Skyfall

We managed to escape to the cinemas last night to watch the latest James Bond instalment, Skyfall. A departure from the normal plot, a more personal take on the Bond enigma. Not necessarily the best bond, but certainly different. I was sufficiently warned of the narrative to have a lightly different expectation.

This time around, there was no ravishing Bond Girl, no gadgets to dream about, and certainly the villain should I say, less demonic. But a villain there was, and it was none other than the superb Javier Bardem. He was a class act. In fact, this year, we had been blessed by some proper movie villain. Remember Batman and Loki. Bardem's character was just as good, although a lot funnier.

The opening chase was on par with the previous Bond movies, this time it was in Istanbul, and it certainly brought the pulse racing with motorcycle chase on the roof of the Grand Bazaar. Memorable. Then came the first twist in the plot, right at the end of the chase ..... and the story kicked off from there.

There were a few satisfactory revelation at the end of the movie, certainly justifying longevity of the franchise. I would definitely recommend the movie to everyone, as long they do not expect this to be their typical Bond farce. It was more dramatic and personal. Gadget freak should stay away, full stop .....

Dark Knight Rises

It was a bit tricky to blog about a third installment of a series when you did not pay attention to the first, and completely missed the second. Well, that was me with the Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. I saw the first one on ASTRO, missed the second and watched Dark Knight Rises last weekend. And, true to the artful direction of Mr Nolan, I was able to keep abreast with the plot.

Close to three hours and the pace of the movie was relentless. Complete with a revelation in the end. The special effect was spectacular, but the storyline was strong enough to carry the movie through. At the end of it, it was pretty clear that Anne Harthaway can kick ass and there were room for sequel, although Christopher Nolan had made it clear that he would not be continuing with the franchise. Better quit when you were on top I supposed, because it would be kind of difficult to top this one. Great action, great storyline and superb acting, especially by the supporting cast, although through to any Batman movies, one should not take the plot too literally. Otherwise, how could you explain being alive after being trapped underneath subway rubles for three months.

I watched the movie with Puan Anita at Mid Valley, on my first day off for Raya. And as you could imagine, we were interrupted a few times with phone calls calling for errands. And even then, it was easy to get in and out of the movie. Now, what we had to do was watch the second installment. I thought it was playing on ASTRO. A highly recommended movie.

The Matrix Has Me

Many years back, while I was a Houseman, I remembered a buzz about a movie being released. Apparently it would be a cult. It was called "The Matrix". It was more than just a cult. It spawned a generation of adults imagining themselves carrying guns, in long, flowing leather jackets shooting the hell out of everything.

The special effects in that movie was revolutionary. It was nothing like one had ever seen before. It redefined the word cool, and everybody wanted to imitate Neo and Trinity.

I picked up a copy of that movie on BlueRay yesterday, and after the trip back from KLCC, Puan Anita and I sat down to watch it. It had not lost any of its charm. The special effect still looked state of the art, the dialogue still remained cool, and the music was still hip. It was either it was a great flick, or I really needed to get out more .......

Cowboys and Aliens

It received plenty of hype when it was launched last year. Judging from the line-up of stars - with Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig at the fore-front - I was expecting a lot. To add to that, the director was Jon Favreau, and screenplay by Roberto Orci, I was imagining that this was going to be a fantastic ride.

Unfortunately, there were not much of that, and towards the end, the movie was somewhat predictable, with the character arc not really being stretched and both Ford and Craig not been given enough meet to sink their teeth into in terms of plot development and acting.

It was in the end rather bland and found wanting. That was the best I can come up to describe the disappointment that was "Cowboys and Aliens". The movie could have offered us so much more ……

Don't Mess with the Zohan

Where would I start? Over the years, movies from the Happy Madison stable, especially starring Adam Sandler tended to be predictable. But occasionally there were some gems, such as their first effort - Deuce Bigalow. That was a classic!

Then came disasters, such as Mr Deeds and Little Nicky. But in 2008, they produced "You Don't Mess with the Zohan". I enjoyed watching it last weekend, and clearly the two main characters, Adam Sandler and John Torturro had great fun in the role.

I would rather not post a spoiler here, but when an Israeli elite counter-terrorist agent decided to become a hair-stylist, the plot must be a funny one. And it certainly was. Highly recommended if you have a twisted sense of humor.