Summer movies 2009!

I bet all moviegoers are gearing up for the summer movies frenzy. A lot of interesting titles are coming up. Here are some of the big titles that will invade movie theaters in May 2009 (based on release dates in the US).

X-men Origins: Wolverine

This movie had already been released on 29th April 2009 on certain territories. A month before its release, it had been hurt badly by Internet leaked. I hope it can still gain momentum to smash box-office records. I don't understand why people would want to watch unfinished product anyway.

Official release date: 1 May 2009
Official website: here

Star Trek

I'm not a Star Trek fan but I'm definitely going to watch this movie. I'd say that this movie is timely made because in this Hannah Montana and High School Musical era, not a lot of young people know about this successful franchise. With this movie, hopefully it's going to attract new fans.

Official release date: 8 May 2009
Official website: here

Angels and Demons

A sequel to The Da Vinci Code, this movie will bring back Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon to investigate a murder associated with Illuminati. This movie brings less controversy unlike its predecessor. Hopefully, all is well.

Official release date: 15 May 2009
Official website: here

Terminator Salvation

Arguably the most promoted summer movie of the year (in my country at least), this is the 4th movie in the Terminator franchise. With new robots, cyborgs, and casts, this movie would be a big hit this summer.

Official release date: 21 May 2009
Official website: Warner Bros., Sony

Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian

One of the big comedy title this summer, NatM:BotS brings back Ben Stiller as the museum caretaker who lives the night with historical people and creatures. A must see to those who love comedy and Ben Stiller (?).

Official release date: 22 May 2009
Official website: here

Up

Another flick from Disney / PIXAR. With a series of success from their previous efforts, I don't see why this one should fail. Fun characters, great story and stunning graphics are some of the things I expect to see from this movie. PIXAR is the expert when it comes to computer-generated animation so I expect nothing less from them.

Official release date: 29 May 2009
Official website: here


So are you guys excited? I know I am!

Silent Hill Origins ~ review

This is the first game that I completed on my PlayStation 2. It took me about 11 hours to complete it and I only managed to unlock 3 accolades (free costumes that you get if you finish the game within certain limits or criteria like killing Y% enemies with bare hands or if you only use the flashlight not more than 3 hours). I know I took longer time to complete this than other people but that just the way I play video games. I usually play it nice and slow, absorbing the atmosphere and story so that I could relive it in my memory time after time. But it was also because I suck at playing it! Haha! That's why I took 11 hours and most people can finish it at 3 to 5 hours, maybe even faster.

Silent Hill Origins is a prequel to the Silent Hill game series and took place before the events in the 1st game. Player took on the role of Travis Grady, a truck driver, who found himself involved in a mysterious activity of a religious cult after he had saved a little girl from a burning house in the eerie town of Silent Hill while also had to battle with his own demons from his tragic past.

I can't really compare much this game with its predecessor or successor because so far I had only played the 1st game other than this one. I found the story to be quite exciting but I really wish that the story could be much darker. Not that Travis's past isn't tragic enough, but it's a Silent Hill game, so I was expecting more. Sometimes the motivation that kept Travis searching for the little girl was confusing, for example at the end of Cedar Grove Sanitarium level, Travis found a theatre ticket and decided to go to the Artaud Theatre (which was of course mentioned on the ticket) to search for the missing girl. So just because he found a ticket he expected the girl to be at a theatre? Weird.

The control was good and easy although sometimes can be quite frustrating when it comes to loading the gun or aiming the enemies but I don't really mind that much because it creates more suspense and terror just like it should. The visuals were also good and satisfying in terms of creepiness but quite ridiculous when it comes to dark places. I can't even see much with the flashlight on.

In Silent Hill Origins, we get to explore more of the mysterious town. The places that will be explored are the Alchemilla Hospital, Cedar Grove Sanitarium, Artaud Theatre and Riverside Motel. The sanitarium took me the longest to complete. At first, it was such a creepy place but after awhile I got tired of it; it was ridiculously long and it could have been shorten. My favourite place was the Riverside Motel while the most creepiest to me was the sanitarium. The place was so dark, horrifying and infected with shadow-like creatures (among others) that cannot be killed. I would pick the sanitarium as my fave place but like I said, it was too long and somehow kill the fun.

I have here a gameplay video of Silent Hill Origins courtesy of Game Trailers. I posted it here so you would know what I've been through. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Final Fantasy XIII - Lightning the cold leader

Here's another gameplay from Final Fantasy XIII courtesy of IGN. This time we get to see Lightning in action. The system battle looks pretty good and not as complicated as I thought it would. I think this game would be great to add to any gamer's collection.

Enjoy the video!

Final Fantasy XIII - Snow our new hero

Square Enix had released a lot of stuff from Final Fantasy XIII after a long silence. That's a good thing since I've been craving to see the gameplay of the game. I have here Snow gameplay courtesy of Game Trailers. If you notice, the player can only take control of 1 character, who was Snow, during this fight. Players would probably can take control more than 1 character as they progress through the game, I assume.

Overall, the gameplay looks good, and I believe I don't have to say anything about the graphic coz it looks gorgeous. I've read some comments saying this game looks like Final Fantasy VII with its train sequence, the heavy-industrialized city and main character's name (Lightning). Well, I have to agree on that but I believe this game has its own originality too.

If you want more videos about Final Fantasy XIII, you can always check out Game Trailers and IGN, 2 of my fave game sites. Enjoy the video!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince final trailer

Finally, we get to see the final trailer to Harry Potter 6th movie. I have been craving for it and once it arrived, it did not disappoint. Bravo to all the people behind the movie! Wait, am I congratulating them too early? What the heck, it's going to smash box-office records anyway. So here's the trailer courtesy of IGN. Enjoy!

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood on Animax!

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood had premiered on Animax Asia last Friday, 10 April 2009, at 8.30 pm (Astro Malaysia, Channel 715). So tonight would be the 2nd episode of the new series. If you missed it, don't worry, Animax would have a repeat broadcast. Unfortunately, I don't know the time, so you better watch Animax to know the time schedule. I tried to find it on the Animax website but failed. I guess they never list it. Or maybe I just suck at finding information. :-P

Also note that Animax would also have a monthly recap marathon of past episodes on the last Saturday and Sunday of each month. So I don't think you have to worry anything if you miss a few episodes.

I hope Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood would do well because I really, really love the previous season, so I hope this season would be great too.

Knowing ~ review

This movie creeps me out. Seriously.

I must say that I didn't expect the movie would end up like the way it did when I saw the first 15 minutes of it. I know it's a sci-fi movie but I didn't know that the theme would be so deep. The genre kinda shifted too from supernatural to sci-fi to fantasy, story-wise. However, it's kinda predictable too especially when the scenes involving the 'whispering people'. Of course when they 1st made their appearance, I didn't know who or what they are but as the story moves along, I kinda get the picture of who they might be.

The actors were beautifully cast, especially the young ones. Chandler Canterburry, who played Caleb Koestler, and Lara Robinson, who played Lucinda Embry & Abby Wayland (yes, she played 2 roles!) are so good and talented. Both actors play their roles really well. In fact, Lara Robinson did quite good in playing 2 different characters with 2 different personalities. Chandler Canterburry did pretty well too...and he's cute! I adore his character so much, so mature and smart at such a young age. I always hope I was like that when I was young (yeah right!). I hope both actors would have several other projects in the near future.

I did not forget the 2 main adult casts, Nicholas Cage and Rose Byrne. Although a lot of critics did not like Nic Cage, I think he did good as Jonathan Koestler. He was emotional and really into his character. Rose Byrne was also great as Diana Wayland, her portrayal of fear and terror was real to me. She's good!

I want to give you the synopsis of the movie but I can't! I don't know where to start. Like I said, it shifted from genre to genre. One thing for sure, I left the cinema hall feeling depressed because the story is quite deep and heavy...for me at least. I felt like there's no more hope for me left...if the thing in the movie happens to me. Quite scary actually. But Alex Proyas and his crew did great. I highly recommend this movie to everyone...although it is quite scary for kids. You should check it out if you still haven't. 4 and half stars out of 5.

By the way, the one-shot scene of the airplane crash landing was AWESOME! I felt like watching a reality show or Discovery Channel or something. Creepy and exciting at the same time. Seriously guys, go buy your movie tickets already!

This Is The One that I'm waiting for!!!

Utada Hikaru's 3rd English studio album, This Is The One had been released! Oh my god, how did I miss this? I remember checking the music store last week and I saw no new album from Utada. Weird. Well, according to Wikipedia, the album has been released in Japan on 14 March 2009 and in the US digitally on 24 March 2009. The physical CD would only come out in the US on 12 May 2009. It also stated the release dates for several other Asian countries like Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand though I'm not sure whether it was for digital release of physical CD release.

I'm happy that this album had somewhat some promotions in my country; the music video for the lead single, Come Back to Me, had been screened on TV. The song had also been played on local radio station (although I only heard it from 1 radio station). I wish there would be more promotion so that people will become aware of this new album. Utada Hikaru had been huge before in Malaysia when her 1st Japanese album hit stores, so I hope history will repeat itself.

Ganbatte Utada!

Astro Boy flying into cinemas this October!

Wow, the animation looks incredible. Imagi Animation Studios did a great work. If they get the story right, this could be the best animation movie of the year. But it's still too early to tell. This movie is based on a popular and successful franchise so I do have high hopes for this movie and so far it looks great. All the best!

Here's the teaser trailer for Astro Boy which comes out in cinemas in October 2009. You can check out IGN for another teaser trailer for the movie, the one I posted below is actually the 2nd teaser trailer. You can also check out the awesome official site of the movie. Click here to go there. But before you go, enjoy this trailer first!

Artemis Fowl, the young genius criminal

Book- Artemis Fowl
Author- Eoin Colfer

It's a cheap, entertaining and brilliant book for kids and adult alike.

I first stumbled upon this book in a bookstore and read the synopsis at the back cover. I was not interested at first but since it was cheap (only RM15.90, it's really rare to find books by foreign authors this cheap in Malaysia), I decided to give it a try.

I found the first 2 chapters of the book to be quite boring because I really don't understand what was happening. But as I read on, it's getting more and more interesting. The story is engaging and the characters are totally funny and adorable even when they were cursing in fairies language, the Gnommish.

Artemis Fowl tells a story about a 12-year-old boy who were planning to rob a bank, not just any bank, a fairies bank. Being a genius, he successfully discovered a whole unknown world of fairies. These fairies are far more advanced than humans and so it will only take a genius like him to come out with a flawless plan to separate the fairies from their precious gold. The results; a kidnapped fairy, a ransom, a pissed-off commander, an angry troll, an injured butler, a blue-rinse (you'll understand what it means once you read the book), and a whole lot of chaos. And also, a satisfied reader (which, of course, referring to me!).

What makes this book fun for me is the characters. The main characters like Artemis Fowl, Butler, Holly, Commander Root and Foaly always come out with funny and sarcastic dialogues. They have their own objectives and each characters descriptions helped me to shape their personality more. Even the minor characters are fun to read about.

Another thing that was fun about this book is that the references were everywhere. Even when you thought that that was the first time the character was introduced, the author had actually mentioned the character before in the early pages of the book. I would flipped back the pages and went, "Oh! So that guy was HIM!". I had fun doing that. :-P

Reading the book, I realized that although Artemis Fowl may seem like a cold criminal (amid a young one!), but he was actually a good person. He was like wearing an evil facade to mask the real him inside. And judging by the story, we will see the good side of him...eventually. For now, you have to buy this book to read all about his genius plans to get the fairies' gold. Will he succeed? Well, I'll leave you to find it out yourself.

Horror in outer space?

This movie looks awesome. A horror movie set in outer space. Cool! It reminds me of Event Horizon. But wait, did I saw zombies there? Zombies in outer space? Super cool! Whether there are zombies or not, this movie looks pretty scary. I hope it will be released in Malaysia.

Here's the trailer to the movie. It will be released in September in United States. By the way, I wonder what Pandorum means?

Finally I'm here! ANTM Cycle 11 final episode

Finally, I'm reviewing the final episode of America's Next Top Model cycle 11. I can almost hear some of you say "Thank God!". I know, I know, I'm a bit late but I was so caught up with work and personal things that I can't really post much. Anyway, back to business.

At last, the final 3 had their final photo shoot in the competition; the Cover Girl shoot! I must say that all three of them did really well but the picture that I like most was from McKey. The judges had to eliminate another girl before they can move on to the fashion show. And the girl who was eliminated was...Analeigh! I was screaming "NOOOOO!!!" when the judges announced that but nobody heard me of course 'coz I was only screaming in my head. I was so sad to see Analeigh being sent home.

McKey

Analeigh

Samantha

Then, the fashion show. The runway was a bit weird though, it was wavy and...bumpy. The models had to literally run to go up then slowly walk down the stairs. Odd.

I think both Samantha and McKey did good during the runway show but I like McKey more. I know she's gonna win this. And she did. McKey was the winner for America's Next Top Model cycle 11. Her pictures were always great and she can walk. She truly deserved it.


Cycle 12 is still airing in the US. So I guess I had nothing else to do other than wait for the next cycle to premiere in Asia. That would be a long wait....

Lee Hyori- Hey Mr Big

Lee Hyori is one of my favourite singer from Korea. She's beautiful, talented, and she's a fine dancer. Check out her video that I had posted below. It's called Hey Mr. Big from her 3rd album, It's Hyorish. Although I prefer the singles from her previous album (Get Ya, Shall We Dance) but I do find this song to be quite addictive. XD

So here's the video. I found it on YouTube. You can find more of her videos there. Enjoy!