Saturday, August 20, 2011

Johor Family Day trip (20 Aug '11)




Went for a quick getaway organised day-trip to Malaysia. Had a good time with mom and my siblings. Visit to Kukup, a nice sleepy fishing village and home to the southernmost tip of mainland Asia. After that went to a new shopping mall at Taman Sutera Utama. Raining cats and dogs so didn't went to explore the shops outside. Ended with a nice dinner at a Chinese restaurant before heading home.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Captain America: Winter Soldier Ultimate Collection (2010)

Rating:★★★★
Category:Books
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
Author:Ed Brubaker
Thanks to Jonathon Lee for getting this from the local library. An epic story on Captain America and his side-kick Bucky. Read through it in one night. Wonder if this will become a side-plot in the Avengers movie next year...

Marvel.com entry:
http://marvel.com/comic_books/collection/32249/captain_america_winter_soldier_ultimate_collection_trade_paperback

Wiki Entry: (contains spoilers)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucky#Winter_Soldier

Fight Club (1996)

Rating:★★★★
Category:Books
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Author:Chuck Palahniuk
Finally manged to borrow this book from the library. Not a bad read; but think my expectations had been raised higher. I kept hearing people saying how the book is way better than the 1999 film. In some ways it is, because you get to have more description from the narrative. And considering its' written in less than 250 pages it's quite a short read. Still the film does do the story justice. So I'm going to say both are great.

Wiki Entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_Club_%28novel%29

Google Book entry:
http://books.google.com/books?id=hoGkPfds4tAC&source=gbs_book_other_versions

Monday, August 15, 2011

Patisserie Coin de rue/ 洋菓子店コアンドル/ Yougashiten Koandoru (2011)

Rating:★★★
Category:Movies
Genre: Foreign
Haven't caught a Japanese film in a while, so jumped at the chance to catch this. The food preparation shots are superb, makes me wanna try baking. :p Story is a bit convoluted, though if you're used to Japanese films, you'll be lulled by the slow dramatic build-up. Like the way the director does his cinematographic shots to build up the atmosphere. And the soundtrack is whimsically French.

Trivia:
"coin de rue" (french) = corner (english)

Official Site (Japanese):
http://coin-de-rue-movie.com/

IMDB ENtry:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1653950/combined

Wiki Entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patisserie_Coin_de_rue

AsiaMediaWiki Entry:
http://asianmediawiki.com/Patisserie_Coin_de_rue

P.s. i <3 Yu!

Planet of the Apes (2001)

Rating:★★
Category:Movies
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Was pumped from watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes, so decided to borrow the dvd from my friend to watch the 2001 "remake" of the 1960s original. The story was a let-down, even though the make-up special effects were pretty amazing for its time. Didn't really like the cliff-hanger ending, considering they didn't even make a sequel...

IMDB Entry:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133152/

Wiki Entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes_%282001_film%29

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Horrible Bosses (2011)

Rating:★★★★
Category:Movies
Genre: Comedy
Nearly missed the start of the show, due to bad weather. A modern day black comedy fairy tale. Wanted to watch Kevin Spacey, 'cos haven't watched any of his films since "American Beauty". He played the psycho boss so well!
And Jennifer Aniston is a riot as the man-eater boss. And Colin Farrell's character is just unbelievable. Actually, this is quite a heavy-weight A-cast. Yes, the language is pretty coarse, and the humor pretty dark and slap-stickish. Still, stay for the out-takes, and don't leave right at the end...

Official Site:
http://horriblebossesmovie.warnerbros.com/index.html

IMDB Entry:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1499658/

Wiki Entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Bosses

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

Rating:★★★
Category:Movies
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Nice entertaining piece of western thriller thrown in with a mash of sci-fi. A lot of cliches from the Western spaghetti films of old. Quite violent though, not a kiddy show. Good summer flick, but dun think there will be a part 2...

Must watch in big-screen to appreciate audio and aural effects. I watched it in non-digital, so that added a bit of the old-school feel, but sometimes the resolution was a way tad blurred.

Official Site:
http://www.cowboysandaliensmovie.com/

IMDB Entry:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409847/

Wiki Entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboys_%26_Aliens_%28film%29