Charlie Wilson's War

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Nobody @ Home (29/11)
Snacks: None
Hidden Scene After Movie: No

Just making up the numbers people.

Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) is not your average congressman from Texas.
He likes drinking. He likes drugs. And he likes sex.
But he also likes making a difference by using his charm and demeanour to convince people of a worthy cause.

It is the 1980s and the Soviet Union is attacking Afghanistan.
And after witnessing the devastation of Soviet attacks, Charlie and rich socialite Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts) decide it is time to step in and start funding the Afghan cause because right now they are dying due to lack of weapons and money to fight the Soviets.

And along with CIA operative Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), they undertake a personal mission to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Including garnering support from Pakistani president Zia-ul-Haq (Om Puri) and even fellow wealthy congressman Doc Long (Ned Beatty).

This movie was based upon the actual events behind the liberation of Afghanistan from the Soviet attacks in the 80s.
We all know the outcome. I guess it's just interesting to know how things went down behind the scenes y'know what I mean.

Philip Seymour Hoffman steals the show as disgruntled CIA man Gust but other than that this movie was actually pretty pointless.
Sure maybe it was a 'nice to know' kinda thing but it didn't actually manage to turn out any differently than a re-enacted documentary about the actual events.
Not really boring if you like history and info but don't expect much else other than a quick history lesson on what went on kiddies.

Final Verdict:

Body Of Lies

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Mr Rider @ The Grand Cathay (23/11)
Snacks: Boiled Peanuts & Grape Soda
Hidden Scene After Movie: No

Trust No One? Isn't that like.. The X-Files or something?

Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) is a CIA handler who specializes in dealing with terrorism particularly involving the Middle East.
The agent under his care is Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) - a no-nonsense agent who gets the job done and has a passion for fighting the war against terror on the ground and intends to make a difference no matter what.

When information is out that terrorist named Al Salim is masterminding bombings all over Europe, Hoffman sends Ferris to Jordan to liase with the Head of the Jordanian General Intelligence Department, Hani Salaam (Mark Strong).
Hani is also a no-nonsense person and is man of great intelligence and he has only one condition when working with the CIA - that Ferris never lies to him.

So on goes the hunt for Al Salim that takes Agent Ferris to several locations all over the world and he even falls for a local nurse Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani). But how long can he keep his job separated from his personal life and how long before it catches up to him?

I'm getting more and more impressed with Leonard DiCaprio's acting. His performance in this movie along with Mark Strong's was what saved this movie.
Rusell Crowe plays a fat lazy dude who does nothing so they could have just cast some other dude and no one would have noticed at all.
And Mark Strong is also fast becoming a preferred actor of mine. He's got the look and talent. Juct check out his performance in this movie.

Lovely cinematography and locations shoots. And there's some pretty exciting action in it as well.
But this movie just barely passes to be honest.
One word - DVD. Oh wait. That's technically 3 words.

Final Verdict:

Quantum Of Solace

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: My Dad & My Brother @ Cathay EHub (05/11)
Mr Dopamine Dreamer @ The Grand Cathay (08/11)
Snacks: None @ Cathay EHub
Green Tea @ The Grand Cathay
Hidden Scene After Movie: None

There's that MP5 again...

Picking up from where Casino Royale left off...
James Bond (Daniel Craig) has captured Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) who reveals that the group he works for a formidable force indeed.

The group - Quantum - has "people everywhere" and one of them is Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a businessman who heads a corporation called Greene Planet which is actually a front for his dirty dealings.
And as usual it is up to Bond to foil their plans.

But M (Judi Dench) thinks that Bond is too volatile because of his nature to seek revenge for the death of Vesper Lynd and even sends MI6 agent Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) to bring his back to HQ.
But Bond is obviously going to deny any such intentions and re-teams with old ally Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) to try and sort things out.
And on the way he encounters Camille (Olga Kurylenko) who seems to have her own agenda against Greene. Or does she?

I really think this was quite a let down. Especially if we're comparing it to the first installment of the 'new' Bond era Casino Royale.
For the first time this is actually a Bond sequel where they continue the story based on how the last one ended. And I think this is where this movie fails.
They spend too much time trying to tie up loose ends from the first movie that they lack the time and continuity to concentrate on the new plot.

Daniel Craig is again giving a solid performance of Bond and we're talking about a pretty formidable-sounding Bond villain here.
But alas too much time is wasted trying to find Bond some peace of mind that instead of doing his job he's too busy stewing about his dead girlfriend.

Plus. Director Marc Foster is so not an action director.
His previous movies like Monster's Ball, Stranger Than Fiction & The Kite Runner may have been superb to many.
But he really needs to get more action experience under his belt.
Espcially in the fight and shootout scenes.
Maybe they should have gotten a more experienced action director

Still a acceptable Bond outing overall.
Now that they've closed that chapter. Hopefully the next Bond film will not only have great promise - but also deliver the goods.
I don't care if it's shaken or stirred. Just let it be Bond.

Final Verdict:

[REC]

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Nobody @ GV Plaza Singapura (06/11)
Snacks: Mixed Nuts & Green Tea
Hidden Scene After Movie: None

No hablan español?
Prepárese para vomitar!

Ángela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman Pablo (Pablo Rosso) are with a local TV station who're filming a variety programme.
And the lucky assignment? To tag along with the local Spanish firemen as they go through their nightly routines.

And just their luck - they get a call.
So Ángela & Pablo follow firemen Manu (Ferran Terraza) & Álex (David Vert) to a building in town to rescue a woman trapped in her apartment.

But there's more than meets the eye and what was supposed to be a routine call turns out to be more like a zombie fest as people start dropping like flies (literally) only to return to life just to eat other people.
And to make it even better - the government decide to seal up the whole place to contain a potention outbreak rather than rescue the people in the building.

Can Ángela and the rest of them survive?

Well this was the one I was telling you about people.
The Americans have done a remake of this called Quarantine which is scheduled for release later in the month.
And as far as I can tell it seems to be pretty much the same.

And just a warning.
This is one of those movies where it's done handheld style. All the way.
I've watched The Blair Witch Project. I've watched Cloverfield. And those movies were still not too bad in terms of puke factor.
But I think this one pushes the limit because not only do you have to deal with the shaky view and sounds - but you also have to read the subtitles.
Which REALLY does not help. Seriously.

Pretty predictable but not too bad i guess.
I watched this so I can compare it with the remake in case I decided to watch it when it comes out.
And no surprises - they showed the Quarantine trailer just before showing this movie so you not only know what's going to happen.. you also know how it's going to end.
What a bunch of idiots.

Final Verdict:

Choke

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Nobody @ Cathay Cineleisure (04/11)
Snacks: Crispy Chicken and Root Beer
Hidden Scene After Movie: No

*cough cough*

Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) is a sex addict. He attends a sex addiction group and has sex with the other addict there and he works as a tour guide at Colonial America with his best friend and reformed sex addict Denny (Brad William Henke) and Victor ends up having sex with people there too.
(Safe to say Victor really likes having sex)

His mum Ida Mancini (Anjelica Huston) is eccentric to say the least but is living her last days in a care facility after suffering from dementia for years to the point that she can't even recognize her own son and he has to pretend to be different people each time he comes to visit her.
And he wants so much to know the truth about his father and hopes his mum will tell him before she dies.

But one day Victor meets Dr Paige Marshall (Kelly Macdonald) at the facility who thinks she might be able to save his mum's life which obviously Victor is excited about but at the same time starts to have real feelings for a female. For once.
But a whole load of incidents (including one that makes Victor the clone of Jesus Christ) really start to make things more complicated. And really funny.

And the reason for the title 'Choke'?
Victor pretends to choke on food in restaurants and scams money out of the people that rescue him so that he can use it to pay for his mum's hospital bills.

I have to say this was quite a good show.
It was a dark comedy but very dark overall. And it did have some unbelievable moments that made you think "What the fuck?" but in a good way.
Based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk (the same guy who wrote Fight Club) so you can expect the same kind of satirical view in this movie.

And to me the best part of the show was Sam Rockwell's acting.
Come on man. It's the dude that played Eric Knox! Respect.

Final Verdict:

The Coffin

Times Watched: 1
Watched With: Miss Q @ Cathay Cineleisure (31/10)
Snacks: Sugar Peanuts, Cup Corn & Root Beer
Hidden Scene After Movie: No

no way no way no way.

There is a ritual in Thailand where people will lay in a coffin to ward away bad karma and evil spirits. Well they hope to anyways.

Chris (Ananda Everingham) is one such person who believes this ritual works and hopes it will bring good karma for himself and his girlfriend May (Napakpapha Nakprasitte) who is suffering from terminal cancer.
Another person who believes this ritual will help her is Sue (Karen Mok) who has actually come all the way from Hong Kong without telling her fiance Jack (Andrew Lin) just 1 week before their wedding.

And after going through the ritual it seems like their luck might actually be changing for the better. Or is it too good to be true?

Oh man no way no way.
The trailer seemed to show a bit of promise. And having the guy from 'Shutter' means that this might actually be as scary right?
I'm sorry people but the answer is a NO.

Not only is this movie slow and boring, it also is not scary at all.
They tend to try and give the cheap kind of scare but making a loud noise all of a sudden and in the mean they also forget they are making a movie.
So many people and they're supposed to be connected but somehow they are but are not? What the hell is going on here?
And what was up with the ending?

This movie really really sucked to me. Seriously.
I wouldn't even recommend the DVD for this one bub.
It's just lucky I can't rate less than half based on my system.

Final Verdict: