuff.
(yeah right doc gimme a break.)
but the visions keep hounding Sydney and she has no choice but to face the demons. literally.

so the original was a collaboration between HK and Thailand.
and the US remake tries to take a it in a different direction so it's not totally identical in case you were wondering.

but so far with almost all US remakes of Asian horror (The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water and the soon to be released Shutter) have so far failed to live-up to and/or match their asian predecessors in terms or creativity and scares.
even though the original Asian director takes the helm for the remake.
(PS it took 2 directors this remake of the Eye and the direction STILL sucked balls to the gedegak. what the hell...)

i'm wondering if there'll ever be a US remake that will be scarier that the Asian original.
well we'll see.
(geddit? geddit? the EYE? we'll SEE?)

PS this movie could have gotten 5 hot dogs out of 5.
if they had included Pierre Png in it like the original.

Final Verdict:

L: Change The World

Times Watched: 1
Watched with: Mr Porno & Mr Rider @ Cathay AMK Hub (10/03)
Snacks: Coated Green Peas

checko-mato. worse-to.

so did any of you watch the first 2 Death Note installments?
well please do not be mistaken. i'm sure some of you might have noticed that this movie here is a Death Note SPIN-OFF okay.
so that means no more killing people with the notebook.

so our boy L (Ken'ichi Matsuyama) is back and this time he's on sorta a mission on his own.
events in this spin-off take place after the 2nd Death Note movie and now L has to save the world from disaster!!! *gasp*

a killer virus has been created by some really evil people led by Yuoki Kudoh (that ninja chick from Rush Hour 3) and the key to the whole thing lie in 2 kids (Mayuko Fukuda & some thai kid)
so L has to use his expert puzzle solving skills and his so-called genius to bring the baddies to justice and save (or CHANGE) the world.

so remember how i said the first 2 movies were shite?
well this one is worse.
at least the first 2 had some semblance of a plot.
the plot for this movie was really really like some badly written storyline from those 90's kind of B-grade straight-to-video kind of movie that some has-been movie star (like Chuck Norris or Lorenzo Lamas) or something will act in y'know.

porno. you've done it again.
keep away people. keep way. seriously.

Final Verdict:

The Leap Years

Times Watched: 1
Watched with: Miss Hana @ The Cathay (07/03)
Snacks: Iced Lemon Tea

what's up with the fantasy love stories this year?
(ask me again later)

so Li-Ann (Wong Li Lin/Joan Chen) is a romantic.
all because once upon a time she consulted a fortune teller and he told her all about her future love of her life.
and check this. her birthday falls on 29th February.

so years upon years after hearing the fortune, Li-Ann and her 3 best girlfriends (Nadya Hutagalung, Paula Malai Ali & Vernetta Lopez) and her best guy friend (Qi Yu Wu) (who happens to be secretly in love with her) have all grown up.
and suddenly her love life begins to unravel just as the fortune teller predicted on her birthday (of all days in all the years)

so the love of her life is SUPPOSEDLY this stranger Jeremy (Ananda Everingham) and obviously they don't live happily ever after from the get go else it would have been a really short movie right?

i know i'm not one for the love stories but i can appreciate good ones.
(c'mon. i liked Moulin Rouge & Romeo + Juliet right??)
and i know this was based upon a novella by Dr Catherine Lim.
but this movie just seems to 'swee'. even for a fairy tale.
and on top of that it is (unfortunately) very predictable.

*adam. what's with all the fantasy love stories this year*
yeah first PS I Love You. now this.
they should make a combined sequel called 'PS I Love You On Leap Years'
starring pierre png of course.

ultimately a fairy-tale love story.
so bring a girl to watch it. and probably expect the teary eyes at the end.
not too bad in the end i guess.
at least the female cast was hot. super hot.

Final Verdict: