I will tell you why I am serious.

This movie is AWESOME!

I am not a Batman fan, to be honest. The old movies sucked beyond redemption. And when this new wave of comic-to-movie flicks started to come out, I did not really have high hopes.

Spiderman was OK. Lots of swinging, and cool effects, but it looked childish and too comic-bookish for my tastes. The Hulk sucked, Electra sucked, Daredevil sucked. Most of them sucked.

The Batman Begins came along. It wasn’t a grand movie – it did have lots of comic-influence and cheesy dialogue – but the direction was a vast and welcome change from the previous Batman flicks and the other superhero action movies.

So you can say I wasn’t really expecting a lot out of Dark Knight.

Boy was I wrong.

I got to be one of the few people who were able to attend the IMAX premiere in Dubai. It was a late show and I had work the next day, but no biggie.

Boy oh boy oh boy.

The Dark Knight is a more focused film given that the characters have been established in Batman Begins. It explores the characters more and focuses on the psychological power play between Batman and the Joker as well as the other major characters.

Forget the old Batman movies and any impression you have on the Joker. After this movie you’d never want to see a clown again. His criminal mind is terrifyingly dark and one without motive. The Joker is portrayed as a symbol of all that is insane in the world – intelligence mixed with immorality makes insanity.

The storywriters did a great job in creating the disturbing character for the Joker. But what truly made him stand out is Heath’s performance. It steals the show, and even though the other actors do a decent to a solid job in portraying their characters, NONE of them is as good as Heath’s rendition of the Joker. As a note, I am still not a fan of Christian Bale’s voicework for Batman. It feels forced and at times too fake to portray seriousness.

Joker’s disturbed psychology – sick sick sick – and the makeup and the movements and the twitching and the “rationalization” of the events – is probably the highlight of the whole film. No matter how many times I repeat it, I cannot stress enough. There’s a lot to read between the lines too, if you’re not into taking the scenarios for face value.

Even though the movie is high on action, it focuses more on thought patterns and internal struggles of most of the main characters (Batman/Bruce, Harvey Dent, Joker). It takes you deeper into the sinister criminal minds, and that of the “goody two-shoes” as well.

Think of the film not as a superhero flick but rather as a two and a half hour psychological experiment. You’ll love it.

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Note that dA usually changes the direct links every once in a while so if they don’t work just visit her page and find them there

Enjoy the video!

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today’s weather forecast: sleep-inducing fog

i want cheezburger

beware of the terrestrial octopus

come face me, giant octopus! fear my chopstick!

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I was pretty excited this weekend since I had planned to watch Beowulf, and, even though my friends attempted to thwart my Angelina Jolie fetishism, I ultimately had the final word against six.

Prior to going to the film, I read some reviews and I was surprised to learn that it was a 3D animated movie – shocked in fact, since I have seen the trailer and haven’t noticed the photo-realistic approach. I suddenly had my doubts and thought this was going to be catered to young kids, but given that Angelina Jolie appears naked in the movie I quickly dismissed the idea and went ahead with the plan.

Quite simply, I was blow away.

The story in Beowulf retells the epic poem tale but actually – like most Hollywood movies – deviates substantially from the original plot and creates a new tale based on the old one. This time though, the retelling is for the better, since the plot of the movie is coherent and relates the events and characters rather than sticking to the bard-song tale of old, but of course this is a bit double edged. On the plus side, like I noted, the story is nicely tied together and the characters now relate to each other in different ways. On the down side, puritans may be put off as well as the Angelina Jolie fans since Grendel’s mother (Ms. Jolie’s role) has her own epic battle in the original poem and not in the new tale. But in the context of the movie, it makes sense to deviate from the original text.

The highlights of the movie – and frankly the sellers of it – are the 3D graphics and Angelina Jolie’s presence in the film. As for Jolie, although her acting part is very small in the film, it really does an excellent job whether you are into the sex-sells business or not. Angelina is the perfect actress to be Grendel’s mother, the main villain and seductress of men – whether or not they rendered her fully nude and had her dipped in liquid gold. She simply rocked the film.

The 3D graphics blow everything else out of the water, and the closest thing that would come to it is Advent Children which was released in 2005 but lo and behold what technology can do in two years. Although, to be all perfectly honest, both movies have perfected the 3D genre in different terms. Just like Advent Children before it, Beowulf has a living, breathing world with beautiful (if somewhat barren) landscapes and a staggering amount of detail put into everything – from textiles to facial features all the way to the textures on the walls and facial hair. In some respects, Advent Children does a much better job, especially in the fluidity of the animation. In a couple of scenes it could be visible that the frame rate in Beowulf drops, and the way the horses and characters run is a bit stiff. Advent Children on the other hand – considering how fast paced the movie is – is technically much more superior in that regard, with not a hint of slowdown with all the action going on. But then again, Beowulf is a much more photo-realistic render (light-years ahead) than Advent Children and surpasses it in that aspect.

My only gripe though is that the pace of the movie was a bit off at first. It starts off very slow until the Grendel battle and the time used in nonsense conversations could have been used to establish the reason behind Grendel’s suffering more so that people sympathize with him. I felt it important because in the retelling, both Grendel and the Dragon have something in common which is not explained until further into the movie, and while I understand the reason behind concealing Grendel’s identity in the beginning, I thought it odd to not at least show some reason behind his actions other than an overly sensitive ear drum.

Other than that, I was thoroughly impressed with the movie, not only because it re-tells an old legend in a new, fresh way with some subtle concepts and ideas, and not only because I am a huge Angelina Jolie fan… but because the movie is thoroughly enjoyable, strange, feels truly epic (the Dragon battle is probably the highlight of the entire film and it was as exciting as the Dragon battle in Advent Children)… and that it pushes the technical possibilities to the limit and shows Hollywood that you don’t need fluffy animals and funny one-liners to make a good 3D film.

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It has been a good while since I have watched a movie in the cinema, so yesterday I decided, after a hearty meal at Japengo’s, that I go and select a random movie to watch. It wasn’t an entirely random selection though – despite the fact I had no idea what was currently showing, as soon as I saw a Jodie Foster movie I said to myself “this is it”. I even passed on a Ms. Jolie movie – rendering me forever shameless amongst fellow Jolie fetishists.

The movie has a basic and typical action movie plot: Erica (Jodie Foster) and hubby get brutally attacked by a group of thugs in a tunnel, leaving her and her hubs for dead. Supposedly. She survives but learns after her coma is over that her hubby didn’t make it, and she sets out on an emotional and quite disturbing route for revenge. But rest assured this isn’t an action movie nor is it a sappy-I-am-afraid-please-cuddle-me type of story.

What is different about this movie and sets it apart from other Woo Clones is that the storytelling delves deep inside Erica’s thoughts as she gets more traumatized every day. The focus of the movie, as I felt it, is on the transformation of the human psyche after a traumatic event. The story doesn’t go overboard with a complete transformation from a peaceful Erica to a murderous psychopath, but rather it shows how Erica’s life has changed, her perceptions, views, values and impulses differ as well as her confusing and contradicting thoughts in each scene. So in that respect you can consider the movie as a psychological thriller more than anything else.

What brings this otherwise B-rated movie to life, other than the story, is Jodie Foster’s superb acting and the well-written and thoughtful monologues. The dialogues in the movie are nothing extraordinary, and in a couple of scenes it gets a bit cheesy and too typical (so don’t go in thinking the dialogues are Closer-like). It is the monologues that truly are the meat of this movie, and although they’re not as numerous as they ought to be for a movie that focuses on thoughts rather than action, they’re spaced out well and are put in key moments. They gripped me long enough to keep recalling a few monologues a few hours after the movie has ended and it gave me a new insight on some issues I would have otherwise taken for granted.

Jodie’s acting is really good but it still doesn’t top her performance in Silence of the Lambs, which I strongly believe is the highlight of her career. In spite of that though, her acting and monologues is what makes this movie, which is a pretty sharp double-edges sword. On one hand, if you do get sucked in, you will enjoy the movie – otherwise you’d be yawning yourself unconscious and only be awakened when there are gun shots (the guns are unusually loud).

The music hits the good notes with its piano melodies; given I am a piano fetishist as well the movie got some good solid positive points there. The camera-work and composition in a good number of scenes is stellar and brings out the mood well – especially the ones where the depth of field is not more than two feet. The rest of the scenes look pretty standard and nothing to talk home about.

At the end of the day, what will make you like this movie are Jodie’s acting and the thrilling monologues, and nothing else. This makes The Brave One quite a brave movie in its own right as it is a hit or miss, and, to me at least, it was a hit. Could use some improvement? Definitely. The idea of the monologues and their actual contents could have been fleshed out more along with other aspects, but given the time limit imposed on movies as well as Hollywood expectations the movie did quite decent.

It makes a good book, though.

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It has been so many years, and some things never change. Neither do they die, hard or otherwise.

I was very eager to watch Die Hard 4.0, largely because I am a huge fan of Bruce Willis, and also in part because it has been a long long while since there was a movie worth watching in the theatres (when will the theatres go HD anyway). I have to say that, for the most part, I loved the movie, because it met all my expectations and surpassed some others.

Die Hard 4.0 tells a typical tale of terrorism (like all the other Die Hards) but updated to the modern era to make it Internet terrorism (hence the .0 in the 4). Although computer geeks, hacking, FBI and government-officials-turn-rotten themes have been made countless of times before, don’t expect a particularly deep or convoluted story with lots of backstabbing and innocent-guy-framed kind of stuff. Every character is introduced as is, you have a list of bad guys and a list of good guys and there are no twists and turns in the plot. Frankly, it would have been interesting if there was more “story”, but Die Hard was never about a deep story as it is about action, and, just like an action movie is supposed to be, you get lots of it.

McClane is an awesome fellow, and Bruce has never been better in portraying the character. A simple escort mission for the almost retired detective turns into a strife to hold the entire nation together. The catastrophe cause by the online terrorism is phenomenally large-scale (nationwide) and it shows future terrorists a door to what they can be capable of. Of course, though, things are made too easy, thanks to ridiculously fast computers and out of this world operating systems you can only find in movies.

he still had his hair back then…

Taking the audience’s naivety for granted aside, the movie delivers its action well through some well done “cinematography” and “choreography” (whoever coins such terms must be butchered). All action scenes are intense, thrilling and a couple are so tense you’d discover yourself holding your seat when they’re over. The action is over the top and employs of course impossible physics, acrobatics and a large dose of absurdity (wing-surfing an unpiloted F35 is a prime example), but for the context of the movie and for the fans, this is exactly what is expected. Lots of really good special effects and sound effects (we all love gunshots that don’t sound like tin cans banging) one-up the action significantly. It is a sin not to watch the movie in a theatre or on your HDTV with sound system when the HDDVD/BluRay (depends on where it ends up) gets released.

The supporting cast is good, mostly, and a couple of the “bad guys” in particular are absolutely incredible and star in some of the most intense fist and gunfight scenes. Unfortunately though, when disposed of, the coolness of the cast drops significantly and you’re left with some lackluster characters, but, thankfully, McClane and his daughter more than make up for it when the others don’t match up.

… but that doesn’t make him less badass now

I liked the movie a lot, and, in my opinion, it is a must-watch, if not because of its great action, then for the fact that it probably is the last in Willis’s career as McClane and missing out on the Die Hard legacy is a mortal sin in its own right.

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The premier was over and done with, unlike when I went to watch Spiderman 3. I went alone to watch the movie – after having devoured what was hands-down the best lunch I had since mom’s wara2 3enab (stuffed grape leaves) last year. Nothing beats a perfectly done Chicken Spinoccoli from Pizzeria UNO.

Like many fans, I had too high an anticipation for the movie. The trailers and teasers bugged me to the fullest as the release date drew near.

Was the movie worth it though? Was it worth all the wait, all the anticipation, all the excitement, and the talk and gossip?

To be honest and frank, yes and no.

Yes because, once again, we are taken on a great journey across the seas. Who doesn’t love pirates? Who doesn’t love their myths and legends and codes and attire? And their language? I can hardly think of someone who never thought of dressing up as a pirate when they were kids.

The movie was great, in many aspects. Depp did a superb job in acting. There was a lot of humor, a lot of nonsensical, interesting twists to the plot. Lots of pretty special effects, a really stunning ship-on-ship battle in a swirling maelstrom near the end of the movie.

Not to mention of course all the attention paid to makeup, clothing, accessories, high production values, and a really good dialogue to go with (although I will be surprised if pirates spoke that well an English).

The downside?

It faced a lot of what other trilogies faced before: The first movie brings forth the novel, first idea and experience. The second movie takes it many steps further by enhancing everything that can be enhanced and delivering an exceptional (but familiar) experience. The third movie lacks the charm of the first and the grandeur of the second, but rather just slightly extends the experience and often leaves a lot to be desired, especially after the second movie.

Anyone who watched The Matrix would probably agree – the first movie was completely novel and redefined the industry. The second movie was brilliant, but, by the third, people lost interest (regardless of whether or not the divulged in the philosophy or religion of it), everything became predictable (especially if you divulged in philosophy and religion) and people watched it just for the sake of it.

Even Lord of the Rings suffered such a fate, although not fully since the actual novel climaxed at Helm’s Deep and the third book had a second and predictable climax, so it is excusable.

My main gripe about Pirates of the Caribbean 3 is that it had a lot to live up to after the first two movies, that it failed to deliver all or most of the expectations. While Depp’s acting was excellent, it was not as good as the second movie. The third concentrated on all the other characters, which is good, but, people want Jack Sparrow, and in that regard, it didn’t deliver what was expected (especially for a 3 hour movie). There were also some gaps in the rather convoluted plot, but they’re probably due to not updating yourself with the story from the beginning, but still, all three movies could be regarded as three separate overall stories with the characters serving as the link.

The movie also failed to deliver a sense of the grandeur that was expected from the trailer. Admittedly, a couple of concepts were brilliantly novel (but I won’t spoil them here), and, like I said, the vortex battle was well choreographed. However, I expected something more out of the “thing that caused the vortex” (see, I told you no spoilers), since a good chuck of the movie focused on bringing that thing back, the outcome of only a vortex being created was disappointing.

At the end of the day, though, the movie was very enjoyable regardless of its shortcomings, just don’t have much high of an expectations for it and you will not be disappointed. And do yourself a favor and update yourself on the events and characters of the first two movies. The third movie is catered for those who know the history, otherwise you would just feel that everything is going arbitrary and without cause (although in a couple of spots this is the case).

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Yesterday I went to watch, with a group of friends, the much anticipated Spiderman 3. Thinking that going on the third day to watch it would mean less human-traffic, I went to book the tickets for me and my friends only 15 minutes before the show.

I have never been as miscalculated in my life.

The queues for the 5 different ticket booths extended through the whole top floor and onto the stairs downwards to the ground floor. That is approximately 150 meters in distance, and, given 5 different queues, and an approximate of two people standing per meter (ideally), there were more or less 1500 people waiting to get the tickets. Of course, there were two times for the show, but all the 1500 insisted that they be fitted into the 9:30 show since no one has the patience to wait one more hour.

To add to the craze, some frantic person booked 20 seats then started selling the tickets for a slightly higher price to the people standing at the very end of the line – all of whom were more than delighted to get their grubby little fingers on what could have been perceived as a limited ration.

I waited in line.

I arrived at the booth at 9:50, the movie having supposedly started at 9:30. Fortunately, big premiers like this also get a lot of in-movie ads. I found exactly 4 empty spots at the very back of the theater. Knowing the theater however, I knew that those were actually the best seats in the house. I successfully made the transaction and rushed with my other three friends frantically into the theater. The movie had only just begun.

Unlike the previous two Spiderman movies, Spiderman 3 focused a whole lot more on emotional and character development rather than on supervillians. This is largely in due to the more complex plot that involves many established as well as new characters, but it also should be attributed to the nature of the main villain, Venom, or rather, the Symbiotic being. For the non-comic fans, this Symbiotic entity may be as ridiculous as Kryptonite (coming from a meteor and all) but it is actually a powerful entity in and of itself and it does some considerable changes to whomever it possesses – and it possesses many of the Marvel Universe characters to create some new and interesting supervillians, the most known, Venom, being featured in this film.

Although I haven’t managed to take a liking to Toby’s role as the lead actor, he did a pretty good job in Spiderman 3 as well, but I would attribute his success to the character of Spiderman as well as all the other supporting characters.

The story like I said is much more complex, and the creators of the film wanted to split the film into two but then reduced the film to a 2.5 hour version after not being able to come up with a successful intermediate climax. Although now that I have seen the movie, if they had somehow managed to introduce the character Carnage then it would have turned out to be an epic film. But again, there are too many Spiderman villains that focusing on defeating all of them would be a saga in and of itself – especially considering the insurmountable volumes of comics already produced.

And this is exactly why I liked Spiderman 3, because it showed us that heroes and villains are all, in the end, human, and that each hero has a dirty side and each villain has a good side – once you understand their point of view.

I’m not going to tell more of the movie – but I just want to point out that I was quite impressed with the special effects work done in this film, especially that they were produced by Scott Stokdyk and not Dykstra who worked on the previous two films. The sand effects for the Sandman were particularly awesome.

Anyway, go watch it because it is well worth the money. And for a little bit of fun, I am throwing in a little bit of Spidey art for you to enjoy.

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