TV : Heroes in Malaysia - Are You On The List?

Probably anybody who owns a television set (with or without Astro) would've heard about the new hit show Heroes. The series will premiere on Malaysian TV on the 31st of January (Star World) and probably early February on TV3 . But, luckily for some Malaysians with the 'power' to download HDTV quality video files, just hours after the show was aired in the US; Heroes already had become our new favourite show. So in conjuction to the Malaysian premiere of Heroes on TV, here's a little rundown about this wonderful show. I'll try not to reveal any important storyline.. you need to watch it to know the story.

The Big Picture :
Created by Tim Kring, the serialized drama follows the lives of eight ordinary people living throughout the world who come to realize that they have extraordinary powers. All are young, and as the complex plot unfolds, each is inexorably drawn toward Manhattan.


Main Characters (from left to right) :

HIRO NAKAMURA
Portrayed by : Masi Oka
Superpower : Space/Time Manipulation
Gender : Male
Age : 24
Home : Tokyo, Japan
Occupation : Office worker

NIKI / JESSICA SANDERS
Portrayed by : Ali Larter
Superpower : Enhanced Strength (Jessica only)
Gender : Female
Age : 33
Home : Las Vegas, NV

MICAH SANDERS
Portrayed by : Noah Gray-Cabey
Superpower : Technopathy
Gender : Male
Age : 10 - 11
Home : Las Vegas, NV
Occupation : Elementary School Student
Parents : Niki Sanders, D.L. Hawkins

D.L. HAWKINS
Portrayed by : Leonard Roberts
Superpower : Phasing
Gender : Male
Age : 31
Home : Las Vegas, NV
Occupation : Fugitive, former construction worker
Significant other : Niki Sanders (estranged)
Child : Micah Sanders

PETER PETRELLI
Portrayed by : Milo Ventimiglia
Superpower : Power mimicry
Gender : Male
Age : 26
Home : New York, NY
Sibling : Nathan Petrelli (older brother)

NATHAN PETRELLI
Portrayed by : Adrian Pasdar
Superpower : Flight
Gender : Male
Home : Hyde Park, NY
Occupation : U.S. Congressional candidate
Sibling : Peter Petrelli (younger brother)

CLAIRE BENNET
Portrayed by : Hayden Panettiere
Superpower : Rapid Cell Regeneration
Gender : Female
Age : 17
Home : Odessa, TX
Occupation : High School student
Parents : Mr. Bennet (adoptive father)

MOHINDER SURESH
Portrayed by : Sendhil Ramamurthy
Gender : Male
Home : New York, NY, formerly Madras, India
Occupation : Professor (India)

MATT PARKMAN
Portrayed by : Greg Grunberg
Superpower : Telepathy
Gender : Male
Age : 35
Home : Los Angeles, CA
Occupation : LAPD police officer

ISAAC MENDEZ
Portrayed by : Santiago Cabrera
Superpower : Precognition
Gender : Male
Age : 28
Home : New York, NY
Occupation : Artist, Author

SIMONE DEVEAUX
Portrayed by : Tawny Cypress
Superpower : None
Gender : Female
Age : 28
Home : New York, NY
Occupation : Art dealer

Supporting Characters :

MR. BENNET
Portrayed by : Jack Coleman
Nickname : Horned Rimmed Glasses (HRG)
Superpower None
Gender Male
Home Odessa, TX
Children Claire Bennet (adopted daughter), Lyle Bennet (son)





THE HAITIAN
Portrayed by : Jimmy Jean-Louis
Superpower : Mental manipulation
Gender : Male
Occupation : Works for AWI







SYLAR
Portrayed by : Zachary Quinto
Superpower : Intuitive aptitude
Known powers gained : Telekinesis
Formal name : Gabriel Gray
Alias : Gabriel Sylar
Gender : Male
Home : New York, NY
Occupation : Timepiece repairer

Why should you watch it?

I had to admit I was a little bit skeptical about this show when I first read the synopsis. It all sounds like a crap-ass X-Men ripoff. I thought it will be another Mutant-X. But after watching the first episode, I was hooked. Heroes is awesome. It's funny and clever and suspenseful. It has a beautiful multiracial cast, giving the characters emotions so real and recognizable. Its mix of danger, humor, drama, romance and science creates a unique and surprising flavor of programming. At the same time, it fills scene after scene with characters that wouldn't or couldn't easily fit into any other show.

This show had already became a worldwide hit. Even Time Magazine had listed the cast of Heroes on their "People Who Matters 2006" list. So that would definitely be enough reason for you to watch this show. Don't miss it..


* photos and info from heroeswiki.com

TV : Ning in G.A.

Maybe I'm probably the last one to know; but as I was scouring through the Net, I stumbled upon this on the greysanatomyinsider.com website :


Complete Song Listing

Ever wonder what that song you heard on Grey’s Anatomy is called? Well, here’s your chance to find out. We have compiled a list of songs featured on the show and organized them by episode. The artists listed below have produced works both uplifting and eerie, melodic and foreboding. Without them, Grey’s Anatomy would have a completely different feel, and lack much of the emotional force that each episode provides.
...
...
Season 2
Episode 20: Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole
Ning Baizura, "Breathe Again"
Sing-Sing, "Come, Sing Me a Song"
Jem, "Flying High"
The Last Town Chorus, "Modern Love"
Tina Dico, "One"
Urbs, "So Weit"

Congratulations to Ning. Never thought a local artiste's work could be featured in such a high profile show that is equally famous for it's music. Remember, Grey's Anatomy is the show that was responsible for making Snow Patrol so well-known in America. So anything is possible..

What's next? Noraniza Idris in Desperate Housewives? Hehe..

FILM : 79th Academy Awards and The Pre-Oscar Talking Points

Oscar fever is back. And the nominees are :-

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio - BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling - HALF NELSON
Peter O'Toole - VENUS
Will Smith - THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whitaker - THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley - LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou - BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy - DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg - THE DEPARTED

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Penélope Cruz - VOLVER
Judi Dench - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Helen Mirren - THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet - LITTLE CHILDREN

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza - BABEL
Cate Blanchett - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi - BABEL

Best motion picture of the year
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN

Best animated feature film of the year
CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE

Achievement in cinematography
THE BLACK DAHLIA
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE ILLUSIONIST
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE PRESTIGE

Achievement in directing
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93

Achievement in film editing
BABEL
BLOOD DIAMOND
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
UNITED 93

Best foreign language film of the year
AFTER THE WEDDING
DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGÈNES)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
PAN'S LABYRINTH
WATER

Adapted screenplay
BORAT CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
LITTLE CHILDREN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Original screenplay
BABEL
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN


So what's the pre-Oscar talking points this year? Very, very interesting..

1. Leo DiCaprio was nominated for Blood Diamond and not for The Departed.
2. Dreamgirls was not nominated for Best Picture although getting 8 nominations; more than any other film.
3. Little Miss Sunshine was nominated for Best Picture. (.. what say you NM?)
4. Within the four acting categories, five African-American actors, two Hispanics and one Asian recognized with nominations.
5. The academy snubbing Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen. Apparently there are some borders the academy still unwilling to cross.
6. Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy and Forrest Whitaker could result in three of the four acting Oscars going to African-Americans, something that has never happened before in a single year.
7. The most exciting category? Best Actress category of course with Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep (her 14th nomination!) and Penelope Cruz as frontrunners.
8. Streep (57), Mirren (61) and Dench (71) bring the median age among the category's three reigning monarchs to 63.
9. Glad to see Children of Men in the cinematography and editing category. I just saw the movie last night and it was breathtaking!
   
10. The biggest shock? Volver not nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film. Luckily Letters From Iwo Jima was not nominated in that category because if it did, I would be really pissed!
11. For the Best Original Screenplay category, three of the slots went to subtitled films (Babel, Letters From Iwo Jima and Pan's Labyrinth). Something that has never happened before.
12. Martin Scorsese was nominated again for best director. It's his seventh nomination. He has never won. Will he?

The 79th Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 25th 2007. The ceremony will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.

FILM : Trailer for 'Mukhsin'

The trailer for Yasmin Ahmad's upcoming film, 'Mukhsin'. The song is called Hujan (written by Yasmin's father), and performed by Adibah Noor, fresh from her Juara Lagu triumph. Sweet keroncong music, with the soothing voice of Adibah, plus the setting in the rain sets the whole melancholic mood for this movie. Hope this film will be much better than Gubra.

Yasmin's comment in youtube.com " ..we didn't want to decieve the viewers by putting out fancy trailers. Having said that, i think it's (the trailer) kinda sweet and gentle, and at the same time, sharply painful - pretty much like the film itself."

Enjoy.

FILM & TV : The 2006 List

Thanks to tons of work in the office, very bad internet connection and mostly because of laziness, just now I managed to spill out my list of my favourite films and tv shows of 2006. Compared to last year's list, I try to be more simple and short. So here goes..


15 FAVOURITE FILMS OF 2006

15. Cinta
The only local movie on the list. A movie about the one thing that every human being in this world could relate; LOVE.. and how it turn our lives upside down. After second viewing I still find this movie very enjoyable. Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic...

14. Black
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's masterpiece. Powered by Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachan's powerhouse performances.

13. Dorm
A very small but amazing movie from Thailand. An outstanding coming-of-age tale slash horror movie.

12. Little Miss Sunshine
You either hate it or love this movie. This marvellous satire of modern life and family values calls to mind the wit of The Simpsons and the chaos of Malcolm In The Middle. Sharp, very funny, surprisingly moving and rejoicing in great work from the entire cast, this sparkling little gem takes the family road movie to unhoped-for heights of hilarity and humanity. Over to you, Nazim Masnawi...

11. Thank You For Smoking
This razor-sharp satire from Jason Reitman is the wittiest dark comedy of the year. It has appeal to all sides of the political spectrum. A bust-out performance from Aaron Eckhart that's worth remembering.

10. The Prestige
It's no surprise that the man (Christopher Nolan) who brought us a modern noir about a man with short-term memory loss through a brain-straining reverse-chronological structure (Memento) should present a Victorian murder-mystery tale of such beautiful convolutions that the dizzying struggle to follow it provides half the entertainment. It's a small film that feels big, a period drama that looks modern, defying comparison to anything but Nolan himself.

9. The Departed
Back to the streets and with a stellar cast, Martin Scorsese proves that he's the master of urban storytelling.

8. Casino Royale
Contrary to pre-release nay-sayers (including myself), Daniel Craig has done more with James Bond in one film than some previous stars have in multiple reprises. This is terrific stuff, again positioning 007 as the action franchise to beat.

7. Inside Man
This slick, commercial film is barely recognisable as a Spike Lee joint, but that's not to say it doesn't measure up. A marvellous, pacy, vigorous and carefully honed thriller. A masterful take on a well-worn genre.

6. Volver
Pedro Almodóvar's lovely tribute to tough, tender, working-class women. Full of surprises, part noir-comedy, part ghost story; it's very difficult to mesh fantasy with reality, but Almodovar shows exactly how it should be done. Penélope Cruz, who's been so painful to watch in English-language roles, reminds us that she really can act.

5. Brick
With a superb lead turn by rising star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rian Johnson’s debut is a smart, original neo-noir. Visionary film-making.

4. Hard Candy
An effective thriller, disturbing not only for its frank look at the subject of online predators, but also because of the riveting onscreen relationship between its two stars that keeps you glued to the screen from start to finish. A psychological thriller of the most disturbing kind.

3. Cache (Hidden)
One of the most vital and strangely gripping films in recent years, a thriller more opaque, involving and realistic than just about anything that Hollywood is capable of. Daniel Auteuil and Juliet Binoche are such marvelous actors, they can shift us in almost any emotional direction with a speech or a glance. It's less in your face, more in your head and under your skin. Brill-fuckin'-liant.

2. Wordplay
I never thought a movie about crossword puzzles could be so engaging, thrilling and exciting. As a guy who has never completed a crossword puzzle, I was surprised how engaged I was by this wonderful documentary by Patrick Creadon. By watching this film, you didn't just learn about the art of making and solving a crossword puzzles, but you also learn a thing or two about the little-known subculture. The finale, a 3-way crossword puzzle tournament showdown, is the most nail-biting scene in film last year. Superb.

1. Dave Chappelle's Block Party
Why does this film tops my list? For a simple reason that any film should be; fun and entertaining. I had the most fun watching this film last year, so by that, it should be no 1.

Enlisting visionary director Michel Gondry to direct, Chappelle starts out in his Ohio hometown, surprising locals with an offer of tickets (just like Willy Wonka) and transportation to Brooklyn so they can attend an impromptu concert of hip-hop and R&B stars. These scenes are among the movie’s funniest, as excited locals discuss their plans for the big trip. However, the film doesn’t follow events in what you’d call a very linear fashion, as we jump back and forth between performance footages and the artist's preparations for the show itself.

And what artists they are. Chappelle managed to gather Jill Scott, Kanye West, Erykah Badu, Common, John Legend, the Roots and Mos Def, to name a few, as the evening culminates with a reunion of the Fugees, who haven’t performed together since 1997. Marketed as a comedy with musical interludes, it is really a concert film with interviews and the occasional comedic break.

The musical performers are of sufficiently high caliber; the music not only sounded amazing, but carried a lot of political messages; the jokes are funny; the editing is superb; the director is a mutherfuckin' genius - what more do u need? "This is the concert I've always wanted to see," Chappelle says. Thanks Dave, now we all can.



FAVOURITE TV SHOWS OF 2006

24 - Edge of your seat drama at it's best.

Nip/Tuck - So good I had to own it on DVD.

One Tree Hill - My guilty pleasure, still.

Rockstar Supernova - Great live music.

Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Laugh out loud, knee-slappingly funny.

The Office - The US version has come into it's own. Plus Pam Beesley is so cute!

The L Word - Season 3 is the best so far. Currently watching Season 4, which just started.

Dunia Baru - The only local TV series that is worth watching for. Really.

Sleeper Cell - A US production about extreme Muslim terrorists (and why they hate Americans), that doesn't try to be another American propaganda. Gripping.

Heroes - Heroes is one of those shows that sounds just awful when you try to describe it to people. "There are these people and somehow they have these special powers and...." It all sounds like a crap-ass X-Men ripoff, but the thing is, Heroes is awesome. It just is. It's funny and clever and suspenseful. The multiracial cast grounds the show, giving the characters emotions so real and recognizable that you rarely, if ever, question the outlandishness of the show's setup. Save the cheerleader, save the world? If that cheerleader is Hayden Panettiere (..more on her on my next post), I'll be the first in line. Great fun.

FILM : Golden Globes Winners List

Golden Globes : The winners list.

What say you?

Motion Pictures:

Picture, Drama: Babel

Actress, Drama: Helen Mirren, The Queen

Actor, Drama: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Picture, Musical or Comedy: Dreamgirls

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan

Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls

Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Movie Screenplay: Peter Morgan, The Queen

Foreign Language: Letters From Iwo Jima, USA/Japan

Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, The Painted Veil

Original Song: The Song Of The Heart from Happy Feet

Animated Film: Cars

Television:

Series, Drama: Grey's Anatomy, ABC

Actress, Drama: Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Actor, Drama: Hugh Laurie, House

Series, Musical or Comedy: Ugly Betty, ABC

Actress, Musical or Comedy: America Ferrera, Ugly Betty

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Miniseries or movie: Elizabeth I, HBO

Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Helen Mirren, Elizabeth I

Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Bill Nighy, Gideon's Daughter

Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Emily Blunt, Gideon's Daughter

Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jeremy Irons, Elizabeth I

Cecil B. DeMille Award: Warren Beatty

Jurnal : New Year, New Kind of Resolution

Happy New Year Dudes and Dudettes!

Somebody said to me earlier today : -
"..Hey Edd, your car license plate is W** 2007, eh?
..Damn, this must be your year, dude!"

2007 is my year?
Somehow, I kinda' get the feeling it will be.
A turning point? Life-changing experience?
Wait and see...

Resolution??
What's the point of making one if none is ever achieved?
So for this year I want to be a little bit more realistic.
Something that I could probably do.
Or in this case.. somewhere that I could probably go. Check it out!

MUSE LIVE IN MALAYSIA
Date: Sunday, 25 February 2007
Time: 8:00p.m.
Venue: Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur
Ticket pricing:
Numbered seating – RM180, RM140, RM110
Free Seating – RM80, RM50
Arena Rockzone – RM110

- taken from The Star Online

One of the best live act EVER, right here in Malaysia? WTF?!
Let's make it our resolution to go and see them, LIVE!!