Being on (forced) annual leave together with the school holidays provided us with many opportunities to sit together and watch a movie, something quite difficult to do on normal working/schooling days. This time round, we really went on a movie marathon. Here are some of the movies we caught either on the big screen or on DVD at home.
Warning: Don’t read if you haven’t watched these movies!
The first movie we watched was a remake of the animated movie, The Princess and the Frog. Disney went back to the ‘classical’ way of making animated movies with this one – it being in 2D and (gasps!), a colored princess! Anyway, I really can’t tell you much about the movie, mainly because I fell asleep for about half the movie (I was post call and dead tired). What I can say, however, is this: it’s a little boring, the songs were not-memorable (unlike the opening sequence of say, the Lion King!) and the characters were only s0-so; no one really likable nor despicable. The twist and counter-twist at the end was a let down. I give it a 4/10.
Next, we went against popular negative opinion and watched ‘The Storm Warrior‘ – the 11 years late sequel to ‘The Storm Rider’. I must say my son, Ryan, was totally entertained and wishes very much to grow up to be like ‘Cloud’ when he grows up (efforts at telling him that looking buff and wielding a sword ain’t gonna bring food to the table was in vain). Personally, I was awed by the overuse (and abuse) of CGI effects! Some one lamented that the movie should be called ‘The Storm Posers’ instead because of the ridiculous amount of time both Aaron Kwok and Cheng Ekin took to post. Even Horatio Caine (CSI Miami) will be put to shame!
The 2 hapless and helpless beauties in the movie would have served their role better if they became part of the props! It was agonizing watching these 2 oriental bimbos trying to emote. It was like saucerizing a carbuncle. Unfortunately, only one of them died (the other should have followed suit and be killed). The latter’s name was Er-Moong which means ‘Second Dream’ but she was more like a recurrent nightmare or a chronic non-healing ulcer.
The fight sequences were almost seizure-inducing. I really missed the graceful fight scenes like movies like ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’. This one was like watching comic book pages being turned at 120 km/hour. Sigh…
All said and done, I found the movie entertaining. I give it a 6/10.
Since we were in the Storm Warrior mood, I went to purchase the original part 1, ‘The Storm Riders‘ which was released 11 years ago and we watched it at home on DVD. I must say we enjoyed this one a lot more than part 2. At least the actors actually acted, a bit!
Next, once again, against popular negative opinion, we watched ‘The Proposal’, starring a very haggard looking Sandra Bullock, proposing to a very hunky and dashing Ryan Reynolds. Age disparity aside, we found immense fun and satisfaction watching this ‘romantic’ flick at home (so far we have watched it twice). There were no ‘F’ words spoken at all throughout the movie (okay, the ‘sweat drippin’ down my balls’ part are a bit suggestive)! We laughed till our belly aches and when they finally got together, we all went ‘awwww’. I loved it! I give it a 8/10
And then we took a trip on Nostalgia lane and watched the ‘Back to the Future’ series, Part 1, 2, and 3 at one go! The series starred a very young Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd. I used to remember back when I was a teenager, I eagerly waited for Part2 and 3 to be released in the cinema and each time it came, it was better than the last one! Totally awesome!
Despite being such an ‘old’ movie, my kids totally loved it! They loved everything about the characters, the plot, the twists, the time travelling….awwww….such such FUN!!!! I give it a 10/10!
And on Christmas eve, we watched a terribly videotaped version of ‘A Christmas Carol’. The scenes were so dark we could hardly make out what is what. I am sure the original thing would have been quite a blast. My kids got a little frightened by the dark theme throughout the movie but I think they got the message in the end. I don’t think we will ever watch it again.
And then there were some movies that we watched after the children has gone to sleep. Here were some of them:
‘The Perfect Getaway’ was a good suspenseful watch in every way. The action was intense and throughout the movie, there was a palpable tension as we tried to figure out who is who. I am pleased to say I figured out the bad guy midway before the movie ends. My wife and I totally enjoyed the movie. I give it a 8/10.
And then there were movies which my wife found to be ‘so nice’ while I barely could keep my eyes open! Like this one:
We watched ‘Twilight’ on DVD and personally it was such a bore. I mean, if I am a girl like Bella, I wouldn’t fall in love with such an anemic looking guy. Oh, and another thing, I wished the girl’s name wasn’t Bella because Bella was the name of my wife’s dachshund back when we were teenagers. Imagining a dachshund falling in love with a vampire was just too much for me to bear.
My wife, on the other hand, totally loved the movie! She ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ over the panaromic scenes, the romantic nuances and etc etc. If I had my way, I would get the vampire to just bite the dachshund, errr, I mean, the girl and get it over already, instead of looking positively anemic and pained 92% of the movie. I give it a 2/10.
And if ‘Twilight’ was bad, ‘New Moon’ was beyond redemption. It was very painful to watch the dachshund, errr… I mean, Bella the girl trying to emote throughout the movie. It looked like she had constipation and dysmenorrhoea all at the same time. Gosh! And the werewolves? Other than taking every opportunity to show off their buff bodies, they were pretty redundant. I really suffered through this one. (Oh yes, my wife kinda like this one too….must be something to do with estrogen or something). Yuck!!! I hated this one. I give it a 0/10.
Next, we watched ‘The Butterfly Effect Part 3 – The Revelation’. I have watched the first one a long time ago which starred Aston Kutcher and I must say it was pretty revolutionary and good. Imagine this, the slightest alteration to the past would create a totally different future (a bit like a ‘Back to the Future’ remake). It was a novelty then.
Fast forward to Part 3 and frankly, I think you should not bother watching this one unless you wanna see how a coffee table may be used for some very intense sudorific coitus! I give it a 2/10.
‘Gamer‘ was a show whereby real criminals are used in a violent video game by super-spoilt and rich brats in what they thought to be just another video game. Gerald Butler plays one of the criminal who’s nickname is ‘The Slayer’ for his ability to survive the many stages of the game.
And the story line?
What story line?
Think ‘300 in a video arcade’ and you get the picture. I didn’t like the show at all. I give it a 2/10.
And finally, there’s the show that never quite made it to Seremban. We managed to get hold of a good DVD copy. Everyone said it was good! Everyone said it was ‘damn funny’ and everyone highly recommended it!
We watched ‘The Ugly Truth’. Yeah, we had some laughs.
But for most of the time, my wife and I were just plain disgusted with the movie.
Personally, I think this movie has brought the romantic comedy genre to a new low. I do not think that one has to resort to such crass to elicit some laughs.
Think ‘A romantic 300′.
The ‘vibrating panty’ scene might be good to those who have not watched ‘When Harry Met Sally’ but to me, it was a poor imitation of the latter.
Yeah, I laughed. I liked the twins in the jello pool! I didn’t like Gerard Butler in between the twins in the jello pool.
I disliked the movie. Romantic comedies should not be made like this.
I give it a 4/10.
There were other movies of course, which we are watching again; such as the Indiana Jones Series, the Jurassic Park series and some other nice movies we have tucked away to watch over and over again. 
Next, we wanna catch ‘Sherlock Holmes’ on the big screen. Is it any good?
Wed, 301209 @ 2200
