21

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Ms Sharky @ The Cathay (29/06)
Snacks: None

"Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!"

Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a genius. Seriously.
But he's also a nerd. Besides building robots with his buddies Miles (Josh Gad) & Cam (Sam Golzari), he's also top of the top and MIT and has even gained entry to Harvard Medical School but like most he has trouble with the tuition fees and such.

His professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) recognizes Ben's talent and smarts when dealing with numbers and math and recruits him into his 'Blackjack Team' comprising of Jill (Kate Bosworth), Choi (Aaron Yoo), Kianna (Lisa Lapira) & Fisher (Jacob Pitts).
The skill of this team is card counting which is not illegal per se but highly highly frowned upon and you're in deep shit if you get caught.
So they scam is that they work as team to rake in the big bucks in Las Vegas casinos under the supervision and leadership of Prof. Rosa.
Ben's got the skill and he needs the money. How can he lose right?

This movie is based upon a true story about Jeff Ma who was really part of the 'MIT Blackjack Team' and even though some of the events were exaggerated, it is for the most part a re-telling of what happened to him and his buddies.
(Look out in the movie for the real Jeff Ma as a dealer named Jeff)

And since this is a true story (and it's based on a book no less) you already know how it's probably going to end so it's a matter of seeing what happens in between and hope that the ending turns out differently that it should. Which it won't.
But hey everyone loves a movie about gambling right?

Well this movie was number 1 at the box office in the States for a few weeks so it's obvious that the draw is there (pardon the pun).

Final Verdict:

Wanted

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Mr Rider, Mr & Mrs Porno & Miss Q @ KLP (27/06)
Snacks: None

yeah yeah i know the trailer was good right?

Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a mediocre person. He's an account manager whose boss bullies him. His girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend. He's broke. His life pretty much sucks.

Wesley thinks his father left him when he was a baby but he soon learns that his father Mr X (David O'Hara) was a world class assassin who belonged to a group of assassins called The Fraternity and was recently killed by Cross (Thomas Kretschmann), a rogue assassin who has betrayed The Fraternity and is killing its members one by one.

Enter Sloan (Morgan Freeman) the leader of The Fraternity who tells Wesley that his destiny is to follow in his father footsteps as a killer.
So Wesley undergoes a complete change in attitude and is trained in various killing arts by Fox (Angelina Jolie), The Gunsmith (Common), The Repairman (Marc Warren) and The Butcher (Dato Bakhtadze).

As Wesley delves deeper into this new world, his obsession with killing Cross to avenge his father leads him down a road he never knew existed.
Does he have what it takes to follow in his father's footsteps?

as usual once again i was fooled by the trailer.
i should know by now that action movies should NEVER be taken at face-value by the trailer alone because there's no way the story is that simple.
however if you're looking for an action movie to watch the i guess this would be it for now. though the start is a bit slow i guess it helps the build-up.

i honestly think James McAvoy was miscast in this. I know he's Hollywood's new 'It Boy' but he seems more at home in quieter movies like Penelope or something.
and I do notice however that Hollywood seems to be running out of ideas because they seem to be recycling a lot of old movie ideas.
This movie kinda reminds me of a cross between the exaggeration of Desperado and The Matrix movies.
The visual effects are pretty stunning albeit a little overboard.
Director Timur Bekmambetov's style is unmistakable. It is little wonder that the style of this movie is VERY reminiscent of his earlier flick Daywatch.

Well this is another movie based on a graphic novel (which seems to be a growing trend nowadays) and i guess it's not too bad overall.
Look out for Terrence Stamp aka General Zod while you're there.
and oh Jolie is hot on her own but the tattoos make her red hot.

Final Verdict:

Get Smart

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Mr Rider @ The Cathay (22/06)
Snacks: Strawberry Pocky & Iced Lemon Tea

i want a shoe phone too!

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) dreams of being a field agent but is in fact only a data analyst at Control, a government organization who battles terror mainly from an organization known only as KAOS.
But when KAOS' top boss Siegfried (Terence Stamp aka General Zod) hatches a plan to detonatea tomic bombs all over the shop, there is only one hope...

Smart is promoted to Agent 86 status by The Chief (Alan Arkin) and with new partner Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) and mentor veteran Agent 23 (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson), Smart embarks on a mission to foil KAOS' plans of world domination.

Seems like a really short synopsis eh?
well believe you me this movie was actually pretty good lah balls.
supporting cast includes Agent 91 (Terry Crews), Larabee (Dave Koechner), master of disguise Agent 13 (Bill Murray), Hymie (Patrick Warburton), tech nerds Masi Oka & Nate Torrence, baddies Schtarker (Ken Davitian) & Dalip (Dalip Singh) and James Caan as the President of The USA.
hell of a lot of familiar names right?
well if not the names then you'll recognize them when you see them.

the casting was solid and the action scenes weren't half bad.
but the best part of this movie i think was Steve Carell's comedic timing. if you liked him in his other movies like The 40 Year Old Virgin and TV show The Office then you'll definitely appreciate his talent. The Rock was entertaining as usual and surprisingly so was Alan Arkin. oh. and Anne Hathaway is so bloody hot right.

and the movie tries to pay tribute to the original TV show but tries to add a little new flavour into it and i think it does a good job overall.
one of the funnier comedies this year.
definitely funnier than the other comedy out now which title rhymes with 'Yohan'. you go figure it out lah okay.

Final Verdict:

You Don't Mess With The Zohan

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Nobody @ Cathay EHub (22/06)
Snacks: Cup Corn & Green Tea

well look here. he's got a great first name (Adam) and his 2nd initial is S so i's got to be good right?
okay we do this.

Zohan Dvir (Adam Sandler) is a soldier-spy for the Isreali army. in fact. he's a super spy.
he can do amazing feats including catching things with his butt cheeks. he likes Fizzy Bubblech, likes to 'do the disco' and he has bushy pubic hair.

oh. and he wants to leave the army to go to America and become a hairdresser.
his parents laugh at him and call him a 'faygelah' (aka the porno).
so he fakes his own death at the hands of his terrorist nemesis The Phantom (John Turturro) and makes his way to the US of A to make people 'silky smooth'.

Things aren't as he imagined when he gets there but he makes some friends like Michael (Nick Swardson) and his mother Gail (Lainie Kazan), fellow Israeli Uri (Ido Mosseri) and hair salon owner and love interest Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui) who just so happens to be Palestinian and has trouble with landlord (Michael Buffer aka the Boxing Announcer dude).

And it gets sticky when a few Palestinians including cabbie Salim (Rob Schneider) recognize the enemy super spy and plot to kill him.
how to cut and style hair like this???

well i had mixed reviews from some people before i watched this movie and some said it was hilarious and some said it sucked shit big time.
i was told that a possible explanation for people not liking it was that you had to be quick enough to catch the joke because most of them are running gags.
well. i'm quick as a grago fox. and i got all the jokes. but...

i'll be honest. i'm a big fan of Adam Sandler.
and he was funny in the movie. and some of the jokes were funny.
but overall the movie wasn't as funny as his previous outings.
maybe it was lacking something i'm not sure what. but it was kind of a letdown in the end especially i was really anticipating this to be good.
maybe it's missing a few of his regulars. you see Rob Schneider and Henry Wrinkler. but not other like Clint Howard or his buddy Allen Covert.

well it wasn't so bad.
you know what's the best way to describe this movie?
it's kinda like Hot Shots meets Nake gun y'know?
just try and catch the jokes oright bub.

Final Verdict:

The Happening

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: My Brother @ Cathay EHub (13/06)
Snacks: None

M Night Shyamalan's movies are always good.
right???

Something is happening.
People around the city suddenly start committing suicide in mass numbers for apparent reason after showing weird symptoms like losing speech and movement.

Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) is a grade-school science teacher who suddenly finds himself on a cross-state journey with his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), his best friend and fellow teacher Julian (John Leguizamo) and his daughter Jess (Ashley Sanchez) after whatever is causing the suicide-pandemic to spread across large areas.

it is a race against time to try and survive and at the same time to figure what it is causing the unexplainable event and possibly defeat it.

it being an M Night Shyamalan movie and all i'm sure you know there's no way i can explain too much without giving away too much.

so i'll leave it at that and you'll have to watch the movie to find out more.

Final Verdict:

Kung Fu Panda

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Miss Liana @ Cathay EHub (13/06)
Snacks: Green Tea

i actually really hate animated features.

Po (Jack Black) is a noodle-selling panda who dreams of becoming a kung fu master and gets his chance when one day a Dragon Warrior is to be chosen.

He is thrust into an awkward position when Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) chooses him instead of more experienced warriors.
Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) is unhappy that he has to train Po and neither are any of his disciples known as The Furious Five.

Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross) & Tigress (Angelina Jolie) proceed to give Po a hard time.
but things get complicated when angyr former pupil of Shifu, Tai Lung (Ian McShane) escapes from prison and comes after his former master.

okay so like i was saying.
i actually hate animated features.
but i will make allowances if the voice talents are people whom i think are not so bad. after all i DID watch 'Bee Movie' with Jerry Seinfeld right?
and this movie had LOADS of big and familiar names (or at least voices) and i have to say i was pretty surprised as to how it turned out.

the actors is hilarious and even though it's a predictable story it IS pretty funny thanks to the talent involved.
so go watch it if you like Jack Black.
even if you actually don't like animated features.

Final Verdict:

The Incredible Hulk

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Miss Q @ Eng Wah Toa Payoh (12/06)
Snacks: Strawberry Pocky

you won't like him. whether he's angry or not.

Dr Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is now a fugitive in Brazil after a gamma experiment goes wrong and renders him with condition that transforms him into a big green 'monster' whenever he gets excited or angry.

He is on the run from General Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) who wants Banner in custody to study the effects of the experiment gone wrong as he believes it can be harnessed to create a 'super-soldier'.
He enlists the services of british army veteran Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) to capture the Hulk but Blonsky's awe and hunger for power leads him down a dark path that head only one way - straight to a fight with The Incredible Hulk.

oh wait. there's also Dr Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) who's Banner's love interest. and the problem is - General Ross is her father.

they said they were going to treat this as a remake instead of a sequel to Ang Lee's Hulk in 2003 because they said it was "too boring".
but the reviews for this movie said it was "too boring".
so what did they accomplish?

well with so-called acting masters like Norton and Roth in the movie you'd expect there to be some substance.
but i think in the midst of trying to make a serious movie with action and good acting thrown in and also trying to be faitful to the original comic (they even have the Hulk in grey in some shots) - they failed miserably.

i honestly think the first Hulk was better.
maybe it's because they promised this would be better. but it wasn't.

good special FX. supposed to be good acting.
lousy movie in the end.

Final Verdict: