eddvedder.blogspot.com

Archived.

2010-04-12T16:29:00.003+08:00

Blogspot is so last decade.

We tumblog now!

eddscape.tumblr.com

MUSIC : Pearl Jam Latest – The Fixer

2009-07-21T10:48:00.001+08:00

From the upcoming album – BACKSPACER.

Pearl Jam – The Fixer

When something’s on let me shed a light on it
When something’s cold let me put a little fire on it
If something’s old I wanna put a bit of shine on it
When something’s gone I wanna fight to get it back again

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Fight to get it back again
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

When something’s broke I wanna put a bit of fixing on it
If something’s bored I wanna put a little excited on it
If something’s low I wanna put a little high on it
If something’s lost I wanna fight to get it back again

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Fight to get it back again
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

When signals cross, I want to put a bit of straight on it
If there’s no love, I want to try to love again.
I’ll say your prayers I’ll take your side
I promise a way to make light
I’ll dig your grave

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Fight to get it back again
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

3 Comedy Series That Are Worth Your Time, and 5 Reasons Why You Should Watch Them

2009-07-15T11:37:00.000+08:00

Besides watching the second season of True Blood, Breaking Bad plus Dollhouse and Fringe (refer to this entry), I'm now hooked to these 3 new (and not so new) comedy series. I think you guys should check it out.

Party Down

What it's about :

Party Down is about a group of struggling actors who are stuck working for tips while waiting for their big break. As employees of the L.A. catering company "Party Down," these misfits mingle with guests at everything from sweet sixteen parties to the most lavish Hollywood soirees.

5 reasons why you should watch it :

Created by Paul Rudd and friends. Rudd was initially slated to star in the series but declined because he was so impressed by Adam Scott portrayal of the character Henry.
Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr) from Freaks and Geeks is in it. Yaay!
The rest of the cast are amazing – Ken Marino, Jane Lynch, Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan are familiar funny faces doing what they do best.
It’s freakin’ hilarious! ..and dirty. But unlike shows that resort to dirty stuff for cheap laughs, Party Down's dirty jokes are earned. It’s a bit of Arrested Development meets Undeclared meets The Office (in my opinion).
Not only riotously funny but the show also touches on some great, dark and ultimately hilarious subjects. In a culture driven by success, the show looks at which point a life becomes a failure, and what constitutes a loser. You’ll laugh at the jokes, but you can’t help sympathizing at them too.

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Eastbound and Down

What it's about :

Relief Pitcher Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) was poised to rule the Big Leagues, but two things got in the way: his fading fastball and his insufferable personality. After a spectacular career flame-out, Kenny came home to Shelby County, NC and picked up a job as a substitute gym teacher (mostly so his brother Dustin would stop threatening to kick him out). He's spent every moment since then cashing in the last of his dying fame while plotting his inevitable comeback... one beer at a time.

5 reasons why you should watch it :

I don’t know about you guys, but I think Danny McBride is a mullet-haired comedic genius. His jokes are crude and offensive, but never failed to make me laugh.
When you have McBride, you have Ferrell (Will that is). He pops up in a couple episodes and stole the scenes.
The main character Kenny Powers is so unbelievably repugnant, misanthropic, major a-hole that you have to see it to believe it. He’s an egomaniacal prick who doesn’t give a shit who he offends. And you can’t help but laugh at his mean jokes.
Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) from The Office is in it. Yaay!
Kenny Powers is so quote-worthy like freakin’ Chuck Norris. Check this out.

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Head Case

What it's about :

Dr. Elizabeth Goode (Alexandra Wentworth) is brash, unconventional and judgmental in her own unique method of therapy, and thus, has become the "it" therapist to those in Hollywood in need of a "Goode" mind adjustment. Her office is filled with a who's who from the world of entertainment, sports and music. Although her method at times is a little, shall we say, off kilter, they always wind up returning for a session.

5 reasons why you should watch it :

Every episodes featured different stars all playing themselves in guest starring roles. Some of the guests featured are Rosanna Arquette, Andy Dick, Lea Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Cindy Margolis and Jeff Goldblum.
I just love the improvisational comedy. There are story outlines, and premises but with a lot of improvisation between the characters. So the quality of a given episode hangs a lot on the celebrity guest stars ability to play along with the show’s low-key sensibility. That’s brilliant IMHO.
It has the same vibe as The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm with the single camera and no laugh track approach. It makes me feel like a voyeur.. :P
The main character Dr. Goode is narcissistic, judgmental, self-involved, and non-relatable to her patients but Wentworth makes the character so likeable and twisted that even her facial expressions are sometimes more humorous than the wild dialogue.
One of the reasons the series worked is because of it’s length. At only 15 minutes per episode (sometimes less), I think it was intended to be sharp and snappy.

MUSIC : Pearl Jam is back!

2009-06-04T09:16:00.003+08:00

Pearl Jam performed their brand new track 'Got Some' from their forthcoming album, Backspacer on the first Tonight Show with Conan O' Brien.

Almost 20 years and counting..
but these guys still rocks it HARD!

TV : First Look At The New V Miniseries

2009-05-28T19:11:00.002+08:00

I did post about it in this entry a few months ago. Here's the first trailer for the new V miniseries, coming soon.

The leader of the Visitors, Anna is played by Morena Baccarin. Fans of Firefly and Stargate SG-1 might've recognized her. The series also stars Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) & Scott Wolf (remember him? Double Dragon? No?).

The trailer looks promising; reminded me of The 4400. But still, us the old-skool fans, was kinda' hoping for the whole rodent-swallowing thing. And no offense, but we prefer Diana.

But still, after seeing this trailer, I'm actually very interested to see it. I would love to see how the new concept and premise works. What do you guys think?

Sports : Take a bow United..

2009-05-18T02:17:00.002+08:00

CHAMPIONS..!!!

Jurnal : Alhamdulillah..

2009-04-13T00:22:00.006+08:00

Phew! It's been awhile since the last update. So many things going on in my life, at work and at home.. I can't even find the time, energy and mood to jot down a single line here in this blog. I mean.. I don't even have time to write a review of Watchmen for god's sake! (p/s : Like it but don't love it).

Well, to be honest, my life and my attention suddenly shifted to one thing only. My world suddenly just revolved around a very important person. It seems that my focus and my purpose in life is only for one reason..

And the reason is him..

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to my son, Muhammad Affan Rifqy born 11th April 2009, at 5.05am, weighing 3.3kg. Alhamdulillah, both mommy and baby is healthy.

And now I'm a father/ayah.. :)

Alhamdulillah..

WEB : Watchmen + Peanuts

2009-03-05T12:23:00.004+08:00

Cute, isn't it?

It's here..
Seats booked..
Will be watching it tomorrow...

WEB : Watching and Liveblogging the Oscars..

2009-02-23T09:57:00.027+08:00

Join me at the live blog discussion at mlive.com here.

I'll be live-updating the winners here in this blog. Keep refreshing the page :

Best Supporting Actress : Penelope Cruz (yaay!)
Best Original Screenplay : Milk
Best Adapted Screenplay : Slumdog Millionaire
Best Animated Feature Film : Wall - E
Best Animated Short Film : La Maison En Petits Cubes
Best Art Direction : The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Costume Design : The Duchess
Best Makeup : The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Cinematography : Slumdog Millionaire
Best Live Action Short Film : Toyland (Germany)
Best Supporting Actor : Heath Ledger (well-deserved!)
Best Documentary Feature : Man On Wire (yaay!)
Best Documentary Short Subject : Smile Pinki
Best Visual Effects : The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (what? beating TDK & Iron Man?)
Best Sound Editing : The Dark Knight
Best Sound Mixing : Slumdog Millionaire (wow! I thought TDK got this locked)
Best Film Editing : Slumdog Millionaire
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award : Jerry Lewis
Best Original Score : Slumdog Millionaire
Best Original Song : Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire (..I still think Springsteen should nab this one)
Best Foreign Language Film : Departures (Japan) (beating Waltz With Bashir! Yaay!)
Best Directing : Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actress : Kate Winslet - The Reader
Best Actor : Sean Penn - Milk (I kinda' expect he would win.. but quite a suprise)
Best Picture : Slumdog Millionaire (as expected!)

8 major awards for Slumdog Millionaire, Sean Penn beating Mickey Rourke, Penelope won, Heath Ledger emotional win, Winslet out-of breath speech and funny Japanese acceptance speeches ("Domo Arigato, Mr Roboto!"). All and all it was a good show.

It's a wrap.

WEB : Watchmen Mega Pics Spam & Viral Links

2009-02-17T14:09:00.010+08:00

Just a few days away from the upcoming official release of Watchmen.
But for now, enjoy the pics & links below..

Cool portrait pictures from Empire magazine.

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Newly released pictures.. Nite Owl's Antartica's Suit, The many faces of Rorschach, The Axis of Evil and International Alternate Posters..

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Watchmen viral marketing campaign is awesome.
Check out the 8-bit, 1980's arcade style online game below.

(click here to play)

A great introduction to The Minutemen in this video journal..

Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons speaks..

The New Frontiersman faux-PSA, The Keene Act & You..

Watchmen comic within the comic story, Tales of The Black Freighter (and Under the Hood) is getting a DVD release.. yaay! Here's the trailer..

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Other Links :

Official Watchmen Movie Web Site - official site
Watchmen Movie Production Blog - tons of behind the scenes videos
I Watch The Watchmen - recommended
Watchmen: The Official Movie Countdown Widget - you can put the widget in your blog
Watchmen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - click if you want to hear MCR version of Bob Dylan's 'Desolation Row'
The New Frontiersman Viral Microsite - awesome viral stuff
Watchmencomicmovie.com - my personal fave
Watchmen Wiki - all things Watchmen

FILM : Official Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglorious Basterds' Trailer

2009-02-12T11:44:00.002+08:00

.. or click here for the HD version.

Can't help but feel that this trailer is a little bit on the commercial side, probably made by The Weinstein Company.. because we all know, Quentin always has something hiding up his sleeves.

Looks cool.. what do u guys think?

FILM : Review - The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008)

2009-02-04T19:31:00.009+08:00

Pure maniacal fun.

Those are probably the most accurate words to describe Kim Ji-Woon's The Good, The Bad, The Weird (TGTBTW), an obvious homage to Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly but smart enough to pay respects to its Italian spaghetti western predecessors while mixing it with its own unique Asian flavor to the genre. It's masterfully directed, damn funny and most importantly thoroughly enjoyable (at 129 minutes!).

The story of TGTBTW is actually very simple. The film is set in 1930's Manchuria and the title refers to three Manchurian gunslingers, all after the same mysterious treasure map (a Mcguffin - much like the briefcase in QT's Pulp Fiction).

In the first of many references to Sergio Leone's masterpiece, the film trio is introduced one at a time : The Weird (Song Kang-ho) is a klutzy thief and who accidentally comes across the map during the opening train robbery scene. The Bad is a ruthless bandit (Lee Byung-hun) and The Good is a bounty hunter and sharpshooter (Jung Woo-sung). Unsure of each other personal motivations, The Good and The Weird team up to secure the map and reach the treasure site before either The Bad or the imperialist Japanese beat them there. In other words, the whole movie is a damn big chase sequence, like a more violent and stylish version of Wacky Races.

In true Leone fashion, the movie boils down to a succession of set-pieces -wide-open plains and deserts, train robberies, gun battles, knife fights, opium dens, horse chases and tense Mexican stand-offs - but Ji-woon, a master at mood manipulation, (as witnessed on his previous films, A Bittersweet Life and A Tale Of Two Sisters) once again delivers a genre-busting film, with moments of extreme sadistic violence are mixed with comedy and action, and grand action set-pieces played with calmer character driven drama.

While the film may be lacking in plot (unnecessary subplot involving Russian mobsters) and story depth, it is indeed a very stylish eye-candy. The action is beautifully choreographed and incorporates everything from classic Mexican standoffs to fast paced swordplay and Kung-fu wire work. I guarantee you will enjoy the opening train robbery scene and the very elaborate and completely ridiculous jeep-horse chase sequence across the desert that's like a Guy Ritchie film meets The Road Warrior. It's exciting, funny and entertaining as hell!

Chemistry among the three lead actors are great. Lee Byung-hun, much like Lee Van Cleef's Angel Eyes is decent as an insecure bandit with the typical Korean sadistic gangster mentality that we all love from Korean gangster flicks. Least developed of the three, is Jung Woo-sung, gracefully playing a cool and calm bounty-hunter reminisce of Clint Eastwood's Blondie. But the heart and soul of the movie is Song Kang-ho, in a very commanding comedic performance evoking Eli Wallach's Tuco. It comes as no surprise that all three of the lead actors were nominated in the 3rd Asian Film Awards (full nominees list here).

Kudos also should be given to the musical score, riffing on Latin rhythms and brass orchestration, along with heavy Asian percussion. One scene in mind is during the thrilling climax, the wild percussion-heavy music starts to morph into Nina Simone's 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'. Pure brilliance.

TGTBTW is not the first 'oriental Western' (as it bills itself on closing credits). Last year, Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django is a perfect example of genre-busting J-Western, and Chinese director He Ping already had a crack at a C-Western with Sun Valley. But then again, the original spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s were partly inspired by Japanese samurai movies, anyway. Some people may suggest that this movie has bitten off more than it can chew for what is essentially an old-school chase movie. Some may call it a ridiculous, silly movie. Well, it is... but it's the most amazing, incredible silliness I've ever seen in a long time.

WEB : 81st Oscar Nominations & Talking Points

2009-01-23T10:40:00.006+08:00

BEST PICTURE:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

DIRECTING:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Fincher
Frost/Nixon, Ron Howard
Milk, Gus Van Sant
The Reader, Stephen Daldry
Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Doubt, Written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Screenplay by Peter Morgan
The Reader, Screenplay by David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Frozen River, Written by Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, Written by Mike Leigh
In Bruges, Written by Martin McDonagh
Milk, Written by Dustin Lance Black
WALL•E, Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

ORIGINAL SCORE:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alexandre Desplat
Defiance, James Newton Howard
Milk, Danny Elfman
Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman
WALL•E, Thomas Newman

ORIGINAL SONG:
"Down to Earth" from WALL•E, Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
"Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire, Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
"O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire, Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman andMaya Arulpragasam

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Some talking points for this years list :

No The Dark Knight best picture nomination? Man, if The Dark Knight couldn't get itself a nomination, then you can't imagine any comic book movie ever reaching that height. I thought it would happen this year, but then again..

And no Chris Nolan too? Hmm..

Many people are discussing online about the nod Brad Pitt got for Benjamin Button. Did you know that Brad Pitt does not appear onscreen for the first 52 minutes of his performance? Even after that, it is enhanced with extensive makeup and special effects. The question could be asked - is this the very first digital performance nominated for an Oscar? If he can get nominated, why not Andy Serkis startling work as Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings back in 2002?

Meryl Streep received her 15th acting nomination. Fifteenth! That's a new record..

I thought the Academy loves Clint Eastwood. Where's Gran Torino? Complete shut-out.

No Kate Winslet in supporting actress category (and rightly so, because she was the lead in The Reader). Penelope Cruz and Marisa Tomei is smiling.. :)

No Springsteen for Best Original Song? The Boss fans won't be happy.

Although I haven't seen Happy-Go-Lucky, many angry people online are discussing about the snub for Sally Hawkins in Best Actress category. In fact she is the only actress not to be nominated for an Oscar after winning the 4 major non-Oscar awards (National Society of Film Critics, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, The New York Film Critics Circle and the Golden Globes). Read more about it here.

Stephen Daldry has made only three films and he's been nominated for Best Director every time with Billy Elliott, The Hours and The Reader. How the Academy voters loved him..

Downey Jr nomination is a pleasant suprise. It's cool but I prefer Tom Cruise performance in Tropic Thunder.

So what do u guys think? Full list of nominees here.

WEB : VHS Tapes (1975-2008) R.I.P - Never Forget

2009-01-14T14:02:00.007+08:00

Sad but true, readers. As of December 2008, VHS is no longer manufactured. Running from 1975-2008, VHS brought joy into our lives for 33 amazing years.

VHS is probably the perfect format for film fans of my generation. I can say that I have a quite large collection of VHS tapes. Many of my P. Ramlee films collection, award shows, obsolete TV shows, cartoons - most of them taped from TV; are in VHS format and still occupying the TV cabinet shelves and drawers in my home. Watching these VHS is like taking a trip back to my childhood; it brought back a lot of memories.

I assume many of you would probably remember those days of VHS rental. Even when laser discs was making quite a business, many of us would prefer renting VHS simply because they were more titles to choose and the size of VHS tape is much more compact.

I can still remember back in the days, video rental store catalogs were photo albums with photos of the VHS cover art. And in late 80's, early 90's when VHS were available for purchase, the pirate manufacturers were releasing VHS in fancy clamshells, complete with printed front and back sleeves.

In the early 90's, when grunge was at the highest level of popularity, my friends and I were avid collectors of concert + live performances, and those rare and hard to get VHSes. Every kid in my school probably owned a copy of VHS tape with concerts by Green Day, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and a must-have at that time, Nirvana's 'Live, Tonight, Sold Out'. I remember during school holidays, I would 'turun KL' to find all those rare concert tapes and bring it back to Alor Setar so that I could brag to my friends. And by the time the school starts, I was probably the most popular kid in class, because all of my friends wanted to borrow the tapes. Silly I know, but popularity comes with a price..

And speaking of school, I'm definitely sure most of you guys (and some girls) remember your first experience with pornography. If you're age is between 25 to 35 years old now, I can surely bet you saw it first on VHS tapes, probably with some friends at their house when their parents weren't home. And boy was it hard to swap tapes with your friends at school, at risk of being caught by your teacher.

After the sudden popularity of VCD and the digital format, VHS is no longer considered a viable medium for releasing new films (as well as old ones). DVD has taken over and rightly so, thanks to the higher definition picture and better quality sound, not to mention the extras. The Internet and it's download availability also contributed to the fall of VHS. And sadly, the digital age killed the video star...

So this is my tribute to VHS. Thanks for the great memories. You will never be forgotten. Rest in peace.. and in our shelves.

*Picture taken from Nakatomi Stuff with great articles on VHS. They're also selling cool t-shirts to commemorate the death of VHS.

WEB : Golden Globe 2009 Winners List

2009-01-12T13:22:00.004+08:00

Golden Globe 2009 Winners : -

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Kate Winslet, The Reader

BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE
‘Bruce Springstreen, ‘The Wrestler,’ The Wrestler

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA
Gabriel Byrne, “In Treatment”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA
Anna Paquin, “True Blood”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
WALL-E

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Waltz With Bashir

BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
“30 Rock”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”

BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Colin Farrell, In Bruges

BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA
“Mad Men”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
Slumdog Millionaire

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Hooray for Slumdog Millionaire! Personally, I've been rooting for it.. and boy did they win! A clean sweep, winning every award it was nominated for.
Kate Winslet winning in both best actress categories, for The Reader and Revolutionary Road. Haven't watch both of it, but she's definitely a force to be reckon with.
Mickey Rourke baby! At last..
Heath Ledger! So glad he won..
As expected Mad Men & 30 Rock won, and surprisingly the gap-toothed cutie, Anna Paquin from True Blood. Well-deserved.
Colin Farrell for In Bruges is another delight. In Bruges should have won for Best Motion Picture-Musical Comedy too.

Overall, some good results. What do u think?

SPORTS : It's A Beautiful Day..

2009-01-12T08:58:00.002+08:00

My wife said I was grinning in my sleep this morning.
It's the grin of.. satisfaction.

It's a beautiful day.

WEB : Japanese Watchmen Trailer

2009-01-08T10:28:00.003+08:00

"Oh no, not another Watchmen trailer, Edd!"

Er.. yes, it's another Watchmen trailer.
In Japanese.. this time with Castro, Nixon and JFK.

How come the Japanese get the coolest Watchmen trailer?

FILM : The 2008 List

2009-01-06T10:01:00.004+08:00

In tradition to this list and this list, I think a 2008 fave list would be a great start to a new year. Bear in mind, I haven't watch Milk, The Wrestler, Benjamin Button, etc - those critically acclaimed movies that was released in 2008. This list is purely based on the films that I watched last year (..and it ain't much).

I'll try to keep it short and sweet. Here's my top 11 favourite films of 2008.

11. Dunia Baru The Movie (Hitler Zami)
The only local film on the list. I enjoyed the series, and the film version is not bad either (read my review here). For local film appreciations go to Ajami's blog, who is busy giving out those AFA's chicken trophy..haha.

10. Tropic Thunder / Zack & Miri Make A Porno / Pineapple Express (Ben Affleck/ Kevin Smith/ David Gordon Green)
Three equally funny films, full of laugh-out-loud moments with great storytelling and wonderful acting. If you're not a fan of Tom Cruise (..like me), go watch Tropic Thunder and be surprised. Definitely the best comedic performance of 2008.

9. In Bruges (Martin McDonagh)
This black comedy is about hit men on vacation, featuring a career-best turn from Colin Farrell. The script was cleverly written and had a lot of heart.

8. Quantum of Solace (Marc Forster)
I know my review wasn't too positive, but I have a soft spot for Bond. Clearly the best action film of 2008.

7. Lust, Caution (Ang Lee)
The most underrated film of 07/08 is also the most erotic. I always admire the ability of Ang Lee superbly tackling every genre of films and this time he successfully recreated the setting of Japanese-overrun wartime Shanghai. I can sit and stare at Tang Wei for days.. she hits me deep, right in the heart.

6. Speed Racer (The Wachowski Brothers)
Critics hated it, but this digitally-assembled explosion of movement and light is probably the most avant-garde film in 2008. Read my review here.

5. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson)
Swedish vampire movie anyone? It probably sounded like I was describing a B-grade gore, slasher flick. But you'll be surprised of this gorgeous coming-of-age tale of young love between a shy Swedish boy and the little girl vampire who moves in next door and agrees to be his girlfriend without either of them realizing the implications. Beautiful.

4. The Chaser (Na Hong-jin)
This little gem from South Korea won multiple awards at the 45th Daejong Film Festival (Korea’s equivalent to the Oscars). It's not your average serial-killer + antihero film. A bit horrifying, a bit provocative, a bit sad and surprisingly a bit funny but overall a wonderful, engaging film.

3. Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle)
I managed to see this one on the last week of 2008. It's really such a beautiful film, just something very different from Boyle's previous work, mainly because of its Mumbai setting, its rags-to-riches underdog storyline and just a lot of really delightful and exciting sequences. The cast of young newcomers and some Bollywood veterans (Anil Kapoor as Jalaluddin Hassan anyone?) was simply delightful. My pick for this year Best Director.

2. Man on Wire (James Marsh)
This gorgeous documentary tells the unbelievable tale of the French tight-rope walker Philippe Petit who planned the elaborate wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974, over 100 stories above imminent death. Watching it feels like watching an exciting bank-heist film, with a seamless melding of interviews, stills, re-enactments and archival footage. A celebration of athleticism, architecture, beauty and crazy ambition, this film definitely inspires me to go out and chase my dreams, because nothing is impossible.

1. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
Is there any doubt about my no 1 pick? A masterpiece. Read my review here.

Biggest dissapointments : Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights and Fernando Meirelles's Blindness. 2 amazing directors with serious duds. I'm sure these 2 great artist will come back strong on their next film.

Where's your list?

JURNAL : New Year, New Skin

2009-01-02T16:41:00.003+08:00

eddvedder.blogspot.com dah bersalin kulit.
How do you like me now..?

Trying to find my writing mojo back.
Wish me luck.

Happy New Year.

WEB : Not So Great News About Watchmen

2008-12-26T00:00:00.003+08:00

New York Times reports that Warner Bros. have lost the case for WATCHMEN. According to the New York Times, a judge has claimed he intends to rule that 20th Century Fox do own a copyright interest in the Alan Moore graphic novel which dates back to the late 1980's. What this means for WATCHMEN is unclear at this point but Fox have previously made it known they seek to permanently block the movie from being released which now must be seen as a distinct possibility.

*gasp*

One of the likely scenario's from all this is 20th Century Fox winning a free massive summer campaign which they can release under their banner, despite all the hard work Warner Bros. have gone through, and reaping the majority if not all the rewards in the process.

Another interesting thing to consider is whether 20th Century Fox will have the final edit on Zack Snyder’s film and whether they will tweak and cut it however they like. How would Fox butcher a near 3 hour deconstruction of the superhero genre? That is scary.

I really, really hope they will find some sort of agreement and settle this matter out of court. Big money will be involved of course, but we can only hope that the movie will be released with Snyder's final cut. *fingers-crossed*

WEB : Review of The First 22 Minutes of Watchmen

2008-12-17T12:28:00.003+08:00

Devin Faraci at CHUD.com got a chance to watch the first 22 minutes of Warner Bros. Pictures' Watchmen this weekend at Butt-Numb-A-Thon in Austin and has described what he saw in full. And I quote..:

"..It will look and feel like a real movie. That's a weird thing to say, but there are lots of people out there who, having only seen the trailers released to the public, are jumping to the conclusion that Zack Snyder has made a Watchmen filled with speed ramping and flashy money shots. From what I've seen this isn't even remotely true at all. The footage is stylish - well shot, with rich visuals and dynamic compositions - but it looked more like a modern take on a noir film than anything else. What I saw was moody, sometimes muted. Snyder allows his takes to be long, eschewing a quick cut style that many seem to think would rule the day in this film. The 22 minutes I saw didn't feel like an action film at all."

Very promising indeed. You can check out his full article here.

WEB : Pearl Jam's Ten - Four Special Package Reissues

2008-12-11T10:11:00.003+08:00

*gasp*

must.. have... this... NOW!

*faint*

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from pearljam.com :

PEARL JAM ANNOUNCES THE REISSUE OF BAND'S DEBUT ALBUM, TEN: FOUR SPECIAL EDITION PACKAGES IN STORES MARCH 24, 2009

Ten, the debut album that sold 12 million copies and introduced the world to Pearl Jam in 1991, will be reissued in four (4) new and expanded editions. Pre-orders of the Super Deluxe Edition begin today, through the Ten Club at PearlJam.com. All four editions will be available for purchase on March 24, 2009. The reissue of Ten serves as the launch of a planned two-year catalogue re-release campaign leading up to the band’s 20th anniversary in 2011.

Each Ten package will include two versions of the album: the remastered version of the original album PLUS an accompanying remixed version done by the band's long-time producer, Brendan O’Brien. Details on specific extras for each of the four packages are listed below:

THE FOUR EDITIONS OF TEN: ALBUM EXTRAS PER PACKAGE
1. Legacy Edition (2-disc set in mini-LP style slipcase) :
· Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
· Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O'Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat".
· Re-designed packaging

2. Deluxe Edition (2-disc set plus DVD specially designed hardbound package) :
· Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
· Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O'Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat".
· DVD of Pearl Jam’s previously unreleased 1992 MTV Unplugged performance including never before seen bonus performance of "Oceans" with 5.1 surround sound audio remix.

3. Vinyl Collection (2-LP set)
· LP 1: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl
· LP 2: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl and remixed by Brendan O’Brien

4. Super Deluxe Edition (2-disc set plus DVD, 4 LPs and replica cassette in linen-covered, slip-cased clamshell box) :
· Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
· Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O'Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat".
· DVD of Pearl Jam’s previously unreleased 1992 MTV Unplugged performance including never before seen bonus performance of "Oceans' with 5.1 surround sound audio remix
· LP 1: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl
· LP 2: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl and remixed by Brendan O'Brien
· LP 3 & 4: Drop in the Park – Live at Magnuson Park in Seattle on September 20, 1992 (audio mixed by Brendan O'Brien)
· Cassette: replica of original "Momma-Son", Pearl Jam demo cassette featuring "Alive," "Once" and "Footsteps".
· Package also includes an Eddie Vedder-style composition notebook filled with replica personal notes, images and mementos from the collections of Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament, a vellum envelope with replicated era-specific ephemera from Pearl Jam’s early work and a two-sided print commemorating the Drop in the Park concert.

JURNAL : We Are One..

2008-12-01T09:02:00.007+08:00

Today is a good day..
It's my first wedding anniversary.
The first in many, many more to come.
Insyaallah.

To my wife, I luv u.
Thanks for sticking with me.
Through thick and thin.

So here's a song for you..
Sung by one of the best male voices ever..
The late great Robert Palmer.

Go on Mr. Palmer... sing for her.
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Robert Palmer - She Makes My Day

I feel so lucky loving her
Tell me what else is magic for
She thinks its better left unsaid

She makes her mind up at a glance
It really made a difference
I seem to be unconditionally hers

She's like a new girl every day
And all the rest don't bother me
I'm far too busy lovin' her..

Ill never be lonely now I know her
She fills my heart with joy
She makes my day
She just has to smile to blow my cares away
She just has to touch my hand to make me stay

She's all good lovin' at once (4x)

Our love was unintentional
She says were not responsible
She thinks with her chin up

She always makes uncommon sense
Always knows just what to say
She always takes me unawares

In less time than it takes to fall
I'm here and there you are
We never fought it anyway

Ill never be lonely now I know her
She fills my heart with joy
She makes my day
She just has to smile to blow my cares away
She just has to touch my hand to make me stay

She's all good lovin' at once...

Stream on imeem

Download here

JURNAL : Belasungkawa

2008-11-29T22:50:00.004+08:00

Belasungkawa.
Condolences to the family of Allahyarham Datuk Razali Ismail.
Being the former chairman of my organization, I got to know him quite personally.
He was a great man, down to earth, humble and known for his high-spirited speeches.
Always smiling, and very kind, he's an inspiration to us all.

You will be missed.
Al-Fatihah.

WEB : First Pic Of Johnny Depp as Mad Hatter

2008-11-18T09:34:00.003+08:00

Not sure if it's real.. but johnny-depp.org posted this pic of Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice and Wonderland [3D] remake for Disney.

Kinda' excited about this one because AiW is one of my favourite novel to read when I was a kid. I always thought that Burton is the perfect man to direct an AiW movie, because of his strong visual style.

..but Depp sure looks a 'lil bit like Carrot Top, yes/no?

WEB : Watchmen Theatrical Trailer [HD]

2008-11-16T12:27:00.003+08:00

... with dialogue.
... and background music by Muse - 'Take A Bow'.

WEB : The Seven Ladies of Nine

2008-11-13T08:57:00.003+08:00

The cast of Rob Marshall's upcoming musical, Nine.

from left : Dame Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Fergie, Nicole Kidman, and Kate Hudson.

Plus Daniel Day Lewis.

Ok, I'm sold.

WEB : Watchmen New Character Posters

2008-11-12T15:55:00.004+08:00

Warner Bros. have released six new character posters for WATCHMEN.
Check them out.

FILM - Quantum Of Solace - The Bond Supremacy

2008-11-07T14:52:00.002+08:00

Synopsis

Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M interrogate Mr White who reveals the organization which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined. Forensic intelligence links Dominic Greene, a ruthless business man, to the mysterious organization. On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the world’s most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano. In a minefield of treachery, murder and deceit, Bond allies with old friends in a battle to uncover the truth. As he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists and even M, to unravel Greene’s sinister plan and stop his organization.

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Followers of this blog, probably know I'm quite a fan of the Bond franchise. After the success of what probably is the most (commercially & critically) successful Bond movie, Casino Royale (CR), this one is a must-see for all Bond fanatics.

Quantum of Solace (QOS) picks up moments after the credits rolled at the end of CR so this is the first actual Bond sequel. So it was almost inevitable for this movie to be viewed with high hopes and expectations. But I'm trying very hard to watch QOS with a fresh look, taking into account that this movie has a different director with Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland). But after the end credits rolled, I couldn't help but thinking that QOS is actually a footnote to CR and that there is more to the adventure of the so-called 'new' Bond.

The Action
I have to start off this review with the action sequences because, well.. QOS started with one. Almost a minute into the film, action fans will be treated to a high octane car chase through the streets of Siena in Tuscany, Italy. And that scene really sets the tone of the film, sort of a welcome note by Forster that says 'You want action, I'll give you action!'. Kudos for Forster and his action direction team for staging wonderful action sequences in this movie that involves cars, foot, bike, cars, boats and planes - you name it they got it.

Watching all those wonderful action sequences, I did get the deja-vu feeling of "..have I seen this before?''. It turns out that the editing and the second unit team of the 'Bourne' movies are also involved in QOS as well. So expect that kind of gritty, fast cut editing action in this one too. High marks for action and suspense.

Story/Script
While the action in QOS does up the ante from CR, here lies the problem for QOS storytelling. Sometimes I do get the feeling that the writers (Haggis and team) are set out this time to make an action-packed revenge movie and neglecting any plot points and character development. Viewers will be transported from one exotic locations to another (complete with Heroes-like titles), and jumped to another action sequences as the story goes, at times seems a little too fast-paced and forced. The film jumps around constantly, leaving you wondering what is happening. What's the deal with this SPECTRE-like secret organization called Quantum? What do they really want? Oil? Water control? World-domination, of course.

The originality and the smooth dialogue of CR are not present in QOS. Sometimes Bond looks like a mute vengeful assasin rather than a cunning British spy. I do understand that he's pissed and out for revenge, but.. this is James Bond. Without the humour, flirtation and sexiness, he's no different from any other character from any spy thriller (Bourne again?). This is not a movie about a sexy British spy but about an embittered killing machine who has lost the woman he loved and still doesn't know whether she actually betrayed him. It’s tough stuff — but a Bond in permanent emotional travail is a Bond oddly diminished. In my opinion, the film's grim and downbeat nature precludes either the sexiness or the humour that are part and parcel of Bond’s appeal.

Bond & Co
Daniel Craig performance is solid as a lean, mean killing machine. He's looking set to continue to redefine 007 for the modern era. It doesn't help that the script requires him to tone down his charm and be pissed al the time, but I can see him outshining some previous Bonds when the time comes. His performance in QOS reminded me of Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights - cold and heartless. But Dalton doesn't fit the Bond persona he's creating with the cheesy plot of Living Daylights. Eon productions got wrong back then and have got so very right this time around: if you're going to reinvent Bond, reinvent everything. Don't just fit a serious actor into a traditionally campy plot - make sure the entire world that Bond inhabits fits a more realistic take on the character.

Mathieu Almaric is decent as the enigmatic environmentalist Mr. Greene (enviromentalist, Greene - Geddit?) although I wished he had more banter with Bond especially during the final scene. He kinda looked like a bad-teethed version of Roman Polanski though.

Returning from CR, Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis is very good, providing a little bit human character in his brief scenes with Bond. Jeffrey Wright also return as CIA agent Felix Leiter; the coolest cat of them all, although he could use a little more screen time in the future.

Bond Girls
I'm not sure if Camille (Olga Kurylenko) is fitting to be called a Bond-girl simply because she doesn't connect at all with Bond. It seems that her own agenda back story (which is obvious right from the beginning) potrayed her as a supporting cast rather than a classic Bond girl. Gemma Arterton fits the bills more rightly, as Agent Fields (wait for the end credits to catch her real name), a throwback to the classic Bond girl right down to the manner of her demise on screen. (black-Goldfinger?). I felt there's more connection and chemistry between Bond and Fields although very brief.

The real Bond girl this time, is probably M, played ever so convincingly by Judi Dench. M have more screen time than ever in QOS, finally showing what might in fact be a kind of mother figure, never quite giving up on her favourite son’s persistent capacity to do the wrong thing by killing those he should be bringing in for questioning. Dench is magnetic, projecting the kind of charisma that only she and Helen Mirren could (both of them, GILF in my book, there I said it!)

Bond Theme Song
It's a Bond film - you have to talk about the theme song. As much as I loved Jack White and Alicia Keys, the theme song is rather forgettable. There's no chemistry at all in what supposed to be a rock-soul duet (first time duet in any Bond film). 'Another Way To Die' simply just - died. To think that Amy Winehouse nearly got the nod for doing the theme song, imagine what could have been..

Verdict
Quantum of Solace isn't as good as Casino Royale: the smart elegance of Craig's Bond debut has been toned down in favour of action and grit. But Daniel Craig powers this movie; he carries the film. As a big budget action thriller, QOS pass with flying colours. I had a very enjoyable time watching it, explosions and all. But this time around the biggest hurdle is the script, which is working against Bond every step of the way, making victims of character and plot.

But I do have a feeling that QOS is actually a promise of more things to come. In the next Bond picture this 21st-century spy will gain greater access to his own character strengths. And we will eventually see Bond enjoying himself more. But right now, let Bond settle his score - he's in anger management.

WEB : Watchmen Featurette - Girls Kick Ass

2008-11-07T00:20:00.002+08:00

*Orgasmic*

Journey / Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) - The Greatest Music Video Ever.

2008-11-05T15:06:00.005+08:00

Journey - Separate Ways

I love Journey. There's no 2-way about it, I just freakin' love 'em. The song above is probably one of their best song, and definitely my all-time favourite (.. I even made it as my ringtone).

The music video - now that's something else. It's the epitome of 80's rock music videos. The one that defines it. Everything good and awesomely bad things that you can think of an 80's music videos are all present here. This video definitely rules the freakin' universe!

If you need a reason to watch it, I'll give you one. Heck, I'll give you 12! :

Air guitar, bass, drums AND keyboards at the beginning of the video. Plus points for the keyboard player for making nasty rock faces.
Steve Perry's giving constant orgasmic face while singing.
Steve Perry's awesome mullet.
Tight high-waisted jeans.
80's trademark group camera-mugging shot at 01:15.
Keyboard on the wall at 01:34. Awesome!
Chick with leather skirt and big hair at 02:05.
The location - looks like an abandoned IKEA factory.
The solo drum fill at 02:36.
80's trademark group head-turning shot at 02:52.
Headless Steinberger's bass guitar at 03:15. Cool!
Unnecessary slow-mo sequence at 03:37.

And for those reasons my friends, this music video is quite possibly the most rockin', awesome, spectacular, greatest music video in the history of all living things. If you don't like the video, or Journey's music for that matter, than you should go fuck yourself. Simple as that.

JURNAL : Your Search Strings 001 - Found What You're Looking For Here?

2008-10-31T19:52:00.002+08:00

Blog tools such as feedjit.com can provide a lot of information about your blog readers such as their arrival /departure time, which country they reside, what browser and operating system they're using and from what blog they came from.

But the most interesting feature is probably the search strings that the user type in search engines such as Google and Yahoo that brought them here to this blog. I do get the usual strings such as 'eddvedder' and 'movie review' from readers all around the world. But occasionally there's one or two search strings that makes me wonder - are you for real?!? What?!

Here's some example of those search strings that you - yes you, the readers, typed in your search engines, that took you here to this blog based on my Feedjit account :

1) frank bijak
- are u talking about Frank Lampard? He's not that 'bijak', and Chelsea fans call him Fat Frank.

2) pencuci muka yang Nasha Aziz pakai
- seriously girl (guy?), even if you know the answer, you will never ever look like her.

3) kain kebaya macam mak aku buat
- and u expect Google to know this?

4) tetek Azizah Mahzan
- MILF hunter this one. Or maybe it's Nazim Masnawi.

5) foto punggong tonggek
- if you really need to fap, find it in You Tube.

6) liana jasmay bogel
- Ok, you pervert, she's a good girl and a great actress. But if there is one, keep me informed.

7) feshien terbaru Vanida Imran
- learn how to spell first.

8) erti sebuah pembikinan filem/ teater
- err, to make money? No?

9) Ali Larter hindustan / bollywood
- I get this a lot. Almost everyday. There's a lot of Ali Larter (or Bollywood) fans out there.

10) cleaning pussy
- well, put the cat into a small tub and put some shampoo on the cat's fur and..huh? what? Oh, you don't mean cats..?

11) hitch cock
- there's no space between those two words... unless you're searching for Will Smith's family jewels.

12) waxing yoko-yoko
- clearly you have been misinformed about the correct usage of Yoko-Yoko.

13) vagina frapuccino
- I don't even want to know what that taste like.

14)berak di Awana Kijal
- either you mispelled 'break' or you really need to go clean yourself.

15)pedophile gruesome castration
- Ok, u need to get some help. Fast.

.. i don't even know what to say. Only in cyberspace.

WEB : Watchmen New Trailer & Poster

2008-10-23T11:04:00.003+08:00

The anticipation keeps building up..

Last night on Spike TV Awards 2008, Zack Snyder, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Ackerman & the super-duper stunning Carla Gugino premiered the official new trailer to worldwide audience featuring tons of new footage not featured on the last trailer that I posted here.

Say what you want about Snyder (slo-mo cuts, dizzying 360 panning, wide-angle CGI shots, etc..), but that guy sure knows how to cut a freakin' awesome trailer.

Watch the clip below, and for you MCR fans out there, u might notice the guy at the beginning of the clip. BTW, MCR is also confirmed to close the movie with a Bob Dylan's cover (*yaay for Zacko & Sha*).

And the fun doesn't stop there.. Yahoo Movies introduced a fantastic new teaser poster which re-creates a famous moment from the opening scene of the film and is briefly shown in the final shot of the trailer above.

If you notice, the poster reveals the movie will be R-Rated for "graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language". Glad to know that Snyder doesn't resort to cutting this movie into a G or PG in order to make more money. Hoping that the nudity refers to Gugino.. :).

Awesome stuff.

TV : 5 New TV Series That Are Worth Your Time, and 5 Reasons Why You Should Watch Them

2008-10-19T23:25:00.023+08:00

If you've been here more than twice, you'll probably noticed that I kinda' have this infatuation with Heroes and a certain Ms. Penettiere. Though I still love Heroes (..although at the moment I'm not feeling the whole 'some powers are given' and present-future-present storyline), I cannot ignore other exciting new series premiering on American TV. They're many to choose from - some are good and some are bad, depending on your preferences. Listed below are the 5 new series that I think are worth your viewing time (..or DL-ing time, especially for someone who is in Malaysia, like me).

True Blood

What it's about :
True Blood, from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball, is a small-screen adaptation of Charlaine Harris' smart Southern Vampire Mysteries books, and poses the question, "What if vampires were not only real, but part of society?"
After a Japanese scientist makes synthetic blood, vampires come out of the coffin and are free to roam the world, presumably because they don't pose a threat to humans anymore. Anna Paquin stars as mind-reading waitress Sookie Stackhouse (best character name EVER) who becomes enamored with her town's first fanged visitor, Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).

5 reasons you should watch it :

> It's a social satire. The vamps movement could very well be about civil rights or homophobia and it's very fun to watch. How would you react if vampires were actually part of your everyday life?
> Horny characters. There's a whole bunch of them..
> That kid from The Piano, Anna Paquin. Gap-toothed southern gals has never been sexier.
> The blood and gore. Well, if you're into that kind of thing..
> The opening credit. One of the best I have ever seen. It set's the tone really well, with creepy grainy images flashing to the tune of Jace Everett's Bad Things.

Fringe

What it's about :
Fringe stars Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, and John Noble as an unlikely trio that investigates unusual phenomena for the FBI. Before you ask "Wait a minute, isn't that The X-Files?" Well, unlike Scully and Mulder who are running after aliens and ghosts, these guys are chasing phenomenons that are almost real. That's how Fringe gets it name - from 'fringe science', or the fields of technology and science that are on the verge of breakthroughs.

5 reasons you should watch it :

> Very high production values. The pilot was almost movie-like with high explosives, amazing special effects and great sets.
> The conspiracy theories. Who doesn't love them?
> Amidst all the seriousness, there's also some surprisingly humorous moments that catch you off guard. Great writing.
> Watching an episode almost like watching a Discovery channel special because it might actually teach you a thing or two.
> It's from J.J. Abrams, the man behind Alias and Lost. So you know what to expect.

Breaking Bad

What it's about :
Well, it's not really new; Breaking Bad actually premiered on US TV in January this year but I recently discovered it, and I'm glad I did. The series stars Bryan Cranston (the dad from Malcolm In The Middle) as Walter White, a struggling high school chemistry teacher with a handicapped child and pregnant wife. When the already tense White is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, he breaks down and turns to a life of crime, setting up meth drug lab in a desire to secure his family's future financial security.

5 reasons you should watch it :

> Bryan Cranston. Fucking amazing actor. No wonder he won an Emmy recently.
> The acting is as good as you can get on TV. The supporting casts are so much fun to watch.
> The writing and the storytelling is compelling. I guarantee by episode 3, you'll be attached to the characters and their lives.
> I love the premise. Walt White is the perfect anti-hero. You cheer for him but at the same time you can't believe what shitty mess he's gotten himself into. Would you succumb to the same situation if you're in his shoes?
> Walt in his underwear, with a gas mask on, driving an RV in the desert. You have to see it (click here)

Life On Mars

What it's about :
No, it's not about life on planet Mars. It's actually about a New York City homicide detective who suddenly finds himself inexplicably transported from 2008 to 1973. The series was adapted from the British series of the same name shown by the BBC. The series just premiered on Oct 9 and currently in it's 2nd episode.

5 reasons you should watch it :

> Harvey freakin' Keitel.
> ..and longtime crush Lisa Bonet.
> ..and Gretchen Mol in a policewoman uniform with 70's wavy hair.
> Great 70's music throughout the show especially the title track, David Bowie's Life On Mars.
> Time-traveling stories are always fun to watch.

My Own Worst Enemy

What it's about :
Edward Albright is a super spy. Henry Spivey is living the normal American dream in the suburbs with his wife, two kids and dog. The two men have one thing in common - they share the same body because Edward took part in an experiment several years earlier to create a split personality. Henry has never met his alter-ego Edward, except for an email he receives from Edward saying that people are coming to kill him. Now, the super spy and the suburban daddy have to learn to live with each other in the same body and not get each other killed.

My Own Worst Enemy premiered last week after much hype and I'm actually 50/50 about this one. Looks promising though, but we'll see how it goes.

5 reasons you should watch it :

> I actually kinda' like Christian Slater. The last time I saw him in anything was in this indie flick, He Was A Quiet Man in which he did an excellent job. So it's good seeing him return to prime time.
> It sort of have that Alias feel to it with all the super-spy and espionage tales.
> The pilot was directed by David Semel, who also directed the pilot for Heroes so you got the same style of storytelling, pacing and a revealing ending.
> It's a twist to the classic Jekyll & Hyde story.
> err.. Madchen Amick?

Those are the 5 'new' series that I think are worth watching or *cough* downloading *cough* right now. Take those 5 series plus new seasons of Life, Pushing Daisies, Reaper, Entourage, Nip/Tuck, The L Word and others, I certainly have my hands full. And don't forget the always amazing new season of Mad Men, Californication and Chuck. And speaking about Chuck, say hello to Yvonne Strahovski who played Agent Sarah Walker :

Nothing.. I just need a reason to post her picture here. :)

There's also a bunch of new series premiering in the past few months such as The Cleaner, Raising The Bar, Sons of Anarchy, Privileged, Worst Week, The Mentalist, Sanctuary & The Eleventh Hour that has created a great buzz either critically or commercially, that I have yet to discover.

Phew!
So many great TV series, so little time..
I need Hiro's powers...
And super fast broadband Internet access.

TV : V - Those lizard aliens are back..

2008-10-14T15:09:00.004+08:00

One of the most scarring image from 1980s television that was stuck in my brain,was the image of the (very hot) alien, Diana from V: The Miniseries swallowing a whole rat. A whole fucking rodent right down her throat.

As shown on the YouTube clip above, the animation looks really shitty and cheap now, but trust me, in those days I was literally watching this scene between my fingers. V was a television event --a must-see science-fiction extravaganza that had viewers glued to their TV sets and hiding under their covers.

I mean who doesn't want to watch aliens getting their human mask ripped-off, revealing a very scary, slimy lizard-like face? (clips below)

Well, guess what? V is coming back to TV.

ABC is giving a makeover to the 1983 miniseries with the help of The 4400 co-creator Scott Peters, who will be executive producer and help pen the new V. So far there is no word on whether the new V will be a miniseries or a series.

ABC's V will be set in the same universe, but its centerpiece will be a female Homeland Security agent who is dealing with her son's affinity for the alien visitors. V will also be developed into a video game, as well as other multimedia platforms.

Personally, I am a bit skeptical about this one (look what happened to Bionic Woman). Original creator Kenneth Johnson is not involved with this. It seems like he's pushing for a sequel not a remake, based on his recently produced novel V : The Second Generation.

We'll see how it goes.. what do u guys think?

WEB : The news headline that crack me up today..

2008-10-08T14:54:00.006+08:00

Say whaaaat?

TV : Heroes 03x01 & 03x02

2008-09-24T17:28:00.006+08:00

PIC SPAM : Could contain spoilers

I always knew it was someone from the future, but I never guessed it was him.

Who's the new 'speedster'? Kinda' cute.

OMG WTF moment no. 1 . Damn u Sylar!

Luckily she's 'not like the others'. Pheww!

Whoaa! Gratuitious 'ibu jari kaki unta' shot.

Future Ando is kinda' badass. Reminded me of Ken from Street Fighter.

'Super' Mohinder and Maia. NSFW.. and kinda' weird.

'Believe it or not I'm walking on air..' Remember him?
He's The Greatest American Hero.

Is it me or doesn't it feel awkward watching 'family' scenes like this after we all know about the whole Hay-Lo affair?

Caligula's back. Or is he?

I don't know.. every time I see her, Gina Russo from Nip/Tuck always comes up.
And it destroyed everything that is good about her character. Sigh.

One of the dozens of 'villains' that escaped from Level 5.
Sylar was in Level 2, so that make these guys even more sadistic than him.
More about them in future post.

OMG WTF moment no. 2.
Another Petrelli??

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My verdict? Based on the action-packed (and quite violence) first 2 episode, it looks like Kring and crew have succeeded in pulling out of their sophomore slump.

The pacing was faster, questions were answered very quickly, the major story arc were introduced within the first 30 minutes of the show compared to 1/2 a dozen episodes during last season and interesting characters were introduced. Simply put - the show looks very good.

Based on the first 2 episode, I couldn't help but noticed that in this season, it's all about Good VS Evil. Heroes VS Villains. Which is very simple but very interesting because if you accept that good people can unwittingly do some evil things in their race to be maverick heroes, you have to also be willing to accept that evil people can sometimes inadvertently do good things as well. In other words, you got to expect the first few episodes to explore just which side each of the characters is really on. Hmmm..

It's the second coming of Heroes. And it looks promising.

It's here..

2008-09-22T15:27:00.005+08:00

5 more hours to go..
Before that, go watch the exclusive webisodes here, here and here ...

Selamat Berpuasa Dari Maria Ozawa

2008-09-03T11:18:00.002+08:00

*chuckles*

JURNAL : Alhamdulillah

2008-08-25T10:49:00.002+08:00

Alhamdulillah..
There's a bun in the oven.
7 weeks and 2 days old today.
Pray for mom and baby's safety.
Amin.

SPORTS : Here We Go Again..

2008-08-20T19:21:00.004+08:00

A draw on the 1st gameweek..
selection crisis..
transfer saga..
.. typical Man Utd season starter.

No matter what..
we still remain on top.
Here's to another great season.
Here We Go!

To wifey, thanks for the understanding my obsession with this club..
For letting me enjoy the live matches;
For letting me go nuts on the laptop,
managing my fantasy football team;
And for the morale support.
I really appreciate it.

WEB : One More Month For Heroes S3.

2008-08-20T18:06:00.004+08:00

Approximately 32 more days to go..
until the premiere of the 3rd season of Heroes.

In the meantime,
check out Claire Bear new short 'do..

She looks really good..

*sigh*

WEB : Lefties, This Is Our Day!

2008-08-13T09:58:00.001+08:00

Just 11% of the world's population is left-handed.
Including me.
Lefties = minority.
It's not easy being a minority.
But we're damn proud of it!

Happy Left-Handers Day!
August 13th 2008.

I want to be the minority / I don't need your authority / Down with the moral majority / 'Cause I want to be the minority - Minority, Green Day

MUSIC : Butterfingers - Kembali With A Vengeance

2008-08-11T11:45:00.011+08:00

This entry was featured in Butterfingers official blog. Thanks Emmett, Loque, Kadak & Loco.

If somebody told me 12 years ago, that Butterfingers will be rocking keroncong, joget or syair, sing entirely in Malay and write lyrics such as Satu, dua, tiga, empat / Siapa cepat dia dapat, I would definitely tell that person to go fark himself.

Come to think of it, The Beatles fan in the 60's would probably say the same things if they were told that Paul, John, Ringo and George would study transcendental meditation, play sitar and wrote lyrics such as Jai guru deva om.

I am not trying to compare Butterfingers with The Beatles; although they very much qualify to be our very own Beatles in terms of their musical evolution, experimentation and revolution. My point is this : I really can't think of any other local band that has grew so much musically and spiritually in a short period of time other than Butterfingers.

Every album since the raw-sounding 1.2 Miligrams up until now, Butterfingers is constantly changing, surprising us with their trademark Butter Sound, trying to improve their musical talent as well as to broaden their fans listening skills. They could have just stick to playing their hard-rocking grunge rock music that they mastered a long time ago and leave it at that, and everyone will be happy. But Butterfingers is not your average rock band. They definitely have something up their sleeves. And judging by their new 6th studio album Kembali, they are moving into the right direction.

Kembali is Butterfingers 2nd Malay language album after the very dark Selamat Tinggal Dunia and compared to that album, Kembali is the exact opposite. Filled with radio-friendly, catchy up-tempo songs with simple but meaningful lyrics, Kembali is like a Malay folk album with guitar effects. Malay peribahasa, syair and pantun are gracefully laced with a much simpler guitar works and sing-along tunes. It almost sounded like they travel back to Malaya in the 1950's, learn how to sing and play music, came back with spirits intact and put their own twist to the sound of those eras.

The songs are sung in the style of the 50's a-la R. Azmi, like they were telling us a story, or injecting some positive moral thinking into our soul. The music is definitely local, with Malaysian's traditional vibe in every song, but blended to sound global and universal. This is the new Butter-sound and Kembali is the new and improved Butterfingers. What's important is that, they sounded new, fresh and different. At the end of the day, something different is just what we need.

Track by track review :

Joget Global - Perfect intro to the album, with Emmett reciting syair and the band singing in a capella. Emmett and Loque sings ubah,ubah,ubah! / Kera di hutan disusukan, anak di rumah mati kelaparan, an obvious ditty to the current state of Malaysia vs Indo music fiasco. I'm not really sure about the 5 minutes guitar effects and distortion sound towards the end of the song though.

Bebas - My fave track on the album (so far). Starting from the first line of lyrics, Enjit-enjit semut / siapa sakit naik atas, the song grabs your attention with beautiful melodies, laid-back singing and sing-along lyrics. Love the guitar fills in this song. Simple but effective.

Maharani - I guarantee, that violin notes will be stuck in your head for a few days. Emmett's show off his violin skills, perfectly blend with the sound of Loque guitar's. There's an impromptu, acoustic version of this song available on Butterfinger's YouTube channel here that sounded just as great with the 'oooh, ooohs..' and hand-claps replacing the violin and drum works. Very Weezer-ish!

Terus Terang - Wang ringgit boleh dicari / Tapi mana nak sama dengan kau seorang / Yang suka berterus-terang sings Emmett in this very simple but catchy song. The lyrics are probably about the fans and their loyalty to the band. The guitar solo in the middle reminded me of their Butter Worth Pushful days.

Air Liur di Kuala Lumpur - And ode to the capital city, with right on your nose lyrics such as Kuala Lumpur / Belajar beratur / Janganlah menggelupur. Listen carefully and you could hear Vio-Pipe, their famous instrumental song in the middle of this song, maybe sarcastically played by Loque.

Lengkap Semula - Obviously someone is in love. With lyrics such as Akan ku bina sebuah jambatan emas / Demi menghubungkan aku dengannya, the song started off slow, almost classical, and build up tempo in the second verse, before going into this big orchestra like chorus. The chorus melody was probably inspired by P. Ramlee's Anakku Sazali. A grand universal love song, Butter style.

Merdeka - Not 100% keroncong (came off sounded a little bit ska), but hats off to Loque for attempting to write a fresh new keroncong song. With a little help from music legend Pak Kassim Masdor on the grand piano, they managed to capture the feel of keroncong with lyrics about freedom. How cool it is for the band to jam with the legendary Kassim Masdor, who used to jam with the great P. Ramlee back in his days.

1000 Tahun (Mahu Hidup) - The first single, started off really subtle with Loque creating guitar sounds that sounded like a sape (Sarawak's ethnic musical instrument), before gradually transforming into a hard-hitting rock song. Loco's drumming was energetic, and it's probably the only song on the album that you can headbang to. Emmett sings Harap maafkan / Di atas segala kesulitan / Perselisihan yang di hadapi / Amat Dikesali / Takkan berulang lagi... maybe it's about their love-hate relationship with the local Malay press? Whatever it is, this is a song about re-inventing, proclaiming that they are back, better than before.

Gelombang Cinta - While listening to this song, I kept thinking, if the lyrics were in English, it will definitely be Radiohead, during The Bends. I really like the sound of Kadak's bass on this one.

Mendaki Menara Condong - A little bit of Sebadoh and maybe Bloc Party on this track. Loco and Kadak carried this one with amazing drum and bass work. It's an uplifting song with lyrics such as Peristiwa berlaku dengan sebab / Terus mara ke depan / Jangan putus asa / Jangan menyerah kalah that will definitely lift your spirits in whatever it is that you're doing.

Mati Hidup Kembali - If The Beatles (again) have Let It Be, Butterfingers have this song. Loque beautifully crafted a masterpiece, going solo on the piano pouring his heart out to this song. The chorus sounded a little bit traditional with lyrics such as Malam semalam gundah gulana / Hari ini hari mulia / Tak pernah aku rasa begini / Seperti mati hidup kembali. This song simply sums up what the album is all about. After saying goodbye in Selamat Tinggal Dunia, now they are back in Kembali, reborn and reinvented.

I read an interview somewhere, that Butterfingers are saying that they were glad that nowadays, less people are labeling them, 'Malaysia's Best Band' like before, thus creating less pressure and anticipation into the creation of this album. Well, whether they like it or not, I like to call them, 'Malaysia's Most Creative Band'.

Go here for more info about Butterfingers.
Support the Butter movement.

WEB : Watchmen Posters

2008-08-05T15:44:00.009+08:00

(click image for larger view)

Very cool Watchmen character posters. I love the details and the comic style design. I thought the quotes were a great touch too although I'm curious about the Dr. Manhattan posters because I think the comment was made by Prof. Milton Glass, not Prof. Wally Weaver. I also noticed the date on the Nite Owl quote is dated 1986, which is interesting considering that the comic storyline happens entirely in 1985. Hmm..

Also noticed the clock in the top left corner of the poster shows various time. Plus the first appearance of Ozymandias pet, Bubastis (..yaay!) is just wonderful. And check out Sally Jupiter.. Carla Gugino was made to wear that costume!

SPORTS : Thank You Ole!

2008-08-03T08:59:00.000+08:00

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's testimonial yesterday came 12 years after he joined Manchester United, aged 23, from Norwegian club Molde for £1.5m. Although the striker usually started matches on the bench, he soon picked up the nickname, 'the baby-faced assassin', for his ability to plunder goals and his boyish looks.

He won six League titles and two FA Cups at United. His greatest moment, however, came in 1999 when he came on to score the last-minute winner in the European Cup final against Bayern Munich in the Nou Camp, to give United an unprecedented Treble.

In total, he made 366 appearances for the club, the last coming in scoring 126 goals before a knee injury ended his career in the summer of 2007. He holds the club record for most goals scored as a substitute. He also won 67 caps for Norway, with 23 international goals.

Since retiring, he has been appointed United's reserve team coach, and is also a UNICEF ambassador and the youngest recipient of Norway's equivalent of a knighthood.

Much respect for 20 LEGEND.
Your service will be greatly missed.

FILM : The Dark Knight - Caped Crusading To The Top

2008-07-28T14:24:00.003+08:00

As the end credits for The Dark Knight (TDK) rolls, for a few seconds, my wife and I just sat there, on our seats. Static, not being able to move, no words uttered. In fact, for nearly 2 1/2 hours, we hardly took our eyes off the screen. After those few seconds, we turned towards each other, and grinned. Although no words are spoken, both of us knew exactly what's in each other minds. We share the same feeling. It's been awhile since a film took our breath away. In a way it was a weird kind of mixed feeling of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Satisfied for witnessing a masterpiece; dissatisfied because we couldn't get enough of it. Simply put – this movie is really, really good.

TDK is probably the first movie I can think of in a long time that successfully creates a feeling of chaos from (almost) start to finish. And - thankfully enough – Christopher Nolan establishes this mood not by shaking his camera all over the place (read : Michael Bay) but instead keeping it under tight control even as Gotham is just melting down all around him. Starting from the marvelous opening bank heist scene, the ingenious introduction to The Joker involving a pencil, the slow burn transformation of Harvey Dent to Two-Face and the final heartbreaking showdown, the film is a controlled maniacal chaos.

Christopher Nolan has done what seemingly before this was almost impossible - given us a sequel that builds upon the first film and the characters, and (gasp!) gave Gotham City a touch of reality by linking it to Hong Kong. Gotham City is no longer fictional, but seems much closer to home, which in my opinion, is probably why TDK feels extra disturbing. Die-hard comic fans may prefer Burton’s Batman rather than Nolan’s but in my opinion Burton played up the absurdity of Batman and his villains without making them believable.

In Burton's Gotham City, the place is purely fantastical, therefore rendering the whole affair a whimsical spectacle. We as the audience are merely spectators and felt a little detached. Nolan's sequel stuck in our hearts simply because being rooted now in the real world, the issues it addresses become far more immediate than we could imagine from something of a comic book origin. Nolan clearly respects not only the possibilities in the source material but also the very real pain that would drive a man like Bruce Wayne to the edge. In other word, we want to believe Batman actually exist.

I reckoned you probably have read everything, good or bad, regarding the monumental performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker. Some say it's Oscar-worthy, the all-time best performance by an actor, and what-not. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure about that but one thing for sure – he owns this character. After TDK, any villainous character, coincidental or not, will always be compared to Ledger's performance. He's very good.

But in my opinion, the Joker phenomenon has somewhat overshadowed the amazing performances of Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman. Their film-carrying performance is brilliant. Eckhart play his role to perfection. He grounded the movie. I really think if you remove Harvey Dent character, TDK would basically devolve back to a simple comic book movie. It would have just been good vs bad. For me, the difference between Joker and Two-Face, is that Joker is all about anarchy and chaos. He has no reason for being a maniac. Two-Face is killing for a reason. And that reason is love. Will you flip-out like Harvey if your love is taken away from you unjustly? Do you realize how easily other actors could have made the character slip into some sleazy stereotype political dude? So for that, Eckhart is perfect.

And Gary Oldman.. man, what can I say. It’s Gary freakin' Oldman! Even if you give him the most absurd, out of this world, pathetic character (remember Lost In Space? Fifth Element?), he probably can outshine everybody else. His Lt. Gordon, marvelously restrained, provides the moral center of the film. He expands Gordon's righteous anger with loyalty that makes the final showdown heartrendingly unbearable. I always have, and always will say this : Gary Oldman is one of, if not the greatest living actor of our time.

So where's Batman in all this, you ask? Bale did a decent job, complete with growling voice and all. But honestly, do you really think Batman – the character, will be so enormously popular if not because all the supporting characters that surrounded him? I think Bale and Nolan did realize this from the start and did the very wise thing of not overplaying him. Batman - in all his movies - is the driving force, but not the main attraction.

The action sequences are great, and Nolan has improved on the last film even in this aspect, giving us sequences that are better shot and more controlled (love the tunnel chase). Special mentions also have to go to the musical score of TDK by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard that add emotions to every scene. Definitely a sure bet come Oscar time. And plus points to the casting director for adding Eric Roberts, Michael Jai White, William Fitchner AND Anthony Michael Hall (it's Gary from Weird Science!) to the almost perfect ensemble of actors.

The one thing I discover is that - as a director, Nolan takes his story very seriously. That's what makes his films great. TDK is a frightening, uncompromising, flat-out wonderful film, hitting the perfect mix of characterization and humor, bouncing between phenomenal action set pieces and the brutally human moments that place the film in a recognizable world even as it soars from a comic book fantasy. I believe in Harvey Dent? I believe in Christopher Nolan.

WEB : Robocop - Recharged for 2010

2008-07-25T17:18:00.006+08:00

LOS ANGELES, July 24, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) has signed Darren Aronofsky to direct and David Self to write a new installment for its ROBOCOP franchise. Aronofsky, the director of "The Fountain," and Self, the writer of "Road to Perdition," make a formidable creative team, fast tracking the ROBOCOP motion picture and spotlighting it as one of the most anticipated new films for 2010.

Aronofsky has confirmed. Who do you think should take the mantle from Peter Weller (no disrespect to Robert Burke in Robocop 3) and play the super cop?

WEB : Watchmen First Trailer

2008-07-18T09:10:00.005+08:00

Okay.. I literally had orgasm watching this.

Watchmen First Trailer..
with Smashing Pumpkins's "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" as the background music.
How perfect was that!?

(click the pic below to see the HD trailer in QuickTime)

Check out the Entertainment Weekly cover too.

Honestly speaking, it looks better than I expected.
Snyder, my man... coming from a Watchmen fan,
I think you nailed it dood.

JURNAL : Yummy!

2008-07-10T14:21:00.004+08:00

I had these cupcakes delivered to my wife's office just now.
Yeah, I know..
I'm sweet.
:)

Thanks eLLieZ de`HearT!

JURNAL : Yes, I'm Romantic Like That..

2008-07-10T08:30:00.001+08:00

This is a very personal entry..
It's my wife's birthday today. Her first time celebrating as a wife.

I just want to say.. Happy Birthday Yang. Thanks for being such a wonderful wife. Thanks for taking such a huge leap of faith with me.. emotionally, spiritually and financially. May Allah bless you with good health, longevity and all the great things in the world.

Luv Ya' !

------------------------------------
This song is dedicated to her.
Every time I hear the chorus, I always think of her.
:)

Download here

WEB : I Help Set A World Record.. And It's Official.

2008-07-03T09:34:00.003+08:00

"..We did it! We set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloads in 24 hours. With your help we reached 8,002,530 downloads. You are now part of a World Record and the proud owner of the best version of Firefox yet!" -- Email from Google.

I'm actually part of something big now.
It's actually kinda' cool.
And I got a certificate for it..
Wanna see?
:)

FILM : Amount of Comfort?

2008-07-02T10:25:00.004+08:00

I don't exactly know what 'Quantum of Solace' really means..
but the trailer's cool!

SPORTS : Mulut Ku Cukup Masin

2008-06-30T09:35:00.004+08:00

"..Tahun ni underdog yang menang...Mungkin Spain."
- My comment in Nadia's blog, 4th June 2008.

I guess I have a 'salty-mouth'..

Congrats Spaniards!
Well-deserved.

FILM : The Happening Yang Pening

2008-06-26T09:36:00.002+08:00

The Happening

Synopsis : It begins with no clear warning. In a matter of minutes, episodes of strange, chilling deaths that defy reason and boggle the mind in their shocking destructiveness, erupt in major American cities. What is causing this sudden, total breakdown of human behavior? For Philadelphia high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) what matters most is finding a way to escape the mysterious and deadly phenomenon. Though he and his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) are in the midst of a marital crisis, they hit the road, first by train, then by car, with Elliot's math teacher friend Julian (John Leguizamo) and his 8 year-old daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez), heading for the Pennsylvania farmlands where they hope they'll be out of reach of the grisly, ever-growing attacks. Yet it soon becomes clear that no one—and nowhere—is safe.

Ok.. people. As you all know, the last 15 minutes of any Shyamalan movie is very important. So, right now, I'm going to reveal the twist ending of this movie. Straight up. No Bull.

Ready..? If you are still reading this than you are ready.
Well.. ready or not, here it comes.. Shoot...

It has no ending.

In fact, I don't even know what the hell is happening (excuse the pun) in the movie. I could see almost everyone in the cinema hall having a WTF?! look on their faces as they were walking out of the cinema. What is going on? A vague, subtle fantasy thriller? C'mon.. only Hitchcock can do that. Post-apocalyptic sci-fi tale? It doesn't fit the bill. A big-budget homage to B-movies? I just don't fucking get it!

OK, I admit it's not compulsory for Shyamalan to have a twist ending for each and every one of his film. But at least have a good story, and a very strong reason not to have one. Otherwise, the audience will definitely become confused and frustrated.

The movie has a good premise. Conceptually, the idea of the film is very intriguing. To be fair it started off really well.. giving us some ideas about the terror that is striking the city. People started killing themselves with hairpins, jumping off buildings and blowing their head off with guns; it definitely got the audience attention. But as we try to understand the phenomenon that is occurring, the cause and effect.. we got lost.

The many supporting characters come and go. They were all weird, kooky and downright crazy. But we never see the connection between those character and the story. What's with the creepy old lady (Betty Buckley's character)? What her story? The awkward dialogue seems to make things worse. The scripting is shallow and pointless. The plot is too thin. And the acting... OMFG! Please don't start me off on how atrocious the acting is..

Mark Wahlberg as a science teacher? Give me a fuckin' break! I never really thought the guy can act, probably a little bit overrated (that's what a 10 inch prosthetic penis can do to your career), and in this movie, he's just plain bad. In every emotional scene, he always have the same expression; the I'm-so-hurt-that-I-wanted-to-cry-but-couldn't look. Zooey Deschanel is probably a good actress, with a quirky wide eye look, but she seems very out of place in this movie. Pair them together, and all you got is disaster. There's zero chemistry between them both. You could never believe they were married. The usually reliable John Leguizamo doesn't help either and most of the supporting cast is just plain OK.

The Happening is a great movie struggling to break free. The concept is fantastic, but poor dialogue combined with even worse performances make for a disappointing and frustrating 90 minutes of film. It's not quite Lady in the Water bad, but when compared with the likes of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, it sure isn't good, making one wonder if Shyamalan will ever recapture that early spark of brilliance.

Best Bit : Hardly any, but the scene where the guy kills himself with a lawnmower was quite gory and funny at the same time.

Interesting Fact : The movie was produced by UTV's Ronnie Screwvala, who produced a string of Bollywood hits and notoriously, local soap drama, Idaman.

Verdict : It's a great idea. A silent, unknown killing machine knocking people off while a science teacher tries to figure out why. But the application of this idea just didn't work. The entire cast seemed out of place, not knowing how to react to the terror that was killing everyone. I enjoyed his first 3 big budget films (especially the underrated Unbreakable), but it looks like he is going on a three-film losing streak starting with The Village. Don't say that you haven't been warned.

TV : Long Time No See.. Still Cheerleading?

2008-06-24T16:35:00.005+08:00

Heroes Volume 3 :Villains will be back with a 3-hour event on September 22, 2008. Although not as excited as I was before (..Vol. 2 is a bit disappointing), judging by the teaser trailer in YouTube here, the story seems to unfold very interestingly. In the trailer we could see some new characters, some dead heroes and a particular villain gaining his powers back.

I still have some hope for the series.. Mostly because I wanted to see what Tim Kring will do to overcome last season disappointment. But most importantly, because of the 'cheerleader', pictured below..

The new cheerleader outfit? Or is it Lara Croft? Love the new brunette look.

Looks like our lil' Claire is getting all fired up. Kicking A.S.S!

Off the set Uncle Lovin'. Yup, HayLo in love. (..damn u Milo!)

Vol. 3 looks good to me.
:)

WEB : Firefox Download Day 2008

2008-06-16T16:11:00.003+08:00

Satu soalan.. Kenapa masih menggunakan Microsoft Internet Explorer?

Beberapa tahun dulu aku dah mula fed-up dengan IE sebab terlalu kerap crash dan tak habis-habis membenarkan software mengarut menembusi dinding komputer aku. Dipendekkan cerita, aku bertemu dengan Mozilla Firefox.. dan.. aku jatuh cinta!. Seriously, penjelajahan web aku menjadi begitu berbeza. Akhirnya muncul satu pelayar web yang fully customizable, penuh dengan extensions yang berguna dan mengikut pengguna, tak seperti IE di mana pengguna terpaksa ikut telunjuknya (..security update? Fark!)

Kenapa Firefox lebih baik dari IE? Banyak artikel di Internet yang membincangkannya (..di sini ada 9 sebab). Tapi bukan itu tujuan aku menulis di sini. Tapi sekadar menyebarkan berita. Mozilla Firefox 3 akan terbit besok. Dan Mozilla ingin mencatat rekod dunia bagi muat turun perisian terbesar di dunia dalam masa 24 jam.

Aku dah sertai 1,321,332 penduduk dunia untuk merealisasikan rekod tersebut. Mungkin ini sahaja rekod dunia yang boleh aku catat. Tapi sekurang-kurangnya, aku boleh lihat buku Guiness World Record tahun depan, dan berkata "Hei, aku termasuk dalam jutaan orang yang mencatat rekod dunia ini".

Jom bersama-sama catat rekod dunia.
Klik --> Firefox Download Day.

FILM : Minutemen - First Look

2008-05-28T09:50:00.004+08:00

I'm excited.

From AICN, here's a first look at the Minutemen, from Zack Snyder's upcoming Watchmen film. For those unaware, the The Minutemen were a group of superheroes that was formed before the events of Watchmen, in 1939 and then disbanded ten years later in 1949.

Judging by this picture, I think Zack and Co. has really got it right. Look at their attention to costume details, hair & makeup (need I remind you, it's 1940). I hope that they'll do justice to the Watchmen story too.

Oh yes, that's Carla Gugino as Silk Spectre I.
*squee*

L to R : Silhouette, Mothman, Dollar Bill, Nite Owl I, Captain Metropolis, The Comedian (kneeling), Silk Spectre I and Hooded Justice.

WEB : The Best Viral Music Video EVER!

2008-05-24T12:14:00.003+08:00

Here's the latest video from one of my favourite band of all time, WEEZER. Rivers Cuomo (plus handlebar moustache) and Co. are back with the new single, 'Pork and Beans' , from their upcoming 'Red Album' releasing June 3rd 2008.

Weezer unveiled this new video on YouTube yesterday. What so cool about the video is, it stars some familiar YouTube faces such as Numa Numa guy, Tay Zonday, Kevin Federline, Chris Crocker and Miss Teen South Carolina. These so-called 'YouTube celebs' got very famous for their viral videos on the net. In a way, Weezer was embracing the power of online videos (they also premiered their own YouTube channel yesterday) while at the same time, poking fun at it.

I know, I know.. I spent way too much time on YouTube.
But this video kick ass!!
=W=

SPORT : Bow Down To The Double Winners

2008-05-22T09:38:00.006+08:00

- VICTORIOUS -

"Is this my best team ever? ..Yes!!" - Sir Alex Ferguson, post-match interview.

FILM : Speed Racer - Acid Trippin' Fun!

2008-05-15T18:47:00.004+08:00

Synopsis : Born to race cars, Speed Racer is aggressive, instinctive and, most of all, fearless. His only real competition is the memory of the brother he idolized - the legendary Rex Racer, whose death in a race has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to fulfill. Speed is loyal to the family racing business, led by his father, Pops Racer, the designer of Speed's thundering Mach 5. When Speed turns down a lucrative and tempting offer from Royalton Industries, he not only infuriates the company's maniacal owner but uncovers a terrible secret - some of the biggest races are being fixed by a handful of ruthless moguls who manipulate the top drivers to boost profits. If Speed won't drive for Royalton, Royalton will see to it that the Mach 5 never crosses another finish line. The only way for Speed to save his family's business and the sport he loves is to beat Royalton at his own game. With the support of his family and his loyal girlfriend, Trixie, Speed teams with his one-time rival - the mysterious Racer X - to win the race that had taken his brother's life: the death-defying, cross-country rally known as The Crucible.

The Wachowski brothers are on an acid, LSD driven trip. It's not necessarily a bad thing, though. In fact, as Keanu Reeves would say, "Whoa!". Speed Racer is a fast-paced, live action anime, fueled with bright acidic colors, kinetic racing and a wonderful underdog story.

Now let me tell you something; I have read so many negative reviews about this movie that I have come to a conclusion. From all those negative reviews, 90 percent of it was slamming the Speed Racer anime , or the Japanese original, MachGoGoGo. And almost all of the reviewers was not a fan of the bright colors and fast moving images. So either the critics were a) hated Speed Racer when they were young, or b) have ADD, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy or just plain old.

Speed Racer for me was breathtaking, pop-art, psychedelic retro-future, amazing cinematic experience. It was probably far too ahead of it's time, too much for some people to digest. The storytelling was maybe a bit too cartoonish and child-like to the audience liking, but for me that's what great about it. The Wachowskis was obviously a huge fan of Speed Racer, so it was very clear they wanted to potray the film the way they remembered it : by staying true to the essence and spirit of the original anime series. It was supposed to be cartoon-like and garish. They basically took the spirit of Speed Racer and upgrade it to a new futuristic level. It was never meant to be a realistic film. They created an alternate universe, and a new way to look, see and think of movies.

What I also love about Speed Racer, besides the incredible car racing sequences, is the spinning narrative details with stop and start montages, multi-layered shots and fast transitions. The non-linear narrative comes to you hard, digitally radicalize cinematic language, with multiple storylines, with no cuts but rather central figures from each story horizontally wiping the screen to create transition. If you manage to catch the 8 minute opening scene of the movie on YouTube, you'll probably get the idea. This breakthrough technique is called "faux lensing toward a 'Photo Anime' film format" and once again comes from the great mind of the Wachowskis and effect supervisor, John Gaeta. Watching those scenes, I nearly had similar feeling of watching the Bullet-time scene in The Matrix for the first time. The style just fits perfectly with Speed Racer.

So besides being virtually stunning, what about the story? Actually, the story is essentially the same story that you see in every Speed Racer anime. There's a plot against the sanctity of racing by corporate and evil powers, and it is only through Speed and his father's financial independence and purity that said evil powers can be overthrown. It's the classic anti-capitalist story. It's also the classic underdog fable. And to tell you the truth, that is exactly the story that I wanted to watch. If the story had been any more complicated, it would have been a distraction.

The acting.. well, there's not much acting really. It was more like mugging for the camera, a steering wheel prop in hand, with the knowledge CGI will fill in the blanks. But I have to gave props to Matthew Fox and John Goodman. Fox got that badass-ness about him that was absolutely needed for his character. And he did a really god job. So was Goodman as Pops, towering above every character, in every scene he's in. Emile Hirsch did a decent job, Susan Sarandon brings the MILF-ness, Christina Ricci is weirdly hot in every movie she's been in since 'The Opposite Of Sex', and Paulie Litt and that chimp is dead on similar to the anime version of Spritle and Chim Chim.

This film is not necessarily just for fans of the Speed Racer anime - my wife, who never knew about the existence of Speed Racer until now, loves the movie so much that she demanded a revisit to the movie theater. Well, I would love to watch this movie again on the IMAX theater, just to see what it will do to my retinas. But as far as I'm concerned, if you wanted a new experience in cinema, if you're ready for one of the most genuinely confounding film in years, if you like fast moving racing cars, if you wanted to have an euphoric blissful visual trip without actually taking any drugs and of course, if you are not epileptic, I guarantee you will enjoy Speed Racer as much as I do.

Go Speed Racer Go !!

SPORTS : Champion Again!

2008-05-12T15:38:00.002+08:00

MANCHESTER UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 2007/2008

STAND UP FOR THE CHAMPIONS..!!

NEXT STOP.. MOSCOW.
HERE WE COME.

FILM : 2008 Upcoming Movies - Hollywood

2008-04-28T14:52:00.009+08:00

It's been awhile. Here's something to talk about.

2008 Upcoming Movies That I Wanted To See

(click on the movie title to watch the trailer - if applied)

Iron Man

Why I care: Probably boast the best casting in a superhero / comic book movie. That is until Watchmen of course.

Speed Racer

Why I care: Wachowski brothers first movie since The Matrix trilogy. Curious to see what will they cook up this time.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Why I care: C’mon.. it's Indy Freakin’ Jones!

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan

Why I care: At this moment, I would watch any movie linked with the name Judd Apatow. This time around he teams up with Adam Sandler. Hmmm..

The Incredible Hulk

Why I care: Edward Norton as Incredible Hulk? Count me in..

The Happening

Why I care: I really, really hope M. Night Shyamalan hit the jackpot this time because the trailer looks awesome. If this sucks, then he should stick to.. err.. cameo appearances.

Get Smart

Why I care: Nostalgia. I used to watch Get Smart all the time.

The Love Guru

Why I care: Mike Myers latest character. Hope it'll be another Wayne's World / Austin Powers. Judging by how hard I laughed while watching the trailer, I smell another franchise.

Wanted

Why I care: Timur Bekmambetov Hollywood debut. Must see..

Hancock

Why I care: The trailer looks freakin' awesome. The website is nice too, playing along with the movie plot.

The Wackness

Why I care: It was the best movie at Sundance. The soundtrack looks awesome. It's a coming of age tribute to growing up in the 90s. Three strong reason to see it.

The Dark Knight

Why I care: People will flock to see it because of Heath's Joker. But I really wanted to see it because of The Dark Knight.

X-Files: I Want To Believe

Why I care: I think the timing for this sequel is perfect. Mulder & Scully could be hip again.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Why I care: It's fun the last time around. Although no Rachel Weisz, but it should be fun, again.

Pineapple Express

Why I care: Three strong reasons : 1- World’s first stoner action movie. 2- Written and produced by the guys who brought you Superbad. 3- Starring half the cast of Freaks and Geeks!

Tropic Thunder

Why I care: Robert Downey Jr. as a black Oscar winning actor. Nuff' said.

Bangkok Dangerous

Why I care: The original Thai version is pretty decent. Hope this one will be better. Not sure about the selection of Nic Cage, though.

Be Kind Rewind

Why I care: Ok maybe the movie has already been released. But I really, REALLY need to see this. It's Michel Gondry..!!

Redbelt

Why I care: Chiwetel Ejiofor as a Jujitsu master. And David Mamet directed it. Gotta see that..

Doomsday

Why I care: I enjoyed Neil Marshall's previous 2 films so I was eager to see this one.

Pathology

Why I care: Only because Allysa Milano and Lauren Lee Smith is in various state of undressed throughout this movie. Oh yeah.. Peter Petrelli's in there too.

Midnight Meat Train

Why I care: Tell me, who doesn't want to watch a movie with THAT title? Probably the best movie title EVER!

Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

Why I care: I actually think the first one is very funny and smart. Judging by the trailer, this one should be funny too.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

Why I care: Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem plus a threesome sex scene. Must.See.Now!

Righteous Kill

Why I care: Pacino + De Niro.. and Carla Gugino. Perfect.

Burn After Reading

Why I care: The latest from Coen Brothers.

Lakeview Terrace

Why I care: I always enjoyed Neil LaBute's work; always controversial. This one has Samuel L. Jackson and the gorgeous Kerry Washington.

Ghost Town

Why I care: The Sixth Sense but Ricky Gervais style. Awesome!

City of Ember

Why I care: Bill Murray and Tim Robbins. Double awesome!

The Rocker

Why I care: The always funny Rainn Wilson as an 80's hair band drummer who gets a second chance at fame. Nice.

Hell Ride

Why I care: Really excited about this one. Produced by Tarantino, this is another Grindhouse style film, this time directed by Larry Bishop. Michael Madsen, Dennis Hopper, David Carradine & Vinny Jones is in it, so it should be badass. Even the poster looks great. Check it out here.

The House Bunny

Why I care: Katharine McPhee's movie debut! *squee!* About Playboy Bunnies! *squee!*

Sukiyaki Western Django

Why I care: Takashi Miike spaghetti western. Don't tell me you’re not interested.

Blindness

Why I care: Directed by the incredible Fernando Meirelles. Even if Meirelles decide to direct a MayFirst commercial with AC Mizal, I'll still be interested. The guy is fuckin' brilliant!

Body of Lies

Why I care: Ridley Scott- Russell Crowe team have a go at it one more time. This time with Leo Dicaprio.

He’s Just Not That Into You

Why I care: Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly and Ginnifer Goodwin. Phew!

RocknRolla

Why I care: The plot sounded very similar to Smokin Aces. Even Jeremy Piven is in it. But this time Guy Ritchie's directing. Hope it will be less Revolver, more Lock, Stock.

Quantum Of Solace

Why I care: Two words: James Bond.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Why I care: David Fincher's latest. The film is about a man played by Brad Pitt who was born in his eighties and ages backwards. Exciting.

WEB: The Old New Kids Are Back On The Block!

2008-04-08T14:52:00.003+08:00

As much as I hate to admit it, way before a little band called Nirvana came and changed my views on life (read all about it here), New Kids On The Block is THE band for me. There, I've said it.. I used to be a huge NKOTB fan, people. But at that time, who doesn't?

I got everything man.. the albums, the posters, the hats, the shirts, the buttons and the pins and the loud fanfares.. (if you're singing while you're reading, you're definitely a fan too!). I was a victim. But I guess every preteen is a victim when it comes to what's hot and what's not. After all, NKOTB sold 70 freakin' million albums. They were huge. So you can't blame me, right?

So by now, maybe you had already heard the news about their reunion. Yup, NKOTB has reunited and plans to release a new album and go on tour. The 'kids' are pushing 40, the youngest member is 35 years old. And probably, so are their fans.

I don't know how to react to this. I was kinda' excited. But so many years had gone by, so much things have changed, you kinda' get that awkward feeling. Maybe it's nostalgia. I don't know if the new material is going to be great or whether I will like it. Fans are excited probably because the group reminded them of their youth. But anyway, I wish them luck, though. Keep hangin' tough!

So at the moment, I'm gonna pop their greatest hits album in my CD player.. and just enjoy. All together now.. "Please Don't Go Girrrlll..!!!"

WEB : Whose Face Is This Anyway?

2008-03-11T10:57:00.005+08:00

The image above is taken from Ben Stiller's new upcoming movie, Tropic Thunder in which he wrote, directed and stars. You could see Stiller in the front there along with his co-star, (a very blond) Jack Black in the back.

But who's the black dude in the middle?
Looks familiar?
You'll never guess who this Oscar nominated actor is..

Click here

p.s: I have a 2 weeks course in PD. So until then.. see ya.

WEB : Political Tsunami

2008-03-10T09:59:00.002+08:00

"..Semuanya boleh diubah jika anda buat sesuatu dengan baik. Mereka menjadi begitu bongkak sehingga mereka menutup semua pandangan lain yang mereka tidak suka dan percaya pada laporan mereka sendiri yang tidak sejajar dengan apa yang sebenarnya terjadi dalam negara."
- Tun Dr Mahathir, post election interview.

The people has spoken.
A wake up call to all of us.
A change... for the better or worse?
We'll see..

FILM : One Year From Now... And Counting

2008-03-06T17:55:00.002+08:00

Exactly 1 year from now - 06 March 2009..

Watchmen, directed by Zack Snyder (300) will be released.
Highly anticipated. High expectations.
Can't wait.
Counting down the days..

Warner Bros has released the first set of character photos on the official web. Very,very cool..

Edward Blake / The Comedian played by (Javier Bardem lookalike) Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural).

Dan Dreiberg / Nite Owl played by Patrick Wilson (Little Children, Hard Candy).

Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias played by Matthew Goode (The Lookout, Match Point).

Walter Kovacs / Rorschach played by Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children, All The Kings Men).

Laurie Juspeczyk / Silk Spectre II played by Malin Ackerman (The Heartbreak Kid).

Only one question though.. Where is the photo for Sally Jupiter AKA Silk Spectre I ?
Can't wait to see Carla Gugino in a catsuit. :)
Guess I just have to wait a little longer..
*sigh*

WEB : The Best Thing on Oscars 2008

2008-02-26T11:19:00.003+08:00

So how was the 2008 Oscars? Not a lot of surprises, (maybe in the sound categories), most of my predictions came true. But the best thing for me about this year's Oscar is when Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard performed and won the Oscar for Original Song for "Falling Slowly" from my favourite film of 2007, Once.

Funny thing.. although Glen gave his speech when they've won, Marketa was ushered off stage before she could even begin to say anything. Thankfully host Jon Stewart brought her back after the commercial break and she delivered her unforgettable speech.

"Hi everyone. I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we're standing here tonight, the fact that we're able to hold this, it's just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don't give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us along the way. Thank you."

Short and simple but very powerful speech from a very shy and cute Marketa Irglova. Congratulations to her and Glen Hansard.

Make Art.. Enjoy their performance below..

FILM : Jumping, Aliens, Roadtrip & Window Washing

2008-02-18T18:45:00.002+08:00

Okay, I realized that most of the readers ( .. macam la ramai sangat) used to come in here for movie / music reviews. It's been a while since I reviewed something here... ever since I was so busy with wedding preparations, getting married, the aftermath, the honeymoon bla bla bla.. I do admit, the intentions are there, but I put the blame on no time and uninspiring mojo. Either that or I was so tired and lazy.

So right now, I think I'm settling down. And I guess the mojo is coming back. So, I hope I will rediscover the fire in my belly to write about all the things that we used to share.. and that is entertainment.

To kick-start things off, me and my wife held our own movie marathon last weekend. We were so pissed that because of the wedding (plus work and other family matters) we couldn't really find the time to do the one thing that we loved the most and that is watching movies in the cinema. So realizing that we had no plans for the weekend, we decided to watch CJ7 and Jumper on Saturday, and Dunia Baru : The Movie and Cuci on Sunday, back to back. Here's my take on the films..

Jumper
Synopsis : David Rice (Hayden Christensen) finds out that he possess the power of teleportation and uses it to set out on his own and live a life of privilege and excitement. Life begins to change when a religious sect of paladin hunters headed by (Samuel Jackson) discover his whereabouts and begin the task of tracking him down. David then uses this difficult time to reunite with his grade school crush Millie (Rachel Bilson). An alliance is made with the more experienced jumper Griffin (Jamie Bell) to fight the paladins so they can live again without worry.

Teleportation; the idea of going to any place that you desire without the hassle of airport customs, airline food and holiday budget is very exciting and exhilarating. So after watching the trailer for this Doug Liman crafted, sci-fi thriller, I admit my expectations was very high for a very solid action adventure a-la The Matrix (or even The Fly). Plus Sam Jackson is in it, so it's got to be badass.. But it failed to deliver on so many levels that it turns out to be very confusing rather than amusing.

First and foremost, the acting. I have nothing against Hayden Christensen but the guy is so wrong for this part. I don't see any charisma at all in his acting. (Are we talking about Anakin Skywalker here?) Plus there is zero chemistry between him and Rachel Bilson. Bilson although very cute, is very annoying as our hero childhood sweetheart. She keeps asking all this questions after questions that sometimes I wish that our hero could teleport her to a cave in Ariege Pyrenees (..google it). Even the always badass Sam Jackson is very limited in his antagonist role as a Paladin. (Paladin = the bad guy who chases Jumpers = the good guy). Jamie Bell, as a vagabond British Jumper is the saving grace but he alone could not carry the movie.

Secondly, the story. Based on a novel by Steven Gould, Jumper is written by David S Goyer who above all, wrote Batman Begins. I guess he took too much sleeping pills while writing this one because they were so many things unexplained that you could almost sympathize with Rachel Bilson character for asking so many questions. Why do the young Jumpers have the ability to teleport around the world in an instant? Why has there been a centuries-long war between the Jumpers and Paladins, who maintain a private army of executioners with apparently unlimited resources? How is it possible that our hero, David Rice 'jumped' as a child, then completely forgot about it for more than a decade? How has David gotten through years of blissful jumping with no notion that the Paladins (or, for that matter, other jumpers) even exist? Why do jumpers themselves exist? How many are there, and how long have they been around? What's the deal with her mom? What The Fuck? I guess the obvious thing to do next is a prequel answering all these questions. 'Jumper 2 : Mid-Air', anyone?

Best Bit : The 'jumping' effects were cool, I have to admit. And there is one scene where Sam Jackson character preparing for a jump, spritzes a room with some mysterious substance in an aerosol can. The way that he spray, only he could pull it off and makes you think, man, that's some badassed spraying.

Verdict : The idea was good, but the execution was forgettable. I kept imagining if the story had a better treatment or maybe a little touch from, let's say, The Wachowski Brothers, maybe it could be a cutting-edge cult film in the veins of The Matrix. See it only for the cool effects and if you have extra money and time. Otherwise, teleport..

CJ7
Synopsis : Stephen Chow plays Ti, a poor laborer and widower taking care of his only child, Dicky (Xu Jaio). When his son threw a tantrum over a new toy that every other kids seems to be having, Ti scour the dumpsite and found himself a green orb. When he handed the special orb to his son, it turned itself into some kind of alien pet with some special power.

A Chow Sing Chi movie is an event for me. His movies reminded me of my childhood, my brothers, my friends and my hometown. I remember those days when I used to sneak into cinemas with my friends, the only Malays in a packed theater full of Chinese, laughing at every Chow Sing Chi jokes with a 5 seconds delay than everybody else in the cinema (because we were reading subtitles). I remember those days when my friends and I used to have the Chow Sing Chi movie marathon at my house. I'm proud to say that I own every single DVD of his movies, even those very early supporting-roles-type movies. Obviously, I'm a huge fan of Chow Sing Chi. So, needless to say, I had high hopes for CJ7. But I don't know if my expectations was too high, or maybe Chow Sing Chi has 'developed' as a director and actor, CJ7 falls a bit short for me.

I had this uneasy feeling before, with 'King Of Comedy', which I also think falls a little bit short of my expectation. Both his previous directing duties before that, 'God of Cookery' and 'Forbidden City Cop' were classic Chow Sing Chi (read: nonsensical humor) so when 'King of Comedy' came out, we (read: Chow's old skool fan) all thought; "..hmm, maybe it's a dark comedy". After that of course, we saw 'Shaolin Soccer' and 'Kungfu Hustle' and suddenly, super fans like me, understands that our favourite funny guy is not all jokes. He's becoming a world-class director, crafting his own style of humor. But despite the style over substance, we could still see hints of the 'mo-lei-tau', verbal comedy of him that we always adored.

But in CJ7 however, the no holds-barred verbal comedy I have come to love about Chow is now very much gone. Special effects aside, the responsibility to carry the movie seems to rest purely on the small shoulders of the young girl actress (Xu Jiao, who plays Chow's son) and the alien elements of the movie. She does an amazing job by giving us some classic Chow moments (especially in the dream sequence) but sadly, her talent just about makes the highlight of the film. The trademarks are there (..fat guy as a girl, toilet jokes, kung-fu) but sometimes seems out of place.

The story appears to be mischievously upending the narrative of 'E.T.' and other similar boy-and-his-pet children's films. Seeing Chow as the disciplinarian father is very interesting. However, the story is too short for any real message other than the morality lectures. The tear-jerking moments are forced awkwardly by orchestrating two third-act near-death sequences that frenetically push emotional buttons for a quick response. But the transition from a light comedy to tear-jerking melodrama weren't that smooth and organic.

Best Bit : The cockroaches swatting scene. The very odd (and funny) way of playing games with your son.

Verdict : Viewers who knew Chow Sing Chi (or Stephen Chow for that matter) only for 'Kungfu Hustle' and 'Shaolin Soccer' may like it. But for the rest of us, we wish that Ng Man Tat would come back! Not his best; CJ7 does has it's moments, but only watchable.

Dunia Baru : The Movie
Synopsis : Anizah is about to leave for UK to study but is kidnapped by her psychotic ex-boyfriend Fazley. He forces her to write a note saying she wants to leave all her hopes and dreams to marry him in Thailand but in that note she also secretly leaves a message for her friends to try and save her. As they travel north they encounter so many challenges and funny incidences to the point that they want to give up, turn back to KL and forsake their friend. Will they give up on Anizah and leave her helpless?

If I could describe the movie in just one word it would be - fun! I've been an avid follower of the Dunia Baru TV episodes since episode one and as a huge fan I certainly had a wonderful time watching it on the big screen. Fadz said it first, but I'll say it again, Dunia Baru is Malaysia's first tv-series with a cult status!

Dunia Baru has many followers. The followers - people who are tired of the stereotype local tv-series involving teenagers, are very loyal indeed. We discuss the characters (not the actors) as if they were real and we embrace them as if they were are own friends. All of this simply because the characters are believable. We understand their actions and words even when sometimes they were wrong. To better understand what I'm saying, go read what Vovin wrote here.

As a self-confessed follower of this little cult, I had no problem with the introduction (or lack thereof) of the characters. The director, Yeop Hitler Zami waste no time in proceeding with the main story - gather our gang, go on the road, save Aniza. But I kept thinking, how did a non-follower, someone who never watches an episode of the series, react to this? Go read Ajami's response to know the answer.

As usual the chemistry between the actors are dynamite, mainly because they are comfortable with their characters after playing them for so many years. The script certainly binds them together very well as we could see them exchanging words and banter very smoothly. Although with it's flaws, I thought that the script was well-written. Kudos to Wan Hasliza. I do wish there were more screen time for Sariah and Madihah (Anne Ngasri was born to play her!), because I think that their characters are important (and funny) as any other character. Maybe in Part 2? Hmm..

I don't want to spoil the fun but Dunia Baru: The Movie does have it flaws. The audio was below par, and the editing was very choppy. Maybe Yeop sometimes forget that he is making a feature film instead of a TV series. There are scenes which could work very well in TV land but certainly not on the big screen. There were also some problems with continuity (the cradle chair in the gas station suddenly vanishes, etc.) that were a little bit distracting but forgivable. Maybe given some time, Yeop should perfected his skills as a successful young Malay film-maker.

Best Bit : The Bangla. He steals every scenes. And the opening credit, that reminded me of Heroes.

Verdict : Good storytelling, great cast and witty dialogue, Dunia Baru : The Movie is a breath of fresh air in Malaysia's modern cinema. Go watch it for pure fun and entertainment.

Cuci
Synopsis : Four adopted brothers - Jojo (Awie), Fairil (Afdlin Shauki), C'tan (AC Mizal) and Khai (Hans Isaac) - leave their kampung and head to Kuala Lumpur to make it big in the cleaning business. Fairil, the most ambitious of the four, inspires them to enter the Window Washing Olympics for the most coveted contract of all - cleaning the windows of KLCC. But the brothers would have to survive the allure of organiser CJ (Erra Fazira) as well as stiff competition from current champion and contract holder Wira (Khir Rahman) to win the title.

All hail our very own Frat Pack (Fat Pack?) - the team of Awie, AC, Afdlin and Hans has done it again, creating yet another comedy with a Malaysian flavor with articulate storytelling and wonderful chemistry between the actors, this time with Hans in the director's chair. What I always love about their movies is the strength of their story, always representing life as an ordinary Malaysian, staying true to character with their own style of dry humour. The comedy was appropriate and never seems to overshadow the story that they are trying to tell.

The beginning of the story, a flashback to the boys younger days, I thought was brilliantly done. The 4 main characters traits and manners was properly introduced to the viewers so that we could understand and be comfortable with later, with their actions as an adult. The backbone of the story follows a less than traveled path, but fluidly allows both humour and drama to co-exist. The indisputable choice of cast are coherent enough for the brothers to look like they've actually lived their lives together.

Comedy aside, the movie also probes into common Malaysian issues but is careful to never cross political boundaries. The 'Malaysian mentality' that Fairel always talked about, the Chinese speaking Indian man, the Window Washing Olympics with a bunch of Bangladeshi workers, the kampung boys with big dreams - all of this are Malaysian issues that us Malaysian can relate to. It is safe to say that patriotism runs deep within this film.

The supporting cast and the various cameos also strengthens the story as it progress. I thought the character of CJ, played by Erra was very good in portraying a very typical strong independent Malaysian women, successful in their career but hopeless with household work (..as we witness with the scene at Farah's house). I also like the not-so-typical antagonist role of Wira (played flawlessly by Khir Rahman), who is a very successful businessman with bad intentions. His not your typical Malay movie bad guy, (dark clothes, always laugh uncontrollably, ugly, usually with scars or facial hair, etc) he is merely a business-minded, optimistic prick.

Best Bit : Ida Nerina's cameo. Very funny.

Verdict : A good debut by Hans Isaac. Wonderful storytelling and narrative with a solid cast and great comedy with Malaysian flavour. It's a winner.

SPORTS : Smiling Devils

2008-02-17T09:08:00.000+08:00

Man United 4 Arsenal 0

It was simple. Arsenal was roundly embarrassed by an unquestionably superior Manchester United today. Exhibiting absolutely none of the qualities that have placed them atop the Premier League table and all of the qualities that make them such a despicable, loathsome club, Arsenal may not have fielded their first choice side, but their performance was anything but first class.

From William Gallas being forced to eat his words, to Emmanuel Eboue's straight red, to Cesc Fabregas' disappearing act, to Emmanuel Adebayor's laughable dive, Arsenal were not simply defeated, they humiliated themselves.

And we don't even have Ronaldo, Giggs, Scholes and Tevez in the starting eleven.

I rarely start my Monday with a smile... and here I am smiling like a clown.

:-)

JOURNAL : Honeymoon In Bali

2008-02-11T15:59:00.000+08:00

PIC SPAM!!! PIC SPAM!!!

Just got back from my honeymoon in Bali. I love the amazing art, sculpture and architecture (..and of course, the spa) in Bali. Certainly one of a kind, unique and beautiful. Go visit if you have the chance. Here's some pics..

Touchdown in Denpasar Ngurah Rai airport, just by the sea.

Seafood dinner on the beach in Jinbaran.

Our view while having dinner in Jinbaran. Breathtaking sunset.

Jagung bakar seller in Jinbaran.

Beautiful Barong dancer. 2nd day in Bali, went to see Barong Dance in Catur Eka Budi Kesiman.

Silver craftsmen in Celuk craft village.

Check out the architecture in Celuk craft village.

Balinese women painting batik in Batuan.

Wood carver in Mas craft village. The carvings are frighteningly real..

I told u they look real.. This is actually a coffee table. The shop owner told me that it's a best seller. I kid u not.

Balinese man frying coffee beans in a botanical garden in Kintamani. Must visit to try some good Balinese coffee, coco, tea and tobacco.

3rd day in Bali. Check out this huge, beautiful sculpture on a roundabout in Kuta.

No, that's not me. That's the boat driver that drove us from Nusa Dua beach to Pulau Penyu. The boat has a glass bottom so that we could see the corals and fishes under the sea. Beautiful.

No, that's not me topless either. It's a view from the infamous Kuta Beach, where foreigners mostly resides, surf and hang out. This is just in front of the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel.

Monkeys, monkeys and more monkeys. Monkeys are everywhere in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest.

My favourite spot in Bali, Tanah Lot. The view was breathtaking. Nature at it's best. The one place that you must visit in Bali.

Another view of Tanah Lot. Stunning.

Balinese villagers on their way to the temple or pura for their prayers.

That's me in my Rantai shirt.
My honeymoon in Bali - sweet memories with my loved one.
Until next time..

FILM : 80th Oscar Nominees Announced

2008-01-24T09:44:00.000+08:00

Nominees for this year's Oscar had been announced. Check out the list below :

Performance by an actor in a leading role
- George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"
- Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"
- Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
- Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah"
- Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
- Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
- Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"
- Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War"
- Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild"
- Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton"

Performance by an actress in a leading role
- Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
- Julie Christie in "Away from Her"
- Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose"
- Laura Linney in "The Savages"
- Ellen Page in "Juno"

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
- Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There"
- Ruby Dee in "American Gangster"
- Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement"
- Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone"
- Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton"

Achievement in directing
- "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" - Julian Schnabel
- "Juno" - Jason Reitman
- "Michael Clayton" - Tony Gilroy
- "No Country for Old Men" - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
- "There Will Be Blood" - Paul Thomas Anderson

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
- "Falling Slowly" from Once
- "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted
- "Raise It Up" from August Rush
- "So Close" from Enchanted
- "That’s How You Know" from Enchanted

Best motion picture of the year
- Atonement
- Juno
- Michael Clayton
- No Country for Old Men
- There Will Be Blood

My take on the nomination list :

> I haven't watched Daniel Day Lewis and Javier Bardem performances yet, but I sure do hope they win because both of them are always amazing.

> I really think Angelina Jolie should be nominated for A Mighty Heart because I think she's brilliant in that movie.

> I saw Eastern Promises and Juno recently, and Viggo Mortensen & Ellen Page really deserved their nomination. Remember what I told you about Ellen Page? (In case you forgot, read it here).

> Hairspray completely shut out? Not even for Best Song?? Come on, I had the most fun with Hairspray than any other movie last year.

>Where's Zodiac?? Huh? Completely overlooked.

> Kinda feel glad Russel and Denzel didn't get the Oscar nod, although both of them are amazing actors, I felt their performances in American Gangster was a little bit overrated.

> Once should be nominated as best picture, best foreign picture, or best movie something or whatever because that movie is awesome!

> What I'm really, really, REALLY pissed about is the exclusion of Into The Wild in the best picture category, Emile Hirsch in the best actor category and most of all Eddie Vedder in the best song category. What the F?? How can that be..? Anybody who saw Into The Wild will agree with me, Hirsch had given the performance of his lifetime in that movie. 3 songs from Enchanted in the Best Song category but not one from Into The Wild? The whole freaking soundtrack album was brilliant and you couldn't pick one?? Shit. (..because there's no Vedder, Glen Hansard should win for 'Falling Slowly').

What do u guys think?

FILM : Why So Serious, Mr. Ledger?

2008-01-24T09:12:00.000+08:00

Why so serious that u have to go and kill yourself??

Another talented actor ruined by the evil forces of drugs. The dismaying sense of loss and waste at his death comes not only because he was so young, but also because his talent was large and as yet largely unmapped.

One thing's for sure, watching 'Dark Knight' will probably have the same effect on me as 'The Crow'. There's something chilling about an actor's last performance especially when they are playing a tormented soul. Ironically, both Ledger and Brandon Lee had scary makeup on.. We'll see.

R.I.P Heath

JURNAL : New Experience, Bad Encounter

2007-12-30T22:45:00.000+08:00

Firstly, aku nak ucapkan terima kasih kepada En. Yatt dan isterinya Nadia kerana entri ini di dalam blog mereka. Thanks a lot guys!

Secondly, aku nak ucapkan tahniah kepada my friend, Puan Zacko Wacko AKA mamaikmal kerana kelahiran baru di dalam hidupnya. Take care dood!

So now back to my story..

So I'm back after about a month after my wedding. Sekarang ni masih sibuk dengan 'wedding aftermath' - i.e. nak cari rumah, nak pindah rumah, nak beli barang rumah etc. Kebanyakan orang cakap, kalau kenduri kahwin tu dah banyak habis duit, lepas kahwin lagi la banyak duit yang nak dipakai. Mungkin juga.. Semuanya harus dirancang dulu. Insyallah, boleh diatasi.

Aku juga sibuk dengan banyak urusan rasmi. Aku mengambil peluang bercuti kahwin untuk ke pejabat agama, jabatan imigresen, JPJ (road tax mati), jabatan pendaftaran, pesuruhjaya sumpah mahkamah dll. Actually that's the reason aku nak menulis di sini.

I have some complaints to make about counter services di Malaysia. Kalau yang pernah berurusan di kaunter mungkin faham maksud aku. Mungkin ada yang pernah mendapat layanan yang baik semasa berurusan di kaunter tapi aku rasa lebih ramai yang ada bad experiences. Bayangkan dalam masa 2 minggu, I had to deal with so many assholes and idiots I just couldn't believe it. Let me break it down for you..

First Bad Encounter
Place - JPJ, Wangsa Maju, 11.50 am

After getting my road tax, aku pun proceed untuk bayar. Asshole 1 is a Malay lady in her 40s.

Asshole 1 (A1) : 20 ringgit.

Me : (gives RM50)

A1 : Takde kecik ke?

Me : (nicely) Minta maaf, saya ada semua duit RM50. (tunjuk isi wallet)

A1 : (dengan kasar) Mana ada tukar. Takkan takde duit kecik.. Kitaorang kat sini kalau tengahari kitaorang kena simpan duit. Issshh...

Me : (dalam hati) Sapa suruh simpan semua duit?? 30 ringgit?? U don’t even have 30 ringgit change??

A1 : Tunggu tepi ni, nanti kalau ada duit ada la.. (sambil tekan next number)

Me : (bengang)

After a few while she manage to get change.

A1 : Nah duit.. (without looking at me)

Me: (grab the money rudely from her hand).

Second Bad Encounter
Place – Pesuruhjaya Sumpah, Mahkamah Alor Setar, 10.15 am

Aku proceed to the counter untuk buat urusan kehilangan passport. Asshole 2 is a Chinese lady, in her 40s. Mukanya masam dan ketat, seketat seluar kulit Amy Search dalam filem Fenomena.

Me : Kalau nak angkat sumpah untuk kehilangan passport kena isi borang apa ya puan?

A2 : Isi borang ni.. Nanti amik nombor datang balik..

Me : (after filling up the form, and waited 10 minutes for my number to come up). So, ini borangnya puan, ok ke?

A2 : (angrily).. Haiyaa, ini tak isi, ini tak isi.. sini tak sain.. macam mana mau terima?

Me : (suara kuat) mana la I tahu! You tak explain sama saya mana mau isi, apa mau isi. Kasi cakap la apa kena isi..

A2 : You tanya orang la ..! Pegi sana tepi.. (tekan next number)

Me: ( dalam hati) FUCK!

After asking someone how to fill up the form, and after paying RM4.00 at the payment counter. I waited 10 minutes (again) to submit the form to Asshole 2 again.

Me : (kasar) ok ke?

A2 : (selepas semak borang), You hilang passport ka? Kalau hilang passport dia ada borang khas dari imigresen. You kena ambik sana, bawak datang sini pastu you kena bayar semula RM4.00 la.. Imigresen tak bagitahu you ke?

Me : (dalam hati) WTF??!! Why didn’t you tell me earlier, bitch??!! I have to fucking come here and deal with you and fucking pay you again!!?? Argghh..!!

Third Bad Encounter
Place – Jabatan Agama Islam Kuantan, 10.30 am

Aku dan isteri ke sana atas urusan sijil nikah. Sampai di sana, dah ramai yang menunggu. Tapi the asshole pegi keluar minum pagi. Bosnya dah telefon dia, tapi dia cakap 'on the way'. After about 30 minutes, si asshole dan kawannya sampai, tersengih macam kambing kenyang makan rumput, sebab bos dia dah marah. Asshole 3 is a Malay guy, in her 30s.

A3 : (dengan kasar) dah semak semua details dalam borang ni?

Me : Dah semak, cuma alamat ni ada salah sikit. Sepatutnya...

A3 : (potong cakap aku).. Ha, betulkan dulu. (sambil buat muka bosan)

Me : (mula bengang dan betulkan alamat di borang)

Selesai semua, si asshole bagi aku resit tanpa memandang muka aku dan tanpa sebarang kata..

Me : Err, itu aja ke encik?

A3 : (mengangguk dgn muka bosannya yang dh mula menjengkelkan aku)

Wife : So bila boleh siap sijilnya encik?

A3 : (dengan kasar) baca kat belakang kertas hijau tu. Ada tulis..

Me : Kalau orang lain datang amik boleh ke encik?

A3 : (mengangguk sekali lagi dgn muka bosannya yang dah buat aku bengang)

Me : (dalam hati) Woi fucker!! Bagitahu la bila boleh siap, bila boleh ambik ke apa ke. Ni lepas bagi borang tu diam. Aku bukannya ambik sijil nikah tiap-tiap hari, mana la aku tahu apa nak buat! Dah la aku kena tunggu kau setengah jam sebab kau pegi makan, macam kau pulak yang tunggu aku lambat! Sepatutnya kau kena minta maaf dengan kitaorang. Susah sangat ke kerja kau..?? Pegi la mampus, bodoh!!!

Can you fucking believe it?? Actually ada lagi masalah macam miscommunication, salah info dan macam-macam lagi tapi aku highlightkan 3 experience aku dgn kaunter servis di atas. Orang-orang mcm diaorang ni la yang memburukkan nama kakitangan kerajaan di Malaysia. Aku pun kakitangan kerajaan (walau tak sepenuhnya), aku pun pernah berurusan di kaunter.

Kalau pelanggan baik kita layan dengan baik, kalau pelanggan datang maki hamun, kita boleh layan kurang baik sedikit tapi tetap dengan senyuman. Senyuman. Itu aja yang aku mintak. Service with a smile. Bukannya susah pun. Tapi itu la yang paling jarang aku nampak. Tolonglah berubah. Jgn layan pelanggan macam kau layan anak-anak kau. Kami bukan budak-budak. Remember, customer is always right.

P/S : Having said that, kudos to pegawai2 di Jabatan Imigresen Damansara, Putrajaya dan Alor Setar. Layanan yang diberikan semuanya dengan senyuman dan berbudi bahasa. So sapa yang tak reti bahasa, learn from them!

P/S/S: Just now, lebih kurang pukul 9.00 malam, cukup sebulan aku bergelar suami. To my wife, I love you :-). We made it baby! Here’s to thousands of months to come..

JURNAL : Alhamdulillah.. Syukur Kepada Tuhan.

2007-12-03T10:47:00.000+08:00

Alhamdulillah.

It's official. Pada 30hb November, lebih kurang pukul 9 malam, dengan satu nafas aku telah selamat diijabkabulkan. Dan pada 1 Disember maka berlangsunglah majlis persandinganku di Kuantan. Sekarang aku berada di Alor Setar, sedang membuat persiapan untuk kenduri di rumah aku pada 8hb Disember ini.

Aku = Suami. Macam tak percaya pun ada. Tanggungjawab aku sebagai seorang lelaki menjadi semakin besar. Segala apa yang akan aku lakukan selepas ini bukanlah untuk aku lagi.. tetapi untuk keluarga aku. I'm a complete man now! Doakan kebahagiaan rumahtangga aku.

To my wife, I love u so much. Thank you for believing in me. You're the only one who loves me because of who I am. I'm looking forward to a happy and wonderful lifetime with you. I'll do my best, I promise... We'll be alright.

To my friends and family, in the reality or in the cyber world.. Thanks for all your wishes and prayers. May Allah bless you. For those who wish to come to my wedding in Alor Setar on the 8th of December, please drop a comment.

BTW, yesterday (2nd of December) is my birthday. Remember a couple of years ago, in this blog, I did mentioned that all I ever wanted for a birthday present was this thing? Well, nothing, and I mean NOTHING could top the gift that I received on my birthday this year. :-)

Alhamdulillah.

Jurnal & TV : About me and some stuff about TV shows

2007-11-05T18:42:00.000+08:00

*uhuk, uhuk uhuk*...
*sapu habuk, debu, sampah kat blog ni..*

"..Hey, look, Edd! It's November already! It's your last November as a single guy! Hey, December is coming! It's your last December as... " - Nazim Masnawi.

Yes, Nazim. I don't need to be reminded about it since I am being reminded constantly every single day by almost anyone and everyone I know. Right about now, there's only 25 days left in my bachelor calendar. And I'm getting more and more terrified, petrified, scared, happy, excited.. all of those emotions rolled into one. It's a giant step in a human's life.. so I guess, I should be 'gelabah'. Please help me God..

Aku dah sapu habuk2 kat sini sikit.. Kurang la debu-debunya. So sorry for the lack of update, but I guess you guys could understand. But being me, I didn't hold everything back. I downloaded a lot of movies and TV series. I just didn't have time to write all about it here. There's a lot of wonderful new TV series right now. Here's some of them, that I really like :

I don't know about u guys, but I think Season 2 of Heroes is a little bit slow and draggy. At this moment I can't see where it is heading. I don't like the Mexican twins subplot, and that annoying boyfriend of Claire. But the Sylar story and Kristen Bell character looks interesting. But I'm still watching it, of course. (yup.. mostly because of Claire).

I love Pushing Daisies. The story seems interesting enough and it was pretty well acted. But what I like most about it, is the camera work and the editing. It was beautifully shot; it seems so vivid and colourful. Another thing that I really like is the voiceover element, telling us the story. I love it..

Bionic Woman is kinda' good too. It started kinda' slow but it is starting to build up by series no 3. Plus, the lead Brit actress who plays the title character, Michelle Ryan is hot. I've noticed her in 'Cashback' and 'I Want Candy', so seeing her taking the lead role in the series is kinda' exciting.

Gossip Girl is my new guilty pleasure. It's a teen drama so I guess I shouldn't be enjoying it. But it's so freakin' enjoyable ! It's campy and fun. Plus all the characters are very good-looking and talented. It's awesome! Shit.. I'm starting to sound like a preteen girl...

I recently downloaded the 2002 complete series of Undeclared; a Judd Apatow follow-up to the amazing tv series 'Freaks & Geeks'. Much like F&G, Undeclared was also cancelled after only one season. But let me tell you this, It's Freakin' Awesome!! I can't see why they cancelled the show. Maybe at that time they weren't ready for his brand of comedy yet.

So, there u go. A little update..
Back to counting down..
25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20.........
*gulp*

JURNAL : Salam Aidilfitri

2007-10-11T22:44:00.000+08:00

Raya ini aku diselubungi perasaan takut, gementar, excited, gembira dan sedih.
Tahun ni merupakan tahun terakhir aku beraya sebagai seorang lelaki bujang.
Countdown di sebelah kiri blog ini ---> semakin lama semakin berkurang.
Doakan kesejahteraan aku sepertimana aku mendoakan kesejahteraan kalian semua.

Mohon ampun dan maaf kepada semua yang membaca / terbaca / tersinggah ke sini.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN.

TV : Heroes - Volume 2 : Chapter 1 Recap

2007-09-28T17:16:00.000+08:00

SPOILER ALERT :

So, what do u guys think? To tell u the truth, I was a little bit underwhelmed. It's good but maybe I was expecting a lot more. We were getting reacquainted with old characters, meeting new characters and trying to get our bearings on where things stand 4 months after the events of last season ended. Let's see what's interesting : -

The Bennett's are settling in very well... or should I say The Butler's.

Hey, Ando's here to stay! Check out his new taller hairdo.

Sorry Hiro, your lifelong hero is actually a smart-ass Brit dude. And who's the hot Japanese chick there, huh? Obviously, she's going to be Hiro love interest.

Look, it's Wolverine! No, It's Neanderthal Man! Oh, It's Nathan..

First, the Fergie video, now this. Peter Petrelli really likes to show his nipples.

The picture above is probably going to be the most important scene in the first episode.

Maya and Alejandro. I liked that we didn't actually see exactly what their powers are, but we know it's lethal and dangerous.

Hey it's Ned from Groundhog Day! Fuck all the superpowers; I want his..!!

OK, who is this jerk? What's up with the 'are u robot or alien?' pickup line? Shut the fuck up! You're the one who's floating and stalking at the same time. Freak.

Luckily, she's there to calm me down with her smile. Aaahhh.... :)

I like the fact that last season was all about ordinary people discovering they can do extraordinary things. But this season it looks like these extraordinary people are trying to be ordinary again. But I'm still very excited to see where the season takes us. Judging from this first episode, it's going to be really interesting.

TV : The Time Is Now...

2007-09-24T11:54:00.000+08:00

It's coming.. in a matter of hours. Season 2 premiere of HEROES.

The old gang will be back..

And so are the new ones..

And of course; my Claire, in a new baby blue cheerleader outfit..

It's going to be awesome.
ARE U READY FREAKS AND GEEKS ?

TV : KAMI - Kami Anak Malaysia Independent

2007-09-19T01:03:00.000+08:00

Kalau anda memilih untuk menonton satu sahaja siri TV tempatan setiap minggu, pastikan anda menonton KAMI. Kisah remaja yang sarat dengan isu dan konflik remaja di zaman ini. Produksi yang berkualiti dan menampilkan bakat-bakat baru yang segar dan sangat berbakat, KAMI memang tidak menghampakan. Projek KAMI ini memang besar dan ambitious, siap dengan soundtrack, gigs, siri TV dan filem yang akan menyusul tahun hadapan. Tahniah kepada mereka yang mencetuskan idea bernas ini.

Setelah 2 episod ternyata aku ter'hook' dengan KAMI. Kisah dan konflik yang dihadapi oleh karakter-karakter utama siri ini, diselang-selikan dengan muzik dari nama-nama besar dalam underground scene (..episod lepas ada Bittersweet!) ternyata membuatkan aku tertarik untuk menonton. Mungkin aku teringat zaman- zaman gig dan jamming aku semasa remaja dulu. Nostalgia aku mungkin sedikit sebanyak membantu aku menyukai siri ini..

Lakonan daripada bakat-bakat baru ini memang membanggakan. Semuanya fresh, talented dan good-looking, terutama sekali pelakon utamanya Liyana Jasmay. She's a very good actress and I think she will go very far. Harap-harap dia bijak memilih projek TV dan filem yang berkualiti seperti ini. Plus did I mention that she's cute? :)

KAMI ke udara malam ini ! - setiap Rabu, 10 pm, di 8TV. Jangan lupa tonton. Siapa kata orang Malaysia tidak boleh menerbitkan karya berkualiti, huh?

Links :

ProjekKAMI
Blog Liyana Jasmay
Video klip lagu tema siri KAMI dari Meet Uncle Hussain - Lagu Untukmu

JURNAL : Selamat Menyambut Ramadan

2007-09-13T10:37:00.001+08:00

2 hari lepas, on September 11th, tepat pukul 4 petang bangunan pejabat aku menerima panggilan telefon bomb scare. So everybody has to rush down (guna staircase!) berkumpul di kawasan lapang, waited for about and hour until the police and the bomb squad confirmed that everything was OK. The whole process untuk berkumpul di kawasan lapang took about an hour. Kalau memang betul ada bom, aku jamin memang tak akan ada orang yang selamat. Go figure..

Today, bila aku sampai di pejabat, everybody has to rush down again disebabkan staf-staf yang berada di tingkat yang paling atas bangunan pejabat aku merasakan gegaran gempa bumi yang berlaku di Bengkulu, Sumatera Selatan, Indonesia. 1 hour and 30 minutes later, everything was back to normal.

Ternyata Ramadan tahun ini memang one of a kind....
Aku kian yakin tahun 2007 ialah tahun yang tidak dapat dilupakan..

Selamat Menyambut Ramadan
Selamat Menjalani Ibadah Puasa

FILM : Liars, Insomniacs and Brain Dead

2007-09-08T18:35:00.000+08:00

Sibuk.. fizikal dan metal. Watch a lot of movies in my (limited) free time. Here are some of them.

I Think I Love My Wife

Synopsis: Richard Cooper has it all. His wife, Brenda, is beautiful, intelligent and a fantastic mother to his children--but there's just one little problem: he's bored out of his suburban businessman's mind. Richard can't help but fantasize about having nearly every woman he sees. Still, it's only fantasy. Then, one fateful day, an alluring, free-spirited, not to mention stunning, old friend, Nikki, suddenly appears at his office door, putting him to the ultimate test. Just how much is Richard Cooper willing to risk when temptation comes after him? After all, he really does love his wife--at least he thinks he does.

Chris Rock adalah seorang pelawak yang baik. Chris Rock bukan seorang pelakon yang baik. Chris Rock mungkin seorang pengarah filem yang baik. Tapi Chris Rock bukan seorang penyunting filem yang baik. Yup, filem I Think I Love My Wife ini dibintangi, disunting dan diarahkan oleh Chris Rock, antara pelawak kulit hitam Amerika yang aku suka.

Filem ini adalah intepretasi Chris Rock berdasarkan filem New Wave Perancis tahun 1972, Chloe In The Afternoon arahan Eric Rohmer. Ideanya simple - kau kaya dan berjaya. Isteri kau cantik dan bijak. Tapi dia tidak suka seks. Tiba-tiba muncul seorang teman wanita lama dari kampung yang cantik tetapi menyusahkan. Dan dia gilakan seks. Kau ada segalanya dalam hidup kecuali seks. Patutkah kau berlaku curang? Subjek yang agak menakutkan, terutama bagi aku yang di ambang perkahwinan. Tema filem ini agak menarik, dan buat aku berfikir. Dan yang paling penting, membuatkan aku semakin bersemangat untuk menempuh alam baru.

Tapi sayang filem ini nampak sedikit keliru. Bukan dari segi tema dan intipatinya, tetapi dari segi arah tujuannya. Filem ini cuba untuk menjadi sebuah komedi sofistikated tetapi hilang fokus dengan lawak-lawak lucah biasa Chris Rock dan lakonan kayunya. Tak dinafikan terdapat beberapa babak yang lucu, tetapi dihancurkan dengan babak-babak seperti lawak Viagra dan satu babak lip-synched musical number yang kelihatan out-of-place dan bodoh. Perkara yang terbaik tentang filem ini adalah pelakon-pelakon pembantunya yang terdiri dari Gina Torres, Steve Buscemi dan salah seorang pelakon kulit hitam yang paling berbakat dan super-seksi bagi aku, iaitu Kerry Washington. Washington adalah sangat sempurna dalam watak Nikki, seorang gadis penggoda yang seksi dan agak gila-gila. Dia mencuri setiap adegannya bersama Chris Rock.

Best Bit : Sewaktu watak Kerry Washington, Nikki merungut apabila mendengar playlist Ipod Richard, lakonan Chris Rock. "You have n*gga ears!", komen Nikki kerana Ipod Richard dipenuhi lagu-lagu dari Peabo Bryson, James Ingram, Lionel Richie dan sebagainya. Lalu Nikki memberi Ipodnya untuk didengar oleh Richard. Lagu yang dipilih - "Tired Of You" dari Foo Fighters, salah satu lagu favourite aku dari The Foos. Made me sing..

Verdict : Sepatutnya boleh jadi filem yang jauh lebih baik... tanpa lakonan Chris Rock. Tonton untuk idea cerita yang baik, dan untuk Kerry Washington.

Cashback

Synopsis : When art student Ben Willis is dumped by his girlfriend Suzy, he develops insomnia. To pass the long hours of the night, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket. There he meets a colorful cast of characters, all of whom have their own 'art' in dealing with the boredom of an eight-hour-shift. Ben's art is that he imagines himself stopping time. This way, he can appreciate the artistic beauty of the frozen world and the people inside it--especially Sharon, the quiet checkout girl, who perhaps holds the answer to solving the problem of Ben's insomnia.

Bagaimana jika tiba-tiba kau sedar yang kau mempunyai masa berlebihan selama 7-8 jam dalam kehidupan seharian kau? Bagaimana kau mengisi waktu-waktu extra itu? Berimaginasi... dan filem Cashback ini, adalah filem yang paling cantik dalam mendokumentasikan imaginasi seorang lelaki yang sukar tidur.

Insomnia, satu penyakit yang tak menyakitkan, tetapi memenatkan. Ben Willis sukar untuk tidur selepas ditinggalkan kekasihnya. Untuk mengisi masa lapang, dia bekerja lewat di sebuah pasaraya dan untuk mengelak kebosanan, dia membayangkan yang dia boleh menghentikan masa. Memang pelik, tetapi kekuatan filem ini terletak pada imaginasi watak Ben dalam mengatasi kebosanannya. Satu perkara yang tak dinafikan, kerja kamera dan suntingan filem ini sangat cantik, seolah-olah pengarahnya Sean Ellis sedang melukis. Tapi filem ini bukannya seratus peratus filem 'art', tetapi yang menariknya, ianya mengabungkan filem seni, drama, cinta dan komedi slapstik dengan jayanya.

Kelemahan filem ini mungkin terletak kepada pacing dan strukturnya. Mungkin kerana filem ini asalnya sebuah filem pendek yang tercalon untuk anugerah Oscar pada 2004. Kebanyakan adegan nudity filem ini (memang banyak) berasal dari filem pendek tersebut dan ditampal oleh Sean Ellis pada filemnya yang dipanjangkan. Tapi tidaklah terlalu menganggu perjalanan ceritanya.

Best Bit : Terdapat satu shot apabila Ben selesai bercakap di telefon awam dengan bekas kekasihnya, dan tiba-tiba dari telefon tersebut dia terjatuh ke katilnya. Beautiful. Filem ini berbaloi ditonton hanya untuk shot tersebut.

Verdict : Menghiburkan dan indah. Cashback mempunyai visual yang menarik dan worth a look. Permulaan yang baik dari Sean Ellis.

The Lookout

Synopsis: This intelligent crime drama is centered around Chris (Gordon-Levitt), a once promising high school athlete whose life is turned upside down following a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank when he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist.

You read it here first - Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the next Johnny Depp. Mungkin tidak sekacak Depp tetapi pilihan filem dan kebolehan mereka dalam membawa pelbagai watak memang seakan sama. Kedua-duanya berasal dari siri TV, pernah menjadi teenage heartthrob dan cuba lari dari imej remaja tersebut dengan memilih filem-filem kecil dari skala biasa Hollywood dan membuat semua orang kagum. Bermula dari Mysterious Skin kemudian ke Brick, Havoc, Shadowboxer dan kini The Lookout, aku mengikuti perkembangan Gordon-Levitt dan ternyata dia semakin hebat. Setelah filem ini, kini aku yakin bahawa Gordon-Levitt adalah aktor terbaik di kalangan pelakon seusianya. He's THAT good.

Tidak mudah untuk membawakan watak sebagai seorang mangsa kemalangan yang mempunyai masalah otak yang serius. Dia tidak gila, namun tidak mampu untuk mengingat sesuatu benda yang mudah hingga terpaksa menyimpan satu buku nota kecil untuk tidak lupa. Gordon-Levitt membawakan watak Chris dengan penuh kejujuran dan emosi, penonton seakan memahami kesunyian yang dialaminya. Tidak lupa juga pada aktor hebat Jeff Daniels, yang berlakon sebagai Lewis iaitu teman rumah dan mentor yang buta kepada Chris. Daniels juga salah seorang pelakon yang sangat versatile, (ingat Dumb & Dumber?) , dan dalam filem ini dia hebat sebagai seorang orang buta yang cool.

Kekuatan filem ini selain dari lakonan terletak pada skripnya. Pengarahnya Scott Frank adalah orang yang bertanggungjawab mengadaptasikan 2 karya Elmore Leonard iaitu Out Of Sight dan Get Shorty ke layar perak. Jadi tidak hairanlah jika terdapat sedikit pengaruh Leonard dalam stail penceritaan filem ini. Skrip Frank lebih mementingkan perkembangan karekter. Frank ambil banyak masa untuk membuat penonton mengenali setiap wataknya dan membina cerita dari watak-watak tersebut. Filem ini sangat stylish tanpa mencuba untuk menjadi stylish. Ia jujur dan straightforward; tiada plot twist atau suprise ending. Tetapi ia tetap menganggu fikiran penontonnya. Frank bijak merangka momentum filem ini , dari sebuah character study kepada sebuah filem crime thriller yang bijak. Sebagai filem arahan pertamanya, Scott Frank nyata berjaya.

Best Bit : Cameo dari Carla Gugino. Babaknya tak sampai 5 minit tetapi sudah cukup untuk meninggalkan kesan pada aku. She's damn beautiful! Gugino tetap menjadi pilihan aku untuk menjadi Wonder Woman.

Verdict : Mesti tonton untuk lakonan mantap, cerita thriller yang hebat dan skrip yang menarik. Sebuah filem jujur, straightforward dan cool tanpa terlalu mencuba.

MUSIC : Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder

2007-09-06T23:30:00.000+08:00

The first Eddie Vedder solo song from the Into The Wild soundtrack has now been posted on the Into The Wild website. I had first known about it when I read the news on the website, but I never thought that it will be released so soon. (thanks Sha Shinizzle for the heads up!). The movie is directed by Sean Penn and based on the book by John Krakauer that was inspired by a true story. Eddie Vedder composed music for the movie and the soundtrack album will feature few original tracks from him. The first single is called Hard Sun.

So what's my take Eddie's first official solo effort? Well, it's kinda' hard to express my opinion because : a) it's not Pearl Jam and b) It's not an original song. The song is a cover of an obscure song by Canadian musician Gordon Peterson under the name Indio, from the 1989 album Big Harvest and the original song apparently features backing vocals from Joni Mitchell. The Eddie Vedder version features backing vocals from Sleater-Kinney punk goddess Corin Tucker taking the part that Joni filled 18 years ago.

The song builds from an organic acoustic/tambourine affair to a heavier guitar-driven tune towards the end. Eddie's voice sounded different than his usual deep bellows on the verse part but when the chorus kicks in, you could almost instantly recognise his trademark growl. The Middle-Eastern influences reminds me of Pearl Jam songs like "Who You Are" or "Face of Love" and it sounded very exotic.

I guess the song is OK; quite a different style of Eddie Vedder I used to know. If you read the movie synopsis, the song definitely fits the movie's theme; a story of one man journey into the wild, searching for truth and happiness. It's a decent track, but I'm definitely looking forward to Eddie's new original composition for the movie.

The soundtrack album of solo material from Eddie Vedder will be coming out on September 18th and the Sean-Penn-directed movie opens in U.S. theatres on September 21.

In the meantime, check out this link. It's an early 1988 demo by Eddie Vedder featuring a Bruce Springsteen cover and 3 solo tracks by Eddie. Worth a download if you're a EV/PJ fan.

Links :

* Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder feat. Corine Tucker on Youtube
* Hard Sun - Indio (original version) on Youtube
* Into The Wild official movie website

WEB : Legally Blonde

2007-08-22T23:24:00.000+08:00

The wait is over.. The day has finally came..
Yes people, Hayden Panettiere is officially LEGAL!
She turned 18 yesterday and u know what that means do u?
Now she can do anything that any legal human being should do.*cough* nudescenes*cough*
And of course, I can stop feeling like a dirty old pervert.

Happy 18th Birthday Hayden.
To celebrate it, here's a picture of my favourite cheerleader, all grown up and LEGAL.

Damn!.. it feels like I'm the one getting the present here...

WEB : Nikki and Jessica Goes To Bollywood

2007-08-09T01:06:00.000+08:00

New plot details for Heroes Season 2 :

Micah has been kidnapped by a villain who also happens to be an Indian mafia boss. Nikki has to travel to India to save her son. The villain agrees to let Micah go but on one condition : in 2 days time she will have to learn step by step, the full dance sequence to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - the scene where Salman Khan and Kajol dance together. After 2 days, she has to perform in front of the whole mafia clan together with Salman Khan. If the clan members were impressed, they will let Micah go. But if she fails, it's the end of the world for Nikki and Micah. Will Nikki succeed??

Here's an exclusive image from that particular dance scene.

Okay.... I lied. The paragraph above is not true. The image above was actually taken from the official movie site of Marigold; Ali Larter's new film.

Yes.. that is Salman Khan caressing the neck of our beloved Nikki Sanders AKA Ali Larter of Heroes fame. Apparently, she has chosen Bollywood instead of Hollywood for her next movie project. Frankly speaking, it's kinda' odd looking at those pictures above. I have some questions :

1- Why did she chose this project? Is she a Salman Khan fan?
2- Why Salman Khan? If this film is all about singing and dancing, they should choose a better actor. Salman Khan is the worst dancer EVER. Watching him dance is like watching a choreographed bodybuilding tournament. And he's playing a dance instructor in this movie!? WTF!
3- Is she a good dancer? Or will she look like an idiot doing those corny dance steps?
4- Will she sing (or lipsynch) a Hindi song?
5- Will she act out those Bollywood movie obligatory scenes - i.e : sexy slithering for no reason whatsoever, near climax facial expression when the hero touches her belly button, singing in the rain, rolling around in haystacks, etc. ?
6- Is it really Ali Larter or is it.... *gulp*, Jessica Sanders!?

Anyway, if you're interested check out the links below :

- official site
- IMDB site
- Youtube trailer

FILM : Fincher, LaBeouf, Cuthbert and Fugit

2007-07-29T23:48:00.001+08:00

Banyak filem yang ditonton, tapi tak banyak masa (atau idea) untuk menulis. Ini sebahagian dari filem yang aku tonton dalam beberapa minggu yang lepas :

Zodiac - I Heart David Fincher.

Synopsis : Based on the actual case files of one of the most intriguing unsolved crimes in the nation's history, Zodiac is a thriller from David Fincher, director of 'Seven' and 'Fight Club'. As a serial killer terrifies the San Francisco Bay Area and taunts police with his ciphers and letters, investigators in four jurisdictions search for the murderer. The case will become an obsession for four men as their lives and careers are built and destroyed by the endless trail of clues.

Pernah tengok filem yang membuatkan kau susah nak tidur disebabkan kau banyak berfikir tentang kejadian dalam filem tersebut walaupun filem tu tak ada kena mengena dengan hidup atau mati kau? Zodiac adalah filem seperti itu. Edge of your seat thriller. This movie grabs you by your throat and doesn't let go for 2 hours and 40 minutes. Tak ramai pengarah yang boleh buat kau beri perhatian begitu, tetapi Fincher adalah sala seorang darinya. Aku jamin, kalau kau adalah peminat siri CSI (mcm aku) dan filem All The President's Men (mcm aku juga), kau pasti akan gemar Zodiac.

Yang paling aku suka selain dari cerita dan gaya penceritaan cara penyiasatan filem ini, ialah barisan pelakonnya. Aku harap Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo atau terutama sekali Robert Downey Jr. akan dapat pencalonan Oscar untuk lakonan mereka dalam filem ini. Mantap, hebat dan yang penting; disebabkan karakter mereka adalah karekter yang betul-betul wujud (cerita ini cerita benar), lakonan mereka boleh dipercayai oleh penonton. Aku paling suka watak Dave Toschi lakonan Ruffalo yang merupakan super cool, bad-ass muthafreakin' cop. Tak hairanlah kalau Steve McQueen mengambil Toschi sebagai sumber inspirasi bagi wataknya dalam filem 'Bullit' dan Clint Eastwood pula memodelkan Dirty Harry Calahan juga dari Toschi.

''I am waiting for a good movie about me," the elusive serial killer known as the Zodiac wrote in his last known letter to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1978. I'm pretty sure Mr Zodiac would give two enthusiastic thumbs up for this one. Tonton filem ini.

Disturbia - DisturbShia

Synopsis - Two teens begin to suspect that one of their neighbors is a serial killer. Are their suspicions merely the product of cabin fever and vivid imagination? Or have they unwittingly stumbled across a crime that could cost them their lives?

Filem thriller untuk remaja. As far as that goes, filem ini boleh dikatakan berjaya untuk menarik perhatian aku. Mostly mungkin kerana lakonan Shia LaBeouf yang membuatkan aku semakin percaya yang dia akan jadi seorang aktor yang hebat beberapa tahun lagi. Aku rasa kalau bukan Shia yang berlakon, mungkin filem ini akan jadi teen thriller yang agak average. Aku agak Shia akan secara rasminya, meletup apabila filem Indiana Jones keempat ditayangkan kelak (Shia berlakon sebagai anak Indy). Oh ya, filem ini juga ada David Morse. Macam biasa, David Morse memang hebat.

Banyak perbandingan antara filem ini dengan masterpiece Hitchcock 'Rear Window' disebabkan topik voyeurism atau mengintai. Tapi dalam filem ini ceritanya diolah menjadi lebih moden, dengan penggunaan alatan canggih seperti teropong infrared dan kamera video. Secara tak langsung alatan2 ini lebih menguatkan cerita, menjadikan sesetengah babak menjadi lebih intense dan menarik.

Filem yang OK dan agak menghiburkan. Dalam kategori teen thriller, ia boleh dikatakan baik. Cuma satu perkara yang aku kurang selesa - ibu kepada watak Shia LaBeouf lakonan Carrie-Anne Moss. Tersangat pelik melihat Trinity berlakon sebagai seorang ibu yang lemah, menjerit meminta pertolongan dan menunggu untuk diselamatkan. Aku asyik menantikan dia untuk mengeluarkan pistol dari poket bathrobe-nya dan mengacukan pistol itu ke kepala si jahat dan berkata "Dodge This!". *Bang!*

Captivity - Elisha Torture Story
Synopsis - Top cover girl and fashion model, Jennifer Tree has it all - beauty, fame, money and power. She is loved and adored and sought after. But someone out there wants her in the worst way. Out alone at a charity event in Soho, Jennifer is drugged and taken. Held captive in a cell, Jennifer is subjected to a series of terrifying, life-threatening tortures that could only be conceived by a twisted, sadistic mind.

OK, aku mengaku. Aku hanya tonton filem ini untuk Elisha Cuthbert dan disebabkan poster filem ini yang sangat kreatif dalam menggunakan.. err, aset penting Elisha. Semasa menonton filem ini tumpuan aku hanya pada lakonan Elisha sehinggakan apabila filem ini tamat, baru aku sedar yang filem ini sebenarnya tak menarik langsung! Yang peliknya, pengarah filem ini adalah Roland Joffe yang pernah mengarah filem hebat, The Killing Fields. Mungkin Joffe harus jauh dari mengarah filem genre seperti ini.

Filem ini cuba untuk menjadi seram dan gross-out seperti Hostel dan filem-filem Saw, tapi tidak menjadi. Hostel ada satiranya. Saw ada machination seksaan yang sangat bijak. Filem ini ada banyak babak seksaan.. tapi dilakukan terlalu over the top hingga sampai satu tahap, kau akan berkata, "This is farked up, dude!". Terus terang, filem ini seperti sebuah filem torture-porn tanpa adegan seks. Well, err.. aku agak sahaja. Aku *ehem* tak pernah tonton filem-filem pelik macam tu. *ehem*

Tonton untuk melihat Elisha Cuthbert diseksa. Itu sahaja.

Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas - Cool Idea, Not So Cool Movie

Synopsis - Reclusive college freshman Bickford Schmeckler is a virtual fountain of cool ideas, and he records every single one of them in his prized, steel-bound notebook. When the notebook is stolen by hedonistic sorority girl Sarah (Olivia Wilde) during a toga party and subsequently comes into the possession of schizophrenic campus eccentric Spaceman (Matthew Lillard), the desperate Bickford embarks on a frantic quest to recover his most prized possession and prevent his life's work from being credited to someone else.

Filem ini menjawab satu persoalan - ke mana hilangnya Patrick Fugit selepas lakonan hebatnya di dalam Almost Famous. Seriously, Patrick Fugit adalah seorang pelakon yang baik. Tetapi sayang sekali bakatnya hanya dapat ditonjolkan dalam filem remaja biasa seperti ini. Aku letakkan Patrick Fugit dan Jason Schwartzmann dalam kategori pelakon remaja berbakat yang mendapat sumpahan Hollywood disebabkan oleh kehebatan lakonan pertama mereka sebagai watak utama (Almost Famous dan Rushmore).

Berbalik kepada filem ini - well, tidaklah seburuk mana jalan ceritanya. Filem ini bermula dengan baik. Bickford adalah seorang geek yang mempunyai banyak idea yang cool yang digelarnya sebagai 'Unified Theory of Everything'. Dia tulis semua ideanya ke dalam sebuah buku. Buku itu kemudiannya dicuri oleh Sara. Bickford panik dan mulakan misi untuk mendapatkan semula buku berharganya itu.

Sounds good right? Life's work stolen; protagonist must reclaim it and thus began his journey. Tapi sayangnya filem ini cuba untuk menjadi pandai dan pergi lebih jauh dari premis itu. Pada Third Act filem ini, kita hanya dapat lihat watak Bickford mempersoalkan teorinya dan kehidupan secara am, serta hubungannya dengan love interest. Kesannya, momentum baik yang dimulakan pada awal filem hilang dan membuatkan aku bosan dan menunggu filem ini untuk tamat. Sayang sekali kerana filem ini mempunyai premis dan barisan pelakon yang OK.

Boleh ditonton, tapi aku pasti kau akan lupa tentang filem ini 30 minit selepas menontonnya.

WEB : Cool Photoshopped Celeb Pics

2007-07-25T22:30:00.000+08:00

OK.. I'm having quite a shitty day in the office, with work and some unnecessary nagging from a superior officer who wasn't even my boss. Wasn't really in a peachy mood. So I fired up the internet browser and look for some things to cheer me up (..tried porn but it kinda makes me feel worse).

I came across this site called planethiltron.com. They got some very interesting pictures there. I laughed so hard I almost crack my jaw. Needless to say, I feel a little bit better. Those guys at planethiltron obviously got some mad photoshop skillz baby. Check out their celebrity pictures above. The last one is my favourite.. yes, that's Tom Cruise.

Left to right (first row) : Victoria Beckham, Mariah Carey, J.Lo and Marc, John Travolta, Jennifer Aniston
Left to right (second row) : Johnny Depp (!), The Beckhams, TomKat, Pamela Anderson (!!) and Tom Cruise

click the picture above to view the larger image or visit planethiltron.com for more cool pictures.

WEB : The Best Clip Ever On YouTube - Rock Greatest Moment

2007-07-22T00:47:00.000+08:00

Date : 11/09/91
Place :Tower Records: Rockville, MD
Attendance : 50
Setlist : Wash, Black, Alive, Suggestion, Porch (Acoustic)
Notes : Small, in-store promo for their first album, Ten, with Pearl Jam in a festive, friendly mood.

Eddie Vedder smiling, cracking jokes, signing autograph AND rocking out? That's very rare.

Goosebumps. Close to tears.
I get very nostalgic watching the clip above. It makes me feel like a teenage boy again. To capture a moment of rock history when a great band is about to hit it's peak is a one of a kind moment. Watching the clip, you can see that the band poised for stardom: talented, confident, good-looking, and most of all, they rocked the crowd.

In the clip, you could hear the power of Eddie's voice; at one point he didn't even need the mic to sing. You could also see the playful side of the band as they were laughing and joking around while they were rockin' the crowd. At one point, you could also hear Pearl Jam playing the riff of Nirvana's 'Smell Like Teen Spirit'. This clip is classic, man.. Prove that Pearl Jam is definitely the best band in the world. Now I know why I still regularly listen to 90's music. It's the best! How I wish I could go back in time..

Now, if you're a Pearl Jam fan, do me a favour; press play, pause the clip, wait until the clip finish downloading, press play again... and enjoy.